Guo Rong stood on a high place and looked at Shouzhou City, silently.
The most correct decision Li Jing made in his life was to appoint Liu Renfan as the Qinghuai Military Envoy to control Shouzhou, an important place in the west of Huaihe.
Compared with the ridiculous Liu Yanzhen, Liu Renfan lived up to the title of famous general.
Guo Rong's strategy for Huaixi was to bloom more. He first let Luo Youdu and Zhao Kuangyin go deep into the hinterland of the Jianghuai River, allowing them to do their best to disrupt the entire Huaixi. At the same time, he also gradually began to send generals to the surrounding areas to encroach on other state capitals in Huainan.
But Guo Rong knew very well from the beginning that if Shouzhou could not be conquered, no matter how many cities Luo Youdu, Zhao Kuangyin or other generals captured in the hinterland of Huaixi, it would be of no avail.
The strategic core has been in Shouzhou from beginning to end.
As long as Shouzhou is stuck on the Huaihe River defense line, it can cut off the communication between Huainan and the Central Plains.
It was also because of this consideration that Guo Rong forced 200,000 men to assist the army in attacking the city.
Two hundred thousand soldiers plus 70,000 soldiers, nearly 300,000 people, besieged Shouzhou on all sides and attacked the city day and night.
It lasted a full month without stopping for a moment.
Liu Renfan actually defended the city after such a high-intensity siege.
Relying on his extraordinary prestige, Liu Renfan mobilized the entire city's army and civilians to defend the city. For a full month, no one else came down from the city tower. He ate, drank, and slept on the city. No matter how the Zhou Dynasty attacked, he remained unmoved and the soldiers came to block the water.
They came to Tubu and repelled the Zhou army's attacks time and time again.
Such a strong opponent made Guo Rong helpless but also respectful. He sent people to recruit him many times but failed, and even went to the city in person to persuade him to surrender regardless of the danger.
Liu Rengan looked at Guo Rong from the top of the city tower, and was naturally shocked from the bottom of his heart. Tusheng sighed: If there is such a king in the Zhou Dynasty, how can the Southern Tang resist? If there is a king like this in the Southern Tang, why worry about the instability of the world.
When Liu Renfan saw Guo Rong's demeanor, he had the idea in his heart that the Southern Tang Dynasty would not be able to escape this disaster.
But different people have different pursuits.
Even if they can predict their future, people like Liu Renfan only think about their horoscopes.
Even if you die under the city, you will never lose your integrity.
Therefore, Liu Ren defended the city with a death wish, and Guo Rong could do nothing even though he had the upper hand.
"His Majesty!"
Prime ministers Fan Zhi and Wang Pu came nearby.
Fan Zhidao said: "The envoys from the Southern Tang Dynasty have arrived. They are Hanlin bachelors, Zhong Mo, the minister of household affairs, Li Deming, a bachelor of arts and sciences. They are both famous people in the south of the Yangtze River and are eloquent. In addition to themselves, they also paid tribute.
Imperial clothes, tea and medicine, 1,500 taels of gold, 8,000 taels of silver, 2,000 pieces of brocade, 500 oxen for the army, and 3,000 dendrobiums of wine."
Guo Rong turned around, looked at the two prime ministers, and said: "Let the soldiers line up with swords, and I will personally meet these two eloquent Jiangnan celebrities."
Zhong Mo and Li Deming walked into the Zhou army camp with Jiangnan's trust.
Looking at the stacks of fortifications around them, they walked along the galloping road, and groups of patrolling soldiers passed by them in high spirits.
How could Zhong Mo and Li Deming not know that the other party was showing off the majesty of the Zhou army to them?
Even if he knew the meaning of this move, he would still be shocked.
At least in their Southern Tang Dynasty, they couldn't produce such a brave army.
All the way to the Chinese army's imperial tent.
There were a hundred fierce warriors on each side of the royal tent, holding shining silver swords and looking intently.
Zhong Mo and Li Deming suddenly felt their scalps numb. Although they knew that the other party was deliberately intimidating, they could not help but feel secretly afraid. They walked into the tent tremblingly. When they saw Guo Rong's majesty, they all bowed down and worshiped: "By the order of me, I'm here to see you.
The emperor of a great country."
"The widowed monarch? That widowed monarch?"
Guo Rong suddenly asked with a smile, obviously remembering Luo Youdu's conversation when he expelled the Shu envoy.
The sentence "In my eyes, Luo Youdu, only has the emperor of Zhou Dynasty, and there is no emperor of Shu" which he kept in mind.
Zhong Mo and Li Deming have obviously heard of this allusion.
After all, the story of how Luo Youdu forced Shu to surrender has already been spread throughout the world.
Zhong Mo bowed deeply and said: "I can only govern a corner of the south of the Yangtze River. I dare not compete with the kings of great powers. I would like to respect your Majesty as my brother and regard you as my master. I only ask that your Majesty stop the war for the sake of the people of the two countries."
Guo Rong asked kindly: "I heard that your master Li Jing claims to be a descendant of the Tang Dynasty?"
Li Deming said sternly: "I am the fifth-generation grandson of Li Ke, the son of Emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty..."
When Guo Rongdan heard this, he was furious: "Since you are a descendant of the Tang Dynasty, you should know the etiquette and justice. It has been more than six years since Taizu until I came to the throne. Your country is only separated from mine by a river, but you have not sent an envoy to repair it.
. Instead, you traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to collude with the Khitan. Where is the etiquette and justice in sacrificing China to serve the barbarians? You two come here and want to say that I quit the army, but you think I am stupid and can be deceived by my words with a three-inch tongue?
"
"Go back and tell your Lord, and let him come to me in person."
"If you accuse him face to face, I will let him go."
"Otherwise... I heard that Jinling is rich and a paradise on earth, so I would like to see if the treasury of Jinling is enough for me to reward the three armies."
"At that time, your king and ministers must not regret it!"
After Guo Rong finished speaking, he threw up his sleeves and walked away, not giving Zhong Mo and Li Deming a chance to speak.
Able to speak eloquently?
I won’t tell you anything, let you go back and argue with Li Jing.
Guo Rong's tough attitude made Zhong Mo and Li Deming look ashen, and they could only leave Zhou Ying in despair and return to the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Li Jing was so angry that she couldn't say a word after hearing Zhong Mo and Li Deming's reports.
But there is no doubt that Guo Rong's attitude also strengthened Li Jing's determination to fight to the end.
Li Jing once again sent more troops to Huainan. This time he directly sent Qi King Li Jingda as the marshal of all the troops, but inevitably Chen Jue was appointed as the military envoy to supervise the army, and Bian Hao was appointed as the envoy to support the capital army.
At the same time, Pan Chengyou, the minister of Honglu, was sent to Quanzhou and Jianzhou to recruit brave men to resist the invasion of the Zhou Dynasty with the strength of the whole country.
Faced with Li Jing's arrangement, Han Xizai, a member of the Zhongshu family, put forward different suggestions.
"If you don't trust the prince, don't put your trust in the marshal, why should you have the power to supervise the army?"
As a prince, Li Jingda should be the most trustworthy. He also holds the position of marshal, but his power is not as powerful as that of the supervisor.
Han Xizai directly pointed out the biggest drawback of this appointment.
Li Jing naturally did not listen to Han Xizai. Compared with his younger brother, he felt that Chen Jue was more trustworthy.
Han Xizai became disheartened and stopped speaking to Li Jingchao.
The news that Li Jing once again arranged for troops to go to Huaihe for rescue quickly reached the ears of Luo Youdu of Luzhou and Zhao Kuangyin of Chuzhou.
Zhao Kuangyin, who was waiting in the Chuzhou military camp, grinned excitedly, his dark skin revealing his shining teeth.
Luo Youdu of Luzhou also looked excited, not because he was excited about the arrival of Tang Bing, but because he was counting how much money he had made in total.
Huai'an salt flooded Huainan, but the Hedong salt family in the Central Plains was the largest, and the price of salt remained high.
In just over ten days, Luo Youdu collected 80,000 bushels of Huai salt without spending a single copper.