That's it.

Emperor Zhou's eyes showed a trace of uneasiness, and quickly disappeared.

"How's the battle going on in Lingnan Province?"

He raised his eyes to look at Wang Zhi, the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi in front of him, and asked vigorously.

Wang Zhibi replied respectfully: "Back to Your Majesty, Bai Qi is already at the end of the strong crossbow, if there are no reinforcements, it will be annihilated by the Tiger Ben Army in half a month at most!" ”

When Emperor Zhou heard this, his brows furrowed slightly, and he asked, "What if there are reinforcements?" ”

"This ......"

Hearing this question, Wang Zhi was speechless for a while, not knowing how to answer.

When Emperor Zhou saw his expression, he already had an answer in his heart.

After a few breaths of silence, he spoke slowly, his tone heavy: "Let the cabinet scholars come to see me." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Wang Zhi saluted and was about to turn around and leave.

At this time, Emperor Zhou stopped him again.

"Wait! Let the celebrant come too! ”

Wang Zhi was slightly stunned, and soon realized that His Majesty should have made a major decision, and hurriedly replied: "Slave and maid, let's do it." ”

After saying that, he saluted again and turned to leave.

Half an hour later.

Qianqing Palace.

Several cabinet scholars stood upright, their faces solemn.

The eunuch Yuan Jun, the eunuch of the celebrant of the seal, the eunuch Wang Zhi of the pen, and the rest of the eunuchs with higher status all stood by the side of Emperor Zhou.

With his head down, he looked respectful.

"Have you heard about Yongzhou?"

Emperor Zhou's gaze swept over several scholars and asked.

"The ministers have heard about it."

Several scholars replied in unison.

Emperor Zhou then asked, "What do you think?" ”

Hearing this, several scholars looked at each other, and they were all silent.

Seeing this, Emperor Zhou said, "Say whatever you want, I won't blame you." ”

The voice fell.

Wei Dongzheng, the second assistant of the cabinet, flickered his eyes, stood up, and bowed:

"The minister thought that the reason why the prime minister of Qianguo was able to defeat the Yan army was that he relied on new weapons and caught the Yan army off guard, and second, the lord of Yan was eager for quick success and quick profit, divided his troops to attack, and laid the root of the curse.

In fact, the strength of the Yan army was still far superior to that of the new army led by the prime minister of Qianguo, and the minister believed that the emperor of Yan also understood this and would not withdraw his troops easily.

However, they will not continue to attack in a short period of time, but wait and see, as long as the Tiger Ben Army can repel Bai Qi, the Yan Army will enter again!

If the Tiger Ben Army can't take Bai Qi, then only when the imperial court is in the event of life and death will the Yan Army help......

At that time, even if the imperial court can win, it will have to pay a great price.

Therefore, the next half month is a crucial moment, Your Majesty should reward the Tiger Ben Army, send additional manpower, defeat Bai Qi with a thunderous force, and let the Emperor of Yan see the courage of my Great Zhou Erlang! ”

These words were resounding.

Zhou Huang and the rest of the scholars listened, but frowned.

"Are you saying that the imperial court wants to pin its hopes on the Yan Kingdom, and for this reason, it will not hesitate to make a desperate bet and concentrate its troops on Lingnan Road to fight to the death with Bai Qi?"

Emperor Zhou's deep eyes looked at Wei Dongzheng and said coldly.

Wei Dongzheng was silent for a while, and said in a deep voice: "The minister thinks that for the imperial court, this is the best choice. ”

As soon as this remark came out.

Emperor Zhou's face changed.

The first assistant of the cabinet on the side, Xie Qian, a scholar of Huagai Temple, scolded him even more.

"Ridiculous!"

Wei Dongzheng looked at Xie Qian and said-for-tat: "If Elder Xie Ge thinks it's ridiculous, he will come up with a more suitable way. ”

Xie Qian said coldly: "Even if there is no suitable way to deal with it, it is better than pinning your hopes on other countries." ”

When Wei Dongzheng heard this, his brows furrowed, and he opened his mouth, wanting to refute.

Before he could speak, he was interrupted by Emperor Zhou.

"Let you come, it's not a quarrel!"

The voice fell.

Xie Qian and Wei Dongzheng both quieted down.

Emperor Zhou looked at the two of them and suddenly realized.

If these two could really come up with any way to deal with it, the imperial court would not have fallen into such a passive situation.

He sighed inwardly, stopped going around in circles, and said what was in his heart.

"I plan to send an additional 100,000 people to Lingnan Province, and then mobilize grain, grass, weapons and horses from each province to support the Tiger Army."

As soon as this remark came out.

Wei Dongzheng's eyes burst out with a fine light, and he hurriedly saluted: "Your Majesty Shengming!" ”

Xie Qian's face was extremely solemn, and he persuaded in a heavy tone:

"Your Majesty, Lingnan Road is mostly plains, and concentrating the troops here is a desperate gamble, if it is defeated, the imperial court will have no way to retreat.

In the opinion of the ministers, the terrain in the north is rugged, and there is Kunlun Mountain as a barrier, if the tiger army cannot resist, the imperial court can also retain its troops, withdraw to the north of Kunlun, recuperate, and wait for the comeback in the future......"

When Wei Dongzheng heard this, there was a touch of disdain in his eyes, and he mocked:

"Withdrawing to the north of Kunlun Mountain, is it possible for the imperial court to make a comeback?

Xie Ge Lao said this, it is nothing more than greed for life and fear of death, and he does not dare to fight to the death with the cadres! ”

"You!"

Xie Qian was enraged by these words, stretched out his hand, and pointed at Wei Dongzheng.

Before he could speak, he suddenly heard Emperor Zhou's voice sound again.

"Be quiet! I'm not done yet! ”

As soon as this remark came out.

Wei Dongzheng and Xie Qian quieted down again.

Seeing this, Emperor Zhou said in a deep voice: "Three days after the Tiger Ben army attacked, I will send someone to negotiate with Bai Qi, and if the conditions are suitable, I will sign an agreement and negotiate peace with the Qianguo. ”

The voice fell.

The Qianqing Palace fell into a deathly silence.

Several cabinet scholars had a look in their eyes.

Obviously, they never imagined that His Majesty, who had always been unruly, would choose to negotiate peace with the Qianguo.

But.

Calm down and think about it.

Your Majesty is reasonable to do this.

The 300,000 troops of the Yan Kingdom returned in Yongzhou.

The Tiger Ben army could not be attacked for a long time.

Seeing that the cadres are fighting more and more, and the more they fight, the stronger they become, no one will retreat.

Besides, if it's really a desperate gamble, it's a fight to the death.

If the court is defeated, these officials will lose their heads at most, and if they are lucky, they may not even need to lose their heads.

And Your Majesty, but you have to bear the infamy of the king of the fallen country, and the entire harem will also suffer a huge shame.

Rather than this, it is better to try to negotiate peace, even if it is a compensation for land cession, it is still the son of heaven of the Great Zhou after all.

Wei Dongzheng, who was still excited just now, heard the word "negotiation", and his heart instantly sank to the bottom.

His face was extremely ugly, his eyes were bloodshot, he stared at Emperor Zhou, and said loudly: "Your Majesty! Never! ”

Side.

Xie Qian snorted coldly and said-for-tat: "Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and the imperial court is at a disadvantage, so why not negotiate with the cadres in exchange for a chance to recuperate?" ”

Wei Dongzheng glared at Xie Qian and opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Before he could speak, he was interrupted by Emperor Zhou.

"I have called you this day, not to counsel with you, but to carry out my will!

Since it is a negotiation with the Qianguo, it will inevitably involve all aspects, and you are scholars and officials of various ministries, so today I would like to talk about the bottom line that if peace is negotiated, the territory, money, food, etiquette, and so on.

With a bottom line, there is always some basis for negotiation. ”

Speaking of this, he paused, looked at several celebrant eunuchs, and said: "When the elders of the pavilion are discussing matters, you should remember on the side, if there is something inappropriate, bring it up in time." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The celebrants, the eunuchs, and the eunuchs all saluted.

Except for Wei Dongzheng, the rest of the cabinet scholars glanced at each other and saluted in unison: "The ministers obey the order!" ”

In the Qianqing Palace.

Only Wei Dongzheng Station is straight.

His bloodshot eyes looked at Emperor Zhou deadly, wanting to persuade, but he knew in his heart that His Majesty's decision would not be changed easily.

Having said that, if His Majesty had fully followed his advice from the beginning, the Imperial Court would never have been in the predicament it is in today.

Rigid and self-serving, indecisive.

There is a determination to benefit the people, but there is no thunderous means to match it.

is obviously doing something that will work for a thousand years, but he always cares about that little posthumous name.

I knew that His Majesty was such a person, why did he insist on going his own way and risking the world's condemnation to implement the new policy!

That's it.

Wei Dongzheng's heart turned cold and fell silent.

After a while, he accepted his fate, lowered his head, and saluted: "Minister...... Compliance. ”

Emperor Zhou raised his eyes to look at Wei Dongzheng, his expression slightly complicated.

The New Deal, although it was he who proposed it.

But the specific measures were taken by Wei Dongzheng word by word.

It is no exaggeration to say that in terms of the New Deal alone, there is no loophole in the recital of Wei Dongzheng.

What he thought of, Wei Dongzheng could think of.

He didn't expect it, and Wei Dongzheng could also think of it.

Moreover, since the implementation of the new policy, only Wei Dongzheng has been unswerving in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty.

Even if the New Deal harmed the interests of his Wei family, he did not hesitate at all and fully supported the New Deal!

Besides.

After the war with the Qianguo began, Wei Dongzheng did not hesitate to donate all his family property to support the imperial court.

Although sometimes the recitals he presented were too aggressive, on the whole, he still considered from the perspective of the court and the people.

Don't look at Emperor Zhou's refutation of Wei Dongzheng from time to time on the surface, but in fact he regarded him as his confidant.

Even if there were rebellions in various places and asked to ask Wei Dongzheng to be beheaded, he did not remove Wei Dongzheng from the cabinet, but only removed him from the official position of the secretary of the military department.

Now.

looked at Wei Dongzheng, who was much haggard in an instant.

Emperor Zhou's heart was unspeakably uncomfortable.

And not only for Wei Dongzheng, but also for himself.

Because he knew in his heart that no matter how many reasons he and the officials found for peace, they could not change the fact that he was completely defeated.

The scholars began to discuss the bottom line of peace.

From time to time, the eunuchs of the celebrant interjected two sentences.

Emperor Zhou sat on the dragon chair, looking at them, and couldn't help but think of a figure in his mind.

The figure was far away from him, wearing a gold-rimmed scarlet robe, and his face was hazy and invisible.

"Qianguo Prime Minister Fang Xiu ......"

This name echoed in Emperor Zhou's ears, making his eyes show a flash of color, and he couldn't help but have an idea.

"If Fang Xiu was the first assistant to my cabinet in Da Zhou, would the New Deal have a completely different result......

Love to read

Minutes and seconds passed.

Five hours later.

The cabinet and the celebrant are almost there.

A document was sent to Emperor Zhou, which recorded the bottom line that the imperial court could accept when peace was negotiated.

After Emperor Zhou picked it up, he carefully browsed it for a moment and then put it down.

He raised his eyes to the crowd and asked, "Who do you think you should send to discuss peace?" ”

The matter of negotiating peace is very important, and it is necessary to send a competent person to act as an envoy.

At the same time, this person had to have a certain status in the imperial court.

Two years ago, the envoy sent by Qianguo to negotiate peace was Fang Xiu, the prime minister of Qianguo!

Of course.

Although the prime minister of Qianguo is nominally a peace envoy, in fact he is only making the final choice.

The details of the negotiations were discussed by Qin Xingyan, the head of the household department of the Qianguo.

This time.

Zhou had to appoint an envoy to the council, at least from among the cabinet scholars.

Several cabinet scholars apparently understood this, and they all looked at each other.

A moment later.

Xie Qian, the head of the cabinet, stood up and said respectfully: "The minister is willing to be the messenger for the matter of peace." ”

Emperor Zhou looked at him and nodded: "The matter of negotiating peace is very involved, and Elder Xie Ge is willing to shoulder a heavy burden for the imperial court, and I am very relieved." ”

Xie Qianxing saluted: "The minister is just doing his duty as a courtier." ”

Emperor Zhou nodded, didn't say more, just asked, "Do you have a candidate for a deputy envoy?" ”

The peace envoy is only to make the final decision.

It is the deputy envoy who really negotiates with the cadres and discusses the details.

Xie Qian shook his head lightly, indicating no.

Emperor Zhou thought for a few breaths, looked at Wang Zhi, the eunuch of the celebrant and the eunuch Bingbi, and said, "Let Wang Zhi be your deputy envoy." ”

Hear this.

Wang Zhi's face showed an uneasy look, wanting to refuse, but he didn't know how to speak.

After holding it for a long time, he said: "Your Majesty, the status of the slave is humble, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to do it!" ”

"You are my close minister, and you are in charge of the East Factory, and your status is not humble......

Emperor Zhou's surging road.

Hearing this, Wang Zhi knew that His Majesty had made up his mind to negotiate with the cadres.

So, no longer struggling, thanksgiving said: "Your Majesty values the slave and the maid, let the slave and the maid bear this heavy responsibility, the slave and the maid...... Be grateful, and you will live up to Your Majesty's trust! ”

Emperor Zhou waved his hand and said, "Let's go down and prepare." ”

"Wait for the resignation!"

"Slave and maid retire!"

The Cabinet Ministers and the Celebrant all saluted and turned to leave.

Emperor Zhou looked at their backs and was silent for a long time before he let out a sigh.

The sigh was mixed with unwillingness and hesitation, which echoed in the Qianqing Palace for a long time.

............

The other side.

Lingnan Road, Xinyi City.

The crumbling city walls were filled with a pungent smell that was disgusting.

Bai Qi held a sharp sword in his hand and strode forward, his expression extremely resolute.

Since the siege of the Tiger Army.

Every morning and evening, he would walk around the city walls alone, telling the soldiers that he was always there!

Around.

The soldiers defending the city, dressed in blood-stained shirts, held muskets in their hands, and their brows were full of exhaustion.

However, seeing the same ragged clothes, but with sharp eyes, a fighting spirit inexplicably rose in their hearts.

Because they knew that even at the last moment, General Bai was with them.

See the tired soldiers.

Bai Qi stopped, looked at them, raised his voice, and said loudly:

"All cheer up, hold on for two more days, reinforcements and baggage are on the way!"