Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

Within the slices of history, the entire world continually evolved, changed, and ultimately crystallized.

In the thirteenth year of Daye, which was also the first year of Yining.

According to the original history, Emperor Gaozu of Liang would have led his troops into Chang'an in the eleventh month of that year, proclaiming Emperor Dai to the throne, changing the era name to Yining and reverently naming the former emperor in distant Jiangdu as the Supreme Emperor.

And in the second year of Yining, in March, the old emperor was assassinated, and realizing the rare opportunity, Emperor Gaozu of Liang accepted the throne in May, establishing the Liang Dynasty and changing the era name to Wude.

But in this history, Lord Qin had passed away early, so it was highly unlikely that history would develop in this way again.

Unless other variables were introduced.

Huoyi.

Meng Yuan woke up in the military tent and the first thing he heard was the rain outside.

"Whoosh, whoosh…"

It felt a bit like that rainy night at the Wulong Slope.

Just then, someone outside reported, "Great General, the chief historian Pei Ji requests an audience."

Meng Yuan originally didn't want to see him, but he then thought that he still had to somewhat fit his character, so he nodded, "Let him in."

At this time, Emperor Gaozu of Liang had not yet become emperor. After raising his army in Jinyang, he established the Great General's mansion, styled himself as the Great General, and the Crown Prince was the Left Commanding General.

As for the Right Commanding General, that of course should have been Lord Qin.

But since Lord Qin no longer existed in this timeline, it was very likely that this position had been given to Lord Wei.

As for Pei Ji, being one of the four main plotters of the Jinyang uprising, his status was revered at this time and he was appointed as the chief historian in the Great General's mansion, and was also granted the title of Duke Wenxi.

In real history, Emperor Gaozu of Liang found him to be akin to his own kind, continuously supporting him to the position of Prime Minister.

But Meng Yuan did not have a good impression of him.

Pei Ji is known for two other famous deeds in history in addition to the Jinyang uprising, one is for assisting Emperor Gaozu of Liang in intimidating Lord Qin, leading to the death of his good friend and fellow planner of the Jinyang uprising, Liu Wenjing; the second is during Liu Wuzhou's invasion of Taiyuan, when Emperor Gaozu of Liang did not want to use Lord Qin, Pei Ji volunteered to lead the troops, resulting in a disastrous loss.

Other than that, he doesn't seem to have any particularly outstanding contributions in internal affairs.

If there is any merit to speak of, it's just that he instigated Emperor Gaozu of Liang to rebel and acted in collusion with him when Emperor Gaozu of Liang was preparing to accept the throne.

Since this person didn't have any special talent and wasn't played by a player, it seemed somewhat redundant for Meng Yuan to see him.

But in order to temporarily maintain the image of Emperor Gaozu of Liang and to observe the situation, he had to force himself to meet with him.

A moment later, Pei Ji lifted the curtain and entered the tent.

"Great General!

"This continuous heavy rain has lasted for several days, causing low morale among the soldiers. Our army's provisions are also about to be exhausted. If we continue to drag on like this, chaos may ensue.

"Furthermore, scouts report that the Turkic peoples and Liu Wuzhou are planning to take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack on Jinyang.

"Therefore, if our army maintains a prolonged standoff with Song Laoseng, unpredictable outcomes may arise. It would be better to withdraw our troops and return to the strong city of Jinyang. After reorganizing, we can then plan our next move."

Meng Yuan chuckled inwardly.

So you are the one persuading Emperor Gaozu of Liang to retreat!

The root cause has been found.

In real history, after Emperor Gaozu of Liang raised his troops in Jinyang and advanced to Huoyi, Song Laoseng staunchly defended the city with twenty thousand elite soldiers. A long rain depleted the supplies, so Emperor Gaozu of Liang decided to return to Jinyang first and later plan for further actions.

It was Lord Qin's loud weeping outside the tent that dissuaded Emperor Gaozu of Liang from the idea and continued the decisive battle with Song Laoseng.

The current situation is quite clear: although Emperor Gaozu of Liang had many soldiers under his command, they were all stragglers subdued along the way, and had not yet formed a real combat force.

If they were to retreat now, an orderly withdrawal would be impossible. These stragglers would likely disperse, and the number of men could diminish as they fled.

Then, if Song Laoseng pursued them, even a reincarnated deity would find it difficult to save them.

Having foreknowledge of the standard answer, Meng Yuan certainly would not be foolish enough to repeat the same mistake. He gave Pei Ji a slight smile.

"Alright, I understand. This matter is of great importance, and I will definitely consider it carefully."

His attitude was very sincere.

Pei Ji, seeing there might be a chance, wanted to say something more, but without realizing it, he found himself being ushered out of the tent.

"I will definitely consider it carefully! The day is late, Chief Historian. You should return and rest."

Pei Ji scratched his head somewhat bewilderedly, sensing something amiss.

After sending Pei Ji away, Meng Yuan immediately sent for all the players by his side to be called over.

The Crown Prince played by Chu Ge, Lord Wei played by Luo Ying, and Pingyang Princess played by Xia Ruoling.

Prince Qi was still too young and was left in Jinyang; he immediately sent a message to summon him.

As for the others, Yuchi Jingde played by Fan Cun was still with Liu Wuzhou's army, Qin Shubao played by Yun Ying, Wei Zhen played by Lu Heng, and Cheng Zhijie played by Li Hongyun were still under Li Mi's command, and Yan Lide played by Li Weiyi had not yet come to join the Liang Army.

These individuals would have to be contacted gradually.

Soon, the three arrived in the tent.

The four players looked at each other and smiled, quickly confirming each other's identities.

To everyone's surprise, this Lord Wei was indeed tall and strong. Although he appeared a bit pale and thin, he had long limbs and seemed quite powerful.

It seemed that the role of charging into battle was his to claim.

Chu Ge unfolded the campaign map and began to analyze the Battle of Huoyi.

Both he and Zhao Haiping were among the best in military capability among the players; now that Zhao Haiping was not present, it naturally fell on him to take charge and command.

"Song Laoseng is entrenched in Huoyi. If we launch a strong attack, the effect may not be very good.