In the side hall, Guo Xu sat on a chair with a pale face to rest. The process of Shicai's court discussion was embarrassing. As a man who was full of ambitions to open up territory for the Great Zhou and become the emperor of the ages. The Great Zhou
Now that it has reached this point, Guo Xu is simply ashamed. Today in the palace, when the officials looked at him, Guo Xu even had the urge to hide his face and run away.
Since he came to the throne, nothing seems to have gone smoothly, and every judgment he has made seems to be stupid. The attack on Funiu Mountain was defeated, and hundreds of thousands of troops encircled and suppressed tens of thousands of rebels, but they still came back defeated, with tens of thousands of casualties.
. That incident had already embarrassed him. Now, he has put his treasure on uniting the Jurchens to conquer the Liao people in the north. Now it seems that it is another wrong decision.
Moreover, the consequences of this mistake will directly affect the survival of Dao Dazhou and his own throne. This mistake is too big and outrageous.
Guo Xu knew that his ministers were all waiting for him to admit his mistakes, to bow to them and admit his mistakes like his father did. After all, the crisis caused by this time was too great, and someone needed to take responsibility.
But Guo Xu would not do this. Even though he knew in his heart that his decision was a big mistake, Guo Xu had already thought clearly and could never admit his mistake. His throne was not glorious in the first place, and everyone in Zhou Dynasty treated him badly.
There are already subtle remarks and many discussions about his position as emperor behind his back. The group of rebels in Funiu Mountain are still ready to move, waiting for an opportunity to cause chaos. If he admits this major decision-making mistake at this moment, it is tantamount to giving the world a
They will think that they have ruined the Great Zhou Dynasty and that they are not the right one at all. This is absolutely not allowed to happen.
Although being an emperor is very tiring. Dazhou is so big that there are countless things waiting for Guo Xu to deal with every day. There are so many big and small things. Even big things may require his own decision-making and approval. Sometimes
Yes, Guo Xu even began to miss the carefree life when he was a prince. At that time, he lived a really free and easy life. However, that was just nostalgia. Being an emperor was indeed a hard job and very tiring. However,
Being an emperor is also the most enjoyable and infatuating thing in the world. No one is willing to give up the supreme power after tasting it. Those who complain about suffering and tiredness and talk about missing the carefree days are hypocritical.
All words are a disguised form of showing off. There are only a few people in the world who are really willing to live a life without fighting against the world. Those hermits and masters seem to be free and easy, but in fact they are just because they have no opportunity. As long as they have the opportunity to come into contact with power and status
, they will all flock together and run faster than a rabbit.
Guo Xu understood that he could never go back to the past, and his throne would never be questioned or usurped by anyone. The price he paid for this was too great, and the taste of power was too good. If he flinched even a little bit,
Then the price must be death and reputation. He can't retreat, he can only hold on.
Therefore, he is willing to agree to those humiliating terms for peace, which is a crucial step for him. If he cannot stabilize the situation at this time, everything will really be over. In the past, with his temperament, how could he accept such humiliation?
The terms. It is said that back then, it was difficult for him to accept even the slightly unfavorable terms of the Yanyun Alliance to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
. But compared with the several clauses negotiated by the court today, the Yanyun Alliance back then can be regarded as a perfect peace treaty clause for the two countries to have equal relations. Today's few clauses not only caused great losses to the Zhou Dynasty, but also brought great consequences.
It's humiliating. At that time, the Zhou Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom were brotherly countries with no hierarchy, but now I have to call Yelu Zongyuan 'uncle'. The entire Zhou Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom have also become countries with unequal generations.
, is the "nephew country" of the Liao Kingdom.
No wonder those ministers cried bitterly as if they were mourning for their heirs. This was indeed a great humiliation. However, what could I do? What the Liao people threw was a pile of horse dung, and I had to swallow it swallowed because I no longer had the capital.
If you challenge the Liao people, if you continue to fight with the Liao people, your country will be destroyed.
Fortunately, although the content of the agreement was angry and humiliating, it did not push him into a desperate situation. Although the amount of compensation was huge, it was not impossible to raise. At the worst, more taxes would be levied.
Da Zhou can always get money by plundering some here and some there. The people of Da Zhou will definitely be dissatisfied, but compared with the Liao people, their dissatisfaction poses much less threat to the court. The soldiers and horses of Da Zhou may
He is not the opponent of the Liao people, but he is more than enough to deal with these people. If they dare to make trouble, he will not be lenient. In short, the current difficulties must be overcome, the situation must be stabilized, and the safety of his throne must be ensured.
The existence of Zhou Sheji. For this goal, it is tolerable to pay a little money and suffer a little anger.
"Then Yelu Zongyuan is probably twenty years older than me. It's not too humiliating for me to call him uncle. After all, judging from his age, even among ordinary people, calling him uncle is not enough.
It's the minimum etiquette." Guo Xu thought as if he was comforting himself while sitting on the chair. Although he felt a little shameless for finding such a reason for himself, after thinking about it, he suddenly felt much more comfortable.
…
Just as Guo Xu was sitting there with his thoughts churning, Lu Zhongtian slowly walked into the side hall. Before the waiter at the door could even report, Lu Zhongtian had already arrived beside Guo Xu.
"Your Majesty!" Lu Zhongtian called softly.
"Oh, my grandfather is here. I was about to send someone to invite you. As for the peace negotiation, since the court meeting has been decided today, I think I will ask the Political Affairs Hall to send someone to the Liao Kingdom to reply. After all, we only have less than ten days.
It’s time. I’ll feel better if it’s implemented as soon as possible… Also, regarding the matter of raising this money, should I invite my uncle to come and discuss it together? He is the third envoy, so he has to find a way to raise this money.”
When Guo Xu saw Lu Zhongtian, his expression became more relaxed. At this time, his grandfather was still his backing. Although he had been somewhat alienated from him recently, he seemed to feel that only his grandfather could be relied upon at this moment.
Lu Zhongtian bowed and said: "These things that the emperor mentioned, I will arrange for them. Indemnity...well...I have already figured out how to raise money. As for time, I have enough time. It only takes five days to go to Zhuozhou."
We'll be here soon and we won't miss any time. I came to see the emperor to report something else."
Guo Xu said indifferently: "What's the matter? Grandpa can decide it by himself. At this time, I don't have any thoughts to deal with other matters. I just hope
Implement the peace talks as soon as possible."
Lu Zhongtian clenched his fist to his mouth, coughed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, this is exactly about the peace negotiation."
Guo Xu looked at Lu Zhongtian in surprise and said: "The peace negotiation? Wasn't it agreed today? Has anyone expressed dissatisfaction again? Those officials are really annoying. In this situation, they cannot understand my situation.
.If we really want to make a fuss, just demote them all out of Beijing and save them from making a fuss."
Lu Zhongtian sighed and said: "Your Majesty, it's not the officials who are making trouble, but... let me tell you straight. The terms of the peace negotiation discussed by the court today... are not all the terms. The Liao people actually proposed four peace terms.
The first three items were decided today. As for the fourth item... the old minister... did not report it to the emperor, nor did he make it clear in the palace."
"What?" Guo Xu stood up suddenly and looked at Lu Zhongtian in shock. "You mean, you concealed the terms of the peace agreement from me? You are so brave. Are you planning to deceive me?"
Lu Zhongtian was not panicked at all, and quietly cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, please be patient. How dare I deceive you? I am thinking of your Majesty. If this last clause of the peace negotiation is announced, I am afraid that the peace negotiation will not be concluded. This clause, veteran
I felt that it was necessary to discuss it with the Emperor alone and not to discuss it in public, so I did it on my own initiative. If the Emperor is angry, I am willing to accept the punishment."
Guo Xu became more and more curious and said in a deep voice: "What kind of terms are those? So important? Do the Liao people want to cede land? If this is the request, it will definitely not be possible. I cannot be a king who will be reviled forever."
Lu Zhongtian shook his head and said: "It's not about ceding land, it's about a person's life and death."
Guo Xu looked at Lu Zhongtian in confusion, but saw Lu Zhongtian looking around the side hall and waving his sleeves with a serious expression. A group of maids and other maids hurriedly bowed and left, and the huge side hall suddenly became empty.
"Your Majesty, the last peace condition proposed by the Liao people is...that we kill Yang Jun." Lu Zhongtian said solemnly.
"What?" Guo Xu stared at Lu Zhongtian in shock and shouted, "Why?"
"They said that Yang Jun was the commander-in-chief who led the Northern Expedition and should be punished. Moreover, Mr. Yang... killed Yelu Zongyuan's son, the third prince of Liao, Yelu, in front of hundreds of thousands of Liao troops.
Shi. Yelu Zongyuan is said to hate him to the core, so he forcibly added this clause to the peace terms. He asked us to kill Yang Jun and present his head. Otherwise, even if the previous three peace terms are reached, they will not give up.
." Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice.
Guo Xu was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "This is unreasonable, this is unreasonable, how could they make such a request? How could Privy Yang be killed? Although he was defeated, he was an important minister of my great Zhou Dynasty, how could I do this?
If I do this, won’t it chill the whole court? Do the Liao people have to retaliate for being so hostile? Isn’t it inevitable that the two armies will be killed and injured in a battle? How can we be so liquidated afterwards?”
Lu Zhongtian was silent and looked at Guo Xu quietly.
Guo Xu walked a few steps and suddenly raised his forehead and shouted: "No, the Liao people did this on purpose. They wanted to kill a good general in our army and the mainstay of the court with ulterior motives. If we kill Privy Yang, who will be punished in the court in the future?"
Army, who will lead the battle? Who will protect our country and our country?"
