Chapter 853 It’s hard to violate destiny

Chapter 853 It’s hard to violate destiny

"Have the envoys from Xiangzhou been brought here?"

After finishing the work on the desk, Li Tai looked up and asked.

After hearing this, the secretary who was in charge of the questioning hurriedly stood up and replied: "Report to the king, the envoys from Xiangzhou are waiting to be summoned in the front hall. However, one of them is the brother of Han Langzhong, who was separated in the war. Unexpectedly, they met here again today. The two brothers are both sad and happy..."

"There is such a thing?"

After hearing this, Li Tai couldn't help but feel curious, so he asked a few more questions seriously.

"Then don't disturb their reunion for the time being. Go and tell Han Langzhong to let him say goodbye to his brother. The palace will host a banquet tonight. All civil and military officials in the city will also come to the palace to attend the banquet and witness this lost and recovered true love."

Li Tai looked at the sky and gave another order.

As for Wang Lin's surrender, he also understood what the situation was, and did not regard it as a big deal. Originally, he planned to summon the envoy before dark to express his attitude and request on the matter.

But when he heard about this episode, he changed his mind and planned to formally entertain the group. Of course, it was not because of his change of attitude towards Wang Lin's surrender, but because it was a happy thing to hear that his relatives reunited after going through hardships.

Although Li Tai was already in a high position, he did not lose his ordinary emotions. Hearing about such a happy event of family reunion and reunion, he was quite sentimental. Especially in the late Three Kingdoms period of war and chaos, such a thing can be called a legend in the world.

Since he did not plan to summon the envoy of Xiangzhou to surrender for the time being, Li Tai continued to deal with some less important matters. When more than an hour passed, it was already dark, and the lights were lit in the main hall. Another official came to the hall to announce that the banquet was ready in the other hall and could start at any time.

After hearing this, Li Tai put down his pen and said to everyone in the hall with a smile: "Paperwork is tiring and makes people tired. If you don't have any important things on your desk, you might as well go and listen to other people's happy events to refresh your mind."

The officials in the hall were also waiting for the king to say this, so after hearing it, they all stood up and smiled and followed Li Tai out of the door to the banquet hall.

At this time, many officials had already arrived in the hall, and they were chatting after sitting down at different tables. In order to liven up the personnel atmosphere, Li Tai has been frequently holding banquets in the government office during this period, so the people in the palace, regardless of their origins in the north and south, have gradually become familiar with each other.

When they heard that Li Tai was coming here, everyone stood up and went out of the hall to greet him.

Li Tai waved his hand in response to everyone's greetings, and his eyes searched the crowd, and finally fell on Han Xie, who was recommended by Zhao Gang to serve as Xingtai Lang, and said with a smile: "Doctor Han, which one is your closest relative who has been separated from you and reunited with you now?"

"Your Majesty, this one is my brother!"

Han Xie had already recovered from the surprise of reuniting with his brother, but his face was still filled with a strong smile. After hearing the king's question, he hurriedly pushed his brother in front of him to introduce him.

"I am Han Shao, a villager in Huainan, who survived the chaos. Now I am serving under the command of General Zhennan Wang Xiangzhou. I and Chief Secretary Pei Hou were ordered by Wang Xiangzhou to cross the river to ask for the king's order!"

Han Shao also bowed his waist and crossed his hands to greet Li Tai, and took the opportunity to lead Chief Secretary Pei Zheng, who was ignored on the side, to come over.

Li Tai smiled slightly after hearing this, nodded to Pei Zhenglue who also came forward to greet him, and then motioned everyone to enter the hall for the banquet.

After entering the hall, everyone sat down in turn, and after a round of wine, Li Tai asked about the experiences of the Han brothers from separation to reunion. In the troubled times, in addition to the disputes between kings, princes, generals and ministers, it is undoubtedly the personal experiences of these ordinary people that best represent the essence of the troubled times.

Han Xie was the first to talk about the time when Hou Jing's rebellious army plundered the village. After being separated from his brother, he wandered all the way and came to the sphere of influence of the former Jingzhou Military Government. He was appreciated and taught by Zhao Gang, and worked in the military government all the way to the current Xingtailang.

After listening to it, everyone couldn't help sighing. Although Han Xie's experience was indeed a bit tragic at the beginning, it got better and better afterwards. The improvement of his personal situation just fits the development and growth of the Jingzhou Military Government, which also makes many people feel touched.

Li Tai was just curious about this at first, but after listening to Han Xie's story, he was impressed by this young man and remembered him in his heart.

Han Shao did not have such good luck as his brothers. His experience was more twists and turns and cruel, and at the same time more attractive. When he talked about being dragged to the outside of Jiankang City in Jiangnan by Hou Jing's rebellion, the whole hall was silent. Everyone stopped talking and listened to Han Shao's story quietly.

Even Li Tai was no exception. It was the first time he heard someone tell the details of Hou Jing's rebellion from the perspective of the lower level of the rebellion, so he listened very carefully.

When he heard that this strong man killed a battalion of rebellious soldiers by himself in order to avenge his relatives who were bloodbathed, Li Tai was moved and took the lead in applauding. Although he also had the courageous deeds of taking the heads of enemy generals in the rebellion, he did not dare to do such an act of knowing that he was almost dead but still unswerving. He could not help but have some respect for those who could do this.

Unlike the Jiangling people who listened intently to the Han brothers' stories about their past experiences, Pei Zheng, who was also the envoy to surrender, was in a much more anxious mood. Originally, he was quite happy to see Han Shao reunited with his separated relatives, and hoped that it would help in the subsequent surrender.

But now it seems that the situation is a little different from what he thought. The people in Jiangling are obviously more interested in the deeds of the Han brothers since the Taiyuan King, and are relatively indifferent to his envoy who came to ask for surrender. It seems that they are not at all There is no rush to quickly resolve the war south of the Great Lakes.

Since he was not taken seriously, Pei Zheng planned to take the initiative to fight for it. When Han Shao finally finished speaking, without waiting for other people at the banquet to express their emotions, he stood up first, bowed to Li Tai in salute and said: "Your Majesty's virtue has been passed down by Jiang Huai, I believe it today! Han's Kunzhong reunited at the Majesty's Mansion today after all the calamity. , it is because of the blessing of the king that such a good story touches the world! Nowadays, there are many innocent people in the south of the Great Lakes who are longing for the king’s mercy, and there are tens of thousands of people in Changsha who respect the king’s gift and live..."

Pei Zheng's grab immediately brought everyone's thoughts back to reality. Li Tai looked at Pei Zheng with some displeasure and frowned and said: "Before, Pei Ji, who colluded with thieves in Jiangling City to murder my envoy, and Pei Hou What's the connection?"

When Pei Zheng heard this somewhat unkind tone, his heart suddenly sank. After some thoughts circulated in his mind, he handed over his hand and said: "Pei Ji is my cousin of the same clan. If the king is guilty of this, he will not dare to defend himself. Before. Therefore, he took risks because he was afraid that his strength would be difficult to match. If no remediation was done, the old rule of Jiangling might not exist. Loyalty to the emperor was a plan that had to be carried out.

The present matter should indeed be based on the worries of the past, the old plans, the loyalty to Xu Guo in the past, and the unpardonable sin now. Even if someone dies because of this, it is natural. But when I come to worship you now, I am not asking for this honor and disgrace, but for the vitality of all people in Xiangzhou. If the king is willing to show mercy and tolerance, Pei will die without regrets! "

After Li Tai heard this, his frown slightly relaxed, and his impression of Pei Zheng also changed slightly.

He has always held a relatively mild attitude towards the conquest of the Southern Dynasties. If he wants to bridge the centuries-old division, the use of pure violence will only be counterproductive. This is true for Jiangling and the same is true for Xiangzhou.

But moderation does not mean blind tolerance and tolerance, especially the long-standing ills of the Southern Dynasties, which he would never accept without screening for the sake of a temporary united front effect. People like Wang Lin and her core followers are existences that Li Tai cannot tolerate.

What do you say about Wang Lin? She doesn't look like someone who could be cultivated by the soil of the Southern Dynasty, but more like a wolf cub who emerged from the den of soldiers in Beizhen. He is greedy and fond of misfortune, cruel and unkind, capricious and mercenary. He is more pitiable. What is praised is his loyalty to control the crowd and his loyalty to Liang Zuo, but when watching his actions, this last bit should be marked with a big greeting.

But even if there is no question mark, what significance do these two points have to Li Tai? In particular, Wang Lin's corrupt military discipline was famous throughout the Three Kingdoms.

Most of the armed forces at the head of other powerful armies are relatives and fellow villagers, but Wang Lin's tribe has almost all the most vicious gangsters and road tyrants in the entire Jianghuai area under his command. These people have been unruly and unruly for a long time. , and his attachment and loyalty to Wang Lin are extremely high, and there is not even any value for reorganization and influence.

Although Li Tai also wanted to end the Xiangzhou War quickly, after all, as time goes by and people's hearts change, Guanzhong may make further moves against him. It is not a problem to put a large number of troops in Xiangzhou for a long time. But it does not mean that he will tolerate Wang Lin and her troops to continue to exist under his rule. Of course, the sooner this hidden danger is resolved, the better.

After pondering for a while, he looked at Pei Zheng and said: "Liang Zuo's decline is God's will! The old man of the Xiao family led wolves into the house and caused trouble in Jiangnan. His past achievements were ruined, and only his evil deeds filled the world. Here, the Liang Lord has only the middle and lower talents. , due to the efforts of the masses, it is difficult to be the leader of the industry, after all, does Pei Hou agree with this? "

"This is the truth. I am only ashamed that I cannot die for my country. Your Majesty has given me advice and I do not dare to disobey it lightly."

Although Pei Zheng felt uncomfortable being criticized for his homeland in this way, now that he was under the control of others, he could only nod his head and admit that whatever he said made sense.

Hearing Pei Zheng nod in recognition, Li Tai then said: "Although Wang Lin is strong, can she disobey the destiny? Either defeat or death is already destined. If you really have the heart to follow the path and return to righteousness, you should cross the river by yourself and plead guilty to the south of the city. , It doesn’t work, I just send you, what’s the point!”