Ardashir thought for a long time, with a sarcastic smile on his lips, he waved his hand and ordered the commander to go down. The captain responded, turned and left. Ardashir looked at his back, raised the corners of his mouth and slowly lowered them, his expression became very serious.
Did they plan to use this tunnel to enter the city again, or did they already know that I discovered this tunnel, so they simply gave up? Ardashir wiped the beard from the corners of his mouth, thinking deeply. He regretted it now. It was a bit of a risk to pin his hopes on those ten craftsmen for the battle a few days ago. Although these craftsmen were loyal and never leaked anything from the beginning to the end, Sun Feng captured many prisoners because of this. With so many people, who can guarantee that all of them are as loyal as the craftsmen of the ten temples?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? would be a waste of money. Not only did you lose a lot of property in vain, but you also lost a great opportunity to catch the turtle in the urn. If the enemies sneaking into the city were blocked, it would be several times better than this situation.
As soon as this thought came to mind, Aldashir suddenly sat up straight in alertness. When did I become so indecisive? When did I start to have regrets? He has always prided himself on being bold and resourceful, so how could he be so unsure of himself now? Could it be that he was afraid of being beaten by the Sun family and his son?
Losing confidence is more dangerous than losing the battle. Ardashir was sweating coldly, and it took him a long time to recover. He slumped down on the chair, his face turning blue and white.
There was a sound of footsteps outside the door. A guard holding a spear knelt down on one leg outside the door and put his hand on his chest: "Your Majesty, a report has come from the city. The envoy of the Crown Prince of Yue has requested to enter the city."
Ardashir didn¡¯t say a word. He felt that Sun Feng¡¯s envoy had arrived. The ransom had been paid and the prisoners would be released tomorrow. It was time for the other party to take action again. Ardashir was silent for a moment, then waved his hand to let the envoy proceed.
After about a meal, Jiang Gan, who was wearing a long gown, came to Aldashir leisurely, bowed slightly and saluted: "Jiang Gan, the envoy of the Allied Forces, has met the king."
"Why don't you kneel down when you see this king?" Ardashir returned to his usual majesty, snorted softly, and his murderous aura surged out.
Jiang Gan smiled and turned to look at the guards who were coming to push him down. The two soldiers stopped involuntarily when he glanced at them. Ardashir was furious, sat up straight, slapped the armrest, and was about to get angry when Jiang Gan put away his smile, frowned and said, "My lord, haven't you understood the situation in front of you yet?"
"What situation?" Ardashir was furious: "Do you think Ctesiphon is a place where you can come and go at will?"
"Not yet, but it will be soon." Jiang Gan waved his sleeves as if to shoo away flies. The two guards who knew that they had made a mistake stood there nervously, neither advancing nor retreating. Ardashir didn't care about punishing them now. He heard another meaning from Jiang Gan's words. It seemed that Sun Feng was bound to conquer Ctesiphon and had something to rely on. He suddenly thought of those tunnels. , which shows that the other party may not know that he has discovered these tunnels, and is still counting on these tunnels to work. For him, this is undoubtedly the best news.
"You're not ashamed of yourself." Aldashir pretended to be disdainful and snorted. He relaxed his body again and sat leaning on the chair. However, his eyes were unnaturally tense, and he stared closely at Jiang Gan's every move: "What's the matter? Say it quickly and leave immediately, lest this king get angry and take your life, and then you will have no way to regret it."
"Hahaha" Jiang Gan laughed loudly: "You kill me? I'm here to give you a chance to live, but you want to kill me? It's really ridiculous."
Aldashir was secretly happy in his heart, but asked calmly: "I am alive and well, what chance do I need from you to survive? You, on the other hand, burned the Roman camp last time to teach you a little lesson. I hope you will retreat in spite of the difficulties, but I didn¡¯t expect you to refuse to repent and linger on. Next time, I¡¯m afraid it will be your Han people¡¯s camp that will be burned down. When that time comes, let¡¯s see if you can talk like this again.¡±
Jiang Gan smiled and said nothing, looking at Aldashir relaxedly, as if to say, blow, keep blowing, see how you can blow, and I will talk about it after you finish blowing.
Ardashir was irritated by his demeanor. He straightened his body and his face sank. He was about to show off his authority, but then he realized that the other party might be trying to stimulate him to lose his mind, but he couldn't fall for his trick. He relaxed again and sneered: "Don't try to use your words. If you have anything to say, just say it. I'll see what other tricks your prince can use."
"My prince has a kind heart and does not want to drag out the war for too long and prevent the soldiers on both sides from being reunited with their families."?, so I was sent to discuss with the king a way to end this war. "Jiang Gan said slowly: "Your Majesty has been fighting for many years, and he must also know that Taixifeng has become an isolated city. I heard that your Majesty is familiar with our Han people's art of war, and he must also know the old saying that 'a city without help cannot be defended'. Taixifeng is now an isolated city. It is an isolated city without reinforcements, and it will only fall sooner or later. However, my prince, King Nian, is also a hero, and the Sasanian family is also a family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. We Han people value continuity, and we don¡¯t want your Sasanian ancestors to have no one to worship them, so I want to give you a chance. "
"Really?" Aldashir suppressed a smile and said calmly: "What kind of opportunity is it?"
"If the king understands the current situation, then open the city and surrender. My prince can make the decision and let the king keep the city of Taixi and be your king of Sassanid."
Ardashir stretched out his hand, rubbed his beard back and forth, and sneered: "If you keep the city in the west, the rest of the country will belong to you?"
Jiang Gan seemed unable to hear the irony and nodded: "Not entirely, some of it will be given to the Romans and Kushans."
"Bah!" Aldashir spat, "Don't mention this again. If there's nothing else, you can leave and tell your prince that I appreciate his kindness. However, if I really do this I'm afraid that the ancestors of the Sasanian family will cast aside me."
Jiang Gan did not feel dissatisfied, and paused and said: "Since the king is obsessed with understanding, then he should do the next best thing." He stretched out his hand and took out a piece of paper from his arms, and an eunuch beside Ardashir hurriedly left. He came over, took the paper, and handed it to Aldashir. Ardashir glanced at it: "What is it?"
"War letter." Jiang Qian said: "My prince is willing to have a fair fight with the king to determine the outcome. If you win, we will withdraw from the land of Sassanid immediately. If the king loses, then please withdraw from Ctesiphon and end it." End this war and bring peace to the people of the world."
"It's ridiculous!" Ardashir dismissed it: "I'm here, and you can come and fight at any time. What's unfair? Do you still expect me to come out and fight with you? I would, but unfortunately, I can't trust you. These are dishonest people.¡±
"Alas, you can still live if you do evil by God, but you can't live if you do evil on your own. The ancients are honest and don't deceive me." Jiang Gan sighed and cupped his hands: "Since the king doesn't care about the people of Taixi Fengcheng at all, then we have no choice but to Acting on the wrath of Vajra, adhering to Ahura¡¯s will, punishing evil and eradicating evil, in order to save the world from water and fire. Your Majesty, please do your own thing."
"Hahaha" Ardashir laughed loudly, "The true god Ahura said that the more vicious someone is, the more likely they are to pretend to be kind. You invaded my Sassanid state and you still pretend to be kind. When I Are all the people in Sassanid Persia easy to deceive? Go ahead and tell your king and prince to fight if you want, and stop saying anything against your will. Although I, Ardashir, have never seen much of the world, I am a true gentleman and a prince. You can still tell the difference between a hypocrite and a hypocrite.¡±
Jiang Qian put away his smile, sneered, turned around and left.
Seeing his angry look, Ardashir was in a good mood. He raised his hand and shouted again: "Stop."
Jiang Gan stopped and turned around to look at him angrily: "Could it be that the king regrets it?"
"I have nothing to regret." Ardashir walked down the throne slowly, came to Jiang Gan, stared into his eyes and said: "I also have something to say. The New Year is coming soon, Ctesiphon is not Troy , you are not Achilles, not to mention that heroes like Achilles are not immortal. If you don't have the ability to attack the city, you'd better go back as soon as possible, otherwise, hey, it's not me who regrets it, but you. ¡±
Jiang Gan¡¯s eyes tightened, he cupped his hands, turned around and left without saying a word. Ardashir looked at his hurried back and laughed heartily. He walked to the throne, looked at the paper on the case, curled his lips, stretched out his hand and tore it into pieces, then waved his hand and ordered The two guards just pushed him out and beheaded him.
The two guards cried and begged to no avail, and were soon beheaded and dismembered.
¡¡
When Sun Feng received the report, he didn't say anything. He just politely said to Jiang Gan: "Sir, I'm wronged."
Although Jiang Gan didn't understand why Sun Feng would arrange it like this, he still said respectfully: "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. I will retire."
Sun Feng nodded and watched Jiang Gan retreat, then turned to Lu Xun and said, "The prisoners will be released tomorrow. Should we attack?"
"There is no rush." ??Lu Xun shook his head confidently: "It will take some time before the news spreads after the prisoners are released. Ardashir is not a fool. He will definitely control the mouths of these people. In my opinion , let the Romans shout a few more times, let all the people in CtesiphonEveryone knows that it was Ardashir who resisted to the end and forced us to kill him. "
Sun Feng understood the idea and nodded repeatedly.
"Prince." Lu Xun moved his body and leaned forward: "The war is about to begin, you'd better report the situation here to the king."
Sun Feng thought for a moment, then nodded and responded: "I will rush to my father's camp in person right away to give him an explanation."
"That's right." Lu Xun smiled with great satisfaction.
Sun Feng invited Quintus to discuss the matter and asked the Romans to serve as a propaganda team for a few more days. Quintus answered them all without saying a word, and he could shout a few times without killing anyone. Besides, he was the most capable of shouting in Persian among the Romans, so he did his part. After Sun Feng arranged the relevant affairs, Lu Xun guarded the camp and made preparations for the final attack. He led the guard battalion to Sun Shao's camp.
Sun Shao was drinking tea in the camp. Emily and Diana were accompanying him on the left and right. One was squeezing his shoulders and the other was reading to him "Meditations", the posthumous work of the former Roman Emperor Marco Aurelius. Aurelius was a rare philosopher emperor. He was not only a wise monarch, but also a learned Stoic philosopher. Even when he was away fighting, he kept reading and meditating. He was immersed in Greek culture and was proficient in Greek. This "Meditations" is a diary-style philosophical work written in Greek. He never mentioned it to others during his lifetime, and it was not discovered until after his death by those who sorted out his belongings. His son Commodus was of mediocre intelligence and had no interest in this Greek philosophy work, so he threw it in a corner. Later, Rome was in chaos, and several monarchs were born as warriors and had little interest in this philosophy. It was not until Alexander succeeded to the throne that he rediscovered it. He read this book and admired it greatly. He once carried it with him. Sun Shao had seen this book when they first met in Aksum. Now that Alexander died in battle, Momia felt sad when she saw this book. She heard that Sun Shao liked this book, so she gave it to Sun Shao. Sun Shao could not understand Greek, but Emily and Diana, who were born in the aristocracy, had both received Greek lessons and happened to be his interpreters.
When he heard that Sun Feng was coming, Sun Shao didn't feel any surprise. He just asked Emily to put away the book and poured Sun Feng a cup of tea.
"Father, thank you for your hard work." Sun Feng saluted with a smile and sat opposite Sun Shao.
"What's the trouble for me?" Sun Shao laughed, raised his teacup and took a sip: "You came to see me all of a sudden. Is the war not going well?"
Sun Feng recounted the battles of the past few days, and finally said: "The Roman camp was burned, which made our already not abundant supplies even more stretched. We couldn't make arrangements calmly, so we had to resolve the battle as soon as possible. It's just that In this way, when entering the city, I'm afraid a bloody battle will still be inevitable." He said with shame: "My eldest mother often said in the past that if you don't bear the burden, you won't know the weight of your weight. Only after I served as a general for a few days did I realize how difficult it is for my father to plan. "
Sun Shao's mouth twisted: "Feng'er, you did a good job, I'm very satisfied. In war, there are always accidents, how can everything go as you want? When the Romans were attacked, you didn't mess up your position. That's the point. It¡¯s already commendable.¡±
"That's all thanks to my uncle. If he hadn't been by my side, I would have panicked. Furthermore, all the generals worked hard, whether it was Chen Hai and Li Yan, or the two generals Cao and the mercenaries from Tianzhu, to defeat the enemy. The army remained calm during the two-sided attack, which also made me feel at ease. What makes me even more grateful is that Yang Dezu was aware of the subtleties and captured the ten soldiers before I could react. This was the key to our final victory. Now that I think about it, I¡¯m still scared.¡±
"Yang Xiu is a talented person, but unfortunately, he can't be used by me after all." Sun Shao sighed: "But it's okay, this is the family tradition of the Yang family."
"Yeah." Sun Feng thought for a moment and then said, "Father, do you think it's still too late?"
"There's enough time." Sun Shao said nonchalantly: "You can go and fight with peace of mind. Don't worry about these things. I will guard your way out, so you can do it boldly."
Sun Feng nodded gratefully and said: "Aldashir knows that we can't support us for long, so he will definitely order Awad to attack again. Without the help of the Romans, isn't my father's military strength here too weak? I Let¡¯s bring over the cavalrymen under Cao Zhang and Bo Diao.¡±
Sun Shao thought for a moment and said worriedly: "Move them over. Do you have enough troops?"
Sun Feng said without hesitation: "Anyway, these cavalry will not play any role when attacking the city. Let them come here to ensure that my father is safe, and I feel relieved."
"Hehehe" Sun Shao smiled and raised his hand to pat Sun Feng on the back of the head: "Xiao Zhuzi, you have a sweet mouth. But you don't have to show off your words in front of me. After this battle is over, take your strip with you. Madam Dun, go back and lie to your eldest mother and grandma. Let me see how you explain it to them. Also, what are you going to do?Arrange for the two girls from the Zhang family and the Yang family? "
Sun Feng smiled sheepishly, raised his hand and touched his head: "Marriage matters are naturally ordered by the parents, and the matchmaker's words are all decided by the father and the queen."
"Don't try to pass this problem on to me." Sun Shaoyi curled his lips and said, "You can handle the trouble yourself." He paused and then said, "In terms of the strength of the siege, my ten thousand-destroyed The strength of the front camp is still countless, if you need it, take them with you."
Sun Feng shook his head resolutely: "Father, you have done so much for me. If I still can't conquer Ctesi Feng, how can I have the nerve to take charge of major events here? The Deefeng Camp is my father's imperial guard. I How can it be used easily? If it must be used, it must be commanded by my father." He smiled, "I still want to use this battle to form my own imperial guard, which will be used in future battles. I don't know. Does your father think so?"
"Okay, it's time for you to form your own imperial guard." Sun Shao didn't insist: "However, you have to remember that you can never trust your life in the hands of foreigners at any time. The Teutons are still can be used, other barbarians may not be trustworthy. They seek profit and have no loyalty at all. Don't be blinded by them. In my opinion, it is better to form a guard army mainly composed of Yue people. Don't Let the Teutonic Knights be the only one in power, so as not to end up in trouble."
"Here." Sun Feng was overjoyed. He had always wanted to form his own imperial guard, but he was afraid of arousing Sun Shao's taboo, so he took this opportunity to propose it. Unexpectedly, Sun Shao not only did not object, but instead offered him help. idea, this made a stone fall from his heart. He was a little ashamed and felt that he shouldn't have been defensive about his father. Just as he was thinking about how to explain it, Sun Shao continued: "Your uncle is a versatile man in both civil and military affairs, and is deeply influenced by Confucianism. He is a trustworthy and loyal minister. You You should listen to his advice more.¡±
Sun Feng didn't understand what this meant for a moment and glanced at Sun Shao. Sun Shao didn't look at him either, just lowered his head and drank tea. Sun Feng thought about it and decided that it was Lu Xun's idea to let him test Sun Shao's mind. But now Sun Shao was praising Lu Xun. Could it be that he had seen what was behind this and was expressing his disapproval of his request in disguise? affim?
"Here." Sun Feng responded vaguely.
"With Ctesiphon, we have a large amount of land that can be divided. All meritorious people can get a piece of land, but how to allocate it must not only consider the present, but also the future. This is a very challenging matter. Not only do you have to Listen to other people's suggestions and have your own ideas." Sun Shao took a sip of tea, took the "Meditations" from the case, and gently placed it in front of Sun Feng: "This is the reflection of the Romans themselves. There are a lot of insights, but there are also a lot of one-sided opinions. After all, doctors cannot heal themselves. If you have time, you can take a look and get some lessons from it. The Romans went from a small city-state to an imperial empire across Europe, Asia and Africa. We have entered the golden age, and now we have fallen into such a state. There are too many things worth learning from it. Don¡¯t leave such a treasure and return empty-handed, otherwise it would be a pity.¡±
"Here. I will definitely remember my father's teachings." Sun Feng bowed in response.
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