"Why did the plan fail? Lone knows that it is difficult to achieve anything! In the study, Yang Wu asked Fan Yu with an expression of "I already knew".

This eavesdropping plan was naturally proposed by Fan Yu on his own initiative, and it has a certain degree of feasibility.

However, Yang Wu felt that Gao Yu and the others would definitely take precautions against such an important matter, and it was impossible to discuss it casually when the wall had ears.

What's more, even if you know the other party's bottom line of negotiation, it is not very useful.

For this negotiation, the most important thing for Wu was the necessary conditions, if these could get Ma Yin to agree, then even if the other important conditions were canceled, Yang Wu would agree to a truce with Ma Yin.

Those so-called important conditions, in front of the king who rules a country, there is no need to worry about it, at most let the people below quarrel.

"Great King, although we haven't gotten any important news, but after all, we know the general situation of the other party, whether it is Xu Dexun or Gao Yu, they are not very optimistic about the future of Chu State!" Fan Yu explained with a smile.

"It's right not to be optimistic, if the two of them are still full of confidence at this time, then Gu will wonder if there is something wrong with the two of them."

"That's right, but the king, it's been a few days since Gao Yu came to Jinling, I don't know when the king plans to summon him?" Fan Yu said.

"No hurry! Or wait! We have the initiative in this matter, so there is no need to be eager. Yang Wu replied with a smile.

"What the king said is very true, we can afford to wait!" Fan Yu nodded.

"Not only have to wait, but also have to take substantive action, otherwise Gao Yu and Ma Yin behind him will not feel the pressure!" Yang Wu smiled lightly.

Fan Yu's eyes lit up and asked, "I wonder how the king is going to put pressure on them?" ”

"Of course, send troops to attack Hunan!"

"Send troops to attack Hunan? Didn't this Ma Yin already send an envoy to negotiate surrender? Is it still necessary to send troops now? Fan Yu felt a little strange.

"Do you really think it's that simple? Even if Ma Yin agrees to our conditions and agrees to hand over all the states except for the two prefectures of Jizhou and Chenzhou to our country, can you guarantee that when our people go to take over those places, those local forces will not cause trouble? Yang Wu sneered.

"This ......" Fan Yu was dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer.

As the so-called Tiangao Emperor is far away, when Ma Yin conquered those areas, he didn't make a lot of effort.

Later, Ma Yin's rule over those remote areas was still very weak, or in many areas, Ma Yin only owned them in name, but in fact they were still under the control of local forces.

After Ma Yin's forces withdrew, there would be chaos in those areas, and some new local forces might even emerge to confront the Wu army for their own ambitions.

It's not impossible, in those remote areas, those natives are already ill-informed, or even if they are well-informed, they know that the Wu army is very strong, even stronger than the Chu army, but they are also driven by ambition to take risks and launch disturbances.

In addition, it is impossible for the main force of the Wu army to stay in the local area for a long time, and if they do not send troops to clean up the small forces in those places now, it will be difficult to guarantee that they will not cause chaos after the main force of the Wu army withdraws in the future.

So no matter how you look at it, it is necessary for the Wu army to send a large army to those areas.

After briefly explaining a few words to Fan Yu about the purpose of sending troops, Yang Wu then added: "Not only is it necessary to send troops to attack, but this matter must also be carried out publicly, not only to let Gao Yu and others know, but also to let Ma Yin know about it!" Let your people do it! ”

"Yes, the minister will definitely handle this matter." Fan Yu bowed and replied.

This is just a very easy thing to do, the purpose is to let Gao Yu and the others know the news and create pressure on them.

In addition, after Ma Yin learned that the Wu army was going to attack, his plan could also be seen from his reaction.

If Ma Yin continued to concentrate his forces to resist the Wu army, it would mean that he had not completely given up, or that he still had some hope for peace.

But if Ma Yin chooses to shrink his forces and not resist at all, it means that he really doesn't want to fight, so even if Wu Guo puts forward some harsh conditions, he should accept it.

A few days later, Gao Yu returned to his room, and the worry on his face was even thicker.

In the past few days, he has been giving gifts everywhere, but he has successfully met with the high-level civil and military officials of Wu State, and even once met with Chen Yanqian, Li Chengsi, and Zhou Yin, three scholars at the same time.

It's a pity that Chen Yanqian and others never mentioned the matter of peace negotiation during these meetings, and every time they either chatted, or discussed major events in the world, or drank and had fun.

In short, Gao Yu was most concerned about the matter of peace negotiation, but he had no clue at all, and Wu Guoren made it clear that he didn't want to negotiate much.

Gao Yu also knew that he couldn't be too anxious, otherwise he would be easily taken advantage of in the negotiation, so in the face of Chen Yanqian and others' delaying methods, although he was very anxious, he didn't dare to show it in front of others.

In addition, Yang Wu, the king of Wu, did not mean to summon him at all, and every time he proposed to Chen Yanqian and others that he wanted to meet the king of Wu, he was told that the king of Wu was busy with military affairs, so he had no time for the time being.

"Busy with military affairs? What else is there to do in the military today? And it's been busy for so many days. It's just trying to procrastinate, trying to make me feel anxious! Gao Yu thought in his heart.

Of course, he is not the only envoy in Jinling City who feels anxious, I heard that the new successor of the Qing Navy in Lingnan, Liu Yan, the envoy he sent, Wang Dingbao, is now also waiting anxiously in Jinling.

It is said that the purpose of Wang Dingbao's visit this time was originally to obtain the recognition of Yang Wu, the king of Wu, so that Liu Yan could legally inherit the position of the Qing Navy's envoy.

However, although Yang Wu, the king of Wu, did not dwell on the issue of succession, he readily agreed, but then Yang Wu put forward a condition that was difficult for Liu Yan to accept, that is, they wanted them to cede the land of Zhao, He, Fu and other six states.

Gao Yu was already surprised by the harshness of the conditions for ceding the land, but what surprised him even more was that the reason why Yang Wu proposed this condition was that the land of the six states was not originally under the jurisdiction of the Qing Navy.

Yang Wu could bring up such a ridiculous reason, which made Gao Yu even more worried about his next negotiations with Wu Guo.

After pondering for a long time, Gao Yu's mood suddenly calmed down: "Forget it, then King Wu made it clear that he didn't want to see me, even if I was in a hurry, it was useless, it was better to wait quietly!" ”

Just as he was about to take out the wine and drink a few glasses, several of his entourages suddenly rushed in with anxious faces: "My lord, it's not good! ”

"What's so flustered? Could it be that the sky is falling? Gao Yu reprimanded with great dissatisfaction.

The entourage in the lead hurriedly slowed down, but the anxiety in his expression did not diminish in the slightest.

"My lord, we just got the news, just this morning, King Wu has ordered Governor Lu Shizhou to lead 20,000 Wu troops to Tanzhou, and together with Chai Zaiyong there, he will launch an attack on Langzhou and Lizhou!" The attendant said anxiously.

"What? The Wu army sent troops so soon? How is this possible? Gao Yu was shocked.

"Where the hell did you get the news?"

"My lord, those ordinary people in Jinling City know about it, and the little one went to ask a few familiar officials to confirm the news!" The attendant hurriedly replied.

"It can't be a rumor, right? How can such a militaristic event be so troublesome that even ordinary people know about it? Gao Yu still didn't believe it.

Although such a major event of sending troops to fight cannot be kept absolutely secret and it is difficult to hide from those who have intentions, it will not be to the point where ordinary people know about it.

"My lord, this matter should not be fake, it is said that King Wu announced it at the court meeting today, but because it is not yet the time of the summer harvest, and the military rations in the treasury of Jinling are somewhat insufficient, so King Wu ordered to borrow some money and grain from the people, and return it after the summer harvest." The lead attendant explained.

At this time, another attendant added on the side: "That's why ordinary people will know about this matter." It is said that the wealthy merchants in the city have already begun to prepare money and food so that they can lend money to the government! ”

Gao Yu's face was gloomy when he heard this.

The court of Wu sometimes borrowed money from the people when there was a shortage of money and food, which was heard by all forces.

I heard that Huainan was at war with Liangzhejiang, and Huainan was burned a large amount of money and grain by the fine work of Liangzhejiang because of the lack of money and grain, resulting in the dilemma of having soldiers and no food.

Later, Huainan relied on borrowing money and grain from the people to tide over the difficulties.

This method can not only solve the problem of the empty government treasury, but also avoid the various problems caused by temporary tax increases, the only problem is that it is a bit of a loss of face.

However, compared to those actual benefits, these so-called loss of face are nothing, and after more times, everyone will get used to it.

Such a good method is naturally wanted to be emulated by all forces, but it is not so easy to implement.

First, if you want to follow the method of Wu Guo, then at least the people must have enough money and grain reserves in their hands, otherwise the people themselves are insufficient, how can they be willing to lend to the imperial court?

As for forcing people to borrow, what is the difference between that and forced taxation?

Therefore, those who can emulate the state of Wu are relatively wealthy forces such as the Liang State and the Shu State, and other forces such as the Qi State and the Jin State do not have this condition.

As for the second restriction, the people had to have a certain degree of confidence in their court.

Everyone is not stupid, and naturally they are unwilling to lend money and food to forces that they are not optimistic about.

Like the state of Chu is now in decline, even if Ma Yin wants to borrow food from the people, I am afraid that not many people will respond.

In short, although the method of borrowing from the people is good, Gao Yu's eyes lit up after hearing it, but he was immediately attracted by the news that the Wu army sent troops to Langzhou.

Knowing that Ma Yin had sent an envoy to negotiate peace, Yang Wu still made the decision to send troops to Langzhou, and the threat was too strong.

However, even if he knew Yang Wu's purpose, he could only bear it, and find a way to start formal negotiations as soon as possible, otherwise the means that Chu State could rely on would become less and less, and the situation of negotiations would become more and more unfavorable to Chu State.

At this time, Gao Yu also knew that he couldn't wait any longer.

He immediately went out to Chen Yanqian's house again, and proposed to Chen Yanqian that he wanted to meet Yang Wu, and claimed that if he could not agree, he would wait at Chen Yanqian's door every day until he saw Yang Wu.

No matter what Gao Yu said, he was also a messenger sent by Ma Yin, and Yang Wu naturally didn't want to be too cold, otherwise it would be a bit embarrassing for Wu Guo to spread it.

Now that he has reached this point, he has begun to play scoundrels, and Yang Wu has no choice but to summon him.

Three days later, during the court meeting, Gao Yu finally met the person he wanted to see most in Jinling, and he was also one of the most powerful people in the world.

When Gao Yu saw Yang Wu, the king of Wu, sitting there for the first time in the court, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart because of his youth.

This king, who single-handedly pushed the Chu State into the abyss, is still so young now, and he is even only twenty-five years old this year, which is the time to be full of vitality.

In contrast, whether it is Ma Yin, the king of Chu, or Qin Yanhui, Yao Yanzhang and other meritorious generals, they are now dying, and they all have a dying air on their bodies.

"The country of Wu is already so strong, plus there is a virtuous monarch, and this monarch is still so young, I really don't know what this world will be like in ten or twenty years?"

"I heard that the Jin King Li Cunmiao is not very old, and now he is only one year older than Yang Wu, the king of Wu, but now he is in the north, leading the Jin army to defeat the Liang army one after another, which is a big trouble for the Liang State."

"Such two young heroes, but one happens to be in the south and the other in the north, is it possible that the two of them will compete in the world in the future?"

"It's a pity that the old man is old now, and the strength of the Chu State is too weak, and now he is facing the disaster of destruction, obviously he has no chance to participate in the future battle of the world!"

"It's a pity! Pity! ”

Gao Yu bowed to Yang Wu and thought in his heart.

Above the main hall, when Gao Yu was secretly observing Yang Wu, Yang Wu was also looking at Ma Yin's confidant and adviser.

At this time now, Yang Wu will no longer care about one or two resourceful people, after all, the general trend of Wu State to unify the south has been achieved, and it is difficult for anyone to change this general trend.

The reason why he looked at Gao Yu carefully was actually thinking about whether he could dig one or two outstanding talents from the Chu State.

Yang Wu naturally will not have too many special resources such as talents.

Although in terms of civil officials, after so many imperial examinations, Wu Guo's demand for scribes in terms of civil affairs is no longer as urgent as it was at the beginning.

But if a man has no foresight, he will have near-term worries.

Nowadays, looking at the talent reserve is sufficient, but not to mention anything else, just Hunan, Jingjiang and other prefectures that are about to be annexed will need a lot of people to govern, and the talents selected by the imperial examination alone are still a little insufficient.

It's better to dig some people from Ma Yin's side.