Chapter 129: Cutting territory, claiming vassal status, and paying tribute
The next day, near noon, the Tang envoys Zhong Mo and Li Deming were finally led to Liu Chengyou. Both of them had neat crowns and belts, but their faces were pale.
The Guardian Army was ordered to perform martial arts, obviously understanding Liu Chengyou's intention. In addition to normal drills, Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng, the second generals, also picked up more than a dozen death row prisoners from Hefei Prison, put on Tang Army costumes, and killed Zhong and Li The two of them looked at it. It was not that they had never seen murder before, but they were still frightened by the brutal and cruel behavior of the Han army.
"Your Majesty, Zhong Mo (Li Deming), comes to see His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty!" Facing the Emperor of the Han Dynasty who was sitting there according to the case, the two people immediately bowed to him.
Zhong Mo was feeling better, but Li Deming still had a look of fear on his face. His sharp eyes quickly swept over the two of them. Liu Chengyou looked at Zhong Mo and said, "Shilang Zhong, we meet again!"
"It is an honor for me to meet His Majesty!" Zhong Mo's tone sounded neither humble nor arrogant as he said the compliment.
Feeling that Zhong Mo was not as frightened as he imagined, Liu Chengyou turned his attention to Li Deming: "Are you Shilang Li?"
Li Deming raised his head and glanced at Liu Chengyou, then quickly buried his head: "That's the minister."
"Just now we were observing the martial arts performance. How does our army look like?" Liu Chengyou asked lightly.
Li Deming replied without thinking: "The soldiers are burly and well-armed, and they are truly the strongest army in the world!"
"Haha..." Liu Chengyou laughed openly, seeming to be very satisfied with his answer.
"Tell me!" His smile faded, and Liu Chengyou seemed to have no intention of lying. He waved his hand directly and said: "Li Jing sent you two to the north, what are your plans?"
"Your Majesty, I have been ordered to come here, hoping that the great powers will withdraw their troops and end the war. If this is the case, our lord will follow the Han Dynasty's intention of becoming a vassal and paying tribute, and cede the six states of Guang, Shou, Hao, Si, Chu and Hai!" Zhong Mo handed over his hand, instead of fighting like Sun Sheng, he directly revealed all his trump cards.
"Ha!" Liu Chengyou immediately sneered and said coldly: "The six states you mentioned have now all surrendered to the Han Dynasty. They are the states and counties under my control. You use Han soil to bribe me and show my generosity. What are you doing? Intentions?"
The Han Emperor's mouth was full of gangster logic and greed, and he was nakedly displayed in front of his two ministers. Zhong Mo's face trembled slightly, and his mood was dark. It was obvious that Liu Chengyou was not satisfied with Li Jing's conditions.
Seeing this, Liu Chengyou suddenly changed his face, stared at the two of them fiercely, and said in a sharp tone: "First Sun Sheng, and then you, the two of them, came north one after another to fool me, do you think I'm easy to bully? Come, pull these two out of the government office and behead them in public!"
After the emperor ordered it, four guards immediately came in, set up the bell, and Li and Li were pulled out of the hall. The sudden change made the two of them unable to react at all. Judging from the appearance of the Han Emperor, it did not look like he was faking it. His murderous nature was so serious that he immediately panicked.
Zhong Mo struggled and shouted: "The two countries are at war, don't kill the envoy!"
Li Deming directly begged for mercy and cried out in pain for his life. His legs dragged on the ground and swung around, almost throwing off his boots.
"Your Majesty, spare your life, I have something to say, I have something to say!" Li Deming's voice was torn and even cruel.
Seeing this, Liu Chengyou waved his hand and asked the guards to let go of the two. Li Fang, who was waiting on the side, also closed his mouth and was about to remonstrate. Liu Chengyou's eyes were cold and impatient, and he said in a cold voice: "You What else can I say? I don’t have time to listen to your seductive words here!”
This time, the two simply knelt down in front of the emperor. Zhong Mo's expression was tense and unnaturally pale. Li Deming bowed and said: "My lord does not know the power of your majesty and the strength of the Han army. I only hope that your majesty will be lenient." I will be punished in three or two days, and I am willing to return Jinling, and please offer the land of Huainan to Your Majesty!"
After listening to his words, Liu Chengyou's expression calmed down and he looked at Li Deming. He is the one who understands current affairs. After pondering for a while, he stared at this person, feeling uneasy and breaking into a cold sweat. Liu Chengyou said quietly: "In that case, I will give you Give me a chance to save your life!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Deming said immediately.
Liu Chengyou pointed the direction with his hand and said: "Go back and tell Li Jing that I don't want much. I want to cede territory, make you a vassal, and pay tribute! Now, our Han army is sweeping through the Huainan states. He doesn't have much time. I have taken everything, but Huainan alone is not enough to make me stop my troops! Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Li Deming said, "I understand!"
"Send someone to send them back!" Liu Chengyou ordered.
After the two Tang envoys left, Liu Chengyou once again covered up all the expressions on his face. He remained numb as usual, but his mind was extremely active.
"Your Majesty!" Li Fang put the several memorials he had compiled on his desk and asked softly: "To intimidate the Tang Dynasty in this way, if the force is too much, it may be counterproductive and make them resist!"
"You are very worried!" Liu Chengyou said: "However, as a person, once the will is relaxed, it is not so easy to regain the ambition. More importantly, I cannot let Li Jing, the monarch, see through my intentions. Intrusion The more urgent it is, the harder it is to force it, in order to deepen its decision. Even if it is counterproductive, I will only become more urgent in order to slow down."
After thinking for a while, Liu Chengyou said again: "I am going to issue an edict to all the armies to intensify the attack, continue to uproot the fortifications of the puppet Tang Dynasty along the river, and drive the Tang army into the river for me. There is no need to negotiate for peace; there is no need to fight for war!"
The treatment on the Tang envoy's side seemed pretty good. He was escorted to the ferry by the Han emperor's imperial guards, boarded the ship, pulled anchor and set sail south.
In the cabin, Zhong and Li were sitting across from each other. They were both in bad condition. Their faces were as dark as water. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was extremely dull for a while. After a while, Zhong Mo finally spoke: "Li Shilang, do you really want to return Jinling?" , Your Majesty, please offer Huainan?"
"What else?" Li Deming raised his eyelids and said to Zhong Mo: "You have also seen the ferocity of the Han army. They killed people at every turn and were ruthless. How could the Han emperor's greed be satisfied by small profits? If we raise Huainan and offer it as a gift, how can we stop the war and eliminate the disasters of war?"
After listening to his words, Zhong Mo looked confused and said: "I made this proposal to the envoy. How can I stand in the temple in the future and how can I face the Jianghuai elders? There is a line on the Qing Shi Dan Book, which is also pointed out by thousands of people. It is notorious. !”
"If Mr. Zhong is afraid of criticism, let me play the solo after returning to the court. You can keep silent and stay out of the matter!" Li Deming said calmly.
Seeing his attitude, Zhong Mo shut up and said no more.
In fact, Li Deming had no choice. In retrospect, he behaved too badly in front of the Han Emperor. Especially in order to survive, he asked for Huainan. Once he said it, there was no way out.
On the other hand, he also saw that although this proposal was too Tang Dynasty and was not conducive to Jianghuai, it was a great contribution to the Northern Han Dynasty. In the future, if the Northern Han Dynasty could destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty, with this contribution, the Northern Han Dynasty would be able to win over the Northern Han Dynasty.
The side can also have a place.
This time the Northern Han Dynasty conquered the Tang Dynasty. With the progress of the war, it can be said that the whole world is attracting attention. Many people have realized that this troubled world is coming to an end. Judging from the rapid development of the Northern Han Dynasty, as long as no major accidents occur,
It is only a matter of time before the world becomes unified again.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the Northern Han Dynasty's conquest of the Tang Dynasty was just greed for the wealth of the Jianghuai River. But in the eyes of knowledgeable people, this was a prelude to unification of the world. And Li Deming was obviously one of these many knowledgeable people.
Zhong and Li returned to Jinling and reported on their mission. Sure enough, Li Jing was furious and was very dissatisfied with both of them.
"Robbers, thugs, thugs!" In the inner hall, Li Jing was so angry that his hands shook, and he almost overturned the imperial case, and said angrily: "I have repeatedly sent envoys to appeal to him, but I have been so humble and humble.
Humiliation. The vast territory of the six states cannot satisfy his ambitions, but he wants to covet my entire Huainan, which is too much!"
"The Northern Han Dynasty wants to fight, and I will fight with him! After humiliating the country and humiliating me, it will be difficult to bow to that kid again!" Li Jing waved her hands vigorously and shouted loudly.
Sometimes, the louder the shouting, the more it makes him feel guilty and incompetent. Li Deming and Zhong Mo knelt in front of the emperor, and when he finished venting, Li Deming said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the six states of Huai River are now all here.
The Han army controls most of the land of Chu and Yang, and the states of Huang, Shu, He, and Tai are under attack. It is really difficult to satisfy their ambitions with only six states!"
"Can we, the Tang Dynasty, have no choice but to let others take whatever they want?" Li Jing stared at Li Deming.
Li Deming said: "Now, hundreds of thousands of troops from the Northern Han Dynasty are attacking our defense along the river. I am going north to see the strength of the Han army, which is unparalleled in the world. Our dynasty has suffered a series of defeats, and only the King of Qi's motley crew of less than a hundred thousand
How can we stop the crowd? If your Majesty refuses peace talks with his will and fights with him, or if he completely angers the Han Emperor and crosses the Yangtze River to attack south, how can your Majesty be responsible? Once the defense of the river is lost, it will be too late to regret it!"
After listening to Li Deming's words, Li Jing's anger subsided slightly and showed a little fear. Realizing the situation, he couldn't help but trembled.
But obviously, he was still unwilling to give in, and his eyes were dejected: "Is there no other way?"
"Your Majesty, the Northern Han Dynasty is attacking the land north of the Yangtze River more and more urgently. If we don't decide as soon as possible to get the troops to retreat, once Huainan is completely captured, I'm afraid the fourteen states will not be able to satisfy the Han Emperor's greed and violence!" Li Deming sighed sadly.
In order to complete the task, Li Deming also risked his life. Every word and word showed the style of a "capitulationist".
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However, Li Jing still showed hesitation. Compared with the fourteen prefectures in Jiangbei, the gap between the six prefectures in Huaishang was not even a tiny bit. At this time, the assist came. Li Zhenggu, the deputy envoy to the Privy Council, came to report: "Tai,
And, Shuzhou surrenders to the Han army!"
Hearing this, Li Jing seemed to have no extravagant hopes anymore. He waved his hands dejectedly and choked with sobs: "That's all. I'm willing to dedicate all the land in Huainan! I will surrender and pay tribute to repel the Han soldiers!"
