Fan Zhi stepped forward and said to Chai Rong: "It was probably our navy that defeated the Tang navy in the Yangtze River."

This attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty was not as easy as the last time. The Southern Tang army continued to counterattack strongly, and the two sides almost fought in Huainan. Although the Zhou State had the upper hand, it suffered heavy losses, so much so that Chai Rong even massacred the city. Only the Tang State was defeated.

The navy had control over the Yangtze River, which cut off the endless supply of food and fodder for the soldiers in the Southern Tang Dynasty, so that they could surrender and admit defeat.

Although the Tang Navy was just a fledgling force, with the full cooperation of the Nanping Navy, it was not impossible to defeat the Tang Navy.

All the ministers immediately came forward to congratulate Chai Rong, and some offered favors to the navy commander and Nanping's Gao Congjie.

"I will never treat meritorious ministers badly, and I will definitely reward them heavily when I return to Tokyo!" Chai Rong returned to his seat and told Old Mutou: "Call the envoy from the Tang Dynasty to come in and see me!"

Old Mutou came out of the big tent and soon led five or six people into the tent. When they saw Chai Rong, they immediately knelt down and worshiped with great sincerity.

Chai Rong also showed great magnanimity, "You guys have come a long way and worked hard all the way, please be free!"

The Tang envoy thanked him and stood up. The leader stepped forward and bowed and said: "Foreign Minister Chen Jue, on the order of our Lord, has come to ask the Emperor of Zhou to surrender. He is willing to cede all the land in the north and south of the Yangtze River and rule it by dividing the river with your country. But

Please ask the Emperor of Zhou to return the occupied Changzhou."

"Changzhou? How could it be Changzhou!"

Chai Rong looked surprised, and other ministers also looked at each other. Chen Jue was also very strange and asked: "The Wu Yue army has occupied Changzhou, doesn't the Emperor Zhou know?"

Wu Yue and Zhou State were not bordering each other, so it was not easy to send a message to Chai Rong. It was too risky to cross the border secretly from Tang State's territory, so most people would have to go by sea.

Chai Rong received a battle report from Qian Chu some time ago. According to the battle report, the Wu Yue army was defeated outside Changzhou City. Qian Chu dismissed Wu Cheng as marshal and replaced Xu Xian with commanding the Wu Yue army.

But that was already more than a month ago.

At that time, Chai Rong smiled after reading the battle report. He was very aware of the strength of the Wu Yue Army. He only hoped that they could contain Changzhou's heavy troops. He never expected that they would be defeated easily. As for Qian Chu asking Xu Xian to lead the Wu Yue Army, Chai Rong thought it was not enough.

It's an act of shirking responsibility.

Chai Rong knows Xu Xian's strength. He can win a few local battles with more wins than less. However, it is impossible to ask him to serve as the commander of the first army to coordinate the overall situation. After all, Xu Xian's age is there.

.

Therefore, Chai Rong did not have much expectations for Xu Xian, especially since he was leading an army that had just suffered a defeat. If he could protect himself in enemy territory, even if he had the ability, he would never dare to expect him to capture Changzhou. After all, that was

It is a fortified city that even Shouzhou cannot compare with.

Chai Rong was still a little skeptical and asked: "But Changzhou was captured by Xu Xian?"

"Yes!" Chen Jue nodded and responded solemnly. At this time, no one in Jinling dared to mention this name in front of the emperor, and no prostitute on the Qinhuai River even dared to sing his lyrics.

Chai Rong looked up to the sky and laughed, "Haha... Xu Xian is really my lucky general!"

All the ministers also praised him, some were envious, and some were jealous.

Li Tingfang stepped forward and took the surrender form from Chen Jue's hand and held it in front of Chai Rong. Chai Rong opened it and scanned it. The surrender form was written by Li Jing himself. His words were extremely humble, even begging, and he was willing to give Nan the gift.

Tang ceded all the territory in Jiangbei to Chai Rong, and also ordered Liu Renzhan to present the city and surrender.

Chai Rong was speechless after reading it, and handed it to Fan Zhi who was standing aside. Fan Zhi was a very smart man, and he understood what Chai Rong meant after reading it. He stroked his beard and said to Chen Jue: "This is not a lowering of the rank, but an exchange of Jiangbei for Changzhou."

It’s just a deed, if Li Jing is really sincere, he should take the title of emperor, consider himself a vassal, and pay tribute to our lord as a vassal."

Chen Jue pondered for a while and said: "My lord has admired the Emperor of Zhou for a long time, and is willing to make good friends with your country and become a brotherly state. Wouldn't it be good to cross the river to govern and communicate with each other? Well, don't forget, Shouzhou is still in the state now.

In the hands of the country.”

Fan Zhi chuckled and said, "I'm afraid you don't know that just now Liu Renzhan surrendered to our Lord. Our army no longer has any ties in Jiangbei. It is only a matter of time before we conquer other states."

"Liu Renzhan surrendered? Impossible!"

Chai Rong winked, and Li Tingfang immediately showed Chen Jue the surrender letter sent from Shouzhou City. Chen Jue shook his head and said, "This is not Liu Renzhan's handwriting!"

"Liu Renzhan, a loyal servant of the Tang Dynasty, had no choice but to surrender. He couldn't bear to write a letter of surrender and asked his subordinates to write it. Is it any wonder that official seals can never be faked? Don't forget, Shouzhou has been besieged for more than a year. Really, they all thought

Are you so strong that you don’t need to eat rice?”

Chen Jue couldn't help but was speechless. According to their estimation, Shouzhou City's food and grass had already been exhausted. It was beyond everyone's expectation that they could survive until today. It was not surprising to surrender.

Chai Rong stood up and said with a smile: "I am about to go to the outside of Shouzhou City to meet Liu Linggong. If you don't believe me, you can come with me. You will know if it is true or false."

He was either fearful or respectful of those he could not conquer. Chai Rong probably had the same feelings for Liu Renzhan. He put aside the emperor's guard of honor and beat gongs and drums when he came outside Shouzhou City, which can be said to have given Liu Ren enough

Look at the face.

After waiting for about half a quarter of an hour, the gate of Shouzhou, which had been dusty for more than a year, slowly opened. It was probably damaged by the Zhou army earlier. The gate was crooked and seemed to collapse at any time.

I saw someone coming out of the door in the dust, but there was no tall and heroic veteran among them, but a group of sallow-looking soldiers carrying a low couch, followed by a group of gray-faced civil and military officials. Although they were not heroic, they were

It gives people an indescribable feeling of sadness.

The officers and soldiers of the Zhou army who greeted him outside the city all looked towards the unconscious old man on the short couch. They had neither anger nor joy, and their expressions were extremely complicated.

Chai Rong stepped down from the buchu and stepped forward to greet him. Zhou Tinggou quickly ordered the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to put down the low couch and led the civil and military officials from Shouzhou to salute Chai Rong.

Chai Rong walked straight to the low couch, looked at the thin and unconscious Liu Renzhan and asked, "What's wrong with Liu Linggong?"

Zhou Tinggou replied: "Liu Linggong is suffering from a serious illness and will fall into coma from time to time. The doctors in the city are helpless. Please ask your Majesty to quickly ask for a good doctor to diagnose and treat him."

The joy hidden in Chai Rong's eyes quickly disappeared, and he took a deep breath and said, "So you took advantage of his unconsciousness to write a letter of surrender and surrender to me."

Probably not knowing that this was not a glorious thing, Zhou Tinggou sobbed: "Liu Linggong admired Your Majesty for a long time, but he only hated the loyal ministers who could not serve the two masters, and could not bear to betray Li Tang. We were not willing to go against Liu Linggong's wishes, but the people in the city had no food to eat.

Countless people died of starvation and even exchanged their sons for food. The two countries were fighting over the innocent people. We really didn’t want the people to suffer, so we asked for surrender in the name of your Majesty, and begged your Majesty to issue an order to punish us."

Chai Rong snorted coldly, "You answered well! I have prepared food and grass. You can transport it to the city to appease the people and soldiers. Liu Renzhan will find a good doctor to take care of him."

I don't know if the sound of gongs and drums around him was too noisy. Liu Renzhan, who was unconscious on the short couch, suddenly slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head and looked at everything around him. When he saw Chai Rong, the doubts in his eyes quickly disappeared.

Turning into panic, he forced himself to sit up from the low couch and looked at everything around him.

Chai Rong smiled and said: "Liu Linggong, you are awake. Just lie down and rest. I will find a good doctor to diagnose your illness."

However, Liu Renzhan's face turned red, his chest heaved violently, and he suddenly vomited out a mouthful of old blood. He fell straight on the low couch, stared at the sky with wide eyes, and said: "This is the shame of Liu's life..."

"Then there was no more movement.
Chapter completed!