The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 298 Matters in the Military Are No Small Matter

Having figured out the key point, Tu Chengyu said to his maternal uncle, Chen Chongli:
"Uncle, I'll go over and say hello to them and persuade them to go back."

The eldest uncle listened to Tu Chengyu and Jia Lian's conversation the whole time, so he naturally knew what Tu Chengyu was going to do.

He looked at Tu Chengyu with a worried expression, as if he wanted to dissuade Tu Chengyu from taking the risk, but in the end he didn't say anything and just nodded.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu spurred his horse forward and, with several guards, headed towards the disaster victims.

The disaster victims who were able to work outside were specially selected for their obedience. A considerable number of them had personally seen Tu Chengyu and even received their wages from him.

So when Tu Chengyu walked over, they immediately recognized him.

When they saw Tu Chengyu appear before them unharmed, everyone cheered spontaneously.

With a crowd of several thousand people, those at the back naturally couldn't see Tu Chengyu's face clearly, but when they heard the cheers from the front, they joined in the shouting.

Cheers erupted in the open space at the foot of West Mountain.

Tu Chengyu watched the cheering disaster victims with a smug look, and only after they finished cheering did he stand up on his horse and shout loudly:

"I am very grateful that you came to me without hesitation when you heard that I was in danger. However, you should know that the battlefield is not a place where people die. I cannot send you there to your deaths empty-handed."

Because it was an open field, Tu Chengyu's words were not heard by many people; only those gathered in front of him could hear them clearly.

Upon hearing this, these people fell silent. They knew that Tu Chengyu was not lying.

They looked like a large group, but they were mostly unarmed. In addition, they were all civilians with no experience in fighting. I'm afraid not many of them would survive on the battlefield.

Some things can be understood, while others cannot.

Not long after Tu Chengyu finished speaking, a very burly man stepped out from among the disaster victims at the front.

He walked to the front of the group and said to Tu Chengyu:
“Your Highness, we are people lower than grass. After becoming disaster victims, we were supposed to lose our families and have no one to bury us when we died. Now we have met such a good prince as you, who has given us food and drink and supported our families. This is such a kindness that we can never repay it even if we give our lives. Today, Your Highness is in danger, and some ungrateful bastards want to harm you. How can we just stand by and do nothing? Your Highness, look at us, these thousands of men. Although we are not very capable, we can still protect Your Highness even if we risk our lives. Please rest assured.”

Originally, many disaster victims had been persuaded by Tu Chengyu to return home, but now, after this guy's words, they all changed their minds.

Especially since this guy's voice was much louder than Tu Chengyu's, his shouts were heard by more disaster victims.

They were all shouting excitedly, one after another, vowing to protect Prince Su, even if it meant death.

Tu Chengyu was both amused and exasperated, but he couldn't say anything more about the disaster victims' good intentions, so he could only try to comfort them.

However, there were so many disaster victims that Tu Chengyu couldn't possibly comfort them all by himself. Others wanted to comfort them in Tu Chengyu's place, but they didn't agree with that; they only wanted to listen to Tu Chengyu.

Chen Chongli stood on the broken ground, seeing that Tu Chengyu hadn't escaped after so long, so he rode over and asked Tu Chengyu:

"Brother Yu, why haven't you managed to persuade them to leave yet?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu smiled wryly and recounted what had just happened to his uncle.

After listening, Chen Chongli frowned involuntarily. He thought for a moment while still on his horse and said:
"Since they want to go, let them come along."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu looked at his uncle in surprise, then pointed at the disaster victims and said, "Uncle, look at them. If we take them to the battlefield, they probably won't be of much help, and might even become a burden."

The eldest uncle shook his head and said, "I said I would take them with me, but I didn't say I would take them to the battlefield. Just find them a place to settle down."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu thought it was a good solution, so he said, "Uncle, in that case, I'll go and talk to them."

After he finished speaking, he prepared to stand up again to talk to the disaster victims about the matter.

However, before he could even stand up, his uncle stopped him.

All I heard was my uncle whispering:
“Brother Yu, how could you be so confused? If you really assign them to guard a certain place early on, then they will have received military orders and become members of the army. This involves military orders and power. How could you rashly interfere?”

Reminded by his uncle, Tu Chengyu immediately realized that he shouldn't interfere rashly.

Although these disaster victims were originally working for him, and he had the right to direct them.

However, once they become involved with military power, Tu Chengyu can no longer interfere, otherwise he will have no way to explain himself if something happens.

Having figured all this out, Tu Chengyu said to his maternal uncle, Chen Chongli:

"Uncle, since that's the case, what should I do?"

Upon hearing this, the eldest uncle said, "You don't need to worry about it anymore now. Go back immediately and wait at the bottom of the slope. I'll handle the rest."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu didn't think much of it and turned his horse around, returning to the hillside.

When he returned and turned around, he saw his uncle calling out to a dozen or so disaster victims, including Jia Lian, as they were talking.

He didn't say much, probably only a dozen or so sentences.

After he finished speaking, Jia Lian and the dozen or so disaster victims dispersed and returned to the disaster victim group.

Then they divided the disaster victims into more than a dozen groups, and each person received a branch. Next, Chen Chongli selected more than a dozen people from his subordinates, each leading a small group of disaster victims and taking them to different places.

In just over fifteen minutes, the previously endless stream of disaster victims had all disappeared.

Seeing this amazing scene, Tu Chengyu was extremely curious. As soon as his uncle Chen Chongli returned, he couldn't wait to ask:

"Uncle, how did you manage to convince them so quickly?"

Uncle Chen Chongli smiled and said to Tu Chengyu:

“Brother Yu, you must remember that when there are more people, you can’t discuss things with them. With so many people, each with their own ideas, how can you possibly discuss everything with them? If you want them to obey and do things, just give them orders directly.”

Tu Chengyu thought about it and realized that what his uncle said made a lot of sense. He hadn't really thought things through earlier and was even trying to persuade the disaster victims to go back, but in the end, he had just wasted his time.

Just as Tu Chengyu was consulting with his uncle, Old Song returned from somewhere and went up to Tu Chengyu to report on the matter.

"Your Highness, what should we do with these people?"

Tu Chengyu looked up and followed the direction he was pointing. He saw several people lying at his feet, all bound hand and foot, their faces bruised and swollen.

Tu Chengyu looked at these people and asked in confusion:
"Who is this?"

Old Song said, "Your Highness, these are the people who were arrested for causing trouble among the disaster victims. Lord Jia handed them over to me before he left."

Upon hearing that they were the troublemakers, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but take a second look.

Earlier, Tu Chengyu thought that these disaster victims were the ones who wanted to assassinate him, so he had been sending people to monitor the actions of some of the more unruly individuals among them.

However, he did not expect that the restless fellows among these disaster victims were just a smokescreen to deceive him; the real killer was the traitorous soldiers of the Beijing garrison.

Because of this deception, Tu Chengyu focused all his energy on the Beijing garrison, and only in the end did he discover the murderous plot they had set up, which almost led to him falling into their trap.

Thinking about all this, Tu Chengyu had mixed feelings about this kind of person, but he also knew that this was not the time to concern himself with such things.

So he said to his maternal uncle, Chen Chongli:
"Uncle, what should we do with these people? Should we hand them over to Father along with Wan?"

The eldest uncle nodded and said, "Naturally, it should be handed over to His Majesty."

After saying that, without waiting for Tu Chengyu's agreement, he sent people to arrest the group and put them under custody together with Wan and the others.

Once those few people finished dealing with their business, there was nothing more to do.

The eldest uncle couldn't wait to continue on his way.

After walking for about 15 minutes and crossing a riverbank, a military camp appeared on the open ground behind the riverbank.

Uncle Chen Chongli led everyone straight over.

The soldiers standing guard around him clearly recognized Chen Chongli. After they saw him, they saluted him, checked his identification, and then let him pass.

Beyond the outer sentry post lies the gate to the military camp.

However, before they even reached the entrance of the military camp, they saw a group of people pouring out of the camp.

As Tu Chengyu rode his horse, he immediately spotted Cheng Changbao, who was walking at the very front.

After Cheng Changbao came out, he immediately saw Tu Chengyu riding on horseback.

He had just heard from his soldiers that Chen Chongli had returned to camp, so he led his men out to greet him.

Unexpectedly, Prince Su was among them.

After seeing it clearly, he walked over without hesitation and bowed in greeting.

"Your humble servant Cheng Changbao greets Your Highness."

The soldiers following behind Cheng Changbao were initially surprised to see their lord perform such a grand salute, but after hearing Cheng Changbao's words, they immediately understood what was going on.

One by one, they all followed Cheng Changbao's example and quickly bowed and greeted him.

Tu Chengyu and Cheng Changbao are very familiar with each other; in fact, it could be said that Tu Chengyu was raised by Cheng Changbao.

So Tu Chengyu was very excited to see Cheng Changbao, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

He quickly jumped off his horse, helped Cheng Changbao up, and then said:
"General Cheng, there's no need for such formalities."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Changbao straightened up and took a good look at Tu Chengyu.

He said with excitement:
"Your Highness, what brings you here?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu chuckled and said:
"I wanted to see what a battlefield was like, so I begged my uncle to bring me here."

(End of this chapter)