Chapter 404: You want fame, I want profit(1/2)
Tang Nu never felt that he was a good person.
But he feels that he should be regarded as a person who values righteousness and keeps his word.
Cui Ang saved his life back then, so he joined Cui Ang. No matter what despicable or immoral deeds Cui Ang asked him to do, he would do it without hesitation.
Because this is what he promised to others at the beginning.
A promise worth a thousand dollars.
So now he looked at the two scholars in front of him in bewilderment, starting a bargaining that he had never imagined in front of him.
An Ran's troops are their friendly forces!
In the past half month, we have fought side by side, shed blood together, and faced the common enemy together. How come in the blink of an eye, we have to turn around and stab someone in the back?
He sat there in a daze, looking at Zhao Yuan and Sun Jing as if grass had grown in his heart.
What the hell is this?
But in this matter, it seems that I don’t have much say!
He was dependent on Xianggong Cui, and Xianggong Cui was now dependent on the King of Chu. Zhao Yuan and Zhao Ziyu were the most trusted advisers of the King of Chu, and I vaguely heard that the King of Chu was obedient to this man.
My own value seems to be that I have a certain military talent, and I am a good hand at commanding operations and charging into battle.
But no matter how powerful I am, how many people can I kill at one time?
And if these two people really reach an agreement, I'm afraid that all the 20,000 soldiers of Luo's Ghost Kingdom will be destroyed next!
Tang Nu felt a chill in his vest.
Zhao Yuan's mind was spinning rapidly at this moment, and his abacus was ticking.
If Pugui is captured and killed as Sun Jing said, then the outcome of this war will basically be a foregone conclusion. In the short term, even if his side is desperate and does not care about the lives of the soldiers,
It is also impossible to break through the enemy blocking us in a short period of time, capture Juzhou and then attack Bangzhou to seize the entire southwestern Guizhou.
In fact, if this war only needs to drag on for another ten days or so, the army here in Juzhou will have big problems.
Because there is no food and grass.
All the grain and grass were transported from the rear. Now that even Pugui is finished, Zhao Yuan doesn't think there will be an endless supply of grain and grass to help. When the time comes, he will still have to withdraw his troops.
After all the hard planning, everything was in vain, nothing was gained, and a huge loss was incurred.
Because the soldiers on Zizhou Road are not in vain.
So many favors were owed, real money was spilled, and in the end you couldn't get anything back. The loss was too great.
If this loss cannot be recovered from Xiao Cheng, then it can only be recovered from Luo's Ghost Country.
"What does Erlang Xiao want?" Zhao Yuan asked.
Sun Jing said: "The two families will join forces to capture the Luo family ghost kingdom. Then the name will go to the King of Chu, and the profits will go to Erlang! This is the first one."
"Erlang Xiao's appetite is so big! All the profits of Luo's Ghost Country belong to Xiao Erlang, so how can His Highness the King of Chu satisfy them on Zizhou Road?" Zhao Yuan shook his head.
"That's right. Then we are willing to give some of Luo's ghost country's advantages to Zizhou Road. After all, they also have five thousand soldiers here. But we also have other requirements."
"explain!"
"The Xiao family did not participate in King Jing's rebellion. I think the court is actually well aware of this matter."
"Xiao Dalang killed the imperial generals in succession and hundreds of thousands of troops died on the Shaanxi Road. You still say that the Xiao family did not betray the Song Dynasty?"
"That's Xiao Ding, not Xiao Cheng!" Sun Jing said sternly: "On the contrary, after the imperial court forced Xiao Ding to rebel, the second son of the Xiao family retired. Mr. Zhao, if at that time Xiao Dingping encouraged the uprising in the southwest and echoed the northwest
If Xiao Ding said that, what would be the current situation in the Song Dynasty?"
"so what?"
"So Xiao Shuanbing wants to use this matter to make a comeback." Sun Jing said with a smile: "The imperial court wants to give an explanation. For the imperial court, the huge land in southwest Guizhou was converted into land and returned to the land, and now the return of the Luo family was also included in the Song Dynasty.
In the territory, if the imperial court does not give corresponding praises, wouldn't it make the loyal ministers and good generals in the world feel cold?"
"How big is Xiao Erlang's appetite?"
"Guizhou Road Appeasement Envoy!" Sun Jing looked at Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan laughed out loud: "What a huge appetite. The new road is still a pacification envoy. Mr. Sun, have you ever seen a pacification envoy in his twenties?"
"Quan Zhi can be a pacifier!" Sun Jing did not laugh: "Gan Luo is twelve years old and Xiao Zhuan is over 20 years old, so why not be a pacifier all the way? Moreover, with his talents,
What's wrong with comforting the envoy along the way?"
"With his talent, he is really worthy of it!" Zhao Yuan nodded and said, "But do you think the official can agree?"
"As long as the King of Chu recommends it and the two governments agree, can the officials resist?" Sun Jing said with a smile: "Besides, doesn't Mr. Zhao think this is a good thing that benefits the country and the people?"
"I don't think so!" Zhao Yuan said sternly: "Zhao always felt that Xiao Erlang was planning something, but Zhao still hadn't seen his game of chess clearly."
Sun Jing curled his lips and said, "Mr. Zhao, let's just discuss the matter. If we fight over this, what do you think will help? Do you agree or not? Agree, then we will all benefit and share this sweet fruit together. If you
If you don’t agree, we won’t lose anything anyway, but you have to think about how to deal with the consequences?”
Zhao Yuan let out a breath, this was the problem.
The aftermath is a big problem!
Xiao Cheng is really a master of calculation!
Although he has killed Pugui now, he only won this battle, but he has since formed a bloody feud with the Luo Ghost Kingdom. If An Ran could successfully bring back the tens of thousands of soldiers on the border,
, from now on, Qianzhou and Luo's ghost country will fight fiercely, never ending, until one side is destroyed.
With Xiao Cheng's current strength, he simply cannot swallow up Luo's Ghost Country in one go.
Even if this battle is won, the consequences will be endless.
But if he cooperates with him, deliberately and unintentionally, to trick An Ran and the 20,000 ghost soldiers under his command, then the Luo Ghost Kingdom will basically be destroyed. The remaining soldiers and crab generals are no longer worthy of fear, and they will not be afraid at all.
I can't afford any big waves.
The Luo Ghost Kingdom was thus destroyed, and Xiao Cheng naturally wanted to take advantage of the situation and bring it under his rule.
Of course, it is also the territory of the Song Dynasty.
Of course Xiao Cheng planned such benefits.
And in the middle, what benefits can the King of Chu get?
If it is publicized to the outside world that King Chu and Xiao Cheng jointly planned this war to destroy the country, it will naturally be very good for the reputation of King Chu. At least it can make everyone see that King Chu is not useless, but is good at military strategy.
Above all, it is not inferior to the previous reverse king.
The second benefit is naturally that it can provide enough benefits to the thousands of soldiers on Zizhou Road.
The battle to destroy the country! We destroyed An Ran here, and then the entire division returned to camp. The income earned along the way was enough to make the officers and soldiers on Zizhou Road earn a lot of money one by one. It was not a waste of time.
And if we don't do it, everyone will retreat after running out of food and grass, and they will inevitably face a counterattack from the Qianzhou Army on the opposite side.
Retreating has always been the most painful thing.
One careless move could lead to a complete collapse.
By then, thousands of officers and soldiers on the Zizhou Road will all die here. Not to mention that they can't explain themselves when they return, not even the King of Chu can do it. They were originally on good terms with each other on the Zizhou Road, but now they will become enemies.
.
After much calculation, I finally fell into Xiao Cheng's trap. Do I want to win the Luo Ghost Kingdom for him?
Zhao Yuan felt depressed for a while.
The feeling of being tied up by a chess piece is the most uncomfortable thing for a counselor who claims to be unparalleled in the world. It is like a hundred claws scratching his heart. He wants to refuse, but his reason tells him that this is the only way.
Something that could repay the capital and make a slight profit, but just let Xiao Cheng stand up, will become a serious problem in the future...
That must be a matter of the future. Once this hurdle is passed, there may not be no chance to deal with him in the future.
After thinking about all this, Zhao Yuan finally felt a little clearer. He looked at Sun Jing with a smile and said, "Mr. Sun, if I don't agree this time, what will Xiao Erlang do?"
"Before leaving the signing, he told me that a wise man like Zhao Ziyu should be able to weigh the pros and cons and know how to choose." Sun Jing said: "Of course, there are plans in case of an accident, and even the smartest people can be stupid.
Isn't it time? But now it seems that Mr. Zhao has already agreed."
"I want to know, what if I make a mistake? What is Xiao Erlang's plan?"
"It's simple. We are spreading rumors, saying that all this was originally planned by Mr. Zhao and us, just to lure Luo's ghost country into the country. This time, the leader of Luo's ghost country died, and even the capital was destroyed.
We have set fire to it, and I am afraid that we are also holding back some evil fire. Once this rumor spreads, it is probably impossible to deal with it. Mr. Zhao should know that once trust is gone, suspicion will arise, and the two armies become jealous.
, the result is self-evident. At that time, we naturally had to rush over to pick up the bargain."
Zhao Yuan nodded: "It's exactly what I thought. But in this case, this matter will not be done cleanly, and the Luo's Ghost Country cannot be cleared away as quickly as possible."
"Yes! In fact, many of us prefer the second option, but Xiao Zhuanping said that if we want to completely break the backbone of Luo's ghost country and let them belong to the territory of the Song Dynasty, we can only use
The first method. Using the second method, I'm afraid it will take many years to completely defeat them." Sun Jing said: "That's why I'm here."
Zhao Yuan was silent for a long time, and then he said in confusion: "I really don't understand Erlang of the Xiao family. What kind of person is he? Is he a loyal minister, or a traitor and a loyal minister?"
"For us, Xiao Zhuanfeng is a good man and a good official!" Sun Jing said coldly. "Countless people in southwestern Guizhou live because of him, become rich because of him, and become strong because of him."
Three days later, Dafang City was attacked and the news that Pugui was killed finally reached Juzhou City.
To be continued...