The two of them had just listened to Jia Ke's instructions to Xiao Yue and understood that Jia Ke was worried that the other party would be ambushed, so they surrendered together.
"Don't worry, my lord, we will definitely act as ordered and will never do anything rashly."
Jia Ke then handed over the command arrow to them with confidence.
Next, the army was launched, with hundreds of thousands of horses and horses marching towards the south in a mighty manner.
As expected, Jia Ke caught his eye along the way. After the battle with Jia Ke, Ruan Zhengyu also understood the difference in strength between himself and Jia Ke.
This time he also let go of the pride in his heart. After gathering 300,000 troops, he saw that these people were all newly recruited troops. Although they had undergone some training, they were not as good as the elite soldiers who had been on the battlefield before.
Not worth mentioning at all.
Therefore, Ruan Zhengyu summoned civil and military officials several times to discuss how to deal with the Central Plains army.
But the civil and military forces below were also helpless. Originally, the 300,000 men and horses in the Central Plains were enough to give them a headache. Now he has hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers from Annan who have surrendered. These people add up to more than 500,000.
Now that the enemy has an absolute advantage in both quality and quantity, how can we fight this battle?
Some of these people even have other thoughts in their minds. They are all nobles, and this country belongs to the Ruan family. Even if they surrender, they will only lose some reputation and money.
Because of this idea, many people began to advise Ruan Zhengyu and asked him to send envoys to Jia Ke's military camp to offer a surrender letter to Jia Ke.
Although Ruan Zhengyu was sitting on the throne at this time, he had never felt so lonely.
He was angry in his heart at the ministers' suggestion that he surrender, but he did not show it on his face.
He knew that this was the common sentiment of the ministers below. Although he could suppress it for a while, if these ministers were forced to panic, he might not be able to be a king.
Only now did Ruan Zhengyu feel the feeling of losing his right and left hand. After Li Guangqing was gone, there would be no one available in the court.
Ruan Zhengyu thought for a while and remembered the Shenwu General Ruan Tiande. This man was very resourceful. Some time ago, before he went on an expedition, he uttered ominous words and was imprisoned.
Although Nguyen Thien Duc had many bad habits, as a descendant of the royal family, he was still loyal to the court.
Ruan Zhengyu thought about going to talk to this person. If he really had a way to turn the situation around, he wouldn't mind giving him the power.
After Ruan Zhengyu dismissed the court meeting, he personally led his soldiers to the prison.
When Ruan Zhengyu arrived at the place where Ruan Tiande was imprisoned, he saw the old general sitting in the cell, writing and drawing on the ground with a wooden stick, and did not even realize that Ruan Zhengyu had arrived outside.
The cell leader next to him was a little annoyed when he saw Ruan Tiande like this, and wanted to go over and remind him.
But before the cell leader could take action, he was stopped by Ruan Zhengyu. He quietly opened the key to the cell, then pushed the door open and came behind Ruan Zhengyu. He wanted to see what this veteran was doing.
As a result, he looked behind him and found out that Ruan Tiande had drawn a map of the border between China and Annan, and was comparing the drawings there. This was simulating a battle between the two sides.
Ruan Zhengyu watched Ruan Tiande keep placing various stones and grass roots. The stones were getting fewer and fewer, and they kept retreating to the south, while the grass roots were getting more and more, and they kept putting pressure on the south.
We arrived at Thang Long Palace.
When Ruan Zhengyu saw this situation, he couldn't help but indulge in it. Now he couldn't help but shout: "The matter has come to this, what can we do now?"
This shout woke Ruan Tiande up. When he looked back, he only saw King Annan and Ruan Zhengyu standing behind him, with a look of anxiety on his face.
When Ruan Tiande saw the king coming, he immediately turned over and knelt on the ground, "The sinner Ruan Tiande, I wish you a thousand lives."
Ruan Zhengyu also came to his senses. He hurriedly helped Ruan Tiande up, then patted his shoulder and said with emotion: "I didn't listen to the old general's words, but now it's too late to regret it."
Ruan Tiande was deeply moved when he heard this, but he had already figured things out during his time in prison.
Even if the Annan Kingdom declares its surrender to Jia Ke, I'm afraid Jia Ke will not stop there.
"Your Majesty, you don't have to say that. I have been thinking about it in prison during this period, and my Majesty's judgment is still correct. The people in the Central Plains are eyeing me, Annan. This time, Jia Ke led his troops south, not just to defeat us.
I’m afraid they want to seize our country.”
When Ruan Zhengyu heard this, he felt that he had met a close friend. Now the civil and military ministers in the court were blaming him for repeatedly violating the borders of the Celestial Dynasty, which made the Celestial Dynasty furious and led a large army to conquer.
However, these people did not think about it. If they had not led the troops several times and invaded China and obtained a lot of food and supplies, how could Annan have the financial resources to dominate the southeast.
You must know that among the small countries in the south, Annan's land is not the most vast. It was only with the money and population he obtained from several invasions of the Celestial Empire that he was able to declare war on other small countries and became a hegemon in the south.
Ruan Zhengyu helped Ruan Tiande sit on the spot in the cell, then raised his hands and said to Ruan Tiande: "Old General, now almost all of Annan's hundreds of thousands of gold soldiers have been captured by the Central Plains people, and now they have become Jia Ke's accomplice, although in Shenglong Mansion
Another 300,000 troops have been assembled, but these are all new recruits who have just joined the army. I am afraid they are not enough to hold a stalemate with the Central Plains people. I wonder what the old general has to do."
After hearing this, Ruan Tiande's face turned gloomy. He was in a cell with no information, and he did not expect that the situation would turn out to be so bad.
In Ruan Tiande's mind, he thought that even Ruan Zhengyu, with his troops and horses, could not defeat the arrogant generals of the Central Plains, but he could still keep most of the troops retreating to Thang Long Palace.
But what he didn't expect was that not only were the hundreds of thousands of troops annihilated, but they all surrendered to the Central Plains.
Amidst this ebb and flow, the situation in Annan is now even more dangerous.
Ruan Tiande stood up, looked at the sky outside the cell and thought for a long time, then gritted his teeth, turned around again, and reached Ruan Zhengyu's side.
"Your Majesty, the current situation is extremely critical. With the help of new soldiers like him, we will not be able to resist Jia Ke no matter what. We cannot win without some clever tricks."
When Ruan Zhengyu heard what Ruan Tiande said, he knew that he had a solution, so he raised his hands and said: "General, if you have anything to say, just give me your advice. I am respectful of everything."
Ruan Tiande had no scruples when he arrived here, "Your Majesty, seeing that the enemy is strong and we are weak, we cannot engage in a decisive battle with the enemy. We should maintain a stalemate with the enemy for a long time and wait until the enemy's food is exhausted and they will naturally retreat."
Ruan Zhengyu had exactly this in mind, but he was not sure that he could maintain a stalemate with the Central Plains army for a long time, so he said sadly: "The Central Plains army is not only brave and good at fighting, but also well-armored and has many siege weapons. I'm afraid I don't have any
As long as we persist, Shenglong Mansion will be captured by the enemy."
Ruan Tiande did not have any rebuttal after hearing this, but said: "Shenglong Mansion is a dead place. There are plains on all sides of Shenglong Mansion. It can be said that it is easy to attack and difficult to defend. In my opinion, Shenglong Mansion is a dead place."
Throw a bait to Jia Ke."
When Ruan Zhengyu heard this, he felt a surge of anger pouring out of his chest. What idea did Ruan Tiande come up with? He wanted to throw away all the inheritance of his ancestors.
You must know that all dynasties of the Annan Kingdom have regarded Thang Long Mansion as its foundation, because the terrain here is flat, the water conservancy is rich, and the population is dense. Once you occupy this place, you will not have to worry about food, grass, and soldiers.
Therefore, Shenglong Mansion is not only a battleground for Annan's military strategists, but also of great significance. If Shenglong Mansion is lost, how can the princes from all over the Annan Kingdom obey him and obey his orders?
Ruan Tiande also saw the anger on Ruan Zhengyu's face, but he ignored it and continued: "After abandoning Shenglong Palace, we continued to evacuate to the south. As the front stretched, Jia Ke's route for transporting grain and grass became longer and longer.
At that time, we sent elite troops to harass continuously, so that the Central Plains troops would have no food and grass to support them. When the time passed, they would have to retreat. Although in the end they would inevitably have to pay compensation from various places, the ancestral country could be preserved, and Sheng Sheng
Dragon Mansion can also be recaptured."
After hearing this, Ruan Zhengyu's face was filled with uncertainty. It was a bit hard for him to accept the idea of leaving the capital city of Shenglong Mansion. After all, after several generations of construction, this Shenglong Mansion was no worse than those provincial capitals in the Central Plains.
What.
If this place is abandoned and we go to the south, the nobles in the south may not be so honest when they see that they are weak.
"Old General, the situation is complicated now. I have Shenglong Mansion, so the nobles in the south can stay honest. But if I lose this foundation, those people in the south will definitely make trouble. I'm afraid I will be attacked from both sides and out of control."
When Ruan Tiande heard this, his eyes filled with sadness, "Your Majesty, now is not the time to care about this. Annan has reached the stage of national subjugation and annihilation. Even if my Ruan clan is wiped out from now on, it will naturally leave a legacy to Annan's future descendants.
Lower your hopes.”
When Ruan Zhengyu heard this, he understood what Ruan Tiande meant, which was to sacrifice the Ruan family to preserve the stability of Annan's entire country.
Ruan Zhengyu, however, does not have such noble sentiments. In his heart, as long as he preserves the glory and wealth of his Ruan family, Annan's empire is nothing.
If necessary, it would be a good idea to sacrifice the entire Annan family to preserve the Ruan clan for a long time.
Ruan Zhengyu is now very disappointed with this general. Originally, Ruan Zhengyu thought about asking this old general to come out to help the Ruan family tide over the difficulties, but she did not expect that he would actually want to sacrifice the Ruan family. How could this be possible?
So Ruan Zhengyu stood up again with an expressionless face and said to Ruan Tiande: "Old general, please continue to rest in this prison. I still have official business to deal with when I return."
After Ruan Zhengyu finished speaking, he turned around and left the cell.
Ruan Tiande looked at Ruan Zhengyu and left without looking back. He knew that the situation was over, so he shouted sadly: "Annan is dead, ancestors, have you seen it?"
Ruan Zhengyu had just arrived at the old gate and immediately became angry when he heard these words.