When snow began to fall in the sky, a Fengjiang army arrived at the foot of Dongqing City. This army did not rush to attack, but sent an envoy to deliver an edict to the garrison commander in the city.
Yes, it was an edict. Emperor Zhao Yu of the Great China Empire named Liu Jie, the commander of the garrison in the city, as a general, hoping that he could open the city to welcome Fengjiang's troops.
This general's offer was quite casual. Liu Jie, the Dongqing garrison who already knew about Zhao Chen's surrender, thought that Zhao Chen would become Zhao Yu's general.
So he asked the Tang Empire diplomat who came to deliver the edict how credible this matter was.
A diplomat from the Tang Empire came to deliver the news because he had diplomatic immunity. He smiled after hearing Liu Jie's question and replied directly: "Zhao Chen has been sent to our country, so there is no need to worry, general.
"
Hearing this answer, Liu Jie was slightly stunned, and then realized that this might be a great opportunity for him: as long as he gets out of the way and lets Fengjiang Army pass, he will definitely have a good position in the future Zhao Yuchaotang.
And the Zhao Chen he was worried about would probably never come back to compete with him for a position in this life: he was probably captured by the Tang Empire to vent his hatred. Who made him so ignorant of current affairs and resist so tenaciously? Of course,
In other words, who gave him the surname Zhao?
"Since you have given your assurance, sir, I believe this edict. I also think that the late emperor's attitude towards your majesty was inappropriate, but no one can speak so lightly. There is really no other way... Now that your majesty wishes to return to the imperial capital, I shall comply with the order and let you go."
..." Liu Jie was so skillful that he changed his title all at once.
Come to think of it, there is a war going on in the Imperial Capital. No matter whether it is Zhao Ji or Zhao Jie, whoever wins will have to change his name. How could it be possible without some training in advance?
As for having more Zhao Yus, that's even simpler. Accepting two is also accepting, and accepting three is also accepting. There is actually no essential difference between this thing and having a harem.
When you feel that one wife is not enough and you need to add another concubine, you have already broken through the psychological shackles, and you will not feel guilty when you marry a third or fourth.
"Don't worry, General, you won't make the wrong choice." The Tang Dynasty diplomat promised with a smile, and then pushed a check to the other party: "Dahua has been in constant war recently and prices have soared. I brought some big money to the General.
It is a local product of the Tang Dynasty. I hope the general will not refuse and will definitely accept it."
After taking a look at the amount on it, Liu Jie felt that he had lived like a dog in his life. He had lived on free wages, drank soldiers' blood, deceived his subordinates and concealed his hard work. Now, he is almost sixty, and he has not been greedy for money.
So much money...
After swallowing his saliva and stuffing the souvenirs into his pocket, Liu Jie became a Tang Dynasty person in the Zhao Yu family.
The rewards were immediate. Liu Jie not only opened the city gates to allow Fengjiang's troops to pass through his defense zone, he even donated all the ammunition and oil in his defense zone.
Don't underestimate Dongqing's supplies: Heishui City in the north of Dongqing is Dahua's only oil field now, and the crude oil produced by Heishui basically needs to be transported to Dongqing for processing.
Therefore, Dongqing has the most advanced and largest oil refinery and various chemical equipment in the Dahua Empire. The industrial scale is huge and important.
Now that Dongqing has surrendered, there will be no decent resistance in Blackwater City: they even have very few troops stationed there. It has always been the safest hinterland of the Dahua Empire, and there is no need to station too many troops at all.
This also led to the fact that after Dongqing changed its flag, Heishui had no choice but to follow Dongqing and defect to Zhao Yu. Heishui only had one railway connecting Dongqing. If they did not surrender, their supplies would be cut off in an instant.
, there is no way at all.
Without firing a single shot, Dongqing City changed its flag and became the legitimate Fengjiang Army: they also got their own rewards, and immediately received a reward from Zhao Yu.
Because he has been with the Tang Empire for a long time, Zhao Yu also has some shining points. He attaches great importance to promises and says that the rewards given to the troops will never be perfunctory, because he urgently needs the troops and officials to work hard for him. Since they work hard, then they will
You have to give a sufficient price.
This is also the reason why he owed so much money and fed the soldiers' appetite, but in the end there was no corresponding profit channel.
You know, the Fengjiang Army has had no income from the beginning of the civil war until now. It is purely relying on blood transfusions from the Tang Empire. The only reason it can persist until now is that the Tang Empire has more money.
Not only did it provide blood transfusions to Fengjiang, the Tang Empire also paid countless fees for Fengjiang to hire soldiers from various countries.
Liu Jie's surrender was so fast that neither Zhao Jie nor Zhao Ji had any psychological preparation. When they heard that Fengjiang's army had built a camp dozens of kilometers away, they were completely frightened.
Although Fengjiang's troops have not launched an attack yet, the two people fighting each other in the city immediately felt a lot of pressure. Because they really couldn't beat Zhao Ji's Fengjiang army in terms of overall strength.
Not to mention Zhao Chen's 800,000-strong army, even if Fengjiang's troops came out, there would be at least 300,000...who among them could assemble so many troops near the imperial capital?
Zhao Jie was a little bit reluctant to give up: he had a bad reputation to begin with, and he took the risk to come to the imperial capital just because he saw an opportunity. The problem now is that the opportunity he saw has been completely lost.
If he continued to insist here, he might be surrounded by Fengjiang's army and killed. This was definitely not the result he wanted, so he began to consider the possibility of leading his troops back to Shanchong.
It was actually too late to leave. Although Zhao Jie's troops in the imperial capital were small, they were very elite. As long as Zhao Jie said to leave, they could immediately start retreating with lightly armed troops.
As he controls the south road of the Imperial Capital, he can retreat to Pingfeng calmly. What he is thinking about now is what will happen after retreating to Pingfeng.
Although he could still control cities and regions such as Pingfeng, Jutian, and Shanchong by then, in theory he had become a local feudal lord by then and did not have the strength to resist the imperial court.
That situation is basically tantamount to chronic suicide. After Zhao Yu has dealt with Zhao Ji, he will go south to pacify such a dangerous separatist force.
With the help of the Tang Empire, he had no ability to resist. But at that time, there was a mountain behind him, and there was no way to retreat.
He could open a road to the city of Shu to the south, but although it was called entering Shu, it has now become the passage to "entering Qin". Qin's previous attack on Shu had cut off the connection between Dahua and Shu.
.
In this way, Zhao Jie is basically a turtle in a urn, and he can only be slaughtered by others.
So Zhao Jie began to think about whether there was any way to save his life: he thought of three options.
The first one is to surrender to Zhao Ji now and unite Zhao Ji against Zhao Yu. In need of each other, as long as Zhao Ji is not stupid, it is impossible to be disadvantageous to him in a short time.
The two of them joined a group to keep warm. Although the situation was a bit more difficult, they could maintain a delicate balance and everyone had a good escape route.
The second way is for him to surrender to Fengjiang immediately. Although his ambition is exposed, Zhao Yu will definitely guard against him, but as long as he gives up his military power and honestly becomes an idle prince, there is probably a way to survive.
However, it does not feel good to put your life in the hands of others, and Zhao Jie is not very inclined to this choice.
The last option is to surrender to Qin: if you offer your troops and territory then, Qin will definitely be very happy. This option is the safest and most secure. Qin has no reason to embarrass Zhao Jie who surrendered.
Although this option is safe, it is the same as the second option. He can only give up military power and become a rich man honestly. This is where Zhao Jie struggles: he is not willing to give up the power in his hands.
Why didn't Zhao Jie choose to surrender to the Tang Empire? Because he still didn't know that Zhao Yu had sold Guiguang to the Tang Empire.
The secret agreement signed by Zhao Yu cannot be made public until he becomes the Emperor of the Great China Empire, otherwise many people who support him will be dissatisfied with him.
In any era, everyone is disgusted with things that betray the country and seek glory. This is a normal thinking reaction.
Zhao Jie didn't know that his area of control bordered the Tang Empire, so he naturally couldn't have any intention of surrendering to the Tang Empire.
While Zhao Jie was thinking about his future, Zhao Ji was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot in the palace: Zhao Jie ran away, but he was not qualified to run away.
If he leaves the imperial capital, how many people will be willing to support him, the so-called "legitimate emperor of China"? He has lost the imperial capital before he even ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Wouldn't his emperor become a joke?
Li Mingshun did not recommend withdrawing from the imperial capital, because once the imperial capital was lost, they would be extremely passive whether they retreated to the west or southwest. His starting point was purely military considerations, and he did not look at the problem from Zhao Ji's perspective.
The imperial capital in the Dahua Empire was not just a political center, it was also an absolute transportation hub facing the west.
It connects the four important northwest cities to the south, and is the absolute rear that suppresses and supervises the Qin State; it controls the three southwest cities of the Great China Empire to the southwest, and is the main transportation route to the Shu State.
But if the imperial capital is lost, then in terms of transportation, it will be equivalent to dividing the northwest and southwest, making the remaining territories of the Great China Empire no longer connected.
In other words, no matter which direction Zhao Ji retreats, he will lose half of his remaining territory in an instant. This situation is absolutely unacceptable, because it is almost equivalent to the subjugation of the country.
Therefore, in Li Mingshun's view, even if Zhao Ji wants to negotiate peace with Fengjiang Army, he must hold on to the imperial capital. This is the only chance, because once the imperial capital is lost, Fengjiang Army will not bother to negotiate peace with Zhao Ji.
