Chapter 498: Send an Envoy to Sue for Peace

In the main hall of the Tang palace, civil and military ministers of the Southern Tang gathered in full assembly. Since the start of spring, Li Jing had been convening court sessions to discuss affairs and military matters with noticeably greater frequency. By now early spring was drawing to a close, yet the Tang ministers in the hall felt nothing but chill in their hearts, every face heavy with solemnity.

"First the defeat at Xiaca, then another at the Fei River—in barely three months, both of my armies sent to relieve Shou have been broken by the Han army this easily." Li Jing paced about the hall, clutching a stack of defeat reports in his hand, shaking them from time to time, his words tumbling out in rapid succession, his fury extraordinary: "These defeat reports are nearly piled high enough to bury my imperial desk!"

"Liu Yanzhen, Chen Jue, Xu Wenzhen—the three of them lost their armies and betrayed the state; their crimes deserve nothing less than death." His gaze swept over Feng Yansi and Song Qiqiu, and he said coldly: "So these are the pillars of state, the talents of command, that you recommended to me! This is how they resist the enemy and strike the foe!"

"That Chen Jue even has the face to return to court, and to deliver a letter on behalf of the Han emperor, humiliating me—truly, he has not a single bone of integrity!"

"Huangfu Hui—you all said he was seasoned and prudent, a famed general of the Central Plains!" Li Jing now turned his spear at Han Xizai and the other northern-origin civil officials: "With thirty thousand troops, he was actually defeated by that Han general Guo Rong with a mere four thousand men. Unable to escape, he was captured alive on the battlefield. I say he is too old and decrepit, unfit for great use—one incompetent general ruins three armies!"

"And that Yao Feng—Shanyang was but a small place, he besieged it with ten times the troops and still could not take it in days. When it came to making decisions on the spot, he was muddled and incompetent. When the Han army struck, he made no attempt to save the situation, but instead led the main force in retreat, throwing away in a single night all the achievements for which his soldiers had fought and bled!"

"Are the generals and marshals of the Great Tang meant only to build the reputations of the Northern Han ruler and his commanders? This is outrageous!"

This outburst from Li Jing had in fact rebuked the ministers of both political factions in the Tang court, causing many to lower their heads, faces flushed with shame and anger. Scholars, after all, set great store by face. Moreover, there was some discomfort—after all, since Li Jing had taken the reins of state, he had rarely lost his composure so thoroughly or directly berated his subjects. Of course, it was understandable; the state's position was precarious.

At this moment, the "foremost strategist" Song Qiqiu stuck his neck out, stroking his beard and saying in a deep voice: "I have said all along—to resist the Northern Han, concentrate heavy forces, hold the strong cities, exhaust their money and grain, weaken their morale, take the slow approach, and strike only after they have committed themselves. Rash offensives only give the Northern Han opportunities; advancing on three fronts at once merely hands them the chance to defeat us piecemeal!"

Hearing Song Qiqiu's words, Li Jing's expression shifted slightly, a trace of embarrassment showing—after all, it was he who had ignored the remonstrations and insisted on taking the offensive. He looked at Song Qiqiu, and a vicious thought stirred in his mind. For the first time, he felt that this old minister was so utterly loathsome to him.

Seeming to notice the emperor's troubled mood, Deputy Commissioner of Military Affairs Li Zhenggu rose and said gravely: "Your Majesty, since the Han army moved south to invade in late autumn of last year, in these four months, through numerous battles great and small, our court has already lost more than two hundred thousand soldiers and civilians. The people of Jianghuai suffering from the chaos of war number no fewer than a million. To raise supplies for the relief armies, the treasury of Jinling has been nearly drained. Conscription has been frequent, greatly exhausting the people's strength, stirring unrest in their hearts and breeding resentment on all sides.

At present, Luzhou, Chuzhou, and Guangzhou have fallen in succession. Shouzhou and Sizhou, bereft of outside relief, will likely be unable to hold out much longer—their fall is not far off!

At such a time, how our court responds to the Han army's next offensive is the foremost concern!"

"Do you hear that!" Li Jing's voice trembled slightly, his eyes reddening: "Once Shou and Si fall, the Han army will surge south in force, reach the Yangtze, and the Great Tang will be destroyed!"

As the sovereign of a nation, speaking such words within the great hall was truly improper, but clearly, the pressure of the Han army's invasion was bearing down relentlessly, and Li Jing had already lost his composure.

"Your Majesty, I beg to lead an army north to resist the Han forces and defend the altars of our Great Tang. I will ensure that my lord father has no cause for worry!" At this point, Prince Yan, Li Hongji, could no longer restrain himself and rose to make the request.

Earlier, in the inner hall, he had already petitioned Li Jing, who had refused out of love for his eldest son. Now that he raised it in open court, Li Jing hesitated. For his part, Li Jing suddenly realized that with a great enemy at the gates, the entire court had fallen into the desperate predicament of having no one to employ. These literary officials he had cultivated—let them write poetry and compose essays, and that was all...

However, before Li Jing could express his stance, Feng Yansi stepped forward to dissuade: "Your Majesty must not. The Han army is fierce and cruel; so many veteran ministers and seasoned generals, and several hundred thousand troops sent by the court in succession, have all been defeated by them. Prince Yan is likely no match. Moreover, the prince is the eldest son of the royal house, of noble birth—it is not fitting for him to risk danger!"

Li Hongji could be counted a prince on horseback, known for his valor and proud of his martial skill. Seeing the contempt in Feng Yansi's words, he could not help but retort angrily: "How dare Chancellor Feng belittle me! When the Qian bandits numbered over ten thousand, I broke them with a mere four thousand men!"

"How can the Qian bandits be compared with the Han army!" Feng Yansi shook his head: "Your Highness should know that the strong soldiers of the Central Plains are rarely matched anywhere in the world. Our court has suffered defeat after defeat—is that not enough to awaken us all?"

"I see that all of you have been frightened into cowardice by the Han army. You fear the enemy and dread battle, but I do not. Are there no hot-blooded sons of Jianghuai? To repel invaders and drive off foes, one must rise and fight." Once Li Hongji's fervor was up, he cared little for propriety, and his words grew blunt: "Rather than, like you gentlemen here, accomplishing nothing, magnifying the enemy's prestige, and fearing the foe as if they were tigers!"

"Hongji, do not be impertinent!" Seeing that his words had gone too far and the ministers all wore angry expressions, Li Jing calmed himself and raised a hand.

After this bout of venting, Li Jing's mind cleared. He sighed deeply, but his expression grew ever heavier.

"The Han army is strong, nearly unstoppable. Things have come to this—how is this perilous situation to be resolved!" In the end, Li Jing still had to consult these literary ministers of his court.

The hall fell silent for a moment, as if no one could offer a strategy. Then Director Sun Sheng stepped forward and suggested: "Your Majesty, in matters of military contest, our court is truly no match for the Northern Han. Since the war began, our court has already suffered grievous losses; the people are displaced, the common folk distressed. The court's tax burden is heavy, troops are scarce, and the people's strength is exhausted. Moreover, it is now the farming season. If we continue fighting, I fear we cannot sustain it."

Pausing, Sun Sheng gravely recommended: "In my view, it would be best to send an envoy to sue for peace with the Han emperor—cease hostilities, end the war, and renew lasting amity."

As soon as Sun Sheng finished speaking, people immediately voiced agreement—and not a few.

"Unacceptable!" But Han Xizai spoke up in a loud voice, his expression solemn, clearly opposing: "Your Majesty, the Northern Han has come to swallow up the territory of our Great Tang whole. Their ambition is boundless, like a glutton. If we sue for peace, what price must we pay to satisfy their greed?"

"And if we keep fighting, what then? The court can no longer sustain war; half of Huainan is already lost. Are we to ruin the entire foundation of the Great Tang?" Sun Sheng said.

Sun Sheng, too, was a scholar from the north, but at this moment, on the question of war or peace, he had come into conflict with Han Xizai.

Hearing this, Han Xizai said: "In Jiangdong and Jiangxi, our court still has several tens of thousands of troops on land and water. With further conscription, we can still muster a hundred thousand. With the Yangtze as a natural moat, no matter how strong the Han army is, they will find it hard to cross.

As I said before, if we resist the Han army to the end, they face enemies on all sides and cannot hold out for long. Moreover, the Northern Han has marched a force of several hundred thousand on a campaign a thousand li from home—how long can their expenditures sustain them? Drag things out, wait for the situation to change, and our court still has a chance to counterattack and recover our territory. Once we sue for peace, the lands of Huainan will be lost entirely! I beg Your Majesty to see clearly!"

"Warmongering, warmongering!" Sun Sheng said excitedly: "The Han army stands with the Central Plains and Hebei at their back, having stockpiled grain for years, and they fight in Huainan. With only Jiangdong and Jiangxi, how can we sustain a long-term resistance?

The change in circumstances that Chancellor Han speaks of—does he mean the Khitan and the Later Shu? In the four months since war began between Han and Tang, they have made no move at all. Is it not laughable to stake the grand strategy of the state on that?"

The two northern scholars clashing head-to-head made for quite a show for Feng Yansi and the others.

But for Li Jing, it only deepened his hesitation. At the mention of peace negotiations, he was indeed tempted. Since ascending the throne, he had launched several waves of foreign wars, yet only now, forced to respond defensively to an enemy invasion, did he realize how precious peace was—how comfortable it would be to sit securely in Jinling, composing verses and enjoying the breeze and moon...

He was inclined toward peace, yet wary of the price Han Xizai spoke of. Indeed—with the war fought to this point, what would it take to make the Han emperor withdraw his troops?

"Your Majesty, do not listen to Sun Sheng's words that will ruin the state!" Li Hongji stepped forward to support Han Xizai.

Seeing this, Li Jing grew even more hesitant. He waved his hand, returned to sit behind the imperial desk, and said, almost in a murmur: "Let me think..."

However, before the court discussion could conclude, another report of defeat arrived: "Your Majesty, the soldiers guarding the river defenses report that the Eastern Capital has fallen!"

The entire court was shocked. Setting aside Yangzhou's political status, its salt revenues alone were enough to make hearts ache. Its fall struck them with even greater dismay than the loss of Chu and He. Was the Han army truly so hard to stop?

"Who took Yangzhou? What of the garrison?" Li Jing's face turned pale as he asked urgently.

"The Han general Zhao Kuangyin!"

"And what of Yao Feng's army?"

Li Jing nearly roared, but no one could answer that question.

After a long moment, Li Jing's face was full of dejection. He waved his hand weakly: "Send an envoy to Shouchun, to sue for peace with the Han emperor..."