The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 353
In the third year of Zhenming, which was also the first year of Guangtian in the Kingdom of Shu, spring began in February, and the war continued to burn north of Chengdu.

The setting sun set on the hilltop, shining the last blush, and the burning flag rolled up with black smoke. In the glow, the quaint Mianzhuguan city wall was mottled with thick blood stains that were still dripping down slowly.

Beyond the pass, there were no soldiers and horses from Zizhou in the wilderness, human corpses stretched out, and the unowned horses flicked their tails, limping around alone, looking for their former masters, and licking away the bloody faces of the corpses.

It was getting dark, and the battle above and below the city had ended for two days. The Shu general who stood firm in Mianzhou had his head tied to a hemp rope and hung him below the city tower. With his eyes wide open, he watched the Longyou army sweeping away the remnants in the city.

Longyou's [-] infantry were the main force, and the cavalry swarmed the streets and alleys like ants, searching for the Shu soldiers who had fled after breaking the city.

The sound of shouts, screams, and the sound of fighting continued to resound throughout the city for two days. Wang Zongbi, the envoy of Shu State North Road, was guarded by Longyou soldiers as if he had lost his soul, and walked across the ground. One after another, the corpses came to the yamen station through the bloody smell.

Ten feet away from him, the fences on the left and right of the yamen were filled with the heads of the lieutenant generals who organized resistance after the city was broken. Some of them he knew by name, and some were just familiar. However, who they are is not so important now.

Wang Zongbi watched the heads go up the stone steps, and the court hall extending to the inside was already occupied by Longyou soldiers. Hundreds of soldiers gathered to chat and laugh, and looked at the defeated general who came over, pointing and pointing, some even Spit out a mouthful of saliva and landed on the hem of the opponent's robe, causing all the fellow robes to laugh.

And Wang Zongbi just glared at them, paused for a while, and was beaten on the blade and back by the escorting soldiers with the handle of the knife.

Yamen Court.

Li Cunxiao was looking at the news sent by Li Siyuan from the east in the afternoon, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth.

This former Flying Tiger General was in his prime, and his martial arts and physical strength were at their peak. He was tall, with a majestic and handsome face. Over the years, he had seldom fought in person.

After reading the letter, Wang Zongbi, a prisoner of Shu outside, escorted him in. Without even looking at it, he dragged his cloak and got up from the chair, and handed the letter to Fu Daozhao who was beside him.

"Wang Zongyan's envoy has returned to Chengdu from Chang'an, and the letter means that my brother has already proposed the conditions for peace." He looked at Wang Zongbi who was also looking over there, and said in a low voice: "It seems that this war will not last long. Coming out from Longyou, going all the way to the south, we have killed the courage of the people of Shu, but unfortunately there are too few soldiers and horses, my brother didn't intend to do this and stayed in the north, so it's a pity that he couldn't do his best."

On the other side where the words were transmitted, Fu Daozhao looked at the content of the letter, his face was full of joy, and he flicked the paper with his fingertips: "King Yong's condition haha, the little emperor didn't know what expression he had after reading it, how could he treat his mother and aunt?" As a gift, if he really dares to give it away, what face does the emperor have? Tsk tsk, but King Yong has a really big appetite, and he will want the entire Shannan West Road if he opens his mouth."

"Hehe. If Wang Zongyan gave it, I'm afraid the emperor would jump out of the coffin angrily!" Li Cunxiao also laughed, dragging his cloak with his hands behind his back and looking at the gradually fading rays of light outside, "But brother only mentioned With these two conditions, with my brother's temperament, the goal is definitely to get the Shannan West Road, once it is obtained, Longzhou and Chang'an will be connected together, and everyone will covet it."

Li Cunxiao sighed and turned around.

"It is estimated that there will be envoys from Shu coming to negotiate a peace soon, and they will press on every step of the way. They will not be able to take the entire Shannan West Road, but they will take half of it."

Fu Daozhao readily agreed.

After all, it's scary. I have done it more than once or twice with King Yong, and I am very familiar with this kind of trick.

Wang Zongbi, who was standing at the gate of the yamen, watched the two talk about the peace talks and persecution of the persecutors as if no one else was around. With the king's approval, right now, he is not qualified to participate in the negotiation between the two parties, and there will probably be many such negotiations, and it is impossible to conclude the negotiation at once.

On February [-]th, the envoys from Chengdu Yihe arrived as promised. The envoys were surnamed Fan. Before entering the city, they were driven away in embarrassment by the patrolling Longyou cavalry.

On the [-]th day, he came again, and this time he was led into the city, but he did not see Li Cunxiao, the governor of the northwest capital, but Fu Daozhao, the deputy envoy, met with a group of people. He only talked about the war when he went south, and said nothing about the peace negotiation Not mentioned, Fan Envoy wanted to say, but was interrupted and got off track.

It was like this for two days in a row. After staying in the posthouse, there would be occasional horrific fighting chaos at night, which scared the envoys in the posthouse to run out in disheveled clothes. , rushing between the streets.

On the [-]th day of arrival, I heard that the governor Li Cunxiao came back from the barracks outside the city. The heads at the gate of the yamen were replaced with a row of new ones, dripping with blood. After Fan Junshi, who was originally neatly dressed, stepped into the yamen, his legs were trembling. Inside, there are many swords, guns, swords and halberds, and two large iron basins are burning in the courtroom. The raging flames seem to come to a place of brutality. In the first Li Cunxiao's soft "sit down", Fan Junshi, who is in the room, sits on a chair beside him. .

"Seven thousand six hundred pieces of Sichuan brocade, five hundred horses from Tubo, and four hundred catties of iron." Li Cunxiao looked at the gift list handed over yesterday, sneered while reading it, and finally threw it lightly on the table.

"The conditions you sent are not the two mentioned by King Yong of my family. The emperor of your country wants to negotiate a peace. Does this have any sincerity?" He looked at the envoy sitting next to him and frowned, "Wait It's better to go back and come to my place after the discussion is over."

"Governor, please listen to the next sentence."

Fan Junshi was also in a difficult situation. Looking at the majestic decorations around him, he swallowed his saliva and got up bravely: "Concubine Xu is my Majesty's biological mother and aunt. How can I give it away as a condition for peace? It's too deceptive. "

Before he finished speaking, Li Cunxiao narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice.

"Just to deceive others, so what?"

"Ah yes." Fan Junshi quickly responded in a low voice.

"Go back, if you want to negotiate a peace, show your sincerity!"

The personal guards came over, lifted the shouting messenger off the ground, dragged him out and threw him outside the yamen.Not long after, Fan Junshi returned to Chengdu to tell his story. At this time, Wang Zongyan heard about it and convened a civil and military discussion again. All the valuables sent were accepted, which shows that there is still room for maneuver.

After deleting, deleting and subtracting, Fan Junshi took out the price again and sent it to the north.

On February 25, Li Cunxiao rejected the terms of the peace negotiation, and even slapped him in the face.

On February 26, Li Cunxiao let go of his words, don't want concubines Xu, but Shannan West Road must be used as a condition for withdrawal.The next day, when the envoys returned to Chengdu, they dispatched troops to Zizhou to defeat the [-] soldiers and horses who had come from Longzhou for reinforcements.

On February 29, the defense line of the Chengdu army advanced [-] miles to Mianzhou, and the third peace negotiation resumed. Li Cunxiao finally backed down a step, only on the condition of Yang, Feng, Xing, Xingyuan, and Guozhou.

In Chengdu, in order to stabilize the situation in central Sichuan, Wang Zongyan had to grit his teeth and cede the five states north of Shannan West Road as a price.

The peace treaty was signed, and the two parties stopped fighting.

Li Cunxiao and Fu Daozhao went back to Longyou, and left the capital named Meng Zhixiang stationed in Xingyuan as the heir for Xingyuan; Xia Luqi stayed for Yangzhou and guarded the southern gate of Chang'an, while Li Siyuan and Shi Jingtang stayed behind Some troops returned directly to Chang'an, after all, Geng Qing's letter had come to urge them.

(End of this chapter)