One move fresh

  Can taking medicine according to the method really capture the Wuchang naval camp? Don't mention others, even Chen Liang, who had practiced it once before, felt that Situ Ya's request was too unrealistic.

  What right does he have to entrust the lives of thousands of people to Sutu Ya? It's worth noting that among them, there are not a few who were originally under Sutu Ya's command and had only surrendered to Xing Han's army for a few days. They can't be said to have any loyalty to Chen Liang at all. If this guy leads his troops in a counterattack against Jiangling, Chen Liang will likely suffer a crushing defeat. Even if we take a step back, even if Sutu Ya just brings these soldiers to defect to another place, wouldn't Chen Liang still end up losing both his wife and his army?

  After careful consideration, Chen Liang recalled a phrase that Lin Xu often said to him: suspect not to use, use not to suspect. Having thought through the pros and cons, he decided to temporarily believe in Si Tu Ya's sincerity.

  If it is necessary to use one adventurous act to verify whether a person is truly loyal, the earlier the better. The longer the days drag on, the greater the harm of failing the test will be.

  After making the judgment, Chen Liang nodded and said:

  "How confident are you?"

  Situ Ya counted on her fingers and listed the many advantages of their side, patting her chest and saying:

  "...If I said I was fully confident, that's definitely not true, a 70% chance of winning is about right."

  At this time, seeing Situ Ya speaking reasonably, Chen Liang nodded and said:

  "Alright, I've agreed to all the conditions you set out. But how can I trust that you're genuinely willing to work together and not just trying to deceive me and escape?"

  Upon hearing this, Situ Ya's expression momentarily stiffened. He had been in the officialdom for many years and had never seen anyone speak so bluntly. Nevertheless, Situ Ya had to admit that Chen Liang's words were reasonable. Why would others believe his one-sided words as a surrendered general?

  With a self-deprecating smile, Situ Ya shook his head and said:

  "It all depends on your magnanimity, General."

  Chen Liang stroked his chin, raised his eyes and sized up Situ Ya. With the intuition of a hunter, he judged that this guy didn't have any intention of cheating. At this moment, Chen Liang burst out laughing and said:

  "Haha, good! You want to test General's patience? Alright, get ready after coming out, we'll set off in three days."

  Upon hearing this, Situ Ya didn't rush to thank Chen Liang for his trust, but instead shook his head and said:

  "General, troops are valuable for their speed. A moment's hesitation is impermissible. If you truly trust me, let me set out today; otherwise, delay will breed changes."

  In this dimly lit cell, illuminated by the faint light of an oil lamp, Chen Liang and Situ Ya locked eyes. After a moment, Chen Liang took a deep breath, steeled himself, and said:

  "Situ Ya, you're also a talent, don't let me down, go!"

  As Siu Nga walked out of the cell where he had stayed for a period of time, Chan Liang suddenly spoke up and said:

  "Filial Chen!"

  A short and stout man with a wide build standing next to him stepped out, bowed his head at Chen Liang and said:

  "Second brother, you're calling me."

  At the sound, Chen Liang furrowed his brow and said displeasedly:

  "They call me General outside, but we are in the army, not chatting at home."

  The dark-faced and stout Chen Xiao scratched his head awkwardly and said:

  "Yes, Second General... what do you want me to do?"

  Helplessly glancing at his younger cousin, Chen Liang reminded him:

  "From now on, stick to Siu Nga's side every minute, don't say anything, don't do anything. In short, no matter what he does, as long as he doesn't lay a hand on you, you don't need to care about anything. Remember, keep everything in mind and tell me when you get back."

  "Yes, I understand."

  Although Chen Xiao, a silent follower, suddenly appeared behind her, Situ Ya still pretended not to see him and continued to do what she should be doing.

  When it comes to the court mobilizing a large army, it is necessary to send out one or two supervisors to follow along. Chen Liang dared to employ surrendered generals like Cui Ya and grant them military power, which in itself was taking an extremely great risk. If so, not to mention sending a supervisor, even doing more could not be considered excessive.

  As for the general idea about Chen Liang, Situ Ya could guess it completely, but he was even more aware that the Situ family who stayed in their hometown of Guanzhong might have been wiped out. Whether the Situ family could continue to hold a noble position in the future depended on how well Situ Ya performed on this new ship, Xing Han Military. To be honest, Situ Ya's deep resentment towards the incompetent court hiding in Luoyang was not fake, it's just that he didn't show it as strongly in front of Chen Liang.

  Just now in the prison, Situ Ya cursed loudly without regard for his identity. That was a gesture of determination to draw a clear line with his former master and express it to Chen Liang. For a person born into a noble family, this is almost an instinctive act of self-preservation.

  An old saying goes: "No matter how well you master literary and military skills, they will eventually be used in the service of an imperial court."

  If it weren't for taking the lead in rebelling, then following a big shot would be especially important, even the most important condition. This is like using all your assets as collateral to take out a loan to buy a stock, maybe it's Berkshire Hathaway, but it could also be Lehman Brothers, and even more unfortunate is spending over 100 yuan on BYD Company, the consequences of losing are unthinkable. At any time and place, investment returns and risks always accompany each other like light and shadow. What Sī Tú Yǎ is concerned about now is not the life or death of the Guan Zhong people, but how he can get by under Chen Liang's rule.

  Judging from the current situation, as long as Situ Ya can stand out, the Wei Nan Situ clan will be able to revive again. Once he relies on Chen Liang, whether Situ Ya's second half of his life can have a day of being enfeoffed and appointed as a prime minister depends on how far Chen Liang can go on this road of heroes competing for hegemony.

  In view of this, apart from Chen Liang's ability, Situ Ya must first understand one thing, what is the capacity of Chen Liang.

  For a subject, the most feared is to encounter a stingy and narrow-minded king, especially those like King Goujian of Yue and Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming who can share hardships with their subordinates but not wealth and glory, they are simply the death warrant for meritorious officials.

  After fighting on the battlefield for many years, accumulating hard work and achievements, in the end, it only exchanged for a white silk of three feet, a cup of poisonous wine, and everyone's friendship was cleared. It's really regrettable to die with eyes wide open!

  When facing Chen Liang's presumptuous request, apart from testing his tolerance as the lord, the previous surprise attack on Jiangling by Chen Liang also gave a great inspiration to Sikou Ya.

  In the dungeon, Situ Ya reflected on the reasons for his failure. Despite feeling depressed, he couldn't help but admire Chen Liang's exceptional courage and cunning, which had left him defeated by a move he had never seen before. Situ Ya didn't think that Miao Renfu, the commander of the Wuchang naval camp, was much more discerning than himself. If Chen Liang could deceive him so thoroughly with this trick, then it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with Miao Renfu by following the same method and gathering evidence against him.

  With the dual consideration of making achievements and testing the emperor's tolerance, Si Tu Ya made a request to Chen Liang, and after getting a satisfactory reply, he felt extremely excited, having finally found a wise ruler after half a lifetime of searching.

  As the ancient saying goes: A good bird chooses a tree to perch on. If the tree is not sturdy enough, the bird's nest will not be very stable either. From what I can see, Chen Liang is still a decent big tree, and Situ Ya thinks it's worth investing some capital in him, betting heavily on this gamble.

  Three days later, news came from the front that Wuchang City had fallen, and the red battle flag of the Xinghan Army was flying over the head of this fortress city in the middle reaches of the river.

  With just a small mobilization of troops, Situ Ya not only perfectly replicated Chen Liang's "White Robed Crossing the River" trick, but also transformed from being a victim of deception into a new generation of killer.

  Although it is now in a state of turmoil, the changing world is like a lantern show that is dazzling and confusing, but there are not many more absurd things than this one.

  Thus, Chen Liang's Xing Han army took down the two major cities of Jiangling and Wuchang in just a short month after the uprising. For a time, the prestige of the Xing Han army shook the entire southeastern region. Afterwards, Chen Liang ordered the surrendered clerks to take up their brushes and write out a declaration of revolt, which was then disseminated to all the counties of Jingzhou.

  In this proclamation drafted in the name of Chen Liang, the style of the Jiangling Anmin Proclamation was continued, with criticism directly targeting the corruption and incompetence of the Luoyang court, including the loss of territory, indemnities, and national humiliation. Chen Liang took the moral high ground for himself, holding up the banner of punishing crime and relieving the people, requiring local officials in the various counties of Jingzhou to recognize the situation and not go against the tide of history.

  Although the content of this edict is mostly official articles, for imperial bureaucrats who have experienced ups and downs, they still see a lot of valuable intelligence from it, especially Chen Liang, who drafted this edict. His ambition is not trivial at all, obviously intending to seize the world!

  The turbulent river flows horizontally, and only then can the heroic nature be revealed. For those who didn't have much ambition to begin with, they were very reluctant to follow Chen Liang's new generation of fire and fight a battle together.

  It's a disaster to be at war! If we really win, it's fine, but if we lose, they can escape for now. But once Chen Liang has consolidated his power and sits firmly on the dragon throne, no matter where they flee, they won't be able to avoid being held accountable after the autumn harvest.

  Those royal lackeys, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, are terrifying. The old officials of the Great Qin Empire recall them with a bone-chilling fear. As the saying goes, winning brings little benefit, while losing brings a whole basket of troubles - would they dare to do such a foolish thing that's not worth the effort?

  Jiangling and Wuchang fell one after another, and the two most powerful naval forces in Jingzhou were also under the control of Xing Hanjun. The current naval commander-in-chief, Situ Ya, was also a geographical ghost. Under the combination of these two factors, most local officials quickly made wise choices. Whether it was out of sincerity or flattery, all the governors and prefects of the states and counties, except for Xiangyang Prefecture in the north, submitted to Chen Liang and humbly accepted their subordinate positions. After that, all taxes and tributes that should have been paid to the Luoyang court were handed over to Jiangling, and Chen Liang's rebellion entered a period of rapid growth.

  PS: New book collection broke 4,000 for the first time, as requested by book friends, Crab added an extra chapter today to celebrate.

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