Making enemies by killing captives? Lu Zheng looked at Meng Shanming in shock. How could he not make enemies by killing 600,000 Song captives?
Not only would it make enemies, but it would also become a great humiliation for the Song Kingdom. If the Song Kingdom had the chance, they would definitely take revenge!
This was done on purpose. Apart from the grand strategy that Meng Shanming told Gong Lince, he also wanted to cut off the Song Kingdom's retreat route and force them to fight to the death!
So killing captives could also be a way to boost morale!
He understood now that there were so many reasons behind this. No wonder Meng Shuai insisted on doing this even though he had to bear the pressure from the three major sects …
The army left the Qunluo Mountains, escorting groups of captives out of the mountains. They forced the captives to bear the burden of the army, relieving the burden of the Yan Kingdom.
Even though the ground had dried up after being soaked in water, the path was still muddy, and it was rather difficult to traverse it.
Meng Shanming did not want to waste food on the captives and only gave them some soup to drink. Their physical strength was weak and it was difficult to bear the burden.
Almost all of the captives were injured. They were all missing an ear, and there were traces of blood flowing down their cheeks.
The ground was muddy and the army moved slowly.
…
"Daoye, Gongsun Bu and the red-faced monkey's letter arrived at almost the same time."
In the mountain, Guan Fangyi took out two letters.
Niu Youdao read Gongsun Bu's letter first. There was nothing else but a reminder that the Yan army in Mount Qunluo had set off again.
Then he read Yuan Gang's letter. It was written in familiar handwriting. Niu Youdao knew that it was a secret.
It was Gao Jiancheng's reply from Yan Jing.
It was understandable that Gao Jiancheng's news came late. For the sake of confidentiality, he did not let Guan Fangyi and the others know that he was in contact with Gao Jiancheng. When he reached Yuan Gang's side, he passed the news to him. It was normal that the news came late.
Niu Youdao perked up and read Gao Jiancheng's reply carefully. It was very pertinent.
Gao Jiancheng first mentioned that Beijing was prepared to use 600,000 captives as a bargaining chip to let Niu Youdao know what to do.
After that, Gao Jiancheng did not mention whether or not the 600,000 captives could be killed. He only gave his opinion for Niu Youdao to consider.
After all, there were 600,000 captives. If he killed 600,000 captives, his reputation would be ruined. At the very least, he would be labeled as a homicidal maniac.
If they didn't kill them, there was no need to keep them as food. It was better to use them as bargaining chips for the imperial court.
If he wanted to kill them, he had to be careful. It would be best not to kill them too directly. It would be better to use them as bargaining chips before killing them.
This bargaining chip was not the bargaining chip of the imperial court, but the bargaining chip of Shang Chaozong or Meng Shanming.
Gao Jiancheng's intention was to let Meng Shanming ask for food from the Song army. When the news got back to the capital of Song, there would be two parties arguing in the imperial court. One party was willing to give the 600,000 elite soldiers, and the other party was not.
The premise of this was that Beijing was using 600,000 captives as a condition for the Song army to retreat. They also added on the requirement of food. The Song army would think that the conditions were too harsh. They were also worried that Meng Shanming would be like a tiger that had grown wings after getting the food. If he went back on his word, it would endanger the Song Kingdom. Therefore, there would be two parties arguing in the imperial court.
There were a few advantages to doing this.
Once the captives were killed, the imperial court would investigate. Meng Shanming could complain about the lack of food to avoid the imperial court's responsibility. There was not enough food here, and the imperial court could not provide it.
Another advantage was that Meng Shanming could say that the Song Kingdom was not sincere in killing the captives. This could offset some of the negative effects of killing the captives. He could push the blame to the Song Kingdom and say that the Song Kingdom did not want to save the captives. This could weaken the morale of the Song army.
The last advantage was that once the captives were killed, the people in the imperial court who wanted to give the food would blame those who did not agree to give the food. It was those people who caused the 600,000 elite soldiers to be killed. This would cause internal strife in the imperial court of the Song Kingdom.
Gao Jiancheng's intention was to have a reason to argue that he was not a bad person after doing something bad. He also had to take the opportunity to create some trouble for his opponents.
After reading Gao Jiancheng's opinion, Niu Youdao's mouth twisted in delight. He discovered that a person who had immersed himself in the Imperial Court for a long time was indeed a person who had immersed himself in the Imperial Court for a long time. He had a bellyful of evil ideas and was indeed very good at playing in this aspect.
Niu Youdao still had the same attitude. If it was not necessary, he did not want to interfere with the affairs of the battlefield. He would let the professionals do the work. He then sent a message to Meng Shanming about Gao Jiancheng's opinion.
Of course, he would not reveal anything about Gao Jiancheng. He changed everything to his own idea.
The distance between the two was not too far. Gongsun Bu quickly received his letter. After translating the secret letter, he handed it to Meng Shanming immediately.
The road was muddy. When Meng Shanming saw the letter, he was sitting in a slow-moving carriage. The letter was handed in by Gongsun Bu from the window to Luo Daan. Lu Zheng was driving the carriage.
After reading the letter, Meng Shan Ming stroked his beard and shook his head. He sighed and said, "Daoist is indeed a Daoist. Even in the Imperial Court, he has a good plan."
He sincerely admired Meng Shanming. Although he was good at fighting, he was not good at the affairs of the imperial court.
To be exact, it was not that he was stupid, but he did not pay much attention to it. He was not willing to invest energy in it. A person's energy was limited. If he was too distracted, he would not be able to be good at one thing. When King Ning was alive, he only focused on fighting. He did not have any improper thoughts about the affairs of the imperial court. King Ning was there to stop him. Now, he did not need to care about the thoughts of the imperial court.
Moreover, Niu Youdao did not restrict him from the beginning to the end. He only provided useful help. This made Meng Shanming feel comfortable. He was not like the three major sects who liked to meddle in the affairs of the imperial court.
He deeply felt that it was a blessing to have a capable person hiding behind the scenes, paying attention to the crisis and helping to solve it in time.
For example, during the suppression of the rebellion, when the danger was approaching, no one in the South Province noticed it. Only Niu Youdao noticed that the Imperial Court was going to attack the Shang Dynasty. Niu Youdao immediately transferred the one hundred thousand cavalrymen of the South Province who were about to face a great calamity, allowing Meng Shanming to lead the one hundred thousand cavalrymen out of the dangerous situation.
It was hard for Meng Shanming and the others to accept the fact that the Shang Chaozong was the only one in danger. Meng Shanming wanted to lead his men to save the Shang Chaozong, but Niu Youdao stopped him.
Now that he thought about it, as long as Meng Shanming and Nanzhou still had the strength, the imperial court would not dare to do anything to Shang Chaozong.
From another perspective, Shang Chaozong stayed behind to bear the consequences. He suffered, but the killing of Shi Sheng gradually faded away.
Looking back at the situation again, Niu Youdao was the most rational and calm person. Combined with Shang Chaozong's situation at that time, he could be said to be terrifyingly rational.
If it was not for Niu Youdao, the consequences could be imagined. They were the ones who wanted to send troops to save Yan. However, the one who cleared the obstacles and prevented them from sending troops was Niu Youdao. If it was not for Niu Youdao, the consequences of Shang Chaozong killing Shi Sheng would be unimaginable.
A bird appeared in the distant sky. Zhang Hu's voice could be heard from outside the window. "Marshal, the Song Capital is here. They want to verify the number of captives."
Meng Shanming closed the secret letter in his hand and said indifferently, "Inform all the departments to be on guard and let them verify. Also, inform the Song Kingdom to bring food to them if they want the captives … "
…
The negotiation between the Song Kingdom and the Yan Kingdom had come to an end. However, it did not stop the Song Kingdom's army. The 500,000 soldiers of the Song Kingdom finally arrived at the city and surrounded Yan Jing!
The city gate of Yan Jing was tightly shut. The guards on the top of the city wall acted as if they were facing a formidable enemy. All kinds of defensive facilities were prepared. Millions of civilians in the city were busy defending the city with the army. From this, it could be seen that as long as there was the determination to defend, the defense in Yan Jing would not be limited to the 200,000 soldiers.
Even so, the civilians in the city were still in a state of panic.
Outside the city, a cultivator escorted the Song envoy, Qian Liansheng, to the Song Kingdom's general.
Under Qian Liansheng's persuasion and Luo Zhao's military order, the Song Kingdom's army only surrounded the city and did not attack. They were waiting for the negotiation to come to an end. Once the negotiation failed, the Song Kingdom's army would attack the city immediately!
The Song Kingdom's army shouted and threatened outside the city. Occasionally, they would beat the drums and horns to create pressure on the people in the city!
In a corner of the palace, no one dared to go near because some of the corpses in the palace were gathered there to be cremated.
No one dared to mention the cause of death of the concubines. Even though they knew that it was impossible to hide it, Chief Steward Tian Yu still issued a ban. Those who dared to speak would die!
Shang Jianxiong did not dare to return to the back palace for the time being. Even his living quarters were temporarily moved to a small room in the imperial study. Everyone around him knew what he was afraid of, but no one dared to say it out loud.
Outside the city, the enemy soldiers were shouting and shouting. In the palace inside the city, Tong Mo held the results of the negotiation with Shang Jianxiong and the others to discuss the next steps.
They had no choice but to discuss this. Not only did they have to implement the results of the negotiation, but they also had to take care of Shang Chaozong's emotions. In the current situation, Shang Jianxiong could no longer ignore Shang Chaozong and issue orders. Shang Chaozong held the military power in his hands!
Military power was what the civil officials hated the most about the military officials. It was also what the civil officials feared the most. Thus, whenever there was a chance, the civil officials would want to add layers of restrictions on the military power in the hands of the military officials.
If they dared to anger Shang Chaozong at this moment, it would be useless no matter what the results of the negotiation were.
Previously, Shang Jianxiong hoped that Shang Chaozong's 100,000 cavalrymen would attack the Song army. Now, he was really afraid that Shang Chaozong would be impulsive and ruin his plans.
From Shang Jianxiong's point of view, Shang Chaozong had every reason to do so.
Meng Xuan came and ignored the guards outside and directly barged in.
Shang Jianxiong stood up from behind the table and asked anxiously, "Sect Leader Meng, have the three major sects made the arrangements for the frontline?"
Meng Xuan hesitated for a moment. He was also embarrassed about this matter and found it hard to speak. After all, he was the one who made the promise.
However, he had no choice. The information that Gong Lince sent back was indeed reasonable. Most importantly, Meng Shanming and the others had their own army and relied on their ability to control the situation. They did not listen to the three major sects. At this moment, as long as the three major sects cared about their own interests, they would not dare to do anything to Meng Shanming. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Seeing Meng Xuan's reaction, Shang Jianxiong and the others became nervous and did not even dare to breathe loudly.
Slowly, Meng Xuan finally said, "Your Majesty, I think the Song army will attack soon. Let the army be prepared to defend to the death and live with Yan Jing!"
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