"You guys, aren't you taking advantage of others' danger?"
Wu Fa wanted to cry but had no tears, and his relaxed and joyful heart suddenly fell to the bottom after recovering from a serious illness, but he still tried his best not to let himself say rude words.
Bei Li can't offend, as long as the conditions are not too excessive, I will agree to them all.
This is what Ning Chengzhi said to him before he left Dong Ling, but now that Bei Li wants half of Dong Ling's country, is this considered "too much"
He didn't know if it was too much for Ning Chengzhi, but he thought - it couldn't be more too much!
"Master Wu's words are wrong."
The old god Chen Jingxing was there, standing with his hands behind his back, "I, Beili, belong to Dongling Youguo. Sending Beili's son to recover Dongling's lost land is naturally the responsibility of the Youguo. It's just that the mobilization of the army needs food, grass, ordnance, and it will be inevitable at that time." Casualties, Master Wu will not let me, Bei Li, sacrifice manpower and financial resources for nothing, will he?"
Wu Fa hurriedly said: "My Majesty Dong Ling has already anticipated this, as long as your country is willing to send troops to help, we will give you whatever money, food and grass you want—"
"Why."
Chen Jingxing waved his hands and pointed around, "Master Wu, this is the first time you have come to the capital, right? Even though you have been sick for a few days, you should be able to see how rich and powerful I am, Beili. Not to mention, Master Wu is in a state of illness. The rare and rare medicine used is very valuable, and the pillow at your hand is made of gold silk."
Wu Fa subconsciously withdrew his hand, looking at the pillow with two respects.
Chen Jingxing was very satisfied with his cautious appearance, and the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, "So our Majesty doesn't want Dongling's money, but only wants these ten cities as compensation for my loss of manpower and material resources in Beili. Oh, yes—"
The arc of his smile widened, "I am here today by His Majesty's order to inform the envoy, not to discuss with you. You just need to tell Emperor Ning about our Majesty's conditions, and everything will be easy if you agree. Since Yin Shuo became the emperor of Dongling, our Majesty will definitely send troops to avenge Emperor Ning."
Wu Fa was even more surprised.
According to what Chen Jingxing said, once Dongling's imperial army was defeated, Yin Shuo would have ample reason to send troops to attack Dongling once he occupied Beili, the country of Dongling.
No matter how high the morale of the rebel army is, it may not be able to stop the strength of Beili's army. Wouldn't it be that all the land of Dongling will be handed over to others
If you agree now, you can at least keep half of the country.
His heart was already loose, and he hurriedly got up and said, "Okay, I'll hurry back and report to our Majesty!"
Seeing him going out to order people to pack their luggage, Chen Jingxing was stunned.
…
"Your Majesty didn't see Lord Wu's face at that time. It seems that Mrs. Ning is right. The Dongling court is imminent. The condition we put forward is ten important towns in name, but in fact it already covers half of Dongling's land. I originally thought that Mr. Wu would at least bargain for a price, but I didn't want him to dare to argue."
Chen Jingxing went back to the palace to report to Yu Fu, Yu Fu was also quite surprised by this, thought that the other party would not agree to this condition, but Wu Fa was so pleased.
If it weren't for the overwhelming pressure in the country, which courtier would be willing to ruin half of the country
Yu Fu said: "If you really want to send troops to Dongling, the border city defense will need to send more troops there. By the way, how is General Ouyang's injury?"
Chen Jingxing cupped his hands and said, "General Ouyang is not young, this disembowelling injury is not a trivial matter, he is still lying on the bed and never got up."
Yu Fu nodded, "Then when the time comes, I'm afraid I have to ask Second Brother to go..."
Wu Fa left the capital in a hurry, all they can do now is to wait, waiting for the response from Dongling Dynasty.
After approving the papers for half a day, Yu Fu got up from behind the case and stretched, and said to Yao Lan, "Let's go to the East Palace to see Yu Yang."
Although the Beili Palace is magnificent, most of the palaces have not been repaired for a long time, only the East Palace where Yufu lived after returning to China, and the central palace group consisting of the Golden Palace and the Longevity Palace in the early dynasty have been repaired.
Especially since the harem has never been inhabited, Yu Fu ordered that it should not be repaired, so as not to waste money on useless things.
She simply arranged Kun Yuyang and the two children to live in the East Palace, where Gu Shubai and the others lived in the apse, and sent fine maids and nurses to take care of them.
She was also worried that Kun Yuyang would inevitably be sad after experiencing the pain of losing her husband, so she would go over to have a look from time to time.
Yu Huan landed in front of the East Palace, the palace people hurriedly bowed to greet her, Yao Lan helped Yu Fu's hand to get off the sedan chair, feeling that the weather was getting colder every day.
She was used to Dongling's warmth like spring, and she was not used to it when she first returned to the north.
"Yuyang and the others came here in a light car, so they must not have brought any clothes. At this time, remember to bring them more winter clothes, especially not to freeze the children."
Yu Fu said as he walked in, Yao Lan smiled and said: "I sent it long ago, I heard that the two young masters' halls have been smoked by a stove, I am afraid that the child will not be able to withstand the cold."
The palace maid came to greet her, "I have seen Your Majesty, is Your Majesty here to find Mrs. Ning? This servant will pass on the message."
"There is no need to pass it on, I will just go in."
She entered the main hall step by step, Yao Lan took off her golden flower-woven cloak and hung it on the shelf, Yu Fu looked in the hall, but did not see Kun Yuyang.
After a closer look, she realized that behind the desk in the inner room, she was looking at something so engrossed that she didn't even notice anyone coming.
"Yu Yang."
Sure enough, Yu Fu called softly, and Kun Yuyang raised his head in surprise.
She hurriedly stepped forward from behind the desk, "Your Majesty."
"When there is no one else, let's just call them by their old names. The same is true for the elder brother and the second brother. They just use the honorific address in front of outsiders."
Yu Fu patted her hand with a smile, Kun Yuyang glanced outside the hall, smiled slightly, "Okay."
Yu Fu regards her as the same person as Gu Shubai and the others, not only an old friend, but also a close friend, so she is called by her previous address.
Coupled with her meticulous care of herself and her children these days, Kun Yuyang was very moved, "Yufu, do you know? The thing I am most grateful for now is that I met you at the spring banquet of Princess Danyang. Without you, my children and I would have died in the chaos of war and Yin Shuo's revenge. I can never repay your friendship and kindness to me in this life!"
Yu Fu hurriedly said: "What are you talking about? You and I are friends. Back then you ventured to find us from the paddock alone, and told us that Yin Shuo and the First Prince conspired to kill the late Emperor. And Uncle Ning Tang planned to kill us in the execution ground. Rescuing the general and the others, isn’t this also the kindness you and my wife have shown us? It’s not a day or two for us to help each other, so it doesn’t have to be so clear.”
Kun Yuyang's expression eased a little. She has been carefully raised in the palace these days, and her mental state seems to be much better, unlike the weather-stained face when she first entered the palace.
Yu Fu said again: "By the way, I have some good news for you. The envoy named Wu Fa has already returned to Dongling with our conditions. He didn't bargain with Mr. Chen. He accepted our conditions. All accepted. Fortunately, you brought the news from the Eastern Ling Dynasty, otherwise how would we know which cities are still under the imperial court's control and which cities have been occupied by the rebel army?"
Kun Yuyang smiled faintly, "That's all I can do. Fortunately, Ning Xuan knew that I was bored at home, and that we Xikun women like military affairs. Therefore, when he encountered any new situation during the march, he would be very careful. You wrote to tell me that it was originally just to amuse me, but I don't want it to come in handy at this time."
She suddenly thought of something, "Oh, by the way, come and see this!"
After finishing speaking, he took Yufu's hand and walked towards the back of the desk. Yufu took a closer look, it was a strategic deployment map of Dongling. The situation of the rebel army and the imperial army is marked with green and red dots on the top, and even the exact approximate number of people is marked in small characters beside it.
Yu Fu couldn't help being surprised, originally thought that Kun Yuyang was either taking care of the children in the East Palace or feeling sad for Ning Xuan, but she didn't expect that she would have the heart to do this.
"Yu Fu, take a look. I summed up this piecemeal from the letter Ning Xuan wrote to me and some comments from military generals in the court. It's probably not wrong, but it's my fault after all. The situation before leaving Dongling, the situation may have changed now."
She stretched out her hand, pointed at the place where the green dots were densely packed, connected them into a line with the palm of her hand, and then quickly moved an inch towards the direction of the imperial capital Lin'an.
"If my estimate of the progress of the rebel army is correct, they have at least reached this line now."
The speed of her palm advance was fast and precise, and the momentum was like a broken bamboo. Yufu couldn't help imagining the realistic picture, as if he saw the scene of the two armies fighting bloody rivers...
She shook her head slightly, and removed those images from her mind, "Although Yin Shuo is a civil servant, he is not good at leading troops, but he has a lot of thoughts. Did you see that the rebel army attacked from south to north, approaching Lin'an When it was time, it detoured and continued to develop north.”
Kun Yuyang carefully looked at the picture she marked, and Yufu said it was indeed right. Apart from the large green dots in the south, there are also a few sporadic dots in the north.
These points are exactly the places between the ten important towns that Beili wants, and they are spreading rapidly.
Kun Yuyang nodded, "The court speculates that Yin Shuo's move is to encircle Lin'an, so as to catch a turtle in an urn. Lin'an is the capital of the Eastern Spirit Emperor, so I dare not say that it is impenetrable, but the city defense is always several times tighter than other cities. If Yin Shuo A direct attack on Lin'an may not be successful, but if the reinforcements and food are cut off by encircling the attack, Lin'an will not be able to survive no matter how strong it is. Perhaps this is the reason why Emperor Ning hurriedly sent someone to Bei Li for help."
"Surrounded?"
Yu Fu smiled faintly, "I always feel that he did this to prevent Beili from sending troops to help. He is so smart, he naturally thought that Emperor Ning would rather cede the land than be beheaded by the rebels with nothing."
Kun Yuyang suddenly realized, "It's true what you said, but his army is all peasants forced by heavy taxes and has not received formal training. Weak combat power and poor command are his weaknesses. Only numbers are his advantage."
"That's right. The combat strength is poor but the number of people is large, and the morale of the resistance is enough to make them invincible along the way. It doesn't matter even if the soldiers sacrifice a lot, and they can continue to absorb new soldiers along the way."
Thinking this way, Yufu suddenly smiled, "Dongling has a dense population, a lot of fertile land, and a lot of farmers. Yinshuo can absorb a lot of people, but it's different now. A large number of refugees are pouring into Beili and Xikun. The population is gradually decreasing. If Yin Shuo wants to rely on crowd tactics to win the final victory, it will not last long at all."
Kun Yuyang said: "But when I left Dongling, I heard that Yin Shuo's rebel army was controlling the people and not allowing them to flee to neighboring countries. On the contrary, the imperial court did not do this. It’s fine if you leave, at least you won’t join the rebel army.”
Yu Fu pondered for a moment, "He can't stop it. Water can carry a boat or overturn it. People's will is the most unchangeable thing with power. He can stop it for a while, but he can't stop it for a lifetime."
…
News soon came from Dongling Dynasty that Ning Chengzhi agreed to the conditions of the ten important towns.
Because Yin Shuo's rebel army had already reached Huzhou, breaking through this barrier, the imperial capital Lin'an was completely exposed.
However, according to the latest survey, one of the ten important towns has been captured by the rebel army, and it is Linzhou.
Without further ado, Gu Jiuge immediately led his army to the border for reinforcements. On the night when Gu Jiuge's army arrived, Gu Shubai led his army to march towards Dongling.
They raced against the clock, barely creating any gaps.
The city lord at the border became Gu Jiuge, and the first destination Gu Shubai led his army to was Zhenjiang.
Zhenjiang, this is the city that has the most affection for Beili.
The common people lined the road to welcome Gu Shubai's army into the city, but what they shouted was "Princess Zhenjiang, Princess Zhenjiang... Your Majesty!"
This was once Yufu's fief when he was in Dongling. The name of Princess Zhenjiang spread all over the world and was deeply loved by the people.
Now that the common people are in dire straits, when they learned that the city was ceded to Beili by Ning Chengzhi, they not only did not feel the shame of losing power and humiliating the country, but were very happy.
Beili's national power is strong, and Beili's majesty was once the princess of Zhenjiang, she will definitely protect this city!
Gu Shubai and his party received great courtesy, and the Zhenjiang garrison handed over a set of official documents that night, preparing to leave Zhenjiang and rush to Lin'an.
"This general, there are 1,000 people in the Zhenjiang garrison area. Are you going to take these 1,000 people to Lin'an?"
Gu Shubai sorted out all the official documents, and when he heard about the situation of the Zhenjiang garrison, he couldn't help but ask a question.
For a long time, Dongling has not defended the border on Beili's side, because Beili has never invaded Dongling and Xikun, which is already the default rule.
After Yu Fu revealed his identity to Dong Ling, the defenders increased slightly, and a city can be guarded by a thousand people.
But compared to the number of rebels who were chaotic outside, it was still too small.
Gu Shubai said: "Linzhou has already been captured by the rebel army. If the general leads his army out of Zhenjiang and meets the rebel army, the thousand people may not be enough for the opponent to serve as an appetizer. It is a long way to go to Lin'an, and there are possibilities everywhere on the road. It is too dangerous to meet the rebels."
The general's face was ashen, and he showed a smile that was uglier than crying, "Thank you... the major general remembers."
Gu Shubai was taken aback, and the general said: "The last general was originally a centurion under the battalion of General Yan of the Gu family army, and he was transferred to Zhenjiang as a guard later. The last general's position is humble, and the major general doesn't know who he is. normal."
The joy of meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land made Gu Shubai smile slightly.
He sat down according to the general, "Although the Gu family army is gone, since you were once a member of my Gu family army, and I was a major general, you can listen to my advice. Even if you don't care about yourself, you should Cherish the lives of these thousand soldiers. After you leave Zhenjiang, I am afraid that few will make it to Lin'an alive."
The general wiped away his tears, "Major General, the court's decree is to let the defenders of our nine cities lead their troops back to the court for reinforcements, except for Linzhou. Linzhou has already been captured, and all the soldiers guarding the city have been killed." The military order must not be disobeyed, why doesn’t the general know that going back is a dead end? The general is not afraid of death, but he is afraid that he will not die defending the imperial capital, but will die on the road for no reason!”
Gu Shubai thought about it, even if each of the nine cities had a thousand people, the total number was only ten thousand, it was still difficult to resist the momentum of the rebel army.
He didn't want to see these innocent soldiers lying dead, their enthusiasm turning into nonsense.
After thinking for a moment, he said: "Since that's the case, why don't you stay in Zhenjiang and don't leave."
The general was taken aback, as a member of the Gu family army, he naturally believed in Gu Shubai, but now they belong to two camps after all, Gu Shubai is...
Do you want him to surrender to Beili's army with a thousand soldiers
He gritted his teeth and stood up from his seat, "Major general, the general overlooks the border town of Beili in Zhenjiang on weekdays, and often thinks that it would be great if he could go to Beili to join you. But today, with this opportunity, the general Only then did I realize that I couldn’t do this. Dongling’s country is already on the verge of collapse. At this time, the last general led his army to betray him. Wouldn’t he become a national traitor? The last general would rather die than this!”