Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3729 The king's affairs are never-ending, and he cannot cultivate millet and sorghum.
Cao Hong's personal guard sergeant stared intently at Chen Mao, the threat in his eyes growing stronger.

If you can't force someone to their death, then force them to their death.

Later generations thought this behavior was foolish.

But in reality, within the ruling class and in the eyes of its lackeys, this behavior is undoubtedly perfectly correct...

And it can be done repeatedly!

Almost every feudal dynasty would stage a drama where the people suffer for a year, and then after the people have endured it, the rulers would allow them to pay for another year for free.

Free renewal, dear!
A typical example in history is the Chongzhen Emperor's suppression of the imperial military tax, which was described as "temporarily burdening our people for a year," and then dragged on year after year until the emperor and his officials all thought that it was perfectly normal for the common people to suffer, and that this was how it should be.

Even Shi Kefa, who was praised by later generations, felt that this hardship could not stop, and that the "suppression of enemy troops" still had to continue...

In order to suppress the rebellion of the people they had forced to revolt, the rulers of the Great Meng Dynasty planned to send an additional 120,000 troops, requiring an additional 2.8 million taels of silver in funding. However, the emperor, princes, nobles, and high-ranking officials and landowners were all unwilling to contribute this sum. Ironically, the money could only be squeezed from the law-abiding citizens who had not yet rebelled.

The emperor issued an edict of apology, expressing deep sorrow for the suffering of the people. He stated that while years had been difficult, this year was the most so, promising that only one more year of hardship was needed to weather the storm. He wrote, “The bandits have been rampant for a long time, causing immense suffering to the people. Without a concentrated army to suppress them, the bandits cannot be quickly eliminated; without sufficient funds and provisions, a large-scale military campaign is impossible. The treasury is depleted, and there is no effective solution. The court has proposed changing the grain transport system to a unified system, temporarily burdening our people for one year, to eliminate this major threat. After much deliberation, it is absolutely necessary…”

As a result, after a year, this desperate measure still could not quell the peasant uprising. So, what was meant by "temporarily troubling our people for one year" became "temporarily troubling our people for N years," until the people stormed into the Forbidden City and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on a crooked tree.

Even after the Qing dynasty's rule, with its distinctive queue (pigtail), the flames of peasant uprisings were temporarily "curbed," but far from being "completely eradicated" as the rulers hoped. For the Southern Ming rulers, their greatest enemy was not the Qing dynasty's leader, but the "rebellious" populace. Therefore, expecting the landlord class to keep their promise and lay down their weapons was impossible; moreover, continuing military campaigns required continuing to levy taxes. After a hesitant and pretentious declaration of not wanting to "break faith" with the people, the Southern Ming, under the guise of "reluctantly complying with court discussions," decided to further postpone the tax collection campaign…

Stupid?

But it was precisely these people, who were well-versed in the classics and held high positions, who did it!

Don't think that Emperor Chongzhen was a bad emperor. In fact, during China's thousand-year feudal period, an emperor who was willing to bear the infamy was already considered a responsible emperor.

More often than not, it's about making ordinary people suffer while still maintaining a good reputation...

For example, a certain emperor might outwardly proclaim something like "equalizing the poll tax and merging it with the land tax, and never increasing taxes again."

However, in reality, abolishing the poll tax does not mean not paying the poll tax, and never increasing taxes does not mean not imposing exorbitant levies.

Putting aside the facts, let's just talk about whether the poll tax was abolished and whether additional taxes were waived...

When the people of a feudal dynasty were paying money, not one of them could escape, but when it came time to collect their money, they might run themselves ragged and still not be able to collect it.

But did the common people resist?

Under feudal oppression, where even speaking an extra word could lead to arrest, who would dare to resist?

In such an environment, neither Cao Hong nor his lackeys felt that it was a problem to oppress Chen Mao and the others.

Because this is a proven and effective means of oppression...

Chen Mao stared at the heavily guarded and dotted-by-light cavalry camp in the distance for a moment, then glanced back at the 'elite' soldiers in the reeds behind him, their faces filled with fear and helplessness. Finally, his gaze settled on the sergeant beside him, a man with a fierce face and piercing eyes, who kept urging him to his death...

A crazy and resolute thought, like a volcanic eruption, surged into his mind in an instant, and then erupted and spread wildly at an astonishing speed!
Are you really going to launch an attack?

Just rush straight in like that?

Facing those well-equipped cavalry, facing those scouts and sentries who might be patrolling right on the edge of the camp, facing those heavily armed cavalry infantry...

Such behavior is tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock or a moth to a flame!

Not only will he die without a burial place, but the two hundred brothers behind him who have also been driven to the brink of death will also perish here, leaving no trace of their bodies!

The personal guards who were supervising the battle behind them were not as wonderful as Cao Hong had promised. They were supposed to be helpers, but in reality, they were executioners escorting them to the execution ground!
Rather than dying meaninglessly under the swords and spears of the Flying Cavalry, becoming an insignificant 'consumable' in Cao Hong's calculations, it's better to...

Let's fight to the death!
For myself, and for these desperate brothers behind me, I must fight for a way to survive!
Chen Mao swallowed hard, forcing a fawning, unnatural smile onto his face. He whispered to the squad leader of his personal guard, "Squad leader, look... this bandit camp is heavily fortified, brightly lit, and the sound of watchtowers is constant. If we, with our small force, were to charge through, I'm afraid most of us would be shot dead by crossbows before we even reach the camp. It would be a pointless death, and we wouldn't achieve anything..."

Chen Mao, who had previously been honest and unassuming, couldn't help but utter a phrase that sounded extremely familiar, and which seemed quite reasonable...

He paused, observing the platoon leader's expression, and said cautiously, "I...I have a plan. How about...we disguise ourselves as deserters routed by artillery fire during the day! Pretending to be panicked, perhaps...perhaps we can get close to their camp, or even...fake open the gates? If we can get close and then launch a sudden attack, wouldn't the effect be even better? And it would certainly be more likely to succeed..."

He tried to make his voice sound like the words of those "eloquent" people he had heard before, full of "wisdom" and "feasibility".

"What? Disguised as defeated soldiers?" Cao Hong's personal guard sergeant's brows furrowed instantly, his eyes sharply fixed on Chen Mao, as if trying to determine the truthfulness of his words.

He pondered for only a few moments before decisively rejecting the idea: "No! Absolutely not! Delaying could lead to unforeseen complications! We must attack directly! Immediately! Right now! Move out! Any further delays that miss the opportunity will result in me killing you right now and replacing you with someone else!"

The sergeant of the personal guards drew his sword halfway out with a "whoosh," the cold blade flashing a chilling light in the moonlight.

It wasn't that he could tell whether Chen Mao's words were true or false, but rather that he didn't want to bother.

Could he really have made this last-minute change of mind?
No matter how good Chen Mao's suggestion is, or how feasible it is, what does it have to do with the head of the guard?
The sergeant of the personal guards only wanted to do what Cao Hong ordered; as for anything else…

As long as you strictly follow Cao Hong's orders, then no matter what happens, even if problems arise, they won't be a big issue.

After all, the sergeant had seen many examples of this.

Therefore, when Chen Mao put forward a new "suggestion", even though the squad leader of the guard felt that Chen Mao's plan seemed to make some sense, he still chose the old and more prudent way of doing things.

As long as Chen Mao is sent to his death—oh, I mean to launch a night raid—then the bodyguard sergeant's mission will be accomplished.

As for what would happen to Chen Mao and the others, the squad leader of the personal guards didn't care at all.

As long as it's not him going to his death, that's fine.

Chen Mao's fawning smile froze instantly, and the last glimmer of hope in his eyes gradually faded, leaving only cold, lifeless ashes.

He nodded silently, his movements as slow as a rusty machine.

He slowly drew the ring-pommel sword from his waist.

The sergeant of the guards also drew his sword and stared intently at Chen Mao.

Chen Mao lowered his head slightly, watching the blade reflect a cold, eerie light in the moonlight. After a moment, he half-turned, facing the shadowy, bewildered soldiers peeking from the reeds behind him, and roared, "Brothers! Our path to glory, wealth, and honor begins here—"

He raised his sword, his voice suddenly rising, instantly attracting everyone's attention!
The raised sword seemed to be pointing towards the direction of the cavalry camp...

But before he could finish speaking, Chen Mao, carrying all his strength and pent-up resentment, slashed fiercely at the neck of Cao Hong's personal guard sergeant who was standing right next to him!
The blade tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek!
"Die—!!"

"clang!!!"

A piercing clang of metal suddenly shattered the deathly silence of the night!
Cao Hong's personal guard squad leader was, after all, an elite force, and his reaction was extremely fast!

He instinctively parried the knife upwards!

The two swords clashed, the blades shattered, and sparks flew everywhere!

"Chen Mao! Are you insane?! You want to rebel?! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!!" The guard sergeant was both shocked and furious, roaring fiercely as he tried to press his sword down.

Chen Mao roared, "My whole family died out during the Yellow Turban Rebellion! Exterminate nine generations?! Exterminate your nine generations, my ass!!"

"Damn it!" the guard sergeant cursed.

Without a family, without worries about the future, they are indeed a great threat!
Why wasn't the investigation done properly? How could they let him lead troops?!

Chen Mao's face was contorted and deformed, his eyes bloodshot, like a wild beast ready to devour its prey.

The fear, despair, and anger that had been suppressed for who knows how long, mixed with the humiliation of being abandoned, collapsed the dam of 'order', causing these emotions to gush out like a huge flood!

He gave his opponent no chance to breathe, forcefully pushing aside the guard captain and creating some distance. With a whoosh of wind, his ring-pommel sword slashed across the opponent's waist and abdomen!

"Brothers! Slaughter these damned overseers! Those who don't want to die in vain, come with me to join the General of the Cavalry! Go and live—!!"

This roar of "Survive!" was like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the clouds of despair that had enveloped the hearts of the soldiers who had come with Chen Mao!

"You scoundrel! How dare you!!" Cao Hong's personal guard sergeant was filled with shock and anger. Chen Mao had really rebelled!

"Chen Mao has rebelled! Kill him! Kill this traitor!!"

While desperately parrying Chen Mao's relentless attacks, the squad leader of the personal guard roared angrily at his personal guards and the stunned Cao army soldiers.

However, not everyone obeyed his orders, and after a brief silence, chaos erupted!
With Chen Mao breaking the first window, naturally the rest of the 'sheep' followed suit.

The Cao army soldiers, who were already filled with fear and under immense pressure, and were on the verge of collapse, suddenly became restless as if they had found their only way out!

The cry for survival acted as a catalyst!
The instinct for survival overwhelmed the habitual reverence for military law at this moment!
"Kill them! Slaughter these death-reaping ghosts!!"

"They've rebelled! Not rebelling is also a dead end!!"

"Hail the General! We want to live!!"

"Fight them!!"

Chaos erupted like a plague in an instant in the narrow riverbank reeds!
The panicked soldiers found a common enemy, turned their spears, their eyes red, and roared as they rushed toward the dozen or so Cao Hong's personal guards who were equally astonished and trying to suppress them!

Once, a single personal guard could silence hundreds of ordinary Cao soldiers, but now these personal guards were quickly surrounded, and even their superior armor was of no use.

Cao Hong's personal guard sergeant roared repeatedly and slashed down two Cao soldiers who tried to ambush him from the side, but two fists are no match for four hands, especially in this narrow reed thicket where it was difficult to move around.

Just as he parried Chen Mao's knife and stabbed a soldier who rushed at him, a spear, which appeared out of nowhere and by whom, pierced his ribs with a whooshing sound!
"Ugh—!"

The excruciating pain caused him to freeze abruptly, and his body involuntarily bent over.

Chen Mao roared and slashed his ring-pommel sword hard at the neck of the guard sergeant!
*Pfft!*

The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh and cutting through bone is sickening.

Scalding blood gushed out like a fountain, and the head drew a tragic arc in the moonlight.

The head of the guard sergeant leaped into the air, his wide-open eyes seemingly filled with confusion, perhaps even some resentment and anger. After all, the sheepdog had been gored to death by a sheep, a disgrace to dogs...

With the death of the squad leader, the remaining guards who were supervising the battle were quickly cut down by the swarming soldiers. They were hacked to the ground with swords and spears, and were instantly turned into a bloody mess.

The battle ended very quickly, lasting only a few dozen breaths, but it was exceptionally brutal and bloody.

On the riverbank, twenty or thirty corpses lay scattered about.

The pungent, overwhelming stench of blood mingled with the fishy smell of the river, creating a nauseating odor that permeated the night air.

The surviving Cao army soldiers, including Chen Mao, were breathing heavily, their chests heaving like bellows. Their eyes were filled with the bewilderment of someone who had survived a catastrophe, and the lingering fear after their outburst of anger…

And a sense of disorientation at being freed from constraints.

They need to find a new "flock," something a little better than the current one...

Chen Mao tossed aside the blood-stained, slightly chipped ring-pommel sword with a soft clang.

He looked down at the headless corpse of Cao Hong's personal guard sergeant at his feet, then looked up into the distance.

The cavalry camp had clearly been alerted by the sounds of fighting here!
More torches were lit and moved like stars, while sharp, piercing sirens blared incessantly, echoing from afar.

Chen Mao gritted his teeth, squatted down, and roughly tore open the relatively clean inner lining of the body of the guard squad leader.

Cao Hong's personal guards were indeed well treated. The lining of their clothes was made of fine linen. Although it was stained with blood, it was still a rare "cleanliness" compared to the filthy and tattered clothes worn by these low-ranking soldiers, whose original color was no longer visible.

He forcefully tore off a large, relatively intact piece of fine white linen and quickly tied it to the tip of a spear.

A tattered, blood-stained white flag was hastily made.

"Discard your weapons! Everyone, discard your weapons!"

Chen Mao gave a hoarse command, raising the makeshift white flag high, "Those who want to live, follow me! Come with me! We'll go and serve the General of the Cavalry!"

He stopped looking at the corpses on the ground, turned around, and walked out of the reeds with increasingly unsteady but determined steps, heading towards the brightly lit camp of the cavalry.

The remaining hundred or so Cao soldiers didn't have many thoughts. Driven by their survival instinct, they rushed to discard the weapons stained with the blood of their comrades or the supervising officers.

They followed the figure holding a simple white flag, silently and staggering, covered in blood and mud, toward the camp of the Flying Cavalry, which they had once regarded as rebels and had slandered, despised, and even ridiculed behind their backs.

At this moment, what they had feared before has become their only way out in the darkness...

……

……

On the city wall of Gongxian, Cao Hong paced back and forth anxiously, his heavy combat boots making a jumbled sound as they trod on the broken bricks.

An ominous premonition, like a cold vine, tightened its grip.

"Report—General! Something terrible has happened! General!!" A scout, drenched in sweat, stumbled and crawled up the city wall like a defeated dog, then knelt before Cao Hong with a thud. His voice was filled with fear, "Something...something has happened! Chen...Chen Sima...he...he led his men and...killed...killed the supervising captain and all the brothers! He...he rebelled! He took the rest of his men...and surrendered to the traitors!!"

"What?!" Cao Hong was stunned for a moment, then felt a surge of anger rising within him, causing him to feel dizzy. "How...how dare he?!"

Chen Mao has always been very honest.

They are not talkative in daily life, and belong to the type who work quietly but do not know how to please people.

Therefore, when Cao Hong drew lots, he intentionally let Chen Mao, or a few others like Chen Mao, be selected.

This is basic stuff.

Moreover, Cao Hong had heard some of Chen Mao's soldiers complaining at night, so he sent Chen Mao to his death in order to quell the resentment in the army and reduce future problems.

What's wrong with that?

Cao Hong believed that Chen Mao "should" continue to obediently follow orders and go to his death...

After all, no matter how many times they broke their promises or how many times they oppressed others, they never resisted, did they?

Why this time...?

Cao Hong had a headache.

Cao Hong sent Chen Mao on a night raid, not expecting it to succeed, and certain that some soldiers would be captured or taken prisoner...

That's right.

Cao Hong intended to lure a group of cavalrymen to launch a "night raid".

Cao Hong originally planned that among these soldiers sent out, the Flying Cavalry would surely be able to gather some information, and then the Flying Cavalry might retaliate...

Cao Hongzhen never expected that Chen Mao would betray them without even fighting, as soon as he left the city!

Chen Mao, that traitor!

Drawing lots...

Supervising the battle...

His seemingly foolproof control ultimately turned out to be the greatest irony and betrayal!
Cao Hong took a deep breath of acorn jelly and calmed himself down.

Although the plan did deviate somewhat, the bait has been "cast" in a nutshell. Whether it will have any lasting effect and catch any fish depends on how the cavalry responds...