0p0 Chapter 178 See Everyone's End
Chapter 178 See Everyone's End
"I think it's better to transfer the 100,000 troops from Chenzhou to aid Marquis Jing'an first."
"According to spies, the imperial sister Qingyao has committed suicide."
"There's really no need for us to continue wasting our manpower just for a dead person."
"Why not gather all the troops under the command of Marquis Jing'an and let him focus on attacking the Jin Kingdom?"
"As for the Northern Rong Kingdom, after we have dealt with the Jin Kingdom, we will attack the Northern Rong Kingdom to avenge my sister."
The emperor frowned and said, "What about Lu Ziqian? Don't care?"
Chu Zhongyuan's face was filled with sorrow: "Father, I can't take care of so many things."
"He is a general, and his duty is to defend his country. His personal life and death is insignificant in front of the country. I believe General Lu will understand."
The Emperor hesitated a bit: "How should I explain this to the Empress?"
"What's more, he is Lu Jingming's son. I cannot be ungrateful."
Chu Zhongyuan continued to lobby: "Father, you must put the overall situation first. I believe that the Queen and Lord Lu can understand."
"Besides, Father has always been worried that Lu Jingming might be plotting a rebellion. Why not take this opportunity to completely resolve this problem?"
"This world belongs to you, not to the Lu family. Could it be that without Lu Ziqian, the Daming Kingdom will perish?"
"How outrageous!" The emperor threw the memorial to the ground in anger.
Chu Zhongyuan was not afraid at all, because he knew how much his father loved him.
If he said now that he wanted the throne, his father would give it to him now.
It’s a pity that there are the Queen and the Crown Prince standing in the way, as well as the etiquette and the attitudes of the civil and military officials, so my father has to take many things into consideration.
Chu Zhongyuan did not kneel, but continued to persuade: "Father, you are really getting more and more kind as you get older."
"If you were young, you wouldn't worry about such trivial matters."
"Lu Ziqian's troops only have a few thousand left. It's almost as if the entire army has been wiped out."
"Why would you send another 100,000 troops just for him?"
"Is his personal safety more important than that of 100,000 people?"
The emperor was so angry that he blew his beard and glared: "Pick it up for me."
Chu Zhongyuan obediently picked up the memorial, sorted it out and placed it on the imperial desk.
"I don't care about Lu Ziqian's life. I'm angry at you for being so outspoken. How can you casually say something that could lead to the destruction of our country?"
Chu Zhongyuan immediately admitted his mistake and told the emperor to take care of his health, saying it was not worth getting sick over such a small matter. He appeared to be well-behaved, sensible and filial, and made the emperor laugh every minute.
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
"I will issue an order immediately. Send someone to deliver it to Chenzhou as quickly as possible and ask him to change his route to support Marquis Jing'an."
"Yes, I accept the order."
"That man in Chenzhou is stubborn. I'd better go there myself to prevent him from disobeying the imperial edict."
The emperor waved his hand indifferently: "Go ahead, bring a few more secret guards with you, and don't let your mother worry."
"Don't worry, Father. I will protect myself."
Lu Ziqian stood in a corner of the imperial study, listening to the conversation between the father and son. His face turned ashen with anger and his fists clenched.
He couldn't even control his temper and rushed forward to beat Chu Zhongyuan violently.
It's a pity that he is just a ghost now, full of anger but unable to do anything.
Forget about hitting people, he can't even kill an ant.
It turned out that the reason he waited for reinforcements for a long time was because Chenzhou changed its route.
A few casual words from the father and son determined the lives of tens of thousands of Lu family soldiers.
The soldiers had the tragic experience of gnawing on tree bark, digging tree roots, and eating dead bodies, all because of a few words from Chu Zhongyuan!
He hated it and wanted to avenge his soldiers with his own hands!
His soul involuntarily followed Chu Zhongyuan.
Chu Zhongyuan personally delivered the imperial edict to Chenzhou, but Chenzhou indeed disobeyed it.
Chu Zhongyuan threatened him with his family, so he had to lead his troops to support Marquis Jing'an.
"Jiaojiao, it was me who killed 30,000 Lu family soldiers."
"I hate myself for being incompetent. I can't change anything."
Although he knew that Su Yujiao couldn't hear anything, he still told her all his grievances.
Su Yujiao turned and left, and the scene changed, and he actually followed Su Yujiao to Hutou Pass.
A year ago, he occupied most of the Jin Dynasty and even reached its capital.
Unexpectedly, in just half a year, the Jin army forced their way to Hutou Pass again!
Lu Ziqian saw that Marquis Jing'an was eating and drinking lavishly. The tent was filled with delicacies from land and sea, and there were beautiful women by his side.
This doesn't look like a war at all, it's clearly a place to enjoy the scenery.
"My Lord, the military rations sent by the court are all stale and rotten rice. A lot of it is moldy. The soldiers all have unbearable stomachaches after eating it."
Marquis Jing'an was drinking from a cup of wine with the beautiful woman beside him. He waved his hand impatiently: "Go away, wash it a few more times before putting it in the pot."
"From now on, there's no need to report such trivial matters."
"But……"
"Go away, don't disturb my pleasure."
Seeing that Marquis Jing'an didn't care about the lives of the soldiers, Lu Ziqian became angry and his face turned dark.
He followed the deputy general to the grain camp, and before he got close, he smelled a strong odor of decay and mold.
Could it be that the rice has been soaked in water? How could it become so moldy?
"Deputy General, what does the Marquis say?"
"This rice is totally inedible. Eating too much can kill people." The military doctor grabbed a handful of moldy rice with a worried look on his face.
Lu Ziqian took a look and found that it was more serious than he had imagined.
All the rice grains were covered with yellow and green mold. If he hadn't been told that it was rice, he would have thought it was hairy wheat.
How can you eat this kind of thing? It's deadly!
Marquis Jing'an must have embezzled military rations, which is why he doesn't take it seriously.
If the imperial court had really sent him this kind of rice, he would have submitted eight hundred memorials to the capital.
Now that he turns a blind eye to it, we can only say that he has benefited from it. Not only is he unwilling to report it, he also wants to keep the matter secret.
As for those powerless soldiers, even if they were eaten to death, they would have nowhere to turn to for help and their deaths would be in vain.
Afterwards, his soul followed Su Yujiao to many places and saw many scenes.
The soldiers of Daming Kingdom were exhausted by the rotten rice, and Jin Kingdom took the opportunity to open up, and Jing'an Hou was defeated.
Chu Zhongyuan personally led his troops to turn the tide and repel the Jin soldiers.
Afterwards, Chu Zhongyuan collected evidence of the Minister of Revenue and Marquis Jing'an embezzling military pay, and obtained a list of embezzlers from the Minister of Revenue.
The corrupt officials on the list had power over the crown prince, and all of them became his followers, squeezing out the crown prince in the court.
The crown prince was framed, deposed as heir, and imprisoned in the palace.
The eighth and tenth princesses were kidnapped and raped by the remnants of the previous dynasty and died miserably. The queen also lost three children at the same time, suffered a mental breakdown, became insane, and was deposed and imprisoned in the deep palace.
The prince escaped from the palace, started a rebellion, and was shot to death by arrows.
Afterwards, the emperor made Concubine Jing the empress, and the third prince successfully became the crown prince.
Two years later, the emperor abdicated and Chu Zhongyuan ascended the throne, becoming the supreme ruler.
Seeing this scene, Lu Ziqian was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and suddenly woke up from his dream.