On the top of the city, Zhu Houzhao happily welcomed the return of Zhang Yanling and others, but he complained.
"Uncle, how could you take such a risk? When I heard the noise and silence in the enemy camp, I thought you were all trapped in the enemy camp and thought I would never see you again. How could you run to attack the camp quietly?
Didn't you say a word to me?"
After Zhang Yanling saluted, he said hurriedly: "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I did take some risks. The reason why I did not report this to the Emperor is because I was afraid that the Emperor would be worried."
Zhu Houzhao sighed: "You are afraid that I will follow you."
Zhang Yanling did not deny it, and only said: "The attack on the camp is dangerous and dangerous, and life or death is uncertain. We cannot let the emperor follow him and commit danger."
Zhu Houzhao said in a deep voice: "But don't think about it. If my uncle falls into the enemy camp, who can support this stall in Dushi City?"
Liu Jin laughed and said, "Your Majesty, didn't the Marquis come back safely? And he seemed to have made great achievements. The fire in the enemy camp was so fierce. Did it turn the enemy camp upside down?"
Zhu Houzhao also hurriedly asked: "Yes, uncle, what did you do when you went to the enemy camp? There wasn't much fighting, and I didn't even hear the roar of firearms. But there was such a fire. The Tatars didn't chase you either."
What happened?"
Half an hour later, in the military office in the city, Zhu Houzhao learned the whole story. He saw Zhao Yongsheng and others who had been running from Chicheng Fortress for several days to come to the rescue, and also saw Asbasi's son who looked panicked.
Jeddah even learned that Batu Munch had proposed three peace terms as described by Zhang Yanling.
Zhu Houzhao's expression was very complicated. After pondering for a long time, Zhu Houzhao retreated from everyone, stared at Zhang Yanling and said solemnly: "Uncle, did you go to the enemy camp to negotiate peace? But I don't seem to agree to negotiate peace with the Tatars. You
Unconsciously, you should talk to me beforehand
Do you want to discuss it? Although I rely on you, you can never make your own decisions on such a major matter. Besides, do you think these three conditions proposed by the Tatars are appropriate? Such harsh and humiliating conditions are what you want to negotiate for peace.
The result? I was very angry."
Liu Jin also said from the side: "Master Hou, you are too self-assertive. You thought you were going to attack the camp, but unexpectedly you were going to sue for peace. That's fine. For the safety of the emperor, it is not impossible to negotiate peace with the Tatars.
, but these three conditions are too harsh. If the emperor agrees to such conditions, wouldn't it be a loss of power and humiliation for the country, and the world would spit on him? Lord Marquis, you are too... too ill-considered."
Zhang Yanling hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you misunderstood. How dare I go to negotiate peace with the Tatars privately? The peace talks are just delaying time. Regardless of whether we agree or not, at least the Tatar attack time has been delayed until sunset today. At least we have delayed it for one more day.
.In fact, my minister’s
The original intention was to go to the enemy camp to control the enemy chiefs, and threaten them with their lives so that we could evacuate safely. We proposed a peace negotiation on an impromptu basis. The conditions for the peace negotiation were proposed by Batu Munch, but I did not agree. Don’t you know this condition?
It is absolutely impossible to agree to it."
Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly and said: "That's good. I think it's impossible for my uncle to do such a stupid thing. It's impossible for me to agree to such a condition. Even if I die here, I will never agree to such a condition.
If I agree, wouldn’t I be ashamed of my ancestors and my millions of subjects of the Ming Dynasty?”
Zhang Yanling bowed and said: "I understand, how could the Ming Dynasty bow to the Tatars? The Tatars want to use blackmail to clear their name and use blackmail to blackmail the Ming Dynasty. Could it be that they regard the Ming Dynasty as a weak Zhao and Song Dynasty? That will never allow them to succeed.
Don’t mention such conditions, they will not agree to any conditions."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "Yes, I cannot agree to any conditions. I will not be threatened."
Liu Jin smacked his lips and thought: Are you two out of your mind? You cannot agree to any conditions? If it is an acceptable condition, in order to get out of trouble safely, why not compromise. Are you going to die here? Zhang Yanling, you don’t want your own life.
, please don’t mislead the emperor.
But I thought so in my heart, but I didn't dare to say it. I just heard Zhu Houzhao ask: "Uncle, I don't understand. You said that you had captured the enemy chief Asbas outside Nancheng, why did you let him go in the end? He didn't
If he agrees to let us go, why not kill him?"
Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, I feel that even killing Asbas is useless. If Asbas is dead, his generals will also obey Batu Meng's orders. As long as they obey the orders to attack, the Tatars in Nancheng will
Whether there is a general or not actually has little impact on the outcome of the war. Monolithic City is actually unable to cope with the flanking attack from the north and the south. Rather than killing Asbath, it is better to spare him and use mind-attack techniques."
Zhu Houzhao said in surprise: "The art of attacking the mind?"
Zhang Yanling said: "This Asbas is not a direct tribal soldier of Batu Meng. The little Tatar prince has swept across Monan in recent years. Tribal leaders like Asbas can only choose to surrender to Batu Meng to avoid destruction.
It's a disaster. But Asbath is quite capable. I guess there must be some disputes between them.
Ge was conflicted, so I tried to test it out, and I did see some clues. I thought about using the subtle relationship between them to make some articles. Killing Asbath would actually eliminate the troubles in Batu Munch's heart.
Of course, I can’t do this anymore. Instead, I have to take this as an opportunity to try some mental battles.”
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "I still don't understand."
Zhang Yanling said: "Your Majesty, you don't need to be too clear now. You just need to believe that I am doing my best to find a way out of trouble. To put it simply, I saw some conflicts between Asbas and the little Tatar prince.
The minister then wanted to alienate them and win the favor of Asbas.
Maybe it will bring us some benefits in escaping from here. In addition to sparing Asbath's life, I also had a long conversation with him and revealed the relationship between Asbath and Batu Munch.
.I want to plant a seed in his heart, hoping that this seed will sprout and bear fruit."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "Are you sure this method will work? Will Asbasi switch sides and help us? I think it's just wishful thinking on your part."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Yes, I actually don't have confidence in this. But all I can do is try my best and hope it will be effective. I am not optimistic about the results. So I still burned the attack they built.
City equipment and felled logs are being used to make final preparations for the battle. But this does not prevent me from having expectations for the inner battle."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and pondered. He was absolutely not optimistic about Zhang Yanling's actions and felt that it was useless. Even if Zhang Yanling's guess and judgment were correct, even if Asbath and Batu Munch seemed to be inseparable, it might not lead to anything useful.
Progress. Zhang Yanling’s idea is too naive.
"Your Majesty, I am making preparations on two fronts. On the one hand, I am ready to defend the city. On the other hand, I hope to get the help of the Emperor and spend more time on Asbas." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Zhu Houzhao said: "What do you want me to do?"
Zhang Yanling said: "The seeds have been planted, but we can't wait for them to sprout. We have to water, fertilize and help. I need the emperor's help."
Zhu Houzhao said: "Uncle, it's whatever you say."
Zhang Yanling pondered: "I'm thinking that the reason why Asbath would rather die than give us a way to live is actually the most fundamental reason is that he is afraid of being retaliated by Batu Munch. He is not strong enough. If he wants to save his life,
If we let us go, Batu Munch will never let him go. And what we have to do is solve his worries."
Zhu Houzhao said in a deep voice: "Uncle is saying that I want to make a promise to him so that he will not be afraid of the threat of the little Tatar prince?"
Zhang Yanling raised his thumb and praised: "Your Majesty, this is what I mean. Although I am not sure whether this is effective, why not use it at this time? Your Majesty can give Asbas a promise and agree to some of his requests.
Allowing him to have enough capital to fight Batu Munch, maybe Asbath will dare to make some different choices. Of course, this may depend on Asbath
Do you have the courage, and how deep is the conflict with Batu Munch? If the conflict between them is not big enough to separate, then everything we do will be in vain. But once we succeed, not only will we
The dilemma can be solved, and then we can use Asbath and Batu Monk to confront each other, which will be of greater benefit to the overall border structure of our Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin looked at Zhang Yanling blankly, thinking in their hearts: Nowadays, our life and death are difficult to guarantee, but you are thinking far ahead and thinking about the future.
However, they also had to admit that if Zhang Yanling's idea could be realized, it would indeed be a masterstroke. It would drive away wolves and devoured tigers, and use barbarians to control barbarians. It might even be possible to change the overall northern pattern through the hands of Asbas and achieve unexpected results.
"Your Majesty, I will soon put Asbas's son back, but I hope that the Emperor can summon him and have a good talk with him. The words spoken through the mouth of Asbas's son may be better than ours.
What we say is more useful. We don’t have to pay attention to Batu Munch’s harsh conditions, but we can get rid of
Open Batu Munch and discuss some secret conditions with Asbath. As long as these conditions are attractive enough, maybe the seed in Asbath's heart will quickly sprout into a towering tree. Of course, all this may still be the same.
It's wishful thinking, but at this time, why not give it a try?" Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Zhu Houzhao nodded slowly and said in a deep voice: "Yes, why not give it a try? I will summon the son of Asbasi and have a good talk with him. Uncle, go and ask him to come see me."
Zhang Yanling cupped his hands and said: "I obey your order!"