After listening to Yuan Chengce's words, Deng Yuanjue couldn't help but glance at Shi Luosheng, both of them thought in their hearts, people's hearts are really both long and long, before sending troops to Jizhou County, Xiao Daocheng was just thinking that he could take a few cities in Chu State and was very satisfied.

Now that the situation is better than expected, I am thinking about taking Ezhou County, if Ezhou is also successfully taken, will I think about directly attacking Shouchun City, the capital of Chu State?

Anyway, Xiao Daocheng didn't directly say when he wanted to send troops, but just asked Deng Yuanjue to find a suitable opportunity by himself, so Deng Yuanjue didn't say anything, so as not to sweep away Xiao Daocheng's interest and bring unnecessary trouble to himself.

Xiao Yan on the side originally thought that Deng Yuanjue would object, but now seeing that he did not raise any objections, he was also overjoyed in his heart, and said: "There is now only one Yuezhou City left in the nine cities of Jizhou County, when does the general plan to send troops to take Yuezhou?" ”

Deng Yuanjue thought for a while and said: "Although Yuezhou City is not big, it is also guarded by 80,000 Chu troops, and it is not the best strategy to attack it, so we might as well give up Yuezhou for the time being and go to fight somewhere else." ”

"I heard that Jiang Huan Chu, the fourth prince of Qi State, has captured Changli City and cut off Xiang Tong's way back. In order to save him back, Chu Emperor Xiong Huan has authorized him to negotiate with the Qi State, and I estimate that the result of their negotiations will end in the compensation of the Chu State's land cession. ”

"So I plan not to fight Yuezhou in the next step, didn't Your Majesty let me find a chance to fight Ezhou, now is an opportunity, we will directly send troops to Ezhou, put pressure on Emperor Chu, and force them to negotiate with us."

After listening to this, Xiao Yan calculated in his heart: "My father is extremely face-saving, if Emperor Chu can be subdued and send someone to sue for peace, then the blow to the confidence of Chu will naturally be much greater than occupying two more cities." ”

Xiao Yan praised: "The general's plan is wonderful, Taiwei Yuan and I also brought 20,000 troops over this time, and these people are also at the disposal of the general, I don't know when the general plans to send troops?" ”

Deng Yuanjue pondered for a moment and said: "Xiang Tong's side has already started negotiations, we should divide our troops sooner rather than later, tomorrow we will divide our troops into two routes, Luosheng and Zixuan will take 20,000 people to fight Jingzhou City, and Wenhao and Wenjie will also take 20,000 people to fight Huangzhou City." ”

"I'm sitting in Jizhou City, staring at Gao Yi. If he still doesn't dare to send troops to the rescue, then we don't have to be polite, and slowly cannibalize Ezhou County. If he dares to send troops to rescue and send more reinforcements, I will go to take Yuezhou City, and if there are few reinforcements, I will go to snipe reinforcements. ”

Under Nanyang City, after Xiang Tong got Xiong Huan's authorization, he asked Tian Wuji to discuss peace.

Tian Wuji didn't know at this time that most of the military rations in Nanyang City had already been taken away by Ning Buqu, and he thought that the grain and grass in the city were enough for the Chu army for a year, so he was still wary of Chu taking the initiative to propose peace.

As soon as the two met, Xiang Tong first spoke: "General Tian, both of us and you are powerful countries in the world, and our two countries go to war, consuming countless amounts of money and food every day, which is not beneficial to both sides, it is better to stop here and withdraw their troops, what does the general think?" ”

Tian Wuji remained silent and asked tentatively: "Okay, it's not impossible to stop here, but you killed the lives of our generals Gan Zining and Xu Zhendong and 150,000 soldiers, can't this matter be left like this?" ”

Xiang Tong argued: "The general's words are wrong, the two countries are at war, each is its master, General Gan and General Xu were both killed on the battlefield, no wonder others." Our Taipunctual Wenyi of Changli City was also martyred in this war, and we still admit it. Besides, this war was first provoked by your country, and we are only resisting foreign invasion. ”

Tian Wuji said angrily: "It's a good resistance to foreign invasion, now that we have lost Nanyang City, is it also considered to resist foreign invasion if we want to take it back?" ”

Xiang Tong secretly slandered in his heart, this Tian Wuji is the same as Jiang Wushuang, they are so domineering and unreasonable, it is obvious that they took the initiative to provoke the war, but they were defeated, and they put the responsibility on themselves. But there is no way, who makes others stronger than themselves, and when the Chu State was the strongest, this kind of thing was not less.

Xiang Tong had no choice but to smile and say: "If General Tian agrees to negotiate peace, we are willing to return Nanyang City to your country, but at the same time, please return Changli City to us." ”

Tian Wuji laughed: "General Xiang is really calculating, each of them will return the city, your Chu State will not lose a little, even if I don't investigate the death of the two generals Gan Zining and Xu Zhendong, but our Daqi has lost 150,000 horses, if you don't want to pay any price, then there is no need to talk about it, let's see you on the battlefield." ”

After speaking, Tian Wuji stood up and turned around to leave.

Xiang informed Daotian Wuji that he was not aware of the shortage of food in Nanyang City now, and if he knew the true situation, then he would have to pay more if he wanted to negotiate peace. There were still tens of thousands of Qi troops in Nanyang City, and Xiang Tong was not sure how long he could hide from Tian Wuji.

What's more, even if you hide it, after a month, you really run out of food, what should you do at that time? I can't afford to wait.

Xiang Tong hurriedly dissuaded: "General Tian, please stay, I want to hear your opinion, what price do we need to pay before you agree to withdraw from the army?" ”

Tian Wuji stopped on the spot, pointed to the map on the table and said, "First of all, you withdraw from Nanyang City, and when you leave, everything in the city will remain the same, and you are not allowed to engage in any form of destruction. In addition, they ceded Changli and the five surrounding cities to us as compensation for our 150,000 soldiers. ”

Xiang Tong was also angry after hearing this: "You are a lion with a big mouth, we can't agree to this condition, and ask General Tian to think twice, if you insist on refusing to give in, then Xiang Mou can only wait for the general to attack the city at the head of Nanyang City." ”

Tian Wuji also had concerns in his heart, the sky-high asking price was just a means for him to negotiate, and it would not be good for him to really force Xiang Tong, after all, Jiang Huanchu was also in danger now, if he had an accident, Jiang Wushuang would not let go of himself and the entire Tian family.

Tian Wuji's tone softened slightly: "That general might as well tell me what you are willing to pay?" Don't think about it without paying any price, if that's the case, then let's fight a few battles first and then talk slowly. ”

Xiang Tong's face looked a little better, and he thought for a while and said: "We will return Nanyang City to you as it is, and Changli City can also give it to you, but the other five surrounding cities will not be mentioned again." ”

Tian Wuji frowned and said, "We don't want the city, but the compensation can't be less, and the war indemnity of 800,000 taels of silver can't be less." ”

Xiang Tong still had to make a counteroffer, but Tian Wuji stretched out his hand to stop him: "General Xiang, you go back and think about it yourself, give me an answer within three days, this condition is my bottom line, I will not accept any counteroffer, if you do it, you will make peace, if you don't work, you will fight, and you will leave." After saying that, he left without looking back.