Chapter 111: The War Ends, Song Shi'an Returns as Master of Shuofeng |
The meeting between these two men was witnessed by over a hundred thousand survivors.
Atop Shuofeng's city walls, everyone stood on tiptoe, wanting to catch a glimpse of Ji Yuan's bearing.
At the same time, the fact that Ji Yuan had personally met with their Sixth Prince filled them with a spontaneous sense of exhilaration.
"Ji Yuan was beaten into submission by our Sixth Prince!"
"How could he not submit? With so few troops defending this small city, nobody could have done it!"
"It wouldn't have been possible without Master Song either."
"In this battle, without the Sixth Prince, without Master Song, without us, those Qi bandits would have reached the Central Plains!"
Ji Yuan truly withdrew this time—unlike his earlier feigned retreat and flanking maneuver.
Because the Qi army camp had already been set ablaze with roaring flames.
The survivors of Shuofeng, even the common people with no prospects for advancement, all felt immense pride in having won such a miraculous battle.
"Long live!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
Having taken the lead, other voices quickly followed suit.
Before Wei Wusheng had even entered the city, all the soldiers and civilians began to shout in unison:
"Long live!!!"
The deafening roar made the very earth tremble.
Qin Kuo's eyes widened in shock.
Ran Jin also frowned—this sensitive behavior frightened him precisely because he was present.
In ancient times, shouting "long live" to the emperor was expected.
After winning a battle, collectively shouting "long live" to express congratulations and show heavenly support was also acceptable.
Of course, the commanding general of such an army would certainly feel anxious. He definitely wouldn't stand before everyone but would remain among the ranks with his soldiers, making clear that the celebration wasn't directed at himself.
How many heads did nine generations of a clan have? Who would dare accept "long live"?
But the crux of the problem was that this person was neither in the ranks nor an ordinary general.
This was the emperor's own son, the Sixth Prince!
And he was on his way back to the city.
These waves of "long live" were enough to scare even him into retreating.
"Did you deliberately have His Highness go out to meet Ji Yuan?" Xinyue stared at Song Shi'an, asking in an extremely quiet voice.
She couldn't help but speculate—was even this scene part of his design?
"I did say doing that was dangerous." Song Shi'an issued his disclaimer. "Don't go making wild accusations, Xinyue."
He was now quite practiced at calling Xinyue by name directly.
Of course, that wasn't important.
Xinyue's guess was correct.
He, Song Shi'an, really had thought of this.
Little Wei was currently nothing.
For Ji Yuan, as a sovereign ruler and a formidable figure of the realm, to personally meet with such a small fry—could he pass up that kind of recognition?
This had far more significance than any princely title.
Since ancient times, kings do not meet kings.
But those who can meet a king can only be kings themselves.
It could even be said this was Ji Yuan's strong endorsement of Little Wei, indirectly maximizing his prestige.
Ji Yuan was confident—confident enough that he didn't care even if Little Wei ascended to power.
At the same time, he was somewhat cunning.
At this timing, under everyone's attention, witnessed by the supervising minister, even without saying a word, he could achieve the most overt form of provocation through conspiracy.
But an overt conspiracy is an overt conspiracy—so what?
When Heaven offers and you don't take, you will suffer its punishment!
However, Wei Wusheng was panicking a bit.
He had only been thinking about not disgracing the Yu army's honor—if the opposing emperor personally invited him yet he didn't dare go, wouldn't that be cowardly behavior?
But now, the army was putting him on a roasting spit!
Raising his head, he looked at Song Shi'an with some fear.
The others on the wall also turned their gazes to Song Shi'an.
By now, they had unconditional trust in him.
So please, do something to control the situation and prevent any misunderstanding!
Just as the core officers and others were feeling anxious, Song Shi'an suddenly raised his hand, formed a fist, and shouted along with the people: "Long live!"
This left everyone else dumbfounded.
But Wei Wusheng understood.
Even though he hadn't yet entered the city, facing all the officers and soldiers, he drew his sword, pointed it at the snowy sky, and declared with ringing force: "Long live!"
After he personally spoke, the soldiers and civilians' "long live" became at least twice as loud as before.
The supervising minister also recorded in the midst of the celebration:
The Qi army suffered defeat and withdrew from Shuofeng. The Sixth Prince drew his sword before the ranks, leading hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians to raise their arms and shout to the mountains, offering victory from afar to the Sacred Palace of the imperial capital, wishing His Majesty the Emperor: Long live, long live, long long live.
.........
"It's good you were here, otherwise that was truly dangerous just now."
After entering the city, Wei Wusheng walked quickly, Xinyue following, with Song Shi'an also beside him, walking shoulder to shoulder.
Thinking about what had just happened, he was still frightened.
He wasn't timid or cowardly, but he knew clearly that his father the emperor deeply detested him.
If it were Second Brother the Prince of Jin who had won this battle, with the officers and soldiers shouting like that, His Majesty would even have been delighted.
But he was different. No matter how great his achievements, he still had to be cautious and humble.
If he became arrogant over this, or even accepted those shouts of "long live," death wouldn't be far away.
"Your Highness," Song Shi'an spoke quite calmly, "now you should completely understand why Great Yu must assign an Inspector of equal rank alongside each Governor-General in the border prefectures."
"I knew before that it was for balance. But only now do I fully comprehend why." Wei Wusheng looked at Song Shi'an, still lingering in fear. "Military commanders are too terrifying."
Why kill founding military commanders?
Why did Liu Bang describe those military commanders as "hunting dogs," and before that, there was the saying "when the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked"?
No matter how powerful civil officials became, their conflicts with imperial authority played out through maneuvering within the rules.
But if there was a conflict with a military commander, if they could lead troops to storm the capital, even the earthworms in the palace would be cut in half.
Then why were there so few examples of military commanders rebelling to seize power?
This precisely showed that founding monarchs were doing everything to guard against it.
If military commanders had troops, they couldn't also have grain.
If they had troops and grain, the numbers of both had to be controlled.
If a military commander had military authority, had grain, and could even appoint officials, that was basically a secondary emperor.
The Han Dynasty essentially fell with the abolition of regional inspectors and establishment of provincial governors. Compared to Dong Zhuo and Li Jue, Liu Yan was the number one traitor to the state.
"Could this be what Ji Yuan was thinking?"
Wei Wusheng felt he'd been somewhat bullied, fallen into that man's trap.
"He definitely thought of this, but meeting him brought more benefits than harm," Song Shi'an said.
"Where are the benefits?" Wei Wusheng asked.
"Your Highness has won the most important thing—popular support," Song Shi'an answered.
Suddenly, Wei Wusheng stopped, looking at Song Shi'an with a severe gaze: "Song Shi'an, what do I need popular support for?"
This single sentence made even Xinyue feel a chill.
Standing still, watching the two.
His Highness's words were like an accusation.
At the very least, he took issue with what Song Shi'an had just said.
Yet Song Shi'an showed no hint of remorse, didn't even feel uneasy.
He also looked into Wei Wusheng's eyes.
The two seemed to "confront" each other like this.
What do I need popular support for?
I want you to be embraced by popular support!
Worse than the nine-generation crime of unauthorized troop deployment, the nine—no, ten-generation crime was coming.
After staring at each other for about ten seconds, Wei Wusheng lowered his head, grabbed Song Shi'an's hand, gripped it tightly, then said: "Shi'an, don't say such things again."
Song Shi'an didn't speak.
"The corpses outside the city still need burial, and the large quantities of weapons and armor need recovery. I'll handle battlefield cleanup. I've already announced to the entire city that the county office will return to being the magistrate's seat of government."
Wei Wusheng smiled and said approvingly: "Now, you are the highest priority. Shuofeng revolves around you—go do what needs doing."
"Yes."
Song Shi'an nodded to him.
"Xinyue will go with you too. If anything comes up, come find me directly."
Wei Wusheng patted his shoulder, then quickly departed.
And Xinyue, looking at Song Shi'an's still-serious expression, asked: "Are you angry?"
Song Shi'an was amused by this question and stopped maintaining his stern face: "I'm not some little girl who gets angry when someone speaks a bit harshly."
Xinyue just looked at him.
"Ah no, I didn't mean to look down on girls. Boys and girls are equally good." Song Shi'an quickly backpedaled.
"His Highness is different from you," Xinyue said, looking at him as she explained. "He isn't favored by His Majesty and has no support whatsoever."
It could even be said that Song Shi'an, this capable minister instigating succession struggle, was in a safer position than Wei Wusheng.
Before unification was achieved, the emperor craved capable ministers who could govern well.
But a son he didn't like harboring thoughts about the heir apparent—he would only detest him doubly.
"So what?" Song Shi'an didn't care. "Ji Yuan recognizes him, and I recognize him too, so he's worth fighting for."
These words frightened even Xinyue, who usually had few reservations: "You're not saying things like this to other people too, are you?"
"How is that possible? Am I looking to die?" Song Shi'an wasn't stupid to that degree. "I've only said it to you and His Highness, haven't I?"
"You said it to His Highness because it's part of your plan, but why tell me?"
Xinyue truly feared his loose tongue.
"You don't matter."
Song Shi'an turned and headed toward the county office.
"Because I'm His Highness's personal guard, so you think that way?" Xinyue asked.
"Isn't it because we have a good relationship?" Song Shi'an said casually.
Xinyue pressed her lips together, not wanting to say more.
"Don't worry, I have a sense of propriety," Song Shi'an said quite calmly. "Fighting isn't gambling, and it isn't forcing either. It's about doing your best."
"As long as you know what you're doing."
The topic ended there, and the two headed to the county office.
Upon arrival, they saw the surviving Shuofeng gentry gathered at the entrance. Seeing Song Shi'an, they all hastily bowed, faces full of smiles.
"Why are you all waiting here, gentlemen? The county office is operating normally now—let's speak inside the main hall."
Song Shi'an smiled, also quite amiable.
Seeing him like this, the heavy burden in their hearts immediately lifted.
It seemed that after the war, he still wanted to maintain popular sentiment and prioritize stability.
Able to maintain calm and restraint—this magistrate wasn't bad!
Under Song Shi'an's lead, the group entered the main hall.
Previously, because military matters were the top priority, this place had served as a temporary general's headquarters.
But now, Song Shi'an had officially become the master here.
Power and respect were flowing back to civil officials.
The main hall hadn't been cleaned yet and was somewhat chaotic, covered in dust.
Song Shi'an walked to the desk above and sat down.
Seeing everyone standing before him, he smiled: "Gentlemen, please sit."
"Ah, ah, thank you, Laoye."
The person at the front smiled and nodded, then slowly sat in a seat to the side.
But just as he settled down, Xinyue placed her hand on her sword hilt, staring at him with murderous eyes.
You actually dare to sit?