I am a commoner, but I will lead the empress to unify the world

Huang Tao hesitated for a long time and said,

"Your Majesty, my emperor is a man of unyielding character. I'm afraid he won't agree to such a condition."

"Haha, would rather break than bend? If he really is so courageous, he should personally lead the defenders to fight our army to the death, instead of coming here to seek peace and stabbing our allies in the back just to survive.

In short, I have given him a way out. Whether he wants it or not is up to him."

Huang Tao thought for a moment and then said,

"Prince Cao Xiang of Jin is as close to your Majesty as a brother, having grown up together. He also saved your life. Your Majesty trusts him immensely, and it is unlikely that he would betray you and lead his army into surrender."

"That doesn't matter. As I said before, I will give him a chance to live. Whether he wants to die for his country or follow me to unify the world and achieve fame and success, let him choose for himself."

Shen Changgong smiled and said,

"The third option is for you."

"For me?"

Huang Tao was stunned when he heard this, then shook his head, not knowing what it meant.

"If the emperor doesn't surrender and Cao Xiang doesn't rebel, then you, Mr. Huang, can also make some moves.

For example, persuading them to surrender, or persuading other military generals to surrender, and then killing Cao Xiang after the mutiny and seizing military power.

Again, the new army coach does not have to be Cao Xiang, it can be someone else, it can be anyone.

We at Dayan only look at merit and contribution.

Yuan Chu, the Prime Minister of Kun State, made great contributions and is now the Left Prime Minister of Great Yan. Chen Qing also made great contributions and is now the commander-in-chief of our White Robe Army.

You, Mr. Huang, can also make meritorious contributions, and so can others.

We in Dayan will never treat unfairly those who have made contributions.

In the future, when Luoyang City falls, those who have made meritorious deeds will not have their property confiscated or their families exterminated, but will be promoted to higher positions. They can become frontier officials of Great Yan or hold military power.

Everything depends on your choice.”

Hearing this, Huang Tao sighed.

Now, he finally knew how the Prime Minister of Kun State betrayed the country and defected to the enemy.

Although Lanling Wang was young, he was not overbearing at all, nor was he friendly and polite in a way that would win people over. Instead, he would just chat with him like a family, explaining the pros and cons and making the conditions clear to him, using both a big stick and a sweet date, and then letting you choose for yourself.

As long as you are not a fool, you will know what to choose.

“Of course, no matter which of these plans you complete, you will be considered meritorious, and I will reward you handsomely and make you an official.

If none of them can be done, then I will not be able to tell whether Lord Huang failed to do it due to lack of ability, or simply did not try to do it at all and did not want to be loyal to me.

Then I have no choice but to do as Lord Huang does not want to be loyal.

After the city is captured, we can only confiscate Mr. Huang's property and exterminate his entire family as well."

Shen Changgong said this with a smile, as if he was chatting about family matters, but it scared Huang Tao so much that a chill ran down his spine.

Then, Shen Changgong said to the other members of the envoy group,

"The same goes for you all. No matter who you are, as long as you can make achievements and contribute to Dayan, you are a friend of Dayan. Dayan will not treat any friend unfairly."

"It will take several days for our army to cross the river. These few days are your deadline.

Once the entire army has crossed the river, we will launch a general attack on Luoyang City."

"Master Huang, there is no need to express your opinion now. I don't care what you think, I only care about how you act."

"Okay, let's see the guests off."

Shen Changgong waved his hand.

Tu Queling walked forward and made a "please" gesture.

Huang Tao sighed and bowed to Shen Changgong.

"The foreign minister resigns."

After they left, Gongsun Wan'er asked excitedly,

"Do you think he will listen to you?"

"How would I know? I'm not a god. It's just a matter of saying a few words. There's no loss, and I can plant a nail. Why not do it?

If they surrender, we will save ourselves the trouble.

If they refuse to surrender, we will attack and kill them all."

Gongsun Wan'er chuckled and said,

"You are amazing! He is clearly a minister of the Wei State, but when you speak, it's as if you are giving orders to your subordinates. It's so natural.

How can you be so shameless? "

"Haha, the whole world belongs to the king. I can give orders to anyone.

As for whether to listen or not, that is their own business.

Everyone must be responsible for their own actions and pay for their own mistakes."

Shen Changgong stood up, stretched himself, and said,

"I'm hungry, go cook for me."

"Oh."

Gongsun Wan'er pouting and walked out.

Afterwards, Shen Changgong asked about the arrangements for the captives to cut down trees and build a bridge. After knowing that everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, he felt relieved, took out paper and pen, and wrote a love letter to his empress wife.

A love letter is very short, just a piece of paper, and it can reach Shengjing in more than a day if sent by carrier pigeon. If it is an urgent war report sent by express mail over 800 miles, it will take three or four days.

If it is an ordinary memorial, it will take ten days to half a month.

The love letter only expressed his longing and that he would be able to capture Luoyang and start a war with the Qian-Chu coalition forces in a few days.

……

On the other side, Huang Tao was riding in a carriage, heading towards Luoyang City with his subordinates and guards.

On the way, the car was terribly dull and the atmosphere was suffocating.

After a long time, Huang Tao shook his head and looked at the few people, saying,

"You are all my confidants. There are no outsiders here today. Tell me what you think."

Several people looked at each other, shook their heads, and did not dare to express their opinions.

After all, the boss, who is one of the Nine Ministers, has not said anything, and the leader has not expressed his opinion, so how can the people below dare to speak nonsense?

"Sir, what do you think?"

Huang Tao sighed heavily and said,

"I now fully understand the feelings of Yuan Chu, the Prime Minister of Kun State, back then."

Hearing this, several people were moved.

Yuan Chu surrendered and defected to the State of Yan, instigated the rebellion of the central army of the State of Kun, and directly destroyed the people of the State of Kun.

Could it be that Lord Huang wants to emulate Yuan Chu?

An official sighed and said,

"Sir, tell me, even if we, as insignificant people, died a martyr for our country, our homes were confiscated and our families were exterminated, all the male members of our family were killed, and the female members became playthings, can we leave our names in history and be remembered forever?"

Another official also said,

"Yes, Luoyang City will fall. Shengjing and Linzi were not defended, so we can't hold Luoyang either. The Yan army's iron hoofs heading south cannot be stopped. By then, we will all be corpses."

"I...I don't want to die. My son is still young and has just started school. If I die, he won't be able to survive."

"I have elderly parents at home to support. We are nobles. If we don't surrender, we will all die."

"Yes, Mr. Huang, how about we listen to the Yan army?"