Ch.294Downfall (4)

The general found himself in a difficult situation.

He knew that if the emperor engaged in battle with the Mongols, terrible consequences awaited.

“But I cannot abandon the recapture of Sichuan.”

The order to recapture Sichuan came directly from the emperor.

Disobeying the imperial command and returning to the emperor was unthinkable.

While caught in this predicament, a letter arrived for him.

Upon opening the letter, the general was rendered speechless.

The letter was from none other than Cho Bang.

Its contents asked the general to return and dissuade the emperor.

Seeing this, the general immediately tried to burn the letter to destroy all evidence.

“The mere existence of this letter could be grounds for treason.”

There was a reason the general reacted so strongly to a letter asking him to dissuade the emperor.

As the Commander-in-Chief of the Sichuan front, he commanded hundreds of thousands of troops.

Therefore, if he were to approach the emperor, it could be perceived as rebellion.

Knowing this, the general attempted to burn the letter using a candle flame.

At that moment, someone approached his tent.

“Excuse me, Your Excellency.”

With the messenger’s arrival, the general had no choice but to tuck the letter into his chest.

“What is it?”

“An inspector has arrived from Hunan Province by order of His Imperial Majesty.”

“An inspector?”

The general couldn’t help but look puzzled.

It seemed strange that an inspector would suddenly appear when they were about to occupy Chengdu.

This left the general flustered.

However, refusing would mean disobeying orders, so he had no choice but to accept the inspector’s visit.

“Let him in.”

The messenger disappeared, and an unfamiliar man entered the military camp.

The general smiled and welcomed him.

“I apologize for visiting during such a critical battle, Commander-in-Chief. I am Jiasido, appointed as inspector by His Imperial Majesty.”

The man called Jiasido had a weasel-like beard.

“You must be tired from your long journey.”

The general said this while guiding Jiasido to a seat.

Jiasido made a fist-and-palm salute before sitting down.

“It is an honor to meet such a renowned military governor as yourself.”

Jiasido said this while complimenting the general.

Knowing this was a tactic to lower his guard, the general responded with feigned humility.

“You flatter me.”

“Not at all. Without Your Excellency, we could never have reclaimed the lost lands of Sichuan.”

“Thank you for your praise. But…”

“Ah! I haven’t yet explained why I’m here.”

Jiasido smiled and leaned forward.

Then, looking at the general, he murmured softly.

“I believe Your Excellency is aware that His Imperial Majesty has achieved a great victory against Goryeo.”

“Yes, I am.”

“This is a blessing for the empire, and everyone should rightfully rejoice.”

After saying this, Jiasido crossed his legs.

Even for an inspector, this was disrespectful behavior toward a military governor of higher rank.

“But it seems not everyone feels this way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Would you believe there are people who envy His Majesty’s victory and wish to maintain their own power?”

Just as the general was about to respond,

Jiasido spoke more quickly.

“Perhaps you received a letter from Zhiyang Zhifu?”

Zhiyang Zhifu referred to Cho Bang.

At Jiasido’s words, which suggested he knew everything, the general could only stare at him in silence.

“If you did receive it, it would be best to act truthfully.”

“Why is that?”

“Because Zhiyang Zhifu is a criminal.”

When the word “criminal” was mentioned, the general realized he had fallen into a trap.

Although he had merely received a letter, he knew that the emperor sending an inspector here was essentially a move to force his retirement.

“What is Zhiyang Zhifu’s crime?”

“The crime of daring to disparage His Majesty’s victory and leading the country into chaos.”

Could worrying about the country be a crime?

However, even the general thought Cho Bang’s actions were too radical.

Because of this, despite acting for the country’s benefit, it was enough to make him a target of the emperor or his corrupt officials.

“Don’t worry, Your Excellency. Receiving a letter from the criminal Cho Bang doesn’t make you a criminal as well.”

Jiasido said this with a sneer.

Watching him, the general could only grind his teeth inwardly.

But he had no good options.

If he objected here, he could truly be charged with plotting rebellion against the emperor.

Therefore, the general had no choice but to humble himself.

“I ask for your leniency.”

Saying this, the general took out the letter from his chest and handed it to Jiasido.

Receiving it, Jiasido nodded with a smile.

“With your cooperation like this, I will personally vouch to His Majesty that Your Excellency has no connection to the criminal.”

He put the received letter into his chest.

Then he continued.

“However, during the investigation, you cannot lead the army, so please entrust it to someone else temporarily.”

“I will delegate full authority to the inspector.”

At the general’s words, Jiasido looked satisfied.

* * *

The emperor led his great army in pursuit of the Mongol forces.

Whenever he led and commanded the troops, the Mongol forces fell like autumn leaves.

“Argh!”

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The Mongol forces fled with their tails between their legs at the mere sight of the Song army.

This happened so often that Song soldiers now pointed and laughed whenever they saw Mongol troops.

“To think we were losing to such pathetic opponents.”

“Indeed, with His Imperial Majesty personally leading the army, the Mongols flee in terror.”

With victory after victory, even the emperor began to wonder if he possessed military talent.

In fact, he had managed to drive out the Mongol forces and recover Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces.

These were all regions occupied by the Mongols, and by reclaiming them through battle, the emperor’s prestige grew day by day.

Naturally, all the people remaining in those areas joined the emperor’s army, and the Song forces grew larger by the day.

“If this continues, it may not be impossible to drive out the Mongols and reclaim the Central Plains.”

The emperor said this while clenching his fist.

He recalled the humiliations suffered at the hands of the Liao Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, and the Mongols.

Those desperate moments when they lost the legitimate territory of the Central Plains north of the Yangtze and fled south.

It was time to avenge those humiliations.

This wasn’t an impossible dream.

They had reclaimed Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, regions with high productivity.

With the enormous amount of grain from these areas and the large army led by the emperor, it seemed entirely possible.

But something ominous began to rise in his heart.

It was the fact that the condition of the reclaimed lands was very poor.

If this continues…

As negative thoughts surfaced, the emperor shook his head and deliberately ignored these uncomfortable facts.

Instead, he focused only on the positive future he had been envisioning until just moments ago.

While the emperor was dreaming of such grand aspirations,

An official urgently approached him.

“Y-Your Majesty! It’s… it’s terrible!”

“What matter causes you such alarm?”

“It’s… it’s…”

The official hesitated to answer.

The emperor pressed him, demanding a response.

“Tell me what’s happening immediately.”

“We… we’re short on food.”

“Short on food? What nonsense are you speaking? Don’t we have food from the lands we’ve just reclaimed after defeating the Mongol army? Surely you know that Jiangxi Province alone, where we currently are, is a granary region that could feed a million soldiers with plenty to spare!”

It was natural for battlefields to be devastated.

So the emperor deliberately ignored this fact and headed toward Hongzhou, the central city of Jiangxi Province.

Believing it would be intact.

Contrary to the emperor’s expectations, the official could only bow his head without answering.

Feeling frustrated, the emperor rose to his feet.

“I will see for myself. Lead the way.”

“Y-Your Majesty, if you go out now…”

The official tried to prevent the emperor from leaving his carriage to inspect Hongzhou.

But the emperor was not one to reverse a decision once made.

Upon exiting his magnificent carriage, the emperor was rendered speechless.

“What… what on earth has happened here?”

Thick smoke.

Parched land.

Fields emitting a terrible stench.

Corpses.

Crows.

Field rats.

It was a scene that could only be described as hell.

“The Mongols… they’ve completely devastated the land.”

“Completely devastated…”

The emperor couldn’t continue.

He belatedly realized that, too caught up in victory, he had failed to properly observe the surrounding environment.

In truth, the emperor had known the battlefield was unusually devastated.

But he firmly believed that as they pursued the Mongol forces, they would surely find intact land.

He had believed that the greedy Mongols would leave the wealthy city of Hongzhou untouched.

But the Mongols, as if mocking the emperor’s prediction, had turned Hongzhou, once filled with magnificent buildings, into a wasteland.

“If this place is like this…”

Unpleasant thoughts arose in the emperor’s mind.

As if confirming these thoughts, generals who had been sent on reconnaissance began to arrive.

“The walls of Wuhan in Hubei Province have disappeared, and all buildings there are gone.”

“Guangdong Province is the same; nothing remains in Guangzhou.”

All the lands reclaimed by the emperor—Hubei, Guangdong, and Jiangxi—had been thoroughly destroyed by the Mongols.

This meant there was no food for his million-strong army.

“A trap… this was a trap!”

The emperor belatedly realized he had fallen into a Mongol trap.

Intoxicated by victory, he had strayed far from Meng Gong’s forces in Sichuan.

“We return… we return to Sichuan immediately!”

Having realized he had fallen into a trap, the emperor no longer cared about the fact that he had sent an inspector to remove Meng Gong from power.

What mattered now was escaping this trap.

So they began preparations to return to Sichuan via Hunan.

At that moment.

Woooooo.

An eerie sound of a leather flute echoed.

Startled by the sound, the emperor looked toward its source.

“…Gurkhan!”

A man with a massive body appeared, silhouetted against the setting sun.