"Brother Yang, this is how you talk about things."
Lu Yuan looked at Yang Jing's slightly drooped head, finally showed a smile on his face, and said with satisfaction: "Brother Yang, don't worry, if the court can really satisfy our request, let alone let the Zhou soldiers cross the river.
We and other three families can all send troops to help the court repel the Zhou soldiers, or even help recover Xichuan County.
As a result, wouldn't the imperial court have an additional county that could be used to reward meritorious officials? "
Seeing Yang Jing's softness, Lu Yuan also changed his previous tough attitude and began to be gentle and seductive.
If Xichuan County can be captured, the imperial court will restore the territory of the nine counties.
By that time, the three families had taken away three counties, and the court would still have six counties left.
As for the territory of these six counties, the imperial court still gave half a county to Guanhai Villa and Baifeng Temple. It's still like their two families. It's a matter for the court to give each county land.
But no matter which choice is made, the four counties of Guangling, Linhai, Yuzhang, and Jian'an, which are the core of the imperial court, can always be saved.
And with the core of the four counties, the basic base of the imperial court is still there. In the future, it will be easy to recuperate for 20 to 30 years and raise 500,000 to 600,000 soldiers.
With so many soldiers, as long as the situation changes, the imperial court will have a chance to regain the ceded counties.
This gave the imperial court hope for a revival and left enough temptation.
As for whether this temptation can come true, it depends on whose method is clever in the end.
Anyway, Lu Yuan just wanted to consolidate the territory of these three counties at this time.
Take the immediate advantage.
Sure enough, after hearing Lu Yuan's words, Yang Jing looked much better. Although he was still ugly, he didn't look like a dead person like before.
He took a few deep breaths, calmed down a little, and then said: "I will truthfully convey your request to the court. But whether I can agree to it or not will have to wait for the ministers in the court to discuss it before I can give an answer.
This takes time.
So before giving an answer..."
When Yang Jing said this, he looked at Lu Yuan and said seriously: "The Nanhai Sect and the Jiuchuan Sword Sect's plan to raise troops, as well as your plan to open up the Yangtze River, must not be carried out."
This Marquis Wu Xuan was really afraid that what Lu Yuan just said would become a reality.
Even if the two sides really negotiated peace, it would be irreversible bad news and loss for the court.
So this must never happen.
At this time, Yang Jing had to warn again and again.
Lu Yuan nodded and said: "Of course it is possible. After all, we can understand the difficulties of the court. However, there must be a time limit for discussing things. We cannot be kept waiting forever.
Well, let's wait a month.
From Dongting County, it takes ten days to go south along the river to reach Jinling City. It will take a little longer to return, but fifteen days is enough.
We leave five days for the court, five days for the princes and emperors in the court to discuss, is it enough to give a result, right? "
Now that the two sides are at odds with each other, if they go too far, they will face each other in war.
The most important thing is that Lu Yuan has revealed his trump card.
Therefore, in order for the court to respond in time, he must shorten the time for negotiation preparation between the two parties.
One month is just enough time for the news to reach the court, but not enough time for the other party to make response arrangements. This is a safe time acceptable to both parties.
Beyond this time, the court has made preparations, and it will not be so easy for Lu Yuan to start an uprising.
Within this time, the court has no time to make arrangements, so even if they are alert, the effect will not be bad if they continue to raise their glasses.
Yang Jing can naturally think of this, but he also knows that this should be the other party's bottom line, and there is no room for bargaining.
So in the end I could only say with an ugly face: "Okay, a reply will be sent within a month."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan couldn't help laughing: "In that case, the matter has been agreed upon. Brother Yang, a banquet has been prepared in the camp, specially for the angels. Come, come, come, the matter has been discussed, we will go and share it together Have a drink!”
With that said, Lu Yuan wanted to win over Yang Jing.
However, the Marquis of Wu Xuan directly avoided the situation, pulled out his sleeves and said, "No need. I have other important matters to attend to, and the time given by the general is tight, so I won't have this banquet. I'll take my leave now."
After speaking, Yang Jing cupped his hands, then turned around and left directly.
Seeing this, the other two deputy envoys also hurried away.
Lu Yuan looked at this scene and just smiled, then quickly stepped forward and sent people out of the camp.
He sent Yang Jing all the way out of the military camp, and then he returned to the camp. On the way, he said to his disciple Zhou Qing who was approaching him: "Disperse the soldiers and horses prepared in the camp. This matter was discussed very smoothly, and there was no need to use weapons. "
"Yes." Zhou Qing immediately took the order and left.
This time to receive the angels, Lu Yuan not only prepared a banquet, but also prepared a knife and axe.
The reason is that if they disagree, they can be killed directly.
Fortunately, now that everything has been settled, these arrangements are no longer needed, and a bloody disaster has been avoided.
Zhou Qing went to disperse the troops, and Lu Yuan turned around again and said to Yan Wangqiu and others: "Now that the matter is over, since the angel refuses to reward me, let me enjoy the singing and dancing at home. A well-arranged banquet, Don’t waste it, just use it as half a celebration banquet.”
"Very good!"
When Yan Wangqiu and others heard this, they stopped smiling and laughed.
There was a negotiation just now, with wars of words, swords and swords, and in the end our family won, which is indeed worthy of celebration.
However, on the way to the banquet, Yan Wangqiu still asked with some worry: "Brother Lu Xian, will the court agree to our conditions?"
Although Yang Jing had surrendered just now, this person's surrender could at best represent the attitude of the Yang family, one of the six surnames and seven clans.
For the remaining twelve aristocratic families, it is still uncertain whether they will agree to compromise?
Lu Yuan gave his ally a reassuring look and said with a confident smile: "Don't worry, we are so well prepared this time that the court cannot help but refuse to compromise.
Unless they really want to see Zhou soldiers crossing the river, both sides will be destroyed.
Otherwise, you must agree to our request. "
In fact, this time to intimidate the imperial court, Lu Yuan and the others' biggest reliance was not the alliance of the three families.
Instead, it was the 300,000 Zhou soldiers who were blocked by the imperial navy in the north of the river and were unable to cross the river.
If it were not for these Zhou people, Chen Bing Jiangbei, eyeing the territory of Yue.
So even if the alliance between Lu Yuan and his three families could really raise 800,000 rebels, for the Yue court, it would actually be just another counter-insurgency war.
With the strength of the imperial court, it is not impossible to suppress Lu Yuan and the others without external interference.
It can even be said that the possibility is quite high.
After all, the imperial court still has a righteous name, nearly 300,000 soldiers, and seven innate masters. The six surnames and seven clans may have some hidden secrets...
With many advantages, it is not impossible to pacify Lu Yuan and his group of 800,000 people.
But it's a pity.
Now the area north of the imperial court is pressed by 300,000 Zhou soldiers. In the land of Jiangnan, there are still three alliances, namely Lu Yuan.
The Dai Viet court can actually deal with either side on its own.
But if the two sides merge, it will be an unmanageable disaster.
Therefore, if Lu Yuan really lets Zhou soldiers cross the river, it will be the end of the country for Dayue.
And if Dayue is destroyed and Zhou soldiers cross the river, then the aristocratic families in Linhai County, those six surnames and seven clans, will be finished.
The Zhou people would not keep them.
the reason is simple.
These six surnames and seven clans, these thousand-year-old families, have very deep roots in Jiangnan, especially in the four counties of Jiangdong.
If they were left in the south of the Yangtze River, the Zhou Kingdom would be thousands of miles away. With such a long distance, it would be a problem for the stable rule of these conquered territories in the south of the Yangtze River.
I'm afraid that if Jiangnan had only been stable for a few days, these aristocratic families would have jumped out to rebel and restore the Jiangnan court.
By that time, Zhou State was thousands of miles away, and it would take months and half a year to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion.
By the time the counter-rebellion army arrived, the Jiangnan court had been established and the day lilies were cold.
Therefore, in order to avoid this situation and to ensure that the war to destroy the country is not in vain, eradicating the aristocratic families in Linhai County and exterminating the six surnames and seven clans became the only option for the Zhou Kingdom.
As for the rebels like Lu Yuan, in order to prevent the enemy from resurrecting, it was naturally impossible to leave the six surnames and seven clans behind.
It is also necessary to eliminate the weeds and root causes.
It was precisely because of the existence of these objective conditions that Lu Yuan mentioned letting Zhou soldiers cross the river before, so Yang Jing's reaction was so great that he broke through his defenses in an instant.
It was because Wu Xuanhou knew that people like Lu Yuan might not have any problems when the Zhou people crossed the Yangtze River and went south.
After all, the Zhou State could not annex and digest the nine counties of Dayue at once, so it was possible to separate several counties to give Lu Yuan and others as rewards.
Therefore, there is a basis for cooperation between Lu Yuan and Zhou Guo.
But there is no such basis for cooperation among these Linhai aristocratic families.
After all, when the Zhou Kingdom defeated Yue, we couldn't destroy this great enemy, but also set up a few counties for your family and left you with a feudal kingdom, right?
Then wouldn't my war to destroy the country be in vain?
It is precisely because of this irreconcilable contradiction that the Linhai Family and the Zhou State are completely mortal enemies, and there is no possibility of relaxation at all.
"So for the court, they have only two choices now."
At the banquet, Lu Yuan analyzed these things, then looked at everyone and said with a smile: "Either accept our conditions, cede the three counties, and continue the inheritance of Guo Zuo and his family. Or turn against us, and then Zhou soldiers cross the river. Not only will the country be destroyed , but also the death of the family.
You say, if it were you, how would you choose? "
When Su Xuange heard this, he couldn't help but drink a long drink and laughed loudly: "Of course I chose to compromise and survive."
Yan Wangqiu also felt relieved, nodded and said: "That's right! That's right! Giving three counties is better than losing eight counties. At least the country won't be broken, and the family won't be destroyed."
Everyone else also smiled.
Looking at the joyful atmosphere in the room, Lu Yuan raised his glass and said, "Then I will wait here for the court for a month, and then we will start our own countries and be alone. Come and drink this cup."
"Drink full!"
Everyone stood up, raised their glasses, and drank.
…
After talking to the court angel, Lu Yuan stopped making any big moves.
Apart from continuing to lead troops and horses to surround Yiyang City, the most busy thing was the ongoing official selection examination.
Due to previous political considerations, although the Nansan Prefecture has been pacified for a year, it still lacks a large number of low-level officials.
In Wuling Mansion, military control is still maintained, and there is no government management in the area.
As for the three prefectures of Hengyang, Changsha, and Yueyang that had just been taken over, after Lu Yuan set his flag and went against the imperial court, a large number of officials chose to hang their seals and flee, refusing to serve him as officials.
As a result, there are hundreds more vacancies for officials.
Due to this series of events, the entire Jiangnan Mansion in Dongting County under Lu Yuan's control had a shortage of thousands of officials.
It can be considered crazy.
And if he really establishes a country in the future, even if he establishes a court in a small country with one county, it will require at least three to five hundred central officials.
Once these vacancies arise, there will be an even greater shortage of officials.
Nowadays, Lu Yuan has no choice but to conduct imperial examinations and select qualified officials.
This has become a necessity.
As long as he wants to maintain his rule in Dongting County and establish a country, he must have so many officials to support him.
Regarding this point, Sun Siwen has written several times in the past six months, urging Lu Yuan to proceed with this matter quickly and not to delay it any longer.
Therefore, after the showdown with the imperial court, Lu Yuan no longer concealed his pretense, and immediately issued an official selection order, announcing that all those in various prefectures and counties who were scholars and above could go to Shaoyang Prefecture to participate in this official selection test.
Those who pass the exam will be awarded the title of Juren and assigned official positions in the name of General Zhengnan.
It can be said that this is a naked attempt to win people's hearts.
What's helpless is that although Lu Yuan is trying his best to win people's hearts.
But the scholars from all over Dongting were very worried about him, the general who rebelled against the imperial court and conquered the south.
After all, these low-level literati, don't they know that Lu Yuan has two allies, the Nanhai Sect and the Jiuchuan Sword Sect, and how powerful these two allies are?
They could only see that the imperial court's 100,000-strong Western Expedition Army had stopped at Xunyang Mansion in Yuzhang County and was about to enter Dongting County.
As for Lu Yuan, although there were many soldiers and horses, they only had the strength of one county.
With this strength, it is not optimistic no matter how you look at it, against the imperial court's hundreds of thousands of troops and against the entire Vietnamese world.
Many people were even secretly laughing and scolding, thinking that the general who conquered the south was seeking death for rebelling against the imperial court at this time.
As expected, he is a warrior who kills embryos, only looking at profit, and a short-sighted guy.
In the current Dongting County area, in the eyes of the literati, Lu Yuan's reputation is basically like this.
Of course, in Shaoyang Mansion, which has been in business for a long time, there are also worries and confusion about his rebellion against the imperial court.
But many of the literati in this place have already tied their interests to Lu Yuan, and this place has been under his protection for a long time, which can be regarded as a blessing.
Therefore, Lu Yuan's reputation among literati in this place is pretty good.
But even so, few people from Shaoyang Mansion participated in the official selection test order he issued.
Among those literati, the reputation of the Dai Viet imperial court was actually still strong.
After all, the imperial court has been raising scholars for hundreds of years, and the reputation of Jinling's orthodoxy is still very attractive to literati.
So at the end, Lu Yuan felt helpless when he received the report and statistics. In the past month, only a few hundred scholars had gone to Shaoyang Mansion to register for the exam.
However, this incident also allowed him to see clearly that after more than two hundred years since Dai Viet was founded, there are still many benefactors left behind.
Nowadays, forcing the court to compromise is indeed quite useful.
I am afraid that only if I am officially canonized by the imperial court, can I legitimately separate a county, and establish a country, can the powerful scholars in those places truly recognize the reality.
I know that the direction of the wind has changed and the world is no longer what it used to be.
The Dai Viet court had really declined and could no longer control the place.
Only then will the powerful scholars in Dongting County really give up their illusions about the imperial court and hope to truly move closer to Lu Yuan and return home completely.
Only then can he truly gain a firm foothold.
"For now, let's wait."
Lu Yuan gave instructions to the memorial sent by Shaoyang Mansion, so that the local government could still conduct the official selection examination regardless of the number of people.
However, the strictness of the examination can be slightly relaxed to the extent that the passing line is ensured.
Now at this time, the scholars who can still come to him are either those who have their own hearts, or those who want to gain wealth.
No matter which one of the above, Lu Yuan would give benefits to win people's hearts in order to buy horse bones for a thousand gold, or to set an example.
certainly.
Even if he can win people's hearts, he doesn't want everyone.
Therefore, although the difficulty of the exam has been lowered, the most basic level must still be guaranteed.
Otherwise, if you choose an incompetent person who can't even be an official, wouldn't that be causing trouble for yourself?
In this way, the official selection examination on April 30th of the seventh year of Hongdao ended quietly in this atmosphere of anticlimax.
Lu Yuan, on the other hand, is busy winning people's hearts.
Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange were not idle either. Instead, they returned to Jian'an County and Nanhai County respectively to prepare for the raising of troops according to their previous agreement.
The three of them have made an appointment.
If Lu Yuan did not receive a satisfactory reply from the court after waiting for a month, he would immediately send a message to the two of them.
The two of them will respectively raise troops in Nanhai County and Jian'an County, and then follow the previous strategy to go north and south to fight the imperial court.
On their side, they had been preparing for several months before. It could be said that they had saved up for a long time, and it was not difficult to raise troops.
If the imperial court is really stubborn, then it will definitely give the other party a good look.
But in their hearts, the three of them still hoped that it would be best not to reach that point.
After all, they are all from the south of the Yangtze River. After all, they can't get along with the northern captives like the Zhou people.
And if the imperial court was not in the way in the end, even if Lu Yuan and the others could be temporarily softened by Zhou, they would be allowed to establish a feudal state.
But when the Zhou Kingdom digests the land south of the Yangtze River, I am afraid that the next target of the Zhou people will be the Three Kingdoms they established.
At that time, what Lu Yuan and the others would have to face would be a Zhou State that had been strengthened and was far more powerful than the Yue State.
That scene was something no one wanted to see.
I just hope that the court will not force them to go that far.
In the three counties of Dongting, Nanhai, and Jian'an, the three allies are each thousands of miles away. When they are busy, they occasionally look at the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers, and can't help but think this in their hearts.
Then, it was the torturous waiting.
