The palace hall fell into an icy deathly silence. The ministers' silence was not only because they were afraid of angering Liu Zhang, but also because they actually had no way to repel the Chu army.
Recalling that more than a month ago, Liu Zhang led them to hunt outside the city. Everyone regarded this as an ordinary war. Who would have thought that after such a short period of time, it would become a crisis for the Shu Kingdom to collapse.
"Perhaps we could have done something at the beginning, but now it is too late." Fazheng knelt down in the middle with a look of grief on his face, and said with all his might.
"Chengdu must not be able to hold it anymore. Before Wei Yan arrives, we can ask Li Hui of Jiangzhou and Gao Pei of Fushui Pass to abandon the city and lead troops to escort the king to retreat to Jianning. There are also two generals in Yunnan, Leng Bao and Huang Quan. Fifteen thousand soldiers and horses, united here, can resist Wei Yan with the help of the complex terrain in the south." As soon as Fazheng said this, the hall exploded.
It is said that the terrain in the south is complicated, but in fact it is a barren land. How could the ministers give up their foundations in Chengdu and flee to the mountains and ravines.
"It's necessary. The borderland of the Southern Barbarians has been a place where sinners were exiled since ancient times! Fa Zheng, you asked the king to give up his foundation in Chengdu and flee there. How can you be so relieved!"
"We would rather defend Chengdu and live and die with the city than flee to the Southern Barbarians and become a mourning dog!" The ministers were noisy, and Liu Zhang's face was equally ugly.
Fazheng stood up, snorted coldly, looked at everyone, and stopped at Fei Shi, who was staring at him next to him.
"Live and die with the city?"
"Oh, after the city is broken, you can still surrender to the Chu army. According to Chu's law, you just lost a little bit of land, but you still haven't lost your wealth. Maybe you can still appear in the court of Chu in the future with important things in your hands. Where’s the right!”
"Have you really thought about the king? After the city is destroyed, who can guarantee the safety of the king? Is it you Fei Shi?" You, you!
This is accusing me of surrendering to the Chu State and protecting my family's selfish motives. Fei Shi stammered, feeling horrified but unable to think of a rebuttal.
He looked at Liu Zhang, knelt down quickly and said.
"Your Majesty, I have absolutely no selfish motives."
"As long as there is a decree, Gao Pei at Fushui Pass can bring 5,000 soldiers and horses to support Chengdu within three days. Chengdu may not be unable to defend it." This is too false. Who can guarantee that 15,000 people can repel Wei Yan's three or four troops? Thousands of troops?
Yunnan and Jianning mountains are high and the roads are far away, so they cannot be transferred in a short time. As for Jiangzhou, they cannot move, otherwise Ji Shu's 20,000-strong army marches straight in to join Wei Yan, and the situation will be even worse.
"My lord, there are hundreds of servants and tenants in my family, all of whom can fight for the king! My lord, my lord..." Fei Shi was sweating profusely and froze there for a long time, unable to think of a solution.
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Chengdu can no longer hold on. It’s just a matter of how long it can hold on. Liu Zhang couldn't stand it anymore. Fei Shi had always done nothing wrong for him over the years, and he didn't want to blame him too much.
"Okay, I know that none of you have any different intentions. The collapse of the situation is due to God's will. Do you think that if Gu is willing to submit to the King of Chu, can he keep the last bit of blood of the Han Dynasty?" There was silence in the hall. Ministers, take a look. Me, let me look at you.
If Liu Zhang is willing to surrender, the war will naturally end. High, high! All of a sudden, he pointed out the way out for the ministers, turning the discussion of how to resist the Chu army into how to survive and surrender.
Zhang Song watched Fazheng's performance with twinkling eyes and was simply amazed. He stood in the center of the hall and bowed.
"Wei Chen was the one who was sent to Chu as an envoy before. It is Wei Chen's fault that he failed to make an immediate peace treaty with the King of Chu. Your Majesty is merciful and does not pursue Wei Chen's sins. I will never be repaid with death."
"I ask your Majesty, Xu Chen, to send an envoy to Wei Yan's barracks to discuss peace. Even if the King of Chu wants my head, the king will not be humiliated!" Liu Zhang closed his eyes, sighed, and was about to speak.
Suddenly, Wang Lei stepped forward and shouted.
"Why do all my colleagues look down on themselves? There are still 10,000 defenders in Chengdu and 5,000 elite troops at Fushui Pass. Thousands or even tens of thousands of strong men can be recruited in the city before the battle. Relying on the strength of the city wall, it is not necessarily impossible to defeat Wei Yan? "Everyone was relieved when they saw Liu Zhang, and they began to think of surrendering to the enemy. They couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. This was also a way to survive.
If the city is broken into and captured, there is no telling whether the soldiers will rob property and molest women. After all, who can predict accurately in the chaos of war? Who is not afraid that his life is not killed casually by the soldiers?
If they negotiate a peace and surrender, then Wei Yan will definitely restrain the soldiers. When everyone found a way to survive, even if they lost some wealth, they felt at ease.
Now, Wang Lei once again asked everyone to fight, and everyone couldn't help but their eyes flickered and they turned their heads. Seeing that in the main hall, he was the only one insisting on fighting to the death, Wang Lei was also stunned.
Wang Lei looked at Liu Xun who was standing next to the general. Liu Xun's face was full of hesitation. It's a pity. If given another five or six years, Liu Xun might be able to become a hero without fear of life and death, but now he is only a teenager.
Wang Lei looked at Li Ping, the leader of the generals. Of course Li Ping could feel Wang Lei's gaze, but what was the use of him in the current situation?
The people's morale is unstable, the military's morale is afraid of the enemy, the ministers want to surrender, and the king is afraid of death. Li Ping stood up, clasped his fists and knelt down.
"The soldiers of Chengdu are really unable to resist Wei Yan's army. I am ashamed." Wang Lei felt his eyes go dark and fell down in the main hall.
Liu Zhang sighed again. He didn't blame Li Ping. He felt that this was already obvious. Wei Yan's 10,000-strong army marching across Shu was still unstoppable. Now that he has 40,000 soldiers and horses, how can Chengdu resist?
"Ziqiao, I leave the peace negotiation to you. Let's talk carefully, Gu's wealth and life will depend on you." Zhang Song suppressed the excitement in his heart and bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty, don't worry, I understand." Time passed very quickly. After Wei Yan took over Zitong, he only replaced 2,000 troops and horses, but still left 10,000 defenders for Zitong.
Although he felt that Hanzhong would not be able to launch another offensive in a short period of time, he did not dare to take it lightly. He appointed Han Zong as the guard general of Zitong and Liu Quan as his deputy general to guard this place and take over Jianguan.
Wei Yan returned to Guanghan again with Meng Da, Zhang Ji and more than 10,000 troops. When he arrived at the gate of Luoxian County, Lu Xun was already waiting there with a smile on his face.
"General, Zhang Song, the envoy of the King of Shu, wants to see you."
