"Okay, this king will take on the heavy responsibility of defending the city!" In response to Ma Shao's proposal, Tuohuan drank the remaining wine in the bowl, and then threw the bowl on the ground and agreed.

"Your Highness, how are you going to deal with it?" Seeing that the golden bowl that fell in front of him was still spinning and turning, Ma Shao was a little stunned, he didn't expect that Tuhuan would agree so happily, and let him prepare to persuade him with righteousness without saying a word. And this made him mutter, feel uneasy, and even wonder if he was talking drunk, until the golden bowl stopped spinning and fell to the ground for a while before he looked up and asked.

"Of course, it's to guard the city and wait for reinforcements!" Someone had replaced the bowl with a new bowl and poured wine, and he took a sip of wine that was stuck to his beard.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid that reinforcements will not be able to arrive for a while, and the cardinal sent a messenger to send a letter saying that we were ordered to hold the city and drag the southern army here, thinking that it was another arrangement!" Seeing that he drank it again, Ma Shao frowned and said.

"Yuxi Timur, this king still knows, the most is a great achievement, so he makes a mystery. He must have wanted to ask for reinforcements, and then gather the troops of the two capitals and Wanhu Prefecture to trap the enemy army of the Southern Dynasty in Jiangbei, and then capture the thief. It will take time to mobilize reinforcements. Tuohuan said with a chuckle, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly to show his disdain for it.

But now the situation is extremely critical, the Southern Dynasty army has moved to the city three miles in front of the village, surrounded the city on all sides, and captured Baoyou City, intending to capture the city. And they have the advantage of firearms, although the city is strong, it is difficult to stop, but if the reinforcements do not arrive for a long time, can His Highness have a clever plan to defend the city? Seeing that he didn't seem to take things to heart, and that he had a sense of alcohol, he became more and more uncertain in his heart, and said tentatively.

"You Han people are not the common saying: soldiers come to block, water comes to Tutun. We sat in the city, where we hoarded a large amount of grain, grass and weapons, and nearly 20,000 elite soldiers, and it was not a problem to hold out for a few months. And this king is still trapped in the city, how dare Timur dare not save him when he dies, if this king falls into the hands of the enemy, the Great Khan will definitely investigate his guilt and exterminate him! Tuhuan waved his hand to signal that he should not worry about the reinforcements, and still smiled.

"But the cardinal commander did not say how to break the siege, I am worried that he will have other calculations, instead of going all out to rescue Yangzhou City." Ma Shaoxin said that the Han people also have a saying that 'there is no father and son in the heavenly family', you are just a son abandoned by his father Khan, and he will threaten the brother of the Khan, the prince who has long been outdated, and it is really difficult to say that the Great Khan did not hesitate to mobilize a large army to relieve the siege for you. Therefore, although the words seem to be skeptical, there is also a hint in it, don't take yourself too seriously, or base yourself on the present.

"Hmph, this king and that thief have been fighting each other for nearly ten years, and he knows him very well, he is a calculating fellow, and when he feels a crisis, he will quickly evacuate, and will never fight hard. At the moment, he waved an army of 100,000 to fight Yangzhou, not to mention the victory or defeat, the daily consumption is huge, all the needs must be transported from the south of the Yangtze River, as long as we insist on more than a month, it will be difficult to bear, and will retreat. And there is also the army led by Yuxi Timur outside, which is eyeing it, and naturally it will not fight hard with its temperament, and once the army rolls in, it will flee in the wilderness. Although Tuhuan was not angry at Ma Shao's questioning, he also snorted coldly.

"But Your Highness, what will happen to us in the event of a desperate onslaught?" Marsho could see that he was already a little dissatisfied with his questioning, but he still asked.

"Then it's up to Ma Youcheng!" Tuhuan didn't get angry, but picked up a bowl of wine and looked at Ma Shao and invited him to drink together.

"Oh, but I can't hold the chicken, how can I keep the city from losing?" Ma Shao's face stiffened when he heard this, but he turned to a wry smile and took a sip of wine.

"Although Youcheng has no force, he has a three-inch tongue!" Tuhuan drank all the wine in the bowl and said, "Yuxi Timur didn't let Youcheng negotiate with the Southern Dynasty under all circumstances, and promised all the conditions they put forward in order to withdraw the army!" ”

"This ......" Ma Shao was stunned when he heard this, and his heart was even more shocked, the content of the secret letter that Timur gave him in Yuxi was only known to him, and the negotiation was not even shown to several staff members beside him. One is worried that the content will be leaked, which will lead to turmoil in the hearts of the military; The second is also worried that he has carried the black pot. But the king of Zhennan, who has always ignored political affairs, knows the contents, which can't help but make him suspect that there is a spy around him.

"Ma Youcheng doesn't have to be careful, this king has his own sources." Seeing Ma Shao's uncertain face, Tuhuan was very satisfied, he just wanted this kind of effect, let him know his strength from the subtleties.

"His Highness has a wide range of friends, not to mention the court, even the wind and grass in the south can't escape His Highness's ears and eyes!" At this time, the cook who was serving on the side gave Tuohuan a plate of freshly fried meatloaf and said with a smile.

"Don't talk nonsense, do you want to be whipped?" Tuhuan pretended to be angry and scolded, and then said to Ma Shao, "Don't blame Ma Youcheng, this slave is not sensible." This king has been guarding the south of the Yangtze River for many years, and there are some business contacts in the house, so he naturally knows some news from the Southern Dynasty! ”

"It's the lower officials who are lonely and unheard!" Marsho arched. But in his heart, he secretly cursed, what kind of business dealings were just using the power of the palace and the identity of the prince to smuggle goods with the Southern Dynasty.

Everyone knew that the salt of the Southern Dynasty was very cheap, lower than the price offered by Jianghuai, so Tuhuan wantonly colluded with the illegal salt lords of the Southern Dynasty to traffic, but secretly suppressed the salt works of his country, resulting in the production has been difficult to recover, and the salt workers fled. As a result, it controlled almost all the sources of salt in the Jianghuai region, and then monopolized more than 60% of the country's market, earning a huge fortune in just two years, and the world is rumored to be rich compared to the country.

Ma Shao and a group of people of insight in the court and the central government all knew that salt was related to the lifeblood of the country, and the king of Zhennan did not hesitate to abandon his martial arts for his own interests, resulting in a shortage of self-production. Once the Southern Dynasties severely cracked down on smuggling, it would cause a shortage of salt in the country, prices would skyrocket, and the country would be destabilized. What's worse is that the king of Zhennan did not hesitate to smuggle war horses to the Southern Dynasty in exchange for salt, he not only produced his fiefdom, but also colluded and bribed relevant officials and garrisons to extend his hand to the war horses raised by the Jianghuai Qun Shepherd, resulting in a shortage of war horses, but on this ground, he signed a private horse, which provoked the anger of the heavens and the people.

With the help of money, they weaved a network of relationships between the two Huai, and they shielded each other, exchanged news, and formed an interest group to advance and retreat together. And he has the title of the king of Zhennan, and the local government does not dare to manage it at all, and the officials of the DPRK and China are also bribed by him to cover up, and the voice of impeachment cannot reach the ears of the Great Khan at all. In addition, out of the idea of winning over the power of the sect king, Zhenjin turned a blind eye even if he knew it, and he would not really rectify it.

Therefore, Marshall's explanation of Dehuan was believed by eight points, and there was no doubt that he had the ability to obtain the contents of his letter from the Privy Council, and even knew the entire battle plan of Yuxi Timur, so that he could be so calm. turned to suspect that the generals in the city did not listen to the dispatch and were helpless, and Zhang Ting asked him to invite the king of Zhennan to go out of the mountain to preside over the overall situation, which had an ulterior conspiracy.

"Ma Youcheng is a cadre of the country, and he has been ordered to preside over the peace conference between the two countries, and the current siege of the southern army is the time to show his skills!" Tuhuan didn't see the abnormality in Ma Shao's heart, he only felt that he had a plan, and said with a smile.

"Hehe, the lower officials have the heavy trust of the Great Khan, although the peace talks have been going on for several months, there has been no progress, I am really ashamed!" When it comes to peace talks, Ma Shao is on fire. He was not lightly scolded by the Tanhualang of the Southern Dynasty, not only the conditions proposed were unacceptable, but even his character was questioned, and he felt that he was a pile of cow. Under such circumstances, it was naturally difficult to reach a consensus on the peace talks, and he also felt that the Southern Dynasties had no sincerity in the peace talks at all, so they talked intermittently for so long, except for the anger he had, but did not reach any substantive opinions. When he mentioned it, he could only shake his head and smile bitterly.

"The king also knows a little about the peace talks, and when he was in the south of the Yangtze River, he also held peace talks with the puppet emperor of the Southern Dynasty many times, and the two sides had reached an agreement to truce and strike the war, and exchanged ideas. What is hateful is that Yang Lian Zhenjiana demon monk took advantage of the favor of his father Khan to act recklessly in Lin'an, and even did the matter of excavating the imperial tomb of the Southern Dynasty, which made him angry. And this king happened to go to Helin to mourn at that time, resulting in no one in Jiangnan to guard, and the thieves took the opportunity to raise troops to capture Jiangnan. Otherwise, according to the strategy of this king, he is just a free king in Qiongzhou, and in a few years, his sharp spirit will be lost, and he will naturally belong to my dynasty, where will today's things happen! Dehuan was half proud, half complaining.

"Yes, it's a pity that the big mistake has been made, Yang Lian Zhenjia also died for this, the safety of Yangzhou City is now placed on His Royal Highness, and the soldiers and civilians of the city also rely on His Highness for protection. And this official is stupid and can't peek into the mystery, so please ask His Highness to give a little bit or two! Ma Shao has been in the office for many years, and he still maintains the pedantry of a Confucian scholar, and he easily shifted the topic from leaking secrets to peace talks. And he also understood what happened back then, although there were reasons why Yang Lian Zhenjia stole and excavated the imperial tombs of the Southern Dynasty to intensify the contradictions, but the most fundamental thing was that the king of Zhennan was not good for crusading against Qiongzhou, making it bigger. But you might as well listen to him talk about the past and review the reasons for his failure in the peace talks.

"As the saying goes: the world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit. "Tuhuan has also received an education in Sinology, and Ali Hague, who has been assisting him, is also proficient in Sinology, so he can still hang a few sentences in his book bag. Seeing that the Han Confucian Ma Shao asked him for advice, he couldn't help but feel a little proud, and by the way, he showed his sinology cultivation, but he missed the cowardice without two sentences, "The killing in the world is all caused by the competition for property, as for what covenants and oaths are actually bullshit, they may be left behind for a few taels of gold." Presumably Ma Youcheng also feels the same way! ”

"......" Ma Shao's face changed when he heard this, he was educated to be a gentleman, but he was said to be bullshit, and he couldn't help but get angry. But at this time, Zheng Tanhua, the deputy envoy of the Southern Dynasty, ridiculed himself for disobeying the words of the sage for the sake of glory and wealth, and the words of taking refuge in the Tartars echoed in his mind, making him swallow the rebuttal back into his stomach.

"This king knows that you Han people keep promises, but there is another sentence called a promise of a thousand gold, which shows that promises are still valuable after all, although they are a little expensive!" He was already six or seven points drunk, but he didn't notice that Ma Shao's face was a little ugly, and he thought that what he said was funny, so he laughed and laughed.

"This king also knows that you Han people often say in private, saying that we Mongols are greedy for money, and we do not hesitate to go around to conquer and plunder. In fact, what is the difference between you Han people, there are countless Confucians around the thieves of the Southern Dynasty, and they are naturally carefully taught, and they can't help but say that they know the principles of the saints! But when he attacked Quanzhou, although it was under the banner of killing tens of thousands of sons in order to repay the bloody night in Quanzhou, in fact, he killed thousands of people in the Pu family, and took the opportunity to loot all the property in his house, in the final analysis, it was for money! ”

"Your Highness, let's talk about how to make peace with the Southern Dynasty!" If Zhao Yu heard these words, he would naturally regard him as a confidant, thinking that the eldest brother should not talk about the second brother, everyone would be all the way. But it was Ma Shao who was sitting here, and of course he would regard what he said as a fallacy, so he was a little unhappy and asked him to get to the point.

"Since it is good, then you can do what it likes!" Tuhuan drank another bowl of wine and said, "Ma Youcheng has been talking with the Southern Dynasty for several months, and as far as this king knows, he has not even seen the face of a thief!" ”

"Hmm!" Ma Shao nodded helplessly, he also asked the peace envoy of the Southern Dynasty to convey his idea of meeting the puppet emperor and negotiating in person, but he failed to do so.

"It's not that this king has a derogatory meaning, back then, Liu Mengyan was ordered to enter Qiongzhou to make peace with the thief, and he was much more beautiful than Ma Youcheng. Not only did I see the thieves, but I also heard the news that they wanted to use the alliance of Annam and Champa to fight against our dynasty, which made our dynasty take the lead and break the alliance of their three kingdoms. In addition, an agreement was reached with them to allow the instigation of the capital army to safely cross the border to Champa. It was to open the way with a lot of money, and offered dozens of boxes of belongings, so that the thief could be happy to get out of the way, and he did not disgrace his mission! Tuo Huanyan said.

"Is that okay?" Ma Shao said in surprise. Could the little emperor of the Southern Dynasty be so greedy for money that a dozen boxes of wealth can be exchanged for an agreement between the two countries.

Of course, this little wealth alone is not enough, and the thief's appetite is also very large, but this king did not spend a penny, but only let those merchants contact him, and sent a lot of money, so that he could open the sea route to the West, and promised not to send troops to harass the coastal state capital. And of course, our dynasty also promised not to use swords and soldiers without permission, and sent troops to fight, so its sphere of influence was limited to that small island, and the two sides were able to maintain peace for several years, if it were not for ...... Alas! Of course, Tuhuan will not say that his side has failed to send troops to fight several times, lost his troops and lost his generals, and was unable to carry out another crusade to compromise in disguise, but all due to the charm of money.

"Ma Youcheng has the order of Yuxi Timur, and as long as he can keep Yangzhou when negotiating with him, he can promise him a lot of money and temporarily agree to all his conditions. Once our army is victorious, then no covenant will be empty! "It's only at this moment that Tuhuan said the point......