freenovelworld Chapter 105 It's better to side with me than to side with the Crown Prince
Chapter 105 It's better to side with me than to side with the Crown Prince
After five consecutive days of learning, Yue Shan quickly adapted and seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
He successfully transformed from a general into someone who resembled an official.
Today, Yue Shan's seven-day holiday was coming to an end. He had to go back.
When Yue Shan saw Wei Qing again, he simply smiled faintly.
He understood why Wei Qing had chosen him.
Before he left, Xu Tianyi came to the intersection to see him off.
"General Yue, you've learned something, so be sure to go back and govern well..."
Xu Tianyi's teasing left Yue Shan speechless.
"I have no governing authority, but I have truly benefited greatly these past few days, Brother Xu, thank you very much..."
Xu Tianyi looked at him meaningfully: "Don't just thank me verbally, do you have any gifts for me?"
Yue Shan laughed heartily: "You, you, I've figured it out these past few days, you want the army, don't you?"
Xu Tianyi gave a thumbs up: "General Yue is indeed clever."
After a moment's thought, Yue Shan spoke.
“I have a bunch of convicted generals locked up there. I’m sending them to you. They’re all former subordinates of my Yue family. They’ve been living a very hard life, but they also committed evil deeds last time.”
Then I will pass on to you my Yue Family Military Strategy. Although I cannot teach you the entire text, it will be enough for you to dominate Leizhou.
Xu Tianyi was overjoyed.
"Brother Yue, take care."
Yue Shan waved his hand, dismissing those around him.
"Wait, I still have something to ask you..."
Xu Tianyi chuckled: "Oh, General Yue is quite the patient one, waiting until now to ask..."
Seeing his grinning face, Yue Shan couldn't help but chuckle.
I used to be a pretty serious person.
"Brother Xu, your way of doing things suits my taste perfectly; you're simple and direct."
So I asked directly, "Is what Qingmei said earlier true?"
Xu Tianyi naturally knew what he was asking.
It's nothing more than the fate of the Yue family.
At this moment, Xu Tianyi also spoke up and began to basically repeat what Wei Qing had said at the time.
Yue Shan was once again caught in a struggle.
He had forced himself to forget these things these past few days, but now that they were about to part ways, if he didn't ask now, he might never have the chance to ask again.
So he spoke up too.
"Brother Xu, if my in-laws are viewed with such suspicion, what do you think is the way out for them?"
Xu Tianyi sighed and said, "You know that the King of Qi is not a wise ruler."
Since you already know the fate of the Yue family, why didn't you take your father and the others with you when you left?
Yue Shan remained silent for a moment before speaking: "The Yue family has always been loyal and righteous. Even in death, we would never betray them."
If that day ever comes, I, Yue, can only repay your kindness with my death.
Xu Tianyi also felt some admiration.
He then spoke thoughtfully.
"Let me tell you a story."
Yue Shan was a little curious, but he quickly calmed down.
Xu Tianyi slowly said, "The story takes place in a country that does not exist."
This country was called the Northern Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty occupied the Central Plains, possessing a vast territory and a prosperous population.
However, the monarch was incompetent and pleasure-seeking, and treacherous officials emerged in the court. In particular, military generals were suppressed by civil officials, and military power was controlled by eunuchs and treacherous officials.
There was a country called the Jin Dynasty on the other side, which was established by a foreign tribe that conquered our territory and enslaved our people.
The corrupt Northern Song emperor was cowardly, weak, and incompetent, and suffered repeated defeats against the Jin army.
Generals in the field had their pay embezzled, eunuchs supervised the troops in battle, treacherous officials in the court supported surrender and peace, and the emperor issued three military orders a day, remotely controlling the army from hundreds of miles away.
The army not only had problems with pay, but its weapons were also in a terrible state.
During the Jingkang era, the Jin army besieged the capital. Many treacherous officials in the court sought peace and reparations, but the emperor actually believed the deceptive words of a charlatan and hired so-called shamans to guard the gates.
The Jin army had little chance of breaking into the capital, but they did not expect the Northern Song to be so ridiculous. They immediately broke into the capital and looted the entire city. The two emperors were captured, and countless princesses and concubines were violated.
That year, a young man who came on volunteer witnessed the sinking of China and the suffering of its people.
He resolutely joined the army.
His mother tattooed four characters on his body: "Serve the country with utmost loyalty!"
His name was Yue Fei!
Afterwards, he followed many righteous men to resist the Jin army, and at the same time, he submitted to Zhao Gou, the new emperor of the Song Dynasty in the south.
Zhao Gou initially raised the banner of resistance against the Jin, but he was soon exposed as a weak and incompetent man who favored treacherous officials. He was content with his local territory, seeking peace and reparations but unwilling to reclaim lost lands.
At that time, Yue Fei had become the Grand Marshal of the army due to his successive victories against the Jin people.
Furthermore, their large army advanced into the Jin territory and recovered a significant amount of land.
When the Jin army inquired about Yue Fei's name, they were all terrified.
A famous saying has even been passed down.
It is easier to shake a mountain than to shake Yue Fei's army.
At this moment, Yue Fei was in high spirits, his offensive was unstoppable, and he was about to reclaim his homeland, destroy the Jin Dynasty, welcome back the two emperors, restore the Song Dynasty, and return to the old capital.
But the emperor didn't think so. He was afraid that Yue Fei's welcoming back of the two emperors would affect his power, and he was also afraid that Yue Fei's growing fame would lead to a rebellion and a usurpation of power.
So he and the treacherous minister Qin Hui falsely accused Yue Fei of holding too much military power and plotting a rebellion. They issued twelve imperial edicts demanding that Yue Fei abandon his offensive, retreat to the capital, and then annex Yue Fei's military power before seeking peace with the Jin Dynasty.
For this reason, he also cut off Yue Fei's army's food supplies.
At this moment, if you were Yue Fei, what would you do, my great General Yue Shan?
Yue Shan became more and more excited as he listened.
"This... how could they be so incompetent? Damn alien race, damn treacherous officials!"
Xu Tianyi chuckled: "It's that damned emperor..."
Yue Shan turned to look at him, wanting to say something rebuking him, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. His loyalty to the emperor and his love for the country did not allow him to speak recklessly.
After a long silence, he spoke: "What did Yue Fei do?"
Xu Tianyi sighed: "Back then, he must have hesitated just like you."
He wrote "Man Jiang Hong" before setting off on his campaign.
Angrily rushed, lean on the railing, rested in the rain.
Lift our sight, the sky and shouts, grand, vehement.
Thirty fame, dust and soil, eight thousand miles, clouds and moon.
Don't let your youth slip away in vain, only to regret it later.
The shame of Jingkang remains unavenged. The hatred of the subjects, when will it end?
Driving a long chariot, we will break through the Helan Mountains, with lofty ambitions to feast on the flesh of the barbarians and laugh as we drink their blood.
Let's start anew. Let's rebuild our lost lands and return to the imperial palace.
And when he received the twelve golden orders.
He wrote "Last Night's Book"
The crickets chirped incessantly last night.
Startled from a thousand-mile dream, it was already past midnight.
Get up and walk around the steps alone
Quietly, the moon shines dimly outside the curtain.
White-haired for fame and fortune, the old pines and bamboos of my hometown are aged, hindering my return journey.
I wish to entrust my heart's secrets to Yaoqin
Few understand my music; when the strings break, who will listen?
Who could understand his grief and inner turmoil at that time?
On one hand, there was the king's command to be loyal to him; on the other hand, there was the last chance to destroy the Jin dynasty.
Now, I need your answer: will you forgo the opportunity to conquer the Jin Dynasty and avenge your country, or will you choose to retreat to the court to prove your innocence and demonstrate your loyalty to Emperor Zhao Gou?
Yue Shan trembled, staggered back two steps, and collapsed onto the stone chair in the pavilion.
He began to feel lost.
What similar experiences.
He seemed to see himself about to defeat the King of Chu, while his entire family was imprisoned and he was ordered to return to prove his innocence.
"How...how did he make that choice..."
Yue Shan closed his eyes; he couldn't make a choice.
On the day he left Yunzhou, his father, Yue Jingzhi, asked him a similar question.
If the Crown Prince were to return one day, which side would you stand on?
Yue Shan told his father that his Wuji Empire belonged to the people and that he would stand on the side of the people.
But that was just a hypothetical scenario; in his mind, the Crown Prince had virtually no chance of returning.
He will prove his worth to the King of Qi in the future, and then restore the title of King Wucheng, the patron saint of the Yue family.
But now, Xu Tianyi is telling him about the future that the King of Qi will not tolerate his in-laws.
They cannot tolerate a former princeling, nor can they tolerate a grand marshal who controls the entire nation's military.
Yue Shan was confused. Loyalty meant death. What should he choose? Should he die for his loyalty, bearing the infamy amidst the emperor's suspicion and the machinations of treacherous officials, or...?
He wanted to hear the final outcome.
Xu Tianyi looked at him intently.
"Yue Fei chose to be loyal to his country."
So he abandoned his army and returned to the capital.
Shortly afterward, he was imprisoned.
The emperor ordered the treacherous minister Qin Hui to collect evidence of his treason.
As a result, most of his loyal followers were arrested, and Yue Fei's entire family was also arrested.
The generals who were invincible on the battlefield and killed countless Jin soldiers began to be subjected to severe torture to extract confessions.
Some were tortured to death because they could not bear the humiliation, and some were forced to confess under torture. But no matter how you investigate, Yue Fei was clean. He was not greedy for money, not lustful, and would rather freeze to death than dismantle a house or starve to death than plunder.
Finally, Emperor Zhao Gou and the treacherous minister Qin Hui executed Yue Fei at Fengbo Pavilion on trumped-up charges.
Before his death, Yue Fei wrote several large characters in prison.
"The sky is clear, the sky is clear!!"
After his death, Yue Fei's army disappeared, and the entire Southern Song Dynasty paid reparations and sued for peace after a great victory.
Humiliation accompanied the entire Southern Song Dynasty.
Afterwards, foreign tribes invaded from the south. The Southern Song Dynasty, with its backbone broken, saw countless treacherous officials defect to the foreign tribes, but also a large number of loyal and righteous men who bravely sacrificed their lives.
By this time, the foreign tribes had slaughtered more than half of the Song people and completely controlled the entire Nine Provinces.
The land of China was ravaged, and the people became slaves of a foreign race. After a century of humiliation, the rebels finally emerged and overthrew the entire foreign dynasty.
This is the end.
This is also reality.
You may think I'm making this up, but I'm telling you, the story is real, and it's cruel.
Yue Shan couldn't hold back any longer after hearing this.
"Damn barbarians! Damn emperor!"
His aura exploded, and his cultivation level surged to the late stage of Grandmaster.
His gaze was fixed on those he preyed upon, and his veins bulged all over his body.
He turned his head and looked at Xu Tianyi.
"I understand! Such a treacherous ruler is unworthy of my loyalty, Yue Shan!!"
Feeling his imposing presence, Xu Tianyi silently wiped away the few tears that had been left behind by his excitement.
"I'm saying all this not to sow discord, but because I genuinely want to help you. I admire you and feel that General Yue Fei's life was a great loss."
"Splash..."
Yue Shan clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Master Xu, may I ask what my Yue family should do? And are you trying to persuade my Yue family to submit to the Crown Prince?"
Xu Tianyi didn't expect him to make a decision so quickly.
After a moment of silence, he said, "You should try to persuade your father first; he's much more stubborn than you."
As for seeking refuge with the Crown Prince...
To be honest, I'm not familiar with the Crown Prince and don't know what kind of person he is.
"I wonder if General Yue has any ideas on how to lend me a hand?"
Yue Shan was taken aback: "Help you?"
Looking at the general standing tall before him, Xu Tianyi felt increasingly excited.
“That’s right! Help me! In the future, I will support Qinghan to ascend the throne, and my child and I will still be princes. I don’t care about the title; the real power is in my hands!”
Come with me, and I'll show you a future where ordinary people can truly live fairly!
(Finished writing 6000 words. Thanks for the gifts, brothers. I still have to clean this afternoon, and I'm sleepy tonight. My phone is also broken and won't charge properly. I need to keep it plugged in to write.)
I will consider updating more frequently, but I hope you can understand that I write slower on my phone.
It took me more than four hours to write these 6000 words.
I hope Tomato will give me more people.
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