I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

Jiankang City.

Inside the mansion, Xiao Nian, the former crown prince of the State of Chen, is now being strictly guarded by the Yan army.

The area is heavily guarded by Yan troops, so it is basically impossible to escape from here.

Outside the mansion, Zhou Bailin had a complicated expression. He looked around at the Yan army soldiers, and felt inexplicably sad in his heart. He came to the door of the mansion.

"who are you?"

The soldier reached out and grabbed him.

Zhou Bailin leaned forward and said, "I am Zhou Bailin. I have already asked your Lord Jiang for instructions. Please take a look."

As he spoke, he took out a letter from his pocket.

The soldier took it in his hand, looked at it, and then said, "Go in."

Zhou Bailin slowly walked into the gate and headed towards the inner hall.

At this moment, Xiao Nian was standing blankly in the courtyard, with a hint of melancholy on his face.

For him, the power of the treacherous ministers of the State of Chen was indeed destroyed, but at what cost?

Xiao Nian had already calmly accepted death. Now that he was a prisoner of the Yan army, it was impossible for him to resist.

While thinking about that, Zhou Bailin came to Xiao Nian and said respectfully, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Xiao Nian finally came to his senses, turned around and sighed, "I am no longer the crown prince, and you don't need to be so respectful. The State of Chen does not need such an incompetent crown prince."

After surrendering to the State of Yan and ordering the Yan army to enter the city, Xiao Nian had already given up his identity as the Crown Prince of the State of Chen.

No one would obey a prince who surrendered to the enemy country. Even Xiao Nian himself despised his own cowardice and incompetence.

Zhou Bailin saw the decadence and negativity on Xiao Nian's face, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, saying: "Your Highness, don't be so self-deprecating. It is because of your decision that the lives of hundreds of thousands of people have been saved."

Surrendering to the Yan army was the best way to stop the losses.

"Did the Yan army treat the people well?"

Xiao Nian only cares about this now.

Zhou Bailin said: "The Yan army kept their promise and did not embarrass the people of Jiankang City. Moreover, Yan State is still recruiting ministers, and it seems that they want to rule Jiankang City for a long time."

Now that the Yan army has finally occupied Jiankang City, they will definitely not leave easily.

In Jiankang City, many former ministers of the State of Chen had chosen to submit to the State of Yan, but Zhou Bailin, the former Minister of War of the State of Chen, was still hesitating.

"You should leave Jiankang City as soon as possible and join King Liang. He must be able to recapture Jiankang City. Then, as long as we recapture the capital, we can negotiate with the Yan army. At most, we will give up some territory and we can restore our country."

Xiao Nian said in a low voice. His idea was very simple, which was to rely on the military strength of the vassal kings and the support of the people to gradually drive out the Yan army that occupied the territory of Chen State.

After leading the Yan army into the city, Xiao Nian could only place his hopes on other Chen State forces.

Zhou Bailin looked solemn: "I'm afraid I didn't leave Jiankang City like this."

As an old minister of the State of Chen with his status, he was already under strict surveillance by the Yan army, and it was not easy for him to leave Jiankang City.

Xiao Nian added: "There are still more than 100,000 troops on the front line. The Yan army will definitely not have extra troops in the capital. We will have a chance then."

Zhou Bailin sighed and said, "Your Highness, the northern army on the front line has surrendered to the State of Yan..."

Upon hearing this news, Xiao Nian was stunned for a moment, a trace of despair flashed in his eyes, but he soon regained his composure: "Even if all the Chen army died, the people of Chen would not be so easily enslaved. In this world, there will definitely be people who resist. As long as there are people who resist, the rule of Yan will not last long."

In Xiao Nian's opinion, the Yan army had already wiped out all of Prime Minister Liu's faction. If the Chen royal family could retake Jiankang City, they would definitely be able to govern the entire world.

The only question now is whether the other forces of Chen State can withstand the attack of Yan State.

It was indeed a shame for Xiao Nian, as the crown prince, to surrender to the State of Yan first, but given the current situation, it was far better than when the prime minister's party was in power.

Zhou Bailin remained silent. He had seen the methods of the Yan army and knew that the latter were not easy to deal with. Now that Jiankang City had been lost, how could he talk about restoring the country?

"Remember, you must be patient, no matter if it takes ten or twenty years, as long as we keep the fire, our Chen State will be able to recapture Jiankang City."

Xiao Nian added that although he had given up resistance, he still believed that future generations would be able to accomplish this task.

Today, Xiao Nian, the Crown Prince of Chen State, has become a contradiction. It was he who surrendered to Yan State and let the Yan army enter the city, but now he is thinking about resisting the Yan army.

Zhou Bailin nodded and said, "Your Highness, I came here today for another matter."

"what?"

"The Yan army hopes that we can step forward and persuade the other Chen troops who are still resisting to surrender..."

Zhou Bailin's voice was low.

"Do you think you should agree to them?"

Xiao Nian asked back.

Zhou Bailin said: "I will obey your Highness' orders in everything."

He also had difficulty making a decision.

Now, they have become sinners of the State of Chen. If they try to persuade other resistance forces to surrender, they will surely be despised in the future.

"I can't agree to the Yan people anymore. They will kill me sooner or later. When that happens, Chen will depend on you."

Xiao Nian instructed.

Now that Xiao Nian has been imprisoned by the Yan army, it is only a matter of time before they kill him, the crown prince of Chen. Xiao Nian has already prepared himself for death.

……

Xinyuan City.

The rebel camp.

"What? You want us to submit to the State of Yan and accept its rule? Impossible!"

Faced with this proposal, the rebel general Wu Zhen flatly refused.

The person who proposed to surrender to the State of Yan was the leader of the rebel army, Qin Sheng.

"Master Qin, how much benefit did the people of Yan give you for you to agree to this request?"

Someone said with a hint of dissatisfaction that there was still a lot of hostility towards the State of Yan in the hearts of these people.

Qin Sheng said calmly: "The people of Yan promised that as long as we are willing to surrender, they will return the original territories of each family to us, and now the territory occupied by the rebels, they will not rob us, as long as we are willing to recognize the annexation of Chen by Yan."

"If we don't agree, will the Yan army turn around and attack us?"

someone asked.

There are currently three forces within the State of Chen: the Yan Army that is marching south, the Chen Army that is still resisting, and the rest are this group of powerful insurgents.

After several months of development, the rebel alliance already has a force of over 100,000. Even facing the armies of Yan and Chen, they will not be at a disadvantage. Moreover, they now occupy a lot of territory and their strength has greatly increased. They no longer need the assistance of Yan.

Qin Sheng said: "The best option is to surrender to Yan. If we continue to fight like this, how many brothers will be sacrificed? Anyway, we have stabilized the territory in our hands now. We will only submit to Yan in name and will not really serve them as their subjects."

After hearing this, many of the rebels present showed some hesitation in their expressions.

To surrender or not to surrender, that is the question.