Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 444 - 254: Chu Ge’s New Attempt (8000 words)_3

Chapter 444: Chapter 254: Chu Ge’s New Attempt (8000 words)_3

"Does Qin Huizhi have no choice?

"Of course not, he has plenty of choices.

"Compared to those impoverished citizens of the Qi Dynasty, compared to those soldiers who can only obey orders in battle and cannot have any thoughts of their own, compared to the green forest heroes who still resist the Jin soldiers despite being treated like grass, his choices are simply too many.

"He could choose not to be an official and still lead a life free of worry about food and clothing; he could be a low-ranking official without power in the court and still play a role to some extent. Even if he spoke a word in favor of General Han Fuyue, he wouldn’t be left with eternal infamy in the history books.

"But he didn’t.

"The higher the position one holds, the more one’s humanity diminishes. When he really faced a choice to betray his country, he realized that betraying one’s country was so simple and came with such great benefits.

"So, he took such a path, and no one is to blame, whether it’s the court of the Qi Dynasty or the common people, or the soldiers of the Qi Dynasty; none of them owed him anything. All of this was his own doing, and any attempt to whitewash his actions is just absurd and self-defeating."

Chu Ge made up his mind to take a different path using the identity of Li Hao.

...

"Minister Li, please hurry; the royal family has been waiting for a long time."

The eunuch in charge of reception welcomed Chu Ge, who was impersonating Li Hao, into Xuande Hall.

At this point, the Qi Dynasty had already moved south and had established a stable foothold in Jiangnan, and naturally, the imperial palace here was still built like the former capital, splendid and showing no signs of decay.

Here, Chu Ge met the current emperor, Emperor Gaozong of Qi.

However, the emperor seemed restless, and the grand hall, originally meant for discussing matters with trusted ministers, was eerily empty, waiting just for Li Hao’s arrival.

"Minister Li, you’ve finally arrived!

"Here is the latest military report.

"General Han Fuyue has led a large army to invade the north, and has successively captured Caizhou, Luoyang, and others; he is probably going to cross the Yellow River next.

"Minister Li, what do you think about this?"

The emperor commanded the eunuch by his side to hand the military report to Chu Ge, who was impersonating Li Hao, and looked at him intently, clearly expecting an answer from this prominent government official.

Chu Ge looked at the military report in his hands and began to assess the situation he was facing.

"Has it already... come to this?

"This instance has really jumped the plot quite drastically."

Chu Ge knew that he had now directly arrived at a critical juncture: the twelve golden edicts recalling General Han Fuyue.

From General Han Fuyue’s petition to set out on the northern expedition, starting by crossing the river from Ezhou, then conquering Yingzhou, Xiangyang, Suizhou, followed by Dengzhou and Tangzhou, moving north further, taking over Southern Ru, winning a significant victory at Yan City, and thereafter recapturing Luoyang and restoring much of the Central Plains.

This was the content of the current military report.

And in some more time, the military report would evolve to General Han Fuyue recapturing Xuchang, Zhengzhou, reaching Zhuxian Town.

And after that, it would be the twelve golden edicts recalling General Han Fuyue.

Of course, whether the twelve golden edicts were issued on the same day isn’t explicitly recorded in history books and is a matter of debate. But at that time, to make General Han Fuyue retreat, the emperor issued several golden edicts within a month, which seems to be a matter of fact.

That is to say, the current Emperor Gaozong of Qi and Qin Huizhi, or rather, here it should be Li Hao, seeing General Han Fuyue’s remarkable military achievements, should indeed be starting to think about the consequences of winning.

Logically speaking, seeing such a military report, Emperor Gaozong should be greatly encouraged and motivated. He should be showing these military reports to the ministers, and excitedly continue to urge supplies for General Han Fuyue’s army to continue reclaiming lost territories.

However, at this moment, Emperor Gaozong’s gaze towards Chu Ge seemed somewhat anxious and uneasy.

Chu Ge thought briefly and said, "Your Majesty, General Han is winning significant victories and reclaiming the Central Plains, and soon he may recover the old capital and cross the Yellow River. At such a time, should not the entire court fully support him instead of hesitating?"

At this moment, Chu Ge judged that Li Hao’s position as a chief minister was relatively stable.

Moreover, Chu Ge knew that the dozens of golden edicts recalling General Han Fuyue were indeed the emperor’s own will, but Qin Huizhi also had a significant influence on this.

For instance, Emperor Gaozong might not have immediately decided to falsely accuse General Han Fuyue, but it was Qin Huizhi who acted first and reported later, so Emperor Gaozong just went with the flow and accepted this decision.

It’s not to say Emperor Gaozong is innocent, but in the process of General Han Fuyue’s death, this confused ruler was, to a certain extent, really misled by Qin Huizhi.

Therefore, Chu Ge’s first reaction was to try and see if, by pushing the Li Hao character he was playing in a positive direction, he could use minimal effort to change General Han’s fate?

Emperor Gaozong furrowed his brows slightly, clearly not expecting Li Hao to speak such words.

What happened to you being my confidant? What happened to everyone not wanting war and seeking peace with the Jin people?

But at this moment, Emperor Gaozong did not yet know that this Li Hao had been taken over by another soul, so he had to temporarily suppress the irritation in his heart and asked, "But if General Han Fuyue continues to fight and actually reaches Yellow Dragon Mansion and welcomes back the two saints, what should I do then?"

Chu Ge inwardly sneered, but patiently explained, "Your Majesty, if General Han Fuyue really manages to reach Yellow Dragon Mansion, it means not only has he reclaimed the territory of Yan and Yun that our Qi Dynasty has never truly reclaimed, he can also continue northwards to strike at the homeland of the Jin people, expanding our territory by thousands of miles.

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