Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 79 Xiao Wei's Platform

The county government office was converted into the general's residence.

After Qin Kuo and Zhu Qing entered the city, they were summoned by Wei Wusheng.

The two were quite uneasy the whole way.

Upon entering the main hall of the county government office, the Sixth Prince, who had been reviewing military intelligence, put down what he was doing and quickly got up to walk towards them.

They then realized that they were being given a way out.

But this step down is difficult.

I'm going to die, but what about my entire family?
"Commander Zhu, Chief Clerk Qin."

Standing in the middle, Wei Wusheng put his hands on the shoulders of the two men and led them inside, saying warmly, "Please sit down."

The two were terrified, but they could only sit down on either side of each other.

"As for the matter of seizing power, I did not discuss it with you two beforehand. It was truly a spur-of-the-moment decision, and there was no time to do so," Wei Wusheng explained. "Now that I think about it, I am truly sorry."

"Your Highness."

Slowly raising his head to look at him, Qin Kuo said with considerable difficulty, "I want to know, what should we do next?"

Your Highness, please stop acting.

Please give us a way out!

“If we were alone, we would certainly be willing to die for Your Highness. We would go through fire and water without hesitation.” Zhu Qing meant the same thing and said very sincerely, “I already knew the consequences of coming here. But even so, I am willing to fight to the last drop of blood. However, my wife and children are in Sheng’an, and my youngest son is not even three years old.”

As they spoke, both of them looked troubled.

Wei Wusheng nodded quite seriously and began to ponder.

“We are certainly loyal to His Majesty and His Highness.”

Qin Kuo felt a pang of pain as he thought about this: "But we are different from ordinary soldiers. They follow His Highness, and the court will not, and cannot, hold their families accountable. A thousand people means several thousand family members, which cannot be punished. However, Captain Zhu and I are the captain and chief clerk of this Imperial Guard. If anything happens, we will be the first to be held accountable."

Their concerns are perfectly normal.

The law does not punish the masses; even if those soldiers really rebelled, what could be done?

Even though they were coerced, they were still the leaders of this Imperial Guard.

Moreover, if he actually became a general of the 'rebel army' and accepted His Highness's promotion, his entire family would be wiped out in an instant.

“I understand your anxiety very well, and I can feel it completely.” Wei Wusheng slowly stood up and picked up a handwritten letter. “I don’t know to what extent I can salvage the situation, but I will definitely do my best.”

As he spoke, he handed the book to Qin Kuo.

Zhu Qing also quickly got up and went over.

The two of them reviewed it simultaneously.

The more he looked at the content, the more serious he became, and his expression grew increasingly solemn.

"Your subject swears to defend Shuofeng to the death, yet the city is severely lacking in provisions, armor, and soldiers. I have even coerced the Imperial Guards into plundering Langya's resources to fight against the aggression. If Heaven does not protect us, and the city falls and our army is destroyed, I, your subject, will be a national traitor for all time, my ancestral temples will be tarnished, and I will be despised by all generations. If we drive out the Qi invaders and preserve our territory, I will submit myself to the Emperor and humbly await His Majesty's judgment."

After they finished reading, the two slowly raised their heads.

Wei Wusheng, standing before them, gazed at the two with unwavering resolve and swore, "I want nothing but to win this battle, I will not yield an inch of land. Therefore, I will take all the blame. If we truly defeat the Qi traitors, I will not covet power or influence. I will give up everything I have. If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning and suffer the torment of demons and monsters for a hundred lifetimes!"

Wei Wusheng revealed what these two people were most worried about.

That is, it's better to lose this battle.

If a person dies for their country, their crime will be reduced by one degree; the imperial court will not be too ruthless.

But what if we manage to hold on by chance, and the Sixth Prince refuses to relinquish power?
If they were to establish a separatist regime in Shuofeng and hold military power, wouldn't they truly become traitors to the country?
You must know that the Sixth Prince has nothing at all, but after he wins, he will have a lot more.

Once this doubt was dispelled, the two walked to the center, knelt down on one knee simultaneously, clenched their fists, and said in unison, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Wei Wusheng walked up to the two men and took their arms, saying, "I know you two don't covet power, but you are my own people. Only my own people can I trust you with confidence."

"Please give your orders, Your Highness," Zhu Qing said firmly.

Then, Wei Wusheng said, "This time, we brought a thousand Imperial Guards, transferred four thousand men from Langya, and Shuofeng still has about nine thousand men, but nearly two thousand of them are wounded. So, we have about twelve thousand men that we can use. I will break them up, reorganize them, and divide them into four battalions. Ran Jin will lead one battalion, you two will each lead one battalion, and I will personally manage another battalion, giving us complete control of the troops."

The highest military leader of three thousand men is, in effect, a general.

“Your current ranks are too low, so I will temporarily appoint you as generals. If you manage to hold the position, I will go to Sheng’an to hand over military power and then petition His Majesty to promote you both,” Wei Wusheng promised.

"I will do as Your Highness says," Qin Kuo quickly agreed.

After a brief silence, Zhu Qing asked, "Your Highness, I would like to ask, how will you deal with Zhao Xiang?"

What does that mean?

"Are we really just going to treat him as a soldier, serving on the front lines?"

Wei Wusheng firmly replied, "Yes."

Hearing this, Zhu Qing was completely relieved and said, "As long as Your Highness has such determination, then we can govern the army well."

“Just like Song Shi’an said.” Wei Wusheng laughed. “You will be my knives. Whether the knives can kill people depends entirely on how steady my hand is.”

Anyone with wisdom and who isn't reckless will consider this question: Is your leader effective?

This reorganization was actually a power grab, dividing up the interests of the original inhabitants and forcibly promoting some new elites.

When Liu Yan entered Shu, he brought the Dongzhou faction with him to suppress the local Yizhou faction.

After Liu Bei entered Shu, he brought the Jingzhou faction with him, recruited the Dongzhou faction, and intensified his efforts to suppress the Yizhou faction.

There are only so many cakes, and no new cakes are coming out, so how are we going to divide them?

It always involves giving the largest share of the pie to a small minority, and then uniting these few to desperately uphold their own principles for dividing the pie.

Therefore, once Qin Kuo and Zhu Qing are promoted, they will definitely continue to suppress the original generals.

We must keep them pinned down, preventing them from ever raising their heads, leaving them with neither the strength nor the means to breathe.

However, if His Highness is not determined enough, or if he is worried about the negative impact, and does not let the original leader Zhao Xiang become a common soldier, but instead promotes him back to the leadership position, then Qin Kuo and Zhu Qing will become the target of public criticism.

This is a case of the superiors influencing the subordinates.

A sense of security is something that is given to each other.

"He's as bold as ever in what he said," Qin Kuo shook his head and complained.

"However, you two shouldn't have too much of a problem with Shi An. It was all my responsibility to do it. He was just trying to get things done," Wei Wusheng joked.

The two lowered their heads and said in unison again, "Yes."

He may have agreed verbally, but he couldn't possibly be completely unperturbed in his heart.

why?
These ideas were almost certainly from that kid!

He's not innocent at all!
“Then General Zhu may leave now. I will publicly appoint you after the reorganization is complete.” Wei Wusheng addressed him directly as ‘General’ and looked at Qin Kuo, “General Qin, please stay.”

"Then I will take my leave." Zhu Qing withdrew.

Only Wei Wusheng and Qin Kuo remained.

Before Wei Wusheng could speak, Qin Kuo took out the imperial edict and presented it to Wei Wusheng with both hands, explaining, "Your Highness, please believe me, I received this edict suddenly before the expedition. Moreover, His Majesty's Embroidered Uniform Guard did not provide any explanation."

"I know."

Wei Wusheng looked at Jin Bo's edict with a blank expression.

"Your Highness, do you know something?"

Qin Kuo asked out of curiosity, which was also to show that he really knew nothing.

"His Majesty is probably worried that I'm not very experienced in leading troops for the first time," Wei Wusheng said with a smile. "General Qin, you should go and get back to work."

"Yes."

After bowing, Qin Kuo also left.

Once again, Wei Wusheng picked up the imperial edict and, after reading it for a long time, murmured solemnly, "Father, do you think that just because I was born disobedient, I will necessarily be disobedient?"

He initially complained a bit.

But then he suddenly realized that His Majesty had taken this precaution, and that he had indeed anticipated that he would disobey.

He is right.

He was even right.

"Your Highness!"

Just then, Zheng Tong, the former registrar of Zhao Xiang, rushed over and hurriedly reported, "Something has happened!"

The position of Chief Clerk is very common. County magistrates have Chief Clerks, prefects have Chief Clerks, governors have Chief Clerks, and there are also Chief Clerks in the army. However, there are differences between Chief Clerks.

I've almost forgotten what the character for "chief clerk" means.

To give an example, high-ranking officials have secretaries, and county magistrates also have secretaries (not full-time), but the difference between the two levels is huge.

Qin Kuo was not Zhu Qing's chief clerk, but rather a chief clerk in the army, and together they jointly managed the army.

Zhao Xiang came out to greet him in the morning. Although Zheng Tong followed him, he later learned that he had tried to dissuade Zhao Xiang but failed. So he took him back and kept him for his own use.

When taking over completely, it is also necessary to have someone who knows the military inside and out and has a full understanding of the local situation.

"What's the matter?" Wei Wusheng asked.

Zheng Tong said rather urgently, "Magistrate Song beat up Zhang Gong's men, and now the whole city is in an uproar."

At a time of widespread anxiety, to demonstrate instead of maintaining stability is too reckless!
Upon hearing this, Wei Wusheng looked speechless: "Such a trivial matter? From now on, Magistrate Song doesn't need to report to me what he does."

"Yes."

Seeing that even the Sixth Prince had said so, Zheng Tong had no choice but to agree. However, he couldn't help but remind him, "But that Lord Zhang is the governor's uncle-in-law..."

Impatiently, Wei Wusheng waved his hand and said, "Then tell me when he hits Zhang Gong."

(End of this chapter)