Chapter 2734 Don’t Leave
Bai Shan did not hide his thoughts. After the guests arrived, he treated everyone to food and drinks, while talking about life in Chang'an and the emperor's preferential treatment of surrendered officials.
Nowadays, surrendered generals, ministers, and even princes and nobles are treated very well. As long as you have ability, even if you were a prince of another country, you can be granted a title of nobility or become a prime minister based on your own ability, or even lead troops to garrison a region.
There are precedents for this.
As long as they stopped rebelling, even if they made mistakes, the emperor would treat them better than ordinary subjects.
There is precedent for this as well.
Goguryeo was just a vassal state of the Jin Dynasty. The land it occupied was only the size of two or three states, and even one of the three prefectures was much larger than it. So what future do you have here?
Not to mention that you appoint people to official positions based entirely on family background and power. If the head of the family commits a crime in this matter, his descendants will not have the opportunity to enter the power class for several generations.
Unlike the Jin Dynasty, unless the crime is extremely serious, it will not bring disaster to the imperial examinations for future generations.
In addition to the imperial examination, there is also the recommendation system, and you can even buy an official position with money. There are various ways. As long as you have talent, money, or power, you can always find a way to succeed.
Does any of your vassal states have these?
And why do people want power and status?
Isn't it for a life of wealth and glory?
But how big was Goguryeo? And it was located in a bitter cold land, so how could it compare to the vastness and wealth of the entire Jin Dynasty? After surrendering, the sky was wide and the sea was vast, and you could travel freely, much more easily than the vassal subjects entering and leaving the Jin Dynasty.
Not to mention, the surrendered generals and their families were naturally meritorious, so it would not be difficult for them to seek an official position when the time comes.
Although everyone knew that Bai Shan had bad intentions and said these words just to persuade Jin to surrender, everyone still couldn't help but listen to him.
This is why Nusa didn't want them to have contact.
Everyone has selfish desires. Who says that persuading surrender must be done in secret?
Bai Shan came here openly, so wouldn't the people who heard it take it to heart?
Of course not. No matter how righteously they argued with Bai Shan and how serious their faces were, Bai Shan could still see the hesitation and entanglement in their hearts.
He didn't need them to reply immediately, so he just smiled and didn't force them. He turned around and asked someone to prepare a different gift for them.
Bai Shan personally escorted everyone to the door and gave each person a box. He smiled and said, "This is a local gift I brought from Chang'an. It's not something special. You can take it back and enjoy it."
He smiled and said, "I am truly thinking of you all, and I sincerely want to persuade the Second Prince to surrender. I hope you can persuade him on my behalf when you see him."
No one expected him to say such words to their faces, especially in front of the guard at the door, and they were speechless for a moment.
Bai Shan did not stop. He said, "Our ancestors said, 'He who understands the times is a hero.' The general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unification. The Liaodong area has been separated from the Central Plains for a long time. Why don't you, Second Prince, follow the trend of the times?"
He laughed and said, "With the Second Prince's ability, who knows if he won't become the next General Ashina and go down in history?"
Everyone fell silent again, accepted the gifts and said goodbye.
They did not go to see Prince Gao Er immediately, but first opened the box in the carriage. When they saw the pearls/gems/spices inside, they only glanced at them and then looked away, fixing their eyes on the letter in the box.
Take it out and open it immediately.
Some people's expressions remained unchanged. After all, he still said the words of persuasion to surrender, but he made a more direct promise. As long as they surrendered, they would be promised official positions. If they could persuade the second prince to surrender, the promised official position would only be greater.
Yuan Yi and the others remained expressionless, but were pondering whether they should go home directly or turn around to meet the second prince.
However, Mr. Meng and others who followed along the way changed their expressions because their names were on the heading of the letter. Not only that, the words of persuasion and promises in each letter were different.
Young Master Meng was also astonished. "Father, we came here on a whim, and he hadn't left beforehand. How could he have written this letter of surrender so quickly? Could there be a think tank among their envoys?"
Master Meng rubbed the words with his fingers, raised his hand and sniffed them, then shook his head. "This wasn't just written, not even today. I'm afraid he'd already guessed we'd be coming."
"That……"
Master Meng lowered his eyes and thought for a while. After a while, he said, "We are running low on food. We will hold off on the food we promised to the Second Prince. If you ask, just say we are still collecting it. There is really no more in the warehouse."
Master Meng was startled and asked in a low voice, "What if... they use force?"
"Our Meng family has been doing business in Anshi City for generations, and we're no pushovers. When you return, gather all the shop assistants to your home and protect the courtyard. We'll have to wait a while for the Second Prince. I'm sure I'm not the only one who received this letter."
Master Meng sighed, "This White Envoy has no scruples in trying to persuade us to surrender in person. This is a blatant conspiracy. It shows that Jin is very confident. The Second Prince should not have agreed to let the generals come to see him."
Master Meng: ...If the generals don’t come to see him, they can’t come to see him either.
Mr. Meng sighed, "It's fate. If we hadn't made this trip, we wouldn't have thought of adapting to the times."
Xue Gui stood a step behind Bai Shan, watching all the carriages disappear with him. He asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid that they will go see the Second Prince?"
Bai Shan smiled and said, "I, as an envoy, originally came here to persuade the prince to surrender. Now I am just doing my job. I also hope that they can persuade the Second Prince on my behalf. Why would I be afraid of them going to see the Second Prince?"
Bai Shan turned back to the courtyard under the watchful eyes of the guards at the gate. When he returned to the lobby, he asked Xue Gui, "Have the letters been put in according to their identities?"
"Yes." Xue Gui took out the remaining five letters, "No one came from these families."
Bai Shan took it and waved. After the guards brought the brazier, he opened all the letters inside and burned them one by one. "What a pity. Although fewer people came than I expected, they are all important people. Obviously, many people here are uneasy."
Xue Gui: "Can we really bribe and persuade them?"
Bai Shan: “Who knows?”
He said frankly, "I have tried my best. As for whether it will succeed or not, the rest depends on God's will."
Xue Gui: ...It feels so unreliable.
Daji came in and asked, "Master, are we leaving?"
If this matter gets to the ears of the Second Prince, he will definitely be angry and will probably use rough tactics against Bai Shan.
Bai Shan thought about it and shook his head. "No, if we leave now, the people who just received the letter will lose their confidence in us. It's not appropriate. Let's wait a little longer. We won't run away unless our lives are in danger."
Xue Gui felt that Bai Shan was quite brave. As expected, he was able to go to the battlefield and had some courage.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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