Chapter 869 Refusing to Welcome the New King

Chapter 869 Refusing to Welcome the New King

Li Zhan, the envoy of the Northern Qi Dynasty, once went to Jiangling as an envoy and planned to assassinate the envoy Li Miao of the Western Wei Dynasty. Later, he was protected by Liang Emperor Xiao Yi and secretly sent him back to Qi. This time he came to Jiankang as an envoy, which probably also reflects the A certain attitude of Northern Qi.

Also coming with Li Zhan, the envoy, were Ma Songren, a former Southern Liang minister, and other people from Beitou. This kind of personnel combination also made Wang Sengbian guess the intention of this mission to come to Jiankang, and the facts were indeed not much different from his guess.

"The former came to envoy and was deeply protected by the benevolence of the late master of the Liang family. Because he was forced by the Qiang captives, he could hardly survive. The benevolent and kind leader of the first Liang family sent a certain person, and his life-saving grace had not yet been repaid. Unexpectedly, he suddenly heard the bad news. So. The pain is really heart-wrenching, but now that we are crossing the river, we can see that Wang Taiwei and other loyal ministers and righteous men are still standing on the right side of the river, and the Liang family's national industry is still recovering and prosperous, which makes people feel happy and full of hope!"

Li Zhan and his party were led to Jiankangtaicheng. After seeing Wang Sengbian, he expressed his sorrow.

Wang Sengbian didn't have a good impression of the Northern Qi envoys. Especially when Jiangling had just fallen, the Qi envoys came to Jiankang with a arrogant and eager to take advantage of the situation, which made him even more disgusted. When he heard Qi Li Zhan's somewhat careless expression, the expression on his face softened slightly. After talking to him for a few words, his eyes turned to the several Nanliang traitors following him, and his expression changed again. It's a bit ugly.

After polite greetings to each other, Li Zhan began to express his intention: "The Qiang captives were cruel. They first took away people's kingdoms and then plotted to harm their rulers. Now the people of Jiangnan must be in deep pain and hate the Qiang captives especially. It is unknown whether Wang Taiwei and others will be able to rejuvenate the country and take revenge." What a heroic plan? A country cannot live without a king for a day..."

Without waiting for the Qi envoy to finish speaking, Wang Sengbian said directly: "The current king of Jin'an, the central supervisor of the country, is the direct heir of my lord. He is also the leader of the alliance who is recommended by the people in the country and bows his head to accept orders. Now my lord Although he has suffered misfortune, the country is not without a master. It is logical and everyone wishes for the King of Jin'an to succeed and rejuvenate the country!"

Li Zhan did not give up because of Wang Sengbian's statement, but continued: "I came here today on the mission of His Majesty the Emperor. I was deeply moved when I saw Wang Taiwei and others working together to face the national crisis. The Qiang captives and I have a feud, and my Majesty the Emperor also hopes that Liang Guo can defy disaster and rejuvenate the country and take revenge, and is willing to provide personnel support.

But how can things such as rise and fall be easy? With the wisdom of the ancestors of the Liang family, the success of wiping out the giant bandits has not been able to enjoy the longevity of the country. How can the law be able to control the ugly and ferocious captives? Now Taiwei Wang is in charge of Jiangyou. Although he is also known for his wise and courageous strategies, is his current power stronger than that of Emperor Wu in his old days? As the saying goes, if the country is uneasy, it is necessary to rely on the elder king. The king of Jin'an is still young, and his virtues have not been extended to the people, and his authority has not been extended to the generals. Even though he has the quality of fat and jade, this is not a peaceful year. My Majesty, the Emperor, indulges his desire to help Liang Guo, how can he hope for the help of someone who is difficult to deal with? "

Wang Sengbian had been feeling anxious recently because of the lack of positive response from various parties in the country to the ascension of King Jin'an to the throne. Now when he heard that the Qi envoy also expressed doubts about this, he felt even more upset and angry. He immediately said coldly: "The national crisis has not ended yet, but there are brave and courageous people! The order of things is clear, how can we allow the confusion of arbitrary people! I am very grateful to you for crossing the river to ask. Although the national destiny is difficult, we will not seek prosperity through chaos!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand to see off the guests, unwilling to listen any more.

"Is it possible that Lieutenant Wang is so stubborn because he is easy to threaten? The captives are fierce and Liang is in danger, but my lord comes to save him, but he refuses to do so? Lieutenant Wang ignores the danger of the country and just wants to be like this. Isn't that loyalty?" !”

Seeing that Wang Sengbian was about to end their conversation, Li Zhan quickly stood up and looked at Wang Sengbian and shouted loudly: "The Marquis of Zhenyang in your country is the eldest in the clan, and Liang Wu has been the pillar of the family and the country in the past. In the old days, the capital of Ye was in ruins. Now that the Liang family is in danger, it is a good time to serve this eldest king to endure the calamity!

Now our lord has asked the Shangdang King of our country to lead an army of 100,000 to escort the Marquis of Zhenyang to the south to take charge of the Liang Kingdom. If Wang Taiwei is willing to welcome the new monarch, the war in Guangling can be resolved, the important town of Liyang can be returned, and the war between the two countries can be reconciled. , our army can even assist Liang Guo in capturing Hefei. Whether Jin Ou is intact or not, the rise and fall of the country's industry all depend on Wang Taiwei's thoughts! "

When Ma Songren and other traitors next to him saw this, they also quickly said: "Wang Taiwei, think twice! With the current weak power of the country, it is really difficult to defeat the powerful. Only by forming an alliance with Qi can the vitality of our country lie!"

"You have betrayed the country and shamed your ancestors by living in secret. How can you set foot on Liang soil again? You are going to follow this evil plan! If you dare to speak evil words and disrupt our clan again, I will not forgive you!"

After Wang Sengbian heard this, he became even more furious. He pointed at several people and scolded them rudely. At the same time, he ordered his soldiers to lead the envoy Qi and his party out of the hall. They were not even allowed to stay in Jiankang City any longer and directly returned to Jiankang City by boat. The ship was sent back to the north.

Although the aid conditions proposed by the Qi people were very tempting, the demands made were unacceptable to Wang Sengbian. He was originally a core member of Jiangling Military Mansion and a general under Liang Emperor Xiao Yi. Now Northern Qi took advantage of the situation and forced him to appoint Xiao Yuanming, the Marquis of Zhenyang, as the new king. This was undoubtedly forcing him to trample on his bottom line and position.

What's more, the Qi people have no faith at all. No matter how many tempting conditions they put forward, almost none of them can actually be implemented. Although Wang Sengbian now feels that he is extremely poor, he still believes that even cooperating with the Qi people is seeking the skin of a tiger and should not be taken lightly.

Similar scenes not only occurred in Jiankang City, Chen Baxian from Jingkou also received a visit from the Qi State envoy, and made the same request and promise: as long as Chen Baxian is willing to welcome Xiao Yuanming, the Marquis of Zhenyang, to return to the country and inherit the throne, then the The siege of Guangling even returned a large area of ​​the old Nanliang land and cities south of the Huai River.

Of course, Chen Baxian would not be easily beguiled by the Qi envoy. He simply rejected the Qi envoy's request and immediately sent someone to report the matter to Wang Sengbian of Jiankang. He also clearly expressed his attitude and resolutely He refused to allow Xiao Yuanming to return to the country and proclaim himself emperor, so that Northern Qi could not use this opportunity to interfere with their state affairs in Southern Liang. He also expressed his support for King Jin'an to ascend the throne as emperor quickly to reassure people.

However, Chen Baxian also knew that as they once again rejected the request of the Northern Qi Dynasty, they would surely be subject to more severe military oppression by the Northern Qi army. Therefore, it was difficult for him to escape and return to Jiankang to congratulate the new emperor on his accession to the throne. He needed to stay in Jingkou and be ready at any time. Plan to assist Guangling on the other side.

After Wang Sengbian received this report, although he was still a little dissatisfied with Chen Baxian's absence, at least the two reached a consensus on major matters and restored a certain degree of tacit understanding.

In order to avoid being affected by the arrival of Qi Envoy, Wang Sengbian immediately decided to hold the enthronement ceremony of King Jin'an in advance. Although the ceremony was shabby due to the simple conditions, when Wang Sengbian led his ministers to the palace to pay homage to the new emperor, they finally settled on the status of the emperor and his ministers and the pattern of court affairs.

Northern Qi, who was rejected again, naturally would not give up. On the one hand, it continued to strengthen the offensive against Guangling. On the other hand, Gao Yang, with his younger brother Gao Huan, the king of Shangdang, as the commander, led an army of 50,000, with the previous battle at Hanshan. Xiao Yuanming, the Marquis of Zhenyang who had been captured and stayed in the Northern Qi Dynasty after burying the elite army of Nanliang, came to Huainan in a mighty manner.

Northern Qi's intention is also very obvious. Although it has missed the intervention in the war situation between Jiang and Han, the human and land resources in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River must be involved no matter what. And establishing a puppet regime is the most cost-effective way.

Although almost at the same time, the Western Wei Dynasty also vowed to conquer Qi, but now the Western Wei Dynasty is suffering from internal and external discord, which has greatly reduced the prestige of its hegemony. Therefore, the Northern Qi Dynasty also generally feels that before the external hidden danger of Li Boshan is properly resolved, Yuwen It is impossible for Tai to really lead the army to launch a war against Northern Qi.

As for Li Boshan, although the reversal was very beautiful, it basically locked up the possibility of his continued development and growth. Because Yu Wentai can no longer sit back and watch him lead the main force to attack in all directions and continue to grow. In order to deal with threats from within, Li Boshan's power can basically maintain its current state. Unless there are new changes that affect the power structure in the future, it will be difficult for Li Boshan to break through this restriction.

Moreover, because he stretched his hand too far before, the Hefei he occupied was relatively far away from the Jianghan area where his heart was located, and it was basically impossible to provide effective response. Now that Liang Emperor Xiao Yi was killed, the relationship between the Western Wei Dynasty and the Southern Liang Dynasty became even worse, and seizing Hefei was also an obvious option.

Of course, the prerequisite is to deal with Nanliang first. After all, compared to the city of Hefei, the vast land of Sanwu is more attractive.

Due to the previous loss of Hefei, the Northern Qi Dynasty lost an important town that could gather naval forces and enter the Yangtze River directly. In order to complete the task of escorting Xiao Yuanming to cross the river and proclaim himself emperor, he must put enough pressure and deterrence on the Liang army on the other side.

Therefore, this time after the Qi army arrived at Zhongli, they did not rush to Hefei, but went straight to Nanqiaozhou below. From Nanqiaozhou, they attacked Qinjun along the Chu River, which is across the river from Jiankang City. In order to limit Jiankang's Liang army's cross-river support to Qin County, Liyang, which was still in the hands of the Qi army, also launched an offensive along the Hengjiang River, using light boats to cross the river and fight on foot and cavalry to Gusu and other places to disrupt the Liang army's rear. Array.

Wang Sengbian did not dare to neglect in the face of this situation. If Jiangzhou was still under control before, he could still effectively resist the harassment from Liyang, and even try to counterattack Liyang.

But now that Wang Lin has taken control of Huancheng, his confidants are hard to come by, and Wang Sengbian dare not easily use Yuzhang's troops. He can only sit in Jiankang himself and lead his troops there with Pei Zhiheng, the governor of Xuzhou, and Xu Sihui, the governor of Qinzhou. Qin County faced the aggressive Qi army.

At the same time, Wang Sengbian wrote to Chen Baxian, hoping that he would not be limited to the Guangling battlefield, but could provide certain support to the Qin County war in due course.