As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pointed around: "According to someone's knowledge, in the battle in Changsha County, nearly half of the generals under the command of King Yueyang and King Changsha were killed or injured. So if this battle had happened, he would still be standing next to King Yueyang alive.
How many of these people can be left?!"
After a pause, Yao Silian pointed to the door again: "How many of the people in Hecheng can be left? And how many of this huge city will be destroyed by war?"
Chen Shushen closed his eyes in pain.
The scars of Hou Jingzhi's rebellion have just been wiped away. This town that has just stood up on the ruins really cannot withstand another disaster of blood and fire.
This is simply a matter of choosing whether to be a loyal minister or a benevolent person.
I really have read so many books in vain, and when the time comes, I don’t know what to choose.
Yao Silian stared at Chen Shushen closely. When he saw that Chen Shushen was no longer willing to look at him, he knew that Chen Shushen had actually made a choice, but he still had no way to convince himself.
Regardless of what Chen Shushen was still hesitating about, Yao Silian decisively made Li Xingchen's conditions: "His Royal Highness the King of Han promises that as long as King Yueyang can offer the city, His Highness the King of Han will regard King Yueyang as the prefect of Yuzhang County, and all of you here will also keep it."
.In addition, we are all descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties, descendants of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and His Highness the King of Han identifies himself as a southern Han in his heart, so he will never embarrass you, nor will he embarrass the royal family."
The civil officials present were immediately overwhelmed. The reason why they wanted to maintain their loyalty was because they thought that when Li Xingchen came, at least half of them would be replaced by Shu Han officials. Now that they had this guarantee, they would naturally
not worried.
You must know that this is the Southern Dynasty that has experienced four dynasties in turn. Many of these civil servants are former ministers of the previous dynasty, so they do not have much loyalty and sense of belonging to Nanchen.
Another day... everyone has long been used to it.
Just don't replace them.
Chen Shushen let out a long sigh, stood up and cupped his hands: "Please inform the King of Han that Xiao Wang is willing to lead Yuzhang County to surrender."
Yao Silian hurriedly returned the courtesy, but in fact, he himself was not nervous at all.
Fortunately, Chen Shushen is not Chen Shujian who just wants to die...
———————————————
"Yuzhang County has surrendered." Lechang handed Yao Silian's memorial to Li Xingchen, feeling a little disappointed.
Li Xingchen once again marched into the army, and almost all his officials were sent out to deal with local affairs. Especially the civil servants were very busy, and the memorials they sent became increasingly confusing, so in desperation, Li Xingchen had no choice but to capture Lechang.
as a document.
Jiangzhou surrendered two days earlier than Yuzhang County, and Li Xingchen directly handed over the frontal battlefield of Yuzhang County to Chen Zhishen, who led his army south from Yingzhou. As Li Xingchen's top general besides Pei Zilie and Xiao Shilian, he had been blocked before.
In Gangneung, he had almost no achievements, so he deserves the position of head coach in this battle.
But now it seems that Chen Zhishen is going to be disappointed.
In fact, it was not only Chen Zhishen who was disappointed, but also Pei Zilie. He ran all the way from Yingzhou. He thought he could gain something in the battle of Jiangzhou. Who knew that his father came with Chen Huiji's handwritten letter of surrender? Pei Zilie only
I can bear it.
Therefore, Li Xingchen simply took a boat and turned back into the river, heading straight to Jiangzhou, and planned to drive down the river to Jiankang Prefecture.
The line from Xunyang County to Yuzhang County has been breached, and the main force of Nanchen on land is only in the area south of Nanyuzhou. Li Xingchen has nothing to worry about. Xiao Shilian and Chen Zhishen can easily wipe them out.
"King Yueyang is only sixteen years old. He is not Chen Shujian." Li Xingchen smiled bitterly, "Do you really expect this younger brother to be able to defend Yuzhang County?"
In history, Chen Shushen really defended Xiangzhou, but obviously the current Chen Shushen is far from mature in that time and space, and it is impossible to have the prestige to restrain his subordinates. Therefore, the surrender of Yuzhang County was also expected by Li Xingchen.
In the final analysis, I really have to thank Chen Shuling!
This guy had made a lot of troubles in Yangzhou to get the attention of the East Palace and got the opportunity to command the army; but now this guy's troubles have made Nanchen completely unable to resist.
"But he is the late emperor's heir after all..." Lechang couldn't help but sigh.
From Xiangzhou to Yuzhang County, is there really no one who is loyal to this court?
Li Xingchen said calmly: "Loyalty and benevolence are inherently a difficult question to choose."
While sorting out the remaining memorials, Lechang looked over in surprise.
Li Xingchen stretched out, but he didn't mind explaining the problem: "For Chen Shushen, if he sticks to it and no one listens to him, it will only make Yuzhang County more chaotic, but in the end he may be able to gain a reputation as a loyal person.
, but it is Yuzhang County that may be destroyed by war. He could obviously save the people but failed to do so. That is unkind."
After a pause, Li Xingchen felt helpless: "What's more, Chen Shuling's making such a fuss in Jiankang Mansion is clearly telling everyone that even the pillars of your royal family no longer intend to consider this dynasty, so everyone has to weigh it.
, how long can this dynasty last? How can they be considered loyal if they are fighting for it now?"
Lechang was stunned, and Li Xingchen said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid you haven't heard the nursery rhymes coming from Jiankang Prefecture... Peach leaves follow peach leaves, and you don't need a stick to cross the river, but there is no pain in crossing. I
I welcome you."
Lechang suddenly shuddered.
She is well versed in poetry, so of course she understands what this nursery rhyme means.
People from Jiangzuo and Jiangbei, you don’t have to worry about not having a boat or oars to cross the river, just go ahead and cross the river, we will greet you!
And now Pei Zilie from Jiangzuo and Wu Huijue from Jiangbei are the two armies closest to Jiankang Prefecture!
Of course, there is also Li Xinchen who is sailing on the river.
"Why..." Lechang's face turned a little pale.
Twenty years after Nanchen was founded, Jiangnan was brought out of the ruins of Hou Jing's rebellion. Why are the people's hearts not here in Nanchen?
"Because it has been twenty years, not to mention that the foreign war is still ongoing," Li Xingchen stretched out his hand and knocked on the table. He knew that his words would definitely be a heavy blow to Lechang, but now this doubt must be resolved. "Only
Internally, the administration was chaotic, rewards and punishments were unclear, and excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes were imposed... The benevolence and righteousness of the imperial court had not spread to the lowest level. Those who struggled to stand up on the ruins were only aristocratic families and poor families, not the common people...
··”
Lechang was silent, these were indeed things that the imperial court had failed to do. Even Chen Xu, who was known as a wise man, was still allowing aristocratic and poor families to suck the blood of the common people.
After all, Nanchen's political system has not changed much compared to the previous dynasty. The only bright spot is probably the promotion of some poor families to make up for the positions vacated by the aristocratic families that were suppressed during the Hou Jing Rebellion. (To be continued)