Chapter 806
Xu Da: I suggest we surrender!
Using one's own strength to devour another is always a superior strategy, especially when one has no specific objective and can directly get the other party to accomplish the same goal. That is a higher level of strategy, and it is what Chen Jie pursues.
That's right, this is exactly what Chen Jie is pursuing: using one tiger to devour another.
Lan Yu and Mu Ying were unwilling to accept this, and that was good. Their unwillingness gave Chen Jie an opportunity to take advantage of them. Chen Jie wasn't afraid of their troubles, but rather of their cowardice.
As long as he doesn't back down, it's not a big problem.
After all, if Zhu Chongba himself could be dealt with, what difference would it make if one or two minor characters were to cause trouble?
Chen Jie thought for a moment and said to Chen Chun, "Notify Hu Weiyong to issue a note to the Nanjing direction. Three days later, my Han Prince's Mansion will send a delegation to Nanjing to discuss the great cause of unification!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Chun immediately replied, "Yes!"
Chen Chun responded and walked out, at which point Chen Jie called out, "Chen Chun!"
"exist."
Chen Jie said, "Have the spies lurking in Jinling to incite the soldiers in the army, and if necessary, boost the morale of Lan Yu and the others. Those wealthy merchants in Jiangnan are getting on our nerves!"
Chen Chun immediately replied, "Yes, I understand."
Chen Chun left immediately, while Chen Jie looked at the map. Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang—these were all the fat pieces left behind by Zhu Chongba!
The note from the Prince of Han's residence was quickly delivered to Jinling. This was a gesture of respect from Chen Jie to Jinling. Notes are usually between equal entities. By sending a note from the Prince of Han's residence to Jinling, Chen Jie indicated that he was still willing to treat Jinling as a royal entity.
Because of Chen Jie's note, Nanjing held an emergency meeting overnight.
Those attending the meeting were all key figures from Jinling City, and the council hall of the Wu Prince's Mansion was brightly lit.
Ma Xiuying sat in the main seat, flanked by Xu Da and other important civil and military officials, with Lan Yu and Mu Ying, two young generals, sitting at the end.
Ma Xiuying then gestured and said, "Today, the Prince of Han's residence sent me a note from the Prince's residence. I have read it, and you all should take a look as well."
As she spoke, Ma Xiuying handed the royal decree to Cui'er, who then passed it to Xu Da. Xu Da picked it up and looked at it, his expression darkening slightly, but he did not offer any comment.
The note in his hand was then passed down and soon came into Tang He's hands. Tang He frowned after reading it and continued to pass it on.
It was passed around, and everyone had seen it.
Ma Xiuying asked, "What do you all think?"
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room fell silent for a long time. Xu Da then stood up and said, "Gentlemen, the matter is urgent. We must first clarify one thing: should we continue fighting or not?"
"We need a clear answer today, no ambiguity!"
After Xu Da finished speaking, the people below fell silent. In fact, they didn't know whether to fight or not, and their minds were in turmoil.
Xu Da looked at everyone present and said, "These past few days, I went to the army, and the soldiers' morale is less than one-tenth."
"I gave him a few words of encouragement, and when I came back, a fifteen-year-old boy stopped me and asked: 'Commander Xu, are we still going to fight Chen to the death?'"
I didn't answer; instead, I asked him if he wanted to fight Chen the Traitor to the death!
"He said he dared, but what was the purpose of risking his life? The King of Wu is dead. He doesn't know why he's risking his life?"
"He asked me, 'Marshal Xu, do you want to be the emperor? If you do, I'll fight to the death for you!'"
"He stumped me. Do I want to be emperor? No, I don't. I wonder if anyone here wants to be emperor? Anyone who wants to be emperor, please stand up."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room fell silent. No one dared to say they wanted to be emperor, or rather, they had no such thought. However, behind the crowd, De Lanyu had a sudden thought: Why can't I be emperor?
However, with so many top players on the field, any one of them could be a match for him, so he needs to be careful.
So it quieted down for half a day.
Xu Da said, "So I don't know why we should continue fighting. Perhaps surrendering is not a way out!"
Upon hearing this, Tang He said, "Second Brother, it's alright if I don't become emperor, but the revenge for the King of Wu cannot go unavenged!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Da looked at Tang He and said, "Third brother, what you said is right. The revenge for the King of Wu cannot go unavenged, but there are many ways to take revenge, not to gamble with the lives of our 200,000 troops and the millions of people in Jiangnan!"
"Here's what we'll do: if you want revenge, I'll go with you; if anyone else wants revenge, I'll go with you too. Let's go find Chen Jiu Si and have a one-on-one fight with him. Whoever kills whom is fate, and no one will blame anyone else."
"But we cannot gamble with the lives of our soldiers and civilians, or commit atrocities. We are all Han Chinese. We cannot harm hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of people for our own selfish reasons!"
Xu Da spoke up.
"But we can't beat Chen Jiu Si in a one-on-one fight!"
Tang He continued, and Xu Da immediately became furious upon hearing this: "You think you can defeat Chen Jiu Si by dragging these 200,000 people down with you?"
The soup went cold instantly!
The other generals also fell silent.
A reality they were unwilling to acknowledge was before them: they had absolutely no influence over Chen Jie.
They couldn't defeat Chen Jie in a one-on-one fight. Even if they tied these 200,000 people to their warships, they still couldn't beat Chen Jie. Chen Jie was an invincible war god. No matter what methods they used, they couldn't inflict any damage on him.
It only increases casualties.
If the King of Wu is defeated, then they have no chance of resisting any longer.
"I agree, no fighting!"
At this moment, while the generals were still hesitating, Ma Xiuying, who was sitting in the main seat, raised her hand directly.
The generals were all taken aback, and then all eyes turned to Ma Xiuying. Her expression was serious, and she didn't seem to be joking.
Xu Da glanced at Ma Xiuying, then raised his hand and said, "I agree too, let's not fight!"
When Xu Da, the top military commander, spoke up, the atmosphere in the room immediately plummeted to freezing point, and then everyone else slowly raised their hands.
Lan Yu was the fifth or sixth person to raise his hand, and after he raised his hand, he also raised Mu Ying's hand.
Mu Ying glanced at Lan Yu, who shook her head. "Don't be the first to stick your neck out now. You need to cover up your plans!"
Soon, most of the military officers present agreed. In the end, even Tang He lowered his head. He disagreed, but there was nothing he could do; he resigned himself to his fate.
At this point, Tang He said, "That's enough. Things have come to this, and I have nothing more to say."
"Chen Jiu Si's army is coming soon. You can continue to enjoy your high positions and generous salaries. I will not keep you company. Tomorrow I will leave Jinling and return to my hometown of Fengyang to become a monk at Huangjue Temple. There is nothing left in this mortal world for me to cherish. I will go to my elder brother's grave to guard it and protect him!" After Tang He finished speaking, he got up and ignored the remaining military officers who went to call him.
Xu Da watched Tang He leave, sighed, and turned to Ma Xiuying, saying, "Sister-in-law, Chen Jiu Si's note said that the main representative for this negotiation is Su Yun Jin."
"Okay, I understand. I'll participate in the negotiations. The rest is up to you."
Xu Da replied, "Yes, sister-in-law, don't worry."
Ma Xiuying nodded, then got up and left, dragging her tired body. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.
After Ma Xiuying left, Xu Da arranged for everyone to leave. Lan Yu pulled Mu Ying to leave, but then Xu Da called out, "Mu Ying!"
Mu Ying was taken aback, then glanced at Lan Yu. Lan Yu frowned slightly, but didn't dare to stop Mu Ying, saying, "Xu Shuai is looking for you, go over there quickly."
Mu Ying turned around and stood in front of Xu Da. Lan Yu frowned, feeling uneasy. He hoped that nothing would go wrong at this moment!
Mu Ying was also uneasy. He had touched Xu Da's tiger tally these past few days. Could it be that he had been discovered?
Xu Da didn't speak, but watched Mu Ying walk towards him step by step: "Master!"
Xu Danai was Mu Ying's master, a position arranged by Zhu Chongba to train Mu Ying. The adopted sons of this era were different from those of later generations; they had the right to inherit and were considered core figures in the family.
Therefore, Mu Ying was also a key figure in their training, as they would have the opportunity to inherit the throne if the lord had no heir.
Xu Da looked at Mu Ying calmly and said, "Mu Ying, you've been in such a hurry lately. Are you hiding something from me?"
"Oh? No, no, there's nothing I could possibly be hiding from you."
Mu Ying's expression changed slightly. Xu Da looked at Mu Ying, his eyes seeming to see through everything she had done. After a long while, he said, "Sometimes people have to take responsibility for their actions. You're not a child anymore, and sometimes you have to make your own judgments."
Do you understand?
Mu Ying had something to hide, and her expression changed slightly as she almost blurted out what she was planning to do.
Xu Da then stared at him and said, "So, is there anything you want to tell me?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Ying's face turned pale, but at this moment he made a firm decision: to stick to his guns and say nothing. He had come out to find a way out for his younger brother, Zhu Biao, so he could not ruin the matter.
Thinking this, he looked at Xu Da and said, "I... I have nothing to say."
"Fine, you're really stubborn. Since you don't want to say anything, there's no need to continue the conversation. You'd better watch yourself."
With that, Xu Da turned to leave, but after a few steps he suddenly stopped and said, "By the way, the Han Prince's negotiation team will be coming to Jinling the day after tomorrow. I hope that my tiger tally will be properly placed on my command desk by then!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Ying was stunned. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped halfway through her sentence and couldn't continue.
Xu Da ignored him and turned to leave.
How could Xu Da not know about his and Lan Yu's little scheme? Even Chen Jiu Si, who was thousands of miles away, knew about their little thoughts. How could Xu Da, the commander-in-chief of the three armies, not know about the recent situation of his soldiers?
He simply didn't want to pursue the matter; otherwise, would Lan Yu and Mu Ying still think they had done something completely undetected?
That would be underestimating Xu Da. If he didn't even know there was such a commotion in his own army, then he wouldn't be worthy of calling himself the number one general in the world. Oh, right, not now. He's the second-best general in the world now!
The reason why Xu Da did not stop them was simple: they were not crazy enough to lead men to attack Chen Jiu Si, but rather to attack Fusang, which was undefended.
This makes things much easier. Xu Da also saw that Fusang's defenses were weak, making it a good place to take advantage of the situation. However, he had lost his fighting spirit and no longer wanted to lead his troops into battle. These young men, on the other hand, still had energy and spirit, so he let them cause trouble.
only!
Chen Jie paused for a moment, but they needed to think it over carefully. Whether this commotion would become someone else's weapon was something they had to see for themselves.
From Xu Da's perspective, given their antics, Chen Jiu Si had two choices: first, to annihilate them; second, to use them to deal with some troublesome matters that were difficult for him to handle, and then eliminate them.
Of course, if Chen Jiu Si hadn't known, they might have actually been able to accomplish something in Fusang, which would have been a way to survive.
So Xu Da didn't want to get involved and let them make a fuss on their own.
Mu Ying walked out of the house in a daze and saw Lan Yu waiting there. Lan Yu asked anxiously, "Mu Ying, what does Xu Shuai want with you?"
Mu Ying then looked up at Lan Yu and said, "It seems that Commander Xu has found out about our affair."
"what!"
Lan Yu was startled. Although Lan Yu was considered one of the best among the young generals, he was still as young as a novice in front of veterans like Xu Da.
"So, what was Xu Shuai's reaction?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Ying replied, "No, Commander Xu told me to take care of myself and to prepare the Tiger Tally. The Han King's delegation will arrive the day after tomorrow, and the Tiger Tally must be placed in its original location."
Upon hearing this, Lan Yu frowned and after a long while, she finally spoke: "So, you mean that Commander Xu told you to put the tiger tally back on the commander's desk the day after tomorrow?"
Mu Ying nodded, and Lan Yu immediately laughed happily, "Hahaha, good, good!"
Lan Yu laughed heartily, her face full of smiles, and said, "Isn't Xu Shuai just telling you that he doesn't care what you do these next two days?"
"Haha, very good!"
Lan Yuxin finally felt relieved, and at this moment Mu Ying said, "I'm feeling really uneasy and anxious. Why don't we call Tang Shuai along?"
"With Tang Shuai around, I feel more at ease!"
"no!"
Upon hearing this, Lan Yu immediately shouted angrily, stopping Mu Ying and saying, "You mustn't do that."
Why?
Lan Yu paused slightly upon hearing this. The real reason must be that Tang He's power was too great. If Tang He went to Japan with them, these 20,000 people would no longer listen to him, Lan Yu, and he would become a mere employee.
But he couldn't say it outright, so he could only say, "You're stupid!"
"Commander Tang has made up his mind and has decided to guard the tomb of the King of Wu. How can we disturb him at will? Besides, to put it bluntly, Commander Tang's status is too high and he is too conspicuous. If we take him with us, Chen Jiu Si, who is so suspicious, will definitely go looking for him."
"If they search for us, they'll find us. Wouldn't that alert them? How will we hide properly then?"
"So we can't bring Tang Shuai. If we do, our plan will definitely fail, understand?"
Lan Yu earnestly advised Mu Ying. (End of Chapter)