Northern Dynasties

"Have you brought the envoy from Xiangzhou?"

After finishing the matters on his desk, Li Tai raised his head and asked.

After hearing this, the reporter who was preparing to ask the question quickly stood up and replied: "Report to your Majesty, the Xiangzhou envoys are waiting to be summoned in the front hall. However, one of them is the brother of Han Langzhong who was separated due to the war. Unexpectedly, we meet again today. During this time, both brothers are experiencing sorrow and joy..."

"Is there still such a thing?"

After Li Tai heard this, he couldn't help but feel curious, so he asked some questions carefully.

"Then let's not disturb their family reunion for the time being. Go sue Mr. Han and ask him to say farewell to his brother. We will hold a banquet in the mansion tonight. All the civil and military officials in the city will also come to the mansion to attend the banquet and see this together. The true love of the world that is lost and found.”

Li Tai looked at the sky and then ordered again.

Regarding Wang Lin's request to surrender, he understood the situation and did not treat it as a big deal. Originally, he planned to summon the envoy while there was still some time before dark to briefly express his attitude and requirements on the matter.

But after hearing about such an incident, he changed his mind and planned to formally entertain this group of people. Of course, it's not because Wang Lin's attitude of surrender has changed, but because it makes people happy to hear their relatives reunited after a disaster.

Although Li Tai is already in a high position, he has not annihilated ordinary people's emotions. Hearing this kind of happy event in the world where relatives and friends are reunited and reunited, he feels quite emotional in his heart. Especially in the war-torn post-Three Kingdoms period, such a thing can be called a legend in the world.

Since he did not plan to summon the envoy from Xiangzhou to surrender for the time being, Li Tai continued to deal with some unimportant matters. When more than an hour passed, the sky was already dark, the lights in the main hall were lit, and government officials came to the hall to announce that the banquet had been prepared in the other hall and could start at any time.

After hearing this, Li Tai put down the pen in his hand, smiled and said to everyone in the hall: "Working with documents makes people mentally tired. If you have nothing important to do at the desk, you might as well go to see other people's homes. Happy events refresh your ears and refresh your mind.”

All the staff in the hall were also waiting for the king's words, so after hearing the words, they all stood up and laughed in response, followed Li Tai out of the door and went to the banquet hall.

At this time, many officials had arrived in the hall, sitting down at separate tables and chatting. In order to activate the personnel atmosphere, Li Tai has been giving banquets to the public during this period. Therefore, the people working in the mansion, regardless of their origins from the north or the south, have gradually become familiar with him.

When they heard that Li Taizheng was coming, everyone stood up and walked 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 as Xingtai Lang. He said with a smile: "Which of the Han Langs is your missing person?" , the dearest relatives we meet again today?"

"Your Majesty, this is my brother!"

Han Xie had already recovered from the surprise of meeting his brother again, but his face was still filled with a strong smile that could not be removed. After hearing the king's question, he hurriedly pushed his brother in front of him to speak. introduce.

"I am Han Shao, a native of Huainan who survived the chaos. Now he serves under the general of Zhennan, Wang Xiangzhou. The co-chief, Shi Peihou, went north to cross the river on Wang Xiangzhou's order and came to ask for the king's order!"

Han Shao also quickly bowed his waist and crossed his hands to salute Li Tai, and took advantage of the situation to attract Chang Shi Pei Zheng, who had been ignored.

After hearing this, Li Tai smiled slightly, nodded slightly to Pei Zheng, who also came forward to greet him, and immediately motioned for everyone to join the banquet in the hall.

After entering the hall, everyone sat down one by one, and while the wine was flowing, Li Tai asked about the Han brothers' respective experiences from separation to reunion. In addition to the disputes between princes and generals in troubled times, it is undoubtedly the personal experiences of these ordinary people that best represent the nature of troubled times.

Han Xie was the first to talk about how Hou Jing's rebellious army sacked his village. He and his brother were separated and wandered all the way to the former Jingzhou Military Mansion's sphere of influence. He was appreciated and taught by Zhao Gang, and served in the Military Mansion to achieve what he is today. Xingtailang.

Everyone couldn't help but sigh after listening to it. Although Han Xie's experience was indeed a bit tragic at the beginning, it got better and better in the follow-up. The improvement of his personal situation coincided with the development and growth of Jingzhou Military Mansion, and also made Han Xie Many people can't help but feel this. Li Tai was originally just curious about this, but after listening to Han Xie's story, he was more impressed by this young man and took it to heart.

Han Shao was not as lucky as his brothers. His experience was more tortuous and cruel, and at the same time more attractive. When he talked about how he was dragged outside Jiankang City in the south of the Yangtze River by Hou Jing's rebellious army, the whole hall was already silent. Everyone stopped their speech and movements and listened quietly to Han Shao's story.

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

When he heard that this strong man killed a battalion of rebels by himself in order to avenge his relatives who were bloodbathed, Li Tai couldn't help but be moved and took the lead in applauding. Although he also had heroic deeds of taking the heads of enemy generals in the chaos, he did not dare to do this kind of behavior without hesitation despite knowing that he was almost certain to die. He couldn't 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 his story, without waiting for other people at the banquet to express their emotions, he stood up first, bowed to Li Tai and said, "Your Majesty's virtue has been passed down by Jiang Huai, and 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. There are tens of thousands of people in Changsha who live by the king's gift..."

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 he would not be able to match his strength. If no remediation was done, the old rule of Jiangling might not survive. Loyalty to the emperor was a plan that had to be carried out.

As expected, the present matter should be based on the worries of the past, the old plans, the loyalty to the country 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 had 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 Dynasty, and he will never accept them all 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 think of Wang Lin? She doesn't look like a person who could be cultivated by the soil of the Southern Dynasties. She looks more like a wolf cub that 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.

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 has temporarily become a resurgence, but after all, it is difficult to be the master of the industry. Does Marquis Pei 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. , but it doesn’t work, so I can only send you, what’s the point!”