Long Live Money in Anime Crossover

"Actually, I don't understand why you insisted on bringing me here. The new general will take office tomorrow, and we'll all be appointed under him and continue to serve the emperor, right? Why did you bring me here today?"

Jiang Shang remained calm, perhaps because he was no longer young and seemed to have taken everything in stride. However, the military commanders below him were all in their thirties or forties, in the prime of their lives. Looking at Jiang Shang's calm demeanor, they seemed hesitant to speak.

"grown ups!"

Hong Gu stood up and said, "Actually, you gentlemen are feeling indignant on behalf of Lord Jiang. Originally, it was one thing for us to have a powerful eunuch controlling military affairs, and everyone would listen to you, my lord, and outwardly appease the powerful eunuch while continuing to be loyal to the emperor."

"But now, the Grand Eunuch has been executed for treason, and our Emperor has regained power. Shouldn't it be the perfect time for you, Lord Jiang, to become a general and lead everyone to continue protecting the Emperor?"

"Lord Jiang has worked hard and made great contributions over the years. Based on his achievements, he should have been awarded the position of general long ago. But now the emperor has suddenly sent down a woman to be a general... How can we accept this?"

Jiang Shang glanced at Hong Gu, his eyes suddenly sharpening, and said, "You are Hong Gu, aren't you? These are the words you chose to say to me?"

Hong Gu was taken aback, seemingly not expecting the captain to suddenly ask him such a question. His face flushed red instantly, and his original eloquence turned into stammering.

"Hmph," Jiang Shang snorted a few times and said, "You guys have been with me for so many years, I know what you're thinking. Just tell me what you have to say. Don't you big brothers feel ashamed to let a new brother be your mouthpiece?"

Seeing that Jiang Shang had revealed the truth in one sentence, Hong Gu was dumbfounded, and the captains of the Imperial Guards were also ashamed. They stood up one by one and said, "Your subordinates know their crime!"

"Alright, everyone's here today, and we were just chatting like family. Now that we're all working together, we're all family here too."

Upon hearing this, the captains from both Air Force divisions stood up and bowed to Jiang Shang, the veteran officer.

"I'll pretend today's events never happened, and I understand what you're thinking. Let me just say this: I'm not in this position for long, so don't worry about me taking your place."

"Master Jiang!"

Several captains of the Imperial Guard, along with Hong Gu, hurriedly stood up and said, "That's not what we meant, we..."

"Alright, alright, so what? I understand that you are young and energetic and want to advance further. I didn't say that you are disloyal to the emperor or that you want to kick me out."

Author's Note:

Fourth update, sorry it's past midnight...

The number of recommendation votes has reached 5000. There will still be four updates today. The next update will be 5500.

079 The Charm of an Elderly Person

The officers looked at each other, somewhat confused, wondering what their old superior was going to say.

“I know what you’re thinking. Right now, the chief eunuch has confessed his crimes and accepted punishment. The only remaining loyal chief eunuch has also had his official status as a eunuch removed by His Majesty the Emperor. He has been treated as an ordinary person and given the position of prime minister.”

"Do you feel that the decline of the Chinese Empire has finally come to an end, and that we veterans who have been suppressed for more than ten or twenty years have finally had our day to rise?"

Several military officers nodded, and one of them said, "I didn't expect that you, sir, have seen it all and understand it so well. Please enlighten us, sir, on what... we should do?"

Jiang Shang smiled slightly, stroked his beard, and said, "It's good that you young people are energetic, but don't forget that we are the emperor's personal guard and must always obey the emperor's orders."

"Obeying the emperor is our fundamental duty. If we forget this fundamental duty because of our ambition to achieve great things, then we should not stay in the Imperial Guard."

Hearing the old captain's sudden serious tone, the group stood up again and said, "Sir, we know we were wrong."

"It's good that you admit your mistake."

Jiang Shang's serious expression turned peaceful again, and he said, "Therefore, when a new general takes office, as long as she is appointed by the emperor and the emperor trusts her, then she is my general, and we must obey her orders and continue to serve the emperor."

Upon hearing this, the military officers exchanged glances. This time, they did not continue to object, but instead said in unison, "Yes."

"If you can listen to my advice, then you still respect me. The above is me advising you, and now I'm going to explain the reasons why I asked you to do this."

"Please enlighten me, Lord Jiang."

Jiang Shang nodded and said, "You are still too young. Do you understand what I mean? Let me tell you, I have been through countless battles and seen a lot! I know almost everything about the Chinese Empire, big and small."

"You must understand that the Chinese Empire not only has an emperor, but also various treacherous warlord families. Those old foxes are far superior to you, yet I can still chat and laugh with them."

"So, you still need to improve your skills and broaden your horizons, you know? I'm worried about you too, really. You have one advantage, which is that you're young and daring."

"But here's the problem: you're all still too young and naive, understand?"

Several military officers nodded as if they understood, looking at the old captain Jiang Shang. They saw the demeanor of an elder on the old captain's kind face, which immediately filled them with respect.

"Now for the important part. You must understand that although His Majesty the Emperor has punished those mad eunuchs, don't forget that the eunuchs are just a minor problem for the Emperor. The Emperor's real troubles have always been those lawless guys who hold military power in the provinces."

When it came to the local warlord families, the emperor's personal guards, who shared the same hatred as the old emperor, all showed expressions of resentment on their faces.

"If I ever have the chance... I will definitely send all these traitors to the guillotine!"

Hong Gu gritted his teeth, clearly extremely resentful of these things. This statement, which could have been considered treasonous, elicited a chorus of "That's right!" from everyone around him.

"Well, it's good that you all have this intention, but did you see that this time His Majesty the Emperor not only had his mind, but he took action."

"Make a move?"

Everyone was taken aback.

"So, you're all still too young. We don't need to concern ourselves with the politics of the court, but we need to figure things out for ourselves."

"Gao Hai erased his identity as a eunuch and resigned from his position as the chief eunuch, yet he rose to the position of prime minister. What does this mean?"

"The name 'Yaolong Pavilion' alone is treasonous. It was originally the territory of those local guys, but now, His Majesty the Emperor has, through some means, at least temporarily, taken control of Yaolong Pavilion and forcibly elevated Hai to the throne."

"What does this mean? It means that the emperor is finally going to do something about those guys in the provinces."

The military officers' expressions of surprise deepened. They hadn't expected this at all; they had simply treated Gao Hai's promotion to prime minister as news.

"Could it be..."

Hong Gu paused for a moment, then said, "His Majesty the Emperor is going to take action against the local bastards...?"

The crowd still couldn't believe it. Although they kept saying they would send the local traitors to the executioner's block sooner or later, they also knew very well that the Luoyang Military Region was only capable of self-defense. The idea of ​​going out of Luoyang to attack other regions was a joke.

The military strength of the two sides is completely disproportionate.

"It wasn't necessarily His Majesty the Emperor who took action."

Jiang Shang shook his head, frowned, and said, "I naturally don't know the specifics of what happened. I can only tell you from my experience that there will definitely be major changes coming."

"Think about it, the coup by the chief eunuchs is suspicious in itself. We also know the truth of that day. The coup by the chief eunuchs was very hasty, and it seems that, just as the public announcement said, they were forced by the Qilin Talent."

Everyone nodded, and another military officer said, "This time we are really grateful to the talented Qilin. If it weren't for him, we probably wouldn't have been able to react when the eunuchs made their move so suddenly."

“But there’s still something fishy about this,” Jiang Shang continued. “Logically speaking, unless the chief eunuch has gone mad, he couldn’t possibly do such a thing. You all know those eunuchs; they are unrighteous, disloyal, and unfilial, but they are still very cunning.”

"They probably wouldn't have done such a thing if there weren't significant benefits or enough temptation."

The soldiers gasped, as if they understood something.

"It seems everyone has also realized that there must be something fishy going on here. Moreover, considering His Majesty's recent series of actions, including appointing Gao Hai and establishing a special response force, I think..."

Jiang Shang removed his hand from his beard, clenched his fist, and said, "There must be some dirty deal involved. Perhaps the eunuchs were bribed by those local guys to do this."

"Now that the matter has been exposed, the Emperor has reached his limit and is finally going to have a showdown with the local authorities. Do you understand what this means?"

The confusion in the eyes of the officers vanished, replaced by a sharp gaze. They stood up in unison, their expressions radiating the aura of a hardened military force.

"war!"

Jiang Shang nodded in satisfaction and said, "Therefore, now is not the time to think about making meritorious achievements. What we should think about is protecting our country and being loyal to the emperor. If all this is over and we are lucky enough to still be alive, the emperor will definitely not be stingy with his rewards."

"Which one of you here hasn't struggled to survive, sometimes eating a full meal and sometimes going hungry? If it weren't for the emperor, perhaps very few of us here would be alive today."

"I will never forget the Emperor's kindness!"

"We swear to protect His Majesty the Emperor to the death!"

Jiang Shang gestured for everyone to sit down and said, "It's good that everyone understands this point. Now let's get back to the new female general. Since this is the emperor's order, the emperor must have his reasons. Whether this female general is exceptionally brave or the emperor has special intentions, we should all obey the emperor's decree."

“She’s just a woman,” Hong Gu said, scratching his head. “How strong can she be?”

"That's not right. I've told you all before, don't just bury your heads in the sand like a bunch of ordinary soldiers. Open your eyes, look around, see the world, and be soldiers with brains!"

Jiang Shang shook his head and said, "You all know about the powerful Britannia right now, right? Their emperor was able to survive because one of his queens protected him while he conquered the world. Don't underestimate women. Our Chinese Empire has no shortage of female generals in its history."

"So, does Your Excellency mean... that I will obey this female general's orders in everything?"

Jiang Shang thought for a few seconds, smiled slightly, and said, "I know everyone is dissatisfied, and that's understandable. After all, you're all grown men at home, and suddenly asking us to listen to a woman is bound to make everyone resentful."

Everyone burst into laughter. This wasn't meant to mock Artoria, who hadn't yet taken office; it was just that Jiang Shang's words had spoken everyone's true feelings and exposed their ulterior motives.

“Military orders must be obeyed, otherwise our personal guards would be meaningless. However…”

Jiang Shang changed the subject, saying, "As a manifestation of military spirit and as an old tradition of our Chinese Empire, we can obey her military orders, but if she wants us to be truly convinced, she will have to show her real skills."

"If she doesn't have real skills, then obeying her is actually obeying the emperor; but if she does have real skills..."

Jiang Shang suddenly laughed, pointed at the young officers present, and said, "Then this young female general will teach you a lesson and let you know that some women are not to be trifled with."

The crowd continued to laugh. Jiang Shang's words were clear: in principle, everyone had to obey Artoria and the Emperor's orders, but they could demonstrate their power to Artoria and give her a taste of her power.

Next, amidst Jiang Shang's helpless shake of his head, all the soldiers seemed to have their interest piqued. They were discussing how to give Artoria a dignified warning.

After all, Artoria is a woman, and it wouldn't be good to push her too hard.

However, a sudden knock on the door silenced everyone instinctively.

Who is it?

Jiang Shang asked.

“It is I, sir, Zhou Xianglin.”

Jiang Shang nodded and laughed, "Those who just said women are no good, you'd better beat my personal guards first, then we'll talk about Zhou Xianglin."

The sergeants who had just been laughing froze. Although Zhou Xianglin was a woman, she was the kind of woman who was not to be trifled with.

Author's Note:

PS: Thanks to No Blowing and No Blackening Little Oil Stick, Magical Alpaca, and Moqiu for their 1500 points each, and thanks to Book Guest Back Tower, Sister-Conqueror's White, We're Just Loli-Con, and Lucky Emperor's Beloved Wind Dies of Yi Da for their 100 points each!

Thank you to the following users for their monthly ticket support: Shuke Beita, firefox, regnenyu, Baizhuan Chaosi, Beifeng Siji Yida, Xixingji Kuroro, Bingling, No. 9 White Mouse, Sky, Chenxi, Babai Lunlu, Shenqi Yangtuo, Moqiu, and Hehejun!

First update~

80. Forgive my bluntness, but everyone here is trash.

At present, Zhou Xianglin is just Jiang Shang's personal guard. She has a deep connection with Jiang Shang and was brought to his side for education and training because Jiang Shang valued her talent.

Despite being a woman, Zhou Xianglin has made a small name for herself through her own abilities. At least for now, none of the captains and military officers dare to say they can definitely defeat her.

The only one who could possibly defeat her was probably Li Xingke, who had recently been promoted for his merits and was now serving under Gao Hai.

Although Li Xingke came from an ordinary background, he was already quite famous when he was just a prison guard, but he never had the opportunity to be promoted.