Chapter 610: Do things to the best of your ability
Three days later, Ning Chun and Ning Daoming stationed 10,000 direct troops outside the city and sent an envoy into the city to explain the misunderstanding to Li Shimin.
It was obvious that one of their own had been kidnapped, but they still needed to speak softly to Li Shimin. After all, on the surface, their old Ning family could not get involved with the imperial court. In that case, there would be no way out.
Li Shimin had this in mind before he dared to play like this with the old Ning family.
The envoy sent in was not an outsider. He was a cousin of Ning Huizao, named Mo Chen.
In the hall, brothers Li Shimin and Ning Huizao were sitting here. As soon as Mo Chen came in, he looked at Ning Huizao and the others.
The expressions of the three of them were very awkward. Although they did not look like prisoners, there was absolutely no one in their own home who was so restrained and more like a guest than a guest.
Looking at other corners of the hall, there are more than a dozen strong men sitting or standing. Such burly bodies are rare to see in Lingnan. They all look like fierce gods.
"Didn't I already tell you to send troops to quell the rebellion?" Li Shimin looked at the envoy with a smile.
Mo Chen hurriedly said: "There is a huge disparity in strength. We can't fight. What does the prince-in-law mean? We are all one of our own, why is this so?"
Li Shimin smiled and said: "The two governors are still bullying me for being young. I have made it clear enough. If you are unwilling to send troops to quell the rebellion, I will kill their family members. If you delay for one day, I will kill five. I want to see it."
The families of the two governors are enough to delay them for a few days."
In fact, Li Shimin had already interrogated the three brothers of the Ning family. One of the concubines of Ning Zhi, the third of them, was brutally killed by Zhu Can in front of Ning Zhi. Ning Zhi was so frightened that he peed on the spot and Feng Xuanhui sent troops.
The matter of entering Guizhou and attacking Mai Tiezhang with Cen Mingxiu was all over.
Of course, Feng Xuan himself will definitely not come in person. He is also playing the same trick, looking for a scapegoat.
Mo Chen wanted to say something more, but was driven away by Li Shimin. Then, Li Shimin ordered Hou Junji to select five less important members of Ning Chun's family and put them on the city wall to behead them.
"You... are so cruel at such a young age," Ning Huizao said tremblingly, "It's all a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding."
Li Shimin stood up and paced back and forth in the hall:
"The imperial court has given you the opportunity, but you don't cherish it. You think that my Majesty is kind-hearted and will not do anything to you. You are totally wrong. Since ancient times, the way to deal with local conflicts is nothing but civil and military. You who are civilized have turned away, then
Only Wu's is left."
"Ning Chun and the others have 30,000 troops in their hands. If you occupy the city and defend it, you won't be able to defend it." Ning Chu, the second child, said, "We are all our own people. What can't we say to each other?"
Li Shimin smiled and said: "I have been in the East Palace for four years. I learned a truth from the prince. Don't say absolute words, but do things with absolute certainty. Niu Gong, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, once said: Either don't fight in Lingnan, or fight if you want.
Beat them to death, that's why I imprisoned all the noble family members in the city, because my original intention was to force Ning Chun to rebel. As long as he dares to attack the county seat, your Ning family will be in a place of eternal disaster."
The three Ning Huizao brothers were shocked and dumbfounded.
Li Shimin continued: "Guess, will they attack the county seat?"
The three brothers' faces were ashen.
On the city wall, five bloody heads were thrown down, and Ning Daoming's eyes were splitting. These five people were his family members, including his sister, concubine and concubine.
"Li Yuansheng's little bastard is so cruel and ruthless," Ning Daoming couldn't suppress the anger in his heart. He wanted to lead troops to directly attack the county town, but his old mother, wife and son were still in the city.
You keep your word, five heads have been thrown out to you, if you don't try to save it, all your relatives will be killed.
"What should we do now? We can't attack the city, and we can't attack Cen Mingxiu. What should we do? You can think of a way?" Ning Daoming said impatiently.
Ning Chun sighed: "For the current plan, we can only hand over Cen Mingxiu to preserve our strength."
"Then aren't we making a fuss in vain?" Ning Daoming said, spreading his hands.
Ning Chun said sternly: "Then what do you think we should do? Our family members are all in the city, and they are really going to be killed. How can you and I survive alone in the world? Besides, the family members of the generals under my command are also in the city. You want to kill them."
,Do you want to fight?"
Ning Daoming sat down dejectedly, waved his hands and said:
"Let's talk, let's talk. Send people to the city quickly and tell them that we admit defeat."
After meeting the envoy, Li Shimin agreed to the conditions offered by the Ning family, but that night, he asked Su Lie to quietly leave the city and go to Cangwu County.
"Su Lie Su Dingfang? Is that the young general who captured the head coach of the King of Goguryeo?" Cen Mingxiu is now sitting safely in Cangwu County. The surrounding counties are under his control, and Cangwu County is at the center.
As an envoy, Su Lie will definitely be allowed to pass, and there will be no difficulties along the way.
This was the case in ancient times. There has always been a rule that two armies should not kill envoys when they are in battle. There is a contingency in everything. If you kill someone else's envoy, if you are in a weak position in the future, you will have no chance to negotiate.
After Su Lie was brought in, young Cen Mingxiu stood up very politely and greeted Su Lie, cupping his hands and saying:
"I have long admired the name of General Su. Please take a seat."
Su Lie also cupped his hands and said: "I am in the military, I am quick to speak, and I don't know how to hide things, so I will get straight to the point."
"We are both in the army, so we should have a good time. Please take a seat." After saying that, Cen Mingxiu returned to his seat.
After Su Lie sat down, he said, "Does the general know that the Ning family has sold you?"
Cen Mingxiu's expression did not change and he said with a smile: "General Su's sudden success really shocked me. The Ning family are my thieves from Lingnan. I want to eat their flesh raw. What qualifications do they have to betray me?"
Su Lie said expressionlessly: "The Marching Sima Li Shimin has occupied Qinjiang County and asked uncle and nephew Ning Chun to lead the army to put down the rebellion. They are not happy, but they are still happy to hand over General Cen."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Cen Mingxiu said with a puzzled face: "I'm sorry that I didn't understand. General Su's words are very confusing. What ability does the Ning family have to defeat me?"
How about handing it over?"
Su Lie said: "Of course they are trying to lure the general to leave Cangwu. As for the method, I don't know. In short, they will send someone to contact the general soon. If the general is asked to leave Cangwu, the general must be careful.
Already."
Cen Mingxiu smiled and shook his head: "I still don't understand General Su's words. It's so confusing that people can't understand what he means. By the way, the day before yesterday, Mai Tiezhang sent an envoy to ask for someone from me. I thought General Su was here, too.
I asked for someone to come, but I didn’t expect it, but it was confusing words.”
He already understood, but he didn't want to hear it anymore, so he changed the subject. Again, don't say anything, just make it tacitly understood.
Su Lie nodded and said: "The four prefects are in the hands of the general. Now the situation is most beneficial to you. I guess the general must not treat Jingling County Duke and others lightly, right?"
"I will treat you as a distinguished guest, so I won't treat you poorly," Cen Mingxiu nodded.
Su Lie said: "Then the initiative is now in the hands of the general, not in the hands of the Ning family. The prince-in-law sent me here this time to tell the general that if we go to war with the Ning family, how the general chooses will determine the outcome of Guizhou."
You were instigated to control the future of the prefecture and region, and the court is very clear about this."
Cen Mingxiu smiled: "I often hear that General Su is a fierce general, but I didn't expect that he is also a very good lobbyist. However, the commander-in-chief still said that the Ning family and I are at odds with each other."
These four words have two meanings. On the surface, we are indeed incompatible with each other. This is false. If the Ning family really sells me, then it will be true that we are incompatible with each other.
Cen Mingxiu was also very smart. The slogan of his rebellion this time was that Qiu He oppressed the people of Lingnan, people and gods were angry, and the Ning family led a thief into the house. This thief was Qiu He.
Anyone who has read books will not explicitly point to the emperor when rebelling, at least not when the world is stable.
Li Mi directly pointed at Yang Guang in history and used countless words to describe him. That was because the situation at that time was that the whole world was against his will.
Su Lie didn't waste any more words and just stood up and left. Naturally, Cen Mingxiu would not keep anyone around, especially since the current situation was complicated. If the Ning family really wanted to sell him, he would have to submit to the court.
It had only been two hours since Su Lie left when someone from the Ning family really arrived.
Cen Mingxiu finally became suspicious and summoned dozens of subordinates to sit in the tent. After listening to the Ning family envoy's story, Cen Mingxiu invited them down with a smile.
"Take it!" With his order, the six generals in the tent were instantly controlled.
These six people were arranged by the Ning family to be around him.
Cen Mingxiu's face was gloomy. The Ning family's envoy told him that Ning Chun's uncle and nephew asked him to lead his bodyguard to Yongping County to discuss important military matters.
Since the establishment of the rebellion, messages have always been delivered by messengers. Why do we have to face-to-face this time? What if this is not selling me out?
The prefect of Yongping County is named Ning. Can I still come back if I go?
Cen Mingxiu was very calm and immediately deployed his men and began to carry out a general purge among his troops. All the Ning family members were taken down. Those who had heavy troops outside also hurriedly sent people to receive them.
He knew very well that his strength must not be damaged, otherwise he would not even be qualified to negotiate with the imperial court in the future.
Next, he personally went to the house where Yang Tan and others were under house arrest.
"Masters, I was framed by thieves and was accused of rebellion. I hope you can clarify my case for Mingxiu in the future," Cen Mingxiu cried in front of the four people.
Seeing the other party's attitude, the four of them immediately guessed that the situation had turned for the better and the imperial army must have arrived.
Wei Yue was the most scheming among the four. Hearing this, he hurriedly said:
"General Cen has treated me well and will definitely appeal to you for your grievances in the future."
Yang Tan also nodded quickly and said: "Don't worry, General Cen. As long as you care about the imperial court, I can recommend that the Cen family be the governor of Yulin for generations to come and support the country."
He definitely doesn't have this ability, but if he doesn't brag now, when will he brag? After all, he comes from a clan and his identity is still very bluffing.
Cen Mingxiu's visit this time is just for show. Both sides have to place bets. The Ning family generals who were arrested will be settled well, and he will not offend the imperial court.
To put it bluntly, he is just sitting on the wall now. When the wall collapses, he will know who to fall to.
This was in Lingnan. If the Ning family couldn't fail, he wouldn't dare to completely fall out with the Ning family.