Tantai Zhilin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chu Kingdom's East China Sea Navy, passed away. This was something Qining could never have imagined. When he learned about it from the Jin Dao Lord, Qining was horrified.
Tantai Zhilin was in his prime, a military general, and there was no war in the East China Sea. Tantai Zhilin suddenly passed away. Qining's first thought was that Tantai Zhilin might have died of illness. He looked solemn and said softly. : "My condolences to the old marquis!" I thought that Tantai Huang was indeed a battlefield veteran who had been forged into steel a hundred times. The passing of Tantai Zhilin was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the Jindao Tantai family, both emotionally and in terms of strength. It can be said that it was an extremely heavy blow to the Tai family, but Tantaihuang acted very calmly from beginning to end, which shows that Jin Daohou has an extraordinary control over his emotions.
Of course he understands Tantai Huang's current state of mind. As the eldest son of the Jin Dao Tantai family, Tantai Zhilin, who had high hopes for Jin Dao Hou, passed away. From an emotional point of view, no one can compare to the pain in Tantai Old Marquis' heart. , Tantaihuang is still able to remain calm at this moment, which is nothing more than the support of his excellent perseverance.
At this time, I finally understood why Sima Lan and Tantai Huang came to the palace at the same time tonight, and the emperor even summoned himself into the palace.
The death of Tantai Zhilin was naturally a very heavy blow to the Jindao Tantai family, and it was also a considerable loss to the Chu State.
Since the establishment of the Chu Kingdom's navy, it has always been under the command of the Tantai family. Tantai Zhilin has been the commander-in-chief of the East China Sea Navy for more than ten years. It is not an easy task for a famous navy general to replace Tantai Zhilin.
Civil strife broke out in the Northern Han Dynasty, and the Chu State had begun to make plans and prepare for the Northern Expedition. The main force of the Northern Expedition was naturally the Qinhuai Army. However, once the Han Dynasty entered the north, a navy army would be indispensable as support. Now the Chu State and Qi has become an ally, and Qi is willing to mobilize its naval forces to cooperate with Chu's strategy, but Chu will never be able to completely hand over all of its lifeblood on the water to Qi's hands.
Qi Ning had actually thought that once the navy was really needed, even if the Qi navy was the main force on the water, the Chu state would inevitably mobilize the Donghai navy to cooperate and form a joint navy of Chu and Qi. Firstly, it was to strengthen the navy. The power of the navy is, more importantly, to restrict the navy of Qi. Otherwise, if you leave all the water routes in the hands of the navy of Qi, it will be equivalent to having a man follow behind you with a knife. It is very dangerous. The kings and ministers of Chu cannot have thought of this. .
But at this very moment, Tantai Zhilin suddenly passed away, which would naturally have a very important impact on the army of the Northern Expedition.
"Last night, a secret letter was sent quickly from the East China Sea." Tantai Huang said slowly: "Zhilin committed suicide behind closed doors in the East China Sea Navy Commander's Mansion. When he was found, he was already dead. This matter is of great importance. Shen Liangqiu immediately blocked the news to prevent the matter from spreading out of the Governor's Mansion, and then sent someone to send the news back quickly."
"Suicide?" Qining was shocked again: "Old Marquis, Governor Tantai... committed suicide?"
Tantaihuang did not explain, but continued: "But this kind of thing can't be hidden for too long. Zhilin always shares the joys and sorrows with the navy soldiers. He spends more than half of every month on the warship. If he doesn't show up for many days, he will definitely It will make the military suspicious and even cause turmoil in the East China Sea."
"Old Marquis, who is Shen Liangqiu?"
Tantai Huang said: "Shen Liangqiu's father became Jinlan brothers with me when he was young. When Shen Liangqiu was eight years old, he was adopted by me as his adopted son. His temperament is chivalrous, and his temperament is quite similar to Zhi Qi's. Young At that time, I had a similar temperament with Zhi Qi, and we became brothers Jinlan. After Zhi Qi died of illness, Shen Liangqiu left the army for three years and traveled around. After returning, I asked him to follow Zhi Lin."
"It turns out he is the adopted son of the old Marquis."
"When Zhi Lin was transferred to the East China Sea as the naval commander, he asked Shen Liangqiu to follow him by name." Tantai Huang said in a gentle voice: "Shen Liangqiu has outstanding talents and a deep understanding of military strategy. He and Zhi Lin complement each other well. The two are like brothers, and now Shen Liang Qiu serves as the deputy commander of the Donghai Navy and has helped Zhilin a lot over the years."
Qi Ning nodded slightly. The Donghai Navy belongs to the Jindao Tantai family's sphere of influence. The naval generals are naturally close confidants of the Tantai family. Shen Liangqiu has a deep relationship with the Tantai family, so he is naturally a close confidant. Moreover, after the incident, This person quickly blocked the news and did not leak it to the outside world. He handled it very well.
Qi Ning thought for a moment and then asked: "Old Marquis, the death of Governor Tantai is very sad, but why is the old Marquis worried about unrest in the East China Sea?"
Tantaihuang glanced at Qining and then said: "When Emperor Taizu raised his troops, the south of the Yangtze River was in chaos. After Beitang Tianwu proclaimed himself emperor, there were no less than ten thieves in the south who did not know the heights of the sky and claimed to be emperor, each dominating his own side." After a pause, he continued: "When Emperor Taizu passed away, the south was still divided. Emperor Taizong inherited Emperor Taizu's great cause and continued his conquests, invincible. In the end, only two forces were stubbornly resisting, and one was Xichuan. Li Hongxin, the other group is the Donghai Han family."
Qi Ning is naturally aware of the struggle between the Li family in Xichuan and the Chu State. After all, it was Jinyi Laohou who led the army to attack Xichuan. Even now, the Qi family in Jinyi is inextricably related to the Miao family in Xichuan, but the East China Sea Han Dynasty He knew very little about home.
But he could also imagine that the world was in chaos and the Central Plains was torn apart. After the Beitang clan captured Luoyang, they spent all their energy on pacifying the north. Emperor Taizu who was fighting for supremacy in the south was just the governor of Jingzhou and was not the strongest. There were heroes from all walks of life. Naturally, they are plotting for hegemony, and the heroes are vying for supremacy, creating chaos.
The establishment of a dynasty naturally involves stepping on the corpses of countless enemies. It goes without saying that when the Chu State was established, it defeated many opponents.
This Han family in the East China Sea is naturally a powerful enemy on the road to founding the Chu Kingdom.
"Han Jingting, the governor of the East China Sea, is also a talented person. He occupied the East China Sea. It took me, Da Chu, more than a year to pacify the East China Sea and capture Gulin City!" Tantai Huang looked solemn: "The Han family is a powerful family in the East China Sea. , with many branches, every time Emperor Taizong conquered a place, he mainly focused on appeasement, so except for some people in the Han family who were beheaded, many people still survived."
Qi Ning understood: "The old Marquis is saying that once there is a change in the Navy, the Han family in the East China Sea is likely to be in chaos?"
"When I led my troops to the city, Han Jingting defended it for more than a month, and finally took the initiative to sue for peace, and also proposed that he commit suicide in the city in exchange for the Korean branch to survive." Tantai Huang said eloquently: "At that time, as long as we attacked for a few more days, Gulin City was bound to be destroyed, but Han Jingting took the initiative to seek peace, so I naturally had to ask Emperor Taizong for an order. Emperor Taizong was generous and kind and agreed to Han Jingting's conditions, so except for Han Jingting, other Korean clans were not punished. "After a pause, he continued: "An important reason why the Donghai Navy stationed troops in the East China Sea is to guard against chaos among the Han people. Fortunately, the people of the Han family have been honest and behaved in recent years and have not acted arbitrarily. However, You must be on guard against them.”
Qi Ning nodded slightly, thinking that before the world was unified, the enemies who surrendered were treated leniently. This was also due to the current situation. Otherwise, the Chu army would kill every time they attacked. This would certainly make people fear, but it would also It's hard to really make people worship you.
Qi Ning thought for a moment and then whispered: "Old Marquis, please forgive me for being bold. General Tantai leads the Donghai Navy and has a very important stake. How could he commit suicide?"
A warrior who emerged from the iron-blooded world committed suicide inexplicably. Even Qining couldn't figure it out.
"I have been fighting for decades and have experienced countless battles. Several of my sons have followed me for many years." Tantaihuang said slowly: "Jin Yihou, I have a question and I want to ask you for advice!"
"Although the old Marquis gives orders, I don't dare to ask for advice."
"We are in a desperate situation, surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides, and life and death hang on a thread." Tantaihuang stared into Qining's eyes: "In this situation, three situations will happen. The first is despair, but not wanting to do anything for it. Killed by the enemy, he kills himself with a horizontal sword. The second kind is that he is shattered and frightened. In order to survive, he bends his knees to the place and begs to surrender. The last option is that although he is in a desperate situation, his fighting spirit is not reduced, and he fights with all his strength, even though he is dead. Rong." After a pause, he asked, "If you were in that situation, how would you choose?"
Qi Ning was stunned and saw Tantaihuang's solemn expression. He hesitated for a moment and then said: "Old Marquis, if it doesn't come to that time, no one can guarantee what choice he will make. Maybe I will fight to the end, Maybe I will kill myself with a sword, but... I will never bend my knees and ask for surrender."
Tantai Huang nodded slightly: "You are right. Until that time comes, it is difficult to know what choice you will make. You are a descendant of the Jinyi Qi family, so naturally you will not ask for surrender from the enemy. I, a descendant of the Tantai family, But there is only one choice.”
"oh?"
"Zhilin has been on the battlefield for many years and has encountered many traps. He has encountered the desperate situation I just mentioned at least twice, but both times he fought hard and escaped death." Tantai Huang said: "Tantai The descendants of our family have never thought about begging for surrender, or even contemplate committing suicide. As long as they have a breath, they will fight to the end. This is the family tradition of the Tantai family, otherwise they are not worthy of being descendants of the Tantai family."
Qi Ning knew that Tantaihuang's words were not just words, they were proven through countless hard work, and he felt awe in his heart.
Tantai Huang raised his head slightly, looked at the black sky, and said slowly: "Even if Tantai Zhilin is in desperate situation, he will never wipe the blade to his own neck. Jin Yihou, do you understand what I said?"
Qi Ning looked solemn and nodded: "The old Marquis said that Donghai sent news that Governor Tantai committed suicide, but this is not true. General Tantai died for another reason."
"I have already sent a message to you. The scene must not be damaged at all. What did Tantai Zhilin look like when he died? When you get there, you will see the scene when it happened." Tantai Huang said slowly: "I hope you will Find out the true cause of Tantai Zhilin’s death, and don’t let his death remain unclear.”
Qi Ning was stunned, his heart trembled, and he said in surprise: "Old Marquis, you mean... I want to go to the East China Sea?"