Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Li Tai couldn't help but laugh when he heard Wei Shou's tentative question with a trembling tone.

He stood up from the banquet, raised his hand to signal everyone to take their seats first, and then looked at them and said: "Young Master Wei's words are too modest, but if you can hold the thought of benevolence and righteousness in your heart, no matter whether you are broad-minded or not, you can't stop people from carrying it out. It's a moral thing. I have thousands of troops and my horses are on the border, and I'm wasting countless grains every day. Just chatting with you for a moment has already cost me a lot of manpower and material resources, so you think I'm making a fool of myself with this. ?”

"Don't dare, don't dare..."

After everyone heard this, they all lowered their heads, but they still had doubts in their hearts.

At this time, Dugu Yongye stood up again and said to these people: "Everyone has doubts about someone's appearance here, so he came from the truth. Therefore, the reason why he came to this place was not the king's plan, but everyone in Jinyong City. The garrison officers and soldiers are sincere and righteous.

Therefore, the Lord was unkind and abandoned the land to the people without showing any mercy. Some people were trapped in the isolated city. The soldiers endured hunger and thirst, but they desperately hoped that reinforcements would not arrive. They had no choice but to surrender. Fortunately, the king was merciful and willing to take them in and protect them, so they were able to live in peace. "

After hearing this, the faces of everyone in Qi Dynasty became very ugly. They naturally knew that this was not necessarily the whole truth. After the King of Tang issued the ultimatum, he must have also used other means of coercion, so that the defenders of Jinyong City could not bear the pressure and chose to surrender.

But there is not much meaning in continuing to pursue this issue. They can only blame the Western Wei for this and blame the Western Wei for being unwilling to abide by the truce provisions of the covenant. However, the Huainan incident had already happened before, and it was used by the King of Tang. Hold them accountable.

Their accusations based on this will only further damage the atmosphere of the peace talks. Moreover, with the further loss of Heluo, the situation on their side will become even worse. It is unknown whether the Western Wei Dynasty is willing to continue the talks. Even if they make any accusations based on this, they will not be able to interfere with the other party.

Now that Dugu Yongye said that it was the defenders of Jinyong City who took the initiative to defect to the Western Wei Dynasty, rather than being attacked or coerced by the Western Wei Dynasty, it actually made these envoys secretly relieved. At least on the surface, the Western Wei Dynasty still did not tear up the previous temporary truce. Even though they agreed, they are still willing to find an excuse to stall them, which shows that they still have a certain willingness for peace talks.

"Yongye is grateful for the country's blessings. He made a self-employed soldier into a general and was even given the power of a border town. However, he turned his back on the country and defected to foreign countries at the slightest setback. How shameful!"

Prince Gao Rui of Zhao County was naturally still furious. He glared at Dugu Yongye and scolded him. Then he turned to look at the King of Tang and said, "Although the King of Tang is lenient, he is so ungrateful and a thief with both sides. If you also invite your subordinates and have a table in the living room, don't you worry about staining the hall and accumulating dirt on the house?"

When Li Tai heard Gao Rui's indignant words, he didn't feel angry, but laughed again: "The world is in chaos, and the truth has been buried for a long time. It cannot be easily found. For example, when taking medicine for a serious illness, it must not be taken. The sword cuts off the head, and the person dies and the disease disappears. The journey to find the road is long and difficult, and only through the efforts of people can we hope to achieve success.

But those who can uphold my morality and justice can be used as backup, and don’t resent the past. Nowadays, the scholars and people in Hebei are frightened by the strong power and respect the Qi family. They are all thieves in their deeds. However, I can still be compassionate in my heart. In order to avoid causing more killings, I am even willing to make peace with the world's feud. There is no thief in the world who hates the Gao family. The king is still able to be a guest in the hall, not to mention General Dugu, a beloved man who has awakened and is willing to break away from the past! "

"Princes of Qiang and Tang should not go too far!"

When Gao Rui heard this, he couldn't bear it, and immediately put his hand on the saber and roared.

After hearing the roar, the guards inside and outside the hall drew their knives in their hands and surrounded the envoys. When Wei Shou and others saw this, they were even more shocked on the spot. Their faces turned pale and they spoke repeatedly. I respectfully ask the King of Tang to calm down.

This level of dispute is not enough to make Li Tai angry. Although he is not completely indifferent now, leaving aside some private occasions, even when facing outsiders, Whatever emotions are exposed, they all have their own intentions and messages they want to convey.

He raised his hand to reject the guards who rushed into the hall, and then said a little apologetically: "My subordinates are eager to protect the Lord, and I offend our guests and friends. I am really sorry. I invited you here today. I originally had business matters to discuss, but I didn't expect that I was so angry for a moment. It's indeed disrespectful for Sheng Jing to argue with each other. However, disputes arise out of bad words, and the first person to do so is his own person. Come on, I will leave immediately to return to my country tomorrow and do not hinder the progress of the matter."

Everyone was naturally deeply surprised when they saw that although King Tang's expression remained peaceful, he had already stated that he wanted to end the peace talks.

When he first came to Hongnong, Lu Yao felt that the envoys were being deceived by the Wei people. He couldn't calm down at this moment. He hurriedly left the table and bowed to Li Taishen: "King Tang, please calm down, please calm down. Our two countries." It is not easy to make peace, so I urge the King of Tang to be considerate of the innocent people..."

"I am very willing to sympathize with the innocent people, so I have always been willing to negotiate for peace. But instead of being able to concentrate on the matter, you and other apostles have repeatedly provoked me based on my intentions. My words are disrespectful, and it is difficult for me to seek peace. I don't know the master of Qi. Why send you to waste your time?"

After Li Tai heard this, he snorted coldly with an impatient look on his face.

"Your Majesty..."

A low cry suddenly sounded among the Qi envoys. This was not calling the king of Tang, but a reminder to Gao Rui, the king of Zhaojun.

Gao Rui's face was pale and uncertain at this moment. He was silent for a long time before he raised his hands and bowed, saying: "I was rude for a moment and offended the King of Tang. Please forgive me..."

Li Tai ignored this, and Gao Rui kept bowing for a long time without any response, then he took off the sword at his waist and offered it with both hands, saying again: "Please forgive me, King of Tang!"

In the dull atmosphere in the hall, time passed quietly. Suddenly, there was a thump. Gao Rui knelt on the ground and said in a deep voice: "I was too aggressive in my words just now, which was a violation of the etiquette of an envoy and almost ruined the friendship between the two countries. If the two countries are in conflict again and people suffer because of one person's anger, then someone will This is a great crime. I beg the King of Tang to be magnanimous and not let the mistakes of this madman harm the people of both countries! "

After hearing Gao Rui's sincere words, Li Tai raised his hand to signal the waiter to go down the hall, took the saber presented by Gao Rui, pulled out the blade and looked at it. After seeing the reflection of the saber light in the hall, he couldn't help but smiled and praised: "It's really a good saber."

While speaking, he handed the saber to Dugu Yongye on the table and said with a smile: "The sword is given to the famous general, and the general deserves it!"

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty!"

After hearing this, Dugu Yongye was a little surprised at first, and then he hurriedly bowed to thank him and took the saber respectfully with both hands.

Li Tai did not do this simply to intimidate and humiliate Gao Rui. He then looked at Gao Rui and said, "Prince Zhao, please don't be polite. You and I are not the master and the servant, and there is really no question of forgiveness. But after this incident, I hope you can understand that we should not just look at the surface and make general comments on everything. For example, are you afraid of the powerful and begging for mercy today? It is just because you have a kind heart and can't bear the two countries to fight again, so you put aside your own honor and disgrace and beg for peace. This is not cowardice, but can be called the courage of a benevolent person!" Gao Rui had already felt that his dignity was completely destroyed by intimidation and humiliation. When he heard the words of comfort and praise from the King of Tang, he felt extremely humiliated and felt grateful. So he bowed his head to the ground and said sadly, "Thank you, King Tang, for your kindness. If the two countries stop fighting and make peace, and do not invade each other, my honor and disgrace are not worth it!"

Li Tai passed by Gao Rui, who was already in a noble sentiment of self-sacrifice for a great ideal, and turned to look at Lu Yao and other envoys and said: "I said before that you did not do your best for the mission, and it was not a momentary anger. If you leave my school and work outside but there is no good news for a long time, I will absolutely not tolerate it and will definitely question you severely!

You are here physically and mentally, but you are only used as letters and mouthpieces for rumors, without any suggestions, and the agreement has not been reached. I am unwilling to yield to you for a while, and you directly call me deliberately making things difficult. What is the reason? Even if I am willing to make friends with you, have you ever devoted yourself to me? Has Qi State been so careless in employing people and doing things?"

Everyone was more or less embarrassed and indignant when they heard this scolding. They were not officials of the Western Wei Dynasty, but they were scolded like grandsons. They couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied. But with Gao Rui as a lesson, they dared not get angry easily for a while, and could only bow their heads and accept the training. After all, in terms of status and position, he was indeed qualified.

After Li Tai scolded with a sullen face, he talked about business again: "The peace talks have been delayed and full of twists and turns. The soldiers of the two countries are tired and uneasy, and the people are worried. This situation cannot be maintained for a long time. The Heluo that was undecided with the prime minister before has been settled now, and there is no need for your country to cooperate again.

But there is another thing. Many relatives and families of the Guiyi Division of Jinyong City are stranded in Qi. Now they are suddenly separated from the two countries, which is inevitable. People are sad. So I also ask you envoys to sympathize with this matter and report it to your country. I hope that those who decide the matter in the court can be sympathetic to me, benevolent and righteous, and don't hold grudges. Escort the families of these soldiers here."

After hearing the conditions proposed by the King of Tang, Dugu Yongye and other surrendered generals suddenly brightened their eyes, and looked at the King of Tang with gratitude. They really didn't expect that the King of Tang would personally make this request to the Qi State's negotiating envoys after he said he would resolve the matter for them. This little bit of care and consideration alone made them feel extremely favorable towards the Western Wei Dynasty, especially the King of Tang.

However, when the Qi State envoys heard this, their faces immediately fell. Those who were slower in thinking didn't even understand for a while. What kind of logic did the King of Tang follow to have the nerve to make such a request!