The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 433 Xu Jingzong's Firmness
Accompanied by Cen Wenwen, Xu Jingzong walked into the inner hall, bowed and said: "Xu Jingzong, the special envoy of the Sui Dynasty, has seen Duke Xiao!"

Xiao Xian was furious, and was about to question him, but saw Cen Wenwen winking at him, he held back his breath, and said coldly: "The special envoy has worked hard, please sit down!"

"Thank you Xiaogong!"

Xu Jingzong sat calmly. Although Xiao Xian had proclaimed himself emperor, he was essentially a traitor to the Sui Dynasty. This was the principle, and Xu Jingzong would naturally not back down.

Besides, he was ordered to meet Xiao Xian, but he was actually stumbling Li Yuan, so he didn't need to cry for cooperation.

Cen Wenwen also sat down on the other side, and he said with a smile: "My lord, Mr. Xu brought a shocking news this time. Li Yuan is not in the counterattack, but is directly targeting Luoyang."

"what!"

Xiao Mian stood up abruptly, the news surprised him, at this time there was also a low cry from behind the screen.

Xu Jingzong was slightly taken aback, he could clearly hear the voice of a young woman, this made Xu Jingzong very puzzled, everyone said that Xiao Xian was ridiculous, could it be that even women can interfere in Liang Guo's government?

Cen Wenwen naturally heard it too. He knew it was Jiangxia Princess Xiao Yuexian's voice, and quickly said: "My lord, please sit down. Li Yuan hasn't mobilized troops yet."

Xiao Mian sat down slowly, his mind was in a mess, he didn't notice that his daughter was hiding behind the screen.The news shocked him extremely, but he finally restrained his inner surprise and asked, "What happened?"

Xu Jingzong bowed slightly, and then explained in detail about the alliance between Er Li.

Xiao Xian's face was cloudy and uncertain, but he was also a generation of heroes.He knew very well what it meant for the two Lis to unite. If Li Yuan went north, he was almost certain that Li Mi would go south and attack Du Fuwei or himself in an all-round way.

Comparing the two, the possibility of Li Mi attacking him is very high, because the Huaishui defense line is not so easy to break through. Relatively speaking, his own strength seems to be very large. In fact, he knows well that the strength he can mobilize is only Jiangling, these are the contradictions that existed at the beginning of the army. Everyone was originally a combination of interests. As long as there is a slight disturbance, it will cause a conflict of interests. This kind of mutual suspicion is now deeply rooted in the minds of the monarchs and ministers. After Dong Jingzhen and Zhang Xiu's incident, they didn't trust each other at all.

Under this premise, how can he be an opponent of Li Mi, who is strong and strong?What should I do by myself?
Xiao Xian fell into Xu Jingzong's eyes in panic, which was also expected by him. If he didn't even have this awareness, then he was not worthy of being such a hero.He took out a letter from his bosom, and presented it to Xiao Xian with a slight smile: "This is a letter written by the Holy Majesty, and the answer His Highness wants is contained in this letter."

Cen Wenwen forwarded the letter to Xiao Mian, and Xiao Mian saw that "Yang Tong to Cousin" was written on the cover of the letter.

Yang Tong called him cousin, which meant it was a private letter, so he opened the envelope and took out the letter paper.

After a brief recounting of the past, it went straight to the topic, inviting him to send troops to cooperate with Er Li, indicating that their other ally was Du Fuwei. He and Du Fuwei attacked Er Li from the south, and the Sui army attacked from the north. Going south shall prevail, and there is nothing behind.

Xiao Mian was confused, what about after killing Er Li?What should I do?Will Yang Tong admit to being independent?And Du Fuwei's attitude was not mentioned in the letter.

Xu Jingzong also said that this letter can solve his doubts, where can he solve it?Doubts only increased.He glanced at Xu Jingzong, and asked: "I would like to ask Special Envoy Xu, what about Liang Guo? What is the attitude of the Sui Dynasty?"

Xu Jingzong smiled and said: "This needs to be chosen by Duke Xiao himself. The Holy Majesty has not made any statement, but it is true that Er Li is our common enemy. It is in everyone's interest that the three of us join hands to wipe them out."

Although Xu Jingzong didn't say anything, Xiao Xian understood that what Yang Tong meant was that everyone should kill the common enemy first, and then determine the ruler of the world. If the Sui army is strong, it will hit Jianghuai directly. If he and Du Fuwei are strong, they can hit the south bank of the Yellow River.

He pondered for a while and said: "Let me think about this matter, the special envoy will go back to the post house to rest first."

"That's good! Let me take my leave first." Xu Jingzong got up to say goodbye, Xiao Xian smiled at Cen Wenwen: "Cen Shilang will send the distinguished guest out of the palace for me."

Cen Wenwen stood up with a smile, and waved to Xu Jingzong: "Please!"

The two left shortly after.

Xiao Mian just thought about something, got up and walked towards the screen, only to find that his daughter had left through the side door, Xiao Mian thought about what his daughter had just mentioned.In fact, he knew that this was a very good strategy. He used the method of marriage to increase his bargaining chips, and he could find a good home for his daughter. With the presence of his aunt, he believed that his daughter would not be wronged.

Xiao Xian also knew that the Sui Dynasty was strong, and Yang Tong would go south sooner or later, and that day was not far away. With his daughter's beauty and virtuousness, it was not a problem to be favored, but he didn't want her to become a tool and marry someone she didn't like. .

Xiao Mian was a little confused, he didn't know what to do for a while, he wanted to hear Cen Wenwen's opinion.

After a while, Cen Wenwen returned to the inner hall again, he smiled and saluted and said, "Do you feel embarrassed, Your Majesty?"

Xiao Xian said worriedly: "I originally thought that this situation would last for three to five years, but I didn't expect Li Yuan to take the lead in trying to break the deadlock from the Central Plains. The situation in the world has changed drastically. What should we do?"

Cen Wenwen was silent for a while, and said slowly: "There are eggs under the overturned nest? If the second Li perishes, we will be doomed. If we don't move, Li Yuan will go south no matter whether he wins or loses. Now we need to do something about it." Make a choice. Just now Xu Jingzong also made it very clear that now the Holy Majesty needs to make a choice, I believe this is Yang Tong's original words."

"Yang Tong actually wants us to fight the Tang army fiercely and weaken the Tang army for him. I know very well in my heart." Xiao Xian looked at the north worriedly. Since Li Xiaogong withdrew from South County, he was very worried about Li Yuan's conspiracy, "The assistant thinks Will the Tang army attack Wang Shichong?"

"Weichen also considered Li Tang. Their expansion route was very clear. Not only did the western front fail, but they fell into the quagmire of war. In the end, because they looked around the world, they lost the entire Bingzhou and Yongzhou. That is to say, they went north and west. The development strategy ended in a disastrous failure; and the middle line is Luoyang. If Yang Tong did not support Wang Shichong, the Tang army would definitely attack Luoyang, so they took Jingxiang from me. Now we can see that Yang Tong is relying on a huge population base to manage the north. Vigorous, if Li Tang doesn't do anything, the Central Plains will be gone, so I also think that attacking Luoyang may be a big deal." Cen Wenwen hesitated, and smiled bitterly: "If they take Luoyang and the Central Plains quickly, then they can Stop the forces of the Sui Dynasty in the north. Relatively speaking, we are much easier to deal with than the Sui Dynasty and Wang Shichong,"

"Besides, Xu Jingzong also said just now that we have too much time to wait and see during the Sui Dynasty's dispatch of troops. There is no need for them to lie."

To be honest, Cen Wenwen didn't have much confidence in Daliang, even though Xiao Mian had 40 soldiers, but Liang had a lot of places to defend, but Liang had a large area.It would take at least a month for the southernmost troops to reach Jiangling. For a war, many things will happen within a month. If Li Yuan gathers strong troops to storm Jiangling and the city is destroyed, the southern army may not be able to make it halfway.

Although he is a minister of Zhongshu who is an extremely human minister, even if many kings with different surnames respect him very much, it depends on which country the minister of Zhongshu is. The situation under the separatist regime.The most important thing is that there is no time for him to sort out the affairs of state. This is the most serious problem.

Xiao Xian sighed a long time, "According to your opinion, we must follow Yang Tong's order? Even surrender to the Sui Dynasty?"

"Wei Chen did not mean to surrender to the Sui Dynasty." Cen Wenwen shook his head and said: "Although we were used by Yang Tong to contain the Tang army so that he could recover the Central Plains, we are also using the Sui army to contain the Tang army in the north. If our army can Recapturing Jingxiang will not only improve the morale of the army, but also benefit the Holy Majesty's rectification plan, so there may not be a chance of unifying the world in the future. This battle has not yet begun, so there is no need to consider who to surrender."

Xiao Mian nodded. It is true that Liang Guo has not reached the last moment, and the last moment will be when Er Li is destroyed.If Yang Tong and Er Li were both injured in the fight, he might not have a chance to make a comeback.

Thinking of this, Xiao Xian suddenly enlightened: "You are right, we are not without a chance. It's just that Yang Tong wants me to agree to attack Li Yuan, and I have a condition."

Cen Wenwen said: "Your Majesty, please tell me. I will tell Xu Jingzong."

Xiao Xian said slowly: "Yang Tong must marry my daughter as his concubine."

"Princess Anle?" Cen Wenwen was stunned.

Xiao Mian nodded solemnly, "This is my condition, if Yang Tong agrees, I will send troops on time, otherwise..."

Cen Wenwen understood Xiao Xian's meaning. If Yang Tong refused, he would use the whole south to surrender to the Tang Dynasty and assist the Tang Dynasty to deal with the Sui Dynasty. Cen Wenwen said: "My lord, this is indeed very good, and I fully agree with it."

……

Xu Jingzong also knew that Cen Wenwen would give him an answer soon, so he didn't rest and waited patiently for the arrival. In fact, Xu Jingzong was also a little nervous. Fu Wei is an important chess piece, which is related to the overall situation of the world. If the two let Er Li go south to the complicated south, the war and rebellion will drag on unresolved. No matter what, we must persuade Xiao Mian.

Xu Jingzong also knew that after Er Li was wiped out, Liang Guo would face the threat of the Sui army, and Xiao Mian might not agree to raise tigers.

If Xiao Mian did not agree, then Du Fuwei could only face Li Mi alone in the South, not to mention that the strength was too small, and more importantly, Xiao Mian would become a big variable, and he would not be able to get the key piece that would make the overall situation.

At this time, his entourage reported: "Mr. Cen has arrived, Langzhong."

Xu Jingzong hurriedly opened the door to greet him, only to see Cen Wenwen standing outside the door, "Mr. Xu should be waiting for me!"

Xu Jingzong nodded and smiled: "Cen Shilang, please come in!"

Cen Wenwen was more frank and didn't go around too much, so he said directly: "We have already made a decision on the matter of joining forces to deal with Er Li."

"Oh?"

"We can cooperate with the Sui army and Du Fuwei, but we have one condition."

"What conditions?"

Cen Wenwen smiled and said: "I believe you also know that the only daughter is Princess Anle, and the Holy Majesty hopes that Emperor Shengwu can marry her as his concubine. In this way, we will do our best to help the Sui army attack Li Yuan."

This condition made Xu Jingzong very embarrassed, he really didn't want to meddle in royal affairs, besides, Yang Tong was not the kind of emperor who likes others to meddle in his family affairs, so he said: "Can you change other conditions?"

Cen Wenwen shook his head and said, "This is our only condition. If you don't agree, it means that you are not sincere. In this way, not only will the two parties not cooperate, but we will even be forced to seek Li Tang's protection."

Cen Wenwen spoke very directly, even threateningly, which really made Xu Jingzong very embarrassed.

Cen Wenwen laughed and said: "Actually, Princess Anle is of noble blood, she is the daughter of the Xiao family, and the number one beauty in the Liang Kingdom. This is a beautiful thing, why can't you agree?"

Xu Jingzong pondered for a long time, he thought of the overall situation of the world, and the consequences of Er Li's escape into the southern jungle and the continuous rebellion, and then thought of Yang Tong accepting beautiful women for the sake of the world, there is no reason to be angry. After eating sand for a few years, maybe he can even name a county and come back. After thinking about this, he finally gritted his teeth and said: "I accept this marriage on behalf of Da Sui..."

(End of this chapter)