Chapter 579: The envoy sent by Gao Yao, Wu Rui panicked!

Chapter 579: The envoy sent by Gao Yao, Wu Rui panicked!

The Yangtze River is not only a natural barrier to war, but also an important blood vessel connecting the southern economy. From the abundant well salt in Bashu, to the delicious seafood in Wuyue, from the high-quality rice in Jingchu, to the exquisite silk in Jiangdong, all commercial trade routes are closely attached to this surging waterway.

Today, Gaoyao's key geographical location is like a giant hand strangling the throat, which has brought a huge impact to Hengshan King Wu Rui. First of all, for Wu Rui, the possibility of doing business has been almost cut off. After all, resources are limited everywhere. Although it seems that there is not much impact on Wu Rui in the short term, this impact will gradually become apparent over time, and may even cause the economic system within Wu Rui to begin to collapse.

Nowadays, the situations of the princes in various places are different. If you choose land transportation instead of water transportation, you must pass through checkpoints. It is difficult to predict whether these checkpoints will charge fees and what the charging standards will be. Once the transportation costs are too high, merchants will naturally be discouraged and no longer willing to take risks. In this way, Wu Rui may face serious shortages of important materials such as salt and iron, and he will inevitably face more difficulties and challenges.

This is just an economic problem, but the most fatal problem is the military. Gao Yao's strong naval strength is not only impressive at sea, but also on the Yangtze River. Once Gao Yao completely occupies the Yangtze River, he will have the initiative in the war. He can decide when to launch an attack and where to attack at will. This means that Wu Rui will be completely passive and unable to fight back.

What was worse was that before Gao Yao took action, Wu Rui had to send a large number of troops to start the battle in order to prevent Gao Yao from launching a sudden attack at any time. However, on this river, it was almost impossible for Wu Rui to take the initiative to fight. He had no confidence at all that he could defeat Gao Yao.

However, if Wu Rui chose to do nothing, he would be in a state of panic all day long. He could not be sure when Gao Yao would attack, nor did he know whether he could resist Gao Yao's attack. This uncertainty would put more and more psychological pressure on Wu Rui, and eventually he might lose confidence and courage in the war.

At this time, the envoy sent by Gao Yao had arrived in Nanjun and wanted to visit Wu Rui directly. This sudden visit still surprised Wu Rui.

After all, although the situation between the two sides has not reached the point of being at the gates of the city, it is not far from it. If Wu Rui wanted to surrender at this time, he would have surrendered long ago. The fact that he has not made any move now has already shown his attitude.

The dusk of Nanjun was stained with blood. Gao Yao's envoy convoy slowly drove into the city gate, and the black flags fluttered in the wind. The leader was wearing a brocade robe, with a bronze tiger talisman hanging around his waist. He looked calm, as if he was not entering enemy territory, but returning home.

The soldiers guarding the city tightly grasped their halberds, their eyes full of vigilance, but no one dared to step forward to stop them. Because Gao Yao's reputation had already spread throughout the entire Southern County, and the cavalry he led was even more terrifying, no one wanted to be the next soul crushed by the ruthless iron hooves.

At this time, Wu Rui was polishing his sword in his mansion. When he received the notification that the messenger had arrived at the city gate, his brows slightly frowned, and the sword in his hand shone with a frightening cold light under the candlelight.

"What does Gao Yao mean by this?" Wu Rui snorted coldly, thinking to himself, "Does he think that by sending a lobbyist over, he can easily make me give up Nanjun?"

Thinking of this, Wu Rui summoned his civil and military officials to discuss the matter without hesitation. In the lobby, everyone had different expressions. Some were worried, some were eager to try, and some were solemn. The entire lobby was shrouded in a depressing and restless atmosphere.

The generals who advocated war were the most excited. One of them even slammed the table and stood up, shouting, "My lord, Gao Yao is really ambitious! He sent an envoy this time, and he must be trying to use a delaying tactic to confuse us! In my opinion, it is better to kill the envoy directly to strengthen our military power!"

Wu Rui's advisers seemed relatively calm. After a moment's silence, they slowly said, "My lord, when two armies are at war, envoys are not killed. This has been a custom since ancient times. Moreover, we are still unclear about Gao Yao's true intentions. It would be better for us to meet the envoy first and find out his true intentions before making the final decision."

Those who were sitting on the fence echoed in a low voice: "Yes, it wouldn't hurt to meet him... Gao Yao is very powerful, if we can negotiate some conditions, it might be a way out..."

Although the last sentence was spoken in a low voice, it was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, instantly filling the classroom with a strange silence.

Wu Rui glanced at the crowd and understood clearly in his heart that the civil and military officials under his command were not a monolithic group. Wu Rui did not make a direct decision, but asked someone to arrange for Gao Yao's envoy to temporarily stay in the post station.

In the dead of night, Wu Rui stood alone in the courtyard, looking at the moonlight covered by dark clouds. The counselor approached quietly and whispered: "My lord, there was someone in the hall today with a flickering look in his eyes. I'm afraid it's..."

Wu Rui raised his hand to interrupt: "I know."

He had long noticed that some generals had been meeting with merchants frequently in recent days, and some civil officials had suddenly begun to care about the settlement of their families. Before Gao Yao's envoy opened his mouth, the people in Nanjun were already in chaos.

This is inevitable. Gao Yao is now very powerful. Even if several families join forces, the best result is to defeat Gao Yao. It is impossible to completely wipe out the southern border. Moreover, this is still the best case scenario.

This inevitably led to some people having ulterior motives, that is, whether to surrender to Gao Yao. After all, some people did it for loyalty and trustworthiness, but there were also many who did it for their family. Basically, it can be said that everyone had their own ideas.

Wu Rui had not expected that Gao Yao would put such great pressure on his subordinates. He was afraid that some of his subordinates might have already considered surrendering.

"Then let's meet. I will summon the envoy of King Qin tomorrow. There is no way to avoid it. If it is really impossible, I will have to take a risky move!"

At this time, Wu Rui did not think any more. Since the other party had already come to his door, in other words, he basically could not escape. In this case, Wu Rui simply waited and saw what the other party would say. If that did not work, he would kill the messenger.