Li Qin looked at the servant messenger who had come to report to him.
Looking at the letter he brought.
This letter was written by Sun Zhixie, one of the current Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.
In the letter, he said that as long as Li Qin guaranteed his and his family's safety and wealth.
He was willing to bring his household servants and men to assist him in his siege, and to serve him in the future.
Li Qin glanced at Sun Zhixie's letter in front of him and casually put it aside.
At this moment, there were already two dozen such letters on the table in front of him.
However, Sun Zhixie, a high-ranking official at the cabinet level, is the first of his kind.
It seems that after I showed Guo Zifeng's head today, making them understand that there would be no reinforcements in the short term.
Many people's already precarious hopes have completely vanished.
Most of them are working so hard now precisely to hold off Li Qin and wait for reinforcements to arrive so they can defeat him.
Did they continue to enjoy their power and wealth afterward?
But now that reinforcements are gone, their hopes have vanished.
Immediately, people started contacting him. Although there had been others before, there were definitely not this many.
Even high-ranking officials like Sun Zhixie have now contacted him to surrender.
It's clear that they're really on the verge of giving up.
If we launch a full-scale attack, it's only a matter of time before we completely take over the capital.
However, accepting their surrender allows them to launch an internal rebellion, which he can then coordinate with from within.
Wouldn't that be much easier?
Moreover, after taking control of the capital, he also needed to establish a bureaucratic system with Zhu Qizhen as emperor.
However, he currently has many rough and unskilled soldiers in his ranks, but they are completely ignorant of the normal affairs of the court's operations that are handled by bureaucrats.
So even if they don't say it, I will still have to rely on them to build a bureaucratic system for the imperial court in the future.
Although I despise their behavior, they, like myself, are not exactly loyal subjects.
But I need to use them first to solve the problem of whether I have them or not.
First, let's address the question of whether the imperial court exists or not, and then we can discuss whether the imperial court is good or bad.
Therefore, regarding the surrender of Sun Zhixie, this high-ranking cabinet official, Li Qin immediately said:
"Since Grand Secretary Sun is willing to abandon darkness and embrace light, I will certainly report this to His Majesty. Not only will Grand Secretary Sun retain his official position, but he will also be promoted. I think the position of Grand Secretary would be quite good."
Upon hearing this, the servant who brought the news immediately kowtowed and said:
"I will certainly report this news to my master."
Li Qin then waved his hand, dismissing the servant.
Then he looked at the letter from Sun Zhixie in his hand.
But he had only been looking at it for a short time when one of his personal guards came in, saluted Li Qin, and said:
"Young Marshal, another messenger has arrived. He says he is a servant of Grand Secretary Xu Youzhen."
"Grand Secretary Xu Youzhen?"
Another cabinet minister?
Li Qin hadn't even finished reading the letter from Grand Secretary Sun Zhixie when another Grand Secretary's messenger arrived.
The next day, Li Qin stood once again on the city wall of the occupied capital, looking through his telescope at the crumbling earthen wall in the distance.
Below him, countless elite troops from Liaodong, equipped with siege weapons, were ready.
They are still defending within those dilapidated earthen walls, relying entirely on the unity of officials and civilians, as well as the morale boosted by Emperor Zhu Qiyu's joint defense.
Emperor Zhu Qiyu, along with countless officials and their families, personally led the defense of the city, deeply inspiring the remaining Wu soldiers and other strong men within the earthen walls.
Inspired by Emperor Zhu Qiyu, they became fearless and undaunted.
During the previous probing attack, his soldiers desperately climbed the earthen wall, and those guys actually grabbed his soldiers and jumped off the wall together.
You could say they're just clinging to life by sheer willpower.
They are now waiting for reinforcements to come and rescue them.
After I showed Guo Zifeng's head yesterday, many people lost their will to live.
Now they are working together from the inside and outside, just like us. As long as they break through this weak earthen wall in front of them, their last breath will be dissipated.
Soon, the Wu army, which is now fighting desperately, and its strong men will begin to collapse.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Li Qin immediately waved his military flag and ordered his army to begin the attack on the city.
On the earthen wall, Yu Gan, who was continuing his preparations, observed the scale of Li Qin's army's attack.
He also became nervous, knowing that Li Qin was once again mobilizing his elite Liaodong troops.
This means that Li Qin is definitely serious this time.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have used his own troops from Liaodong.
Soon, under Li Qin's orders, Li Qin's army launched an attack.
Emperor Zhu Qiyu, also dressed in armor, stood beside him.
Before them stood the Embroidered Uniform Guards, as well as palace eunuchs and other reserve forces.
Under Yu Gan's organization, they climbed the city wall.
As the army began its attack, Yu Gan immediately ordered the remaining Wu soldiers, elite troops, imperial guards, eunuchs, and others on the city walls to fight to the death to defend the city.
Shortly after the fierce siege began, an explosion and the sound of collapsing came from the earthen wall behind them.
Then a soldier rushed over and said:
"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Yu, Grand Secretary Sun, and Grand Secretary Xu, along with a large group of officials and their servants, have surrendered to the rebels."
They worked together from the inside and outside, blowing up the earthen wall behind the building, and now the rebels have stormed in.
"What did you say?
They have both reached the highest ranks of officialdom, and I have treated them well.
They actually defected to the enemy.
At this moment, Emperor Zhu Qiyu, who was standing to the side, immediately spoke.
Unlike Zhu Qiyu's shock, Yu Gan remained extremely silent. He had long anticipated that Li Qin would produce Guo Zifeng's head.
Let them know that once the reinforcements are gone, some of them will surely lose hope and surrender to Li Qin.
However, he did not expect that the people who surrendered would be Xu Youzhen and Sun Zhixie, both of whom were cabinet members.
Finally, he could only say to Zhu Qiyu in front of him:
"Your Majesty, the defense line has now collapsed. I will immediately organize men to protect Your Majesty and attempt a breakout."
"Your Majesty, please change into the clothes of a commoner."
Looking at Yu Gan, who was offering advice, Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said:
"No, I am the emperor of Great Wu. This is the capital, where the ancestral tablets of all generations are located. How can I run away?"
Our great Wu has already had a captured emperor; we absolutely cannot allow another emperor to escape.
"Escort me to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. I want to die before the ancestral tablets, so that my ancestors can see that I, their descendant, have not disgraced them."
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