Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 89
The king of Tang was in his forties, and he was already in his prime. Although he was a vassal, he had a peaceful temperament, unlike ordinary clans who were arrogant and arrogant, but gentle and gentle, humble and approachable.

The people of Yangzhou were crowded in the North City, and there were no noble clans in the city who came to visit. Wang Yan was naturally impressed by the Tang King who was able to appear here and cared about the people.

At this time, he came to the porridge shed and sincerely bowed to the king of Tang to thank the vassal for his love for the people.

"Your Majesty defended Yangzhou, defeated the northern captives, brought the people to the south, and became famous in China. This king is like thunder!" Tang Wang came out of the porridge shed, followed him up, gently dragged Wang Yan's hand, looked closely at it, and then praised : "What a pillar! It is really a great blessing for the king to see Lord Hou today."

Tang Wang's words make people feel like a spring breeze. Wang Yan's hands are held by him, and he feels his sincerity, and his praise does not make people feel that it is just a polite compliment, but admiration from the heart.

Wang Yan felt that the vassal king in front of him was different, so he hurriedly replied modestly: "Your Highness is absurd, I just did my due duty!"

"You don't have to be too modest, my king's words come from the heart!" But the king of Tang said seriously: "Today the Ming Dynasty is in a precarious state, and the Lord Hou has the ability to save the time. He is a stone pillar of the Ming Dynasty to protect the people from being slaughtered and bullied by the Hulu. As a descendant of Taizu, I am about to thank Lord Hou for his kindness on behalf of the common people."

"It's the court's fault that these people, with a bright heart, went south with Lord Hou to the land of Yuhang, but they didn't have enough to eat!" Tang Wang shifted his gaze to the people who lined up to receive the court food, and sighed: "Master Hou With a pure heart, I want to find a way out for the people. Now this king has limited ability, so I can only donate some milu to do my best for the court. I can’t change the status quo of the people, what a shame!"

"Your Highness has such a heart, and the people are already grateful!" Wang Yan said a little moved after hearing this.

The court was in a difficult situation, the salary for the vassal king was almost cut off, and the Tang king had just been reinstated as a vassal, and the feudal Nanyang had already fallen into the enemy's hands, and he had no source of income, but he was willing to use Milu to help the people, which seemed very commendable.

At present, Wang Yan's image of Tang Wang couldn't help but be more profound. Compared with many clans, he felt that he was too different. At least no one in the clan paid attention to the people, even if he just made a gesture!

For a while, Wang Yan and Tang Wang couldn't help talking happily, but at this moment, a group of cavalry suddenly passed through the city gate, causing a commotion and interrupting their conversation.

Wang Yan saw that it was Dai Zhifan of Qianhu under his command, and his face suddenly darkened, and he immediately asked the guards to stop his group.

Dai Zhifan was blocked, and was about to reprimand him, but saw that the person in front of him was Wang Yan's guard, immediately got off his horse, and followed the guard to Wang Yan's side.

"Your Majesty! The Beilu Battalion has retreated!" Before Wang Yan could open his mouth to ask Dai Zhifan why he rode his horse and frightened the people, Dai Zhifan blurted out.

After Nanjing fell and the emperor was captured, with Lu Fan in Hangzhou to oversee the country, Hangzhou has become the core of Jiangnan's resistance to the Qing Dynasty. Doduo wants to pacify Jiangnan, so he should gather a large army to attack Hangzhou. How could he suddenly retreat.

Wang Yan couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words, he had no choice but to put aside the matter of Dai Zhifan riding his horse, and immediately asked, "All retreat? Can you investigate clearly?"

"Yes! All retreated!" Dai Zhifan replied: "The last general was ordered by the Marquis to monitor the northern captives outside the city. He found that the entire army of the northern captives had pulled out their camp and returned to the north this morning. The last general left sentries to continue monitoring and came back in person. report!"

After hearing Dai Zhifan's words, Wang Yan believed it completely, and couldn't help but his face changed, and said to Tang Wang who was beside him: "The northern captives suddenly retreated, and I don't know what their intentions are. I want to report to the prison immediately, so I bid farewell to Your Highness."

"National affairs are the most important thing, as it should be!" Tang Wang nodded slightly and said: "Your Majesty, please do what you want!"

At that moment, Wang Yan took Dai Zhifan and hurried all the way to Prince Lu's Mansion.A group of people came to the gate of the mansion, and waited for the guards to go in to report. After a while, Gao Qiqian, the eunuch of the Sili Supervisor, personally welcomed Wang Yan into the palace.

Wang Yan was brought into the palace, but he saw Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng, Zhang Bingzhen and other dozens of ministers were there, so he realized that he couldn't find the two of them, so it turned out that he had come to Prince Lu's mansion.

"I pay homage to Jian Guo!" Wang Yan saluted Lu Fan.

"The Qing family doesn't need to be too polite!" Lu Fan slightly raised his hand and said, "I was about to send someone to invite the Qing family to meet, but I didn't expect the Qing family to come. I don't know why the Qing family came here?"

"Report to Jian Guo!" Wang Yandao: "I ordered Dai Zhifan, a thousand households under my command, to lead sentry horses to monitor the barracks outside the city. I just got a report from him saying that the whole army of the northern captives had left the camp and went north, so I came here to report to Jian Guo."

"What?" Lu Fan heard the words, and immediately said happily: "The northern soldiers really retreated!"

"Jianguo, Duoduo abided by his promise and withdrew his troops to the north. Our court should also immediately cede the four counties, finalize the borders, and complete the peace talks to avoid any changes." Ma Shiying suddenly came out and said.

Hearing what the two said, Wang Yan couldn't help but change his face, he didn't even know about the cession of the four counties and the peace talks.

"Ma Fu is old enough to seek the country, and the peace talks, I will hand over to Ma Fu to handle the matter. It must be finalized quickly, in exchange for the peace of the south of the Yangtze River." Lu Fan nodded.

At this time, Wang Yan realized that Ma Shiying and others had secretly made peace with Duoduo behind his back, and he couldn't help being furious.

At the moment Ma Shiying was about to take the decree, Wang Yan suddenly pointed at him and scolded him: "Ma Fu wants to betray the country? All you want to do is to offer the captives with land, and you want to live in peace, but the northern captives have credibility, and Ma Fu wants to let the people die where!"

Ma Shiying, a senior scholar of Shoufu University, was suddenly scolded by Wang Yan, and his face turned red.

At this time, Wang Yan wept and bowed to the ground again, saying that Lu Fan said: "Jianguo must not seek cooperation with the northern captives and put the people in the dust. Now the people are waiting for Wang Shi. The right concubine Yang Tinglin and others have recruited rebels from all over the country, which shows that the people's hearts are available, and the supervisor sees that there are few ministers and soldiers, so he thinks that Zhejiang Province cannot be defended!"

Seeing Wang Yan's objection, Lu Fan didn't know what to do for a while.

At this time Ruan Dacheng suddenly came out and said to Wang Yandao: "Since Zhongyonghou knows that there are few soldiers in Hangzhou, why did he take the risk of the imperial court to fight a decisive battle with the northern captives? If the peace talks are concluded now, our court will be able to take a breather. What's wrong?"

"It is true that there are few soldiers in Hangzhou, but now it is July, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. The northern captives came from outside the northern pass, and they must not be able to adapt to the climate in the south of the Yangtze River. This is my time, and the river network in the south of the Yangtze River is criss-crossing. , as long as Jian Guo takes up the banner of resisting captives, then the anti-captive forces in the south can form a core, this heart is in me, with these three points, how can we not fight?" Wang Yan glared and retorted angrily.

"Marquis Zhongyong's words are inappropriate!" Zhang Bingzhen, the governor of Zhejiang, came out and said, "Among the northern soldiers, there are more than [-] soldiers from our dynasty, many of whom are proficient in water warfare. I am used to fighting, but I can't protect the entire Zhejiang Province. Going to war on my own is definitely not a blessing for the country! The ministers negotiated a peace, and strived for time to regroup."

"Even if you can't hold Hangzhou for a while, Jian Guo can follow the example of Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty. Throughout history, you adults want peace, have you ever heard of people who have been defeated repeatedly and enjoyed peace? Besides, the Northern Prisoners have no credibility at all, and they will inevitably repeat themselves. Courage is also needed in a war. If you go all out, then you will weaken, and then you will be exhausted. If you talk about peace now, the people will be discouraged. If the northern captives come back, how can you fight again?" Wang Yan continued to object without being moved.

At this time, he knew that the officials in the hall were all members of Ma Ruan's party. He faced the more than ten lords and ministers who had been prepared alone. .

"Even if Marquis Zhongyong wants to fight, he still needs the court to have money and food to fight. Now there are no soldiers, no food, no equipment, so what to fight with. I think that if you fight, you will die, and if you make peace, you can make a comeback!" Ma Shiying recovered and said calmly.

"Ma Fu's words are justified!" Ruan Dacheng agreed, and then asked: "Can the soldiers of the loyal and brave Marquis return to Nanjing?"

The party struggles in the Ming Dynasty were fierce, and all the courtiers were experienced fighters. Faced with Ruan Dacheng's questioning, Wang Yan could no longer answer. Nearly [-] Duoduo troops gathered in Nanjing. How to go north to Fuheshan?
"Marquis Zhongyong can neither restore Nanjing nor preserve Zhejiang Province. Why do you want to block the peace talks? Could it be that he wants to fight for power and follow the example of those four towns, so as a general, he can't control the situation?" Ruan Dacheng pressed on step by step.

Hearing his words, Wang Yan suddenly became depressed.

(Thanks to bboy Lingyu for the reward.)
(End of this chapter)