The Governor's Office of Songjiang County. Please search (product % book ¥¥ net)! The fastest novel, located on the east street of Dengzhou City, has always been the highest center of power in the entire Songjiang.

On weekdays, at least two hundred members of the Doge's Guard guarded the area, and no unscrupulous person was able to break through their defenses.

But today, with the arrival of a group of envoys from the Taiping Army, Wei Chiwu, the captain of the guards, was afraid that something would go wrong, so he simply transferred 50 remaining cavalrymen of the 200 infantry army from the 1st Garrison Brigade.

The entire mansion has been surrounded by these heavily armed soldiers.

To exaggerate, not even a fly would have to fly in without the sight of these people.

As for the people of the Taiping Army mixed in, it is impossible to assassinate the governor or something with a hidden blade.

Under such excessive vigilance, Shi Xianqian took his entourage and entered the conference hall of the Governor's Mansion frankly.

Because he was not sure of the Taiping Army's intentions, Wei Chichang did not gather too many civil and military officials, only four or five henchmen.

Under the cover of a slightly stiff and hypocritical smile, the two sides tried their best to control the hostile thoughts in their hearts, politely and politely, and sat down face to face at the conference table.

The attendant brought tea, but neither side immediately spoke, using tea as a cover.

Shi Xianqian brushed aside the tea leaves with the lid of the tea bowl, and looked at Wei Chichang, who looked very bad, quietly.

Whether it is the information collected by the military intelligence department or the description of the Tiangong general Chen Wu, the governor of Songjiang County is a stubborn and self-righteous old man, and he is also very disgusted with the rebels.

If it weren't for the fact that the situation in the city had already been affected to a certain extent, I am afraid that he would never be so restrained as he is now.

Just the depression and exhaustion of his inconsistent identity can guess how much pressure he has.

"I am Shi Xianqian, a special envoy appointed by the Tiangong general Chen Wu, and I have been ordered to come to negotiate with the defenders of Dengzhou."

Seeing that Wei Chichang never meant to speak first, Shi Xianqian decided to oppose the guest and said his intention strongly.

"A group of thieves, what do you want to talk to the government?"

Without waiting for the governor to speak, Ji Yingrui, the director of the Administration Bureau, said sarcastically: "If you are afraid of the imperial power and want to surrender, as long as your thief leader immediately disbands the rebels and pleads guilty, it is not impossible to talk about it." ”

"Surrender?"

Shi Xianqian smiled contemptuously and said to this Wei Chichang's henchman: "The purpose of my trip is indeed related to surrender. It's a pity that the defenders of Dengzhou are urged to surrender. Within three days, the city will be opened unconditionally, and everyone present can guarantee safety and personal property. those who are willing to stay are to continue to stay or be transferred according to the circumstances; If you want to leave, you can leave at any time with your family and property. If you don't surrender after the time has passed, hehe......"

Needless to say, just listen to his meaningful laugh at the end to know what the result will be.

Although he had somewhat guessed the thief's intention, he really said from the other party's mouth that the thief army was openly sent into the city to recruit him, and the Dengzhou civil and military forces present still irrepressibly appeared angry, as well as the anger of being humiliated.

What's more, the situation in Dengzhou is not as bad as imagined, they have at least a complete garrison brigade, and the rebuilt second garrison brigade also has a certain combat capacity.

In terms of troops, Dengzhou may not even be much less than the Taiping Army.

With such a military force in hand, many officials were still full of confidence in holding the county seat.

Wei Chichang was also very angry, and the insomnia of more than a month made him even more irritable.

However, reason made him suppress his impulse.

The victory or defeat of a war must not be a simple comparison of numbers.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Taiping army to run rampant in Taiping County, and it would have won the Songjiang Four Prefectures and besieged Dengzhou in one go.

He gently raised his hand and pressed it, signaled several henchmen to be quiet, and asked in an old voice, "What if Dengzhou refuses your request?" ”

"War!"

Shi Xianqian said these two words viciously, full of momentum: "The Taiping army will draw manpower from the four prefectures at any cost and storm Dengzhou." Under the command of General Tiangong, our Taiping army was invincible, even Wu'an. If you feel that you have no fear, you might as well give it a try. But there is a sentence that says ahead, if you insist on fighting against the Taiping army, after the city is broken, all the civil and military officials involved will be exterminated, which is unpredictable! ”

He recounted a famous quote that Chen Wu once said about traveling through the pre-real world.

His self-confidence and tough attitude made Songjiang Wenwu who was present furious, but on the other hand, Shi Xianqian's threat and the Taiping Army's previous achievements also made them secretly frightened.

Although the current Taiping army is not driven by the countless displaced people in Wu'an, its own military strength is much stronger than that time.

What's more, they also occupy the whole county of Songjiang except Dengzhou, and they can continuously draw manpower and material resources!

What's even worse is the change of hands in Daqingguan.

This meant that reinforcements from the Empire would not be able to arrive in the foreseeable time.

really fought to the end, Dengzhou is a lonely city after all, as long as the Taiping army is willing to pay the price, I am afraid that sooner or later it will be able to break through.

At that point, what happened to them...... The lessons of Chishang and Osan have become clear examples and are placed in front of them.

……… At the same time that Shi Xianqian entered the city to negotiate, in Dengzhou City, another group of people were also talking with the people of the Dengzhou Chamber of Commerce Alliance.

Compared with the government in Dengzhou, Chen Wu put more hope on this group of secret negotiations.

It is still on the top floor of the Wanghai Tower.

On one side are almost all the members of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, and on the other side are the personnel of the Taiping Army Military Intelligence Department who had been lurking in Dengzhou City long before the Taiping Army besieged the city.

After being activated at this moment, these agents of the Military Intelligence Department led by Zhao Hu began to hold a second meeting with the people of the Dengzhou Chamber of Commerce Alliance.

It's more like pressure and threats than talks!

When they sent Chi Bicheng to contact the Taiping army for the first negotiation, the Taiping army had already clearly drawn a line, but the two sides did not negotiate.

After being hung out for a while, Chen Wu decided to speed up the occupation of Dengzhou, which led to Zhao Hu's trip.

"I repeat, the conditions of the Taiping Army will not change, this is the order of General Tiangong!"

Zhao Hu's attitude was as tough as Shi Xianqian's, and even more tough and impatient than when he negotiated with Chi Bicheng before.

This is Chen Wu's special advice.

He knows very well that the more times like this, the more he cannot give in.

Otherwise, as long as they loosen their mouths a little, these businessmen will become suspicious and find excuses to continue to drag on.

In fact, since Dengzhou's connection with the foreign countries was completely severed, as long as the Taiping army was tough enough, these businessmen who bullied the weak and feared the hard would eventually bow their heads obediently.

After all, the conditions of the Taiping army have ensured their safety and wealth, and it is nothing more than the lack of additional benefits and profits, which makes these merchants a little dissatisfied.

History in Empires has proven that they make wise decisions in the face of threats of life and death.

Zhao Hu's toughness unsurprisingly aroused the anger of the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, but it also succeeded in scaring them.

It's not that no one suspects that the other party is bluffing, but they can't imagine that the South Peak Fortress will suddenly be breached by a gap, and they don't know how Chen Wu positions his relationship with the Oman Kingdom, so naturally they can't figure out Chen Wu's true thoughts.

The merchants preferred that the Taipings, after their winning streak, had become impatient with the confrontation outside Dengzhou.

"Otherwise, let these Taiping troops attack the city. Wait for them to suffer a little outside the city, and then talk to them? ”

Lai Heshun exchanged words with several wealthy businessmen who had close contacts for a moment and put forward his own opinions.

But his decision was soon overruled.

If the sky is as people wish, it is naturally best, but what if the Taiping army breaks through Dengzhou smoothly?

Isn't their self-inflicted cleverness self-defeating?

If it were other thieves, they might not think so, but the Taiping army's record was terrible.

Even the stubborn defense of Wushan Mansion was broken by the Taiping army at any cost.

In this "momentum" that has been formed

In front of him, no one dared to guarantee that the defenders of Dengzhou would definitely be able to hold it.

What's more, there were a few superstitious merchants muttering, what if there was a sudden earthquake when they hit Dengzhou, and the city wall collapsed again?

The one of the Taiping Army, but the legend of the Dragon King of the Red Water River has a mandate of heaven!

A single thing may be scoffed at by businessmen.

But there are many rumors, and there is a record of winning a hundred battles as a backing, so it is difficult not to make people suspicious.

Immediately, some people changed their views, saying that the conditions of the Taiping Army were actually acceptable.

After all, the business road in Dengzhou is in the hands of others, and every day it drags on, the chambers of commerce in the city continue to suffer huge losses and lose more markets.

In case the Taiping army is angered, the other party will kill after breaking the city, and it will be too late to regret it by then!

As for the possible future liquidation of the empire...... If you can't even guarantee it now, what will you talk about in the future?

After some debate, although there were still doubts, the businessmen present were basically unanimous.

Returning to the field and sitting down, facing Zhao Hu, who was already impatient, Chi Kaifeng expressed his attitude on behalf of the entire Dengzhou Chamber of Commerce Alliance: "Your army's proposal, we agreed in principle. I hope that after the opening of the city, you will be able to fulfill your promises. ”

People bowed their heads faster than they imagined, Zhao Hu was overjoyed, but his face was silent, and he nodded: "You can rest assured, the Taiping Army is in Wu'an, and even the Lin family of the Eight Great Gates has not moved." Everyone present, don't you think that your family is richer than the Lin family? ”

The example he gave is undoubtedly very convincing.

However, when it came to the Taiping County side, some people recalled something and doubted: "I have heard that the Taiping Army did not do much to the nobles and wealthy merchants in Taiping County. ”

Regarding this problem, Zhao Hu already had a draft, and denied it with a push of 625: "There is no such thing!" The people we cleaned up were all people who were hostile to the Taipings. What you have heard should have been done by the likes of the Good Friends Association, and it has nothing to do with the Taiping Army. ”

Anyway, the Good Friends Society has been destroyed under the blows of the city guards, and the dead will not crawl out of the coffin to refute - not to mention whether the thieves have coffins after death It is important to say, but I am afraid that most of them will be exposed to the corpses and fed wild dogs in the wilderness.

The representatives of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance expressed their satisfaction with Zhao Hu's statement.

Eventually, they reached a verbal secret agreement with the Taipings.

The two sides immediately began to discuss how to cooperate specifically to help the Taiping army enter the city at the lowest cost!