Chapter 1423: 1424 Hongmen Banquet
"How are you? Do you look more energetic?" Chen Li was arranging his general's uniform in front of the mirror with a serious look on his face.
The adjutant kept nodding beside him and praised: "The general is in good condition. He is really magnificent."
Chen Li also felt that his energy, which he had managed to hold up, seemed to be okay and there were no flaws. He was going to attend a dinner party in the evening to appease the local nobles and ask them to provide more money, food, and manpower for the meal.
As a general, he must have a good relationship with the nobles in the area so that these nobles will at least not hold him back.
"These nobles are sensible. I asked them for help before and got more than 10,000 young men. I must thank them and use them as examples for others to learn from." Chen Li put on his military uniform. He put on his hat, turned his neck left and right, and saw the slightly thin face in the mirror.
There was nothing he could do about it. Even though he put on makeup carefully, his face still looked a little haggard. I haven't slept well in the past few dozen days, and I don't look good no matter how much I try to dress up.
But he still had to attend this dinner, because it was a banquet hosted by the local nobles and asked him, the general, to speak a few words to appease the hearts of the local people.
This kind of thing must be done, especially at this critical juncture: the Qin Empire has just lost the Battle of Shahun, the Tang army has already invaded the mainland, and the scene has become extremely ugly. If we don't appease the people at this time, I'm afraid they really don't need to be appeased anymore.
In a car imported from the Tang Empire, Chen Li and his adjutant went to a villa in the suburbs. Finally, as to why we chose this place, we have to ask the Air Force Bomber Force of the Tang Empire.
Several days of bombing have made Guangmian City very unsafe, so in order to have a good meal this time, I deliberately chose a relatively remote villa in the woodland on the outskirts.
This is a noble manor in the city. It is used to escape the summer heat. It is built in the mountains and is relatively cool in summer. Now is not a good time to come here to escape the heat, but it's better than being quiet here.
The car slowly stopped. There were not many guards accompanying Chen Li, because this time the banquet was held by famous nobles of the Qin State, and their loyalty was actually relatively guaranteed.
Chen Li did not doubt the other party, because he really did not believe that a noble of this level would have any rebellious intentions. Moreover, it is unnatural to bring so many soldiers at this kind of banquet where everyone changes glasses.
Soon, the banquet began. As expected, everyone was very worried about national affairs. During the meal, they all expressed their willingness to continue to support the empire to Chen Li.
They are willing to donate another 2 million military salaries, another 1,000 tons of grain, and recruit 3,000 people to support Chen Li and protect the safety of Guangmian City.
Chen Li of course assured everyone that he would do his best to defend Guangmian and never take a step back! As long as the food can keep up and the military support is in place, he will turn Guangmian into a steel fortress.
Yes, that's what he said. Whether he can hold on to it or not is not up to him. But sometimes lies are easier to accept than truth, so naturally Chen Li would not tell the truth, which completely turned the dinner off.
As he was eating, Chen Li felt something was wrong. He felt that his vision began to blur slightly and his stomach began to hurt.
He had a premonition of something, so he stood up and said he was going to the bathroom. As a result, his legs went weak and he knocked over the chair and fell to the ground. "Rebel!" Chen Li shouted as loudly as he could with all his strength, but his words could only be heard by the people in the room. The poison had taken effect, and his body no longer obeyed its orders.
His body has been exhausted due to the recent busy work, and he has been on the verge of death even after holding on until now. Now that he was so stimulated by the poison, his already weak body collapsed in an instant.
The adjutant on the side reached for the gun at his waist, but his hand was held down by the person next to him. He wanted to struggle, but he had no strength left.
It was only then that he realized that the purpose of inviting these people over for dinner was not to appease people's hearts, because their hearts... were already dark.
“You! You poisoned me!” The adjutant fell to the ground and yelled in an unclear voice, but even he himself didn’t know what he was talking about.
Chen Li on the side was struggling desperately, and he could no longer even shout. The two people soon became silent, and everyone at the wine table was still in a state of shock.
The old nobleman headed by him stood up, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, looked down at the two corpses on the ground, and gave an order: "Let my men send a signal to the Tang people...and then open the city to surrender according to the planned plan."
“Yes!” The eldest son standing next to him immediately walked out of the room. The nobles next to him still did not dare to speak, but just looked at the two corpses in military uniforms on the ground in a daze.
Soon, intensive gunfire came from the next door. It was the battle between the guards of the villa to deal with Chen Li's guards. Soon, only a few seconds later, the gunfire stopped.
Immediately afterwards, a mutiny broke out in Guangmian City. Some troops took control of Chen Li's headquarters, while other troops took Chen Li's orders and arrested the chief officers of many troops.
A few days ago, there was a major case of purging officers who studied in the Tang Dynasty, so almost no one thought there was any problem. Just like this, they were all controlled by the rebel aristocratic private army.
On the last day of March, the dragon flag of the Tang Empire was suddenly hoisted on the city wall of Guangmian. Before the hundreds of thousands of troops under the city could figure out what was happening, they all became prisoners of the Tang army.
Nineteen nobles of the Qin State betrayed their country, offered the head of Qin General Chen Li, and knelt down to welcome the Tang army into the city.
Those generals who were loyal to the Qin State were still being detained in the private barracks at this moment. They had no idea that the Guangmian they were guarding had been lost while they were in prison.
Strauss did not break his promise. He gave a ticket to those who wanted to leave, and indeed handed over the nobles who dared to stay to the local civilians for trial. In the end, seven nobles were executed, nine were safe, and three left their homeland and went to Linshui by boat.
By this point, the main force of the Qin State had basically been annihilated by the Tang Army, and the rest were some local security forces, which could no longer stop the Tang Army from continuing to advance westward.
Emperor Qin Yingduo had no choice but to activate Zhang Xuan again and ordered him to defend Wuyang to make the final resistance.