Yang Lian was sipping tea in the study, while looking at the letter sent by Lin Renzhao. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Yang Lian returned to Jinling, but Lin Renzhao was not idle, with the help of Lu Duoxun, they continued to implement Yang Lian's policy, collected displaced people, reclaimed land, and during this time, collected more than 10,000 people. These people hated the Khitans to the core, and when they heard that Lin Renzhao was recruiting soldiers and horses, they rushed to join the army.

Lin Renzhao reported in detail in his letter that he was in the mountains. In Dong's situation, several things are proceeding in an orderly manner, and Yang Lian is quite satisfied with the progress. Lin Renzhao also talked about the war in Hebei in his letter, Guo Wei and the Khitans fought several battles with each other, and they were evenly matched, and no one took advantage.

Lin Renzhao believed that the battle would last at least two to three months, and that the Khitans would not retreat until the summer, when they might adapt to the southern climate. This means that Datang still has at least three months to prepare - as for Guo Rong coming to negotiate and the two countries forming an alliance, Lin Renzhao simply did not believe that Guo Wei could endure Liu Chengyou alive and could endure the mountain. The east is controlled by hostile forces.

Yang Lian hurriedly read the letter, and then Zhao Peng told him that Guo Rong was coming.

Yang Lian put away the letter and motioned for Zhao Peng to bring Guo Rong in.

After Guo Rong came in, he found that Yang Lian's face was full of joy, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised. What happy event did Yang Lian meet?

Yang Lian coughed, attracting Guo Rong's attention, and then said, "Guo Rong, since you came, you must have thought about it, and you agreed?" ”

Guo Rong first shook his head, nodded again, and then took out a piece of paper from his arms, took two steps, and put it on the desk.

Yang Lian stretched out two fingers, clamped the paper over, and took a cursory look, this is a list, which is full of gifts, what pearl jade, silk and satin, look at the value, at least a thousand gold. Yang Lian couldn't help but laugh and said, "Are you bribing me?" ”

"Don't dare, Yang Jiedu is hard, I'm just a little careful." Guo Rong said.

Yang Lian flicked the paper and said, "I seem to be ashamed of so many gifts." ”

Guo Rong pursed his lips and didn't speak, his eyes were bright.

"Frankly speaking, I also hate the Khitans, so I suspended the attack on the Central Plains and allowed the Great Zhou Tianzi to send troops to defend against the Khitan." Yang Lian said.

Guo Rong still pursed his lips and didn't speak, this time is the most critical time, listen to what Yang Lian has to say first.

"However, I believe that after the Great Zhou Tianzi repelled the Khitans, he would inevitably attack the mountain. East, now that the alliance is formed, it just wants to stabilize the Tang Dynasty, do you say yes or no? Yang Lian asked.

Guo Rong nodded secretly in his heart, what Yang Lian said was the truth, but at this time, he couldn't admit it, so he had to point to the sky and say: "Yang Jiedu, I guarantee with my net worth and my life, this will never happen, if Da Zhou betrays Da Tang and teaches me ten thousand arrows to pierce my heart, I will not die well!" ”

Just made an oath, Guo Rong didn't care, the fortune teller said that he was rich and noble, and he would be fine.

Yang Lian narrowed his eyes and smiled, he paced slowly, as if he was thinking carefully, and then said: "Can you accept the conditions mentioned by the previous ****?" In Yang Lian's view, this is already the minimum requirement.

Guo Rong didn't hesitate much, nodded in agreement.

Yang Lian was about to speak, this is, Wang Hu said outside the door: "Master, King Qi has sent someone." ”

"Let him in!" Yang Lian said.

Guo Rong hesitated for a while, and was about to avoid it, Yang Lian waved his hand and said, "Let's leave after the matter is discussed." ”

Guo Rong frowned, a little unable to guess what Yang Lian meant, at this time, the people from the Qi Palace's Mansion had already walked in, and after saluting Yang Lian, he presented an excerpt and said: "Yang Jiedu, this is the military report that the King of Qi just got, I specially copied a copy and sent a villain to send it." ”

"Good work." Yang Lian motioned for him to put the military report on the case and asked Wang Hu to give him two pieces of money.

Yang Lian opened the military newspaper and looked at it, this is the military newspaper sent from Changzhou, Qian Wenfeng attacked Changzhou, the momentum was violent, the Tang army took Li Jingda as the commander, Zhou Ye, Chai Kehong and others as the generals, the two sides fought for several months, two days ago, Zhou Ye led the troops to forcibly break into the camp of Wu Yuezhong's army, injured Qian Wenfeng, and Qian Wenfeng retreated in shock. Li Jingda immediately made a decision and led his troops to pursue, Zhou Ye and Chai Kehong led more than 300 light cavalry, chased and killed all the way, and beheaded more than 2,000 people.

The two pursued all the way to the boundary of Suzhou, and when they saw countless fortresses in the territory of Wu Yueguo, they gave up the pursuit. Wu Yuejun retreated, leaving behind the baggage and wealth that he weighed, and Li Jingda sent someone to seal it up and escort it back to Beijing. This news made Yang Lian quite excited, and he picked up the military newspaper and threw it to Guo Rong.

"Guo Rong, you can take a look at this military report." Yang Lian said.

Guo Rong was a little surprised, the military secret, Yang Lian dared to show him? In this way, this military report will soon be no secret. Guo Rong opened it and couldn't help but gasp. The Tang army won a great victory in Changzhou and repelled the Wu Yue army, which meant that Wu Yue could not attack Changzhou in a short time, and more importantly, the military pressure on the southern front of the Tang army was sharply reduced, so he could send troops north to support the mountain. East.

Guo Rong pondered, the timing of this military report was too coincidental, could it be that this was Yang Lian's plan?

Yang Lian saw through Guo Rong's thoughts, waved his hand, and said: "I know that you have some worries and doubt the authenticity of this military report, I won't force you, you can go to investigate and make a decision, but the next time you come, I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer, otherwise the lion of the Tang Dynasty will rush to the Central Plains immediately." ”

Guo Rong was in a panic, and he didn't know how to get out, Zhao Kuangyin saw that he was a little depressed, so he asked. Guo Rong said with some preamble, Zhao Kuangyin took a lot of effort to figure out the reason for the matter, he couldn't imagine that the Battle of Changzhou would end so quickly, Qian Wenfeng had led the troops for many years, and he couldn't imagine that in Changzhou he would still fall into the sand, and Wu Yueguo retreated, which had a great impact on the Great Zhou.

The two of them walked with their subordinates a little dejected, and walked for a long time with a stick of incense, and Guo Rong noticed that the gift he came to was laughed at by Yang Lian, or rather, by a certain greedy person in Yang's mansion.

This is a good thing, Guo Rong's spirits lifted slightly, and he hurriedly asked the others to go back, and he took Zhao Kuangyin to Yanwang's Mansion to report the matter.

Yan Wangfu, Prime Minister Sun Sheng, Situ Zhouzong, Li Hongji and others all have joy on their faces, Changzhou's great victory, to a certain extent, eliminated Yang Lian's credit, and more importantly, Zhou Ye faintly has the intention of taking refuge in Li Hongji, this time Zhou Ye has made great contributions, will inevitably be rewarded, Yan Wang's party finally has a military general who has mastered military power, and it has a lot of benefits for the future succession.

When several people were discussing, Guo Rong came in with a frown.

Zhou Zong hurriedly said: "Guo Rong, didn't Yang Lian accept the gift?" ”

"It's been accepted, but I've got bad news." Guo Rong shook his head and told him about the defeat of Wu Yueren, and he expressed his worries.

Zhou Zong smiled and said, "Guo Rong, you don't have to worry, the Tang Dynasty Changzhou is victorious, with our people, he has made great contributions, and King Yan's power will be strengthened." Now that Yang Lian has accepted the gift again, we can take the opportunity to impeach him for accepting bribes and betraying the interests of Datang. If Yang Lian can't take power, what are you worried about? ”

Guo Rong squinted his eyes and thought about it carefully, but this is the reason, and his spirit was greatly lifted at the moment.

After a few people discussed, they felt that it was getting late now, and Sun Sheng would enter the palace tomorrow to impeach, and they discussed the details again and dispersed.

Early the next morning, Sun Sheng entered the palace. Li Jing was pacing in the backyard, and the victory in Changzhou made him happy, and he decided to reward the Tang soldiers. Li Jingda has a meritorious service in retreating from the enemy, he is a prince himself, and it is difficult for the official to be promoted, and more importantly, he is wary of Li Jingda, so Li Jing can only reward him.

As for Zhou Ye, Chai Kehong and others who led the troops, Li Jing decided to reward them well, but as for how to reward them, he hadn't thought about it yet. At this time, Prime Minister Sun Sheng asked to see him.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty." Sun Sheng first congratulated.

Li Jing was in a happy mood, laughing, the two of them went one after the other, chatting about the war in Changzhou, and after talking for a while, Sun Sheng suddenly sighed and shook his head again and again.

"Prime Minister Sun, Changzhou's victory is a happy event, why are you sighing?" Li Jing was puzzled.

Sun Sheng's face was embarrassed, he hesitated for a moment, but he still shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister only heard about this matter, but he didn't see it with his own eyes, maybe it's just a rumor." ”

Li Jing was even more curious, waved his hand, and said, "Prime Minister Sun, but it's okay to say it." ”

Sun Sheng thought about it again and said: "Your Majesty asked Yang Lian and Yang Jiedu to be responsible for peace talks with the Great Zhou, but the old minister heard that the reason why there was no progress for a long time was because Yang Jiedu accepted bribes from Guo Rong, at least as much as a thousand gold. ”

Li Jing narrowed his eyes, smiled, and said, "Who did Prime Minister Sun listen to?" ”

"Your Majesty forgives your sins and is the steward of the old minister's family." Sun Sheng said.

Li Jing suddenly snorted coldly, didn't say anything, shook his hand and left, his steps hurried, looking very angry.

Sun Sheng narrowed his eyes and waited until the Son of Heaven disappeared from sight, then he slowly paced and walked out of the palace.

Sun Sheng successfully sent the news to the ears of the Son of Heaven, who originally thought that the angry Son of Heaven would remove Yang Lian from his position, but soon, they were disappointed, and after waiting for two days, they never saw His Majesty issue a holy decree, but Yang Lian wrote a letter in two days, requesting the transfer of soldiers and horses from the south and entering the mountain. Preparing for the war in the east, once Guo Wei drove away the Khitans, he immediately attacked Kaifeng, recovered the Central Plains, and restored the glory of the former Tang Dynasty.

After Yang Lian handed it over, the main battle faction in the court wrote letters one after another to support the Northern Expedition. When Liu Renzhan got the news, he also wrote several excerpts in a row, expressing his willingness to make up for his mistakes and lead his troops to the Northern Expedition. Liu Renzhan betrayed the order of the Son of Heaven and attacked Suzhou and Songzhou, and after Guo Wei's army arrived, after a hard battle, he could not hold Songzhou, so he had to retreat to Suzhou.

The Son of Heaven got the news, recalled him, and sent another general to guard Suzhou. In order to make up for the merits, Liu Renzhan actively supported the Northern Expedition, and if he made great contributions, this shame would be revealed.

The main battle faction in the imperial court was huge for a while, which not only shocked Guo Rong, but even Li Hongji, the king of Yan, and Sun Sheng, the prime minister, also felt that the development of the situation was a little uncontrollable, and several people discussed for a long time, but they never found a way, especially the victory in Changzhou, the morale of the Tang army was high, and the war became the mainstream, and the anti-war voices of Sun Sheng, Zhou Zong and others were like a drop of water falling into the fire, which was of no avail.

More importantly, Zhou Zong tried several times and found that the Son of Heaven did have the intention of sending troops to the Northern Expedition, and he also planned to take Yang Lian as the commander to seize the Central Plains first, and then recover Hebei and drive away the Khitans. This news surprised everyone, although Yang Lian said that he went north, the main force of the war was his Shuntian army, Huang Fuhui and Li Jinquan did not have many soldiers and horses, and Liu Renzhan and Liu Yanzhen led more soldiers and horses, but they took other routes.

Yang Lian can occupy the mountain without having an advantage in troops. East, if it controls more military power, I am afraid that it will really recover the Central Plains.

Everyone is naturally unwilling, the greater Yang Lian's power, the worse their living environment will be, Sun Sheng, Zhou Zong, and Li Hongji discussed for two days, but there was no result. Seeing that everyone was helpless, Guo Rongxian couldn't sit still.

The main force of the Great Zhou Dynasty was fighting with the Khitans in the north, and Liu Chong of Hedong sent troops, which attracted a part of the Tang Dynasty's troops. If the Central Plains falls into the hands of the Tang Dynasty, where will the Great Zhou go?

After Guo Rong thought about it carefully, he saw that the bribery strategy could not shake Yang Lian's position at all, so he had to rush to Yang's mansion again to discuss with Yang Lian. Guo Rong didn't realize one thing, Yang Lian didn't come to him at all about the negotiation, Guo Rong rushed to Yang's mansion in person, and invisibly, he had fallen behind in psychological warfare.

Yang Lian was not surprised by Guo Rong's arrival, he drank tea slowly, and when Guo Rong came in, he just raised his eyelids and continued to drink tea.

Now it's not what it used to be, Guo Rong doesn't dare to say more, at least he wants to sign a peace agreement with Datang to avoid future troubles, and as for the future, then say another thing.

"Yang Jiedu, my father-in-law decided to agree to Yang Jiedu's request." Guo Rong replied very cleverly.

Yang Lian glanced up at him and asked lazily, "Really agreed?" ”

"I really agreed." Guo Rong nodded.

Yang Lian stood up, raised his index finger, and said, "The Great Zhou Tianzi promised me the conditions I proposed a few days ago?" ”

Guo Rong nodded yes.

Yang Lian smiled, raised his middle finger, and said, "But in the past few days, I have changed my mind and want to make a few more requests." ”

Sweat broke out on Guo Rong's forehead, Yang Lian was making things difficult, but he could only agree, nodded hurriedly, and said, "Please Yang Jiedu said to take a look." ”

"The Great Zhou court presents a thousand good horses to the northwest of the Tang Dynasty every year!" Yang Lian said.

Guo Rong wiped a handful of sweat and donated a thousand horses a year, what a fortune this is, and more importantly, with a war horse, Datang can form an iron horse with good combat effectiveness, with the increase of war horses, Datang is not afraid of Da Zhou at least in the field. If Da Zhou wants to turn his face, after driving away the Khitans, he needs to recuperate for at least two or three years, which is two or three thousand war horses.

Guo Rong's face was uncertain, and after thinking about it, he still decided to agree: "Yang Jiedu, I agreed to this condition." ”

"Can you represent Guo Wei? Can you guarantee that Guo Wei will not regret it in the future? Yang Lian asked.

"I can represent!" Guo Rong nodded firmly.

Yang Lian smiled, raised his ring finger, and said, "One more point, I hope that Brother Guo can stay in Jinling and be a hostage!" (To be continued.) )