Han Shizu

Chapter 498

In the main hall of the Tang Palace, the civil and military ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty gathered together. Since the beginning of spring, the frequency of Li Jing's promotion to the palace and the army has become significantly higher.At this time, Meng Chun was at the end of the day, but the Tang officials in the palace all felt chilly, and all of them looked dignified.

"Xiacai was defeated first, and then Feishui was defeated. It was only three months before and after. My two armies to support Shou were defeated by the Han army so easily." Li Jing paced in the hall, holding a stack of defeat reports in his hand. , trembling from time to time, speaking fast, extremely angry: "This failure is almost full of my case!"

"Liu Yanzhen, Chen Jue, and Xu Wenzhen, the three of them lost the army and ruined the country, and the crime cannot be punished." Looking across Feng Yansi and Song Qiqiu, he said coldly: "This is the city of the country and the talent of the commander that you recommend to me! This is how they fight against the enemy and the thieves!"

"Then Chen Jue, still has the face to return to the court, and even sent a letter for Emperor Han, humiliating me, really has no bones!"

"Huangfuhui, let me say that he is mature and prudent, a famous general from the Central Plains!" Li Jing pointed the finger at Han Xizai and other civil servants from the north: "The 4000 army was defeated by the Han general Guo Rong with only [-] people. He was captured alive before the battle. In my opinion, he is very old, useless, and the general is incompetent, exhausting the entire army to death!"

"There is also that Yao Feng, who was surrounded by ten times as many troops as Shanyang, and was unable to get down for several days. He made a sudden decision and was ignorant and incompetent. When the Han army attacked, he did not try to save him. Instead, he led the army to retreat, causing the soldiers to fight in blood. All achievements will be discarded overnight!"

"The generals of the Tang Dynasty, are they used to achieve the name of the Northern Han Dynasty? How unreasonable!"

Li Jing vented his anger, but he reprimanded the ministers of the two political groups in the Tang court, and made many people bow their heads with shame and anger. Literati, for example, value appearance more.In addition, there are still some discomforts. After all, since Li Jing Bingguo, it is rare for him to lose his composure and directly reprimand his subordinates.Of course, it is also understandable that the country is precarious.

At this time, the "first adviser" Song Qiqiu took the lead, stroking his beard and said in a deep voice: "I have already said that to resist the Northern Han Dynasty, gather heavy troops, defend the city, consume their money and food, and weaken their morale. After all, attacking later. Attacking rashly will only give the Northern Han an opportunity to advance in three ways, and even give them a chance to defeat each of them!"

Hearing Song Qiqiu's words, Li Jing's complexion changed slightly, showing a bit of embarrassment. After all, he was the one who insisted on attacking in spite of dissuasion.Looking at Song Qiqiu, there was a wave of evil thoughts in Li Jing's mind. For the first time, he felt that this old minister was so disgusting.

Seemingly noticing the emperor's unease, Li Zhenggu, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, stood up and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, since the Han army mobilized troops to invade the South at the end of autumn last year, in the four months since the Han army mobilized troops to attack the South, our dynasty has already been defeated. More than [-] soldiers and civilians were lost, and there were no less than one million people living in the Jianghuai River and Huaihe River who suffered from the war. In order to raise funds to support the army, Jinling collected almost all of its funds.

At present, Luzhou, Chuzhou, and Gwangju have fallen one after another, and Shouzhou and Sizhou have no foreign aid. I am afraid it will be difficult to continue. The fall is not far away!
At this time, how we deal with the next attack of the Han army is the most important thing! "

"Did you hear that!" Li Jing's voice trembled a little, his eyes flushed red: "Once Shou and Si fall, the Han army will march south in a big way, approaching the Yangtze River, and the Tang Dynasty will perish!"

As the king of a country, it was really inappropriate for Li Jing to say such words in the bright hall, but obviously, the pressure of the Han army's invasion continued, and Li Jing had already lost his composure.

"Your Majesty, I ask you to lead the army to go north to defend against the Han army and protect our land in the Tang Dynasty, so that your father will have no worries!" At this time, Yan Wang Li Hongji still couldn't help getting up and pleading for orders.

Before that, he had asked Li Jing for orders in the inner hall, but because he loved his eldest son, he refused.This time, Qi Dangdian proposed it, which made him hesitate.As far as Li Jing was concerned, he suddenly discovered that the enemy was in front of him, and the courtiers and workers had fallen into a predicament where no one could use them.The poets he raised, let them write poems, just make a fuss.
However, before Li Jing could express his opinion, Feng Yansi stood up and dissuaded him: "Your Majesty, you must not. The Han army is strong and brutal. There are so many veterans and veterans. The court has hundreds of thousands of troops. They are all defeated by him. I am afraid that King Yan is not an opponent. .Furthermore, King Yan is the eldest son of the royal family, and he is a nobleman, so it is inconvenient to take risks!"

Li Hongji is considered to be a prince on horseback. He has always been known for his bravery and his martial arts. At this time, seeing the underestimation in Feng Yansi's words, he couldn't help saying angrily: "Why does Feng Xianggong despise me? The thief has tens of thousands of dollars. I also use four Break it with a thousand soldiers!"

"How can money thieves be on par with the Han army!" Feng Yansi shook his head: "Your Highness, you should know that the Central Plains has a strong army, and there are few in the world who can match it. The court's repeated defeats are rare enough to make us vigilant?"

"I think you are all scared of being beaten by the Han army. You are afraid of the enemy and war, but I am not afraid. The children of Jianghuai, don't you have a hot-blooded son, and you should rise up and fight." Li Hongji raised his head excitedly, Then he didn't care much, and he was not polite in speaking: "It's not like the princes here, doing nothing, growing the enemy's majesty, and fearing the enemy like a tiger!"

"Hongji, don't be presumptuous!" Seeing that his words were exaggerated, all the officials were angry, Li Jing calmed down and stretched out his hand.

After some venting, Li Jing's mind cleared up, and he sighed, but his complexion became more and more serious.

"The Han army is so strong that it is almost unstoppable. The matter has come to this point. How to resolve the crisis here!"

The hall was silent for a while, and it seemed that no one could come up with any countermeasures. The servant Sun Sheng stood up and suggested, "Your Majesty, when it comes to military disputes, our court is not an opponent of the Northern Han Dynasty. Since the war, our court has suffered heavy losses, and the people have been displaced. , life and people are in poverty. The imperial government has a heavy financial and tax burden, lack of military strength, and the people's strength is exhausted. It is also the farming season, and if the fight continues, I am afraid that it will not be able to continue."

After a pause, Sun Sheng suggested solemnly: "In my opinion, it is better to send envoys to seek peace with Emperor Han, stop fighting and stop fighting, and then repair forever."

As soon as Sun Cheng finished speaking, some people immediately expressed their support, and there were many of them.

"Impossible!" Han Xizai, on the other hand, raised his voice with a solemn expression, expressing his objection clearly: "Your Majesty, the Northern Han Dynasty came to devour the land of our Tang Dynasty. They were ambitious and greedy. If they want to seek peace, what price will they have to pay? To satisfy their greed?"

"If the fight continues, so what. The imperial court is no longer able to fight, and Huainan has already lost half of its territory. Are we going to destroy all of Tang's foundations?" Sun Sheng said.

Speaking of Sun Sheng, he was also a scholar from the north, but at this moment, he had a conflict with Han Xizai on the issue of war and peace.

Hearing his words, Han Xizai said: "In Jiangdong and Jiangxi, we still have tens of thousands of navy and army troops. If we call again, we can still gather [-] troops. There is a natural moat in the Yangtze River, and no matter how strong the Han army is, it will be difficult to cross it.

As I said in the preface, if you fight the Han army to the end, you will be enemies on all sides, and you will not be able to last long.What's more, the Northern Han Dynasty used hundreds of thousands of troops to march thousands of miles, and how long could it last?Procrastinating, waiting for time to change, we still have a chance to fight back and regain the country.Once the peace is sought, the land of Huainan will be lost!Also ask your Majesty to be aware! "

"Military, military, military!" Sun Sheng said excitedly: "The Han army relied on Hebei, the Central Plains, accumulated food for several years, and fought in Huainan, with only Jiangdong and Jiangxi, how could they continue to fight for so long?

When Han Gong said that time changes, does he refer to Khitan and Houshu?During the four months of war between the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was still no action. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to entrust the country's general strategy to this? "

The confrontation between the two northern scholars made Feng Yansi and others watch a full show.

But on Li Jing's side, he was even more hesitant. When it came to peace talks, he was really tempted.Since he came to the throne, he has launched several waves of foreign wars, but passively dealt with the invasion of enemy countries, only to realize how rare peace is, and how comfortable it is to enjoy the wind and the moon in Jinling safely.
He wanted to negotiate a peace, but he was worried about the price Han Xizai said, yes, what should be done to make Emperor Han retreat.

"Your Majesty, don't listen to Sun Sheng's words that harm the country!" Li Hongji stood up to support Han Xizai.

Seeing this, Li Jing hesitated even more, waved his hands, sat down after returning to the case, and almost murmured: "Let me think about it."

However, before the court meeting was over, there was another news of defeat: "Your Majesty, Jiang Fang's soldiers have reported that everything has been lost!"

The whole court was shocked, not to mention Yangzhou's political status, but to pay attention to its benefits, it is enough to make people feel sad.Compared with the fall of Chu and He, it shocked them even more.Is the Han army really so unstoppable?
"Who captured Yangzhou? Where are the defenders?" Li Jing asked anxiously, his face pale.

"Han General Zhao Kuangyin!"

"Where's Yao Feng's army?"

Li Jing almost roared angrily, but no one could answer his question.

After a long time, Li Jing was dejected and shook his hand: "Send an envoy to Shouchun and ask the Emperor Han for peace."

(End of this chapter)