"What advice does Gong Mao have?" Li Yi asked with a pleasant face.

"Ji believes that Gongsun Yu can't be killed, and all the captives belong to the Hu people, let alone killed." Xu Maogong said slowly but forcefully.

Li Yi frowned slightly, Li Yi didn't have a good impression of these Hu clans, who nominally belonged to the Han Dynasty, but in fact often rebelled.

Li Yi exchanged glances with his staff, everyone looked cautious, no one spoke, and listened quietly.

Xu Maogong looked at Li Yi and continued: "My lord, Ji believes that although we have exterminated Gongsun Yu's 50,000 horses, it has not caused any substantial help to the current situation in Liaodong, and it is still very difficult to completely quell the rebels in Liaodong. ”

Li Yi's expression suddenly became solemn.

Xun Yu and Xun You's uncle and nephew glanced at each other, and each felt that Xu Maogong was insightful, clear-headed, and had a very clear understanding of the situation in Liaodong.

"Ji believes that when the rebels are weak, they will definitely avoid our main force, and either continue to flee eastward, or go north to the desert. If we want to completely annihilate the rebels, we can only travel thousands of miles and continue to pursue and kill. If the rebels flee eastward, they will merge with the rebels of the other three counties in Liaodong, and it will be even more difficult for us to fight; If the rebels go north to the desert, we will have to pursue them for thousands of miles, and the annihilation of the enemy will become a distant matter. ”

"In addition, once tens of thousands of troops begin to fight on expeditions, the most serious problem is the supply of food and grass. The terrain of Liaodong is complex, with mountains in the south, deserts in the northwest, Liaoshui in the middle, and endless mountains and forests to the east, making the road very difficult to walk. The territory of Liaodong is vast, thousands of miles from south to north, and thousands of miles from east to west. In this environment, the transportation of grain and grass is not only difficult, but also highly vulnerable. Once the troops run out of food, they will face a catastrophe of annihilation, a journey of thousands of miles. I can't run back if I want to. ”

Therefore, Ji believes that it is more prudent to use the method of suppressing the rebellion in Liaodong first and then appeasing it, which can avoid the rebels fleeing east and going north to the desert. In other words, if we can't completely annihilate the rebels for a period of time, the best way is to use Gongsun Yu's influence in the rebels of Liaodong vassal states to appease the rebels, in order to end the war in Liaodong as soon as possible. ”

Li Yi smiled slightly and said in his heart. This idea is exactly what I think. However, how can this method of first slashing and then soothing be played so that His Majesty can accept it?

Li Yi thought of the problem of grain and grass, and thought that there was only about two months left to destroy the enemy, and he couldn't help but feel a trace of fear in his heart. If by the beginning of July, the rebels in Liaodong have not been wiped out, what fate awaits them?

He looked at Xu Maogong, his number one adviser, and asked, "What does Mao Gong think about the battle situation in Liaodong?" ”

Xu Maogong groaned slightly. Said slowly: "Under the careful planning and command of the lord, we annihilated Gongsun Yu, and the rest of the matter is to defeat the troops of Gongsun Lei and the rebel leader Gongsun Zhang. The Hu cavalry led by Gongsun Lei can escape at any time, and Gongsun Zhang's troops can also retreat across Liaoshui. If we enter the country on all fronts. Immediately launch a fierce attack, and the enemy will surely retreat in great strides in search of an opportunity to defeat us. Therefore, Ji believed that the troops that had advanced eastward into the Liaodong vassal state should engage the enemy in the area of Changli, the seat of the Liaodong vassal state. This not only avoids the problem of unsafe long-distance transportation of grain and grass, but also avoids the danger that may arise when the army goes to the border counties to attack the enemy. ”

Li Yi nodded appreciatively, and then said, "Mao Gong's statement is very reasonable. You add this clause to the documents sent to the armies of the front. The front-line generals were warned not to go deep easily, so as not to cause a shortage of food and grass, but to be injured by the rebels. ”

Everyone agreed.

Li Yi then said to Xu Maogong: "Regarding the issue of Gongsun Yu and the captives, for the time being, let's do what you want." ”

Xu Mao said happily: "The lord agreed? ”

"I agreed, don't kill for the time being, everything will wait for Your Majesty's ruling." Li Yi said, "But to solve the matter of Yang Le and Gongsun Wen as soon as possible, it must be fast, it must be fast." ”

After pondering for a while, Li Yi continued: "As for the handling of Gongsun Yu and the prisoners of the Liaodong rebels, you and several other Pengshi will sum up, think about the reasons a little more, write a detailed recital, and send it to Luoyang in the name of this general. What do you think? ”

Xun You said cautiously: "Lord, I think this piece should be done carefully. If the eunuchs in the court want to frame the lord, they can use this letter to slander the lord for sympathizing with the rebels and colluding with the rebels, then the lord's trouble will be great. ”

Li Yi smiled and said, "Gongda, I will know that you have good intentions, but this matter does not need to be like this, I believe that the Son of Heaven will not be deceived by those traitors." Do you believe me? ”

Everyone looked at each other with suspicion.

………………

In the Yangle camp, Li Yi took Xu Maogong, Dian Wei, Tian Yu and others to visit Gongsun Yu. Li Yi greeted him a few words, and immediately got straight to the point, asking him if he was willing to surrender.

Although Gongsun Yu was grateful to the Youzhou Army for saving his life, he instinctively refused Li Yi's request. He would rather have his head cut off.

Li Yi said with a smile: "If only cutting off your head can solve the problem of the Liaodong Army, I won't come to you." If I kill you, I will kill all your men. Now I have more than 30,000 captives in my hands, and they are all going to bury you with you, what do you say? ”

Gongsun Yu bowed his head and was silent.

"Your brother Gongsun Wen, there are still 3,000 men and horses surrounded by us in Yangle City. Now they rely on killing horses every day to satisfy their hunger, and when the war horses are finished, they begin to eat people, and when the people are finished, I see what they eat, and how many days can they last? Didn't General Gongsun think of a way out for them? Li Yi said with a smile.

Gongsun Yu smiled coldly and said, "I surrendered, will Gongsun Wen surrender?" Could it be that Gongsun Zhang and Gongsun Han will surrender? Will the tens of thousands of brothers of the subject country surrender? We have surrendered, will the Son forgive us today? Can General Li guarantee that the government of Youzhou will not settle accounts with us in the future? ”

Li Yi smiled slightly: "If you surrender, they will immediately follow in your footsteps and surrender, because you are one of the big leaders of the rebels of the Liaodong vassal country, and you are very influential in the eyes of the soldiers of the rebels of the Liaodong vassal country." On what basis do you guarantee that they will not surrender? You have all surrendered, why doesn't the Son of Heaven forgive you? Why did the Son of Heaven have to kill you? Did he hope that all the rebels in Liaodong would have a determination to fight to the death? You should know that Ben General is not only the former general of the Han Dynasty, but also the pastor of Youzhou, the entire Youzhou is under the management of Ben General, do you think Ben General can represent Youzhou as the master? ”

Gongsun Yu didn't know how to refute Li Yi's words, so he opened his mouth and finally said: "Then why did you bring a large army to fight us?" ”

Li Yi laughed and said, "In the capacity of Youzhou Mu, I sent an envoy to discuss with you how to bring Liaodong under the management of Youzhou Prefecture, what did you do?" He actually cut off the ears of the messenger sent by the general, and insulted the general with wild words! As a former general appointed by the Son of Heaven, the pastor of Youzhou, the Son of Heaven patrols Youzhou, what do you mean by treating the general and the messenger of the general? We hit you? I think you are completely rebellious, and you want to monopolize Liaodong, right? ”

Gongsun Yu shouted: "We have no such intention. ”

Li Yi snorted coldly: "Then when Ben General led a large army to conquer Liaodong, why didn't you surrender?" Why did you unite the Xianbei and Wuhuan and other Hu tribes outside the Saiwai to resist the general's army? You are everywhere proclaiming that you support the Great Han Kingdom and support today, so why do you still unite with the Hu people to attack the general's soldiers and horses? ”

Gongsun Yu was speechless.

In fact, it was Gongsun Yu who resolutely opposed submission to Li Yi and demanded a tough attitude towards the envoys sent by Li Yi. Under the advice of him, the most capable person in the Gongsun family, other people who already had various ideas also pushed the boat down the river and refused Li Yi's appeasement.

After all, if he really accepted Li Yi's appeasement, the Gongsun family would no longer be able to be the emperor of the Liaodong vassal state. They couldn't be more aware of the current situation of those powerful gate valves in the five counties in the west of Youzhou.

Moreover, in the eyes of the people of the Gongsun family, between the right Beiping County controlled by Liu Zheng and the Liaoxi County controlled by Gongsun Zhan, Li Yi should not immediately send troops to attack Liaodong.

But they miscalculated, Li Yi very decisively sent troops to attack Liaodong, and Liu Zheng and Gongsun Zhan even agreed to Li Yi's request.

At this time, there was another split of opinion within the Gongsun family. Several people led by Gongsun Yu, Gongsun Wen and Gongsun Lei were hardliners and demanded to fight the Youzhou army. But the people led by the eldest prince Sun Han and the third prince Sun Zhang demanded a compromise.

In the end, the opinions of Gongsun Yuyi's family, with the support of the old family owner, won the victory. Of course, this is not to say that the old head of the Gongsun family likes Gongsun Yu the most, but that Gongsun Yu's opinion is most in his interests.

Gongsun Yu remembered what the third Gongsun Zhang had said to him before. The third said that when the time is right, it is better for the troops to surrender. At that time, he and Gongsun Wen were very angry and immediately quarreled with him.

Why are you unwilling to surrender? Vaguely, he felt that he wanted to be a hegemon, a hegemon who could do whatever he wanted in Liaodong.

Gongsun Yu thought: The third child may be right, it's time to surrender.

Gongsun glanced at Li Yi and said with a wry smile: "Will the Son of Heaven forgive us?" ”

Li Yi laughed and said, "As long as you promise to surrender, the Son of Heaven will definitely pardon you and your subordinates." As long as you don't rebel, Liaodong will be stable, and the people will be able to survive, and the Son of Heaven will not see such obvious benefits? ”

"Killing you and your subordinates will do nothing good, but will provoke the hatred of other rebels and the people of Liaodong against the imperial court, and will instead promote the Liaodong rebellion to intensify. If you surrender and you and your subordinates are pardoned, Gongsun Han, Gongsun Zhang, and their subordinates will see the sincerity of the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, and they will also surrender, and Liaodong will soon calm down. ”

Gongsun Yu looked at the top of the tent and was silent. (To be continued.) )