Chapter 71: Blood and Tears

  Yang Guang waved his hand, "War is not about the gain or loss of a city or a pool, war is about national power. Our great Sui dynasty defeated Goguryeo relying on our strong national power, and we should defeat them with a mighty army. One city or one pool, abandoning it first is not a big deal, besides, now that the army has no food or grass, continuing to stay here is not the best strategy. I have already decided on this matter, so don't say any more."

  Yang Guang settled the matter with just a few words, and the third campaign against Goguryeo also came to an end. All the generals rushed to prepare, the orderlies transmitted orders, and those who packed up their things did so hastily. Two hours later, when the night watch struck three, the tens of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of laborers would quietly sneak away under cover of darkness.

  Chen Kefu advised him a couple of times, but didn't say anything else. After all, the Sui Dynasty was doomed to perish and he couldn't stop it. As a military man, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with this situation. Since Yang Guang wanted to leave, Chen felt that he could stay behind, and Yang Guang didn't even allocate a large camp for him, nor did he provide any equipment or supplies.

  If he stayed, then these things would also be his, this is the equipment and supplies of hundreds of thousands of troops, especially those large-scale equipment, that's the heavy artillery of this era.

  Chen Ke Fu was at a loss for words, the Broken Army Camp was elite, but it was also the emperor's personal guard, and when the emperor left, they would definitely have to leave as well. Just as he didn't know what to say, a familiar voice rang out beside him.

  "Your Majesty, is it possible that our great Sui army has labored in vain after several long-distance expeditions? This time, too, will we end like this? The Liaodong city is a first-rate fortress, even if it were placed in the Central Plains, it would not be much different from Chang'an and Luoyang. Such a strong fortress, our army of hundreds of thousands has besieged for over a month, with countless deaths and injuries, now that the city is on the verge of collapse, Your Majesty wants to withdraw the troops, and what's more, to leave immediately, without even taking care of the grain, grass, and equipment. Your Majesty, these things we abandon like broken shoes, but if they fall into the hands of the Goguryeo people, they will become instruments of murder for our Central Plains men."

  Chen Kefu looked over and saw that the old man, Li Benlei, who had been sitting silently with his legs crossed next to him, was now flushed red in the face, standing there with trembling lips, his voice mournful, and tears streaming down his face.

  "Your Majesty, three times we have attacked Goguryeo, and our Great Sui has already suffered over a million casualties. Your Majesty can imagine that the Liaodong dog is at the foot of Pyongyang Castle, collecting the white bones of my Great Sui's sons to build a watchtower? There are over a million sets of white bones, all of which are good men from the Central Plains, and among them are also my son and grandson. Now even if they died in battle, they still have to be humiliated by the Goguryeo people, collected and built into a watchtower, and watched by the Goguryeo people, and even urinated on by passing Liaodong men."

  "Your Majesty, those are also your people, they all came to this distant Liaodong at your call. They abandoned their families and children, and even after death, they cannot return home, not even a handful of earth can be buried. Now that the city is about to fall, Your Majesty wants to abandon it, do you still want more of our Central Plains men to die under the walls of Liaodong next year? Do you still want more corpses of our Central Plains men to be used by the Liao people to build a spectacle, for them to gloat and humiliate?"

  Li Benlei's old master was crying and advising Yang Guang, while constantly knocking his head on the ground, thud, thud, thud, after a while, his head was bleeding, blood all over his face, mixed with tears flowing down.

  Chen Kefu was also stunned, he didn't expect that this old man with white hair over sixty years old still had such a loyal and brave side. Looking at him kneeling on the ground, knocking his head hard while begging Yang Guang not to retreat, Chen Kefu felt like his heart was being cut by a knife, extremely worried.

  Although he also felt some regret for the soldiers who died in Liaodong, although he also felt humiliated and angry for the warriors who were taken away by the Liao people to be made into a spectacle after their death, he had never thought of asking Yang Guang in this way.

  What he thought more was to protect himself. Even he just thought about how to take this opportunity to expand himself, but now he feels that standing with the old man makes him particularly small and childish. Even he thinks he is a bit weak and lacks the passion of a soldier.

  Chen Kefu hastily knelt down as well, pulling Li Laozhang along and saying, "How could Your Majesty not know about these matters? It's just that Your Majesty has the entire world in mind. Your Majesty knows that the Liao people used the skeletons of our Great Sui soldiers to build a tower, and you are furious about it, but you haven't expressed this feeling openly. How could Your Majesty not know that if we give up Liaodong now, many more people will die next year? But Your Majesty is also doing this in order to return to the Central Plains and pacify the rebellion as soon as possible."

  "The Central Plains will not be at peace, and if Yang's rebellion is allowed to continue, the Central Plains will suffer even more, and many more civilians will be plunged into a desperate situation. Today, the Liao people have done us wrong, but tomorrow, Your Majesty will surely bring justice to those soldiers. General Li, you are also a seasoned veteran of many battles. Don't you understand tactics and strategy? Why must you secretly guess at His Majesty's thoughts? That is not something for rough military men like us to speculate about. Lord Li, quickly apologize to His Majesty, we still need to return and prepare to retreat."

  Chen Kefu knew that Yang Guang was a good face-saving person, and the old man's words just now were quite rude, although they were all right. But to say such things to the emperor, it was undoubtedly inappropriate, and that emperor was still Yang Guang, which made it even more inappropriate.

  Originally, Yang Guang was just fleeing and calling it a triumphant return, everyone tacitly helped the emperor save face, now you're listing out one by one, where do you want Yang Guang to put his face? If he gets angry, isn't this looking for death?

  Having been with Old Master Li for so long, Chen Kefu truly regarded Li Benlei as his own grandfather. Such a veteran general of the battlefield, who had lost three sons and two grandsons on the battlefield, Chen Kefu really did not want to see him shed blood and tears again for the country.

  Yang Guang's eyes were wide with anger, his face dark and terrifying, even more so than when he had just received the news of Yang Xuan's rebellion. Originally, this rebellion by Yang Xuan had already made it difficult for this emperor, who prided himself on being unmatched in both literature and martial arts, to save face. Now, a mere fourth-rank officer dared to publicly criticize him at such a time, even implicitly cursing him. Had Yang Guang already sunk to the point where anyone could betray and criticize him?

  Yang Xuangan and Li Mi have just rebelled, they are all nobles of the empire. Now it's even better, a small general dares to publicly criticize him. If this goes on, what dignity will this emperor have? Where will his imperial majesty be placed? In the future, will everyone follow suit, each person daring to criticize him a few words, and even ordinary people dare to speak ill of him?

  Chen Kefu flattered Yang Guang with a round of praise, but found that Yang Guang still had a dark face and knew that this matter had blown up. When helping the old man, he knocked him unconscious with a palm knife on his neck.

  "Your Majesty, it is I who have failed in my duty to instruct my subordinates, allowing them to utter such treasonous and unrighteous words. However, General Li seems somewhat distracted today, perhaps because he was reminded of past events while observing the battle array, and thought of his three sons and two grandsons who died fighting for the country in Liaodong. General Li has fought for the great Sui dynasty all his life, never wavering. Now, with white hair prematurely appearing, he is sending off his black-haired children. Three generations of his family have served the country, even sacrificing their lives; this is a truly loyal and righteous family. Such a minister is Your Majesty's most loyal subject."

  Yang Guang laughed and said, "Loyal heart, loyal to the point of not having a king above, loyal to the point of being able to rebuke me face to face? Is it that from now on everyone in the world will scold me a few words when they see me, in order to show their loyalty?"

  "Your Majesty, General Li has demonstrated his loyalty to you through his actions over the past sixty years, and even more so by offering up his entire family of sons to serve you. General Li was worried that others might criticize your actions today, which is why he spoke out rashly, although his method was incorrect, his heart remains loyal to you. General Li's intention was entirely to uphold your imperial authority, I implore you to understand this clearly."

  Chen Kefu didn't know what to say either, this matter no matter how you put it was handled incorrectly by the old master, unless the emperor in front of him was a very open-minded one.

  Pei Yun stood silently with a straight face, watching the scene unfold before him. To him, this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity. He had remained silent until now because he believed that if he took action, it would only be seen as Li Benlei's fault. Chen Kefu may have been Li Benlei's superior, but given his current favor with the Emperor, it was impossible for him to get into trouble over this matter.

  Now that he has waited for so long, Chen Kefu is still a bit tender after all. When he encountered this matter, he couldn't understand the principle of sacrificing pawns to save the chariot and actually jumped in head-on.

  Pei Yun and the like are just waiting for this opportunity to deal with a small Li Ben Lei, he doesn't even bother to take action, but if it's Chen Ke Fu whom he has always disliked, then it's necessary. There is a saying that one should not bully the old or the young, Li Ben Lei is just an old man without much foundation, such a person poses no threat to them. For someone like him, since he has already bullied the weak, he will definitely think of ways to completely knock down his opponent.

  But Chen Kefu was different, they had a bad relationship due to some trivial matters and now it's getting worse. Chen Kefu is also rising rapidly, making him feel seriously threatened. For such a threat, the sooner he gets rid of it, the better. He has never been lenient towards his political opponents. Especially since he was once an official in Southern Chen, but was extremely disliked, and for the imperial family of Southern Chen, he only had hatred.

  Pei Yun stepped forward with his eyes narrowed, "Your Majesty, Li Ben Lei deceived the emperor and should be beheaded according to the law. Chen Ke Fu, as his superior, not only failed in his duty to supervise but also helped him deceive the emperor and is now covering up for him. He should be punished equally according to the law. If not, how can we maintain discipline and social norms? How can they be allowed to despise us? I request Your Majesty to punish them!"