Plan to cut off the nine states

Meng Senglun still had a last bit of fantasy and asked, "Governor...what rumors have you heard? The soldiers of the Wu army are loyal to the ruler..."

"You are not only loyal, but also know how to use this loyalty to gain benefits for yourself."

Meng Senglun had the opportunity to tacitly understand with the King of Wu and accept the punishment in a decent way. Now he would rather give up his dignity and make it clear so that the King of Wu would not misunderstand the soldiers of the Wu army.

Meng Senglun knelt on the ground with a determined heart, "I am guilty of death and willing to be punished, but the soldiers of the Wu army have never gained benefits for themselves, let alone taken advantage of their loyalty to the ruler."

The tacit understanding was broken like this. Xu Chu nodded to Tang Weitian who was guarding the door. Tang Weitian hesitated to retreat and stood outside the door, listening carefully to the voice inside. If there was anything wrong, he could rush in immediately.

"Tell me, what crime have you committed?"

"I have acted on my own several times behind the back of the ruling party, disrupted military discipline, and put General Wang and thousands of soldiers to death."

"I have already said this."

"I also... did other things."

"Yes."

"I smashed the Tiancheng tablet in the Taimiao, and killed several people in the palace."

"How many?"

"Seven."

"Who?"

"Zhang Xi's concubines."

"They are very old, right?"

"But they are Zhang Xi's concubines after all. Zhang Xi died early, so they have to bear the blame for his crimes. I only hate that Zhang Xi's tomb is not in the city, otherwise..." Meng Senglun suppressed his anger and lowered his head.

"This is what you did, what about the others?"

Meng Senglun hesitated for a moment and replied: "About 320 people were killed, mostly concubines, maids, eunuchs around Zhang Xi and Zhang Wanwu, and the families of the generals who invaded Wu that year, but no one touched the mansions of the general and Cao Shenxi..."

Xu Chu suppressed his anger, "Have you ever thought that these people might be captives captured by Tiancheng from all over the place?"

"Some are, but they are willing to be slaves and maids. They have a great opportunity but are unwilling to avenge their homeland. This is a great sin."

"The Princess of Wu is such a 'slave'."

"That's different!" Meng Senglun shouted, forgetting his respect for the King of Wu for a moment, "The Princess of Wu has never been willing to surrender. She has been resisting, but unfortunately she is weak and cannot do what she wants. I have heard in Jiangdong that she has tried to assassinate Zhang Xi several times in the palace and has also tried many times in the general's mansion."

The Princess of Wu's resistance was exaggerated in the rumors, but she resisted after all, and would rather commit suicide than get rid of the humiliating situation.

"Her greatest revenge is to give birth to the ruling party, and let the ruling party fulfill her long-cherished wish..."

"Stop talking." Xu Chu interrupted, anger on his face, "My mother and I will not kill unarmed people in the name of revenge."

"The Cheng army back then did not let go of the unarmed people of Wu."

"So you see what Tiancheng looks like now. It has only been established for more than 20 years, and it collapsed suddenly. One side is in chaos, and the other side responds. If you trace the root cause, it is still too cruel, sowing countless resentments, which are not revealed at ordinary times, and burst out immediately when there is a chance."

Meng Senglun kowtowed respectfully, "We all understand the truth, but we also have resentment in our hearts, which may be more and heavier than the people of other countries. The ruling party captured the Eastern Capital, this is our "opportunity", I We can't keep calm like the ruling party, we must also 'burst out'. "

Xu Chu sighed heavily, was silent for a while, and asked: "You killed so many people, why didn't anyone report it to me? Cao Shenxi was in charge of the Eastern Capital and sat in the palace, but he didn't hear anything?"

"We never concentrated on killing, we were all scattered and eliminated one by one. Moreover, the kings and soldiers were busy looting and didn't care about our affairs. Even if they heard or saw it, they didn't think it was a big deal. For them, it was a commonplace. As for Cao Shenxi, he had only a few people under him, who were in charge of the warehouses and protected the Queen Mother's bedroom. We avoided these places and scared others and didn't allow them to complain. "

"Besides killing people, what else did you do?"

"Hmm?" Meng Senglun didn't quite understand.

"Are there any other evil deeds?"

"Well... they were killed anyway. Some of the soldiers' methods may be a little... out of line. I never ask. Excuse me, the ruling party shouldn't ask. The soldiers went through life and death..."

"If you don't ask, I won't ask, but someone will ask. General Song died because of this."

"Wasn't General Song killed by an assassin?"

"Tian Jiang was not an assassin of the soldiers. He killed General Song for personal revenge."

"Personal revenge?"

"General Song raped and killed a woman that Tian Jiang knew."

Meng Senglun looked Unbelievable, after a while, he said: "General Song is a man of blood and will inevitably do something extraordinary, but I promise that the woman deserves it..."

"Enough!" Xu Chu was furious. After all the talk, Meng Senglun still didn't think he did anything wrong. "There is no crime, and he has to endure torture before death. We are under the banner of the righteous army. We are not the Tiancheng Emperor who killed innocent people, nor are we the tyrants of the Wu Kingdom."

Meng Senglun couldn't help but say: "How can the ruling say that about his grandfather?"

"Who did General Song kill?" Xu Chu asked.

"I don't know. He was guarding the palace, which was very convenient. He killed a lot of people, about 37 or 38 people. I don't know which one caused the disaster."

Xu Chu specially sent Song Xingcai to protect the Queen Mother's bedroom. He did it. The Queen Mother's bedroom was safe, but other places became his hunting grounds.

Xu Chu laughed angrily, "Who said Wu Shigengjie? You are very good at finding loopholes. You can dig a bottomless pit without even saying a word to me. Hey, Song Xingcao killed people by himself, but he could still lead his troops on patrol without any guilt. The city and the enforcement of military discipline are truly remarkable.”

"These are two different things. General Song killed people to avenge the destruction of the country, while the kings and soldiers looted to satisfy their own selfish interests. We did not steal a single gold or silver."

Xu Chu smiled and shook his head, "I actually wanted to persuade General Meng to admit his mistake. I was really stupid."

"No, no, I was indeed wrong. I should not have done these things behind the back of the governor, making outsiders think that the governor cannot control us. But the soldiers were not wrong. I asked them to do this..."

Meng Nilun did "admit his mistakes" from the beginning, but his so-called mistakes were only made by himself without telling the king of Wu, rather than killing innocent people indiscriminately.

"For the sake of morale, I don't want to publicly execute you. Please ask General Meng to commit suicide."

Meng Senglun kowtowed three times, stood up and said, "I obey."

"What is your last wish? As long as it's not too much, I can fulfill it for you."

Meng Nilun smiled and said, "I wish I could invade the Eastern Capital and trample the cell where the Princess of Wu was once imprisoned. I only regret that I can't assist in governing from now on, and can't see the ruling unify the world with my own eyes."

"Do you have a wife and children in Jiangdong?"

"No, I have never been married."

"Where are my brothers and nephews?"

"There are some, and several of them are in the army. If they are willing, they should assist the governor for me, instead of the governor taking care of them."

Xu Chu wanted to say that he would no longer need assistance like Meng Nilun in the future, but in the end he held back and said coldly: "Tomorrow I will appoint you as the general protecting the army, and you can commit suicide the day after tomorrow."

"As commanded."

"Go down." Xu Chu still had many things to say and many doubts to ask, but he felt it was unnecessary.

Meng Nilun stood up and exited the meeting hall.

Tang Weitian came in and said with some surprise: "What did the Governor say? General Meng looks like a man about to die."

Xu Chu asked: "Tang Weitian, if you see other rebel soldiers robbing and killing old, weak, women and children, will you stop them?"

Tang Weitian looked confused, "Are you talking about snatching the spoils from them? Isn't that bad? We are all our own people and we must abide by the rules."

"Don't you think the people who were robbed and killed were innocent?"

"Oh, that's what the Governor means. Innocent or not..." Tang Weitian scratched his head, "We have to live first. How can we care about other people's lives if we don't have enough to eat? I haven't eaten anyone, so that's not bad. It's said that it's true. The Advent Army cannibalizes people, and they only eat their own people. They are really hungry..."

Tang Weitian swallowed his saliva. When he talked about eating, he became hungry again.

"What if you have enough to eat and drink?"

"Are you talking about me, or everyone?"

"Everyone."

"Then why rebel and fight? Go home and farm and herd cattle. Eat three meals a day and don't have to worry about dying on the battlefield. How great. No need to wear armor, no need to carry swords and guns. No more calamities. Those who plunder and kill people are bandits and bullies. I don’t know about others. I will definitely draw my sword to help when there is injustice, and then let go of my name so that every village in the world will recognize me. "Tang Weitian is full of energy and is like a successful hero. .

Xu Chu felt much relieved and said with a smile, "Thank you."

"Thank me for what? I didn't do anything."

"Keep your dreams, don't throw them away."

"But I have no dreams." Tang Weitian became more and more confused.

"What you just said is a dream."

"Draw out your sword to help when the road is rough?"

"Yes, keep this dream."

Tang Weitian smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed, "To be honest with you, Governor, I do have such a dream, a horse, a knife, and everyone who sees me comes up to say hello, calls me 'Tang Daxia', and gives me good wine and food." , I can pick and eat..."

In Tang Weitian's dream, there was not much content about drawing swords to help, but the treatment of heroes was very thoughtful.

Xu Chu nodded in encouragement, "All the people in the world want is to have enough food and clothing."

"Haha, this is what the poor want. The rich and officials have long been fed and clothed. What they want is boxes full of gold and silver, and warehouses full of rice. People like the Governor are even more different."

"Oh, what can I ask for?"

"Millions of elite soldiers, sweeping across the world. Those who obey me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish. Wherever the banner points, the wind is invincible. Wherever the foot steps on, everyone will kneel down. With one order, the world will obey, with one anger, the world will quake, with one wave, The world is settled, and the world is at peace once you sit down.”

"What did the coming king say?" Xu Chu guessed that Tang Weitian couldn't think of these words.

"Yes, he wrote a lot of similar words. He asked us to memorize them, saying that they can save our lives on the battlefield. How many more paragraphs do you want to listen to, the Governor?"

"No need, because this is not what I want."

"Eh? Doesn't the Grand Governor want millions of elite soldiers to conquer the world?"

"I want to, but it's just like wanting to be full. It's a thought, not a dream."

"What is the dream of the Governor?" Tang Weitian was very curious.

Xu Chu was silent for a long time, unable to tell his dream. After a long time, he said: "Same as you."

"It turns out that the Grand Governor also wants to be a hero."

Xu Chu smiled, there were some words that were not enough to be discussed with outsiders, and some things were not enough to be discussed with outsiders. He had his own dreams and plans.