After executing Jian Ze, Suo Lun received the generals of the Southwest Legion and the officials of the so-called Southeast Punitive Army in his mountain camp.
In the first day’s great battle at Tian Lang Pass, Jian Ze had directly staked everything on a single throw to attack Tian Lang Pass, directly causing over fifty thousand casualties, and this portion of casualties were all soldiers of the Southwest Legion.
Now the entire Southwest Legion had only a little over forty thousand men remaining. However, the commander-level generals of ten thousand still numbered nine, with only one having died.
As for the Southeast Punitive Army, after Suo Lun abandoned the Southeast Province, local officials had spent money to recruit ruffians, scoundrels, and retainers of powerful families to form an army, a full hundred thousand men, in order to curry favour with Zhi Li.
In the great battle at Tian Lang Pass, Jian Ze simply had not let the so-called Southeast Punitive Army enter battle.
These motley troops, once on the battlefield, were of no use whatsoever and could only harm the war situation. Their only use was to carry out burning, killing, and plundering after breaching Tian Lang Pass and entering Tian Shui City.
So up to now, these hundred thousand Southeast Punitive troops had almost no casualties. However, after hearing the news of Zhi Li’s defeat yesterday, forty to fifty thousand of the hundred thousand had already fled, and the remaining half were also prepared to flee at any moment.
As for the officials of the Southeast Province, more than half had also fled. The small remaining portion felt that the entire Fury Wave Kingdom was Suo Lun’s territory now, so where else could they flee to? Thus they gritted their teeth and stayed behind, grovelling at Suo Lun’s feet.
“I heard Tu Ling Tuo sent people to lobby you, asking you to lead your troops to Bai Yun Commandery City to join him?” Suo Lun asked.
“Yes!” The generals of the Southwest Legion bowed.
“Then why did you not go?” Suo Lun said.
Several generals of the Southwest Legion exchanged glances, not knowing how to answer.
Because Tu Ling Tuo’s status had not yet been determined! Whether they spoke well or ill of Tu Ling Tuo, neither was appropriate.
After pondering for a moment, a commander of ten thousand said, “We are generals of the Southwest Legion. Where we should go and what we should do, we ought to obey the royal family’s command. Or rather, military orders from the supreme command bearing His Majesty the King’s seal, not Duke Tu Ling Tuo’s private orders!”
Look, masters of acting are everywhere.
Suo Lun said, “In other words, you are willing to obey the king’s will?”
The several commanders of ten thousand present all knelt and said, “Your humble generals respectfully obey Your Majesty’s will!”
Who did not know that the king’s jade seal was currently on Suo Lun’s person, and all decrees were drafted by Suo Lun.
Instantly, Suo Lun took out a decree and said, “Count Tu Li Wen, receive the decree!”
City Lord Tu Li Wen immediately knelt.
Suo Lun said, “By the dragon’s inheritance of flame, the king decrees: City Lord of Luan Yang, Tu Li Wen, is hereby appointed to temporarily assume the post of Southwest Legion commander. Respect this!”
“Your servant receives the decree and gives thanks!” Count Tu Li Wen kowtowed.
With Tu Li Wen serving as Southwest Legion commander, what about the affairs of Luan Yang City? This was not something the king could interfere with, but generally speaking, it was left to the city lord’s heir to take over territorial affairs.
Of course, according to the kingdom’s tradition, nobles could not hold positions in the kingdom, and even less enter the supreme command or the cabinet.
But…… all rules are broken by people.
Count Suo Long had several times served as Dragon Guard Legion commander, but he was an upright man and indeed never entered the supreme command. Moreover, he only served as Dragon Guard Legion commander during great wars. Every decree was written clearly: temporary assumption.
At this moment Count Tu Li Wen was also temporarily assuming the post of Southwest Legion commander, but how long this “temporary” would last depended entirely on the king’s word.
If the king said thirty to fifty years was temporary, no one had any way to object.
“Do you have any objections to Count Tu Li Wen becoming Southwest Legion commander?” Suo Lun asked.
“Your humble generals respectfully obey the decree!” Several commanders of ten thousand kowtowed, then continued to prick up their ears to listen for the most important content to follow, which was their own fate.
After all, this time they had followed Zhi Li in punitive expedition against Suo Lun, a great crime. But the law does not punish the masses. One could not kill everyone.
Moreover, this was a civil war within the kingdom. Whichever side won, they had to have the capacity to tolerate others.
Suo Lun said, “Of your Southwest Legion’s ten commanders of ten thousand, one died. This position shall be filled by Jian Ning! Jian Ning, come and meet your colleagues!”
Jian Ning stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, “Greetings to all colleagues. From now on we shall all eat from the same pot.”
The generals present could not help but admire this. This Jian Ning was impressive! When Lord Zhi Li was in power, he became a trusted confidant. Now that Lord Zhi Li had lost, he had become Suo Lun’s confidant.
It seemed that children of great families were truly extraordinary.
“All so-called Southeast Punitive troops are to return to their original places. Those who do not leave camp by tomorrow shall be killed without mercy.” Suo Lun finally ordered, “The original Southwest Legion is to temporarily remain in camp.”
……
One day later, inside Bai Yun Commandery City!
Tu Ling Tuo was jumping with rage, because from yesterday he had learned a piece of news: Count Chu Ye was leading two hundred and thirty thousand great troops in southward crossing of the Fury River, successively entering Bai Yun Commandery!
What did this mean?
If he wanted to attack Suo Lun, he should cross the river at Nan Lin Ferry, not Bai Yun Ferry.
If he wanted to lead his troops back to their station, he should go directly west, and even less should he enter Bai Yun Commandery.
His grand and mighty entry into Bai Yun Commandery had only one purpose, and that was to attack him, Tu Ling Tuo!
With Chu Ye’s own courage, plus ten times more courage, he would not dare to actively attack Tu Ling Tuo. Suo Lun must have promised him something.
What could Suo Lun promise Chu Ye?
Of course, to replace Tu Ling Tuo!
This made Tu Ling Tuo extremely furious. You good-for-nothing Suo Lun, you can tolerate Chu Ye, and you can tolerate Jian Ze (he still did not know Jian Ze was dead, but he knew Jian Yong had surrendered to Suo Lun), so why can you alone not tolerate me, Tu Ling Tuo?
At the beginning he had sent Tu Ling Chen to negotiate with Suo Lun, and the answer he received was: absolutely no negotiation without seeing Tu Ling Duo.
Now it seemed everything was a pretext. You simply want to destroy me, Tu Ling Tuo!
Now there were three options before Tu Ling Tuo.
The first option: while Chu Ye’s great army had not yet stabilised from crossing the river, directly lead troops north to intercept.
But he only had eighty thousand troops in hand. At that time there had been a total of over two hundred thousand fleeing troops, but only eighty thousand were willing to gather around Tu Ling Tuo. One could see how poor their morale was, how poor their fighting spirit was.
Leading eighty thousand dispirited troops to attack Chu Ye’s two hundred and thirty thousand great troops, the odds of winning were not great to begin with.
Moreover, when he and Chu Ye were fiercely battling, if Suo Lun sent out several thousand cavalry to attack, that would be dangerous.
The second option: while Chu Ye’s great army had not yet completed crossing the river, Tu Ling Tuo immediately led his troops to leave the Southeast Province and head for the royal capital!
But without having negotiated a result with Suo Lun, what was the point of returning to the royal capital?
Moreover, Zhi Li had also fled to the royal capital. Were you, Tu Ling Tuo, going back to continue colluding with him?
Most crucially, the eighty thousand troops he currently led lacked provisions and had few war horses. And the journey back to the royal capital was a full several thousand li. Whether it was Suo Lun’s army or Chu Ye’s army, both could pursue from behind. Before travelling one thousand li, these eighty thousand men would likely have already scattered in defeat.
Yesterday, he had sent Tu Ling Chen to lobby the generals of the Southwest Legion, asking them to lead the surviving forty thousand Southwest Legion troops to come to Bai Yun Commandery City and join him.
Up to now, Tu Ling Chen had still not returned. He did not know what the result was?
If they were willing to join Tu Ling Tuo, then the troops in Tu Ling Tuo’s hands would increase to one hundred and twenty thousand.
“Duke, the young master has returned.” Outside, the voice of a trusted warrior sounded.
“Quickly, let him enter.” Tu Ling Tuo said urgently.
Dust-covered and haggard, Tu Ling Chen rushed swiftly into the city lord’s mansion, knelt before Tu Ling Tuo and said, “Father, those generals of the Southwest Legion are unwilling to lead their troops north to join us.”
“Betrayal, betrayal……” Tu Ling Tuo flew into a rage, smashing the table before him with a single fist.
“Naked betrayal.” Tu Ling Tuo roared, “Have they not thought about who promoted them? Who gave them glory, splendour, wealth, and rank? And now they dare to betray me? What about Jian Ze? Has he already surrendered to Suo Lun?”
Tu Ling Chen said, “Jian Ze has already been killed by Suo Lun!”
“Killed?” Tu Ling Tuo could not believe it.
“Killed!” Tu Ling Chen said, “Suo Lun led Princess Zhi Yan and personally went to Jian Ze’s central army tent in the Southwest Legion, and chopped off his head!”
Tu Ling Tuo said, “And the Southwest Legion and Southeast Punitive Army just let him kill Jian Ze like that?”
Tu Ling Chen said, “After learning of Zhi Li’s defeat, half the Southeast Punitive Army fled that very day. I had originally been negotiating quite well with the Southwest Legion generals, and over half of them had already expressed their willingness to lead their troops north into Bai Yun Commandery City to join us. But after Suo Lun and Princess Zhi Yan entered the military camp, they immediately all defected and sternly refused me!”
Tu Ling Tuo said in a trembling voice, “He, he actually killed Jian Ze? Why would he do this? Jian Ze’s qualifications were more than sufficient, his ability to fight was not bad, and most crucially his foundation was shallow, so he would not become too big to control. As long as Suo Lun put on a posture of showing respect for the worthy, Jian Ze would definitely come kneeling and pledging loyalty eagerly. For Suo Lun, Jian Ze was completely the best candidate for Dragon Guard Legion commander. Suo Lun should not have killed him at all?”
Tu Ling Chen said, “It is said that Jian Ze was a man who loved face the most. At that time, Lord Zhi Li had stood outside his courtyard for a full three days in order to win him over and recruit him. He probably also wanted to make Suo Lun stand for three days. As a result, Suo Lun lost patience and directly chopped off his head. You also know, Suo Lun acts according to his whims. Even at his most difficult times, he never curried favour with anyone, let alone now?”
“Right!” Tu Ling Tuo said, “What you say is right. Suo Lun killed Jian Ze entirely because he was displeased in his heart.”
Tu Ling Chen said, “He had Tu Li Wen appointed as Southwest Legion commander, and had Jian Ning enter the Southwest Legion to serve as commander of ten thousand!”
Tu Ling Tuo sighed, “Jian Ning got off cheap. If he had not taken the wrong path, the Southwest Legion commander position would have been his in the future. He sold out all his dignity to finally become Zhi Li’s confidant, exchanging it for the Dragon Guard Army’s commander of ten thousand cavalry. He never expected that what he obtained from Suo Lun was far more than what he obtained from Zhi Li? From now on, the Jian family will become a loyal dog of Suo Lun’s, biting whomever he orders them to bite.”
Tu Ling Chen said, “Father, since Suo Lun cares so much about face. If you personally go to pay your respects to him, kneeling when you should kneel, pledging loyalty when you should pledge loyalty, would he then let us off?”
Tu Ling Tuo’s face twitched!
This was indeed a line of thought. Jian Yong and Jian Ning were Zhi Li’s confidants, and had thoroughly offended Suo Lun. Yet they ran over to grovel, and were actually put to good use by Suo Lun.
And Jian Ze was completely the most important person to Suo Lun, yet just because he loved to put on airs and waited for Suo Lun to fawn over him, he ended up with his head chopped off.
Suddenly, Tu Ling Chen said, “Father, Suo Lun, who only loves sycophants and flatterers, yet killed the hard-boned Jian Ze. It seems he is also a muddle-headed ruler.”
Tu Ling Tuo shook his head, “Muddle-headed ruler? You have read too many books, too many books about being close to worthy ministers and distant from petty men. What ministers fear most is precisely this kind of ruler, one of unpredictable moods, whose heavenly might is difficult to fathom! If Suo Lun were a muddle-headed ruler, how could he have defeated Zhi Li, who possessed the entire Fury Wave Kingdom, with merely Tian Shui City?”
Tu Ling Chen said, “But throughout history, there have been countless rulers who were extremely wise and brilliant when founding their enterprise. Yet once they became rulers, they became utterly muddle-headed?”
Tu Ling Tuo shook his head, “No, Suo Lun has not changed. He has always been like this. Even before he had reclaimed the position of Tian Shui City Lord, he loved others’ obedience, and did everything according to his whims. A person like him, exceedingly intelligent, has the possibility of becoming a tyrant, but becoming a muddle-headed ruler is impossible!”
Tu Ling Chen said, “If Father goes to kneel and surrender, and can exchange it for Suo Lun’s forgiveness, I think…… it would still be worth it!”
……
Fury Wave Royal Palace!
The king had suffered a stroke and had been on the verge of death for nearly two years. He had completely not made any public appearance, and it had been over a year since he had shown his face at all.
So many people in the kingdom speculated that the king was already dead.
And Zhi Li wanted to turn this speculation into fact, then forcibly ascend the throne as king!
The kings of the Fury Wave Kingdom, those who had been assassinated were too numerous to count. Zhi Bian had been assassinated more than once.
But such a direct charge into the royal palace to assassinate, this was the first time!
How to assassinate the king? There were two options.
The first option: directly lead over ten thousand men in a forcible attack on the royal palace. With strange drugs from the Demon Continent, plus several hundred powerful warriors clearing the path.
In doing so, they would be entangled by several tens of thousands of imperial guards, and it would plainly tell all under heaven that it was Zhi Li who wanted to assassinate the king.
But Zhi Li could use the pretext of rushing to the king’s rescue, saying that Suo Lun and Zhi Yan had colluded to imprison the king, and Zhi Li was attacking the royal palace in order to rescue the king.
Once the king fell into his hands, then the power to draft decrees would fall into Zhi Li’s hands.
The second option: have Li Cheng Lian dispatch top experts to directly ride griffin beasts into the royal palace, avoiding the slaughter with several tens of thousands of imperial guards, and directly carry out a night raid on Purple Jade Mountain to assassinate the king.
In doing so, they would directly confront the Shadow Pavilion guarding the king. But in order to help Suo Lun, many Shadow Pavilion experts had already been lost. In this great decisive battle, even Gao Yin had personally gone out to Tian Shui City.
So the forces guarding the king should be relatively empty.
Ultimately, Zhi Li still chose the second option, having several dozen top experts carry drugs from the Demon Continent in a night raid on Purple Jade Mountain!
In the middle of the night!
Five griffin beasts carrying several dozen top experts flew into the Fury Wave Royal Palace at an altitude of several thousand metres, above Purple Jade Mountain!
The king’s life hung by a thread!