Chapter 1332: Vow to Protect the Ancestral Tomb

Chapter 1332: Vow to Protect the Ancestral Tomb

The rules for serving the king in Wuxing had not yet been drawn up, but the imperial court had already issued a proclamation against Hou Andu.

Previously, Chen Qian had concealed the news that the Tang army had crossed the river and entered Jingkou, but the imperial court's proclamation was delivered by express and posted between the bridges, residences, and weirs along the way. Naturally, the relevant situation spread in an instant.

At this time, the people of Wuxing knew that the Tang army had not only crossed the river in large numbers, but also would directly send troops to Kuaiji, located at the southernmost end of the Three Wus, and this move was recognized and supported by the imperial court!

This series of news suddenly exploded among the people like thunder, and the people were in a panic. At the same time, there was no lack of exaggeration in the process of spreading rumors, so that in the end, the people of Wuxing knew that the million-strong Tang army had crossed the river and was on its way to the Three Wus, vowing to kill the people of the Three Wus without a single piece of armor left.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, has the Tang army already broken through the river defenses and is about to attack the Three Wus?"

The Linchuan Palace, located on the Great Wall, has gathered many countrymen in recent days. Such explosive news naturally reached here at the first time. For a time, all the countrymen could not hold back, and left the temporary camp one after another, rushing to the Linchuan Palace.

"Everyone calm down, calm down, the king is discussing things with his confidants, and will definitely give an explanation to the elders of Jiangdong later!"

The incident happened suddenly, and all the personnel ideas of Chen Qian were disrupted by this proclamation. Now everyone is panicking, including the King of Linchuan, who is also confused at the moment. He doesn't know how to respond to the inquiries of the masses. He can only temporarily avoid the palace, and the chief secretary Shen Ke will come forward to appease the masses gathered outside the palace.

Although Shen Ke was quite prestigious in the county, he was now facing a moment when his life and property were seriously threatened. In addition, the King of Linchuan was also keen on gathering the villagers. At this moment, the villagers naturally gathered here subconsciously. Before getting a firm response and guarantee, they all refused to leave.

There was a lot of noise outside the palace, and there were constant disputes and even quarrels inside the palace. Chen Qian obviously had not reacted to this blow. He just sat in the seat with a gloomy expression, watching his subordinates talking and arguing without saying a word.

"The court is now writing this proclamation because it is coerced by the Tang army and has no choice but to do so. The king is the arm of the clan. At this time, he must rise up to fight against the invaders and must not stay out of it and hope for success or failure!"

Someone spoke loudly, but there were few people in the hall who responded.

Although everyone was discussing the plan of serving the king before, it would be a joke to say that we should immediately raise troops to attack Jiankang, especially now that the court has issued this edict. No one knows the specific situation in the court, whether the king Chen Chang and the ministers in the court have completely turned to the Tang Dynasty. Leading the people to Jiankang to rescue the king at this time is undoubtedly tantamount to suicide!

Therefore, in the eyes of some calm-minded people, not only should we not rush to serve the king and rescue the king, but we should also firmly stay in Wuzhong, repair the city defense, and build camps, otherwise if the Tang army comes south, everything will be over!

"What about the Wujun army? The Tang army has already marched south in force, and has issued an edict in conjunction with the imperial court to attack Kuaiji. If our soldiers only defend Wuxing, Wujun will be isolated and trapped. The enemy's so-called attack on Kuaiji is just a trick to confuse the enemy. When they see that Wujun has no help, they will occupy it first. If Wujun is lost, can Wuxing be safe?"

Someone else said that Wuxing and Wujun are both located in the Taihu Plain, and there is no barrier between them in terms of terrain. It can be said that in summer and autumn, they can still rely on the crisscrossing river and canal network to resist a little, but now is the deep winter dry season. Once the Northern Dynasty war horses break into Wuzhong, they will be like entering an unmanned area, galloping freely, and it will be difficult to resist.

So even if you want to defend Wuxing, it is unrealistic to just build fortifications in Wuxing to resist the enemy's attack. The best way is to defend Wujun and try to keep the war outside the country.

As soon as this was said, everyone looked sad, and the atmosphere was silent for a while, but soon someone said: "If the court sends troops from the capital to accompany the Tang army into the country, what should we do? Should we also fight back against the Jiankang division?"

After this question was raised, it immediately caused a series of discussions. Everyone expressed their opinions again, but those who held opposite opinions could not convince each other, so they could only put it aside for the time being and continue to discuss other issues.

The discussion in the palace remained in this state. No issue could be discussed to a clear result, and no issue could attract everyone to continue discussing, because there were too many issues in the current situation, each of which was very important and required serious discussion and quick decision-making, but they were all controversial and difficult to reach a conclusion.

The people in the palace were arguing endlessly and had no plan. The people outside the palace had not received any response, so they became more and more agitated. Even Shen Ke was about to lose control of the situation. He could only bring some of the most noisy tyrants into the palace and let them join the discussion in the palace. After these people arrived, they raised new questions, which made the situation more complicated. Chen Qian, who was supposed to preside over the meeting and make decisions, just watched the discussion without saying a word. His gloomy face made people dare not interrupt rashly. The discussion continued like this, and unknowingly it went from day to night and from night to day.

Although there were endless discussions in the hall, no effective consensus was ever reached, and everyone in the congregation was naturally exhausted and sleepy and yawned again and again.

As the morning light broke, Chen Qian, who had been sitting in the banquet without saying a word, stood up. She held her sword in hand and looked down at the people in the hall. She said in a deep voice: "This time the Tang army crossed the river to threaten, and the imperial court made chaos. It is true that the situation is critical. At this time of life and death, you all have your own ideas and opinions, and your intention to save your home and country is so sincere. Who else has a good plan that has not yet been revealed?"

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. After arguing for most of the day and the whole night, they were all exhausted by now and had even forgotten what topics they were involved in. , and what opinions do you hold.

"Since you have nothing to say, it's my turn. When this family and country are in crisis, even if they have thousands of plans, they can only take one strategy. Even if there are hundreds of millions of people, they still have to follow the orders of one person. The plan is set and will never be changed. Once the order is implemented, any violators will be punished! I am here to warn all the disciples. If anyone refuses to follow my order, I will not blame you. But if you miss this moment and disobey me again, try my sword and you will definitely be killed without mercy!”

Chen Qian looked at the crowd and said in a deep voice. He had been silent for such a long time. Of course, it was because he was in a state of shock and had no plans, but at the same time he also wanted to see how his subordinates were doing. As expected, everyone was shocked by such a drastic change. They are all full of thoughts and distracted.

Therefore, before making various contingency strategies, he must first establish his absolute authority. Since the imperial court joined the Tang army in speaking out, and his status as a clan king was not enough to intimidate and order the powerful Wuzhong, he could only After establishing a consensus and tacit understanding between each other, he can then command the masses and arrange counterattacks.

Everyone was tired of the futile arguments among themselves, and finally waited for Chen Qian to speak out, so they all stood up to worship and expressed their stance: "I am willing to obey the king's order to resist foreign enemies and defend our country. If there is any violation, , punish him with everyone!”

Hearing everyone's response, Chen Qian nodded slightly, and then continued: "The top priority is to defend against the enemy and prepare for war! For all the children of Wuzhong, only one of them will stay at home, and if there are many, they will leave their young children at home, and the rest will Everyone is here to wait! If the Tang army arrives, they will die if they disperse, but they will survive if they gather together. Warn the villagers not to seek self-destruction! Wu County must not fail to save it, and select strong soldiers to arm the armored brigade to provide reinforcements when the time comes.

I will also tell the court whether Hou Andu is really guilty of an unpardonable crime. I will go to investigate and report to the court. If he is indeed guilty, I will kill him and send him to the court without bothering the Tang people to come south! If your Majesty still cares about your family and country, you should not allow your enemies to harm yourself. If you don't know this plan, why should you order the world? Now I am at the tomb of my ancestors in my hometown. If the Tang army invades Wuxiang without authorization and disturbs my ancestors, I will fight to the death with all the villagers and elders! "

When everyone heard that King Linchuan planned to fight to the death with the Tang army, they couldn't help but feel cold in their hearts. However, they had already stated that they would obey King Linchuan's orders before. Now they thought about the fact that the Tang Dynasty was pressing forward step by step and aggressive, and the imperial court was weak. It was unbearable, and they were all filled with indignation for a moment and kept saying yes.

Chen Qian also knew that with Wuxing's personnel strength alone, if the Tang army really invaded in large numbers, it would be difficult to resist. In addition, the Tang army was originally targeting Hou Andu in Kuaiji, so she announced the preparations for the war and the response to the court. After his response, he immediately sent an envoy to Kuaiji to inform Hou Andu. Of course, it was not to go to question the crime, but to tell Hou Andu to reinforce Wuxing as soon as possible. Once Wuxing failed to defend, he would not be able to escape.