The ruler of Nanping was Gao Baorong, but almost all important matters at that time were decided by his younger brother Gao Baoxu.
Gao Baoxu was extremely greedy and lustful, and did many absurd things. However, he used to be restrained, but after his father died, his true nature gradually revealed itself. Gao Baoxu was also a witty person, much smarter than his brother who was the king. He had a nickname called "Wanshixiu", which meant that when his father was angry, he would calm down as soon as he saw him. His love for him was extraordinary, because he liked this smart and clever son.
Therefore, the king often relies on him to make important decisions.
When Gao Baoxu learned that he was summoned, he had to stop the absurd show that was being performed in the hall - a group of strong soldiers and prostitutes indulged themselves in public. He first rushed to the palace to meet the king.
When Gao Baoxu arrived at the palace, he immediately understood what was going on. It turned out that the Zhou army was crossing the border and was about to arrive.
When the ministers saw him coming, they knew that the Gao family was the one in charge, and they expressed their opinions. Li Jingwei said: "I will guarantee with my life that the Zhou army will definitely take the land of Nanping. Our country is at a critical moment of life and death."
Gao Baoxu agreed with Li Jingwei's opinion. When the Zhou Dynasty issued an order to borrow the road, he had already guessed the result. But he did not agree with Li Jingwei's proposal to gather troops to resist the Zhou army.
Nanping State has no conditions to compete for hegemony, and Gao Baoxu is not interested in it. Since he can't keep his territory, why not just surrender and continue to enjoy himself
Gao Baoxu immediately said: Our country was a vassal of the Central Plains and was granted fiefdom by the Zhou Dynasty. We were originally subjects of the Zhou Dynasty. How could we rebel in front of the army and seek our own death
Li Jingwei hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Gao Jixing has been following your instructions and has used the reign titles of many regimes such as Tang, Nanwu, Jin, Han, and Zhou to defend the land of Jingnan until now. Your Majesty should not abandon your foundation lightly. The future of the Central Plains Dynasty is uncertain. If you surrender, you may end up being buried with them and gain nothing. Please think twice before you act."
Gao Baoxu said: The Zhou army has tens of thousands of elite soldiers approaching the border. How can Nanping State fight against the enemy with its limited manpower? It is better to welcome them respectfully.
Li Jingwei said: Shu is being attacked from two directions, so it must understand that the Zhou Dynasty wants to destroy its country; Southern Tang may sit back and watch, but Shu is already facing imminent disaster, and helping our country is saving itself, so reinforcements must be sent. Moreover, Jingnan is facing a life-and-death situation, so it must strive to protect itself. With the help of Shu, it can still fight.
Gao Baoxu felt that what Li Jingwei said made sense, and he had no words to refute, so he could only say in a weak tone: Maybe the Zhou army intended to attack Shu and just wanted to borrow the passage.
King Gao Baorong listened for a long time, touched his forehead and seemed not to understand, so he turned around and asked directly: Tenth brother, what should we do
Gao Baoxu didn't need to reason with him when he heard this, and he answered straightforwardly: "Brother Wang, please prepare the guards and horses, and order the troops in Jingmen and other places to collect scouts and avoid conflict with the Zhou army; when the Zhou army arrives, we will go out of the city to welcome them. As long as there is no war, we can leave the rest to fate, and the consequences will not be too serious."
The king immediately nodded and said: Tenth brother, what you said makes sense, let’s do it.
Thus, Nanping Kingdom’s response strategy was decided.
Gao Baoxu heaved a sigh of relief. When he returned home, several staff members came up to him to ask questions. Gao Baoxu told them about the palace, and they all agreed with his approach. Jingnan did not resist and showed obedience. The Zhou Dynasty would certainly not kill them all and disappoint others. There was also a more difficult country to fight in the east, Wuyue, and Nantang also surrendered. The Zhou Dynasty did not want to fight hard one by one.
This was also Gao Baoxu's judgment. If the Zhou army occupied Jingnan, the most likely thing would be to move the Gao family to another place, and they would probably give them an official title. When Gao Baoxu thought of the huge amount of wealth he had accumulated and hidden in many places, he was no longer panicked. Those properties were enough for him to live a life of luxury and debauchery for the rest of his life. Why would he risk his life for this
Hey, Gao Baoxu said calmly, where did those people go
The official beside him looked embarrassed and stepped forward and whispered: "The master has to go out for something important. They have already dispersed. Why don't you call them back?"
Gao Baoxu had something on his mind and was not in a very good mood for the moment, so he waved his hand and said: Forget it, forget it.
He immediately left the hall, returned to the inner room, bolted the door, lifted the floor tiles under the bed, and took out a box full of gold nuggets. After playing with these things, he suddenly felt indescribably comfortable, and said to himself: Nothing is reliable, but this thing is the most reliable.
Even if he holds gold and silver when he goes to bed at night, he will sleep more comfortably.
A few days later, he hid this part of the property at home, and without preparing anything, he went straight to the palace with his guards.
A large number of troops gathered outside the city, not for war; the ministers also gathered a group of people, ready to sing and dance to welcome the Zhou army.
It is reported that the Zhou Dynasty army came from the east. They arrived at Jiangling Prefecture (now Jingzhou City) along the Han River, and then marched southwest to Jiangling by land. The navy continued to move south along the Han River, entering the Yangtze River from Hanyang, Zhou Dynasty territory, now Wuhan City, and then went up the Yangtze River to Jiangling to join the land route; the navy's route was more roundabout, but they had to take a detour from Xiangzhou to reach Jiangling Prefecture.
Soon, the Zhou Dynasty army appeared in the distance, the road was filled with smoke and dust, and a large number of soldiers and horses were like an overwhelming force. Seeing this, Gao Baoxu secretly felt lucky that he did not decide to go to war, otherwise he would have to fight with the army in front of him, which was really a bit scary.
At this time, the people in Jiangling City who were prepared were beating gongs and drums, and pouring out of the city gates in a lively atmosphere. The ceremonial guards of King Nanping were also rushing out of the city.
The Zhou army gradually approached the city. There were people everywhere, and flags were floating on the plain like clouds. A group of cavalry jogged away from the army and came first. The King of Nanping was about to send someone to contact
At this moment, the cavalry suddenly accelerated, disregarding etiquette, and rushed directly towards the still open city gate.
The war horses roared and rushed forward madly. The king Gao Baorong was frightened and turned his horse around to return to the city. The general Li Jingwei shouted: "Your Majesty, quickly tell someone to close the city gates."
Gao Baorong was at a loss and looked at his younger brother Gao Baoxu, who was also stunned and could not say anything.
At this time, the city gate was in chaos. Some spies shouted and instigated the people to rush back to the city gate with gongs and drums. However, the spies set up roadblocks at the city gate, blocking a large number of people at the gate. There was no chance to close the gate for a while.
The opportunity was fleeting, and the Zhou cavalry had no one to resist and ran straight to the city gate. Seeing this, the spies removed the roadblocks and let the Zhou cavalry quickly control the inside and outside. It only took a short while for the gate of Jiangling, a high-walled town, to fall into the hands of the Zhou army without even firing a single arrow.
The Zhou army was completely unreasonable and did not hesitate to indulge the Nanping army.