Very few people knew that thirty years ago, Yang Jiande and Chongxuan Chuliang had once fought side by side.
The war that swept across the entire Eastern Region and shook the whole world was the very battle that brought the contest for hegemony between Qi and Xia to its final, decisive close.
At that time, Yang Jiande and Chongxuan Chuliang each commanded an army, together defending Slanted Moon Valley, where they joined hands to withstand thirteen waves of Xia assaults and held their ground firmly.
Back then, Qi and Xia had each massed armies of a million, locked in the heat of a great war, their intertwined front lines stretching hundreds of li. It was a protracted, grinding struggle, and before it ended, no one could predict the outcome.
But at this juncture, Yang Jiande and Chongxuan Chuliang fell into disagreement. Yang Jiande believed their troops were already exhausted, and that they should withdraw and rest to seek victory in later battles. Holding Slanted Moon Valley was already a great merit in their hands. But if they lost Slanted Moon Valley, then even victory would be a crime.
Yet Chongxuan Chuliang insisted on launching a counterattack.
In the end, Yang Jiande chose to withdraw his troops for rotation, while Chongxuan Chuliang—audacious enough to act before the replacement garrison had even arrived from the rear—stubbornly went his own way, abandoning Slanted Moon Valley outright, and marched out with his entire force, smashing the Xia retreat once again, then harrying and slaughtering the fleeing soldiers, breaking through three lines of defense in succession, and thrusting deep into the Xia rear in one stroke!
What followed was slaughter of people and butchery of cities, cutting off grain and scorched earth—a series of exploits that earned him the name of "the Fierce Butcher."
Now more than thirty years had passed, and Yang Jiande, who had since transformed himself, had become the sovereign ruler of a state.
And that fat man who was amiable and mild-mannered in daily life but went mad the moment he set foot on a battlefield had become a famed general whom no one in the entire military of the State of Qi could afford to ignore.
Yang Jiande's request, delivered by letter of state, was precisely a test—to see whether Chongxuan Chuliang, who had once fought at his side, still possessed that lone courage to march a thousand li alone.
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"Pleading for surrender? How do you mean?" In the military tent, Chongxuan Chuliang held the letter of state pleading for surrender, his face full of astonishment.
The envoy of the State of Yang standing before the tent was filled with grief and indignation, speaking with humiliation: "Why does the Grand Marshal ask what he already knows?"
With his state humiliated and his people grieving, he nearly shed tears, but he would not show weakness before the men of Qi, so he forced the tears back: "Four generations of alliance between Qi and Yang! Whenever Qi campaigned, Yang never failed to follow. Whenever Qi had need, Yang never failed to aid! I ask you, Grand Marshal—what crime has my State of Yang committed, to invite such military calamity!?"
The assembled generals of the Qi army within the tent kept silent.
Chongxuan Chuliang was dumbstruck for a long while, then heaved a long sigh: "How deeply Duke Yang misunderstands me! How deeply he misunderstands the great Qi!"
"The plague venom afflicting the State of Yang this time is no small matter—it can already harm even the transcendent. If allowed to spread, I fear a catastrophe too dreadful to speak of! The great Qi, as a great power of the Eastern Region, must stabilize the order of the Eastern Region. For the safety of the entire Eastern Region, I cannot shirk my duty!"
"I have been commanded to lead troops here solely to help the State of Yang contain the spread of the plague venom. Let me ask you, honored envoy—if my army did not come, could the State of Yang seal its own borders? Would it have such resolve, such boldness, such capability?"
"You may report back to Duke Yang: in public matters, the State of Yang is a vassal state of Qi; in private, we share the bond of comrades-in-arms. Let Duke Yang rest assured—when I, Chongxuan Chuliang, mass troops at the border, it is only to contain the disaster. I shall never set foot on the soil of the State of Yang!"
To be sent by Yang Jiande at such a time to deliver the letter of surrender, this envoy of the State of Yang had to be not only loyal, but certainly no fool either.
Hearing Chongxuan Chuliang's reply, he was indeed reassured—only, he remained "reassured" all the way down into the abyss...
In truth, the late Crown Prince of Yang, Yang Xuanji, was no mediocre man. At least one of his points had been correct: the State of Yang was a vassal state of Qi, and had always been deferential, never once breaking the covenant. If Qi wished to annex the State of Yang, it could not afford to ignore the judgment of the world.
Especially since the present world did not hold Qi as its only hegemon. If Qi fixed its gaze only on the Eastern Region, its vision would be far too shallow.
Military strength alone could never bring ten thousand nations to submission.
It was with this in mind that Yang Xuanji judged Qi's expectations should extend only to a handful of cities—seizing the opportunity of containing the plague venom, completing de facto possession under the banner of rescuing them from calamity, all without incurring the condemnation of public opinion.
Many ministers of the State of Yang held the same view.
Another faction, represented by Yang Jiande, believed that Qi was at the zenith of its power, and might well unite the Eastern Region into an Eastern State, then contend westward for the whole world. Under such a grand strategy, a few murmurs of dissent were nothing they needed to heed.
This envoy who delivered the letter of surrender held the latter view—until now, when he discovered he had been wrong. Chongxuan Chuliang, or rather Qi, cared deeply about the judgment of the world.
Yet this kind of "caring" was perhaps more terrifying than indifference.
Because the outcome of this "caring" was exactly what Chongxuan Chuliang was doing now.
The man had clearly made up his mind to lock down the State of Yang, severing it from all outside contact.
In ordinary times, the State of Yang could simply close its borders and hold out for three to five years without problem. But what times were these? The plague venom was mutating and raging. This was precisely the time when they needed to concentrate their strength against the plague venom, precisely the time when they needed help from the outside world.
But with the great Qi army besieging the borders, could the State of Yang still concentrate its strength against the mutating plague venom?
What Chongxuan Chuliang was doing amounted to trapping the people of the State of Yang... dooming the entire nation to death within its own borders!
Such was the Fierce Butcher!
Of course he would not set foot on the soil of Yang—for he need not. He need not lift a finger himself; the plague venom would kill every person of Yang for him.
And Qi would not even bear an ill name, for in truth they had indeed contained a terrible mutating plague for the Eastern Region, even for the whole world.
All he had to do was take possession of the lands of Yang afterward.
Gazing at this slightly plump old man before him who seemed so very gentle, the envoy of the State of Yang felt as though he were looking upon the face of a demon.
Even after leaving the military tent, even under the blazing sunlight, he felt as if he were still in a world of ice and snow, his body and mind knowing nothing but a bone-piercing chill.
......
The envoy of the State of Yang had come, laden with humiliation, to deliver the letter of surrender, and now stumbled away, his heart full of despair.
Inside the military tent, a great general could not hold back and spoke: "Grand Marshal, since Duke Yang has read the times and pleads for surrender, why not go along with it? Subduing the enemy without battle is the highest realm of the art of war, and it would also display the Grand Marshal's renown. If we can avoid war, why fight? You must know that not only land is a resource—population is too. With the cooperation of the Yang court, we could take over the entire territory of Yang all the more smoothly. Scatter the people of Yang, relocate them across the land, and within three generations they will be our own people of Qi."
Chongxuan Chuliang looked at him slowly, and asked in an unhurried voice: "General Tian, how much did Yang Jiande promise you?"
The general's face went deathly pale in an instant, cold sweat beading densely across his forehead, his very voice trembling: "Your humble servant is devoted and loyal—how could I conspire with the traitor of Yang? All my thoughts are for the sake of our great Qi, for the sake of the Grand Marshal!"
Chongxuan Chuliang swept his gaze over the other generals: "And you? Do you share this thought?"
Every general kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, without so much as an exchange of glances, let alone a word.
Chongxuan Chuliang waited quietly for a moment, then smiled: "The Tian clan of Great Marsh is indeed rich and powerful. So many of you have no objection to my decision, yet you alone, surnamed Tian, have objections. Heh, interesting."
The general surnamed Tian could no longer think of anything else; with a plop he knelt down, pressing his entire forehead to the ground: "Your humble servant would never dare! Truly my mind is dull, my considerations careless, my tongue clumsy! But my heart can be witnessed by the sun and moon—I hold not the slightest disrespect toward the Grand Marshal!"