Chapter 414

So surrendering to the First Emperor now would not be shameful.

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

"General, from what Zhuge Liang heard, the Empire is in urgent need of people, so the new Emperor does not wish to kill too many," Cheng Ze said.

"General Meng, now that the army has not yet fallen into chaos, leading men out to surrender is the perfect moment!" Feng Qiji urged.

Meng Tian took a deep breath, then slowly nodded his head.

He had no other choice.

What Feng Qiji and Cheng Ze said was not wrong; with several hundred thousand troops still under his command, bringing so many to surrender might not count as merit, but it would count as service, and surely Ying Su would let him go.

"There is no time to lose; please, General, immediately notify the generals scattered in various places!" Feng Qiji said.

"Very well, let it be done thus!" Meng Tian said.

Once the decision was made, execution proceeded quickly.

Meng Tian immediately issued orders for all troops to prepare for surrender.

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

Nearly a million strong troops were thus eliminated in just a few short days!

Except for the tens of thousands loyal to Wei Pao, the vast majority of hundreds of thousands surrendered.

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

At that moment, he completely lost hope and led his few tens of thousands into the deep mountains.

On the other side, Ying Su also learned of the rebels' surrender.

He was extremely excited.

This meant the greatest stumbling block hindering the Empire's advance had been removed!

With the internal rebellion quelled, he could concentrate on developing the economy, while also having the resources to deal with external troubles.

Outside Xianyanggong, the Great Hall.

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

They hung their heads in dejection, looking down.

They once held a place of honor in the court, but now they had become prisoners awaiting judgment.

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

"A guilty subject dares not rise," Meng Tian replied.

"What crime have you committed?" Ying Su asked.

Meng Tian was stunned for a moment, thinking, Is this not obvious?

Why does the new Emperor ask this? Does he want us to confess without being prompted?

Feng Qiji, kneeling beside Meng Tian, had a quick mind; he recalled that Ying Su had publicly promised to pardon them and would not go back on his word.

He likely does this now to make us admit our faults publicly.

Thinking thus, Feng Qiji raised his head and said, "We were misled by treacherous men, lost our wits for a moment, and committed this error; we are guilty!"

"You rebelled because you lost your wits for a moment? Was there no other reason?" Ying Su asked.

Sweat immediately beaded on Feng Qiji's forehead.

He thought for a moment and then said, "I also had selfish motives; I pursued my own private gain without regard for the King's interests; this is a grave crime!"

"Think more carefully; where else did you go wrong?" Ying Su pressed.

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

"What about you?" Ying Su's gaze turned to the others.

"We should not have betrayed the King for private gain!"

"I should not have rebelled."

"I am guilty!"

The others spoke up one after another.

"You have only stated part of it; there is the most crucial part you have not said," Ying Su said. "Zhuge Liang, Xiao He, tell me: where did they err?"

Zhuge Liang and Xiao He heard this and both remained silent.

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

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

"I cannot think of it; please, King, guide us," Zhuge Liang said after a while.

"Please, King, guide us," Xiao He chimed in with a follow-up remark.

200, Five Thousand Elite Soldiers

"Very well, then I shall tell you where they erred!" Ying Su said. "They erred in refusing to fully confront the Xiongnu; when the Great Qin needed Qian Liang and soldiers to fight a decisive battle against the Xiongnu, they tripped us up behind the scenes for their own private gain!"

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

When Ying Su spoke these words, Meng Tian and others showed expressions of shame.

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

Facing such an enemy, the new Emperor mobilized the entire nation to fight a decisive battle, yet these nobles dragged their feet behind the scenes; that was bad enough, but they also hoped to use the Xiongnu to eliminate Ying Su!

"Second, you erred in leaving no path to life for the farmers! You accumulated so much wealth yet refused to share even a little with the poor, watching them starve and freeze, watching them die of hunger!"

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

"At that time, with just a spark, they will rise up."

"Kings, marquises, generals, and emperors alike will all become their enemies."

"You people could have easily dispelled their thoughts of rebellion by sharing a small amount of Qian Cai, yet you refused to do so, letting the Great Qin drown in fire and water for the sake of petty gains."

Ying Su continued speaking. After he finished, a while later, Zhuge Liang spoke up: "The King is wise!"

"What Your Majesty said is excellent; it has cleared the fog from our minds," Xiao He added.

The other ministers immediately chimed in with agreement.

"These nobles are too greedy; they would rather drag the entire empire and themselves into the abyss than surrender their pitiful interests."

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

"Aside from your houses and a small amount of arable land, all your assets are confiscated; the state will issue a monthly stipend to support you and your families, ensuring you live in abundance."

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

Ying Su announced the punishment decision.

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

Although Meng Tian was talented, the problem was that he currently lacked no talent.

He could not feel at ease letting Meng Tian command hundreds of thousands of troops again.

After ordering men to escort Meng Tian and the others away, Ying Su addressed the assembly: "Several tens of thousands still hide within the mountains and forests; do any of you, my beloved ministers, have a method to eliminate them?"

"Please grant me fifty thousand men, Your Majesty; I will lead the troops to capture Wei Pao and the others!" Li Xin stepped forward and said.

"I need only twenty thousand!" Fu Hao stepped forward as well.

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

"Stop arguing; I believe in your abilities. Even with just ten thousand troops, you can defeat the rebel army."

"However, I require speed, and our casualties must be kept to an absolute minimum."

"Explain your specific battle plans to achieve these two points."

Ying Su said with a smile.

Li Xin and Fu Hao exchanged a glance; neither spoke.

They were experts at leading armies into battle and confident they could defeat Wei Pao and the others.

But achieving both high speed and minimal casualties was difficult.

One must remember that Huashan is extremely precipitous; its high peaks and dense forests make it suitable for hiding.

Finding and eliminating the rebel army within a short time would not be easy.

"Your Majesty, Wei Pao and his group are birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, and their grain and fodder are nearly exhausted; unable to obtain supplies in the mountains, I believe their collapse is inevitable, sooner or later."

"If we wish to accelerate their collapse, we can dispatch elite troops to pursue them; in each engagement, we should not seek total annihilation, but only swift and decisive victory."

"This will first strike at the enemy's morale, and second, make the enemy believe a massive army is approaching, thereby causing internal disorder within their ranks."

Zhuge Liang stepped forward and said.

"Dispatch elite troops? How many elite troops do you deem appropriate?" Ying Su asked.

"With one thousand men per unit, five units will suffice," Zhuge Liang replied.