Xiao Yu and Cui Xin thought of all kinds of difficulties when they came, and also thought that Liu Rengui was very likely to open his mouth. After all, the sea trade in Jiangnan and Shandong was controlled by the navy, and now they had to surrender to the navy, they might be ruthlessly punished by the navy in this regard. It is possible to take a hard bite, and I am prepared to bear the pain and give up the benefits.
But I really didn't expect Liu Rengui's attitude to be so resolute. He refused even to mention the conditions for surrender...
Xue Wanche's shouts of beating and killing did not frighten the two of them. This country originally belonged to His Majesty and was not snatched from elsewhere. After wiping out the rebels, it was natural to think about how to govern the country. Shandong and Jiangnan supported the King of Jin because of this He suffered huge losses in the defeat and was separated from the central government. If he could not be properly appeased, it would easily lead to huge hidden dangers.
Even if they participated in the defeat of King Jin, which could be regarded as treason, His Majesty would definitely not kill the two of them, and they still needed to appease Jiangnan and Shandong.
Therefore, he ignored Xue Wanche's clamor, and Xiao Yu told Liu Ren: "Although we have returned from our lost ways and are willing to surrender for the sake of the stability of the country, we do not have to choose General Liu. Duke Wei is outside Chunming Gate. If General Liu If you don’t agree, it’s the same thing if I retreat to the next best thing and go to Duke Wei. General Liu needs such a meritorious service more than Duke Wei.”
Xiao Yu attaches great importance to Liu Rengui. The strength he shows now can be seen that this person has already understood the current situation and knows the interests of all parties. Therefore, he did not say I will go to Li Jing to surrender now, but said You are indeed the best target for surrender, but it doesn’t have to be you.
And point it out directly, we are just getting what we need, don't go too far...
Liu Rengui was unmoved and said in a deep voice: "I don't deny that such a meritorious service is indeed needed, but in the face of the great righteousness, what does personal gain and loss count? It is those selfish fools who are doing nothing to take care of the righteousness of the family and the country. This rebellion was caused by stealing the imperial court. I am incompetent and disdain to associate with you."
Being insulted by a "Xing Wu Qiu Ba" with the righteousness of their family and country, Xiao Yu and Cui Xin were red-faced, ashamed and angry.
Cui Xin shook his head and said: "I am not selfish, but the interests of the Shandong family must be protected, otherwise we will have to fight to the end."
Liu Rengui said calmly: "If you are willing to fight to the death, why take the risk to come here?"
It seems that although he led his army to defeat the Shandong private army and left his body lying on the ground, he did not let Xiao and Cui recognize him, otherwise he would definitely not use such inferior words to test his bottom line.
Xiao Yu looked ugly, pondered for a moment, shook his head and sighed: "If General Liu refuses to give in, then I can only go to find Duke Wei. We are not here for our own benefit, but to bear the honor and disgrace of our family's life and death." ,heavy responsibility."
"Ah!"
Liu Rengui sneered, picked up the tea cup, took a sip of tea, and said: "So, this is the evil of the clan. In private terms, the children of the clan are arrogant and lawless. They don't see a country in their eyes, only a family. But in public terms, the clan is evil." Monopolizing the channels for official promotion, the nobles of the dynasty are all members of the clan. They are manipulating power to the detriment of the public and private interests. They do not care about the survival of the country or the rise and fall of the empire. You are like a parasitic tumor sucking the blood of the country. You should be completely wiped out and crushed. Ash!"
Cui Xin was dissatisfied and asked: "Do you know how the Tang Dynasty could have established a country without the power of the clan?"
It was precisely with the unremitting support of the clan that the Tang Dynasty was able to wipe out all the heroes and unify the world in the chaotic times of the late Sui Dynasty.
Liu Ren track: "At this time, at that time, the Tang Dynasty was not a world ruled by one family, let alone aristocratic families, but a world ruled by people from all over the world! What's more, Cui Gong only saw how the Tang Dynasty was established, why couldn't he see it? How did the Sui Dynasty collapse before the end of the Sui Dynasty? If we take history as a guide, we can see the rise and fall of the world. If Song Guogong and Cui Gong really planned to fight to the end and were eventually wiped out, the people of the world would not have the slightest regret. They would only tell each other and celebrate with each other, and the families of the aristocratic families would suffer in the world. It’s been a long time!”
If the aristocratic families had not fought openly and secretly, and undermined each other, threatening the imperial power, why would Emperor Sui Yang have resorted to launching a war to eliminate the conflicts, and why would he have ended up in the end of his life and the death of his country?
The huge Sui Empire unified the north and south and dominated the society. However, it fell apart in just a few decades. This was the result of the great family members.
In the late Zhenguan period, His Majesty Li Er took the suppression of the clan as a national policy and implemented it unswervingly. When Li Chengqian came to the throne, he even stated that he would continue his father's national policy. This was also the main reason for the two mutinies of Guanlong and King Jin.
Liu Rengui was unwilling to take the risk of offending Li Chengqian and give preferential treatment to the Shandong private army and Jiangnan nobles. Is Li Jing willing?
Relatively speaking, Fang Jun behind Liu Rengui has far surpassed Li Jing in terms of merit and power, and the Holy Family is not the same. If Fang Jun only wanted to have some merit, he might have dared to get involved with the family in private. He was once suspected by the emperor. But Li Jing, who had been idle for more than ten years, would never dare to do so.
Liu Rengui paid attention to the change in Xiao Yu's expression and advised: "The Duke of Song is a veteran of three dynasties and has made outstanding contributions. The Jiangnan nobles are also responsible for the long-term peace and stability of the Jiangnan region. With your majesty's benevolent character, how can you kill them all? Now as long as you Expressing an attitude of admitting mistakes and being able to correct them, Your Majesty will certainly not investigate further."
Xiao Yu recognized this to a certain extent. Li Chengqian was not a decisive character. Even if he hated the powerful families who supported the King of Jin's rebellion, he was unlikely to adopt extreme strategies, especially in the Jiangnan region. As the development of sea trade began to bear more and more taxes, we certainly did not want the Jiangnan area to be in chaos.
As long as you have a good attitude towards pleading guilty, you will definitely be able to treat others with tolerance, but if you insist on fighting to the end, you may anger Fang Jun, thus causing serious troubles to the Jiangnan nobles...
Liu Rengui looked at Cui Xin again and said: "But for the Shandong aristocratic family, it is completely the opposite. After all, in order to support the King of Jin this time, the Shandong aristocratic family almost tried their best, and all the wealth accumulated over hundreds of years was emptied. What's more, Almost all the young people in Shandong were buried in the Guanzhong battlefield, and the control over Shandong was reduced to the lowest level. Chaos in Shandong is almost inevitable. In this case, taking this opportunity to completely uproot the Shandong family may not be a bad thing, and it will be a long-term pain. It’s just a short-term pain.”
Cui Xin's face turned pale, and even though he was deep in the city, he couldn't help but shudder in his heart.
They also supported the King of Jin's rebellion. The Jiangnan nobles screamed the loudest, but contributed the least. The land south of the Yangtze River was far away from Guanzhong and the road was inconvenient. There was not much food and money arriving in Guanzhong. They finally raised 100,000 private troops and were attacked by the navy. Yanziji was defeated in the first battle. After the war, they all fled back to their hometowns and returned to the Jiangnan noble clan. Therefore, the strength of the Jiangnan noble clan did not suffer much loss.
But the Shandong family is different. They have almost run out of young men, money, and food. As Liu Rengui said, the control of Shandong has dropped to the lowest point in hundreds of years. If we take this opportunity to wipe out all the Shandong families and uproot them, it will be impossible. The impact will naturally not be too great...
He panicked.
Liu Rengui pointed at Xue Wanche and said to Xiao Yu and Cui Xin: "Until now, Duke Wu'an's Youwu Guards and Duke Wei's Sixth Army of the East Palace have been stationary. Do you know the reason?"
Xiao Yu and Cui Xinxin trembled. Xue Wanche had already shouted loudly: "Keep up your morale and be ready to leave the border at any time!"
Cui Xinxin had no luck, his face was gloomy, and he shook his head dejectedly.
I thought I could get the final conditions to stop the loss by coming here, but I didn’t know that my judgment on the situation was completely wrong, so how could I still be qualified to negotiate?
*****
With the fall of Butokumon, the battlefield has spread from the surrounding building complexes around Butokuden to inside Butokumon. Not far away, the roof of Butokuden has revealed its true appearance in the wind and rain. Rebels are there at any time. It is possible to enter the Wude Palace.
The prince's left guard, who came from Dajimen for reinforcements, was under great pressure. Although Li Dazhi was injured, he did not dare to withdraw for treatment. He asked his soldiers to treat the wounds randomly, and then led his soldiers to defend Wude Palace.
Yuchi Gong had been fighting all his life, and knew that this was his last chance, and that life and death depended on this moment, so he arranged for Li Zhi to be closely guarded by the army, while he led his elite troops forward bravely, fighting endlessly with the prince's left guard. , hoping to break through the blockade and break into Wude Palace.
Being surrounded by heavy guards, Li Zhi was anxious and kept urging the troops to move forward to support Yuchi Gong. He was afraid that Li Daozong would lose to Fang Jun and fail, causing Fang Jun to enter Wudemen and catch up with him. There would be obstacles in front of him. , there are chasing troops behind, maybe you will be trapped in a tight siege and fall into a desperate situation.
As a result, before Yuchi Gong could take a few steps forward, soldiers rushed to report that Li Daozong was knocked off his horse by Fang Jun, and his troops were defeated by the armored cavalry. Fang Jun had already assembled his troops to kill Wudemen...
This news was like a thunderbolt falling on Li Zhi's head. In the heavy rain, he was at a loss. Could it be that he was really not the one destined to belong to him?
Otherwise, those nobles and armies who keep supporting them in deposing Li Chengqian will either be completely destroyed or unable to retreat, leading to a great situation turning into such a miserable situation today?
However, now that things have come to an end, there is no retreat and we can only move forward.
Fortunately, there is only one step away from Wude Palace. As long as this step is taken, the empire center can be completely captured. Li Chengqian can only abandon Taiji Palace and start to escape. After he declares to the world and ascends the throne, he will be able to completely reverse the situation.
What's more, there are tens of thousands of Shandong private troops near Chengtian Gate and Zhuque Gate. In the worst case scenario, they can enter Taiji Palace to stalk Fang Fangjun, giving themselves and Yuchi Gong a chance to capture Wude Palace...
"There is no need to worry about the safety of my king. The whole army will move forward to support Duke E, defeat the prince's left guard and capture the Wude Palace!"
On the verge of desperation, Li Zhi instead glowed with infinite fighting spirit, drew his sword in his hand, and led his army forward to fight side by side with Yu Chigong, launching a tidal wave of offensive towards the prince's left guard.
With the clatter of iron hooves behind him, Fang Jun led the armored cavalry to fight from Wudemen. More than a thousand cavalry launched an attack, and their momentum became more and more overwhelming and unrivaled in the narrow inner garden of the forbidden palace.
(End of chapter)
