He heaved a sigh of relief after reading the letter. The content of the letter did not contain any decision to kill Gao Family. It was just to hear his opinion.
He subconsciously wanted to stop. After all, they were ready to negotiate. If he did something unexpected, most of the people in the capital would be blocked by the Song Kingdom, including the Gao Family.
Just as he was about to reply, he hesitated. He stood up and paced around the study. Fan Zhuan's eyes followed him as he paced back and forth.
The Niu Youdao only wanted to hear his opinion. He did not want him to speak on behalf of the imperial court. He also did not want him to consider his personal gains and losses. After thinking for a while, Gao Jiancheng decided to reply. He asked Fan Zhuan to find some ink and paper to draft the letter himself.
…
"600,000 captives?" Luo Zhao asked in surprise. He was on the back of a horse.
After vomiting blood due to anger, he was recuperated by a cultivator. His body was fine now.
Qian Liansheng, the Song envoy, sent a message to confirm if the 600,000 captives of the Song Kingdom were really in the hands of the Yan army.
Since they were attacking Yan Jing, they naturally had to pay attention to the situation inside Yan Jing. They had already established contact with Qian Liansheng.
The reason why Qian Liansheng sent a message to Luo Zhao was that Luo Zhao was in charge of the war and should be familiar with the situation. Luo Zhao's troops were approaching Yan Jing. The distance between them was close, so he could know the real situation immediately.
As the representative of the Song Kingdom in charge of affairs in the Yan Kingdom, he naturally had to know the situation before he could bargain with Yan.
Of course, Qian Liansheng also sent a message back to Luo Zhao to report the situation. However, Luo Zhao was closer to Yan Jing, so he received Qian Liansheng's message first.
Wen You and the others shook their heads. They only knew that Jiang Fang's troops were defeated. They did not know how many captives Meng Shanming had captured in such a short time.
However, one thing was for sure. There were still some captives. After all, so many people were defeated. It was impossible to avoid captives. As for how many captives there were, they were not sure.
The main reason was that when the Song army was defeated in the Mount Qunluo, the captives were captured by Meng Shan Ming's subordinates around the Mount Qunluo. The captives were not locked in the same place. The total number of captives was still unknown to outsiders, unless there were spies planted in Meng Shan Ming's command center.
It was not the place to talk about such things on the back of the army's horses. Luo Zhao steered his mount out of the procession and stopped on a flat ground outside the official road. Wen You and the others followed him out.
The few of them jumped off their horses. Su Yuanbai asked, "Six hundred thousand? How can the Yan army capture so many of us? Could it be a trap? "
Luo Zhao pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "It shouldn't be a trap. It's most likely real."
Su Yuanbai was surprised. "Why do you think so?"
Luo Zhao: "Since we're going to negotiate, we definitely have to verify it. There's no need to cheat. However, Meng Shanming is using a water attack. His army will be overwhelmed by the water, and they won't be able to regroup and fight back. That's why they have lost their morale and morale. It's entirely possible that six hundred thousand soldiers will be captured. "
This was the difference between someone who knew about war and someone who didn't. He could make a judgment on things that others had no idea about.
However, as soon as he said this, everyone's mood became heavy. They didn't expect that Yan would have the bargaining chip first.
Dong Ying said, "Governor, the Yan army has taken six hundred thousand of our Song soldiers as hostages. I'm afraid Yan Jing won't be able to attack."
At this moment, a winged cavalry came to report, "Governor, the imperial court's edict has arrived."
The so-called imperial edict was an urgent message. At this time, it was inconvenient to send someone to deliver an imperial edict. When the army was in battle, everything had to be simple.
Luo Zhao took the letter and read it. He was silent for a while before passing it to the others.
After reading it, they realized that it was just as Luo Zhao expected. The imperial court was indeed going to withdraw their troops to help stop Meng Shanming's army.
Chang Fei said, "The message from our side is probably still on its way." What he meant was that the imperial court's edict had arrived first.
Luo Zhao squinted his eyes and said, "The message from Qian Liansheng about Yan's request for negotiations should still be on its way."
Su Yuanbai said, "Governor, if the Yan army really has six hundred thousand hostages, our Song Kingdom can't just sit back and do nothing. It's already inappropriate to continue to advance into Yan Jing. Why don't you obey the imperial edict and withdraw? This way, you won't be accused of defying the imperial edict!"
Luo Zhao's face tightened. He said word by word, "When a general is outside, he can't obey the emperor's orders!"
They looked at each other and Dong Ying advised, "Governor, why do you insist on doing things your own way? You know the shameless people in the imperial court. If you continue to defy the imperial edict, I'm afraid many people will hit you when you're down. We're doing this for your own good. "
Luo Zhao sighed, "I can't absolve myself of the blame for the war. I don't care about the consequences anymore. I'm at their mercy! I'm not a civil official. I don't have to do anything for safety. As long as nothing happens, I can do whatever I want. I'm a general. Can I do anything on the battlefield? That's why those civil officials will never be able to conspire with us soldiers on the battlefield. Withdraw? How do we withdraw now? The situation on the battlefield is in Yan Han's favor. Why does Yan Han still want to negotiate with us? It's because our army is threatening Yanjing. That's why they have no choice but to negotiate! "
"If we withdraw now, we'll be courting death! Once the threat from Yanjing is removed, do you think they still need to negotiate with us? "
His words hit the nail on the head. Everyone's expression turned grave.
"What's the possibility of the negotiation being carried out? Anyone would be envious of the chance to wipe out three million Song soldiers. If I were Meng Shanming, once the threat from Yanjing is removed, the imperial court's edict will be treated as a fart. We'll definitely shed all pretense of cordiality. Our Song army won't be able to cross the East Domain River easily. Our rations will be depleted and we'll die of exhaustion. "
"Shang Chaozong's one hundred thousand cavalrymen come and go like the wind. Why are they staring at us like wolves? They're looking for the best opportunity to strike. They want to cooperate with Meng Shanming to kill our three million soldiers. "
"They have six hundred thousand hostages. We don't have any bargaining chips. Are we going to withdraw just like that? What's the point of negotiating? Once the threat from Yanjing is removed, they won't let us go. They'll have the chance to wipe us out. Even if Meng Shanming goes against the imperial court's edict, Yanjing will turn a blind eye. What negotiation? They'll forget about it immediately. Do you think we can use our rations to threaten Yanjing again? "
"That's why we can't withdraw. We can only negotiate when we have Yanjing under our control! Besides, the imperial court doesn't seem to know that six hundred thousand hostages are in Yan Han's hands. Qian Liansheng's message hasn't reached the imperial court yet. They don't know about the negotiation yet. Are we going to withdraw just like that? Can any of you tell me how to withdraw? "
No matter what, he was still trying to get the support of the three factions.
…
In the Song Kingdom's embassy in Yanjing, Qian Liansheng, who was waiting anxiously, received the message from Song almost at the same time as Luo Zhao.
Song wanted him to negotiate. The condition was that Yan Han would withdraw his army from Song Kingdom's territory, and Song Kingdom wouldn't attack Yanjing. They would also withdraw their army from Song Kingdom's territory.
In fact, the Song Kingdom would have to retreat even if Meng Shanming did not do so. The Song Kingdom could not allow the Yan Kingdom to do as they pleased. They could not allow Meng Shanming to do whatever he wanted in the Song Kingdom, let alone force the Song Kingdom to the brink of death.
The purpose of the discussion was to hold out hope, and also to help Luo Zhao lead the three million troops to retreat smoothly.
The message didn't mention anything about the six hundred thousand hostages. Qian Liansheng felt strange. Did the imperial court not know about this? Or was Yan Han talking nonsense? Based on his experience, Yan Han's imperial court shouldn't talk nonsense about this.
Fortunately, Luo Zhao was close to him. Luo Zhao's reply came quickly.
Luo Zhao said that the situation was complicated. He couldn't confirm if the enemy really had six hundred thousand hostages. The imperial court didn't know about it either. But based on his judgment, it was possible that there were six hundred thousand hostages.
Luo Zhao made it clear that he wouldn't follow the order to withdraw his army. He asked Song Kingdom to verify the six hundred thousand hostages and Yan Han would cooperate with the verification.
It was to let Song Kingdom confirm the situation of the hostages, and it was also to stabilize the imperial court of Yan Kingdom. If it was true, they could prevent the Yan army from killing the six hundred thousand hostages. When his army besieged Yanjing, he could use this as a bargaining chip for Song Kingdom.
Luo Zhao made it clear that he wouldn't follow the order. Qian Liansheng was forced to cooperate. As a negotiator, he knew the importance of bargaining chips. Besides, it was necessary to verify the six hundred thousand hostages. He couldn't just follow whatever the Yan said. He could only cooperate with Luo Zhao.
Qian Liansheng went to the Residence of the Great Minister of Public Works and met with Tong Mo. Shang Jianxiong left the negotiation to Tong Mo.
When the imperial court of Song Kingdom received the message from Qian Liansheng about Yan's request for negotiation, they were shocked. They knew about the six hundred thousand hostages and immediately sent a group of cultivators to verify it. At the same time, they replied to Qian Liansheng and asked him to find a way to stabilize the Yan court.
…
In the Qunluo Mountains, the Yan army rested for a day after the water attack. When the ground was dry, they were ready to set off.
Gong Lince received the message from Meng Xuan and entered the central tent. He saw Meng Shanming was arranging the next steps for the generals. He waited for a while.
When the arrangements were made, Gong Lince revealed his intention. He said that the imperial court was going to negotiate with the six hundred thousand hostages and asked them not to do anything to the hostages.
Hearing this, there was an uproar. They were all angry, but most of them were thrown out by Meng Shanming.
After the irrelevant people left, Su Qitong said unhappily, "Sect Leader Gong, the situation now is advantageous to our army. Our Yan army is already in such a bad state. What is there to be afraid of? Now that the Song Kingdom's internal defense is weak, they should be afraid. Releasing the six hundred thousand Song elites to protect Yan Jing is no different from raising a tiger. We must take advantage of the situation and cripple the Song Kingdom before we stop! "
Zhang Hu was also unhappy, "If the Song Kingdom wants to attack, just attack. Why do you care about those people in Yan Jing? Don't they know how to run? They did not support us when we needed them, but they are faster than anyone else when it comes to holding us back! So many of our brothers died fighting until now. It was not easy for us to turn the situation around. Now, the Song Kingdom is like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. The Song Kingdom started this war first. How can we let them go so easily? They want to negotiate with us to release the hostages and prepare to retreat. I will be the first to disagree! "
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