Five hundred and sixtieth chapters Tonggu Announcement
"No, King Zhong has made up his mind this time, and there will be no possibility of changing it. Of course, King Zhong also made a small request. Alas, speaking of it, King Zhong is still too poor. Unlike Your Majesty is rich all over the world." Zhang Zhen changed his voice and began to complain, with only one purpose, which was to ask Emperor Qianwen for money.
King Zhong was ready to withdraw his troops. He had already seen that Daliang City was not easy to fight. Even if it could be defeated, it would be debatable whether he would still have the strength to occupy it at that time. Even so, it was better to withdraw his troops first. Continue to accumulate strength, and wait until the opportunity is right to send troops to attack.
The retreat was a retreat, but King Zhong still wanted to bite off a piece of Emperor Qianwen's body. He believed that at this moment, the emperor's brother did not want to fight this battle more than he did, so he explained to Zhang Zhen that this time it would take at least three Tens of millions of taels of silver, more is naturally the best. As long as Emperor Qianwen can agree to this request, he can retreat first and return the army to Liaozhou. Of course, the Pingcheng and Luancheng previously occupied will not be returned. There's no need to spit out what's in your mouth, right?
"Sir Tong, in order to express our sincerity to the king, we can retreat to Ningcheng, Liaozhou first this time, and you will be sending money over at that time. How about that?" Zhang Zhen promised, patting his chest.
Tong Gu became excited when he said these words. If this is the case, then there is no need to worry about King Zhong going back on his word. And as long as King Zhong is willing to withdraw his troops, the danger of Daliang City will be resolved. This will only cost some money. What does it matter?
"Yes, if King Zhong is really sincere, I think Your Majesty is willing to see this scene. But I don't know how much money King Zhong wants? To be honest, after these few battles, Da Qian is not rich now. "Tong Gu naturally didn't want to give Zhang Zhenshi the opportunity to open his mouth.
"Even Daqian is not rich, so eighty million taels of silver. To be honest, King Zhong's original intention was to get 100 million taels of silver."
"No, it's too much. Now Daqian doesn't have the money at all. This is tantamount to blackmail, and our Majesty will not agree to it."
"Master Tong, how much do you think you can give me?"
"Ten million taels, I think His Majesty will agree to this price."
"Ten million is too little. It's absolutely not possible. It needs at least 62,000."
"Sixty million taels is too much. The most it can be is 20 million taels. If it's more, then you should continue to attack the city."
Tong Gu and Zhang Zhen started bargaining with each other like street vendors, and they were all red-faced and blue-eyed for a while. Fortunately, they also knew the gentleman's politeness, otherwise, they might take action if they were not sure. Fight.
...
The Hall of Nourishing Heart.
Emperor Qianwen still sat as high as before, but he looked much older in spirit and complexion than before.
In the external campaign, General Mo Chengyu's campaign against Qi was not going smoothly. He encountered desperate resistance from Yuan Zhong, the crown prince of Qi, in the Liancheng area of Suzhou and was unable to advance at all.
On the internal battlefield, although Daliang City has not yet been conquered, there are fewer and fewer soldiers available in the city. He even sent the last 10,000 golden armored guards to the tower. Once they fail, his emperor will really exist in name only. .
The unfavorable internal and external wars directly led to the instability of the court. Even when Wuyong Hou Qiu Chun and Yong'an Hou Zhang Zhen escaped from the city privately, he was furious and sent his right servant She Bailigui, who had always been on good terms with them, to them. He was arrested and thrown into prison, but other court officials were still panic-stricken and were not frightened by his thunderous methods.
To put it bluntly, the emperor, who does not have enough military support, is no longer as majestic as he used to be due to internal and external troubles. Is it really possible for Mo Chengyu to return with a large army? If this is the case, it would be equivalent to giving the power to the emperor led by Yuan Zhong. The Suzhou Army has a chance to breathe, and it will be even more difficult to defeat them next time.
"Otherwise, we have to wait and see if there will be any good news from General Mo during this period. Also, it is necessary to clean up a few ministers and send them to prison to keep Bailigui company. It depends. Look, are these civil servants really not afraid of death?"
Emperor Qianwen frowned and fell into deep thought. It has to be said that he still has the qualities of a generation of emperors. Even though he was surrounded by heavy siege, he did not show too much fear. On the contrary, he did not show any fear. Forgot to capture the land of Suzhou. This may be the reason why Suzhou is very rich, but it also proves that Emperor Qianwen's psychological quality is extremely strong. If it had been replaced by another timid emperor, I am afraid he would have fallen in Pingcheng. On that day, all the troops will be brought back to escort them.
Emperor Qianwen, who had not done so, still held on to a glimmer of hope that he could capture Suzhou. At that time, he would return to defend Daliang City and severely damage the Liaozhou army through internal and external cooperation. As for the counterattack to Liaozhou, he had not thought about it. , I am afraid that he also knows that after these few battles, the strength of the Qian army has been damaged, and it will be difficult for him to continue sending troops.
The idea is good, but I don’t know when it will be realized. And the prerequisite for everything is to defend Daliang City first. Without the foundation, the idea will only be an idea in the end.
"Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites is here and is waiting outside the palace." Yan Fu had been paying attention to Emperor Qianwen's expression. Seeing that he seemed to be wandering back, he quickly told the news he had just received from the eunuch.
"What is he here for?" Emperor Qianwen said with an unhappy expression. He was angry with Tong Gu. Although King Zhong's breaking of his promise had nothing to do with the Minister of Rites, the errand was after all. He did it, and since there was nothing he could do to defeat King Zhong, he naturally had to vent his anger on the Lord Minister.
During this period of time, Emperor Qianwen did not summon the Minister of Rites, even when there was some important matter to discuss, he only summoned several other ministers and deliberately forgot about him, just to show his dissatisfaction with him. What I didn't expect was that if I didn't go to find him, he would come to me. Could it be that he came to resign?
Resign.
Recently it has become a trend in Daliang City.
Some officials are not optimistic about the future of Daqian in their hearts, thinking that Daliang City must be destroyed. In the future, the owner here is not Emperor Qianwen, but may become a loyal king or someone else. So for the sake of their own future, there is no need to stay in Daqian. Hanging from a tree, right?
Resigning now will show that he has no relationship with Emperor Qianwen. Then no matter who becomes the new owner of Daliang City, he will not cause trouble for himself. There are still many officials who hold this idea. In the past month, hundreds of resignation memorials have been received. The reasons are also varied, such as poor health, limited ability, or mediocre ability that cannot be shared by the emperor. , and even more cruelly, he committed suicide, either by falling off the carriage, or by eating something that broke his stomach. In short, due to his physical condition, he could no longer worry about Emperor Qianwen.
Speaking of which, isn't it because of timidity and fear of being implicated in the future?
Emperor Qianwen was clear about these things. If only one or two or a few people had such thoughts, he could still kill them to scare everyone. But if there were too many people who resigned, he would not be able to kill them. Otherwise, there would really be civil strife in Daliang City without the Liaozhou Army coming to fight.
I was angry but couldn't vent my anger. No wonder when I heard that Tong Gu was coming, I thought that he was also here to resign.
"Your Majesty, I guess not. Although Tong Shangshu was deceived by King Zhong, he is still capable and loyal to His Majesty. I think there must be other important matters this time." Yan Fu and Tong Gu are considered elders. They knew each other, and if they had the opportunity to help each other, of course he would still want to help.
"Well, let's meet him and see if he really has something important to do." Emperor Qianwen actually didn't believe that Tong Gu came to resign. He personally appointed the six ministers, and they were all appointed by him. He is a very trusting person. If even they don't think highly of him, then he has failed too much as a human being, and it is probably impossible for him to turn around.
"No." Yan Fu quickly agreed, then straightened up and shouted out: "Announce that Tong Gu, the Minister of Household Affairs, enters the palace."
Tong Gu, who was wearing a red robe and official clothes, soon appeared in the main hall. When he saw Emperor Qianwen sitting high on the throne, he said with a happy face, "Your Majesty, I am so happy, so happy."
"Great joy? Where does the joy come from?" Emperor Qianwen looked puzzled. He really couldn't understand why he was so happy until now. Even if there was something happy, it shouldn't be Tong Gu who told him, right?
Wait. Thinking about Yan Fu saying that King Zhong sent an envoy to the city, could it be that there was some progress in the negotiations with the envoy?
Emperor Qianwen thought of something, and his idea was soon confirmed. When he heard Tong Gu say that King Zhong was willing to withdraw his troops, Emperor Qianwen's face became obviously excited and looked much better.
According to Tong Gu, King Zhong is preparing to retreat. King Zhong believes that continuing to fight with His Majesty will only benefit people with foreign surnames. If this is the case, he will die without the face to see his ancestors, so he Suddenly woke up.
"Huh? What does it mean to suddenly wake up? I'm afraid he can't get enough of Daliang City." Emperor Qianwen said in a good mood.
"Yes, the walls of Daliang City are so strong that they cannot be broken down. In the past few days, our troops have suffered considerable losses in defending the city, but as the party attacking the city, the losses to King Zhong will only be greater. We must retreat now. It can be considered that they know each other." Seeing that Emperor Qianwen was in a good mood, Yan Fu also commented with a smile, which caused the emperor to nod his head in agreement.
"Tong Aiqing, how are King Zhong going to withdraw his troops? Have they put forward any demands and conditions again? They won't be playing tricks on us this time, right?" Although Emperor Qianwen thought that Daliang City was too strong, which led King Zhong to withdraw his troops. Knowing that before it was confirmed that King Zhong would withdraw his troops, it was still too early to be happy. He did not believe it even more that King Zhong decided to withdraw his troops and would call his branch in advance. Even if he did so, he must have The purpose is.