The next day, near noon, Tang envoys Zhong Mo and Li Deming were finally led to Liu Chengyou, their crowns and belts neat, but their faces were pale.

The Holy Protector Army was ordered to perform martial arts, obviously understanding Liu Chengyou's intentions, Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng two generals, in addition to the normal drills, also from Hefei Prison, more than a dozen death row prisoners, put on Tang Army costumes, and killed Zhong and Li. It's not that I've never seen murder, but in the face of such a brutal and cruel act of the Han army, I still frightened the two.

"Chen Zhongmo (Li Deming) See His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty!" Facing Han Tianzi, who was sitting according to the case, the two of them immediately bowed.

Zhong Mo was still better, but Li Deming had a look of horror on his face. The sharp gaze quickly swept over the two, Liu Chengyou looked at Zhong Mo and said, "Zhong Shilang, we meet again!" ”

"It is an honor for the foreign minister to see His Majesty's face!" Speaking of compliments, Zhong Mo's tone seemed neither humble nor arrogant.

can feel that Zhong Mo is not as stage frightened as he imagined, Liu Chengyou set his eyes on Li Deming: "You are Li Shilang?" ”

Li Deming looked up at Liu Chengyou, and quickly buried his head: "It's the minister." ”

"Fang just performed martial arts to observe, how is my Han army?" Liu Chengyou asked lightly.

Li Deming replied without thinking: "The soldiers are burly and the armor is excellent, and it is really the strongest army in the world!" ”

"Haha......" Liu Chengyou laughed loudly, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

"Say it!" With a smile, Liu Chengyou didn't seem to be going to be foolish, and waved his hand directly: "Li Jing sent you two north, what are you going to do?" ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers have come by order, hoping that the big country will withdraw its troops and stop the war, if so, my lord will pay tribute according to the Han Dynasty, and cut the six states of Guang, Shou, Hao, Si, Chu and Hai!" Zhong Mo gave up his hand, not like Sun Sheng, and had to fight, and directly put out the hole cards and plates.

"Huh!" Liu Chengyou immediately sneered and said coldly: "The six states in your mouth, and now all of them have surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and the states and counties under my control, bribing me with Han soil, and being generous, what are your intentions?" ”

Emperor Han's mouth is full of robber logic, greedy face, naked in front of the two ministers. Zhong Mo's face shook slightly, his mood was gloomy, obviously Liu Chengyou was not satisfied with Li Jing's conditions.

Seeing this, Liu Chengyou suddenly changed his face, stared at the two viciously, and said in a fierce tone: "First there is Sun Sheng, and then there are you, who have come north again and again, fooling me, is it easy for me to be bullied?" Someone comes, pull these two out of the state office, and behead them to show the public! ”

When the order of the Son of Heaven fell, four guards immediately entered, set up Zhong and Li, and pulled them outside the hall. The sudden change made the two of them completely unable to react, looking at the appearance of Emperor Han, it didn't seem to be a fraud at all, and his murderous nature was so heavy, they immediately panicked.

Zhong Mo struggled and shouted: "The two countries are at war, don't kill them!" ”

Li Deming begged for mercy directly, screaming for mercy, dragging his legs on the ground, swinging, and almost throwing off his boots.

"Your Majesty spares your life, the minister has something to say, the minister has something to say!" Li Deming's voice was torn apart, even tragic.

Seeing this, Liu Chengyou waved his hand and asked the guards to let go of the two, and Li Fang, who was waiting on the side, also closed his mouth ready to admonish. Liu Chengyou's eyes were cold, he looked impatient, and said in a cold voice: "What else do you have to say?" I don't have any time to spare, I'm here to listen to your seductive words! ”

This time, the two simply knelt down in front of the emperor, Zhong Mo's expression was tense, and he turned much paler unnaturally. Li Deming bowed and said: "My lord does not know the power of His Majesty and the strength of the Han army. I hope that Your Majesty will be lenient and your ministers will be punished for three or two days, and you are willing to return Jinling, please dedicate the land of Huainan to Your Majesty! ”

Listening to his words, Liu Chengyou's expression eased at this time, looking at this Li Deming, this is the person who knows the times. After groaning for a while, staring at this person, feeling apprehensive, and breaking into a cold sweat, Liu Chengyou said quietly: "In this case, I will give you a chance to leave you alive for the time being!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Deming said suddenly.

Liu Chengyou walked away from the guide and said: "You go back and tell Li Jing that I don't want much, cut the land, call the ministers, and pay tribute!" Now, our Zhulu Han army is sweeping through the states of Huainan, his time is running out, and when I take it all, only Huainan is not enough to make me quit! Do you understand? ”

"Yes!" Li Deming said: "The minister understands! ”

"Send someone and send them back!" Liu Chengyou commanded.

After the two Tang envoys left, Liu Chengyou once again covered all the expressions on his face, numb as usual, and his mind was extremely active.

"Your Majesty!" Li Fang put a few letters on his desk and asked softly: "If you threaten the pseudo-Tang Dynasty like this, if you are too coerced, I am afraid that it will backfire and make it resist!" ”

"You're worried!" Liu Chengyou said: "However, as for people, once the will is relaxed, it is not so easy to regain their ambition. More importantly, I can't let Li Jing and his ministers see through my intentions. The more urgent the invasion is, the more it is pressed, in order to deepen its resolution. Even if it backfires, I just turn the haste into a slow plan. ”

After thinking about it, Liu Chengyou said again: "I plan to send an edict to the army, strengthen the attack, continue to uproot the fortress stronghold of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty along the river, and drive the Tang army to the river." and, may as well discuss; Fight, you might as well fight! ”

On the Tang envoy's side, the treatment looked good, and he was escorted to the ferry by the Han Emperor's inner guards, got on the boat, pulled the anchor and set sail south.

In the cabin, Zhong and Li sat opposite each other, in a bad state, their faces were sinking like water, no one spoke, and the atmosphere was dull and abnormal for a while. After a long while, Zhong Mo finally spoke: "Li Shilang, do you really want to return Jinling, please ask Your Majesty to offer Huainan?" ”

"Or else?" Li Deming raised his eyelids and said to Zhong Mo: "You have also seen the ferocity of the Han army, killing people at every turn, ruthless and ruthless. The greed of the Han Emperor can not be satisfied by small profits, if he does not raise Huainan and dedicate it, how can he stop the war and eliminate the military disaster? ”

Hearing his words, Zhong Mo's face was confused, and he said: "Propose this proposal to the envoy, in the future, why should you base yourself in the temple and how to face Jianghuai's father?" On the top of the Qing Shi Dan book, there is a stroke, which is also pointed out by thousands of people, and it is notorious! ”

"Zhong Shilang is afraid of criticism, after returning to the court, let me play solo, you can be silent and stay out of the matter!" Li Deming said lightly.

Seeing his attitude, Zhong Mo shut up and didn't say anything more.

In fact, Li Deming had no choice, in retrospect, in front of Emperor Han, he behaved too badly. Especially in order to survive, I asked for Huainan's words, as soon as I said it, there was no way back.

On the other hand, he also saw that although this proposal was too Tang and not conducive to Jianghuai, it was a great contribution to the Northern Han Dynasty. In other days, if the Northern Han Dynasty can destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty, with this merit, it will also have a place in the Northern Han court.

This time the Northern Han Dynasty conquered the Tang Dynasty, with the progress of the war, it can be said that the world has attracted attention, and many people have realized that this troubled world and strife is nearing the end, from the perspective of the thriving development of the Northern Han Dynasty, as long as there are no major accidents, the world will be unified again, it is only a matter of time.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Northern Han Dynasty's conquest of the Tang Dynasty was just greedy for the wealth of Jianghuai. But in the eyes of people of insight, this is the prelude to world domination. And Li Deming is obviously one of these many people of insight.

Zhong and Li returned to Jinling and reported the situation of the envoy, and sure enough, it immediately aroused Li Jing's anger and was very dissatisfied with them.

"Robbers, bandits, thugs!" In the inner hall, Li Jing's hands trembled with anger, and he almost overturned the imperial case, and said angrily: "I have repeatedly sent envoys to ask for help, but I have already whispered and humiliated. The vast land of the six states still can't satisfy their ambitions, and they want to covet my entire Huainan, and they deceive people too much! ”

"The Northern Han wants to fight, I will accompany him to fight! Humiliated to this point, humiliated to this point, it is difficult to bow to that little child! Li Jing danced hard with one hand and shouted loudly.

Sometimes, the more you shout, the more you set off your weakness and your incompetence and rage. Li Deming and Zhong Mo knelt in front of the palace, and when they finished venting, Li Deming said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the six states of Huaishui are now under the control of the Han army, and the same is true of most of the Chu and Yang regions, and the states of Huang, Shu, He, and Tai are being attacked. With only six states, it is really difficult to satisfy their ambitions! ”

"Could it be that my Datang can only let it take what it wants?" Li Jing glared at Li Deming.

Li Deming said: "Now the Northern Han Dynasty, more than 100,000 troops, are attacking our defense along the river. The minister went north, watching the strength of the Han army, unparalleled in the world. Our dynasty has been defeated in a row, how can we stop the less than 100,000 heterozygous people of the King of Qi. If Your Majesty refuses to negotiate peace with him with your will, and if you completely provoke the Han Emperor and cross the river to attack the south, why should Your Majesty deserve it? Once the river defense fails, it will be too late to regret it! ”

Listening to Li Deming's words, Li Jing's angry face was slightly restrained, revealing a little fear, and when he realized that such a scene, he couldn't help but tremble twice.

But obviously, he was still unwilling, and his eyes were depressed: "Is there no other way?" ”

"Your Majesty, now the Northern Han Dynasty is attacking the land north of the Yangtze River more urgently, if you don't decide as soon as possible, you can earn its retreat, once Huainan falls, I am afraid that the fourteen states will not be able to satisfy the greed of the Han Emperor!" Li Deming sighed.

In order to complete the task, Li Deming also let himself go, and every word showed the demeanor of the "surrender faction".

However, Li Jing still hesitated, compared with the six states in Huaishang and the fourteen states in Jiangbei, the gap between them is not a star and a half. At this time, the assistant came, and Li Zhenggu, the deputy privy envoy, came to report: "Tai, He, and Shuzhou have all surrendered to the Han army!" ”

Hearing this, Li Jing didn't seem to have any extravagant hopes, waved his hand depressedly, and choked up in a choked tone: "That's it, I wish to sacrifice the land of Huainan!" Called the minister to pay tribute, in order to retreat the Han soldiers! ”