Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors-Chapter 490 - 264: Achieve Complete Success in One Battle

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Chapter 490: Chapter 264: Achieve Complete Success in One Battle

Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan took strides into Wende Hall, but immediately hesitated about whether to exit.

For at that moment, Wende Hall was a bit too lively!

Normally, Wende Hall was just a place for the emperor to rest during court sessions, so it was relatively empty and common officials seldom had the chance to enter.

But at this time, Wende Hall seemed very lively, with many couches placed across the great hall and several students from the Imperial College perusing petitions before verbally presenting these petitions to the emperor, succinctly elaborating on the contents and then re-drafting them according to the emperor’s responses.

Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan had been summoned to the palace to discuss affairs.

Although both were major ministers in the court and the highest commanders in the Western Army aside from the emperor himself, they dared not involve themselves in matters beyond their administration.

Thus, upon seeing the scene within Wende Hall, their instinct was to avoid it.

However, the emperor inside Wende Hall waved at them, signaling them to come in.

"You two are significant ministers of the state, you need not be concerned with all these complex formalities.

"In our dynasty, the practice has always been to place scholars above warriors. The status of warriors has been suppressed, and this is not just a recent occurrence.

"Scholars may stabilize and govern the country, but they cannot bring peace to the world.

"Although warriors, commanding armies, may pose a threat to the court, with wise and suitable appointments, these weapons can be directed outwards without harming oneself.

"Only mediocre rulers play the game of using scholars to suppress warriors, but I do not.

"Moreover, it is quite possible that you both may, sooner or later, proceed from military roles to governmental ones."

These polite remarks were not exactly Fan Cun’s forte, but after having worked closely with Emperor Taizu of Sheng, his views on numerous issues naturally aligned more with those of Emperor Taizu.

In fact, there was not much in Wende Hall, and although the petitions received by the emperor were supposed to be confidential, when Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan came to discuss matters, the students had already stopped reporting on the petitions, so the two generals could not possibly see the contents of the petitions.

Fan Cun was merely displaying an attitude at this moment.

Indeed, gratitude showed on the faces of Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan.

To these warriors, these words were incredibly heartening!

From the founding of the Qi Dynasty, the policy of favoring scholars over warriors can be said to have prevailed over this past century, during which the warriors of Qi had always been suppressed, with many exceptionally talented warriors depressed to their deaths.

How could Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan not know?

And this new emperor, both in word and deed, evidently filled these warriors with immense gratitude.

Especially those words, "It is quite possible, sooner or later for you to proceed from military to governmental roles," casually promised them lofty expectations. And strictly speaking, this was not an empty promise, but a likelihood!

Just showing this kind of princely aura already far surpassed the previous emperors by no small measure.

Moreover, Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan also clearly saw the differences between this new emperor and his predecessors, not just in words.

In this period, the emperor had not appointed chief ministers, choosing instead to handle all state affairs himself.

Besides consolidating forces within the court, cutting off dissidents, punishing corrupt officials, and abolishing hereditary privileges, the emperor had also undertaken several key actions.

First, he continued directing all military forces to enter the capital to support the king and specified rewards and punishments after doing so.

Second, he resupplied the Western Army with provisions and various other materials, promised substantial rewards to the soldiers, and prepared the finances needed for these rewards.

Third, he fully trusted Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan, putting them in charge of the capital’s defenses and drawing up plans to combat the Jin soldiers outside the city.

At a glance, these might seem like steps too simple to mention.

Any sensible person would do it.

However, having experienced dealings with the two previous emperors, Liu Fa and Zhong Pingyuan understood just how difficult these actions were to implement.

How did Emperors Qihui and Yingzong of Qi handle these?

The matter of supporting the king in the capital was always delayed, with orders given only when the Jin soldiers were nearly at the gates; moreover, once the supporting army arrived, there were not only no rewards, but not even words of encouragement, and not to mention any unified command; then, halfway through the battle, they suddenly thought it might be possible to sign a peace treaty and, complaining that the supporting army consumed too much, they disbanded it.

This time, Emperor Yingzong of Qi didn’t even allow the supporting army to come, insisting that a peace negotiation was imminent and there was no need.

Regarding the treatment of soldiers, either those defending the capital or those from various routes supporting the king, Emperor Yingzong’s stinginess was infuriating. Rather than using the vast amount of looted wealth to reward the soldiers, he chose to deliver it into the hands of the Jin soldiers.

As for letting commanders fully manage the capital’s defenses and devising battle plans specifically targeting the Jin soldiers outside the city... well, that was an absolute fantasy.

In fact, throughout the entire Jingping Rebellion, Zhong Pingyuan’s strategies were entirely correct.

Whether it was initially supporting the king, suggesting to wait until the supporting army arrived to ensure an absolute advantage in forces before striking, or biting down on the Jin soldiers during their first retreat, rebuilding the Yellow River defenses among others, though these might not have been the optimal solutions under the circumstances, they were certainly the safest and right decisions.

But how did the court handle it?

They managed a surprise attack that was known to all, wasting a Western Army elite unit; they forbade pursuing the Jin soldiers, and the Yellow River defenses were not rebuilt; in order to relieve the siege of Taiyuan, they rushed Zhong Pingyuan to battle without proper logistics and rewards in place, resulting in his death.

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