473 Stopping the Rebellion (1/2)
With just a banner Dugu Xian quickly settled the riots in the military camp. He almost got himself killed, but he became a great commander-in-chief of the Dragon army.
When he walked out of the main tent, he took only ten guards with him. When he looked around, he knew what was happening.
The surrounding screams came one after another, but there was no fire, and there was no chaos, indicating that the scale of the riots was far from what he had imagined.
When he entered the depths of barracks, instead of slogans of murder or arson, he was met with inquiries.
He was close to his tent, so he came back here first. He summoned his guards, attendants and counselors. They all were panicking. They had heard a rumor that the Left General had died. When Dugu Xian made his appearance, they were very much relieved.
It was far from dawn. Dugu Xian did not hurry to finish his tasks. He took his time rounding up a team of more than seventy soldiers and asked a soldier to hold his banner.
The banner was thirty centimeters long and embroidered with a large Chinese character: ”Left”.
Dugu Xian led his small team to the military camps nearby. He collected 20 executioners and added them to the team. They began to move through the military camps.
There were approximately 20 armies of a thousand people in the barracks. The disturbance had already spread to most of the campsites.
Dugu Xian rode to a camp without disputes. When he arrived, he did not get down from his horse but continued to move forward. He was followed closely by the soldier holding his banner and executioners raising their shining weapons. The executioners looked more dangerous than Maid Lotus or the other guards.
The soldiers were fearful, and many of them did not even get dressed. When the Left General showed up, they felt relieved.
When Dugu Xian rode past, the herald started to shout, ”Await the order in your tent!”
Low-ranking officers returned to their tents and the camps returned to normal.
Dugu Xian only had half an hour, so he could not check all the camps. When he found that the situation was starting to come under control, he quickly rode to the southeast corner of the camp. He was immediately attacked.
”Get out of Xiaoyao Lake!” Several attackers yelled. They shot three arrows at him.
Maid Lotus stayed in her saddle, close to the Left General. She was dressed in guard's clothing to conceal her identity. Many people knew that the Dragon King had a female guard, but if she wore feminine clothing, she would attract unnecessary attention and gossip.
She carried a common scimitar. Although it was not particularly convenient, it was more than enough to block an arrow.
Her task was to protect the Left General from insurgents.
A head flew out from behind the tent. Then, two men were thrown out. At the sight of this, the executioners got down from their horses and tied the two men up.
Dugu Xian stayed calm, as if unaware of the dangers around him.
The heralds were divided into two groups. One team ran ahead to announce that the Left General was on the patrol, while the other team stayed and commanded soldiers to await their orders in the tent.
Dugu Xian felt confident. He had trained and supervised most of the soldiers himself. He believed that no matter where they were from, the new recruits would not blindly join the rebellion over a few slogans. After all, they were accustomed to following strict orders.
He was right to some extent, but his reasoning was a bit off. According to the investigation afterwards, there were two reasons most of the soldiers from the five kingdoms had not joined in the uprising. First, the Left General had appeared in time, which stabilized the soldiers' morale. Most importantly, they cared about the land in the Land of Fragrance. They were afraid that they would not get the land they had been promised if they joined the rebellion.
Shangguan Yun was smart, and many of the insurgents were insightful. However, they were held back at the thought of guarding Xiaoyao Lake. They had underestimated the influence the Land of Fragrance had on the soldiers. It had never occurred to them that a distant kingdom could make these soldiers desert their homeland.
The soldiers seldom talked of the distant land that belonged to them. They carefully kept the receipts and remembered their importance when it was time to make a choice.
The Land of Fragrance had played an important role in Dugu Xian's success. His strict training and prestige also helped.
After the first few insurgents were caught, the soldiers who had been driven out of the tents knew what to do next. They took action by capturing the instigators who had been shouting their slogans earlier. They tied them to the ground and handed them over to the executioners.
Dugu Xian remained silent. As for his counselors, they recorded the names of the captives, and then commanded them to return to their tents.
Disturbances had been a frequent occurrence since the soldiers from the five kingdoms joined the Dragon army. But this was the last one.
After this failed rebellion, the Golden Roc Fort and the royal families of the five kingdoms finally had to admit that the Dragon King had won the soldiers' support.
When Dugu Xian returned to the Dragon King's main tent, only an hour had passed.
The good news had already spread from one tent to the next. The military officers were relieved. As for the Prince and the captives, their faces had turned pale with fear and disappointment.
Gu Shenwei had been worried, but now he was no longer concerned. He remained calm as if everything was under control. All he needed now was to find the answer.
He immediately interrogated the insurgents. One of the most important questions was whose name they had used when they incited the soldiers of the five kingdoms to join the uprising.
Soon after Dugu Xian's return, the preliminary results of the interrogations came out.
There were more than fifty rebels disguised as soldiers from the five kingdoms. They were not actually nobles from the Land of Fragrance but a gang of bandits from the Dragon Army.