klisemfg Chapter 851: Winning over the Army
Chapter 851: Winning over the Army
The imperial edict was issued soon.
Then, another official stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, Yuan Song and the Ninth Corps Commander Zeng Fan are protecting each other. I'm afraid they will assign another tyrannical and shameless person to manage the army, which will only treat the symptoms and not the root cause.
In order to appease the morale of the second battalion, officers had to be transferred from the capital to reissue their salaries and provide them with food and meat.
The officers in the capital do not belong to their system, but represent the emperor's grace. The soldiers are grateful to the emperor and naturally fight with their lives. In addition, the Kunlun Pass is dangerous, so they will definitely be able to stop the Yan army.
After half a year, the Yan army will run out of food and grass, so they will naturally retreat. If they don’t retreat, they will starve to death.”
"Alright, my dear, what you said makes sense. Who would be the most suitable person to go?"
The ministers pretended to mention a few names, but these people had all made mistakes. When Emperor Qian heard them, he shook his head and said no.
Then, the real protagonist appears.
"Your Majesty, Wen Qiong, the captain of the City Defense Department, is well-educated, well-read, skilled in both civil and military matters, polite, modest, and prudent. He is the perfect person to lead the charge."
"Wen Qiong? Is he Wen Bo's son? I have some impression of him. He was first in archery in the military competition a few years ago, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, the war talent is also the first."
"Yes, he is indeed a genius of both civil and military talents. Lord Wen, what do you think of letting your son succeed Liu Yong?"
Wenbo quickly stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, my son is so incompetent and uneducated. How can he shoulder such a heavy responsibility? His death on the battlefield is a minor matter, but his failure to fulfill national obligations is a major one."
Emperor Qian said impatiently,
"I'm hosting a banquet for you five. Don't you understand that I'm promoting the best regardless of personal connections? You're a bunch of pedantic scholars. What's the point of being humble?
In this moment of national crisis, do you want to stay out of it? Are you going to stop your son from serving the country just to protect him?"
"I dare not, I dare not!"
"It's settled. I'll send an order to Wen Qiong later, asking him to go to Kunlun Pass to replace Liu Yong."
"Your Majesty, only by providing additional military pay and meat rations can we appease the soldiers' grievances."
"Go directly to the treasury to collect it."
"According to the order."
The Qian Kingdom was rich, the emperor was a wise ruler, the treasury was full, and the war did not last long. It was not a protracted war that consumed the national strength, so not much money and food was consumed. In Yugui, there was plenty of money and food.
What the Qian Kingdom really lacks are good generals and brave warriors. If the soldiers can be appeased by spending money, the Emperor Qian will be very happy.
Afterwards, they discussed state affairs, and the ministers impeached Yuan Song as usual, and then the court was dismissed.
Impeaching frontline generals is commonplace, after all, the interests are too complicated.
At this time, the emperor's will will be tested and whether he can trust the commander-in-chief.
The unsteady Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan and changed nineteen prime ministers in seventeen years.
Emperor Qian was stronger than Chongzhen. He always firmly trusted the generals on the front line, but the generals were too incompetent and failed to live up to his trust.
He did not kill ministers indiscriminately, at most he would imprison and interrogate them, but many ministers rebelled and joined the Yan State.
He was a good monarch, but he was born at the wrong time.
Wen Bo took the imperial edict and returned home. He asked someone to call his son Wen Qiong, and then whispered to him to go to the military camp to win over the people's hearts and open the gate to the Yan army.
After listening to this, Wen Qiong nodded, took some servants, drove dozens of carriages, and went directly to the treasury.
Anyway, His Majesty said that he could take it, but there was no stipulation on how much he had to take.
He just opened it and took it.
Thirty thousand taels of silver, take it!
Ten thousand shi of grain and grass, take it!
Three thousand kilograms of beef, mutton and pork, take it!
He took everything except the wine.
The people in charge of the national treasury were stunned and wanted to stop it, but as soon as the imperial edict appeared, they all fell to their knees.
Never dare to stop it again.
After taking all the things, they found that there were not enough cars, so they directly requisitioned cars from the national treasury.
Then, he took these supplies and went to Kunlun Pass, sixty miles away.
It was not until evening that he reached Kunlun Pass.
He first went to visit Yuan Song and handed over his fortune.
Yuan Song is a general in his forties. He is mature, prudent, courageous and resolute. He has real abilities and is not comparable to a fool like Kou Jin. Emperor Qian values him very much and keeps him to the end to protect Yugui.
He looked at the transfer order handed over by Wen Qiong, and then asked coldly,
"It was your people who impeached Liu Yong and asked the emperor to order his execution?"
Wen Qiong laughed quickly and said,
"That's not true. You are really making fun of me, Marshal. I don't have that kind of ability."
"You don't have that ability, but your father does. However, what Liu Yong did is true, but it's not a crime punishable by death.
But severe punishments should be used in extraordinary times, and the emperor is certainly right.
You are the best in both war and archery, and you are quite capable. Lead the troops well when you return. Liu Yong treats his soldiers badly, but you come from a family of scholars and have a gentler temperament. Treat them well."
"I obey your command and will fully cooperate with General Zeng Fan in the battle."
"Go down."
Wen Qiong left the General's Mansion and headed northeast to a location close to the front-line city wall, arriving at the Second Battalion of the Ninth Corps of the Ninth Army.
The first thing he did after arriving was to gather the soldiers.
In the camp belonging to their battalion, more than 900 soldiers were lined up, but each of them looked listless, with their helmets crooked and armor tilted, and they looked very lazy.
Wen Qiong stood on the stage, looking at the people below, and snorted coldly,
"Look at what you look like. Do you have any soldiers' behavior? Get ready! The Yan army is coming. Is this how you plan to fight?"
"Yes……"
Everyone answered weakly, but there was still dissatisfaction and resentment in their eyes.
"I know about your affairs. Liu Yong was drunk and causing trouble, beating up soldiers, withholding military pay, and not even giving you enough food.
So he died.
Now I am here, I will solve all these problems for you!
From today on, I, the Commander, will not drink a drop of alcohol, and as long as you don't make any mistakes, I will never hit you!"
When everyone heard this, curiosity gradually appeared in their eyes.
Another showman?
"He withheld your military pay, so I'm going to make it up to you. My Daqian soldiers are paid one tael and two qian of silver per month, so I'm going to give you twenty taels each! That's two years' worth of your military pay!"
Is it enough? "
Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up instantly!
Twenty taels per person, whether real or fake!
Damn, got rich?
Then, the furniture brought by Wen Qiong lifted up all the cloth on the silver carriage, revealing the white silver inside.
Holy shit! Are you really giving it to me?!
Wen Qiong continued,
"If he doesn't give you enough to eat, I'll give you three thousand kilograms of meat and ten thousand dan of grain. Is that enough for you?"
The servants opened the cart loaded with meat and grain, and the full bags of rice and the meat on it made their eyes widen instantly.
What the hell!
This new commander is serious!
Wen Qiong continued,
“I know that many people may think that I am just talking about it and showing it to you, but I don’t really want to give it to you.
Then my first order is that the firemen come first to receive their military pay and rewards, and the others will line up in order!"