Fenghou

Jiang Yanxian said happily: "That's good, otherwise it's really hard to talk about it."

When Li came back to the expensive hotel, Jiang Yan asked him to stay first, and the two sides were discussing in detail tomorrow morning.

In the inner hall, Li Hui saw Huang Guinian who had returned from his inspection tour. Huang Guinian had patrolled Shaanxi Road, Xihe Road, and the Hexi Corridor for three months. , I felt a little sick on the way, and after recuperating in Lanzhou for a month, when he came back, it was another scene.

"This time I went the farthest to the south of the West Sea, where there is an endless salt lake with few people. No wonder Chen Qing's military rations can be solved, these two valleys are well developed."

Li Hui tapped on the table lightly and said, "Huang Shaoqing, don't you know that Chen Qinghe captured Bashu? That's the big problem."

Huang Guinian smiled and said: "I heard about it yesterday, and I talked with Jiang Yanxian about the situation in Bashu."

"What did they say?" Li Hui asked anxiously.

"Jiang Yanxian said that the capture of Bashu is a last resort. They have 20 troops, and Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road alone cannot support such a huge army. I believe this, and I have seen it with my own eyes. There are devastated everywhere, and they need to recuperate."

"Is there any possibility of negotiating to take back Bashu?"

Huang Guinian smiled faintly, "Chen Qing doesn't want to turn against the court either. To what extent we can talk about it depends on the sincerity of the negotiations."

Chapter 587 The Game ([-])

In the Internal Affairs Hall, Chen Qing is also discussing tomorrow's negotiations with Jiang Yanxian.

Jiang Yanxian smiled and said: "Tomorrow should be just a test. Li Hui came directly from Xiangyang. He can't know the bottom line of the court. I think he should test our sincerity and give it back to the court. Then the court will discuss and determine the plan. .”

Chen Qing nodded, "Since we want to talk, we must show our sincerity. Take him to see Cixing Temple and Renzong Temple tomorrow, and then talk to him."

"The humble official suggested that the Procuratorate should meet Li Hui first, and then go to the monastery?"

Chen Qing thought for a while and said with a smile: "Li Hui had a good relationship with me before, so it's okay to meet him."

"Then where is the best place to arrange it?"

"right here!"

Chen Qing pointed in front of him, "Please come here early, I'll just see him for a while."

"The humble job has been arranged!"

Chen Qing instructed him again: "Since tomorrow is just a test, don't reveal my true intentions too early. Tomorrow is just a statement, and everything can be discussed. I believe they will understand what I can't compromise."

"Understood, I understand, I will prepare first."

Jiang Yan got up first to say goodbye.

Chen Qing sent him out, and when he came back, he saw that Zhao Qiaoyun had put away the tea cup and served him another cup of tea.

Chen Qing sat down in front of the brazier, added two pieces of charcoal, warmed the fire and said with a smile: "You also sit down and warm up."

Zhao Qiaoyun sat sideways beside Chen Qing, "What's the matter?" Chen Qing noticed that she was a little unhappy, and smiled again: "What's wrong with you?"

"It's not unhappy, it's just a little unspeakable discomfort."

"Give me your hand!"

Chen Qing stretched out his hand, and Wang Qiaoyun hesitantly put her white and petite hand in Chen Qing's broad palm. Chen Qing held her cold little hand and said with a smile: "If you don't want to reveal your identity, you can't force it."

Wang Qiaoyun lowered her head and whispered, "I just don't want to be a political marriage."

Chen Qingrou said: "Unless I don't give you any title, as long as I marry you, the court will know sooner or later."

"Then... let them know later, I really... really don't want to be a bargaining chip on the negotiating table, official, I feel very sad."

Chen Qing looked at her silently for a moment, then nodded, "Okay! I promise you, but in this way, you may not have a grand ceremony, no official marriage, and you can only respect Madam a bowl of tea like Ah Ying and A Lian , and then become my woman, would you like to?"

"I am willing, I am willing to be an unknown little woman, quietly with the officials, I don't want any grand ceremony at all, I really hate the title of Emperor Ji, it is something that I will never get rid of nightmare."

Although Wang Qiaoyun was a very good bargaining chip, Chen Qing also knew that using her as a bargaining chip would really hurt her a lot and was unfair.

And taking a step back, Zhao Gou may not care about this kind of marriage, after all Wanyan Wushu is also his brother-in-law, Zhao Gou would not take these sisters to heart at all, otherwise why Zhao Gou would have ignored Wang Qiaoyun's existence at all these years, Even Wang Mi didn't ask her a question when he was in charge of the army, he would only regard them as a shame.

Chen Qing took a report and handed it to Wang Qiaoyun with a smile: "This is the final draft of the negotiations between Yang Zaixing and Liu Guangshi. You can check if there are any problems. If there are no problems, I will sign it."

Wang Qiaoyun took the manuscript and said with a smile: "I remember we talked about it for more than a month. Is there a tug-of-war over the ownership of the ship?"

"How do you know?" Chen Qing asked in surprise.

"I know that the ships in the Jingxiang area are extremely important. When the officials wanted to bring all Liu Guangshi's ships, I felt that something was wrong. Liu Guangshi might not agree."

"You're right. Liu Guangshi was indeed unwilling to agree. He refused to give me even a big boat. After a few rounds of tug-of-war, he finally let go and agreed to give me the usual big boats. There were 270 seven boats in total, and then he gave us 40 Ten thousand coins and [-] grains to redeem [-] soldiers."

"I'll take a good look at it tonight! I'll reply to the officials tomorrow."

Zhao Qiaoyun also went back, and Chen Qing immediately sent someone to inform Jiang Yanxian that he would meet Li Hui in the official room tomorrow morning.

……

Early the next morning, Chen Qing met with Li Hui in the official room, and the two sat down separately, Jiang Yanxian also sat beside him.

Li Hui really didn't think that he was still a little nervous in front of Chen Qing. Back then when he was appointed as a privy secretary, Chen Qing was only a student of martial arts. In just five or six years, Chen Qing has become a prince of one side, and there is a kind of feeling in his gestures. An indescribable sense of coercion.

"When did the appeasement envoy come to Jingzhao?"

"The first year of Zhenghe! At that time, I followed Tong Guan to attack Xixia, and I was stationed in Jingzhao, and I was still a commander. More than 20 years have passed, and I feel that Jingzhao has not changed much."

Chen Qing shook his head and smiled: "There must be changes in Jingzhao. It has been occupied by the Jurchens and the Puppet Qi Army for eight years. Except for the official office of the Xuanfu Envoy, which was not destroyed because Wanyan Loushi and Wanyanchang liked it, other The official logos related to Song have all been erased."

"It seems that Jingzhao City Wall has become higher."

"I actually ordered the Jingzhao city wall to be raised higher. The Jin soldiers will not be reconciled to the loss of Shaanxi Road, and will definitely counterattack aggressively. I must prepare for the rainy day. I must do a good job of defending Jingzhao City."

Li Hui frowned, "If Chen Dutong puts the battlefield in Jingzhao City, I am afraid it will be a devastating blow to Guanzhong. The golden soldiers will not leave a blade of grass."

Chen Qing said indifferently: "I'm just in case. Of course, I won't put the battlefield in Jingzhao City. Please tell the imperial court that the Western Army is preparing for the battle with all their might. Shaanxi Road will never fall into the hands of Jinbing again."

……

Chen Qing didn't meet with Li Hui for a long time, and there was no negotiation involved. After leaving the government office, Jiang Yanxian accompanied Li Hui to the Cixing Temple in the east of the city. Xiu, there is also an ancestral hall of Song Renzong in the temple, which is called Renzong Temple by the locals.

Abbot Huiming, the abbot of the monastery, specially led the monks out to welcome Li Hui.

Looking back at the big plaque in the temple, Li looked back, and saw that the "Decree to Build Cixing Temple" was actually written by Song Renzong, and he was a little surprised: "This plaque is still there?"

Abbot Huiming clasped his hands together and said, "The appeasement envoys don't know anything. Jin soldiers captured Jingzhao, and Cixing Temple was also destroyed. We hid the plaque, but the temple caught fire in the second year of Jianyan, and the plaque was missing. It may have been destroyed during the firefighting." People took it away. After the envoy Xuanfu led his army into the city, he restored the burnt Guanyin Pavilion and Renzong Temple. He also paid a lot of money to find the plaques among the people and hung them again in front of the temple. Grateful."

Jiang Yanxian smiled and said nothing, and Li Hui suddenly understood what the other party meant by bringing him to Cixing Temple. This plaque is proof that Chen Qing never intended to betray Da Song, otherwise this plaque would not be hung here .

They came to the Renzong Ancestral Hall on the left side of the vestibule, which is the Renzong Temple. There is a statue of Song Renzong inside. After entering the city, it can be reshaped, and the merits are immeasurable.

Li Hui knelt down in front of the statue of Renzong and kowtowed three times respectfully.

He stood up and said to Jiang Yanxian: "I understand your painstaking efforts. It seems that the court rumors that Xuanfu envoys are ambitious, self-reliant, and betrayed the court. These rumors are not true. I will report the truth to the court. You really have sincere negotiations. .”

Jiang Yanxian smiled slightly and said: "The main reason is that Shaanxi Road is located in the northwest, and it is far away from Lin'an. Naturally, communication is not smooth. All misunderstandings are normal. We also have unavoidable difficulties in entering Sichuan. We definitely do not want to separate Sichuan and Shaanxi."

Li Hui said happily: "In this case, I am willing to listen to Chang Shi's explanation!"

Chapter 588 Game ([-])

In the afternoon, the two parties formally held the first round of negotiations in the office of the Xuanfu Envoy. Huang Guinian temporarily served as Li Hui's deputy. There are officials responsible for recording and preparing materials, and each side has five or six people.

Jiang Yanxian said calmly: "We sent troops mainly for two reasons. As we all know, in the great cause of fighting against the Jin soldiers, Sichuan and Shaanxi have always been integrated. Shaanxi Road sent people, and Sichuan roads gave money and food support. It is precisely because of strong logistics. With support, the Western Army defeated the Jin soldiers again and again, killing hundreds of thousands of enemies. Although we recovered Shaanxi Road, the population was depleted, the people were hungry and cold, and all the wealth on Shaanxi Road was exploited by the Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army. Extremely weak, he must recuperate and let the people recover slowly.

But in this way, Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road can't afford our 20 troops at all, and the army can't support them. How should we fight against gold?This is an imminent and big problem. We need a stable backup, and Bashu is our best backup base. The significance of the integration of Sichuan and Shaanxi must be reflected. "

Huang Guinian said slowly: "That's not wrong. I have inspected the prefectures along Shaanxi Road, and the people are really miserable. Their houses are barren, and some people don't even have a bowl to eat. I also saw Xuanfu envoy Wu Fang The announcement of the three-half tax reduction, tax exemption for five years, and a half-half tax payment for three years, is equivalent to eight years of recuperation, and Shaanxi Road can slowly recover."

Li Huishuo smiled slightly and said, "So, the Western Army only marched into Bashu because of insufficient money and food?"

"As I said just now, there are two reasons, and this is only one of them. The other reason is that Li Qiong's troops harass the people. At night, Li Qiong's subordinates will go out in groups to rob houses and insult the women of the people. The people in various states were filled with resentment, and the Xuanfu envoy couldn't bear it anymore, and sent troops to severely teach these rogue troops who violated discipline."

Li Hui nodded, "I understand your intention to send troops to Sichuan. The court also hopes to find a satisfactory way to solve the irrational behavior in Bashu now. That's why I am sent to Jingzhao, and to express my sincerity, The official dismissed me from the position of Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and changed me to be the appeasement envoy of Jinghu North Road, just to avoid irritating your side, as I have explained before."

Jiang Yanxian added: "Our attitude is to hope that the two sides can find a balance point that can not only take into account the interests of the imperial court, but also meet the needs of the Western Army. Therefore, we are willing to negotiate a solution instead of relying on force. This is our sincerity. , if it is resolved by force alone, the imperial court will not have any chance."

One of Li Hui's entourage officials couldn't help but angrily scolded: "Confronting the court is called sincerity? If you admit that you are the courtiers of the Song Dynasty, then you have no right to bargain with the court, let alone use force to seize the court's territory. Then If you keep saying that you are sincere, this is clearly the separatist rule of the feudal town!"

Su Ji, the head of the Hucao Department, also responded unceremoniously: "Have we separated Sichuan and Shaanxi? If Sichuan and Shaanxi were separated, you will still have the opportunity to sit here and negotiate? It is not us who suffered a disastrous defeat in Yiling. , we will never force it!"

Li Hui was famous in the imperial court for his kindness. He quickly waved his hands and said, "Everyone, calm down. Since it is a negotiation, it means that both parties recognize the reality and are willing to face the reality. Let's continue!" Jiang Changshi said that he hoped that both parties Find a balance point, where is your balance point?"

Jiang Yanxian smiled slightly and said: "This balance point cannot be determined by one family. Just like Tianping said, both parties can find this balance point by weighing together. The key is that everyone must be ready. If the pacifier is ready, we can work together." Get up and weigh."

Jiang Yanxian's words are very sharp, and the implication is that you don't know the court's bottom line, so how can I tell you mine?

Li Hui smiled bitterly and said, "I'll send a pigeon letter to the court tomorrow morning!"

……

Li Hui released three pigeon letters in a row, flew to Xiangyang with his letters, then transferred from Xiangyang to Jiangzhou, and then from Jiangzhou to Lin'an. It took three days along the way, but compared with the 30-day long journey, The time is much shorter.

After Zhang Jun received the pigeon letter, he copied a copy and hurried to the Da Nei Palace. At dusk, Emperor Zhao Gou summoned Zhang Jun in Linde Hall.

"Your Majesty, this is the content of their first round of negotiations. Both sides are testing, but there are already a few points that can be clarified. First of all, Chen Qing has no intention of betraying Da Song."

Zhao Gou sneered and said, "Hanging up a signboard and repairing Renzong's ancestral hall will prove that he has no intention of betraying the Song Dynasty? Is this conclusion too rash?"

Zhang Jun persuaded: "Your Majesty, Chen Qing is not an old, cunning and ambitious person like Liu Guangshi. He is more motivated by a kind of anger, but it is not that I underestimate him when he says that he wants to separate the regime and rebel and stand on his own. If you can’t reach this level, if His Majesty still doesn’t understand the meaning of Weichen, then we can change someone, for example, replace Chen Qing with Liu Guangshi, he occupied Sichuan and Shaanxi, and defeated the imperial army, will he still negotiate with the imperial court?”

Zhao Gou nodded slightly, "My lord is right. If it was Liu Guangshi, I'm afraid he wouldn't have negotiated with the imperial court."

"That's what Weichen means. As long as he is still willing to negotiate, it means that he still recognizes himself as Songchen, and there is hope to resolve the crisis."

Zhao Gou sighed, "Sir, please continue to talk, what else has been clarified after the preliminary negotiation?"

Zhang Jun hesitated and said: "Maybe one thing will disappoint His Majesty, I think he will not withdraw from Bashu."

Zhao Gou's face was ugly, but he didn't have an attack, which he expected. He snorted and said, "I know he won't withdraw. If he withdraws, there is no point in attacking Bashu."

"Your Majesty is right. Although he refuses to withdraw the army, we promise to give him money and food support, pay his military salary, and then ask him to withdraw."

"and then?"

"He will certainly not believe us and is determined not to retreat, but we can take the next best thing and take over the government affairs of Bashu. The right to appoint and remove remains with the imperial court."

Zhao Gou took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "What about financial power?"

Zhang Jun sighed, "Your Majesty, what Chen Qing wants is financial power. We can get local governance and the right to appoint and dismiss officials. In fact, we have already taken back half of Bashu. At most, we can get back the salaries of officials."

Standing in front of the window, Zhao Gou pondered for a long time and said, "Alright, first stabilize Chen Qing, and then go back and deal with Liu Guangshi."

"Your Majesty, maybe we can ask Chen Qing to clean up Liu Guangshi for us." Zhang Jun suggested.

Zhao Gou shook his head, "I'm afraid that the wolf will go, and the tiger will come again. What if he occupies Jingnan South Road and refuses to leave?"

"Probably not. Jinghu South Road is not protected by natural dangers like Bashu. The stall is too big, which is not good for him. He will not do such a thing that is scolded by the world, but he must have conditions."

"Let's talk about it! Liu Guangshi, let's solve it ourselves. It's not too late to find him if it doesn't work."

"Has His Majesty decided? The final compromise with Chen Qing!"

Zhao Gou hesitated for a long time, and when he realized that he had no choice, he finally made up his mind.

Zhao Gou immediately said to Zhang Jun: "I don't trust Li Hui's ability. He can't hold Chen Qing down. I still want my husband to go to Jingzhao. My bottom line is the power of local governance and the right to appoint and dismiss officials. The rest is up to the minister. .”

Chapter 589 The Game ([-])

On the Yangtze River Wharf in Jiangling County, teams of peasants chanted chant and loaded the last batch of copper coins and grain in wooden boxes onto the big ship. Two hundred three thousand stone big ships were ready.

Negotiations between the two sides went on for more than a month, back and forth, money and grain were not a big problem, [-] pennies plus ten shi grains were exchanged for a prisoner of war, and the two sides reached an agreement in the first round.

The key is the big ships. The Western Army wants five hundred three thousand stone ships from Jiangling Mansion. These were originally official ships transferred from various places to transport money and food to Lin'an, but Liu Guangshi also knew the importance of these warships. No boat along the Yangtze River means no legs, so Liu Guangshi firmly disagreed with giving boats, and would rather give more money and food.

But the Western Army refused to give in. Without ships, the negotiation would be tantamount to breaking down. In the end, Chen Qing made the final decision. The ransom for each soldier was based on [-] pennies, plus [-] stones of grain, and the [-] stone ships were reduced to [-] ships. Liu Guangshi also agreed to this plan, and the two sides reached a compromise.

Looking at the boats moored on the river, Liu Guangshi worriedly said to his aide Yang Chui'an: "I was worried that Chen Qing would go against his word and take away the money, food and boats, but he would not let him go. I have nothing to do with him."

Yang Cuian smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry about envoy Xuanfu. Didn't Chen Qing sign an additional agreement with us? I think he values ​​trade very much. If he wants to trade with us and Jiangnan, then he won't go back on what he says."

One sentence reminded Liu Guangshi that on the basis of redeeming prisoners of war, they signed an additional agreement on trade and transit. Both sides agreed to fully liberalize trade. Liu Guangshi also promised that there would be no checkpoints on the Yangtze River. , no interception, free passage of ships.

Yang Chui'an continued: "Conversely, Chen Qing shouldn't be worried about the envoy's emptying of the ship. After all, the Western Army controls Yiling and can go to Jiangling at any time. This is because both sides have restrictions."

At this moment, a cavalryman rushed over and stopped in front of Liu Guangshi. The cavalryman got off his horse and knelt down on one knee to report, "Report to Xuanfu envoy, news from Yiling that our [-] captured soldiers have appeared." In Yiling."

Liu Guangshi finally made up his mind and ordered: "The fleet sets out!"

Two hundred [-]-stone boats loaded with money and food slowly set sail, and under the pull of the trackers, they sailed mightily towards Yiling.

The Western Army did not break its promise. Three days later, [-] prisoners of war arrived in Jiangling City.

……