Chapter 531: Rebel Official
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But how could that be easy?
Although the West Xia army had retreated a little, they still left behind many soldiers to defend the cities that they had already captured. Coupled with the rebels everywhere, it could be said that the entire Great Zhou was engulfed in the flames of war.
General Yuan was worried about the country and the people, but the Emperor was elated. He did not expect Qi Xiuyuan’s plan to really work. This way, they would have manpower to deploy.
Almost immediately, the Emperor ordered General Yuan to transfer half of his men to Qi Xiuyuan and let him personally lead the troops to quell the rebellion.
General Yuan frowned, feeling that this was too risky since this would mean there were too few soldiers left at the border.
Qi Xiuyuan also frowned. His foundation was in Xingzhou Prefecture, Hanzhong Prefecture, and Jingzhao Prefecture. If he left with his troops, General Yuan’s men would be put in charge of guarding the three prefectures. Wouldn’t that place his rear under General Yuan’s nose?
Therefore, when General Yuan submitted the memorial to voice his objections, Qi Xiuyuan also submitted a memorial. At this time, Emperor Jingyan didn’t want to fall out with the two of them, so he was very tolerant of them. After receiving the memorials and discussing it with the officials, he compromised. He would halve the number of men transferred from General Yuan’s side. Qi Xiuyuan could also leave half of his men behind to guard the Jingzhao Prefecture and bring the rest back to suppress the rebellion.
General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan agreed and began to deploy their troops.
At this moment, Qi Haoran had already taken over more than ten counties in the south, a pretty respectable speed. The Emperor was very satisfied with Qi Haoran because he was not as perfunctory as the other generals and instead worked very hard to recover the cities.
Just as the Emperor was about to praise him and promote him as a way to appease Qi Xiuyuan, he turned around and faced the West Xia army that was left behind. Qi Haoran led his army to attack the cities that were occupied by West Xia and crazily refused to let go of the West Xia army. In just two days, they took back three county cities. When the Emperor received the news, Qi Haoran was sending troops to besiege another county.
Emperor Jingyan was so furious that he fell backward. West Xia had to retreat some of their troops because of the war in their country. Their remaining troops only defended the cities they had conquered and did not attack again.
After a discussion with the ministers, they decided to first quell the rebellion before thinking of a way to take back the cities that had been occupied by West Xia. If it didn’t work, they would negotiate again.
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Since the West Xia army was no longer attacking, why did Qi Haoran provoke them? Wasn’t this bringing trouble to the Great Zhou?
Emperor Jingyan was so angry that he gritted his teeth and asked the messenger, “Why did Qi Haoran disobey the decree? I asked him to eliminate the bandits, not to attack West Xia. Can’t he tell the difference between the bandits and the Hu people?”
The messenger was only in charge of communicating and was almost always on the road, so he really didn’t know why Assistant Commander Qi disobeyed the decree. He could only lower his head and pretend to be a quail.
However, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue stumbled in. He lay on the ground and cried, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the West Xia army slaughtered Jiayuan County. Not a single person in the county and the countryside below was spared. 100,000 people were killed just like that. Even the old, weak, women, and children were not spared. Your Majesty—”
Emperor Jingyan’s face turned pale. He sat on the throne and asked with a dry voice, “Has the news spread?”
“Not yet, but we can’t hide it. Jiayuan County is the outermost county occupied by West Xia…”
“Your Majesty, this explains why Assistant Commander Qi is fighting with the West Xia army now.”
“General Qi did not do anything wrong in this matter. Your Majesty, if we don’t react to this matter, I’m afraid the commoners will be bitterly disappointed. It won’t be beneficial to quell the rebellion at all. Please forgive Assistant Commander Qi, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor asked dryly, “Then what if West Xia attacks again?”
As soon as the palace fell silent, Yan Du stood up and asked, “Your Majesty, if we give in to West Xia, does that mean they will stop massacring the city? Does that mean that our people will forgive the Imperial Court?”
Emperor Jingyan remained silent. This was obviously impossible. If they did not retaliate, the West Xia army’s attacks would only intensify, and the Han people under their rule would probably be slaughtered at will. The citizens of Great Zhou would only be more disappointed in the Imperial Court and more people would join the rebel army. This was simply an endless cycle.
But if they sent troops, West Xia, who had already stopped the war, would be dragged in. Great Zhou would still be attacked from both sides. Emperor Jingyan smiled bitterly. It seemed like it was a dead end no matter what.
These damned West Xia barbarians. Why did they massacre the city when the situation was clearly improving?
“Minister Qin has always been the one dealing with West Xia. Why haven’t we heard anything from him? Don’t tell me Minister Qin didn’t notice such a huge matter like the massacre of an entire city?”
At the mention of Minister Qin, everyone became angry at the same time. Minister Qin was really too good at hiding. Ever since he went to West Xia to negotiate, there was still some news of progress at the beginning. However, more than half a year had passed and he was still in West Xia. Though he continued to send back news, it was all nonsense. More and more people in the court were dissatisfied with him.
The Emperor also frowned slightly. Similarly, he was dissatisfied with Minister Qin. He originally wanted Minister Qin to negotiate with West Xia and come up with a peace agreement, but he did not expect that there was no progress on his side at all. In the end, he had to rely on Qi Xiuyuan’s scheme to make West Xia take a step back.
The Emperor lowered his eyes and decisively ordered Minister Qin to be admonished.
By admonishing Minister Qin after this massacre incident happened, the Emperor was undoubtedly pushing the responsibility to him. The ministers who were perceptive felt a chill in their hearts, while those who did not consider this aspect were purely angry.
After Yan Du left with the ministers, he stood on the steps and looked at the ministers who came and went in a hurry. Then, he turned to look at their office and sighed.
When he returned, he said to Yan Fu, “I want to resign.”
Yan Fu was silent for a moment before replying, “I’m afraid the Emperor won’t allow it.”
Yan Du nodded. “That’s why I plan to fall sick. Your grandfather was his teacher and single-handedly helped him to the throne. In the end, your grandfather ended up in such a state. You should have heard about what happened in the Chongzheng Hall today. Minister Qin assisted him for nearly 20 years, yet the Emperor didn’t even hesitate to throw him under the bus.”
So his father was disheartened by the Emperor?
Yan Fu did not talk him out of it since it was still uncertain if the Great Zhou could survive. In any case, he had long given up on this country.
As soon as the news of West Xia’s massacre spread, Emperor Jingyan and the courtiers were surprised by the strong reaction of the commoners. Using this matter, the rebels everywhere claimed to be kings and spread this message everywhere: ‘The Great Zhou is heartless and the heavens want to destroy it!’
As for the poor commoners who had suffered from the war, most of them brought their families to find a regime nearby and joined the rebel army. In any case, they would die if they became a member of the Great Zhou. If they did not become a member of the Great Zhou, they might be able to live for two more days.
The rebellion reached a new high.
After Emperor Jingyan issued the imperial edict to admonish Minister Qin, the remaining commoners thought of this person. Therefore, a vigorous campaign to purge the traitor appeared. The commoners who were clamoring to execute Minister Qin, the traitor, almost completely blocked the road leading to the palace.
Lin’an City, which had always been quiet and stable, was also a little chaotic. At a moment like this, the benefits of having the imperial guards guard outside the residence were apparent. At least when she heard the commotion outside, Mu Yangling was not afraid that some daft people would barge into the Qi Residence.