Chapter 347

Then surrendering to the First Emperor now would not make them feel ashamed.

"Will Ying Su really let me go?" Meng Tian asked.

"General, I heard from Zhuge Liang that the empire is currently in need of people, so the new Emperor does not want to kill too many." Cheng Ze said.

"General Meng, now take advantage of the fact that the army has not yet fallen into chaos, and lead people out to surrender; this is the right time!" Feng Feng Qiji said.

Meng Tian took a deep breath and nodded slowly.

He had no other way.

Feng Feng Qiji and Cheng Ze were right; now that he still had hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, leading so many people to surrender could be considered a hard work even if it wasn't a merit; he thought Ying Su would let him go.

"Time is of the essence, please notify the generals scattered in various places immediately!" Feng Feng Qiji said.

"Good, let's do it!" Meng Tian said.

Having made the decision, the execution was fast.

Meng Tian immediately ordered all troops to prepare for surrender.

Early the next morning, Meng Tian sent Cheng Ze and a deputy general to the front line to handle the surrender work.

Nearly a million troops were resolved in just a few days!

Except for the tens of thousands who were loyal to Wei Pao, hundreds of thousands of people surrendered.

And Wei Pao also received the news of Meng Tian's surrender.

He completely lost hope at this moment and walked into the deep mountains with tens of thousands of people.

On the other side, Ying Su also received the news of the rebel army's surrender.

He was very excited.

This meant the biggest stumbling block hindering the empire's progress had been moved away!

With the internal rebellion pacified, he could concentrate his energy on developing the economy, and also have the spare strength to solve troubles from the outside.

Xianyang Palace, Main Hall.

Meng Tian, Feng Feng Qiji, and others were brought up.

They were all dejected and kept their heads down.

Originally, they had a seat in the court, but now they had become prisoners.

"You may rise." Ying Su said to Meng Tian and the others who were kneeling on the ground.

"The sinful minister dare not rise." Meng Tian replied.

"What sin do you have?" Ying Su asked.

Meng Tian was stunned, thinking isn't this obvious?

What is the new Emperor's goal in asking this? Is he trying to make us confess without being asked?

Feng Feng Qiji, who was kneeling beside Meng Tian, had a more active brain; he thought Ying Su had publicly stated he would pardon them, so he wouldn't go back on his word.

Doing this now was probably to make them admit their mistakes in public. [4

Thinking of this, Feng Feng Qiji raised his head and said: "We subjects were deluded by treacherous people and were muddle-headed for a moment, leading us to commit wrongdoings. I am guilty!"

"You were muddle-headed for a moment and thus rebelled? Was there no other reason?" Ying Su asked.

Sweat immediately broke out on Feng Feng Qiji’s forehead.

He thought for a moment and then said: "I also had selfish motives; for the sake of personal gain, I disregarded the interests of the Great King. This is a grave crime!"

"Think carefully again, what else did you do wrong?" Ying Su pressed.

"This..." Feng Feng Qiji thought with a bitter face for a while, then shook his head: "Forgive my dullness, I cannot think of anything else."

"And you all?" Ying Su’s gaze fell upon the others.

"We subjects should not have betrayed the Great King for personal gain!"

"I should not have rebelled."

"I am guilty!"

The others said one after another.

"You have only said a part of it; the most crucial part you have not said," Ying Su said: "Zhuge Liang, Xiao He, you tell me, where did they go wrong?"

Zhuge Liang and Xiao He remained silent upon hearing this.

With their level of intelligence, they vaguely sensed that Feng Feng Qiji, Meng Tian, and the others had committed other errors.

But the problem was that they dared not speak of these errors.

"I cannot think of it, I ask the Great King to enlighten us," after a while, Zhuge Liang said.

"I ask the Great King to enlighten us," Xiao He echoed.

200. Five Thousand Elite Troops

"Fine, then I will tell you where they went wrong!" Ying Su said: "They were wrong in refusing to deal with the Xiongnu with all their might. When Great Qin needed money, grain, and soldiers to fight a decisive battle against the Xiongnu, they instead tripped us up from behind for their own personal gain!"

"Faced with external threats and their own interests, they chose the latter. They betrayed not only my interests but also the interests of the entire Great Qin, including everyone present here and the subjects outside!"

When Ying Su said this, Meng Tian and the others all showed looks of shame.

The Xiongnu were the greatest enemy of Huaxia, having plagued the Central Plains for hundreds of years.

Faced with such a bitter enemy, the new Emperor poured the nation’s strength into a decisive battle, yet these nobles were not only dragging their feet from behind, but also hoping to use the hands of the Xiongnu to eliminate Ying Su!

"Second, you were wrong in not giving the farmers a way to live! You accumulated so much wealth, yet you refused to take any out to share with the poor, just watching them suffer from hunger and watching them starve to death!"

"When they have no food to eat, do you think they will care about anything else?"

"At that time, as long as there is a single spark, they will rise up in rebellion."

"Whatever princes, nobles, or emperors there are, all will be their enemies."

"You people clearly could have made them lose the thought of rebelling by just distributing a small amount of wealth, but you simply refused to do so, leaving Great Qin in dire straits for the sake of petty gains."

Ying Su continued. After he finished speaking, after a moment, Zhuge Liang replied: "The Great King is wise!"

"The Great King spoke too well, it has enlightened us," Xiao He added.

Other ministers also followed suit.

"These nobles are too greedy; they would rather drag the entire empire and themselves into the abyss than give up their pathetic little interests."

"Meng Tian, Feng Feng Qiji, you committed errors without realizing it, but considering you surrendered voluntarily, I will not punish you."

"Your family assets, except for your houses and a small amount of farmland, will all be confiscated. The state will provide a monthly allowance for you and your families to live on, ensuring you lead a prosperous life."

"As for the lower-ranking officers and soldiers, they will all remain in the army to serve; those who were forcibly conscripted are permitted to return home."

Ying Su announced his decision on the punishment.

As for people like Feng Feng Qiji and Meng Tian, he dared not use them again.

Although Meng Tian had talent, the problem was that he was not lacking in talent right now.

He could not rest easy letting Meng Tian command hundreds of thousands of troops again.

After ordering people to take Meng Tian and the others away, Ying Su said to everyone: "Currently, there are still tens of thousands hiding in the mountains and forests. Do you ministers have any way to eliminate them?"

"Please give me fifty thousand men, Your Majesty, and I will lead the troops to capture Wei Pao and the others!" Li Xin stood out and said.

"I only need twenty thousand!" Fu Hao followed and stood out.

"I only need ten thousand!" Li Xin glared at Fu Hao.

"Do not argue. I believe in your abilities; even with ten thousand men, you can defeat the rebel army."

"However, what I want is speed, and I want our losses to be as minimal as possible."

"Tell me, to achieve these two points, what is your specific combat plan?"

Ying Su said with a smile.

Li Xin and Fu Hao looked at each other, and neither of them spoke.

They were good at leading troops in battle and had the confidence to defeat Wei Pao and the others.

But to be both fast and have low losses, that was difficult.

One must know that Huashan is extremely steep, with high mountains and dense forests suitable for hiding.

It is not an easy task to find and eliminate the rebel army in a short time.

"Your Majesty, Wei Pao and his men are already like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, and their grain and fodder are running low. In the mountains, they cannot get supplies, so I believe their collapse is only a matter of time."

"If you want to accelerate their collapse, you can send elite troops to pursue them. In every battle, do not seek total annihilation, only seek quick and decisive victories."

"This way, it can strike at the enemy’s morale, and secondly, it can make the enemy believe the main army is arriving, thereby causing internal chaos among them."

Zhuge Liang stood out and said.

"Send elite troops? How many elite troops do you think is appropriate?" Ying Su asked.

"One thousand men per team, five teams will suffice," Zhuge Liang said.