vrcanaries Chapter 753 Everyone has run away
Chapter 753 Everyone has run away
While Jiang Wei was marching quickly, he sent scouts to Chengdu at full speed to deliver a message.
He said that he was now marching quickly to Chengdu, and hoped that Your Majesty could lead the army to resist the Yan army. As long as they could hold on for two or three days, he would be able to lead his army there. Then they would attack the Yan army from both sides and would surely win a great victory.
After defeating the Longxiang army, they retreated south to Nanzhong, relying on the Qian Kingdom to fight against the Yan army.
Although he was facing a desperate situation, as an excellent commander, Jiang Wei still had the ability to respond quickly.
Jiang Wei proposed a series of combat plans and sent people to Chengdu at full speed, fearing that if the emperor surrendered accidentally, everything would be over.
He led his army on the journey, but at this time, Bai Wuan had already led his army to capture Deyang.
He knew that Jiang Wei was chasing him, but he still did not leave any troops in Deyang, because he knew that the crazy Jiang Wei would definitely bypass Deyang and attack him from behind. Instead of leaving troops and dispersing his strength, it would be better to capture Chengdu first and then fight Jiang Wei.
So Bai Wuan also ordered to speed up the march to Chengdu.
Xiao Quan was the first to receive the letter from Bai Wuan.
It was already dark when he received the letter, but he didn't want to wait and immediately summoned civil and military officials.
In the main hall, Xiao Quan ordered people to read Bai Wuan's reply letter.
Those ministers who were originally worried that Bai Wuan would massacre the captives also stopped worrying and just murmured, what if he was lying?
Other ministers, on the other hand, suggested that they should just surrender.
Seeing that all the ministers suggested surrender, Xiao Quan had no choice but to give the order and wait for the Yan army to arrive before leaving the city and surrendering to Bai Wuan.
Otherwise, people would say that Xiao Quan was too young and not as smart as Emperor Cao De of Wei.
That evening after the meeting, almost all the princes, nobles, civil and military officials packed their bags, took the gold and silver in their homes, left their homes with their servants, and ran to the nearest city gate.
Are you kidding? I want to give up my wealth and glory and become a slave with you?
We are not blind and cannot see what happened to the princes and nobles of Wei and Qin.
If we continue to resist, we will die; if we surrender, we will go to the North and become slaves. So why don’t we run away?
It's enough to have you, the emperor, take the blame. Why should we stay here? You're crazy.
Return to your hometown or find a remote mountain town, take your treasure and family, hide your identity and reproduce, and you will still be a prominent family decades later.
Only a fool would be a hungry slave.
On this day, the nine gates of Chengdu's four city walls were almost overcrowded with ministers who wanted to leave.
The general guarding the city originally did not want to open the gate, saying that he had to report to the emperor. However, as more and more ministers arrived, each of them was higher in rank than the general, the general became nervous and did not dare to offend any of them.
The ministers told the general that the emperor had ordered surrender, so what was the point of wasting your life on an annual salary of 800 taels of silver?
Then the general in charge of military power ordered all soldiers to open the city gates and not to stop them.
There were orders from the Grand Marshal, threats from the officials, and news of the Emperor's surrender.
The general no longer hesitated and directly ordered the city gates to be opened and the officials to leave.
All the officials ran out again, and the five generals gathered together to discuss what to do.
"Is the city gate open on your side?"
"It's open, everyone is almost out of the running."
"Same here."
"What should we do now? We've let everyone escape. What if the Emperor blames us tomorrow?"
"Isn't that the order from the commander?"
"The Grand Marshal has already run away, so how can the Emperor catch him? If he can't catch the officials, he will definitely take his anger out on us and punish us for letting the officials go."
"That's right, if I can't punish the officials, how can I punish you?"
"What should we do? Should we lead our troops to surrender to the Yan army before the emperor? Doesn't the Yan army usually reorganize surrendered legions? Maybe we can still continue to serve as generals."
"Yes, if Jiang Wei surrenders, our 50,000 plus his 50,000 will be 100,000, enough for a legion."
"Will the Yan army want us? How many legions does the Yan army have now? Almost two million troops, right?"
"I made a decision that went against my ancestors."
"what?"
"I'm going home to pack my bags and run away too! Damn it, the princes and ministers are selling us out.
Think about it, when the Yan army captured the city, they must have collected money. They had strict military discipline and could not plunder the people, so they usually plundered the money from the national treasury and the money of the nobles and officials.
Now that all the nobles and officials have fled, they might turn against us in anger.
Don't forget, the leader is the butcher Bai Wuan."
A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Bai Wuan's bad reputation can stop children from crying at night.
When everyone heard Bai Wuan, they shuddered.
Yes, that’s a butcher, he’s going to kill people.
So, these five generals made the decision to run back home.
They dispersed, returned to their homes, packed their bags, and left Chengdu with their families and money.
By the time dawn broke, all the princes, nobles, and generals in Chengdu had fled.
Only 50,000 troops and the emperor were left.
This is where Xiao Quan is inferior to Cao De.
Cao De was very smart. He knew that once he announced his surrender, he would lose everything and no one would listen to him anymore. So he held on to the power in his hands until the moment before leaving the city, when he announced his surrender.
But Xiao Quan was not able to do that. He announced it directly, but the Yan army had not arrived yet, which gave the princes and nobles precious time to escape.
Overnight, Chengdu's inner city became empty.
As soon as the sky brightened, a fast horse from the north ran into Chengdu and headed straight for the imperial palace.
The urgent information was delivered to the palace over a distance of eight hundred miles.
Xiao Quan was woken up and felt relaxed in a daze. He rubbed the snow-white buttocks of the concubine next to him, then put on the dragon robe and walked out of the bedroom.
"It's dawn, what's going on?"
"Your Majesty, General Jiang has sent me to ask Your Majesty to lead the troops to defend Chengdu and resist the Yan army, keeping them outside the city.
He is leading a large army on a forced march and will arrive as quickly as possible.
At that time, we will attack the Yan army from both sides, defeat Bai Wuan, and then lead the army to move the capital to Nanzhong, with the support of Qian State, to fight the Yan army again."
Hearing this, Xiao Quan sneered and said,
"Defeat Bai Wuan? Who does he think he is? Chengdu is so big, and it can be defended by only 50,000 people."
"Your Majesty, do not be discouraged. Marshal Jiang is loyal and dedicated. He is on his way here and will arrive soon.
Your Majesty, please think twice."
"Alright, alright, beat the drums, and start the morning court session. I will discuss this with all the officials."
Xiao Quan came to the main hall in a sedan chair and sat on the dragon throne.
Waiting for the court meeting to begin.
However, he waited and waited, until dawn, but no one came to the court meeting.