The cold winter wind, carrying the moisture of the river, crazily penetrated into the Chengxin Hall through the gaps in the eaves of the doors, windows, and refreshed the minds of the Jiangnan ministers gathered here. However, the dampness of the winter wind was not as cold as the coldness in my heart, especially after Xu Xuan brought back a stern and decisive reply from the Han Emperor.
The situation has fallen to this situation. Even Chen Qiao, who has been taking the lead, suddenly doesn't know what to say to continue to encourage Li Yu and encourage him to continue to persevere.
In the final analysis, these Jinling courtiers present are just literati, who can barely be called politicians. They are not politicians at all. It would be prudent to let them govern the country, and it would really be difficult for them to save the country at such a critical moment.
"The King of the country, the unification ambition of the Han Emperor is unbreakable, and the incompetence of the ministers cannot be reversed!" Xu Xuan spoke again, breaking the dullness, and made a summary of the Tokyo delegation.
After hearing this, Li Yu also showed his magnanimity and said: "Sending Xu Gong to the north was a helpless move. It was just an experiment. Now that the Han army is besieging the city, how can it be possible to stop the army?"
After a pause, Li Yu looked at Xu Xuan and asked, "Mr. Xu, in your opinion, where should we go?"
Upon hearing the question, Xu Xuan was silent at first, then raised his head and solemnly said to Li Yu: "My lord, I swear to follow the king to the death and support the king's decision!"
Well, what Mr. Xu said was smarter. In front of Li Yu, he was not as tough as the dialogue between Emperor Liu and Li Gushi. They were tit for tat and their ambitions were inseparable. Xu Xuan's meaning is also obvious. Whether he fights or surrenders, he will follow Li Yu.
Literati, sometimes they are pretentious.
There was another moment of silence. Li Yu sighed, picked up Li Gu's handwritten letter on the case, and said to the ministers: "Today, the commander-in-chief of the Han army wrote a letter asking me to surrender. What do you think?"
Everyone looked at each other with rich expressions and eyes, but no one took the initiative to express their opinions and seemed to be waiting for others to take over. After a while, when the bitterness on Li Yu's young face became more and more obvious, Zhong Mo took the initiative to stand up and spoke affirmatively, without any nonsense: "The king, I think I will surrender!"
After saying this, the others looked at Zhong Mo with similar expressions: It's really you, Zhong Mo!
When the Han army came to the city, Zhong Mo's voice began to become louder and more active. While getting in touch with the Han army, they were also gathering comrades to prepare for welcoming the army into the city, and even considering assisting the court in stabilizing government affairs and people's livelihood in Jiangnan after the war. Of course, if he could encourage Li Yu to surrender and avoid the disaster of an offensive and defensive war, it would be a credit to Zhong Mo.
"The king must not listen to Zhong Mo and give up easily!" Chen Qiao also stood up: "It is not easy for my grandfather to start a business, and it is especially difficult to keep it. How can future generations give up so easily and become unfilial kings?"
Hearing what Chen Qiao said, Zhong Mo couldn't help but sneer and retorted: "Now a large army is approaching the city. Jinling is in danger. The people in the city are panicked and the morale of the army is shaken. How can a weak army with weak troops resist the strong troops of the Central Plains?
If the king surrenders, he will not lose his position as a prince. If he resists stubbornly and destroys the city with strong troops, not only will the people be harmed, but the safety of the king will also be unpredictable! If the ancestral temple is destroyed and the Li family has no heirs, there will be no one to worship the father and ancestors, but what about filial piety? "
After Zhong Mo finished speaking, Li Yu shivered subconsciously. His imagination was rich, and the scene of the palace city being destroyed and the strong soldiers raging was automatically sketched in his mind, which was simply shuddering.
In the final analysis, Li Yu is just a weak scholar who stayed in the wrong position at the wrong time and has never really experienced any setbacks. When encountering such a crisis, it is difficult to deal with it calmly and he is easily influenced by others.
Faced with Zhong Mo's refutation, Chen Qiao widened his eyes, turned to Li Yu, and persuaded Li Yu with emotion: "Since ancient times, there has been no country that cannot survive, and there is no way to get it all if you surrender. It is just a humiliation, so please fight at your back."
It costs nothing to talk. Chen Qiao is completely loyal to Jiangnan. Feeling a little excited, he directly suggested to Li Yu: "Zhong Mo is a disciple who has betrayed his master. Please kill him as a sacrifice to show your resistance!"
After saying this, Zhong Mo suddenly became excited. While cursing in his heart, he also expressed his face and said to Li Yu: "The Lord, Chen Qiao has his own ambitions and wants to trap the Lord and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians to death." , I am sincerely a treacherous minister, please kill him to show my surrender and protect the peace of the city!"
"I thought we should surrender!"
"What Zhong Shangshu said is true, Chen Qiao should be killed!"
"I second the proposal!"
"..."
This time, the flag was directly displayed, and more and more people supported Zhong Mo. More than a dozen courtiers jumped out of the scene. It's already this time. If you don't express your attitude, take a good posture, and surrender to the court, it will be too late.
Seeing this scene, Zhong Mo breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Qiao's face was twisted together in an extremely ugly way, and Li Yu's face was actually not very good-looking either. To say that the person with the most complicated emotions belongs to him, the king of the country.
Even if Li Yu, the leader of the country, does not do his job well, he is still the king of a country respected by the south. Even if the situation is exhausted, the decision to surrender cannot be made easily. What's more, as far as Jinling is concerned, it has not yet reached the real end of the road. The city is still strong, there are tens of thousands of defenders, hundreds of thousands of people, and there is no shortage of food or weapons for the time being.
After hesitating for a while, Li Yu looked at Feng Yanlu: "Feng Qing, what do you think?"
Feng Yanlu also looked solemn. He pondered for a moment and cupped his hands and said: "The general trend of the world is like this. Hundreds of millions of people are looking forward to the unity. Since God has come out, it is not advisable to go against the trend. I am deeply gracious to the Lord. Today When the country is in danger, we have no other choice but to follow the leader with all our strength!"
Feng Yanlu's meaning was also very clear. The world was unified and unstoppable. Surrender was the only way out. He, Feng Yanlu, was willing to follow the leader of the country and surrender.
Of course, Li Yu was not a fool, and he understood what he heard. After thinking for a while, he said in a wan voice: "This is the end of today's discussion. Whether to surrender or not, I still need to ask the mother of the country to sacrifice to the ancestral temple!"
A court meeting once again ended in a depressing atmosphere, and no result was reached. However, as far as today's content is concerned, it can be said to be a major breakthrough. At least, in many previous discussions, not so many people shouted the word "surrender" loudly.
After the meeting, Li Yu went directly to his mother and explained the current situation in sad words, hoping to get support from his mother and the support to surrender. Empress Dowager Zhong was kind and gentle. She was just a woman who cared for her husband and raised her children. She never participated in politics. Li Yu asked her where he could get any strong support.
In the final analysis, it is up to Li Yu to make his own decision. He still had some time to think before the Han army officially launched an attack and broke through the city.
Compared with Li Yu's entanglement, hesitation, fear, and helplessness, Zhong Mo felt much more relaxed after leaving the palace. A group of courtiers gathered directly at his home and held a banquet. Yes, even if the Han army besieged the city, singing, dancing, and banquets were still common activities for these bureaucrats, and they seemed not to be affected at all.
However, to be a little more careful, Zhong Mo first said privately to several officials who were close to him: "The matter has come to this point. Judging from the situation in the palace, the king has the intention to surrender, but is still hesitant. It is not Chen Qiao and his ilk." We can do whatever we can to dissuade us. Next, we should spread rumors among the people of Jinling and encourage surrender. As long as the people of the country surrender, the ruler of the country can also comply with the will of the times and the people and open the city to surrender!"
