PS: Thanks to the book friend for the silly reward.
"I hope that His Highness can take charge of the overall situation." Wang Changshi faced King De and bowed.
"Impossible." King De refused. "Even if Fu Zonglong escapes and there are still local officials here, it will never be my turn to come forward. You must understand that I am just a vassal king."
As a fearful vassal king, he knew that it was taboo for a vassal king to interfere in politics, and he did not want to be remembered by that man in the capital.
"Some of the local officials have already contacted the rebels outside the city." Wang Changshi said, staring into King De's eyes.
After hearing this, King De was stunned for a moment, his face suddenly changed, and he said: "How is this possible? Do they want their lives? Are they afraid of being punished by the court for their crimes if they dare to collude with the traitors?"
"The current tiger thieves are more violent than the religious chaos back then. Many prefectures and counties in Shandong have fallen into the hands of tiger thieves. Although Jinan City is considered a strong city, it may not be able to block the tiger thieves outside the city. Even more Many officials in the city are timid. What Jinan City needs most at this time is for His Highness to come forward and take charge of the overall situation." Wang Changshi persuaded King De.
King De's face showed panic.
If Jinan City cannot be defended, his vassal palace will be even less able to stop it.
"The rebels outside the city fired artillery all day yesterday, and they didn't capture Jinan City. Could it be that you are being too alarmist?" King De said.
Wang Changshi said in a serious tone: "I am not alarmist. Although the tiger thieves did not capture Jinan City yesterday, it was because the tiger thieves only fired artillery and did not send troops to seize the city. Once the tiger thieves sent a large army to seize the city, at present, The situation in Jinan City is very difficult to defend.”
"Since we can't hold on anymore, what can I change even if I come forward? No, we can't stay in this place. I want to leave. Yes, I will leave immediately." King De's eyes lit up.
He is different from local officials. Even if he abandons the city and flees, the court may not really blame him. After all, the failure to defend Jinan City cannot be blamed on him as a vassal king. It is all the fault of those local officials.
Wang Changshi heard this and said: "Your Highness, you can leave, but don't you want all the things that the palace has accumulated for generations?"
"Nonsense, they are all my king's things. How can I just say I don't want them? At worst, prepare more carriages, and I will take everything away." Prince De was not willing to leave behind these belongings from the palace.
Without the wealth of the palace, even if he fled to other places, he would not be able to live such a comfortable life now.
Everything in the palace really needs to be repaired. It is impossible for his relative in the capital to make up for the loss of the palace for him.
Wang Changshi knew that King De was reluctant to part with the wealth of the palace, so he persuaded him: "The outside of the city has been surrounded by an army of tiger thieves. It is difficult for His Highness to leave by himself, let alone escape from Jinan City with a convoy. We really have to do what His Highness said." In that case, if you take a convoy out of the city, I'm afraid it will be intercepted by the tiger thieves as soon as you leave the city, and then you will lose both your people and your money."
"Then what do you think we should do?" When King De heard that he could not escape, he immediately asked Wang Changshi to advise him.
Wang Changshi said: "As I said before, the only way out for His Highness now is to stand up and take charge of the overall situation, and maybe defend Jinan City. Otherwise, if Jinan City is lost, His Highness, as the bloodline of the Yingzong Emperor, may be doomed."
Although the words were intended to scare the German king in front of him, he felt that this was also true.
Although the prince has a noble status, he is also the favorite target of rebels.
"No, no, I must not come forward, and the officials in Jinan City can't defend Jinan City. What's the use of my coming forward? It's not the same result." King De shook his head.
He is self-aware and does not understand civil or military matters. The most common thing he does in the palace is eating, drinking and having fun. He has no serious skills at all. He does not feel that he is better than the officials in the city.
Wang Changshi saw him shrinking back and said: "Your Highness is a royal nobleman and has the blood of Taizu. Even if you don't do anything, as long as you show up, I believe you can stabilize the people in the city and even have a great hope of saving Jinan City."
"No, if I come forward, once the news reaches the ears of the court, I will never end well." King De still shook his head.
The status of the feudal king seemed to be respected, and he had no worries about food and drink, but he was also well aware of the imperial court's fear of the feudal kings, and he did not want to touch the sensitive nerves of the imperial court.
Seeing that he was still worried about this and that, Wang Changshi decided to use heavy medicine, and said: "Your Highness is worried, I can understand it, but have you ever thought about how your Highness can protect yourself and the palace if Jinan City is lost?"
"This!" King De was choked.
If Jinan City can't be defended, then the vassal palace of his can't be defended even more.
Wang Changshi continued: "The most dangerous thing at the moment is that if His Highness does not come forward, Jinan City will be destroyed. Even if the court will blame him in the future, it will only happen after His Highness defended Jinan City and saved the people in the city. There is even a possibility It’s because the imperial court knows about the situation in Jinan City and that His Highness can turn the tide, maybe it will reward you.”
"Forget about awards or anything like that." King De waved his hand.
He is already a vassal king, and no matter how much the court awards him, it is impossible for him to ascend to the top of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, so any award is meaningless to him.
Wang Changshi said: "Even if there is no award from the court, Your Highness, you have to defend Jinan City for your own sake. Now Jinan City and Your Highness have a mutually beneficial relationship. If one goes wrong, the other will also go wrong."
"Let me think about it again, think about it again." King De was so confused that he couldn't come up with an idea at all.
Although what Chang Shi said made sense, he was still worried about the attitude of the court.
Wang Changshi knew very well that His Royal Highness Prince De was in front of him. He had nothing serious in his heart. No matter how much time he gave, he could not think of any good solution. He said: "Your Highness, there is not much time left for us. Once Jinan City is The officials secretly opened the city gates to let the bandits outside the city into the city, and then everything would be too late."
"Yes, you are right, the thieves cannot be allowed into the city, and those officials who are in league with the thieves should be arrested and arrested." King De muttered.
After hearing this, Wang Changshi took advantage of the situation and said: "Your Highness, we cannot arrest the officials in the city for the time being. Once these officials are arrested, people will be panicked. No one will do anything anymore. These people will be needed to defend the city."
"It makes sense, it makes sense, then we won't arrest him." King De said following Wang Changshi's words.
Wang Changshi said: "Your Highness, what we need now is to let the officials in the city know that you are here to take charge of the overall situation and stabilize the situation. It is best to win over the defenders in the city and ask them to guard Jinan City."
"Yes, yes, just do as you say, go and do it quickly!" King De said to Wang Changshi.
But Wang Changshi did not move.
"Why don't you go? Go quickly!" King De urged Wang Changshi to come.
(End of chapter)
