He is over 40 years old this year, but he doesn't look that old. With a beard, other men would look ten years older, but Sun Renluan's temperament has not diminished at all, and he is still a handsome uncle with a lot of charm.
That’s right, the Sun family has had more than one queen, and through generations of genetic improvement, they will definitely not give birth to ugly children.
Retracting his gaze, Xiao Rong smiled and said, "Thank you, Grand Marshal, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come and see me. Yesterday, I caused a farce in the court because of my words. I hope you can forgive my mistake."
Sun Renluan: "It's okay, what do you want today?"
Xiao Rong: "Of course it was yesterday. The formation of the coalition is a foregone conclusion. Back then, the Hu people formed an alliance and marched south to burn, kill, and plunder, turning the entire Central Plains into a living purgatory. Now we must naturally retaliate. To be honest with the Grand Marshal, someone has already responded to the invitation sent by the king."
Sun Renluan asked: "Oh? How many people are there?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Rong smiled softly: "It doesn't matter how many people there are. Attacking the Xianbei is the wish of the whole world. It is a matter of responsibility for everyone. Anyone with ambition will not ignore this invitation letter."
Sun Renluan curled the corners of his mouth and said nothing.
This kind of provocation has no effect on him. He has the little emperor's support, and the word "righteousness" alone cannot suppress him.
Xiao Rong looked at his expression and seemed to know that what he said was useless. He pursed his lips and said, "Of course, for other people with lofty ideals, we invite them to join us, but for the Grand Marshal, we ask the court to send reinforcements."
Sun Renluan's eyes changed a little when he looked at Xiao Rong. Although there is only one word difference between asking the court to send troops and asking the court to send reinforcements, the difference in meaning is huge.
The former regarded the imperial court as a partner, while the latter regarded the imperial court as his superior.
The King of Zhenbei has been independent for so many years. He has never sent food and grass to Nanjing, nor has he ever mentioned that he is still a subject of His Majesty. Although he has not raised the banner against the Yong Dynasty, everyone has tacitly acknowledged that he and the area north of the Huai River are no longer part of the Yong Dynasty.
However, judging from what Xiao Rong said now, he wants the court to send troops in exchange for the King of Zhenbei's submission to the court again?
He felt it was unlikely. What kind of fool would do that?
Sure enough, after he asked this question tactfully, Xiao Rong answered him with even more tactful words.
Specifically, it means that the King of Zhenbei can no longer submit to the court again, because submission means paying taxes and serving the king, and they don't have enough food for themselves, and Qu Yunmie is of that kind of character, how can he be willing to be inferior to others. But the Zhenbei Army is really struggling to make ends meet, so they are willing to submit to the court on the surface. Specific actions include when fighting the Xianbei, the front of the team will not only have the Zhenbei Army's big flag, but also a big flag with the word Yong written on it; and in the future, when there are officials appointed and dismissed in the north of the Huai River, they will not print and engrave them privately, but will send a letter to Jinling, using the documents and seals issued by the emperor.
Sun Renluan: “…………”
At first, he felt it was a good idea, because even if the court sent troops, it would not send too many. Thirty or forty thousand would be very generous. With the big banner in front, the credit of this battle in the future would belong to the court. It would not be difficult for them to make some efforts to make the people think that they won the victory through hard fighting.
But after listening to the rest, he gradually realized that something was wrong.
On the surface, the King of Zhenbei recognized the legitimacy of the emperor again, so he used the imperial seal issued by the emperor. However, the court could not control the changes of officials north of the Huai River, and the one who really had the final say was Qu Yunmie. What's more, since they were all officials recognized by the emperor, this meant that not only the King of Zhenbei recognized the legitimacy of the emperor, but the emperor also recognized the legitimacy of the King of Zhenbei's rule, and recognized a whole area.
Just like Xiao Rong, he is now an inappropriate Chenliu Yin, but if he gets the token issued by Jinling, his title of Chenliu Yin will become legitimate, which will be more beneficial to him.
Sun Renluan became alert immediately when he looked at Xiao Rong. This man was setting a trap for him to fall into. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, otherwise he would have been making things difficult for others.
But...even though he knew it was a trap, he still didn't dare to directly reject Xiao Rong.
After all, even if it was just a superficial surrender, it could restrain Qu Yunmie's steps and prevent him from turning his attention to Jinling immediately after defeating the Xianbei.
This is a double-edged sword. It all depends on whether the person holding it knows how to use it. If he uses it well, the unlucky person will be Qu Yunmie. If he uses it poorly, the unlucky person will be you.
It is not difficult to dig a trap, but making the other party see that it is a trap and hesitate whether to jump into it is where your real ability is revealed.
Sun Renluan looked at Xiao Rong and smiled slowly: "I seem to understand why the King of Zhenbei sent Xiao Lingyin here alone. Xiao Lingyin alone can replace thousands of troops."
Xiao Rong pursed his lips and smiled: "I don't deserve the praise from the Grand Marshal. The king assigned me just because he trusts me more. The king's wish is my wish, and the king's heart is also my heart."
Sun Renluan looked at the slightly raised corners of his mouth and understood what he meant.
Xiao Rong was hinting to him that he could make the most decisions, and no matter what guarantees he made this time, he would be able to put them into practice after returning.
But the negotiation was not that simple. Sun Renluan still refused to give in. "The whole world belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects. Your Majesty's blessings and grace have always included the King of Zhenbei. You are asking the court to send troops just for this matter. In my opinion, there is no sincerity in this."
Xiao Rong: “…”
He thought that Sun Renluan should be different from those officials from aristocratic families, but it turned out that he was just hiding it more deeply. In fact, he looked down on the Zhenbei Army like everyone else. At most, he knew the strength of the Zhenbei Army, so he was quite afraid of them.
But he was exposed before he could say a few words. I've given you some color, and you still dare to open a dyeing factory.
However, knowing that Sun Renluan also had this problem, he felt more relieved. An arrogant opponent is always better than an opponent who treats you as a rival all the time.
With a slight smile, Xiao Rong took out a gold cake from his arms and handed it to Sun Renluan, deliberately turning the side engraved with the Huang family emblem upwards so that Sun Renluan could see the shape clearly.
Xiao Rong asked him, "I wonder if this can be considered as our sincerity?"
Sun Renluan recognized that this was the Huang family's thing, but for a moment he didn't understand what Xiao Rong meant.
This time it was Xiao Rong's turn to show a smile that seemed to be sympathetic but was actually sarcastic: "The Grand Marshal may not know that Huang Yanjiong has been recruiting soldiers in Jianning for a long time. He has more than a hundred generals under his command, and the total number of soldiers is as high as 100,000. It is a bit far-fetched to say that he has stationed troops to this extent for self-protection." Sun Renluan was stunned.
Xiao Rong didn't look into his eyes, letting him digest the news himself. In fact, there were only 60,000 people in Huang Yanjiong's place, but everyone was exaggerating these days, so he naturally followed the local customs.
What's more, 60,000 is indeed a little too little. If it is said to be 100,000, the threat becomes much greater.
What does a hundred thousand men mean? They can easily break into Nanjing and force them to defend their city. Although a hundred thousand men may not be able to capture Nanjing, no one wants to fight another battle to defend the city.
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