"Please sir, be sure to tell Lord Duanmu, Chu will do his best to convince His Majesty." Chu Cheng said with a tired and helpless face.

It was dark night, and the man was standing opposite Chu Cheng with the light on his back, only to hear the man say: "Lord Chu, Xiangye believes in you, but Chen Shangshu has already set off to leave Jinling and rush to Youdu, and General Teng is also reorganizing the army, Xiangye hopes that you will think more about the people, after all, I don't want to see too much bloodshed happen to Your Majesty." ”

"Sir, it's still the same sentence, Chu will definitely do his best, and I can't guarantee the rest." Chu Cheng was a little unhappy, this was naked persecution.

Chu Cheng never imagined that Quan Lang would betray the country, and actually colluded with Beimu and Donghai to try to invade the Central Plains, resulting in Youdu now facing the danger of collapse, and some of Quan Hanliang's former ministers took this opportunity to also start forcing the palace against Quan Xi, and at this time Xiao Yu threw a life-saving straw, but the price of this straw was to return to Daning.

Emotionally speaking, Quan Xi is definitely unwilling to give up, but from the reality of it, just like Quan Xi's rejection of Xiao Yu, it is imperative for Daning's soldiers and horses to go north.

The death of the country is certain, but Xiao Yu gave him a different choice, but in fact there is only one choice, surrender.

Chu Cheng asked people to secretly send people away, and he sat on the chair alone for a long time and couldn't get up, he couldn't understand how he suddenly came to this point, he didn't even have the strength to fight back, he collapsed too quickly, was he incompetent or the enemy was too strong? None of this is clear.

When he sat alone until almost midnight, the old servant came to report that His Majesty summoned him to enter the palace overnight, Chu Cheng shook his head helplessly, it seems that something big happened again, and it should be that Quan Lang took the Beimu people into the pass.

Chu Cheng hurriedly entered the palace and saw Quan Xi sitting on the dragon chair, several days of restlessness made him haggard, seeing Chu Cheng come in, he quickly got up to greet him, licked his chapped lips and said, "Chu Xiang, please sit down." ”

"Your Majesty, I heard from the chamberlain that you have not slept for many days, you have to take care of your dragon body." Chu Cheng is distressed, no matter what, Kwon Hee is still good to him, if it weren't for Kwon Lang to do what he did, he wouldn't have come to this point.

"Prime Minister, Lu Gong sent an eight-hundred-mile rush overnight, and Texas is in a hurry!" Kwon Hee can't care about his demeanor anymore.

"Your Majesty, we are now under attack on all sides, and Jingzhong has no troops and horses to rescue." Although Chu Cheng is reluctant to say, it is true.

Kwon Hee staggered and sat down on the dragon chair and muttered, "Defeated, really defeated!" ”

"Your Majesty, the Zhuozhou camp of the Marquis of Shangyu and the Tongzhou camp of the Marquis of Dingxing have gone north and south respectively, and Lu Gong can still hold on for some time, but Lehou is afraid that it will be a drop in the bucket, the Beimu cavalry is strong, and the East China Sea is coming from the sea, so we may have to retreat to the pass." Chu Cheng has no better way to solve the current predicament.

"Is the Jinling envoy almost here?" Kwon Hee asked suddenly.

Chu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, Quan Xi didn't take the initiative to bring it up, and he really didn't know how to mention it, and after sorting out his emotions, he said: "Daning sent Chen Zhuo, the prime minister of their political affairs hall, over, and their request is that the attack can be postponed, but the safety of the mission must be guaranteed." ”

"Prime Minister, do you think we will bow to Jinling?" Kwon Hee said helplessly.

Chu Cheng, who asked this, couldn't answer at all, it didn't matter to the officials of the imperial court in Youdu, whether it was loyal to the Quan family, or whether it was to submit to the Xiao family, it was just a life, as for whether the Quan family wanted to belong to the Xiao family, and what would happen after joining the Xiao family, no one knew.

Knowing that Chu Cheng was not good and didn't dare to answer, Quan Xi got up with difficulty and said, "Chu Xiang, what kind of conditions do you say Xiao Yu will give me, do you want my head or be imprisoned for life?" ”

"Your Majesty, the matter can be discussed, the right minister has already asked Chenjing and Xijing for help, for the safety of the north, Xijing will send troops to support us." Chu Cheng comforted, but he couldn't believe this comfort.

He was sure that Quan Bo would definitely send troops to the Northern Grassland, but it was only to contain Beimu, and now he was more willing to believe in Xiao Yu's conditions, at least the strength of the Daning Xiao clan was strong enough, and the East China Sea did not dare to provoke it.

Quan Xi shook his head, paced back and forth, and then said: "No matter what, Shanhaiguan cannot afford to lose, and the Donghai people and Beimu will never be allowed to enter the Central Plains, if they are allowed to come in, I will be a sinner in the Central Plains, let Yu Qing lead the Praetorian Guards to support Lehou!" ”

Chu Cheng's body was shocked, he got up and made a big salute to Quan Xi, and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, the minister obeys the order!" ”

No matter how the Central Plains split, no matter how ambitious Quan Xi is, but at least Quan Xi is a qualified Central Plains person, and letting the Praetorian Guards go out means that Quan Xi has taken the initiative to put himself in danger, but he still decided to do so, and Chu Cheng is willing to accompany him to the national disaster and share life and death.

Quan Xi smiled helplessly and said: "Prime Minister, inform Duke Lu to make every effort to ensure the safety of the Daning Mission, let's wait for them to come over and make conditions." ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister has a word, I am afraid that there will be a big rebellion." Chu Cheng gritted his teeth, hesitated for a moment but decided to say it.

Quan Xi raised his hand to stop it, and then said: "Prime Minister, there is no need to say it, what should come will always come, I know your good intentions, don't talk about how to know what the result will be." ”

Kwon Hee no longer calls himself "I" but "I", which can very well explain the sourness and pain in his heart, as a hegemon of one side, he still wants to keep his face, who knows what the result will be? Although he knew that Daning would definitely not back down.

The monarch and the minister were speechless, and the hall in the middle of the night was even more deserted, and a gust of wind blew in to make Chu Cheng feel excited, and his head suddenly sobered up, and when he saw Quan Xi who was in a daze, Chu Cheng did not speak, and slowly withdrew.

The next day, Gan Ming was receiving Chen Zhuo in the camp of the Ning army on the front line of Dezhou, and sure enough, Sun Mu did not appear on the grounds that he was busy with government affairs, and even Sun Mu did not appear when Chen Zhuo arrived in Jinan, of course Chen Zhuo understood the meaning, but he didn't bother to investigate, as the only two ancient families in the Daning Dynasty, they didn't want to fight between each other now.

"The Lady of the Festival is going to trouble you this time." Chen Zhuo smiled at his aunt.

Gan Ming said expressionlessly: "Uncle Xiaoguo, I have understood Your Majesty's will, and I will do everything I can to ensure the safety of the mission." ”

Chen Zhuo didn't feel embarrassed, Gan Ming was born in His Majesty's guard, except that the emperor could instruct him to do things, even Teng Han's orders had to be issued in a consultative tone most of the time.

"General Teng will arrive in Shandong in a few days, and I hope that Jiedu will not use swords and soldiers before the results of the negotiations." Chen Zhuo was not polite.

"Your Majesty's will is for me to guarantee that there will be nothing to do on the front line, and if you have to fight, I can't guarantee that you will not use the sword." Gan Ming's attitude is tough and non-negotiable.

This made people angry, Chen Zhuo stood up and walked straight out, and when he opened the curtain of the tent, he turned back to Gan Ming and said: "Jie Du envoy, this negotiation is very important, if it is your problem that causes the negotiation to fail, Your Majesty will blame it, and I will report it truthfully!" ”

"Please!" Gan Ming still didn't let go.

After Chen Zhuo left angrily, he led the mission to leave the camp and set up the camp tent alone, while Gan Ming still did his duty and sent a team of soldiers and horses to camp around the mission tent, but he maintained a state of immediate separation from the mission.

"Uncle Xiaoguo, this Gan Ming is too ignorant of lifting." Chen Zhuo's entourage was muttering in a low voice.

Chen Zhuo immediately gave a cruel look back, and said sternly: "Don't talk like this in the future, I don't agree with him politically, I have no personal grudge, the Jiedu envoy is His Majesty's most trusted general, if you let me know the news that I am not in harmony with the Jiedu envoy, you can receive the family law yourself!" ”

The horse's fart slapped on the horse's leg, and Chen's family law was not something that he could bear with his personal followers, so he immediately knelt on the ground and quickly admitted his mistake.

After all, he was an old servant who had followed him for many years, and Chen Zhuo didn't really punish him, but just kicked him as a punishment, more like a kind of revenge.

The plight of Youzhou and the war in Poyang are the two major events that have attracted the most attention in the Central Plains recently, and Mengyan, who is far away in Chengdu, has also maintained a high degree of attention.

"Zhuo Gong, Beimu wants to take the opportunity to invade the Central Plains, we can't sit back and watch, let Meng Huan take the initiative to contact Xijing, and under the condition of ensuring the safety of Hanzhong, we can send some combat power to Xijing." Meng Yan looked at the information sent by the Ming Jian Division and said.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that we will not agree to Xijing if we are interested in Xijing, and it will be difficult for us to do anything."

"If we don't solve the matter on the grassland in western Sichuan, we will always be trapped in the south, Beimu has become stronger and stronger over the years, and the people of the East China Sea are also eyeing it, so it's not a way to go on like this." Meng Yan said with a frown.

"Your Majesty, King Yong, they are about to return to Beijing, and the appointment of the general of the dynasty has also come down, with him in western Sichuan, I think Di Xin will be more sure to break through the Dafei River and enter the Western Regions, as long as they take the Hexi Corridor, Beimu will have no chance to go south."

"That being said, Zhuge Xingchen has been looking for more and more over the years, and if he can't be caught for a day, the grassland in western Sichuan will not be peaceful."

"Your Majesty, the grassland in western Sichuan is a big deal, but through the news that comes back, Quan Xi has the possibility of bowing his head to Jinling, if Quan Xi bows his head, Daning's strength will skyrocket, and it will be even more difficult for us to go north at that time." Zhuo Bailing said worriedly, for Zhuo Bailing, Beimu and the East China Sea are still too far away, and he is more concerned about unifying the Central Plains.

"It's not possible, it's certain, Quan Xi and Quan Lang are different, Quan Lang has no bottom line, but Quan Xi still has a conscience as a man, for the safety of the people in the Central Plains, he will choose to bow his head, and it is already a fait accompli that Jinling has become the strongest." Meng Yan had his own judgment, but he wasn't nervous.

"Your Majesty, do you want our people to do something about the negotiations between the two sides?" Zhuo Bailing was unwilling, after years of hard work, he finally got to today's scene, he didn't want to watch Jinling get bigger and bigger.

Meng Yan shook his head, took a deep breath and said, "Now that foreign invasion is the focus, our people's focus at this time should be at Shanhaiguan. Meng Yan decisively opposed Zhuo Bailing's suggestion.

Meng Yan's attitude is clear, but Luo Chen's Zhong Rouxuan has a different mind, if she doesn't take the opportunity to do something at this time, I'm afraid that everyone in the world will laugh at her, Chen Jing's life is not easy, her sphere of influence is constantly compressed by the surrounding strong enemies, and she is eager to strengthen herself.

On the day that Chen Zhuo entered Youdu, Long Tingfei was ordered to go north to face off with Taiyuan Pei Xin in Qinyang.

Quan Xi stared at the map in the imperial study, he didn't go to the first contact with Chen Zhuo, but let Chu Cheng act as the agent, he had to find a way to ensure the safety of Datong.