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In the fourth year of Xuanwu, on the eighth day of April, in Tuoluo City...
"It's been almost a month, why haven't the troops from Dashi and Anxi yet come to rescue me? Do they want to watch my noble widow perish?"
Only one month later, Qi Ruosi, who was in his prime, seemed to have aged more than ten years, and his temper had become more irritable than a month ago.
He roared heartbreakingly at the ministers in the palace, cursed the Han army for their lack of martial ethics, and scolded Lian Dashi and An An for their betrayal and failure to come to rescue in time, which caused the situation in Guiwu's country to take a turn for the worse.
Qi Ruosi was also blinded by the situation on the front line. He didn't know whether the million-strong army was dead or alive. In addition, the collapse of the turbine fortress caused panic in the city, and the rations that were supposed to be delivered to the residents were gone. As a result, the price of food in the city has skyrocketed, reaching an astonishing level where it costs ten gold per pound of rice, and there is still no market price.
All of this made Qi Ruosi, the king, become more violent and moody.
"Speak! You are already mute! Do you think the widow has to rely on the lonely king to support her?"
Facing Qi Ruosi, who was almost losing his mind, all the officials remained silent.
Even Orton stopped talking and watched Qi Ruosi going crazy in the palace.
I saw Qi Ruosi pointing at everyone and saying: "When the Han army came to attack, you all tried to strengthen its strength, saying that Bai Qi could only defeat some small foreign countries and could not get on the stage.
You also said that my noble widow has a strong army and a strong horse, and it is easy to defeat the Han Dynasty. How many months has it been? Why are none of them talking now?
What use does the lonely king have for you trash! "
Speaking of excitement, he slammed a gold cup filled with wine to the ground, making a crisp metallic sound.
Finally, a minister couldn't bear it anymore and stood up and shouted: "That's enough Qi Ruosi. As the king of a country, he acts like a shrew and scolds the streets. Does he still have any royal bearing?
You said it was us who tricked you into starting a war with the Han army, but who supported the original plan to raid the Yuezhi border? Aren’t you the king?
Now that the situation has not gone as expected, you don't think about your own responsibilities first, but you blame us instead? Is this true? "
Qi Ruosi was furious when he heard this. Someone actually dared to call her by her first name. They simply didn't take her seriously.
"Buy Ma Qi, do you dare to despise the lonely king? Believe it or not, the lonely king will kill your whole family!"
Mabu Ma Qi sneered: "You want to kill my whole family? Qi Ruosi, don't forget how you ascended to the throne?
You ascended to the position of king after we and the abbot jointly deposed your brother. In terms of qualifications, do you think you are worthy of sitting on this king's chair?
Put away your threats, half of the defenders in the city have fled, and no one will care about you, a king in vain. "
Qi Ruosi was furious and said: "If you don't buy Ma Qi, I will crush you to ashes!"
Buyu Maqi was not afraid at all: "If you have the guts, come and try and kill us all. If you have the guts, go and face the anger from Bai Qi alone!"
"Come here! Come here! Drag down this rebellious traitor and behead him in public!"
However, the guard at the door seemed not to hear anything and looked at Qi Ruosi indifferently, with no intention of taking action.
"What are you doing? Do you also want to rebel?! Are you deaf if I want you to take down Mabu March?"
Mabu Maqi snorted coldly: "No need to waste your efforts, Hunjun! Do you know how long it has been since your palace guards have eaten?
If it weren't for the help from the ministers, I'm afraid you would have died of hunger long ago. You can't even feed the people in your own palace. Do you think there will be anyone who will sacrifice their life for you? "
Qi Ruosi was shocked and turned pale. When he looked at the ministers again, he saw that all the officials in the palace were giving him unkind looks. He couldn't help but feel chilled and sat back on his throne tremblingly.
At this time, Orton spoke: "If you don't buy Ma Qi, you should respect the king a little bit. After all, he is still a widowed king, how can he be so humiliating?"
Mabu Maqi snorted softly, then saluted Orton and said, "The prime minister is teaching you that I was the one who was rude."
After saying that, he sat back on the blanket without any apology on his face.
"Okay, let's get down to business."
O straightened his clothes, ignored Qi Ruosi who was already stunned, and said directly to the ministers: "In this situation, it is no longer possible to fight Bai Qi by force.
The only way to take the initiative to negotiate peace with Bai Qi is to maybe save some of the situation. Of course, in order to save their own families, the ministers will inevitably suffer losses.
But as long as we get through it, after Bai Qi retreats, our losses will naturally be slowly replenished through various means. But now we must determine what kind of situation has developed between General Nanzhen's army and the Han army.
I wonder if anyone is willing to go to the Han camp and meet Bai Qi to discuss the content of the peace? "
Everyone immediately whispered among themselves, mostly discussing how much blood they should give out to be cost-effective.
As for who went to Han camp to negotiate with Rentu, everyone actively ignored them.
Buying Bu Ma Qi was still reluctant to spend his savings, and couldn't help but ask: "Master Prime Minister, is it true that Dashi and the noble widow will not come to help?"
Orton shook his head and said: "I am certain that it is absolutely impossible for Dashi to send a single soldier to help my noble widow survive this crisis.
Because the land division talks between them and Sassanid have collapsed, and each country has 300,000 troops stationed on the border. How can they have time to care about our noble widow? "
Qi Ruosi was shocked when he heard this: "What? A war may break out between Dashi and Sassanid? When did this happen? Why didn't the lonely king know?"
Orton glanced at Qi Ruosi, but did not answer his question, and continued to say to the ministers: "As for Xi'an, they are just a group of bandits who have no profit and can't afford to wake up early.
We will never send troops without enough money. The envoy I sent told me that unless my noble widow is willing to give out 300,000 gold ingots at a time and agree to let them loot the Tuoluo City for ten days,
Otherwise, they would not agree to the request to send troops, not to mention that King Mohetar of Parthia is facing the threat from the Baisei Empire. Even if troops are sent, the number will not be enough to turn the tide of the war.
At present, the only way to end this endless war is to hope that the Han army will agree to peace talks. "
The Baisei Empire is a huge city-state established in the Eastern Continent by the Roman Empire that once spanned three continents and is located in the Western Pillar State.
After the Roman Empire was destroyed by the Gauls, the Zhuzhou continent was divided into countless small countries. The Baisei Empire has become the spiritual belief and religious center of Zhuzhou countries and is also the direct successor of the Roman Empire.
The First Lotus Crusade more than thirty years ago was also jointly called by the Baisei Empire and the Holy See. They took advantage of the various countries in Central Asia to attack each other and captured a holy land called Jerusalem.
At present, the Fourth Lotus Crusade has begun its Eastern Crusade again. This time the goal is no longer purely for faith, but more to seize the wealth of the mysterious land in the East.
It seems that the Crusaders have become a group of officially recognized legal bandits. In the name of eliminating heretics, they have brought endless killings to Zhongzhou and even Zhuzhou countries.
However, these issues are not what the widow has to consider right now. Now everyone just wants to send Bai Qi, the god of plague, away quickly.
After all, Tuoluo City has almost run out of ammunition and food, and the landlord's family has no food left. If it continues like this, it won't last long. Before Bai Qi's army arrives, half of the people in the city will starve to death first.
"If you have no objections, then quickly formulate a reasonable plan and send a reliable person to send it to the Han army camp.
I think Bai Qi will retreat as long as he gets benefits. I also know a little about that distant eastern country.
As long as their emperor gives enough face, he will not embarrass those of us who send good intentions. As long as the Bai Qi army leaves the widow,
It won’t be long before you all will be living a prosperous and superior life as before, so everyone, don’t be stingy with the money and food in your hands anymore.
There is a saying among the Seris people that if you keep the green hills, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood, and everything will be fine. "
After Orton finished speaking, the officials thought for a moment and agreed to his suggestion.
Next it’s time to discuss how much money each family will contribute.
In less than a quarter of an hour, 120,000 gold ingots and 1.2 million silver coins were raised, plus 100,000 shi of grain, 20,000 sheep, 5,000 horses, and 5,000 oxen.
Qi Ruosi felt the great irony. Not only did these ministers directly ignore him as the king of a country, but he also did not expect that these ministers invested money just to maintain their own status, but no one was willing to invest for himself, the king and the country. Take out a penny.
Sad, so sad...
For a moment, Qi Ruosi only felt two words swirling in his mind.
absurd!
