Chapter 854: Diverting trouble to the east

Chapter 854: Diverting trouble to the east

"This, this... Nowadays, people in Xiangzhou are upset and people are in panic. Wang Xiangzhou is afraid of another disaster, so he stays in the city to suppress the chaos and prepare for changes. This is definitely not a dishonest intention to return to his righteousness."

After Pei Zheng heard this, he quickly said: "Moreover, now that the king's army is surrounding Changsha City, the soldiers and people of Xiangzhou know that the king is powerful and difficult to control, and they are tired of fighting and begging for work. Even if Wang Xiangzhou has other plans, it is difficult to go against the wishes of the people. Just go your own way."

After Li Tai heard this, he sneered again, looked at Pei Zheng and continued: "Is Wang Lin more important than the Liang Lord in the current situation? Is the public sentiment in Xiangzhou more troubled than Jiangling? God's will has failed to protect the Liang family. After that, even the Lord of Liang had to bear the shackles and go north to the court to plead guilty. What Pei Hou saw during this trip was that Jiangling is not managed now. I can still manage such a large Jiangling, but Wang Lin can't do it in Xiangzhou. Can it be cured?”

When Pei Zheng heard this, he was immediately at a loss for words and speechless.

"God has the virtue of favoring life. Since I claim that the destruction of Liang is the will of God, of course I will not go against God's will and use killing as a threat. The people of Xiangzhou just want to survive, and I will give them life. But if someone threatens everyone, I will never tolerate anyone who harbors evil intentions for his own sake and to serve others as a guest."

Li Tai looked at Pei Zheng again and said in a deep voice: "Wang Linruo really wants to surrender and seek support. As I said before, she should disarm and come to Chang'an to serve her old master. If he still has evil intentions and is greedy for power and disobeys orders, , then I will never tolerate it!

However, what Marquis Pei said is very pitiful that the Xiangzhou soldiers are tired of fighting and begging for a living, so I ask you to come back and tell me. For the sake of the Xiangzhou soldiers and people, I can temporarily open the door to Wang Lin and allow him to lead his troops to the lower reaches and work together. The remaining bandits from your homeland have gathered together and will be wiped out together one day! "

Li Tai cannot allow Wang Lin and his tribe to continue to exist within his sphere of influence. This is Li Tai's bottom line. If Wang Lin wanted to surrender, she would have to come to Jiangling in person to ask for surrender. Li Tai could also send her to Chang'an to continue to accompany Xiao Laoqi, but his followers must take advantage of the situation and annihilate him.

As for killing prisoners as an omen, it also depends on who is being killed. Wang Lin's tribe suffered a heavy debt of blood in Jiankang City after putting down Hou Jing's rebellion. If Li Tai really completely wiped out his tribe, at least the people of Jiankang would definitely applaud him. If without Wang Lin's control, these brutal people dispersed in one fell swoop, the sky would be full of stars, and the people's livelihood and security in the entire Jianghuai area would be greatly damaged.

Of course, the possibility of Wang Lin coming to surrender in person was slim, so Li Tai also proposed another plan, which was to let Wang Lin and her men go downstream to Jiangzhou and not to stay in Xiangzhou any longer.

Although Li Tai did not go to the front line of Xiangzhou in person, through some previous battles and battle reports sent back by Liang Shiyan and others, he also learned that Changsha City is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack. Although their Western Wei army has established an advantage, they still want to To completely capture the city, a hard battle is still inevitable, and the time is also somewhat uncertain.

After all, the geographical location of Changsha City is here. The river network is intertwined and the cities are connected by the banks. It is really easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, Wang Lin, who defended the city, was also the leading general in the Southern Dynasties. Although his troops had poor military discipline, they were among the best in terms of combat effectiveness. Even if Li Tai leads his army to the front line again, there is no guarantee that Changsha City will become his happy city.

Now that Wang Lin has lost her fighting spirit, expelling her from Xiangzhou is a more affordable option. And even if Wang Lin refuses to leave, she can still take this opportunity to undermine his mass base.

It should be noted that not all of the tens of thousands of Liang Jun who are now trapped in Xiangzhou are die-hard loyalists to Wang Lin. With the odds of winning now slim, choosing to betray Wang Lin can be considered a realistic consideration. Now, Li Tai just used Wang Lin's request to surrender to give them a reason and motivation to make a decision. As long as Wang Lin is willing to obey the arrangement, either come to surrender or get out, then all the current suffering will come to an end!

As for Wang Lin's choice to go downstream, will she strengthen the power of Liang Jun downstream and join forces with Wang Sengbian, Chen Baxian and others to attack Jiangling?

This may not be impossible. After all, the main theme of the post-Three Kingdoms is an extreme chaos, and any situation may happen. But the probability of it happening is roughly the same as if Yuwentai is willing to take Li Tai's surname and is willing to make Li Tai his heir. Of course, even if Yuwentai is happy, Li Tai is not happy yet.

If Wang Lin really goes downstream, the most likely situation is that the situation downstream will become more chaotic, and the internal fighting among the remaining forces in Nanliang will further deepen.

Not to mention the historical incompatibility between Wang Lin and the Nanchen regime, it was Wang Sengbian who was responsible for the fact that he was escorted back to Jiangling and almost killed! Just these guys getting together, let alone reviving the Liang family, if they don't make fools of each other, it's because they haven't grown up.

When Pei Zheng heard that Li Tai had such a tough attitude, he looked embarrassed for a moment and wanted to fight for it again. However, Li Tai no longer gave him a chance, stood up from the table and left early.

With Li Tai's clear statement, Xiangzhou's mission to invite the envoys to surrender came to an end for the time being. The next day, Li Tai arranged for them to return to Xiangzhou to convey his intention to Wang Lin.

The mission was not completed, and it was not only Pei Zheng who felt lost, but also the Han brothers who had to part ways just after they reunited.

When bidding farewell at Jiangjin Ferry, Han Xie held his brother's wrist and continued to persuade him reluctantly: "Brother, please stay, stay and we will serve the king together! I have heard of Wang Lin's evil reputation many times, and I must He is not a benevolent hero. Brother, if you continue to serve under him, even if you still have good nature, you will inevitably join in the evil deeds in the long run. Just like those thieves..."

"In the past, when I had no way to survive in Jiankang City, it was Wang Xiangzhou's loyalty that kept me alive. Now that there is no way out, it would be unjust for me to give up. I know that you, Saburo, are in a very good situation here, and I have nothing to do with it. It’s a pity. Now that you have become a great person, you no longer need to rely on the protection of your parents, and I also have my own moral principles to uphold.”

Han Shao avoided Han Xie's expectant eyes, raised his hand and patted this brother on the shoulder and said: "We brothers work hard and don't live up to this opportunity that belongs to us. Even if we can't meet each other in the future, underworld. It’s always the final destination, when you, me, our brother, our brother, we can talk about our respective stories after our separation!”

After saying this, Han Shao hugged his brother hard again, then turned around and boarded the ship without hesitation.

During the days when Pei Zheng and others left, there were no major changes in the situation in Xiangzhou. It was just that the Western Wei army had arranged the encirclement more firmly, and the situation in Changsha City became more critical.

The soldiers and civilians in the city were also eager to see the result of the surrender. After Pei Zheng and others entered the city, the military governors and generals came to the city lord's mansion to inquire about the news, and Li Tai's request quickly spread in the city. Because at the same time that Pei Zheng and others entered the city, the Wei army outside the city also sent letters into the city with arrows and stones.

"The Qiang thieves still hate me for humiliating them in the old years. They clearly don't want me to live!"

Wang Lin said bitterly after hearing Pei Zheng's message.

Just when Wang Lin and her confidants were still worried about what decision to make, there were already many rumors in Changsha City. Many people shouted directly in front of the city lord's palace that Wang Xiangzhou was righteous and Bo Yuntian would never intimidate. The soldiers and civilians of the whole city died with him. Now that King Taiyuan of Wei State has expressed his intention to surrender, the current crisis will definitely be resolved soon!

Remarks like this are nothing more than the hope that Wang Lin can be kidnapped with morality, so that he can make his own choice quickly and give everyone a way out.

Of course Wang Lin will not be bound by morality, but he cannot ignore the reality that the enemy is strong and his own fighting spirit has been lost. Moreover, these remarks are not just pure moral kidnapping, but also imply that if Wang Lin still refuses to make a choice, everyone will probably help him choose.

After some weighing, Wang Lin finally decided to choose the second option. Of course, he was not willing to surrender to the Western Wei Dynasty. Instead of putting his life in the hands of the Wei people, it was better to go downstream and fight hard.

Although he could not compete with Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian in the lower reaches for a while, Hou Qi, the governor of Jiangzhou appointed by Wang Sengbian, was just an old official of Poyang King Xiaofan. , if he goes to his state, it will not be difficult to occupy the dove's nest.

When Wang Lin announced her decision to everyone, although everyone felt sad, they couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When Liang Shiyan outside the city learned of Wang Lin's decision, he immediately set aside a small town outside Changsha City and ordered the soldiers and civilians in the city who were willing to follow Wang Lin to leave Xiangzhou to enter the small town in groups of 500 people, and then Then leave with Wang Lin.

When some of Wang Lin's loyal subordinates began to pack their bags, they found that Chang Shi Pei Zheng was indifferent, and they couldn't help but wonder: "Can't Chang Shi do it?"

After hearing this, Pei Zheng just sighed and said: "Since Hou Jingni's rebellion, many of his relatives have died in the country, and the family cannot be said to be disloyal. Although we have worked hard so far, the country's power has become increasingly declining. This time when we return to the country to see our past, it seems to be coming back to life. If it is true, If destiny is declining, how much can manpower do?"

Pei Zheng's dejected words naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of several Wang Lin's generals, but Wang Lin just waved her hands to signal everyone not to make a fuss, raised her fist towards Pei Zhenglue and said: "We are not the same people, but because of the order of the Lord, we are fortunate to be together." Chang Shi has been with us for a long time, and now it’s natural to say goodbye when we cross the road. Lin bravely takes on the dangerous journey, and I only wish Chang Shi a bright future!”

Although the future is uncertain, there are still more than 7,000 people who are willing to go with Wang Lin in the end, which shows his military spirit. These people were deprived of all their military supplies and weapons, and were only given a rationed supply of food and grass. They were followed and escorted by Gao Le and five thousand fine cavalry, and headed downstream to Jiangzhou.

With the end of the war in Xiangzhou, all the old places of Nanliang from Jiangzhou to the west were settled. Li Qianzhe was appointed as the governor of Xiangzhou and stayed in Changsha to subsidize the local people, while Liang Shiyan led his troops back to Jiangling and became the general manager of Jiangling.

The war in Daxingtai on Shannan Road has temporarily come to an end, but the forces in Nanliang downstream have added fuel to the fire because of Wang Lin's eastward movement. Coupled with the brutal interference of Northern Qi, the whole situation has become more serious. Precarious.

2023 is fleeting, I wish everyone a happy New Year. . .