Chapter 2269: Fu Zhang surrenders, Cun Xiao returns
Chapter 2269: Fu Zhang surrenders and Cun Xiao returns
Huo Qubing decided to trust Li Xiuning once and asked her to help persuade the captured general Li Tang to surrender, and the first target was Fu Cunxen.
Although Fu Cunshen was not captured by Huo Qubing but by Zhang Liao, after joining forces, Li Jing imprisoned all the senior Tang generals who were unwilling to surrender.
In other words, Fu Cunshen, Zhang Xiu, Changsun Wuji and other generals are now being imprisoned together.
Inside the prison.
"Fu Cunchen, someone is here to see you."
Hearing this, Fu Cunxen thought it was a colleague who had surrendered, but when he saw the person coming, he was shocked.
"Princess Xiuning, why is it you?"
Fu Cunshen was very puzzled. How could Li Xiuning, a princess of the Tang Dynasty, appear here?
"You and I are both abandoned sons of the Tang Kingdom. You can appear here, why can't I?"
Li Xiuning's cold rhetorical question made Fu Cunxen even more frightened.
Abandoned son?
Princess Xiuning has become an outcast?
Has the war outside deteriorated to this point?
"Your Highness, what happened?"
Fu Cunshen asked with a serious face. Li Xiuning was his benefactor. If it hadn't been for Li Xiuning's recommendation, he would not have been in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty king, so he respected Li Xiuning very much.
"well……"
After Li Xiuning sighed, he briefly talked about his experience with Fu Cunchen, and also talked about the situation outside.
When he learned that the king of Tang was so heartless that he even wanted to take advantage of his own sister, Fu Cunshen's eyes were full of anger and he couldn't believe that his lord could be so heartless and unjust.
The Tang Dynasty could be what it is today, and Li Shimin could become the king of Tang Dynasty. Princess Xiuning was the first to contribute. Even if we don’t look at blood, we should look at merit. If we don’t look at merit, we should look at hard work. How can we treat meritorious ministers like this?
Isn't this chilling?
But when he learned that Li Shimin had resigned from the throne and declared himself a vassal of Qin, Fu Cunshen also understood that Li Shimin was being forced into a hurry.
Now Li Shimin is on the verge of madness. He can even abandon his own sister, but will he care about his courtiers like them?
As soon as he thought of this, Fu Cunchen's heart was filled with bitterness.
"Your Highness Princess, just tell me the purpose of coming here."
"General Fu, I hope you surrender to Qin."
Li Xiuning went straight to the point. Fu Cunxen's eyes were full of surprise. He couldn't believe that Li Xiuning, a princess of the Tang Dynasty, was now trying to persuade him to surrender for the Qin Dynasty.
Is this a complete fall out with my brother Li Shimin?
"General Fu, Li Shimin is unkind and unjust and does not deserve your loyalty to him. Come to Qin with me. You will be put to better use in Qin."
"But……"
"Are you worried about your family in Chang'an City? Don't worry, as long as you agree to surrender to Qin, Qin will get your family back through diplomatic channels.
The Tang State is now a vassal state of the Qin Dynasty, and I will definitely not dare to let your family go."
Hearing this, Fu Cunzhen felt slightly relieved. Li Xiuning had already helped him to this point. What was there for him to hesitate about? He immediately knelt down.
"Princess Xiuning, Fu Cunshen is willing to submit to the Qin Dynasty."
"good."
Li Xiuning finally showed a smile and stepped forward to help Fu Cunshen up.
She knew Fu Cunshen's ability. If the gap between Qin and Tang Dynasty hadn't been too big, Zhang Liao might not have been able to break Fenglingdu guarded by Fu Cunshen.
A talented commander like Fu Cunshen will surely shine in the future as long as he is given a chance.
Among all the captured Tang generals, Li Xiuning valued Fu Cunsen the most, so he was the first to lobby him.
Now that Fu Cunshen had really surrendered, Li Xiuning was relieved. With Fu Cunshen and other Tang surrendered generals here, she had some foundation in Qin.
Li Xiuning is different from most women of this era. She is not the kind of woman who relies on men for everything.
Even next to his second brother Li Shimin, Li Xiuning relied on his own abilities to have a place in the Tang Kingdom.
Now that Li Xiuning is about to marry into the Qin Kingdom, she neither wants nor wants to completely become a vassal of Ying Hao, so she has to fight for her own future.
Li Xiuning hasn't seen Ying Hao for five years. There has been no contact between the two in the past five years, and she doesn't know how much of the original friendship is left.
Could Ying Hao have forgotten her?
Even if he still remembers her, after such a long time has passed, the relationship between the two will definitely become much colder. Can they still go back to the beginning?
Li Xiuning didn't know this, but she didn't feel confused or hesitant.
She understands Ying Hao. This man is not a pure lustful person. Compared with the beauty of a woman, he misses old love and talent more, and she, Li Xiuning, has both of them.
Li Xiuning, who was once a bad commander, was definitely one of the people who knew the Tang Dynasty best, and he was no less generous than Li Shimin.
With her in the Qin State, the civil and military forces of the Tang State had one more way to survive, and they did not have to fight Li Shimin to end a dead end.
With her assistance, Ying Hao would be able to annex the Tang State more easily, and the surrendered troops and generals of the Tang State, and even the entire Tang State, were her help in the Qin State.
"General Fu, how is your personal relationship with General Zhang Xiu?" Li Xiuning asked.
Fu Cunchen didn't even think about it and replied decisively: "Not bad. Brother Zhang once taught me marksmanship, and I also coached his art of war."
"In that case, come with me to lobby General Zhang Xiu."
Zhang Xiu is different from Fu Cunshen. He has enmity with the Qin army.
Zhang Xiu's uncle Zhang Ji died at the hands of Li Cunxiao at Hangu Pass, and Li Cunxiao was the most powerful general in Qin, so it was naturally more difficult for him to surrender to Qin than Fu Cunshen.
The reason why the Qin army did not kill Zhang Xiu was because he was a disciple of Tong Yuan, and the famous Zhao Yun was also a disciple of Tong Yuan. The two were brothers.
Zhao Yun was the son-in-law of the Qin family and had friends all over the Qin army, while Tong Yuan was a great master that Ying Hao respected very much, and even wrote a special letter to invite him to Luoyang to watch the ceremony.
Based on these two relationships, the Qin army did not kill Zhang Xiu.
Zhao Yun came to lobby not long ago, but was decisively rejected by Zhang Xiu.
Although Li Xiuning had given Zhang Xiu a favor, she was not completely sure that even Zhao Yun had failed, so she dragged Fu Cunshen along.
"Princess Xiuning, Brother Fu, why are you here?"
Zhang Xiu's reaction was even greater than that of Fu Cunshen. He didn't understand why these two people appeared here again, but when he heard their explanations and their intentions, his face suddenly became ugly.
Tang's time is running out, does he really want to be buried with Tang?
Li Xiuning actually overestimated Zhang Xiu's hatred for Qin.
When Zhang Jicai died, Zhang Xiu's heart was indeed full of hatred, and he wanted to take revenge on Li Cunxiao every day. It was precisely because of this that his strength improved so quickly.
But then he gradually looked away. After all, it was a war. Either you died or I died. It was not surprising whoever killed the other.
Moreover, in the battle of Hangu Pass, Li Cunxiao killed many people. Nearly one-third of the famous Tang generals were killed, and even Li Yuanba had one arm cut off.
The families of these people, including Tang Wang Li Shimin, all wanted to take revenge on Li Cunxiao, but who could kill Li Cunxiao?
Zhang Xiuhui thought this way, mainly because his enemy Li Cunxiao was too powerful and he couldn't see any hope of revenge, so he might as well give up hatred.
According to official history, Zhang Ji sent troops to plunder Liu Biao because his army was short of food, but he was killed when he attacked Rangcheng in Nanyang County. This was equivalent to death at the hands of Liu Biao.
After Zhang Ji's death, Zhang Xiu took over the army and did not avenge Zhang Ji. Instead, he and Liu Biao jointly stationed troops in Wancheng.
From this it can be seen that Zhang Xiu is a sensible person, and he will take revenge if he can, but if he really cannot take revenge, he will not risk his own life.
Under the persuasion of Li Xiuning and Fu Cunxen in turn, Zhang Xiu finally decided to give up the hatred between him and Li Cunxiao.
Li Cunxiao is too powerful. With his qualifications and strength, there is no hope of revenge. What's more, now that the Tang State is about to perish, there is no force in the world that can fight against the Qin State alone. It is simply impossible to continue to fight against the Qin State.
Just looking for death.
Zhang Xiu naturally did not want to die, so he decided to give up his hatred and submit to Qin.
After surrendering Zhang Xiu, Li Xiuning was in a good mood and continued to lobby other generals.
Under the lobbying of Li Xiuning, Zhang Xiu and Fu Cunshen, the captured Tang army generals surrendered one after another, leaving only Changsun Wuji and a few others who persisted.
In this regard, Li Xiuning did not force him.
Changsun Wuji is Li Shimin's brother-in-law. The relationship between the two is too close. If the Tang Dynasty is destroyed and the old master is not dead, if he betrays and surrenders to the enemy, he may not be able to hold his head up for the rest of his life.
Huo Qubing witnessed with his own eyes the entire process of how Li Xiuning demoted Fu Cunshen, Zhang Xiu and other generals, and could not believe that the process was so smooth.
It's not like they haven't said what Li Xiuning said before, but those die-hards just refused to surrender. Now they just said the same words again with another person, but it had a completely different result.
This made Huo Qubing lament that Li Xiuning's influence in Li Tang was so great that this marriage to Qin was definitely not a loss.
The impact of Zhang Xiu and Fu Cunshen's surrender was undoubtedly huge. Before them, no general at the level of a lieutenant general in the Tang state surrendered to Qin. Those who surrendered were all school captains, and the highest level was just a partial general. But now
Two of them surrendered at once.
Everything is difficult at the beginning. With Zhang Xiu and Fu Cunshen taking the lead, there will definitely be more generals from the Tang Kingdom surrendering and their ranks will be higher.
With Li Xiuning here, if we send troops to conquer the Tang Dynasty in the future, it may not be impossible to recruit famous generals and ministers such as Yang Jian, Gao Siji, Li Kui, and Li Si.
Looking at Zhang Xiu, Fu Cunshen and other generals who were standing behind Li Xiuning with respectful expressions on their faces, Huo Qubing said: "Madam, I have already reported the matters concerning the families of the generals to Governor Li Jing.
A few days ago, the Governor-General sent an envoy to Chang'an, and after some negotiations, Li Tang has agreed to send back the families of the generals."
It’s okay to disagree. Regarding the Treaty of Luoyang, Li Tang failed to fulfill some minor clauses as agreed, such as the issue of Sima Yi and Proton.
Especially for Proton, by temporarily deposing the crown prince Li Zhi and making Li Xingyun the crown prince, isn't this taking advantage of the treaty's loopholes?
No matter how good the excuse Li Tang made, failure to perform is still failure. Qin could use this to claim that Li Tang did not abide by the agreement and lacked sincerity.
The reason why Qin did not hold him accountable was because he deliberately dug another hole for Li Tang.
In Ying Hao's opinion, what is a treaty used for? It is meant to be torn up.
No, if it is beneficial, then obey it; if it is not beneficial, then tear it up.
The Qin State was jointly pressured by various countries, and with the founding ceremony approaching, the Treaty of Luoyang was signed.
As for the content of the treaty, Qin naturally did not suffer any loss, but the benefits were certainly not as great as those of Tang, and this was a loss for Qin.
Therefore, from the moment the treaty was signed, the top officials of the Qin State knew that sooner or later the lord would tear up the treaty. But breaching the contract would have a bad reputation after all, so he needed to find an honest reason.
The more regulations Li and Tang do not comply with now, the more excuses Qin will have for sending troops in the future.
Li Shimin didn't know what Ying Hao was thinking. After tentatively violating two regulations, he didn't dare to test Qin's bottom line anymore, so he decisively released the families of Zhang Xiu and other generals.
Hearing Huo Qubing's words, Zhang Xiufu Cunshen and other generals breathed a sigh of relief.
The reason why they would rather not surrender before was not entirely because they were completely devoted to Li Shimin, but because they did not want to implicate their families who were held hostage in Chang'an.
Now that Li Tang has given up and is willing to take the initiative to send the general's family back, the last worries in their minds are gone.
All the Tang generals, headed by Fu Cunshen, knelt down and said in unison: "Thank you, princess, for helping me wait for the wedding."
"Everyone, get up. Now that you have returned to Qin, you should serve Qin well." Li Xiuning stretched out his hand for support.
"Yes, since we have surrendered to Qin, we will never rebel." Fu Cunshen and other generals said in unison.
Seeing this scene, Huo Qubing was a little disgusted. Why did he go to thank Li Xiuning? It was Qin Jun who helped them get their family back.
Huo Qubing was vaguely aware of Li Xiuning's intentions, and thought to himself: Maybe after the Tang Kingdom is destroyed, another faction will emerge in the Qin Dynasty, the Tang Faction.
"Report... General Qi, General Li Cunxiao is back."
"What?"
Huo Qubing suddenly looked surprised.
Since the Battle of Hangu Pass, Li Cunxiao has been missing for more than half a year. No one knows where he is, only that he is definitely still alive.
But as time passed, Li Cunxiao did not show up for a long time, and it was inevitable that rumors would spread that he had died in battle.
This kind of rumor is still widely circulated among the people. After all, Li Cunxiao, the best in the world, has not shown his face for more than half a year. What else could he be but dead?
In this regard, the State of Qin naturally refuted the rumors, but the effect was obviously not good. As long as Li Cunxiao did not show up, this theory would not disappear.
Now that Li Cunxiao has finally returned, the rumors of his death in battle have naturally dissipated.
"I'm finally back. Let him go quickly. Forget it, I will go and greet him personally."
Huo Qubing and Li Cunxiao had a good personal relationship. He was overjoyed to learn that Li Cunxiao had returned and went out to greet him personally.
As soon as he walked out of the camp gate, Huo Qubing saw a familiar figure. It was not Li Cunxiao, but there were two beautiful figures beside him.
Huo Qubing was stunned when he saw this. He thought that Li Cunxiao had burned up his inner strength just after he broke through to the Grand Master, and all the skills he had cultivated for many years were used up. He must have been recovering from his injuries after not showing up for so long.