Hearing the urgent news from Flying Phoenix Pass, Yang Yinglong stopped chewing.
His hand loosened, and the fragrant roasted wild boar leg fell to the ground, stained with dust. Even if he picked it up immediately, he could not continue eating.
Of course, Yang Yinglong was not in the mood to continue eating. Such a terrible thing had happened, and he was not in the mood to continue eating.
He sat on the ground in a daze, not even in the mood to stand up. His heart was beating wildly, and his mind was in a mess. There were only two words echoing in his mind — Why?
At this moment, Zheng Ying was standing on the thirty-six steps of Flying Tiger Pass, strolling leisurely. Looking at the blood stains on the ground, he felt a little emotional.
"A general's success is built on the bones of tens of thousands. Zi You, do you think the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers in exchange for our achievements is worth it?"
Zheng Ying threw this probing topic to his chief of staff Zhou Bin.
Zhou Bin followed behind Zheng Ying and took a deep breath.
"A general's success is built on the bones of tens of thousands. This is something that can't be avoided since ancient times. Instead of worrying about the number of soldiers who died in battle, it's better to imagine that the local people can live a peaceful life after the rebellion is quelled. They don't have to worry about the chaos of war anymore.
Zheng Ying sighed and nodded.
"That's right. A worthy death is a worthy death. This time, didn't everyone die a worthy death?"
"Of course, because the Sea Dragon Fort is already under our control."
Looking at Zhou Bin's confident face, Zheng Ying smiled.
"Don't be so confident. We haven't taken Flying Phoenix Pass yet. We've been planning for so long, and we're just short of this last pass."
"Yang Yinglong is probably still daydreaming in Wan An Pass!"
Zhou Bin sneered. "How could he know that we've been building a plank road on the surface, but secretly sneaking in? Our goal has never been Wan An Pass, but here. Yet, he's gathered his main force there, focusing on the front and not the back. What a joke, but …"
"But what?"
Zheng Ying asked.
"But on this matter, Zheng Shuai hid it from everyone. Although we've made a great contribution, I'm afraid there are still a few generals who are resentful, not to mention Song Seong-eun and An Jiangchen. We've calculated all of them."
"Those generals don't matter. They're all my old acquaintances. They'll be counted when we calculate the credit. As for An, Song, and the five departments and seven families …"
A cold light flashed in Zheng Ying's eyes, "Zi You, I've never trusted them, let alone cooperated with them to carry out a scheme. I don't trust any of Madam An, Madam Song, or the rest of the Chieftains. I've never seen them as friends. They're my enemies, and I'll eliminate them sooner or later.
We can treat our friends with sincerity, but we should make good use of our enemies. Otherwise, we would be letting down our resources and medicinal herbs. In fact, they should feel lucky because they still have value to be used. "
"Zheng Shuai is right," Zhou Bin sneered.
"In fact, according to the report of our informants, An and Song have a lot of complaints about us not allowing them to burn, kill, and loot. They sent troops this time. They said they didn't want anything, but in fact, they wanted benefits. They didn't expect that we really didn't give them anything."
"His Majesty said that these chieftains are all ingrates. They're afraid of power but not virtuous. They can't be fed well. Since they can't be fed well, we might as well not feed them. Anyway, it'll only be a year or two. They're all grasshoppers after autumn, and they won't last long."
Zheng Ying said slowly, "Song Seong-eun is reasonable. He's not as cunning as An Jiangchen. He knows to cooperate with Daqin with all his strength. But it's not easy to deceive him. We need to make up a seemingly useful strategy.
As for An Jiangchen, if An Jiangchen knows about this and asks him to do it, he will definitely make preparations and try to get benefits from Yang Yinglong. Therefore, An Jiangchen must not know about this. But it doesn't matter now. "
"Now the overall situation has been settled. There won't be any more waves. The chieftains' troops have lost a lot, and they won't have the strength to fight against the army. In my opinion, we might as well wipe them all out here. That'll save us a lot of trouble."
Zhou Bin put forward his own suggestion.
Zheng Ying shook his head again and again.
"It's easy to wipe out these people, but what about after that? They still have a lot of power in their own territory. They have families and other complicated relationships. We have to spend more time to deal with them. Not only the whole of Bozhou, but also the whole of Guizhou will be the enemy. The imperial court of Daqin will be demonized and lose trust. Can you cope with it? "
Zhou Bin thought about it and felt that he thought too simply.
"I misspoke."
Zheng Ying slowly said, "His Majesty has already made arrangements for these things. What we need to do now is to maintain the reputation of Daqin in Bozhou and Guizhou, including the whole southwest. We need to establish a fair and strict image of the imperial court of Daqin and win the trust of the people. Then, it's up to that bastard Xie He's means."
"Xie He …"
Zhou Bin pursed his lips.
This famous big shot was only a doctor in the imperial court, but who dared to look down on him?
"Isn't he in Liaodong?"
Zhou Bin still had a lingering fear when talking about him.
"He is in Liaodong, but the Five Tiger Generals he left behind are still in Jiangnan. Those five people are his capable assistants. It is said that one of them can clean up the gentry and tyrants of a province. They are all reincarnated from the ghost servants of Yama."
Zheng Ying said with a smile, "With these five people, none of the five provinces of Guangxi, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan can escape. His Majesty's goal this time is very big. He wants to wipe out the central forces of Western and Southern Africa in one fell swoop and completely control the whole of Jiangnan. Then he will go north and start to clean up the north.
It is said that in order to deal with these chieftains, Xie He has long sent people to these places to do business, understand the inside story, train officials who can speak the local dialect, and buy off all kinds of discord. He has a well-thought-out plan. Once the land reform starts, he can immediately make the chieftains in these places fall into chaos. "
"It's terrible. These gentry and tyrants have divided the family property of several generations just like that. These chieftains are even worse. Their family property of hundreds of years is probably gone just like that. Zheng Shuai, how do you think those people incite those farmers? They are all crazy."
Zhou Bin looked at Zheng Ying.
Zheng Ying thought of Xie He's glorious battle that he witnessed with his own eyes. He saw with his own eyes how Xie He forced the Wang family of Taicang to the point of taking the initiative to separate. He sighed and shook his head.
"Have you forgotten how you used to starve to the point of death?"
"…"
Zhou Bin was stunned for a moment and shook his head. "I dare not forget."
"Isn't that enough? You were hungry and cold and almost starved to death. You didn't meet the gentry and tyrants who eat fish and meat. At this time, you were saved by His Majesty. If you met them, you would probably be crazier than them. But this is how the world is. After great chaos, there will be great order. Don't worry, the days in the future will get better and better. "
Zheng Ying waved his hand and quickened his pace to Longhu Avenue.
Zhou Bin did not hesitate and quickly followed Zheng Ying's footsteps.
On the evening of the 19th day of the first lunar month of the second year of Longwu, Feifeng Pass was breached. The vanguard of the Qin Army, Qi Dayong, led his troops out of Feifeng Pass and went straight to Yang Yinglong's lair.
PS: The doctor was right. It did hurt more in the morning, but it was just a flesh wound. There was no other problem. In the future, you should be more careful. Don't look left and right on the road. This time, I was lucky. I was hit by a plastic pipe. Two pieces of my clothes were ruined and I suffered some flesh pain. If it were cement or iron, I would probably be over. Everyone, take this as a warning.
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