Chapter 250: Grace and Severity in Equal Measure

The enthusiastic cheers beneath the rebel city's walls gradually faded, and after the official army camp returned to calm, on the southern camp side, Liu Chengyou gathered his generals and held the first imperial military council.

The imperial tent was set up in the southern camp, quite spacious, able to hold a hundred people, and its arrangement suited Liu Chengyou's temperament—simple and practical, without any superfluous useless decorations.

Seated upright on the imperial throne, receiving the courtesies of dozens of officers, seeing these veteran ministers and great generals bowing in salute—regardless of how much loyalty and reverence they truly held in their hearts, it was ultimately quite pleasing. Sweeping his gaze around, his eyes passed over Bai Wenke, Zhao Hui, Zhou Hui, and others, and with that look, several of them subconsciously tensed up.

There was one more man—Hou Zhang, Military Governor of Huazhou. This fellow buried his head, playing the ostrich. When Liu Chengyou's gaze lingered on him, he watched as the man's head sank even lower.

"We ministers fought without skill, causing the campaign to go poorly. We beg Your Majesty to punish us." The proper posture needed to be maintained. Bai Wenke, as the frontline overall commander, was the first to step forward and ask Liu Chengyou for punishment.

"Lord Bai, no need for ceremony!" Liu Chengyou currently wished to harmonize the various armies, and could not possibly take any action against Bai Wenke and the other generals. He spoke to soothe: "Lord Bai is a pillar general of the Great Han's western frontier, with outstanding achievements and renown. This time, directing the various armies, striking the rebels, advancing upon the rebel city—one may say you have labored diligently with great merit!"

As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the other commanders and encouraged them: "Li the rebel raised his banner of revolt, and the region west of the Pass was shaken. Fierce and rampant, he struck out on two fronts. Thanks to you gentlemen, who drew your swords and spurred your horses, raised the drums of war, led your men to meet the enemy, and eagerly struck the rebels—only thus did we prevent the rebel force from growing strong!"

From Liu Chengyou's attitude, one could tell he would not punish them for past matters. Whatever they thought in their hearts, they ultimately remembered his grace. First unite the army's spirit, then steady the generals' hearts—that was Liu Chengyou's approach upon first arriving. Citing Bai Wenke's advanced age, Liu Chengyou specially granted him a seat in the council. This act of favor further eased the atmosphere in the tent.

Following that came Zhou Hui asking for punishment. His matter was far more serious.

"Victory and defeat are common affairs for soldiers!" Liu Chengyou's expression remained calm as before, as if offering consolation. But he paused only briefly, then his tone turned sharply, and he rebuked coldly and sternly: "Yet to disrespect your commanding general, ignore advice, fail to scout the enemy's situation, dispatch troops on your own authority, assault a fortified city with light forces, causing officers and men to suffer casualties, damaging our military discipline, and wounding our morale—self-willed! Self-opinionated!"

A string of accusations poured from Liu Chengyou's mouth, each sentence harsher than the last. At his most agitated, killing intent nearly crystallized in his eyes. He turned his head and asked Yang Bin: "When a great general acts on his own authority, does as he pleases, and through negligence and carelessness causes military defeat—how should this be dealt with?"

Yang Bin, who was also in the imperial tent, was slightly surprised by the sudden question. He glanced at Liu Chengyou, his stern face showing no leniency, and said directly: "He should be executed!"

Zhou Hui below, whose nerves had somewhat relaxed, was now tense again. When the words "should be executed" came from Yang Bin's mouth, he cursed inwardly while feeling his face grow hot. Noticing the Son of Heaven's cold and severe expression, he fell to his knees with a thud and begged for mercy.

Toward these veteran generals from the founding days, Liu Chengyou had always shown favor and lenience since ascending the throne, treating them with generosity, which had also made them arrogant and hard to control. But this time, Zhou Hui finally sensed something was amiss.

"Guards! Drag him out to the camp gate—" Liu Chengyou's icy call pushed the solemn atmosphere in the tent to a frozen stillness.

"Wait." Seeing that Liu Chengyou seemed genuinely moved to kill, Bai Wenke could not help but interrupt. He rose with his aged body, clasped his hands, and said: "Your Majesty, even if General Zhou has faults, he was still suppressing rebellion for the state and showing loyalty to Your Majesty. It was merely that the military situation was unfavorable and the timing inopportune, leading to defeat. I beg Your Majesty to consider his past merits and deal with him leniently."

Bai Wenke speaking up for Zhou Hui was somewhat unexpected—especially to Zhou Hui himself, whose wrinkled, ugly face could not hide his astonishment. Liu Chengyou exchanged a glance with the old general, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Without responding, he looked toward Zhao Hui beside him: "Lord Zhao, what do you think?"

Upon being asked, Zhao Hui glanced sidelong at Zhou Hui, thought briefly, then clasped his hands and said: "When we advanced the second time, Li Shouzhen led troops to resist, and General Zhou also led his forces to fight him fiercely, taking no small number of heads and captives. Considering his past merits, I beg Your Majesty to deal with him leniently."

Well now—at a time like this, they were helping each other out.

Faced with the pleas of Lords Bai and Zhao, Liu Chengyou finally showed a trace of hesitation on his face. His eyes wandered and landed on Feng Dao. This old man immediately stepped forward to offer advice: "Your Majesty, although there were twists and turns in the process, fortunately no disastrous consequences were wrought. The rebel army is now confined within the sorrowful city, putting up a desperate struggle. When facing battle, executing a great general is inauspicious. Your Majesty might demote him slightly to reassure the troops, and also give Chief Commander Zhou a chance to atone for his crimes through merit..."

"Were it not for the pleas of you gentlemen, I would certainly not let this pass lightly!" Seeing this, Liu Chengyou finally laid a hand on the commander's table and stared at Zhou Hui, saying: "Demoted to Deputy Chief Commander of the Xiaodi Army, retained for service in the military. The Xiaodi Army will be temporarily commanded by the Left and Right Wing Chief Commanders Sun Li and Wu Qianyu. After the rebellion is pacified, further disposition will be made. You—are you convinced?"

Of course he was not convinced. Zhou Hui's expression shifted through various shades, but considering the current situation, how could he dare answer that he was not? With a grim face, he bowed and said: "I thank Your Majesty for the grace of sparing my life."

Liu Chengyou naturally would not concern himself with Zhou Hui's thoughts. He rose and paced a circle before the imperial tent, then said gravely: "Military affairs are matters of state, concerning life and death, survival and ruin—they must never be treated with negligence. I do not fear losing battles, but needless defeats and casualties among the soldiers, I will absolutely not permit. I hope all you generals will take this as a warning!"

"We shall heed Your Majesty's instruction!" In the current atmosphere, no matter what Liu Chengyou said, even the most arrogant soldiers and fierce generals had to respond obediently.

"Your Majesty." After a brief silence, Zhou Hui suddenly spoke up on his own initiative, as if making a reminder, his words dripping with killing intent: "During the previous battle with the enemy, Commanders He Hui and Fan Aineng fled in cowardice, causing our army's formation to fall into chaos and our losses to increase. More than ten officers below Commanders He and Fan who fled have all been taken into custody in the army. I beg Your Majesty to deal with them."

Hearing this, a strange glint flashed in Liu Chengyou's eyes. After considering for a moment, he instructed: "Keep them detained for now!"

As for those men, Liu Chengyou had long since determined the outcome in his heart. However, he planned to deal with them later—just as with Zhou Hui's matter, it was far from over. Such a fine opportunity to make an example of them—how could Liu Chengyou easily let it go?

But he had only just arrived, his prestige not yet established, the rebels not yet destroyed, his achievements not yet accomplished. To mete out mass executions and punishments among the officers would dampen the army's morale. By military law, Zhou Hui's crime—even if he escaped death—would never have been dealt with so lightly. But in this era, with decades of lax military discipline as the norm, if everything were judged strictly by law, then among ten thousand troops, there would hardly be a single man without guilt. And this was even after Liu Zhiyuan and his son had successively rectified military discipline.

The Great Han's national laws were strict and its punishments severe. Compared to the previous dynasty, the soldiers of all ranks were already considerably more restrained—but still not enough. Previously, due to the severity of military law, resentment had already begun to brew within the army. Liu Chengyou also knew he could not simply rely on harshness and force; reforming the military required slow, careful work.

And this time, by personally leading the campaign to suppress the rebellion, once the rebels were destroyed and victory was in hand, he could use the momentum of triumph to carry out further reforms of the imperial army. If the imperial army had some problems, to a certain extent, it would also facilitate Liu Chengyou's subsequent actions, without fear of giving others grounds for criticism.

With the previous matters settled, they then discussed military affairs, deliberating on how to breach the city and defeat the enemy. As for the situation of the Hedong city, the official army had already gained a very clear understanding—the defenses, troop strength, commanders, and such had all been carefully investigated. The strength and fortification of the city walls were plain to see, but precisely because of that, it was often hard to take a bite.

The generals naturally vied to volunteer, wishing to launch a rapid assault on the city of Pu while the Son of Heaven had just arrived and morale was high. But Liu Chengyou refused, saying that the Hedong city faced the great river, with its towers and battlements complete and sturdy—it could not be taken lightly.

Although Liu Chengyou wished to swiftly destroy Li Shouzhen, that was a matter of strategy. In tactics, when facing a fortified city, one still needed to plan slowly. His mind had always remained clear—if he ordered a hasty assault before preparations for taking the city were complete, and the city did not fall, it would instead wound morale. That would not do.

According to Liu Chengyou's plan, he needed to consolidate the siege camps, starve Li Shouzhen to death, wear down his will, sow chaos in his ranks, and wait until follow-up supplies arrived and the heavy siege equipment was fully deployed before attempting an attack. This process would also allow the various armies' officers and men to familiarize themselves with the battlefield environment.

He laid out his thoughts fully before the generals. What he said made sense, so they desisted, received their orders, and returned to their camps to sharpen their weapons and feed their horses. That night, Liu Chengyou ordered pigs and sheep slaughtered for a great feast to reward the troops, granting favors in the name of the Son of Heaven to win over the army's hearts once more.