Chapter 57 Provisions, Twenty-first!
Chapter 57
Jiang You's pupils contracted, and he froze on the spot. His eyes moved with difficulty from Ye Xiren to the wooden box on the table, where blood was already flowing out, which was very glaring.
He then looked at Yan Danqing, who was clad in armor, exuding a chilling aura, his blade stained with blood, and his eyes resolute.
The small study fell into complete silence.
The silence was broken only when a drop of blood fell to the ground with a soft sound. Jiang You snapped out of his daze, jumped to his feet, and flew into a rage:
"Are you all crazy?!"
His chest heaved violently, his nostrils flared, and he pointed a finger at the two men, his whole body trembling. He managed to squeeze out a trembling voice through gritted teeth:
"Do you know what you're doing? He wanted peace talks, and you killed him? You...you destroyed the Great Liang! You deserve to die!"
Chi Zhanlan Ce is dead!
What should he do? What should Da Liang do?!
Jiang You paced anxiously in the room, completely consumed by rage. He wanted nothing more than to draw his sword and chop the person in front of him. He frantically tried to calm himself down and think of a solution.
But the box next to him contained ignited gunpowder, about to explode. He was already sitting on the explosives, like an ant on a hot pan. How could he possibly stay calm?
"You and His Majesty have completely trusted an enemy who has deceived us time and again, and you even want to negotiate with him?"
Ye Xiren shook her head and asked him in return:
"If we hadn't found evidence against Chi Zhanlan, and the court had been allowed to kill General Yan, whose head had already been sent to the Huai'an Canal, what would the situation be now? Who exactly destroyed the Great Liang?"
You, Jiang You, and His Majesty Liang Yue, are the ones who destroyed the Great Liang!
What she said was not mere conjecture, but a fact that almost happened yesterday. Jiang You paused, his anger as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, and slumped into a chair.
The gunpowder has been ignited; there's no turning back...
He looked up at the two men, his hair disheveled from walking, his eyelids drooping, his eyes deep in the candlelight, his voice hoarse: "I was wrong, but do you think you're right?"
Ye Xiren and Yan Danqing's expressions froze.
Is he finally going to speak?
Jiang You bent down with difficulty, took out a box from the cabinet under the table, opened it with trembling hands, and took out secret letters. The first ones were the six secret letters that Yan Danqing had intercepted.
"Yan Danqing, are you holding a grudge against me for intercepting the secret letter?" Jiang You threw the six secret letters on the table. He had never thrown any of them away. One day, these things in the box would see the light of day.
With these secret letters and a confession, Yan Danqing will have a clean name recorded in history, regardless of whether he lives or dies. As for his sins, he can atone for them when he goes to hell.
"Aren't you investigating what I and the Emperor have been hiding?"
Yan Danqing has a 50% chance of winning a head-on confrontation with Chi Zhanlan Ce, but where is the 50% chance?
"Emperor Xianzong has already emptied the Liang Dynasty. With years of war and the relocation from the northern capital to the southern capital, what do you think the national treasury has left? I put Yu Zhize in charge of the Ministry of Revenue because I didn't want people to know that the national treasury couldn't even pay salaries!"
Jiang You gripped the box tightly, his fist clenched, his eyes fixed on Yan Danqing. "The last batch of grain I'm giving you is all the supplies that His Majesty and I could gather!"
"At His Majesty's age, he neither marries nor takes concubines, and his meals consist of only one dish and one soup. The supplies that were brought from the Northern Capital to the Southern Capital were secretly exchanged for grain and sent to the Huai'an Canal. Why do you think the Southern Capital's palace is so simple? It's all been used for fighting!"
Even so, raising only half is not enough.
Jiang You both cried and laughed, overwhelmed with grief and indignation:
"Do you know where the other half of the grain came from? I, a prime minister with immense power, actually had to extort grain merchants to scrape together the other half for the Liang army!"
Emperor Xianzong left behind a huge mess. The Liang Dynasty was severely depleted, and its remaining treasures were looted by the Northern Yan. Even if they searched for wealthy gentry, corrupt officials, and bureaucrats, how much of their wealth could they possibly have left after being chased all the way from north to south?
Is it enough to support the Liang army's continuous battles abroad? Or is it enough to settle the starving refugees scattered everywhere?
Since Yan Danqing emerged last year, while he was fighting on the front lines, he and Liang Yue stayed up day and night in the rear, meticulously calculating in the ledger where they could raise more money and where they could obtain supplies...
Those nights weren't actually that hard to get through. As long as we could win, that was all that mattered. As long as we could win, there was hope. The soldiers on the front lines were risking their lives to defend the country, so how could we let them worry about supplies and military expenses?
They'll figure something out!
But what was the result?
Jiang You threw down another secret letter heavily, his voice strained: "There's been a problem with that batch of grain. The first secret letter you sent back arrived in my hands at the same time as the peace treaty from Northern Yan sent by Chi Zhanlan Ce. How am I supposed to choose?"
He then sent another letter, saying, "I pinned my hopes on the combined efforts of Xuzhou and Jiaozhou to turn the tide. Then, a secret letter arrived from Xuzhou, demanding that the court allocate grain for disaster relief. Otherwise, a rebellion would surely break out. What choice do you want me to make?"
Another secret letter was pulled out and thrown out heavily. "When your second secret letter arrived, I received a letter from Jiaozhou. The troops in Jiaozhou are in turmoil and have already rebelled!"
Jiang You patted his chest, tears streaming down his face:
"How can you expect me to choose?! Yan Danqing, I have wronged you, but I have not wronged the Great Liang. In the current situation of the Great Liang, even with the talent of Fan Li, where can we conjure up food supplies and how can we save the people of this world!"
Therefore, he chose peace talks.
The Emperor had always valued Yan Danqing and held him in high regard. So Yan Danqing withheld Yan Danqing's secret letter and sent the peace treaty, along with secret letters from Jiaozhou and Xuzhou, to the Emperor, thus formally initiating peace talks.
"A military uprising in Jiaozhou?" Yan Danqing was shocked and quickly picked up the secret letter from Jiaozhou to read it.
"Yes, Xuzhou is suffering from a severe drought, Jiaozhou has seen a mutiny, and the north is full of refugees. Most of the officials in the court are cowards who are afraid of death and opportunists. Heaven wants to destroy our Great Liang. His Majesty and I want to save it. What else can we do but negotiate?"
Jiang You looked at Yan Danqing and questioned:
"You want to fight, you are a loyal subject, and you believe you have a chance of winning. Do you think the Emperor and I don't know that? If we didn't trust you, if we were afraid of death, why did we support your war at all costs last year?"
“But the Great Liang has no chance of winning. His Majesty and I must do everything in our power to block the news and dare not let a single word leak out. Some people in the court have already sided with the Northern Yan. Once Chi Zhan Lan Ce finds out about this, and the Northern Yan finds out, even if you are exceptionally talented, they will not fight you and will avoid battle. How can you win?!”
Can this information be leaked?!
If Northern Yan knew that Great Liang was in such a state of chaos, they would not fight Great Liang on the front lines at all. And without supplies, how could Yan Danqing possibly win?
He possesses the talents of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, but Chi Zhanlan Ce is no fool or incompetent fool either. As long as he can stall for time and avoid battle, the Great Liang will collapse from within.
That peace talks are their last chance for survival, how could they not seize it?
They did their best to conceal the truth, block the news, and "stabilize" grain prices in the capital, all in order to cover up the hopeless situation that had befallen the Great Liang, stabilize the officials in the court, and deal with the Northern Yan delegation.
But how long can this be kept secret? How can they not be anxious? How can they not want to finalize peace talks as soon as possible? They need to deal with external threats and pacify internal strife! The Great Liang cannot afford to delay; the time they are fighting for is a battle against fate!
Heaven is determined to destroy the Great Liang. He and Liang Yue are willing to bear the infamy and fight to the bitter end, determined to make one last stand.
Are we just going to let the Great Liang Dynasty perish without negotiating?!
Jiang You's heavy breathing echoed in the small study, each breath filled with despair and helplessness, like a wounded wild goose separated from its flock, its cries a mournful wail, a mixture of resentment and despair.
“There are already refugees everywhere outside. The reason why there has been no uprising is because they believe that the Great Liang and the Northern Yan will make peace and the war will soon end. If the peace talks fail and the court cannot provide food for disaster relief, those refugees will become the new disaster!”
Eight secret letters were smashed next to the bloodstained wooden box. Listening to Jiang You's roar, Yan Danqing read the secret letter from Jiaozhou word by word, his eyes surging with murderous intent.
Ye Xiren suddenly remembered what Jiang You had said in the previous loop.
Is it fate? It seems it truly is destiny; life is short...
You believe Yan Danqing because he has a 50% chance of winning against Northern Yan... But I bet that the peace talks are genuine. We both have a 50% chance of winning, so what's the difference?
[Peace talks would benefit everyone. Yan Danqing might not have a 50% chance of winning, but Chi Zhan Lan Ce is willing to give up his life. Northern Yan's sincerity in the peace talks is the only chance to save Liang.]
Previously, I only thought that the Emperor and Jiang You were stubborn and foolish, seemingly blinded by the word "peace talks." From supporting the war last year, they suddenly became single-minded in seeking peace, even to the point of killing loyal ministers and generals.
But looking at these secret letters, and thinking of the displaced people outside the city who could not be settled, and the empty treasury...
When Ye Xiren recalled what Jiang You had said, she suddenly had a different understanding. It might not be right, but they had already weighed the gains and losses and made a final struggle.
Given the current situation in Daliang, relying on Yan Danqing to win has become extremely difficult. Without supplies, what is the chance of victory? It's almost certain to be a defeat. But peace talks offer at least a 50% chance of success.
With this mindset, Jiang You and Liang Yue welcomed Chi Zhanlan Ce into Nandu, imprisoned Yan Danqing, and then spared no effort to promote peace talks, leading to the current situation.
They made what seemed to be the "most correct" decision from a strategic perspective, and then devoted themselves to dealing with the Northern Yan people while simultaneously blocking information in order to survive...
Ye Xiren picked up the secret letter from Xuzhou. The prefect's words were filled with tears, explaining the crisis in Xuzhou and requesting the court to allocate grain for disaster relief to stabilize the people's hearts. Outside the capital city of Nanjing, refugees from all directions gathered. How many such letters requesting grain were there in front of Liang Yue from various prefectures?
This land is riddled with holes; it has reached such a state!
These eight words suddenly flashed through her mind, and for a moment, a wave of despair washed over her.
Yan Danqing put down the secret letter from Jiaozhou and lowered his eyes: "Your chance of victory rests on Northern Yan's genuine desire for peace talks, but given Chi Zhanlan's previous actions, do you really think you have a chance?"
There's really no solution.
The Great Liang is now in a precarious situation that is difficult to handle, and the peace talks are just a vain attempt. Ye Xiren thought of the past twenty cycles and simply could not believe the cunning and treacherous Chi Zhan Lan Ce.
"We should at least give it a try, shouldn't we?"
Jiang You looked at him, his eyes blazing: "Besides, Chi Zhanlan Ce's peace terms don't involve killing you, and he's offered real benefits. We already have hope!"
"Was it a handwritten order from the Crown Prince regarding the withdrawal of troops?" Ye Xiren asked.
If we place our hopes on this alone, it is not true hope, and the people of Northern Yan cannot be trusted.
“Of course not!” Jiang You looked at her, his cloudy eyes burning with hope, as if he wanted to burn himself, even if he was burned to ashes, he wanted to burn out some hope. “The stupid old emperor of Yunlai has passed away, and now the crown prince has ascended the throne. The new emperor is somewhat capable and has also made good relations with Daliang.”
Ye Xiren and Yan Danqing exchanged a glance, and a thought flashed through their minds at the same time.
Jiang You confirmed their guess, word by word:
"On the third day of the third month, Chizhan Lance returned a batch of treasures to Huai'an Canal. His Majesty arranged for an urgent 800-li delivery that day. Our people went to receive the treasures and sent them directly to Yunlai!"
Return the treasure, and exchange it for hope!
-
Yunlai
The newly appointed King Yunlai leaned forward: "What did you just say?"
Jiang You's close followers standing below immediately raised their heads, their eyes gleaming:
"The Northern Yan has returned a batch of treasures from the Great Liang, all of which were stolen from the Great Liang imperial palace. They are priceless and are already on their way to Yunlai. Our Emperor said that the Great Liang does not ask for anything else, and Yunlai can exchange them for just one item."
"What?"
The attendant slowly uttered two words: "Supplies."
Daliang only asked for supplies.
King Yunlai remained silent for a moment, then his royal advisor whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, the Great Liang is at war with the Northern Yan. If we provide the Great Liang with supplies, we will offend the Northern Yan!"
Both Daliang and Northern Yan are large countries, while Yunlai is just a small country. Moreover, Northern Yan is currently dominating Daliang. If Yunlai provides them with supplies and Daliang loses, wouldn't Northern Yan turn around and cause trouble for them?
King Yunlai remained silent.
If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.
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Author's note: See you tomorrow!
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