Thief Emperor

Chapter 399: Division and Partition

Guanzhong.

As the Hedong Jiedushi and a local volunteer army entered Guanzhong, the rebels suffered repeated defeats and have now been forced to retreat into the capital.

It is worth mentioning that it was not the Hedong Army and the Yi Army that had just entered Guanzhong, nor the Fanyang Army that was still on the way, that defeated the rebels on the battlefield, but the Shuofang Army.

With the arrival of these volunteer forces, the Shuofang Army, which had been making no progress against the rebels in Guanzhong, seemed to have divine help and won several victories in succession, making the rebels completely helpless.

Today, the remaining hundreds of thousands of rebel troops have been driven into the capital by the Shuofang Army, and may face siege at any time.

At this time in the capital, the Great Qi Emperor Wang Junping, wearing an imperial crown, was looking gloomily at the general Li Min who was kneeling in front of him.

He slammed the table hard and cursed angrily: "Waste, good-for-nothing!"

"They robbed money and women like wolves and tigers."

The Great Qi Emperor slapped the table and shouted angrily, "When you really got on the battlefield and saw the Shuofang Army, your legs became weak. How could you be defeated by the Shuofang Army of 4,000 people with more than 10,000 soldiers, nearly 20,000?!"

"There were more than 10,000 people, but only 2,000 to 3,000 returned. So many people died outside. Why the hell didn't you die outside?"

The "Emperor of Great Qi" scolded them harshly. The general Li Min also looked innocent. He lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, those Shuofang troops are really fierce when they fight. They also have organized cavalry. Our people have no ability to resist them at all."

"We are all infantrymen. When we encounter these cavalrymen with top-notch archery skills, we have no choice but to retreat to the city and defend it!"

"It's not that I'm afraid of fighting, it's just that I can't fight any further."

He looked up at Wang Junping, also a little annoyed: "Your Majesty has been in rebellion for so long, and you haven't even trained a cavalry battalion! How can we, the people under us, deal with the cavalry of the Shuofang Army!"

The Emperor of Great Qi was furious when he saw that his subordinate dared to talk back to him. In addition, he was also confused by the internal and external troubles at the moment, so he thought of killing someone to establish his authority, so he slammed the table fiercely.
"You have committed such a heinous crime, yet you still dare to disobey me!"

He waved his hand and shouted, "Without strict laws, there is no army. Come, help me take him down and execute him!"

Wang Junping was a man who was able to rise to prominence in troubled times, so he must have some ability. Now he lives in the palace, and the guards inside and outside the palace are all his confidants. After hearing the order, the guards immediately stepped forward and suppressed Li Min.

The generals at the side all stepped forward to plead for Li Min, but the Great Qi Emperor had a cold face and shouted: "Li Min's defeat in battle is a serious crime, and he also offended me. His crime is unforgivable."

"If we don't enforce the law, where is the dignity of the Great Qi?"

After saying that, he waved his hand, and several of his cronies quickly dragged Li Min out, and killed him with a single knife without any judicial process.

The Emperor of Da Qi sat on the throne, looking at his subordinates, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, now it is a matter of life and death, we must enforce discipline and law. We are all brothers who have fought together all the way. Everyone must contribute their strength and do their best. Otherwise, if I, Wang, don't take action, the Wu Zhou court will never let us go!"

At this moment, they were in the palace. Although everyone was resentful, they did not dare to vent their anger. They could only bow their heads and salute Wang Junping: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Wang Junping sat on the imperial throne and muttered a few more words, then dismissed everyone. After all the generals had left one after another, he still sat on the imperial throne, looking at the direction where the generals were going, and squinted his eyes.

He knew very well that some of his generals no longer obeyed him.

The reason is very simple. Ever since the Shuofang Army was defeated, our side has been losing battles. After so many defeats, everyone has lost their spirit.

Most generals are well aware that this so-called Great Qi...will not last long.

Even Wang Junping himself saw this very clearly.

It was because of this that he ascended the throne and became emperor under such circumstances.

He rebelled in order to become emperor one day. Even if he could only wear the dragon robe for one day, it would be considered a fulfillment of his wish.

"cavalry?"

The Great Qi Emperor sat alone on the throne and clenched his fists: "Can you do it?"

"Find faults and disobey orders."

The Great Qi Emperor looked up at the sky and murmured, "My spirit has been dispersed."

The prerequisite for training a cavalry is to have horses, and they must be trained war horses. This alone made it difficult for them.

Even though he had seized some horses from the imperial court, he had been fighting wars everywhere for two years and had no time to train a qualified cavalry. Everyone under his command was aware of this.

Li Min's words were already questioning his authority, so Li Min had to die.

After sitting in silence for a while, the Emperor of Da Qi stepped down from the throne and called over a few trembling eunuchs.

"Go, pass on the order. I want ten beauties to serve me today."

Several eunuchs were former palace servants of Wu Zhou. If it was the emperor of Great Zhou who was in person, they might have offered some advice and asked the emperor to take care of his health. However, facing this traitorous emperor, these eunuchs dared not say a word and quickly lowered their heads.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After that, they retreated in a hurry.

Not long after, more than a dozen young and beautiful women came to the Emperor of Da Qi's bedroom and sat around Wang Junping.

Among them were daughters of the royal family of Wu Zhou, daughters of high-ranking officials and nobles, and even legitimate daughters of aristocratic families.

At this moment, they all gathered around the Emperor of Daqi, singing and dancing under the threat of swords. Wang Junping pinched the face of the beauty beside him, closed his eyes, and enjoyed this fairy moment.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind.

I...didn’t lose out!

…………

After Li Min's defeat, the capital was almost surrounded by the Shuofang Army, and even the food supply was cut off. Wang Junping kept sending generals out of the city to try to reopen the food supply route, but was beaten back by the Shuofang Army again and again.

The Emperor of Great Qi was furious and killed four or five generals within half a month.

As a result, the entire "Great Qi Court" was silent and everyone was in danger.

In a restaurant in the capital, a group of generals gathered together. Jia Fu, the prime minister of the Great Qi, sat in the main seat and was surrounded by a group of generals who toasted him.

"Mr. Jia, give me some advice!"

A strong man with a big beard drank a glass of wine and couldn't help saying: "You are our military advisor and the one with the most ideas among us. If you continue like this, all the old brothers will be killed by him one by one!"

As soon as he said this, the other generals echoed him and clamored for Jia Fu to give advice.

"Yes."

Another tall and thin man said in a deep voice: "He lies on a woman's belly every day, but he wants us to go out and fight with the government troops. If we don't fight well, we will be beheaded at any time!"

"There is no such truth!"

After drinking a glass of wine, Jia Xianggong slammed the table fiercely and said angrily: "Jia is loyal to Your Majesty, how can I give advice to people like you who have evil intentions!"

"If we don't share the same ideals, we can't make plans together!"

"Let's go our separate ways!"

After saying that, Mr. Jia turned away.

All the generals looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering why Mr. Jia, who was usually very popular among the generals, suddenly turned against everyone today.

However, some smarter generals looked around at the people present and seemed to have realized something. They didn't eat, picked up their weapons, and went back home obediently.

That night, several generals quietly appeared in Mr. Jia's house, and they had secret conversations late at night.

The situation in the capital, or rather the situation within the rebels...

The undercurrent is raging.

At the same time, Xiao Heng, the son of Xiao Xian, the governor of Fanyang, and Li Gao, the son of Li Tong, the governor of Hedong, had already arrived at the camp of the Shuofang army on horseback with their respective guards.

Wei Yao, the son of the governor of Shuofang, personally welcomed the two major generals and invited them to the tent of General Wei.

When General Wei saw the two young men, he was very enthusiastic and invited them into the tent with a smile on his face.

The two major generals were also very polite. After seeing Wei Quanzhong, they bowed their heads and saluted, calling him "General".

Wei Quanzhong had already prepared a banquet and invited the two men to sit down. After they were seated, he smiled and said, "My two nephews, you must have had a hard time on the journey."

"I offer a toast to my two nephews."

The two major generals said they dared not to do so. After a glass of wine, Fanyang Army Major General Xiao Heng looked at General Wei and said with a smile, "I heard that the general has won battle after battle in Guanzhong, and the rebels have been defeated and retreated to the capital. I think it won't take long for the capital to be recovered and Your Majesty can return to the capital."

"The general has made outstanding contributions in suppressing the rebellion this time."

The major general smiled and said, "Such achievements will surely go down in history in the future."

Wei Quanzhong shook his head and sighed, "It is my fault that I failed to stop the rebels from entering Guanzhong, which led to my father's western tour."

After saying this, he looked at the two young men, changed the subject, and said with a smile: "But the rebels really won't be able to jump around for a few days. Brother Li from Hedong has already led his troops into Guanzhong. With the assistance of the Hedong Army and the rebel army, the capital will be able to recover soon."

He looked at Xiao Heng and said with a smile: "The Fanyang Army has come all the way from Youzhou. This journey of thousands of miles is really too much effort. According to the current situation, my nephew can go back and tell Brother Xiao that the Fanyang Army does not need to continue to come."

"Guanzhong is no longer in danger."

General Wei smiled and said, "By the time of this year, the rebels will be wiped out, and the court will be restored to order."

Major General Xiao Heng shook his head slightly: "General, my father will be able to reach Guanzhong in another month. My father came here on the order of His Majesty to enter Guanzhong to serve the king."

"I have not yet seen His Majesty to report..."

Xiao Heng looked up at Wei Quanzhong and toasted him with a glass of wine with a smile.

"How can my father come back?"

(End of this chapter)