At this time, Li Hongji was disappointed. This old friend, who originally thought that he could consider it from his own point of view, came to persuade him to make peace?
After finally leading the army on this expedition, if he returns south without much merit, I am afraid that his situation will be even more difficult after returning home. The younger brother who has been hiding for a long time will probably be happy...
Just as Li Hongji was about to speak, he saw Meng Huan continue to say: "The Northern Expedition army was defeated at the gate of Xuzhou City, and there was another rebellion in the north of the Yangtze River. Our Tang Dynasty is in a time of internal and external troubles, and the imperial court has not yet issued an order. Now our army is exhausted. Isolated and helpless, and the Zhou army is at its peak, the Northern Expedition is no longer possible! Your Highness is His Majesty's own son, and you must not be trapped in the Zhou Kingdom!..."
Li Hongji said coldly: "Meng Jishi, this Northern Expedition is in vain. Since I have led the troops to help, if I don't continue the campaign, I will live up to my father's expectations! Besides, I, the King of the Tang Dynasty, have my destiny, how can I do it because of my destiny?" After a temporary setback, you easily make peace with the Northern Kingdom? Governor Meng, there is no need to persuade him. Unless my father gives an order, this king——"
Meng Huan interrupted directly: "Okay, since Your Highness wants to fight, why have my army been delayed in Xiapi City for a long time and will not retreat without fighting? Do we really have to wait for His Majesty's decree to arrive before making a decision? Although I don't understand, I Military affairs, but also know that fighter opportunities change rapidly!
Xiaguan went all the way north here, only to learn that Suzhou and other places had been recaptured by the Zhou army. Now Xiapi City is truly an isolated city. The Zhou emperor Guo Wei is conducting an expedition in person. If this delay continues, when the main force of the Zhou army moves south, But it's too late!
Please make a decision quickly, Your Highness! No matter it is war or peace, there must be no further delay! "
Li Hongji was silent for a moment. How could he not know the truth of what Meng Hua said? The longer he delayed in Pi City, the more critical the situation became. Then he said angrily: "Do you think I am delaying? I have long wanted to go out and fight the Zhou army, but I have no choice!"
Meng Hua had already known the helplessness of His Highness the King of Yan. Not to mention the two previous memorials written by Chen Jue and Li Hongji with completely opposite contents, it could be seen from Liu Yanzhen's joking expression at this time.
But he also understood that Li Hongji was so eager to make great achievements, how could he allow himself to return without success?
The atmosphere in the lobby was anxious. As expected, Liu Yanzhen also took the opportunity to jump out and led several generals to say: "What Governor Meng said is reasonable! Please send an envoy to negotiate peace with Zhou immediately!"
Unexpectedly, Meng Hua's eyes suddenly turned sharp: "No peace can be negotiated at this time!"
The governor of Haozhou changed the topic so quickly that all the generals present, including King Yan Li Hongji, looked at each other in shock.
A lieutenant general asked doubtfully: "Prince Meng, aren't you here to persuade His Highness to return south? Shouldn't it be delayed? Why can't we negotiate for peace again? What do you mean?"
At this time, Li Hongji couldn't help but blink his eyes, without saying a word, he just picked up the teacup and drank it all.
Meng Hua said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is indeed here to persuade His Highness to return to the south! But our Northern Expedition army was defeated miserably, and Xiapi has become an isolated city. Now there is another rebellion in Shouzhou. At the time when the Tang Dynasty is besieged internally and externally, the situation has turned against the Zhou state. Extremely beneficial!
The Zhou army had already underestimated our army due to Xuzhou's previous defeat. Now that they are sending envoys to sue for peace, how could the Zhou army easily agree? They may put forward extremely harsh conditions, even humiliating the country! That's the sum of shame! Now that His Majesty has no decree to issue, do you want to frame His Highness into injustice? "
Li Hongji quickly asked: "What does Governor Meng mean?"
"Fight! Fight for peace!"
Meng Hua stood up straight away, pointed at a general on the right and said loudly: "Xiaoguan originally thought that our army was exhausted and could not fight anymore! But before entering the city today, I saw with my own eyes that General Zhou Xingfeng led his army to attack Zhou camp, the Zhou army actually lost several battles in a row! Unfortunately, there were too few people on this trip, so they had to retreat to the city!
Everyone, there is only a partial division of the Zhou army outside the city. After all, our Northern Expedition army is the elite of the country. It is obviously capable of fighting, so why not attack with the whole army? If you want peace, you must fight first! We can only give the Zhou army a severe blow so that they will not dare to look down upon me, the King of the Tang Dynasty, and then we can talk about peace talks! "
Li Hongji said nothing, and looked around at everyone from above with a calm mind.
Liu Yanzhen shook his head disdainfully and chuckled: "Meng Jishi, you are too naive! How can fighting be so easy? How can you allow you to talk about war on paper at this time? Let me ask you, what should I do if I lose this battle? how?
Zhou Tong's army was just lucky to win. Now that more than half of our army has been lost, the morale of the army has long been unstable. If you go to war rashly and the entire army is annihilated, can you bear this responsibility? ! "
Meng Huan replied dully: "The whole army was wiped out? Wasn't it possible that the whole army was wiped out if we wasted time here? We didn't talk about fighting, but we talked about defeat first! Liu Tong's army was not unjustly defeated under Xuzhou City!"
"You!" Liu Yanzhen's face turned red and she said angrily: "This is not your Haozhou! This is the front line! How dare a civil servant speak nonsense here? Let me ask you again, even if the battle is won, if Zhou Jun is unwilling to fight How about our peace talks? If we anger them and send reinforcements, wouldn't our army be even more dangerous?"
"If the Zhou Kingdom could send reinforcements, Xiapi City would have been destroyed long ago! Why can't Liu Tong's army see the situation clearly? Now that the Zhou Emperor is personally conquering Yanzhou, why not personally conquer Xuzhou? That's because our army has been regarded as nothing by the Zhou army!
Moreover, our army is a foreign enemy to the Zhou State, and Murong Yanchao is an internal threat. The Zhou State is also in the midst of internal and external troubles! At this time, Murong Yanchao has been holding on for several months. If our army can take it by surprise and fight a victorious battle, the situation will be reversed. Doesn't Liu Tongjun understand? "
Seeing the debate between Meng Hua and Liu Yanzhen gradually turning into a dispute between the two generals, Li Hongji, although silent, began to think about it at this moment. Perhaps he mistakenly blamed Meng Hua, because he undoubtedly gave himself the best answer.
In the current situation, it is indeed impossible to continue the Northern Expedition, but we are unwilling to return without success. Seeking peace through war, if he can win a victory, his efforts will not be in vain, and maybe he will be able to escape unscathed later.
But if they want to fight, it returns to the original question: How could Chen Jue and Liu Yanzhen hand over their military power so easily...
At this time, I heard Meng Huan say calmly and loudly: "Everyone, the defeat under Xuzhou City is irreversible, and the Northern Expedition cannot continue. Anyway, we have to negotiate peace with Zhou State, but it is shameful to seek peace, so it is better to seek peace through war. The same It's peace, but it's very different! Please think carefully about how His Majesty will view it at that time!
The imperial decree cannot wait any longer, and if it is delayed any longer, it will lead to death! Asking for peace in shame will lead to a dead end after returning to the court! The only way to survive is to seek peace through war! The Zhou army outside the city is just a partial division. Do all the generals consider themselves inferior to Zhou Tongjun? "
The dispute among the generals in the hall came to an abrupt end, and Meng Hua's very instigating remarks indeed had a great effect.
Some generals who were depressed due to the tragic defeat had previously supported Chen Jue and Liu Yanzhen's peace strategy of avoiding war and waiting for the emperor's orders. However, at this time, they seemed to have begun to side with Meng Hua and stopped talking.
It's not that these military generals fully understood Meng Hua's intentions. Since the disastrous defeat at Xuzhou City, their military morale had long been weakened. They didn't want to continue the Northern Expedition at all, so they just obeyed the commander Chen Jue's military orders and waited honestly for the imperial decree to arrive.
But why don't they want to end the difficult days in Xiapi City as soon as possible? According to what Meng Hua said, fighting for peace anyway would lead to peace in the end, and it did not seem to go against the wishes of coach Chen Jue. The key is that after returning to the court, maybe the emperor can really be lenient!
No anti-theft
As for winning or losing, Zhou Xingfeng has led his troops out of the city many times to raid in recent days, and he seems to often win. They all see this.
Meng Hua had spoken out in anger. No matter how passive these military generals were, they always considered themselves to be one of the most elite generals in the Southern Tang Dynasty. How could anyone really think that they were inferior to a surrendered general?
Seeing that many generals were beginning to gnash their teeth, Meng Hua nodded secretly, and then looked at Li Hongji: "I don't know what my subordinate's suggestion is. What do you think, Your Highness?"
"Very good!" Li Hongji replied simply.
Liu Yanzhen saw that the expressions of the surrounding generals had changed and he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, the general feels that we should discuss it with Ambassador Chen first! It's a pity that Ambassador Chen is now sick..."
Seeing that most of the generals seemed to be wavering, at the critical moment, Li Hongji finally made up his mind and said loudly: "Zhou Xingfeng!"
Zhou Xingfeng, who was standing on the right side and had been waiting for a long time, walked out quickly with his sword in hand and shouted back: "The general will be here!"
"I order you to lead three thousand crane-controllers to the Shenwu Army camp immediately, invite Ambassador Chen here, and tell him that I have important matters to discuss with him!"
Seeing that His Royal Highness the King of Yan seemed to be serious about it, Liu Yanzhen interrupted in a panic: "Your Highness, you can't do it. Now Prime Minister Chen is seriously ill——"
Li Hongji did not respond, but walked up to Zhou Xingfeng and said meaningfully: "If Minister Chen is seriously ill, then carry him here! If he cannot be carried back, you don't have to come back to see me!"
"The last general takes command!"
Seeing Zhou Xingfeng striding out of the lobby, everyone present changed their expressions.
At this time, Liu Yanzhen knew that the situation had changed, so she couldn't help but grit her teeth and whispered a few words. When she was about to leave with seven or eight confidants behind her, she saw Li Hongji suddenly raising his hand, and hundreds of people poured into the lobby instantly. A famous soldier with a sharp sword.
"Everyone, this matter is related to the fate of the Tang Dynasty! I have no choice but to offend you!"
