The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 556 Peace Negotiation Failed
When Zhu Xiu arrived at the Zhou army's imperial camp in Haozhou, the Southern Tang peace negotiation group had already arrived before him. After a day of discussions with the Zhou emperors and ministers, the two sides broke up unhappy.

After entering the imperial camp, Shi Shouxin, the governor of the inner palace, came to greet him.

"Your Majesty knows that you have arrived today, and has ordered me to send someone to keep an eye on you at all times, and to meet with Your Majesty as soon as you arrive."

Shi Shouxin smiled and took the reins from Zhu Xiu's hand, and patted Red Boy's neck. The horse's lips were a little foamy and it was snorting thickly. It was obviously exhausted from galloping all the way.

He summoned a royal guard and took the horse down to take care of it.

He also asked Shi Shouxin to send someone to take Shi Xiangwen down to rest, while Zhu Xiu followed Shi Shouxin towards the imperial tent of the camp.

"How is the war in Haozhou?" Zhu Xiu said.

"Two days ago, Zhang Dianshuai had already captured Haozhou City, but the remaining troops of the Tang Army retreated to Jingshan Weir, 150 miles west of Haozhou City.

In order to prevent the Tang army from digging weirs and releasing floodwaters, Zhang Dianshuai led his troops to pursue them all the time.It is unknown what the current situation is, and the military report will not be delivered until later.

However, the Shouchun section of the Huaihe River is calm for the time being, and the weir mouth of Jingshan should be safe for the time being, otherwise the water in the Huaihe River section will definitely surge and flood the foot of Bagong Mountain. "

Zhu Xiu was also surprised that the resistance of the Tang army in Haozhou was more intense than he expected.

Just as he was talking, a group of people wearing official robes from the Southern Dynasty were stopped outside the imperial tent. They were all dignitaries in purple and brocade. They must have been the peace negotiation delegation from Jiangning.

Zhu Xiu glanced around and saw an old acquaintance among them.

"Brother Deming!" Zhu Xiu shouted and stepped forward quickly.

A thin man wearing a vermilion official robe with a jade belt tied around his waist and a silver fish bag turned his head and looked around. He was stunned when he saw Zhu Xiu, as if he couldn't believe it: "Zhu Xiu? Zhu Wencai?"

"Haha~ It's my little brother!" Zhu Xiu cupped his hands and stepped forward to greet him.

The Southern Tang envoys had obviously heard of Zhu Xiu's name, and they all turned to look at him. The peace negotiation group consisting of more than a dozen people looked at Zhu Xiu, pointing and whispering.

"Brother Deming has been to our court twice, and today we finally meet him. It's not easy!" Zhu Xiu said with a smile.

Li Deming also smiled and looked at him with complicated eyes.

We haven't seen him for several years. Li Deming is already past his thirties. He has grown a long beard, fine wrinkles appear at the corners of his eyes, and his handsome and elegant face has aged much as if it has been weathered for a long time.

"Several years have passed by in a blink of an eye, and Wencai is still so elegant! But Li is much older. Compared with Wencai, he is like two generations." Li Deming sighed with emotion.

"Hey~ Brother Deming is serious! In the past few years since you have been an official, Huainan has spread a good reputation. It is said that you are a good official who asks for orders for the people. Wherever you go, your rule will be clear and the people will live and work in peace and contentment. Even when I am here, Suzhou has also heard merchants from both places praise you greatly!" Zhu Xiu said with a smile.

Li Deming smiled bitterly and shook his head: "His literary talent is overrated."

After reminiscing, Zhu Xiu looked behind Li Deming: "Brother Deming, won't you introduce these guys?"

Li Deming hurriedly turned sideways, cupped his hands to an old man with an extraordinary bearing, and said, "This is my chancellor, Gongsun Sheng!"

Zhu Xiuwei bowed and said: "Old Xianggong Sun's name is like thunder. The younger generation has heard of it for a long time. I am lucky to see you today!"

Sun Sheng smiled slightly, his eyes flashed with brilliance, and he cupped his hands and said: "The name of Vice Admiral Zhu has also shocked the south of the Yangtze River. When I see him today, he is indeed a dragon and a phoenix among people!"

"Haha~ Being praised by Mr. Sun, in the eyes of the younger generation, is more gratifying than winning three Chuzhou cities in a row!"

As soon as these words came out, Sun Sheng's white brows frowned, and he was quickly relieved. The smile on his face did not change, but there was a strange color in the depths of his eyes.

Li Deming shook his head and sighed bitterly.

The expressions of other Southern Tang officials changed drastically, and they all stared at him angrily, but they could not hide the fear hidden deep within them.

Zhu Xiu saluted and said: "Old Mr. Sun, Brother Deming, please forgive me for being with me. We can talk about old times later!"

Zhu Xiu smiled, glanced past the group of southern officials, and stepped into the imperial tent without concealing his contempt.

Shi Shouxin held the knife in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, I have something important to discuss with His Majesty. Please go back to your tent and rest first."

With a wave of Shi Shouxin's hand, hundreds of strong inner palace guards surrounded the imperial tent, each of them looked murderous, and the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty were terrified.

Li Deming and Sun Sheng looked at each other. They couldn't see the Emperor of Zhou, so they could only go back to the camp and wait.

"That person just now is Zhu Xiu. He is so young! I didn't expect that two great generals, Huangfu Hui and Yao Feng, would fall into the hands of such a young man. Alas~"

"Hmph!~ This guy is too arrogant!"

"Alas~ To sweep through Chuzhou with [-] troops and capture and kill two major generals, he has the qualifications to be arrogant! You can't find anyone else with this kind of ability in Jiangnan!"

"God is really unfair to us in the Tang Dynasty. Why do all these young talents go to the Northern Dynasty?"

"Haha, I heard that Zhu Xiu went south to look for his relatives. He had hoped to stay and serve our court, but it's a pity that His Highness the Crown Prince... I won't tell you anymore!"

Along the way, Southern Tang officials talked a lot.

Li Deming walked in front, silent.

Sun Sheng said in a low voice: "If Zhu Xiu can help broker the peace negotiation, it might be possible! You might as well find an opportunity to contact him in private and get a feel for what's going on."

Li Deming hesitated and said: "Everyone is the master, Zhu Xiu may not be easily persuaded. Besides, His Majesty, Song Qiqiu and others are not sincere in this peace negotiation, they are just delaying time"

Sun Sheng sighed: "Anyway, since you and I are shouldering the heavy responsibility, we must do our best to give it a try if there is a glimmer of hope!"

Li Deming nodded silently, feeling a little sad in his heart.

The Zhou army's offensive in Huainan was rapid and violent, even defeating several states. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was very difficult for the Tang army to counterattack.

As the defeated party and the one who took the initiative to negotiate peace, they could only humble themselves and pray to the kings and ministers of Zhou Dynasty to stop the war with compassion.

This feeling of begging for mercy makes people feel humiliated, but they have to endure it.

~~~
"Your Majesty, Zhu Xiu, is here to see you!"

In the imperial tent, before Zhu Xiu kowtowed and saluted, Chai Rong strode forward to help him up, patted his arms vigorously, and looked up and down: "You boy, you are much stronger, not bad! Not bad! You are somewhat Confucian Handsome style!”

Chai Rong was very happy to see him.

Zhu Xiugong cupped his hands and said softly: "But I feel that Your Majesty has lost a lot of weight. No matter how heavy the state affairs are, Your Majesty must take care of his dragon body!"

Chai Rong said with a smile: "I also find it strange. Over the past year or so, I have had three stable meals and a large appetite. Apart from having difficulty falling asleep at night, I have no other problems. Why am I still getting thinner and thinner?"

Zhu Xiu had a sudden thought and wanted to say something, but Chai Rong took him and walked quickly into the imperial tent.

"Tang Lord Li Jing asked for peace for the second time, what do you think?"

The monarch and his ministers sat separately, Chai Rong asked next.

Zhu Xiu cheered up and said: "I feel that Li Jing is not really asking for peace, but wants to delay time. I received a report from Wu Desi that the Tang army has been mobilized in Luzhou, Hezhou and Yangzhou, so we must be on guard!" "

Chai Rong said with a smile: "You and I want to go together! Li Jing, son, is trying to delay our army's offensive with a delaying strategy to buy time for the Tang army to make arrangements. It's really hateful to bully my ignorance!"

Zhu Xiudao: "However, I learned that there are many people in the Jiangning court who advocate peace talks. They jointly wrote to Li Jing, asking the court to cede the six states of Huainan, sincerely make peace with our court, and both sides stop fighting! Sun Sheng and Li Deming are among them. "

Chai Rong sneered and said: "These six states are actually under the control of our army. It is not up to the Tang Dynasty court to decide whether to cede them or not! People in Jiangnan underestimate me too much. They want me to retreat after taking six states? Do you want to make peace? , just offer the fourteen states of Huainan, otherwise it will never be possible!" Zhu Xiudao: "When I left Chuzhou, I ordered Han Lingkun to lead the cavalry to Yangzhou. The Tang army was slow to move, and maybe they could capture Yangzhou before the Tang army reinforced it! "

Chai Rong said happily: "If this is true, you and Han Lingkun should be credited with a great contribution!"

After discussing the war in Huainan, Chai Rong sighed and said: "The queen is seriously ill. I believe you already know. I plan to return to Kaifeng early next month. I wanted you to accompany me back to Beijing, but the Jiangning court repeatedly swayed between war and peace. I I am worried that the Zhou army on the eastern front will be uncontrolled and the Tang army will find an opportunity to counterattack, which will affect the overall war situation, so I can only let you stay."

Zhu Xiu nodded silently and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that with your ministers in charge, the Tang army will not have any chance to counterattack!"

Chai Rong forced a smile: "With Li Chongjin in Shouzhou, and you in Yangzhou in Chuzhou, I can return to Kaifeng with peace of mind. I will make you the Duke of Pengcheng County, and other rewards will be raised one by one when I return to Kaifeng."

Zhu Xiu hurriedly bowed and saluted: "I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

Zhu Xiu took out a silk book from his arms, which was a secret edict stamped with a precious seal written by Chai Rong himself.

"This is the secret edict that your Majesty personally handed over to me when I went south to Suzhou. I have returned it now!"

Chai Rong took it and looked at it for a few times before stuffing it back into his hand: "You can keep it for now. When the war in Huainan is over, it won't be too late to return it to me when you return to Beijing."

Zhu Xiu hesitated, carefully folded the secret edict and put it in his arms.

He knew what Chai Rong meant. The war in Huainan was currently undecided. If there was any big trouble, this secret edict might still be useful.

With this edict in hand, once it is made public, he can legitimately promote all military and political power in Huainan and Huaibei, and can be called the uncrowned king of the Jianghuai land.

Its weight is evident.

Chai Rong smiled again and said: "Tomorrow I will summon the Southern Tang Dynasty envoy. Then you will talk to them as our representative. The longer the delay, the better. Li Jing is being clever, and I will not be lenient. All armies and horses will follow the plan. March on, talk and fight at the same time.”

Zhu Xiu said hurriedly: "In the Southern Tang Dynasty mission, Privy Councilor Li Deming is of great use. He was the top scholar in the imperial examination in the second year of Emperor Qianyou's reign. He was also a disciple of Han Xizai, a famous scholar from Jiangnan. I had a good relationship with him when I was in Jiangning."

"What, you want to persuade this person to surrender?" Chai Rong thought for a while, and he did have a good impression of Li Deming. He was a man of character and talent.

Zhu Xiudao: "I have sent Wude Division's Chazi who is hiding in Jiangning to make early arrangements. Maybe there is hope of recruiting Li Deming to surrender!"

Chai Rong nodded and didn't ask too much. He just said: "Since you are confident, go ahead and do it. If you can recruit Li Deming to surrender, I will definitely put him to great use!"
By the way, Sun Sheng is not bad either. He is a bit older. If you can recruit them all, I will consider it a great achievement for you! "

Zhu Xiu smiled bitterly and said: "Sun Sheng is a veteran of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He followed Li Ming in his early years and has deep roots in Jiangnan. I'm afraid he will not surrender easily."

Chai Rong didn't take it seriously: "It's best if you can surrender. If you can't, there's no need to force it. But I think this old man has strong bones. Regardless of whether he surrenders or not, I will not let him go back, so I will let him stay in the army. See with your own eyes how the land south of the Yangtze River was conquered by our army step by step!"

Zhu Xiu opened her mouth, only to see Chai Rong's eyes filled with sternness and a cold and contemptuous smile on his lips, and he swallowed back the words that came to his lips.

It seems that Sun Sheng still cannot escape the fate of being imprisoned.

It seems that when he met Chai Rong before, he had an arrogant attitude and rude words, which angered the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty.

Zhu Xiu smiled bitterly. Sun Sheng was also one of the leaders of the Jiangnan gentry class. If possible, he would like to persuade Chai Rong to put him back so that the Jiangnan scholars could feel the kindness of the Emperor Zhou.

Unfortunately, in Chai Rong's view, perhaps he wanted to make the Jiangnan scholars more afraid.

In the evening, Chai Rong left Zhu Xiu to have dinner with him in the imperial tent. It was not until night that Zhu Xiu left the imperial tent and returned to his own camp.

Under the night, from a distance, Zhu Xiu saw a person standing outside the camp. When he got closer, he saw that it was Li Deming.

"Haha, I've kept Brother Deming waiting for a long time. Please come in and have a rest."

Li Deming nodded, "Thank you."

After entering the big tent, Shi Xiangwen had already fallen asleep on the couch, snoring loudly.

Zhu Xiu turned on the lights, and brought two horses to invite him to sit down.

"Wen Cai had already guessed that someone would come to visit?" Li Deming seemed to be worried and smiled reluctantly.

Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "Brother Deming seemed to be hesitant to speak during the day, how could I not guess?"

"Alas~" Li Deming shook his head with a wry smile, cupped his hands and said solemnly: "For the matter of peace negotiation, please Wencai to deal with His Majesty Zhou a lot!"

Zhu Xiu pondered for a moment and said: "To be honest with Brother Deming, your Majesty made it clear when he summoned me that he would never stop his troops unless he gave up the fourteen states of Huainan!"

Li Deming was so shocked that he couldn't speak. He shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Old Xianggong Sun, Mr. Xu and I advocated ceding the land of the six states in exchange for the two countries to stop fighting and make peace. This has caused an uproar in Jiangning. His Majesty the Great Zhou Dynasty demanded fourteen State, it’s impossible!”

Zhu Xiu shook his head and said: "It seems that peace negotiation is not feasible for the time being!"

Li Deming looked at Zhu Xiu, and suddenly stood up and bowed down: "I implore Wen Cai to have mercy on the people of Huainan, and don't let innocent people be implicated in the flames of war!"

Zhu Xiu had been on guard against this move for a long time, and quickly grabbed his arm with quick eyesight, preventing him from falling to his knees.

"Brother Deming, you must not do this! No one can change what our Lord has decided! If you insist on saying this, it will make things difficult for my little brother!"

Li Deming's eyes were red and he said with grief and anger: "Wen Cai is from Haozhou and is also a descendant of Huainan. Do you have to watch your elders being devastated by the war?"

Zhu Xiu comforted: "So our court just wants to end the war as soon as possible and let the fourteen states of Huainan return to the rule of the orthodox court!"

"You!~" Li Deming's eyes widened, angry and helpless.

Zhu Xiu spread her hands, looking helpless.

"Is there really no room for change in the peace negotiation?" Li Deming asked with a cold face.

Zhu Xiu sighed: "My lord will not retreat until we capture the fourteen prefectures of Huainan."

Li Deming took a deep breath and looked at Zhu Xiu deeply with disappointment: "In that case, you and I don't have to be friends anymore. We should each be his own master and act according to his own abilities!"

After that, Li Deming walked away.

Zhu Xiu chased him out of the tent and shouted: "Brother Deming, our Lord appreciates your talent. If you fail in Jiangning, you can come to Kaifeng! Wouldn't it be great for you and me to work together with the Lord Ming and help the world?"

Li Deming ignored him, walked away in a hurry, and disappeared into the night.

Zhu Xiu shook his head and sighed softly: "Having said that, the choice depends on your destiny."

The peace talks the next day naturally ended without any problems.

A few days later, news came from along the Yangtze River that Li Jing ordered Qi King Li Jingda to be the commander and lead his troops to Yangzhou.

He ordered General Chai Kehong of the Forbidden Army to lead an army to attack Chuzhou.

Zhu Yuan, the governor of Shuzhou, was ordered to reinforce Luzhou and Hezhou.

Lin Renzhao, the military envoy of Jingjiang Army, was ordered to lead waterway troops and horses to reinforce Shouzhou.

While the Southern Tang Dynasty sent envoys to sue for peace, it also urgently mobilized troops and horses for a full-scale counterattack.

Chai Rong was furious when he received the report. On the grounds of repeated fraud by the Jiangning court, he detained Sun Sheng and expelled Li Deming. The second peace negotiation between Zhou and Tang Dynasties completely failed.

(End of this chapter)