After rebirth, I made the princes cry

Regarding Northern Zhao's sudden military action, Gao had to pretend to be very surprised, saying that she was absolutely not an insider. She even looked more anxious than Queen Mother Yao. If it weren't for the fact that pacing back and forth in front of the Queen Mother was inappropriate, such a performance would have been too much. Gao almost didn't want to sit down. Even though she had been sitting there for a long time, her tense body was still slightly leaning forward, and she repeated her defense once again.

"Although I am from Zhao, I have been married to Shangjing since the founding of the Han Dynasty. I have long been a daughter-in-law of the Great Qiang royal family. As a bond between the two countries, I would never hope for a war between the two countries. However, when I received the letter from my father and brother, I told the Queen Mother what was written in the letter... That Gong Xianglu insisted on falsely accusing Your Majesty of violating the Six Ministries' Covenant by welcoming the Lord of the Shenyuan Palace into the Han Dynasty, and he has always been trying to encourage the Emperor of Zhao to send troops to attack the Han Dynasty."

When Empress Dowager Yao first heard Gao's explanation, she vaguely remembered that she had indeed heard Gao mention it before.

But she didn't realize that Gao had said it lightly, and Jiang Lina was also there. Xiping lords have always been confident in the fighting power of the Qiang people, not to mention that when they heard that Northern Zhao and Dongyu had fought and were defeated and lost Yizhou, they felt that the Xiongnu tribe was no longer as strong as before, and they could even be bitten back by a stray dog ​​like Dongyu Sikong. How dare they provoke her Great Qiang? !

Under Jiang Lina's misleading advice, Empress Dowager Yao also deeply believed it at the time - no matter how arrogant Gong Xianglu, a Han Chinese, was, as long as the Emperor of Zhao was not mentally ill, he would not dare to send troops out of Hangu Pass.

"But logically speaking, with important ministers like Lord Gao blocking the way, why would a mere Han minister be allowed to succeed?" asked Queen Mother Yao.

"I am far away in Shangjing now, so how can I know what happened in the court in Luoyang? But now that I think about it, the last time *** was assassinated, it eventually led to a conflict between Han and Zhao. Although Ran Qiji insisted that the assassins were sent by Zhao, I don't know the truth... Queen Mother, think about it, what if the Ran clan had colluded with Dongyu long ago? Will Dongyu send spies to Zhao first to fan the flames in secret!"

Gao is still very smart.

She talked to the Queen Mother for a long time, constantly emphasizing that she would never want the two countries to become enemies, and made Queen Mother Yao believe that she was loyal to Qiang Jiang of Northern Han. Queen Mother Yao was a little angry and spoke in a harsh tone at first, but now she has become gentle and calm. Only then did Gao confidently turn her spearhead towards Dongyu.

After all, Queen Mother Yao was not like Jiang Lina, who was so nonchalant about the war between the two countries.

After all, the fierce battle with Northern Zhao twenty years ago was so critical that Empress Dowager Yao no longer cared about competing with Mrs. Wen. She was worried about the life and death of her eldest son who was on the front line with the important task of defending against the enemy. When Jiang Xiongying finally ordered Ran Zhugu to lead his troops to rescue, she even knelt down to the ungrateful man. The eldest son was indeed a young hero, brave and good at fighting. He had made military contributions in conquering Tangyak, Canlang and other tribes, and even served as a vanguard in the battle to capture Luoyang. However, Northern Zhao was known to lead a million soldiers, and its military strength was far superior to that of the Qiang tribe. Empress Dowager Yao still remembers how frightened and uneasy she was when her eldest son faced that life-and-death battle.

Although Jiang Tai has become the king of a country, many of the Qiang troops are scattered in the vassal states outside the capital, and the leaders of each tribe are not completely loyal to Jiang Tai. If Northern Zhao uses the entire country's army to destroy the Qiang, Tongguan may not be able to be defended.

Of course, Queen Mother Yao’s idea was to avoid fighting if possible. Facing a strong enemy like Northern Zhao, she was not as confident as Jiang Lina.

"It's useless to say these things now. I just want to ask you, are you sure you can persuade your father and brother to unite with the other important officials of the Great Zhao except Gong Xianglu's gang of thieves, and advise the Emperor of Zhao to withdraw the troops?"

Queen Mother Yao did not think she was talking nonsense, and she spoke one principle after another: "In the battle to attack Luoyang, the Qiang tribe contributed the most after the Xiongnu tribe. Although when Jiang Xiongying was in power, this old fool believed the slander of the Wen family and had repeated frictions with the Zhao Dynasty, our Qiang tribe is an ally of the Xiongnu tribe after all, and the Sikong family of Dongyu is our common enemy!

Your Majesty, he designed a plan to lure the Xuan family into a trap. In the end, it is beneficial to the Great Zhao. The Emperor of Zhao is suspicious, so he can just sit down and negotiate properly. They are allies, but they are so aggressive. Isn't it that Dongyu will reap the benefits?"

Speaking such empty words at this time really made Gao laugh and cry.

"For the sake of my own safety and that of my children, I am also willing to see the two countries reconcile, but Queen Mother, now that Xianglu's evil plan has succeeded, how can he give up? Negotiations may not necessarily be impossible, but how should we talk? Queen Mother, please come up with a plan first so that we can convince Your Majesty to agree."

"You just said that the Ran clan colluded with Dongyu to alienate the alliance between Zhao and Han. That makes a lot of sense. No wonder Jiang Mo is hiding in Xiangyang and refusing to return home. This traitor is a traitor who sells out his country for personal gain!"

Queen Mother Yao gnashed her teeth and scolded Jiang Mo, then said: "As long as Great Zhao agrees to withdraw its troops, our dynasty will offer the heads of Wen Shi, Jiang Mo, Ran Zhugu, Ran Qiji and other thieves as a token of our sincerity in restoring the alliance."

Gao almost couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She didn't know whether to say that Queen Mother Yao was smart or stupid.

Queen Mother Yao's calculations were quite shrewd. If she could have killed those people just now, she would have killed them long ago. She used the heads of her mortal enemies in exchange for the forgiveness of the Great Zhao. Was she treating the ruler and his ministers of the Great Zhao as fools?

"Prince Zhenyuan is still in Xiangyang City. How is the Queen Mother going to take his head?" Gao suppressed her contempt for Queen Mother Yao and was able to discuss the matter with her seriously.

"How difficult is this? As long as Great Zhao is willing to withdraw its troops, our dynasty is willing to join forces with Great Zhao to capture Xiangyang."

If Xiangyang City was so easy to capture, why would Jiang Tai go to such great lengths to keep the Lord of Shenyuan Palace in his hands?

Taking advantage of the cover of the table, Gao pinched her thigh hard and resisted the urge to rush over to grab Empress Dowager Yao's hair and call her a pighead.

"In negotiations between two countries, we cannot use what is possible to do as a condition. What Your Majesty can definitely do now is to kill the Lord of Shenyuan Palace and destroy Zhigui!"

There is no way that the Lord of the Divine Yuan Palace would surrender to Northern Zhao, otherwise he would not have gone through so much trouble and risked his life to break out and go to Dongyu! A living Lord of the Divine Yuan Palace might be useful to Northern Han, but it would be useless to Great Zhao. It was just forcing Jiang Tai to hand over the Lord of the Divine Yuan Palace. Regardless of whether Great Zhao imprisoned or killed him, it would undoubtedly be a direct declaration of war against Dongyu!

Although Great Zhao is not afraid of Eastern Yu, if the two countries confront each other, wouldn't Northern Han be the one that reaps the benefits?

Killing Shen Yuan at Jiang Tai's place would be beneficial to the Great Zhao.

After being reminded by Gao, Queen Mother Yao suddenly had an epiphany. Yes, although Your Majesty would definitely not agree to hand over the Xuan family to Northern Zhao and hand over the banner of "God's Mandate", the situation is critical now. If destroying a flag can avoid a war, or even gain the support of Northern Zhao to directly capture Xiangyang City... the role of this flag can be said to have been fully utilized, and Your Majesty's painstaking planning was not in vain.

Queen Mother Yao nodded repeatedly: "You are right. The Xuan family is the root of trouble. They caused an imminent war. They really deserve to die! Not only the Xuan family deserves to die, but the Wang family deserves to die even more. Our dynasty is willing to offer these two heads to show our sincerity in repairing the relationship."

Even at this time, Empress Dowager Yao was still obsessed with Yingshu, her "little rival".

How could Northern Zhao care about the head of a mere female official in Dongyu? Even Gong Xianglu, who was obsessed with trampling the entire Linyi Wang family under his feet, would not target a lady. But Gao Shi naturally would not laugh at Queen Mother Yao's narrow-mindedness, but agreed: "If the Queen Mother can really convince Your Majesty to agree, I am willing to try my best and send a confidant to Luoyang to hand over the handwritten letter to my father and brother."

In fact, Gao didn't think Jiang Tai would be persuaded by Queen Dowager Yao.

Jiang Tai's ambition was to annex the nine states and become the only overlord in the world. How could he bear to destroy the "divine mandate" that he had already achieved, and directly turn against Dong Yu, instead letting the Great Zhao reap the benefits? Moreover, if Xuan was executed, the hostage Jiang Mo would immediately die in Xiangyang. Even if Jiang Tai was shaken by fear of the mighty army of the Great Zhao, Ran Zhugu and others would certainly not agree.

Queen Mother Yao just said that chopping off the heads of Ran Zhugu and others was as easy as taking something out of a bag. She didn't think about it. If Jiang Tai really had such means and courage, why would he tolerate the threat of Jiang Mo's faction until now? Ran Zhugu did not raise an army to help Jiang Mo regain the throne directly because he believed that it was not the time for both sides to suffer losses. However, if Jiang Mo's life was in danger, Ran Zhugu would definitely fight to the death with Jiang Tai.

Gao's purpose today is to make Queen Mother Yao suffer a complete setback.

Jiang Tai was discussing countermeasures with Da Shangchen in full swing when he heard that the Queen Mother was making a fuss about seeing him. Jiang Tai was impatient at first and asked the eunuch to tell the Queen Mother that she was "not available at the moment." However, before he could say a few words to Da Shangchen, the eunuch returned and said that the Queen Mother had actually broken into the council hall and expressed her opinion to the many ministers who were still in the council hall, saying that they should negotiate peace with Northern Zhao and the condition for the peace was the immediate execution of the envoy from Dong Yu.

Jiang Tai was dumbfounded. He was still alive, and the Queen Mother was going to issue orders on his behalf? !

Seeing Da Shangchen clenching his fists and coughing repeatedly, Jiang Tai finally came back to his senses from his shock. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I thought that if I punished my little sister and stopped her from causing trouble, the Queen Mother would calm down. I didn't expect that she would still do something so ridiculous."

"Your Majesty, it is best to appease the Queen Mother first." Jiang Gaofan was not sure about the Queen Mother's intelligence: "I will leave for the time being."

"Your Excellency, there is no need to hide. I am right here. I will be back soon."

Jiang Tai was now counting on Jiang Gaofan to come up with a clever plan, and didn't want to waste any more time trying to avoid the situation. His mind was in a mess anyway, so it didn't matter if he "ran around". When Jiang Tai entered the meeting hall from the side door, before he could get around the screen and see what was going on inside, he heard the Queen Mother's powerful voice:

"If His Majesty disagrees, everyone will have to try their best to persuade you, especially Duke Jincheng. Your wife, Gao, is from a noble family in Northern Zhao. Although this is the best strategy I finally came up with, and I persuaded Gao to mediate, you two are the ones who are most reluctant to see the two countries fall out. If you can convince His Majesty to accept this good advice, I can promise you in front of so many ministers..."

Jiang Tai didn't wait for the Queen Mother to finish her promise and quickly stopped her: "Queen Mother!!!"

In fact, the ministers present were not used to the scene of the empress dowager giving orders. This was a spectacle that had never happened since the founding of the Northern Han Dynasty. Even though the Emperor doted on Empress Wen, Empress Wen never gave orders in the council hall, and she had never even set foot in the council hall. Although, in fact, many people present also had the idea of ​​​​peace talks, they actually doubted themselves because the empress dowager actually proposed it.

How could he have the same idea as a woman? No wonder His Majesty's face turned darker and darker after hearing this. This idea shouldn't work, right?

Duke Jincheng Jiang Baiji had just felt like a thorn in his side, secretly complaining: Queen Mother Yao is so stupid! At this time, she made such a remonstrance and encouraged us to fight to the death. Who do you think is a fool? Everyone knows that as long as the Lord of Shenyuan Palace is executed by our dynasty, the Emperor of Dongyu will definitely use the life of King Zhenyuan as a burial companion. If we force Your Majesty to ignore the life and death of King Zhenyuan, we will completely make enemies with the Ran clan! Since I have chosen Your Majesty's camp, of course I hope Your Majesty will eliminate the followers of King Zhenyuan as soon as possible, but Queen Mother Yao should never do that. There are so many people present, but she actually plans to reward me only for my merits. Isn't it partiality? I agreed, and from then on I would no longer be Your Majesty's loyal minister, and I offered my kneecap to her, the Queen Mother... What does Your Majesty think of me? Your Majesty is not sure about eliminating dissidents, and I don't want to be the first to bear the brunt and become the number one traitor in Ran Zhugu's eyes.

Therefore, when Jiang Baiji saw the emperor coming back, he first shouted loudly, then walked out of the screen with his hands behind his back, his face as gloomy as water. He quickly bowed and said goodbye, and under Jiang Tai's stern gaze, the others followed him and avoided the outside of the meeting hall.

In fact, all the people discussing the matter had already made up their minds about Jiang Tai. How could they be persuaded by Queen Mother Yao's words to make a desperate appeal? The Qiang people's tradition of making a desperate appeal is not really limited to giving advice. A more common example is that the current emperor "made a desperate appeal" to the emperor to abdicate.

"Your Majesty, the current plan is to negotiate peace with Northern Zhao. Otherwise, with the existing military forces in Shangjing alone, it will be difficult to resist the millions of soldiers of Northern Zhao. It is just to offer the heads of Xuan and Wang families, and then take Xiangyang and kill Jiang Mo, Ran Zhugu and other rebels. Not only can the crisis be easily resolved, but it can even turn danger into safety..."

Seeing Queen Mother Yao's endless spying, Jiang Tai could no longer suppress his temper: "Is the Queen Mother treating military and political affairs as a joke? If Gao Shi really had such great ability, why would Northern Zhao send troops? The Queen Mother asked, who is the main general sent by Northern Zhao this time? That's King Sanchuan! Gao's tribe has close contacts with King Sanchuan, and King Sanchuan is eager to make achievements. How can Gao's tribe listen to a woman who married into our dynasty? At this time, they stop fighting and risk being criticized and suppressed by Gong Xianglu, and dare to advise to stop the war and negotiate peace?!

The Queen Mother shouldn't have interfered in government affairs, especially at such a critical moment?! My son begs the Queen Mother to stop causing more trouble. If Tongguan is not defended, the country will be destroyed!"