Chapter 53 Three Requests

  Tomorrow's Tomorrow, the children's shoes cast 12 votes to urge updates. Originally, not many words were written during the New Year, but thinking about it, since everyone urged for updates, let's grit our teeth and update four chapters with 12,000 words today. This is the first chapter. Thank you!

  Yang Guang stretched out his arms, slightly closed his eyes and raised his head, feeling everything in front of him.

  Is this what he wants? Yang Guang's face showed a smile, but it was not just that, he wanted more than that, he had grand ideals beyond all kings, he wanted to surpass Qin Huang and Han Wu, he wanted to be the greatest king of all time. He wanted to create an unparalleled great undertaking, which would be his own great undertaking. He wanted to dominate the universe, shake the four seas, and make everyone under heaven bow down at his feet. He wanted to lay a vast territory for Great Sui, he wanted to establish a foundation for Great Sui, for the Yang family's descendants, that would last forever.

  Goguryeo is nothing, although it had previously suffered losses and casualties, this small country would finally surrender at his feet, from now on there would be no more Goguryeo. He wanted to establish prefectures and counties here, the names of which he had already thought of, not only to restore the four commanderies of Han, but also to add Pyongyang Commandery, Buyeo Commandery, and Liaodong Commandery. He wanted to build a palace here for him to come and play every year.

  "The Goguryeo is a small country that does not submit to the imperial court, secretly occupying our Huaxia land. Now I have dispatched an army of one million soldiers and personally led the expedition against Goguryeo. Although there were occasional setbacks, they could not stop my mighty army of one million soldiers. My brave Sui generals have defeated Goguryeo's so-called "Military God" Eulji Mundeok in one battle. The Goguryeo army of over a million soldiers was destroyed overnight, and the remaining barbarians retreated to their cities, thinking they could resist my heavenly power with this. Is the Turkic Khaganate powerful? But now the Turkic Khaganate has already been defeated by our great Sui dynasty like a dog that has lost its master. Except for those who surrendered to our great Sui court, the rest have fled far away to the Western Regions. Was Tuyuhun powerful? But now there is no longer a name called Tuyuhun in this world, and it is my great Sui's four border counties. The others, such as Ryukyu and Linyi, who dared to resist my heavenly power, were all destroyed by my mighty army, and their kings were taken. Now, Goguryeo does not learn from the lessons of history, thinking that they can stop a chariot with their bare arms and overestimate their own strength."

  Standing in front of hundreds of thousands of people, Yang Guang was calm and composed, although his voice seemed not loud, but the hundreds of thousands of soldiers below could almost hear his words. Those words carried a strong sense of self-confidence, even to Chen Kefu's eyes, it had become somewhat arrogant.

  But to the soldiers below, all of this was very normal. The Emperor's literary and military prowess, the Great Sui army is unmatched in the world, they have conquered the south and north, and are undefeated, the Goguryeo people were only relying on the solidity of their mountain city, plus a few times when they invaded Liaodong, the weather was not good, several major battles with heavy rain helped Goguryeo, otherwise there would be no Goguryeo today. All the soldiers felt that the destruction of Goguryeo was imminent, just like the countries and foreign tribes that had resisted the Great Sui in the past, their fate was to be destroyed.

  After the crowd of generals shouted "Long live" again, Yang Guang raised his hand and said, "This time we defeated Yizhoubu Wende, killing 100,000 enemies. I should heavily reward those who made great contributions. Who is the first to achieve this great victory?"

  Yuwen Shu wore a suit of armor, turned around and walked out, standing solemnly in front of Yang Guang, saying loudly, "In this great war, Your Majesty personally led the expedition, stationed at the main camp, boosted the morale of the three armies, planned and deliberated, won a thousand miles away, should be the first to achieve merit."

  Yang Guang smiled, "As the Son of Heaven, how could I compete with my ministers for merit? The merits of my ministers are my own merits. Chen Poyu first broke into Xincheng and allowed our great army to take advantage of it to capture Cangyan, Nansu and other three cities, and captured a large number of grain and grass for the army. This achievement has been rewarded before. But this time, Chen Poyu led 3,000 soldiers to escort grain and prisoners of war, although the Goguryeo army came to attack, there was no loss at all, which is one merit. Chen Poyu led 1,000 heavy cavalry to launch a surprise attack, facing 80,000 Goguryeo cavalry, and also faced Abi Toedo, but he had no fear, with 1,000 soldiers defeating 80,000, killing 5,000 enemies, and beheading the first brave warrior of Goguryeo, Jindalai, on the battlefield, which should be the first merit."

  "Taibo Temple Shaoqing Wenhua led a thousand soldiers and horses to defeat three thousand enemy cavalry, and also responded to the broken army camp cavalry to attack Yizhi, forcing the enemy general Yizhi to retreat twenty miles, this should be considered as the second achievement."

  "At that time, the Left Wing Guard General Yuwen Shu led an army of 100,000, taking advantage of their recent defeat, and the morale was all gone. Taking advantage of the momentum to destroy, one battle defeated more than 20,000 elite cavalry of Goguryeo. This great victory should be counted as three merits."

  "General Pei Renji, who was stationed in Xincheng, and the generals of the three cities of Nansu, Mudi, and Cangyan, Li Lin, Yang Huan, Dou Wei, and General Li Benlei, who was guarding the Broken Army Camp, joined forces to attack from both front and back, annihilating 40,000 enemies, all of whom achieved great merit."

  On the side, the unyielding politician Su Wei walked to the front of the stage and said loudly, "Order Chen Kefu, Yu Wenxian, Yu Wenshuo, Pei Renji, Li Lin, Yang Huan, Dou Wei, and Li Benlei to come on stage for their titles."

  The defeated generals around Chen Kefu were all delighted for him. Chen Kefu and Li Benlei were both great achievements, so these defeated generals would naturally not be left out of the rewards when the time came. "Sir, you are the first to achieve this, congratulations, sir."

  Laughing, he patted the chest of the general beside him a few times, nodded to Li Benlei, and the two walked up to the stage amidst the envy of the crowd. For martial generals, cutting down enemies on the battlefield and being rewarded in front of the emperor was their greatest pursuit.

  As soon as Chen Kefu and the others came on stage, Yang Guang smiled and patted Chen Pojun's shoulder. "Indeed, you are my Huo Qubing! This time, you have made such a great contribution. Do you have any requests? I will grant you three wishes, whether it is for official position, wealth or beautiful women."

  Yang Guang's words shocked even Yuwen Shu, the emperor's favorite minister. The officials who accompanied Yang Guang knew that he was not an emperor who liked to reward his ministers generously. In fact, he was a rather stingy emperor. Since his ascension to the throne, he had abolished many of the titles and positions established by his predecessor, retaining only the three highest ranks of duke, marquis, and earl. Even lower-ranking titles such as viscount and baron had been abolished. Furthermore, whenever an official position became vacant due to illness or death, Yang Guang would not appoint a new incumbent, leaving even important posts such as the Minister of War, the Minister of Rites, and the Director of the Imperial Stables unfilled.

  Now the Emperor unexpectedly showed Chen Kefu abnormal favor several times, greatly rewarding him. This time he even allowed him three wishes, which surprised and astonished eunuchs like Yuwen Shu and Pei Shiming, who couldn't help but reevaluate Chen Kefu's favored position in front of the Emperor. Especially Pei Shiming and Pei Yun, with just a slight exchange of glances, they already understood each other's thoughts. Now everyone knows that the Pei clique doesn't get along with Chen Kefu, if they let Chen Kefu continue like this, he will inevitably become a highly favored minister in front of the Emperor. Currently, Yuwen Shu, who holds military power, is getting old, and it's possible that Chen Kefu will replace him in the future, becoming the eunuch in charge of the imperial guards in the capital, which poses too great a threat to them.

  Chen Kefu knelt down on the ground, "Your Majesty, fighting for the country is a soldier's duty. As your subject and a general of Great Sui, everything I do is my duty. I dare not take credit, nor do I dare to mention personal wishes to Your Majesty."

  Yang Guang smiled, "Those who have merits will be rewarded, those who have faults will be punished. This has always been the rule. How can I make an exception for you? The words of the Emperor are not child's play. Since I have promised to grant your three requests, just go ahead and ask."

  On the plains, hundreds of thousands of troops stood silently, and at this moment, everyone wanted to know what Chen Kefu would ask for in the face of such a good opportunity. Yang Guang also sized up this young warrior, who was one of his own handpicked generals, wanting to see what kind of request he would make. Was it power? Wealth? Or beauty? People always have desires, and for this young general whom he had hoped to promote as his trusted aide, Yang Guang also wanted to know what his desires were. Only by knowing the desires of his subordinates could he better control them. But if a subordinate really had no desires or demands, then he would have to think thrice about it. Such a subordinate was either truly without desire or had demands that were too great. Yang Guang did not believe that someone without desires existed; if their demands were something even he as emperor could not grant, then he would have to consider whether to continue using such a person.

  Chen Kefu was also at a critical juncture, with three demands. What should he want? He certainly knew what he wanted most, and his most pressing need now was to have a place where he could quietly hide and develop, waiting for the world to be in chaos, and then sweep across the land.

  But such a request had reached his lips several times, yet he dared not speak it out. As for other things like wealth and beauty, he didn't particularly want them. Even if Yang Guang gave him a higher official position without his own army, that would be an empty promise. And even if he was given a lot of money, if he couldn't establish his own household, then it would be useless to him; he wouldn't be able to recruit soldiers and buy horses while by Yang Guang's side. As for beauty, he already had one in his tent, and Li Yuan still had a fiancée that he had vaguely agreed to marry. These two were still unresolved, so it was even more impossible for him to want any other beauties.

  "Your Majesty, I really have no requests, only that our great Sui dynasty will last forever, and Your Majesty will live for a thousand autumns and ten thousand blessings, with longevity rivaling the heavens." After finishing speaking, he quietly lifted his head to observe Yang Guang's reaction.

  Yang Guang's pupils dilated slightly, and the smile on his face also paused for a moment. Although it was only an instant before he regained his composure, Chen Kefu clearly saw Yang Guang's reaction. He was doomed; he had kissed up to the wrong person. He knew that Yang Guang was even more suspicious than his own father. If he lost Yang Guang's trust now, his future days would be difficult.

  No, I have to think of a way to make up for it. He remembered that in history, it was just a few years later that Li Yuan began to show off his talents and abilities, but Emperor Yang Guang became suspicious of him. When Li Yuan fell ill, Yang Guang asked others, "Why hasn't he died from illness yet?" As a result, the old fox Li Yuan understood that the emperor was suspicious of him, so he thought of a plan to indulge in wine and women every day to sully his own reputation, and as a result, Yang Guang let him off.

  Would he have to go through this as well? But Li Yuan's move seemed not quite suitable for himself. After thinking about it for half a day, he had already sensed Yang Guang's displeasure.

  "Are you really without any desires?" Yang Guang's tone was no longer as gentle when he said this.

  Chen Kefu's brain was sweating profusely, and he thought to himself, "In this day and age, there are still people who dare to make demands." With a sudden burst of courage, Chen Kefu fell to the ground, feigning a terrified tone, "Your Majesty, I have something to ask of you, but I don't dare say it. Please spare my life first, and then I'll speak."

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