Chapter 909 A Dream of Youth 441
Xu Hongying and the others were able to receive the news from the Northern Jin Dynasty, and Xiao Chu in the city naturally also received the news of the fall of the capital. His face was somewhat ashen. Even though he had already dispersed his family to various places, many of his sons were still left behind in the capital.
Especially his eldest son.
Xiao Da will definitely not surrender, so death is the only option for him.
It's likely that all the members of the Xiao clan in the capital have been killed. Xiao Chu doesn't believe that the King of Wumeng will let the Xiao clan go. Among the grudges between Northern Jin and Wumeng, the grudges between the Xiao clan and Wumeng are the deepest.
That's why he wanted the Empress to get rid of Consort Zhen, but the Empress was too useless; she was too soft-hearted and ended up with nothing.
"Reporting to the General! The Great Zhou has sent an envoy!"
Xiao Chu's face was reflected on the curved blade, appearing extremely cold and hard. He had no choice. He was already this old and was not afraid of death, but if he continued to resist, he could not save Northern Jin and would only completely destroy the Xiao family.
Xiao Chuzhong was not loyal to the Northern Jin royal family, but to power. He was not fighting for the Northern Jin emperor, but for the emperor who had the blood of the Xiao family.
After the fall of the Northern Jin Dynasty, he had to do everything in his power to preserve his family's prosperity.
News of Xiao Chu's surrender to Zhou quickly reached the capital. Yan Xi agreed to all of Xiao Chu's demands, since Xiao Chu's requests were nothing compared to the city that was about to be acquired.
The court officials were also happy, while Xie Wangzhi and Xia Xiang were worried about the wealth that Xiao Chu wanted.
The resources required to fight a war are simply too great. Each soldier needs to be accompanied by two to three male laborers, and the amount of military rations that need to be prepared is many times greater.
However, they had won the battle after all, at least taking back Youzhou and other places. With that kind of barrier, the Great Zhou could at least be guaranteed peace for a hundred years.
Not to mention the other cities further north.
In the long run, the benefits of this battle are very high, while the suffering of the people is only temporary.
Because of Xiao Chu's surrender, even though the King of Wumeng killed a group of people to temporarily stabilize the capital of Northern Jin and immediately commanded a large army to seize cities in the surrounding areas, especially to the south, he could not stop the other cities from surrendering to Zhou.
This caused King Wumeng to harbor deep resentment.
His accompanying general was even more furious, saying, "Doesn't the Great Zhou's acceptance of the surrendered Northern Jin troops violate the alliance? Your Majesty, why don't we just attack directly? After all, the Great Zhou..."
He meant to say that the Great Zhou army was terrible, because one of the Great Zhou armies was defeated even when surrounded by 100,000 Northern Jin troops with less than 30,000 remaining soldiers.
If it were one of their generals, he would have been beheaded by King Wumeng long ago.
This world is never short of strong people who strive to climb up; the weak should step aside.
In their tribe, only the most powerful son of the chief can sit in the top position, so even though King Wumeng killed his brother and nephew to ascend the throne, no one would say anything. On the contrary, they admired the other's strength even more.
However, King Wumeng did not think that way. He could kill his brothers, but he did not want his descendants to do the same. Therefore, he actively introduced some of the culture of the Great Zhou Dynasty, intending to change the mindset of his subjects.
Learn from what is lacking in all aspects, but don't bother with what is bad.
Why not send a few of his nephews and nieces to study in the Great Zhou? He had heard that the Great Zhou also had schools specifically for foreign countries to study.
The generals below, who were making a ruckus, had no idea that King Wumeng, who was sitting above them, was actually lost in thought, even though he appeared to be listening to their debate with a serious expression.
After things quieted down a bit, King Wumeng spoke again, saying that it was impossible to fight against the Great Zhou. He wasn't that stupid; the weapons and gunpowder that the Great Zhou had sold them were a huge threat.
Moreover, he heard that the Great Zhou had developed formations and weapons to counter heavy cavalry, and that even Xiao Chu's heavy cavalry had been defeated, which showed that not all of the Great Zhou's generals were incompetent.
King Wumeng did not believe that his cavalry was necessarily superior to Xiao Chu's heavy cavalry, so he could not fight this battle.
"Send more envoys to conclude a new alliance with the Great Zhou."
We should yield for now. The Wumeng Kingdom needs time to develop, and even if it covets the Great Zhou, now is not the time.
Victory and prolonged peace can corrupt the heart; it all depends on which side has more patience.
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