The envoys of Shu had just arrived in Jinling after several journeys, and at this time the Southern Tang State had long known about the Zhou army's large-scale attack on Shu on both sides.

The envoy was a lobbyist, but no matter how clever his tongue was, he couldn't fool the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Tang Kingdom. There are still a lot of talents in Jinling, although the momentum is weaker now, but the territory of the country in the heyday was not smaller than that of the Zhou Dynasty, and the population and wealth exceeded that of the Zhou Dynasty; As a big country, it is not so easy to be swayed.

Even if the lobbyist spits on it, he has only one purpose: to form an alliance with the Southern Tang State and send troops to attack the Zhou Dynasty. His eloquence is still good, especially citing the fact that the Wushu Alliance was able to confront Cao Wei for a long time during the Three Kingdoms period, which is very convincing...... The truth is really like that, how similar Zhou, Shu, Tang and the Three Kingdoms were back then! But in reality, it is not so easy to repeat the classic diplomacy of the past.

Li Jing, the lord of the country, appeased the envoys of Shu and hurriedly convened important ministers of Jinling in the imperial city to discuss.

…… The magnificent palace, the exquisiteness of the carved railings and jade masonry, still exudes the bearing of the great power of the Southern Tang Kingdom. This country has been founded for much longer than any dynasty in the Central Plains, and has been the hegemon of half of the country for a long time.

Han Xizai, the minister who was plain and eloquent, took the lead in refuting the reasoning of the envoys of Shu one by one after going to the palace, and said: "Your Majesty, this is not the Three Kingdoms. ”

Han Xizai talked eloquently: "Back then, Sun Quan and Liu Bei of Wu and Shu had their own ambitions. Let's talk about Gu Shu first, whether it is Liu Bei's rejection of Jingzhou in the early stage, or Zhuge coming out of Qishan in the later stage, he always has the heart to chase the deer; Therefore, Liu Bei threatens the north at all times, which can be contained.

Today's Shu State Meng's family, who doesn't seem to have achieved great things, has done anything other than relying on the terrain to stick to the two rivers and claim the emperor? At the turn of the Jin and Han dynasties, the Jin Dynasty was destroyed by the Khitan and the Central Plains was in turmoil, and the Shu State occupied a place between Qin and Feng, or the place where the Jin generals took the initiative to surrender and take over, and then they missed the opportunity to sit still. They can't go out of Sichuan without a master in the Central Plains, what can they expect now?

He also said that my country is also not Sun Wu. At the turn of the Jin and Han dynasties, why couldn't our country enter the Central Plains? The elite soldiers are all trapped in Wu Yueguo, and there is Wu Yue on their backs, and they are helpless. ”

After hearing this, the ministers looked sideways and whispered for a while, and most of them felt that Han Xizai's words were reasonable.

Han Xizai looked around and continued: "What is the situation now? In the battle of Huainan, the Zhou army was dispatched, and the Shu State moved a soldier and a horse; Similarly, now that Shu has been attacked, our country has been weakened, not to mention that it is powerless, and a little carelessness may lead to burning...... At that time, Shu will not save our country. The southern countries all want to lead the water of disaster to others, how can they send it to block the edge of the Zhou Dynasty......"

Han Xizai's proposition immediately aroused the support of the ministers, this kind of public opinion was originally the mainstream of Jinling, and most people really did not want to fall into war.

But at this moment, Wang brother Li Jingda came out and scolded: "You wait for Wenchen, you only know how to eat, drink and have fun and sit and wait to die, it is not enough to make a plan!" ”

Li Jingda is the first strongman of the Southern Tang royal family and the fourth brother of the lord of the country, and everyone does not dare to confront him, but is silent.

"There are too many truths to wait, and this king only admits one truth: it's useless to win if you can't win!" Li Jingda said in a tough tone, "Now that Shu is forced to fight with the Zhou army, they have to fight whether they want to or not; When will we not need soldiers at this time? I have two strategies, the best strategy is to send troops to Jingnan to destroy the Zhou army stationed here, block the Zhou army's eastern route army, and eat the elite of the Zhou army by attacking the east and west of Shu. The next strategy was to recover Huainan, at this time the Zhou army was exhausted, and Huainan Li Chongjin had been destroyed, and it was very empty; It is possible to cross the river to recover the eastern capital (Yangzhou) and restore the land of the fourteen states in the north of the Yangtze River, thinking that it is the foundation of hegemony. ”

Li Jingda hugged his fists above and said: "The imperial brother gives an order, and the foolish brother is willing to be the forerunner." ”

The lord of the country was speechless on it, Li Jingda's temperament was a little anxious, and he immediately asked for battle: "Brother Huang, don't believe the words of the Zhou Dynasty's friendship, let alone worry about annoying them, it is only right to strengthen the strength of this world!" ”

Seeing that the lord of the country was still silent, the privy envoy said: "King Qi (Li Jingda) don't worry, the king has his own considerations." How can the country's plans be reckless and arbitrary? ”

Li Jingda didn't dare to insist on persecution, sighed, flicked his sleeves, and stepped aside with an unhappy face...... His third brother Li Jingsui was poisoned because of his participation in the power struggle, and the lesson from the future is not far away.

Li Jingda retreated, and Han Xizai spoke again: "My country is not sitting still, but waiting for the opportunity, the minister thinks that the current time is not good, it is too risky to get the support of the people." ”

A minister asked, "When is the time that Han Gong thinks he should wait?" ”

Han Xizai said calmly: "The old man assumes one thing first, when the Jin Dynasty was destroyed by the Khitan, the Central Plains had no owner, and at that time, if the Southern Tang Kingdom could withdraw and lead the army north into the Central Plains, what would be the situation?" ”

Everyone has discussed this matter more than once, and the debate even involves the national policy level...... Because some people believe that if they had maintained peace with the southern countries and had not trapped the country's elite soldiers in the war of Wu and Yue at that time, the Jin and Han dynasties would have taken the opportunity to settle the Central Plains.

The national policy of the Southern Tang Dynasty has always wavered, sometimes pursuing the strategy of first unifying the south to strengthen its strength, and confronting and waiting for the opportunity; This road also had results, and it successively destroyed Fujian and Chu, and it was precisely when dealing with Wu Yueguo that it was mired in the quagmire and has not been resolved. Unable to defeat Wu Yueguo, the Southern Tang Dynasty implemented another national policy, that is, the ministers mentioned from time to time that the fish countries lived together in harmony to recuperate.

However, now there is no longer a dispute, and the strength of the Southern Tang Dynasty has declined after losing Huainan, and Wu Yue cannot be destroyed, so the first road has been terminated.

Han Xizai brought up the old things again, if the assumption is true, the current Southern Tang Kingdom is not the Southern Tang Dynasty, and it is estimated that the Tang Dynasty has built the capital of the Central Plains...... When the Jin Dynasty fell, the Hedong Jiedu envoy relied on a small territory to establish the (later) Han Dynasty and surrendered all the way, because the Central Plains needed a regime dominated by the main population after driving out the Khitan. At that time, the territory of the Southern Tang Kingdom was so large, as long as the army went north, it was easy for the Han people in the Central Plains to accept; In any case, the strength of Nantang is much greater than that bit of territory in Hedong, and the opportunity is very large.

Han Xizai and the others discussed for a while, and then continued: "The opportunity ten years ago is fleeting, and the king has been waiting for ten years, can't he wait a little longer? ”

He looked at the more than twenty people around him, and said, "Not bad! What we are waiting for is the opportunity of the Jin and Han friendships. The Zhou army attacked Shu on a large scale, which seemed to be violent, but in fact, it was a foreign strong cadre barely holding up the scene; As long as the Zhou army is unfavorable in this battle, the troubled times of the Central Plains are approaching. This time, I should have prepared early, rather than rushing into a quagmire. ”

…… The ministers in the temple expressed their opinions, and there were three general propositions: The first type of people headed by Li Jingda wanted to take a positive posture and attack Jingzhou and Jiangbei while they were now attacking, and they would inevitably immediately become enemies of the Great Zhou Dynasty and enter a state of war.

The second type, Han Xizai and others, tended to think that the Zhou army would not be able to capture Shu, and expected that the Central Plains would fall into chaos, so they would wait for a more secure time before making a move.

The third is more negative, feeling that the Zhou Dynasty is still strong, and the general trend has entered the stage of unification. It is recommended to move the capital to Hongzhou, leave Jinling, where the Zhou Dynasty and Wu and Vietnam are in the middle of the situation, and remain deferential to the Zhou Dynasty...... No one dares to say what to do in the future, but everyone understands that it may be that they want to surrender when the situation is unstoppable, and surrender to end the foundation of the Southern Tang Kingdom in exchange for wealth.

At this moment, the lord of the kingdom asked, "Why doesn't the prince speak?" ”

The crown prince is Li Yu, who has been rejected by the main force of the country and insisted on being made the crown prince...... During the short period of Li Hongji's "rebellion", Li Yu behaved very well, completely with his father, and was deeply trusted by the lord.

Li Yu finally got his wish, but it was not easy to be the prince. Some people in the court objected, and most of the opponents thought that he was addicted to music and poetry, and was afraid of delaying major events, so they made some excuses that he did not have a son; But this matter is not too important in this world, and the adopted son can also inherit it, so Li Yu was a little easier and anxious to raise a boy who was more than a year old from his brother's house as a son, and the problem was completely solved.

"Erchen is more in favor of the proposition of Han Sheren (Hubu Shilang, Zhongshu Sheren Han Xizai)." Li Yu said carefully, there are not too many words, but this sentence is indeed well thought out. Li Yu didn't speak before, but it wasn't that he didn't listen or think.

When Li Yu looked at his father from a distance, he felt that his father was really a little old, not because he was old (he was in his early forties), but because he seemed to be disheartened...... The ambition when he opened up the territory and conquered Fujian and Chu was no longer there, and in such a situation, it was impossible for his father to adopt Li Jingda's proposition; And moving the capital to sit and wait for surrender, maybe my father can't accept it for a while, after all, he also had a glorious time and can be called a monarch with achievements.

Therefore, Li Yu thinks that Han Xizai's proposition is the most recognized by his father; I supported him and stood with my father.

And Li Yu himself does agree with Han Xizai's proposition.

Uncle Li Jingda is very famous for using soldiers, but he thinks about the government too simply, and many people in the Southern Tang Kingdom, including a group of rich and powerful people, are not very willing to fight, and forcibly drag the Southern Tang Kingdom into the war regardless of everyone's wishes, I am afraid that the trouble and resistance will be great...... Fighting is not about fighting when you want to. And it was risky to rush to war with the Zhou army.

However, if the Zhou army was defeated in Shu, the situation would be completely different!

The terrain of Shu is treacherous, and it is not so easy to fight, and there are occasional strong lords in the past dynasties who have no way to deal with them when they are stable in the Central Plains. The current Empress Dowager of the Zhou Dynasty has just been regent, and the country is not stable, so it is too risky to rush to send troops in order to establish her prestige...... Maybe the people in the war-torn land of the Central Plains are like this, often staking the fortunes of the country on the victory or defeat of a war. When Zhou Shizong had just ascended the throne, he also took the risk of taking this shortcut; Now the Empress Dowager of the Zhou Dynasty and her family will repeat the old tricks.

Do you get what you want every time?

The Empress Dowager of the Zhou Dynasty is not Zhou Shizong, and that Guo Shao is not. Li Yu thought that it would be difficult for them not to plant in the lofty mountains and mountains of Shu in this battle.