Fenghou

……

The next morning, the negotiations continued. This time the negotiations were held in the military camp outside the city. Three large tents were set up. The middle tent was the main tent for the negotiations. Chen Qing sits in charge.

Because Zhang Jun attended behind the scenes, Chen Hing also attended behind the scenes.

The main negotiators of the two parties are still Jiang Yanxian and Li Hui, and the deputy envoys are Su Ji and Huang Guinian. If the first round of negotiations is a trial, then this round of negotiations will enter into substantive negotiations.

Zhang Jun specifically listed 24 rights, including the right to garrison troops, the right to public security, the right to defense, the right to militias, the right to local government affairs, the right to appoint and remove personnel, the right to supervise, the right to criminal review, the right to taxation, the right to salt and iron, the right to transshipment, the right to mine, The right to make money, the right to be an official craftsman, the right to recommend imperial examinations, the right to appoint honored officials, the right to benefit from public land, the right to dispose of official houses, the status of Xiazhou, the status of Hanzhong, and so on.

Zhang Jun is worthy of being an experienced prime minister. The bottom line of the emperor is the power of local government affairs and the right to appoint and remove personnel. However, Zhang Jun listed 24 rights, and negotiated with the other party one by one. In this way, the rights he finally got are absolute. More than two.

Moreover, many powers are not local powers. For example, mining rights, supervisory powers, salt and iron rights, powers to appoint honorary officers, and powers to recommend imperial examinations are the powers of the imperial court. The powers of criminal review and transshipment are the powers of various parties. If they are not clarified In the end, all these powers belonged to Chen Qing.

In addition, Zhang Jun also wants to discuss the ownership of Hanzhong. Zhang Jun wants to take back the local government affairs and personnel appointment and dismissal rights in Hanzhong. It belongs to Jinghu South Road, not to Sichuan, but Chen Qing occupied Xiazhou in this war.

Su Ji came to Chen Qing's account in a hurry, and handed over the negotiation list drafted by Zhang Jun to Chen Qing. Chen Qing was stunned, and he didn't expect so much to be involved.

He pondered for a moment, circled the eight items of garrison power, security power, defense power, militia power, taxation power, salt and iron power, transshipment right, and mining right, and crossed out the ownership of Hanzhong and Xiazhou. Do not participate in negotiations.

Hand it over to Su Jidao: "The ones I circled must be obtained, and those crossed out will not participate in the negotiation, and then the local government affairs and personnel appointment and dismissal rights can be given to them, but the two positions of Chengdu Governor and Chengdu General Judge must be recommended by me , In addition, I will serve as a Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu envoy."

It is impossible for Chen Qing to let Qin Hui or Empress Dowager Wei's people control the core city of Chengdu Mansion, either Zhang Jun's people or the Lu family's faction.

Su Jidao: "The Governor of Chengdu and the General Judge of Chengdu probably won't give it to us!"

"It doesn't matter. At the end of the negotiation, we can exchange Hanzhong's government affairs power and personnel appointment and dismissal power."

"Humble job understands!"

Chen Qing asked Zhang Xuan to quickly copy the 24 rights before giving the list to Su Ji.

Chen Qing read the list and said to Zhang Xuan, "Run here and invite Mr. Wei!"

Mr. Wei is Wei Ningyuan's third uncle, called Wei Zhan, and the only elder of the Wei family. He once served as the governor of Jingzhao during the Zhenghe period, and was transferred to the imperial court to serve as Taichangqing and Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. Although he has no real power, he has great respect for The various operations of the imperial court and officialdom are well known.

Chen Qing visited him specially, and hoped that he would serve as a senior minister of the Economic and Strategy Office, equivalent to a consultant, to make up for their inexperienced weakness.

Negotiations have already begun. There is no objection to Chen Qing's four powers of garrison power, security power, defense power, and militia power.

Li Hui put forward two proposals. The first plan is that the power of finance and taxation should be transferred to the Western Army, but the money and food should be divided in half, and the imperial court would use it to pay the salaries of officials in the prefectures and counties of Bashu and the government’s daily expenditures; The military salary of the army, but the tax rights, salt and iron rights, transshipment rights, mining rights, and coin casting rights belong to the imperial court.

This was Zhang Jun's plan. Of course, Zhang Jun wanted the second plan. Taking back Bashu's financial and taxation rights and transshipment rights was nothing more than paying the military salary of 20 troops.

At this time, Wei Zhan was invited. He was about [-] years old, thin, energetic, and especially clear in thinking. He appeared very humble in front of Chen Qing.

Chen Qing asked him to sit down and served tea to his subordinates. Only then did he tell Wei Zhan about the 24 powers and the current dispute.

Wei Zhan looked at the list carefully, and said with a smile: "Ms. Zhang is a master! His methods are sophisticated, and the Xuanfu envoy will never think of the meaning of the right to appoint honorary officers."

"I don't quite understand, so I asked the old Shangshu for advice."

"The right to appoint honorary officers is actually to control the squires. All squires basically have honorary officers, and they get many benefits from this, such as not seeing officials, such as immunity from misdemeanors, and taking concubines, traveling in and out of carriages, etc. They The social status of the gentry is obtained from the honorary officials. The honorary officials are in the hands of the court, and the gentry will naturally obey the court. Once the gentry support the court, the subordinate officials at all levels controlled by them will also support the court.

Moreover, without the support of the gentry, the militia in the military power would be abolished. If the gentry refused to agree, Dutong would not be able to recruit militia soldiers at all. "

"What if I try to get the right to appoint and dismiss honorary officers?"

"It's useless to get the Dutong! The gentry don't accept the honored officials appointed by the Dutong. They want the honored officials from the court."

"Then how to solve it?"

"The method is also simple. They all must get the Xuanfu Envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi. One of the functions of the Xuanfu Envoy is to approve or dismiss honorary officials on behalf of the imperial court. The imperial court will give [-] honorary officials from various provinces in Sichuan every year, and then the Xuanfu envoys will The officials were appointed and dismissed from the list reported by the prefectures and counties, and finally the list was handed over to the Ministry of Officials for record. In fact, the power to appoint and dismiss honored officers was in the hands of the Xuanfu envoy, and if a squire was disobedient, his honored officer would be dismissed directly."

Chen Qing admired secretly, Jiang is still old and spicy.

He asked again: "Then about the struggle for financial and taxation rights, what advice does the old Shangshu have?"

Wei Zhan chuckled, "Taxation is a power of the government to control the people. It is understandable that the court wants to fight for it, but the key is the transshipment right. All the money and grain warehouses and ships are controlled by the transshipment department, and how to allocate money and grain is also determined by the transshipment department." , as long as Dutong gets the transshipment rights and mining rights, it doesn’t matter if other financial and tax rights are handed over to the other party.”

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "But I still want to get the right to salt and iron!"

The salt and iron right is actually a monopoly right. The salt, iron, wine, sugar and other monopoly sales are all in charge of the salt and iron department, and the benefits are extremely rich.

"If they all want to take the power of salt and iron, then they have to make big concessions in other aspects, such as returning all the powers in Hanzhong except the right to garrison to the imperial court."

Chen Qing hesitated and said, "Actually, I want to exchange Hanzhong for the right to appoint the prefect of Chengdu and the general judge."

Wei Zhan smiled slightly and said, "Personnel rights are actually not important. As long as the governor is appointed as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and the money and food are firmly in his hands, no matter who comes to be an official, he can be easily dealt with."

Chen Qing nodded, "I understand!"

He wrote a note and proposed a new plan, "First, ask the imperial court to designate himself as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi;

Second, the transshipment rights, salt and iron rights, and mining rights in financial rights are under the jurisdiction of the Sichuan-Shanxi Xuanfu Commissioner. The official salaries and daily expenses of the government offices in various prefectures and counties are allocated by the Transshipment Commissioner on an actual basis. Supplement for daily expenses;

Third, as a financial concession, all power in Hanzhong, except the garrison, can be transferred to the imperial court. "

Chapter 592 The Game ([-])

Although the negotiations during the day had entered a substantive stage, there were no results. The two sides had great differences. Although Chen Qing finally came up with a plan, Zhang Jun could not decide on this plan. It had to be decided by the officials. The most important thing here was Chen Qing will serve as the envoy of Xuanfu in Sichuan and Shaanxi.

Zhang Jun paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back, while Li Hui said, "We just got the news that Chen Qing and Liu Guangshi reached an agreement on the release of prisoners of war. The price of the big ship redeemed 40 prisoners of war, and I heard that several additional treaties were reached, which seemed to be related to trade and navigation, but I didn’t ask about the specifics.”

Zhang Jun sighed softly, "It doesn't matter what treaty they reached, the key is that they didn't pass the court, hey! The court made a big mistake by letting Liu Guangshi come to Jing South Road."

Li Hui tentatively asked: "If Liu Guangshi really supports himself, Zhu Shengfei should bear the responsibility of recommending him?"

Zhang Jun snorted coldly, "He must take responsibility!"

At this time, Huang Guinian said from the side: "I am afraid that the imperial court will not agree to make Chen Qing the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi."

Zhang Jun shook his head, "This is not a question of whether the imperial court will answer or not. It is the situation. Is the imperial court reluctant to part with a procuratorate, or is it just watching Chen Qing separatize Sichuan and Shaanxi, and then support Liu Guangshi to stand on his own? I am most worried about the latter point." Once Chen Qing supports Liu Guangshi to stand on his own feet, the Great Song Dynasty will be in danger, and the officials must understand this point."

……

Early the next morning, Zhang Jun sent more than a dozen carrier pigeons to Xiangyang. He was worried that the court would not receive his letter, so he sent three copies repeatedly.

Three days later, Qin Hui received the letter from Zhang Junge. At the same time as Qin Hui received the letter from Zhang Junge, he also received the latest news about Liu Guangshi from Xiangyang.

Liu Guangshi has proclaimed himself King of Jing, imprisoned officials, and even killed Du Sheng, the prefect of Changde. Things became very difficult, but Qin Hui also realized that this was an opportunity for him and Queen Mother Wei to reconcile.

Qin Hui did not go to see the emperor immediately, but called his wife Wang.

"Madam, can I go to the palace to see the Queen Mother soon?"

Wang was a little unhappy and said: "I haven't entered the palace for a long time since the master offended the queen mother in the court."

"You go to the palace immediately and tell the Queen Mother that Liu Guangshi really wants to join forces to rebel. He has proclaimed himself King of Jing and killed the magistrate, so the Queen Mother should get rid of himself as soon as possible."

Wang also realized that the problem was serious, and she asked nervously, "How can the Queen Mother get rid of it?"

"She knows, let Zhu Shengfei take responsibility, but don't mention Zhu Shengfei, her heart is like a mirror."

Wang Shi nodded, "I will enter the palace now!"

After cleaning up, Mrs. Wang went into the palace in a carriage.

Qin Hui looked at his wife's carriage going away, and smiled smugly.

The easing of relations with Empress Dowager Wei is of course just an excuse, the key is that he wants to use this matter to drive Zhu Shengfei out of the Zhizheng Hall. If Zhu Shengfei resigns from the Prime Minister, the Empress Dowager will definitely recommend Liang Xi, a scholar, to be the Prime Minister, but Liang Xi is not only the Queen Mother's henchman , is also his dark son.

Not long after Mrs. Wang left, the housekeeper quickly walked to the door and said to Qin Hui, "Mr. Xiao is here."

Qin Hui was startled. Mr. Xiao is Xiao Jingye, the special envoy of the Kingdom of Jin who is stationed in Lin'an. Usually his aides come here, but this time it was Xiao Jingye who came in person. Something big must happen.

He hurriedly asked the housekeeper to invite Xiao Jingye to his study outside. Xiao Jingye was about 40 years old, a Khitan who lived in the Kingdom of Jin.

Xiao Jingye has a pair of triangular eyes, and the corners of his eyes are full of treachery when he smiles, "I don't know how the negotiations between Zhang Xianggong and Chen Qing are going now?"

Although Qin Hui was very humble in front of Wan Yanchang, he still maintained the posture of a prime minister in front of Xiao Jingye, he picked up the teacup and took a sip of hot tea, put down the teacup and said calmly: "Let's talk! It seems that things are not going well, and the two sides have big differences."

"The so-called skyrocketing prices and repaying the money after landing, it is normal to have differences. The key is whether the court will compromise?"

Qin Hui shook his head, "I'm mainly in charge of Liu Guangshi's affairs, and Zhang Jun is in charge of negotiating with Chen Qing. I don't know much about the situation."

"Qin Xianggong, let's find out! Marshal Du is very concerned, and wrote to me specially, and also wrote a letter to Qin Xianggong."

After speaking, he took out a letter and handed it to Qin Hui. Qin Hui quickly took it, and it was indeed Wan Yanchang's personal letter. Qin Hui hurriedly opened the letter and read it carefully. Postponed until March of next year.

Qin Hui was really in a dilemma, and said for a while, "I'll try my best! The main reason is that I'm not in charge of negotiating with Chen Qing. The government has already authorized Zhang Jun. If Zhang Jun has already reached an agreement in Jingzhao, I have nothing to do."

"Qin Xianggong just do his best."

Xiao Jingye stood up and said, "If Mr. Qin doesn't reply, then I'll take my leave!"

Qin Hui asked the housekeeper to send Xiao Jingye away, and he paced the room with his hands behind his back.

Unexpectedly, Wan Yanchang paid much attention to the negotiations in Bashu. Qin Hui was a bit embarrassed. Bashu was not his territory, so he didn't have much say in this matter.

Qin Hui pondered for a long time. Apart from concealing Zhang Jun's pigeon letter, he really had no other way to interfere.

……

In the morning of the next day, Qin Hui reported Liu Guangshi's latest news to the emperor Zhao Gou. Liu Guangshi had proclaimed himself the king of Jing, and at the same time announced that he would be the envoy of Jingnan South Road, and forced local officials to write letters of loyalty. Officials who refused to write letters of loyalty More than [-] people have been imprisoned. What's more, in order to make an example to others, Liu Guangshi ordered the execution of Du Sheng, the prefect of Changde who strongly opposed his support for self-reliance.

Zhao Gou was stunned by a series of sad news. He was stunned for a while, and asked nervously, "According to Xiangguo, how should I deal with Liu Guangshi?"

"Wei Chen suggested that Liu Guangshi's crimes should be publicly discussed at the court meeting, and the opinions of all officials should be listened to. At the same time, Liu Guangshi's crimes can also be announced to the world."

This is Qin Hui's cunning, all the officials can impeach Zhu Shengfei and dismiss him without his presence. As for Liu Guangshi, they just sent troops to punish him. In all likelihood, he sent Zhang Jun, and Qin Hui didn't want to ask.

"What about Xu Xianggong's opinion?" Zhao Gou asked Xu Xiantu again.

Xu Xiantu bowed and said, "I agree with Mr. Qin's opinion, and discuss it at the court meeting. In addition, it is the middle of winter, and it is not suitable to send troops. I suggest to collect more evidence, or have officials come to accuse Liu Guangshi. This will be more convincing. .”

Although Xu Xiantu has a sense of justice, he is a scholar after all. He has no experience in war and does not understand military affairs. He has too many worries about things and lacks the courage to act vigorously.

You must know that the most important thing now is not to collect evidence and find witnesses, but to take advantage of Liu Guangshi's lack of foundation in Jingnan Road, and immediately send a large army to suppress it, so that Liu Guangshi cannot be given any chance to take root.

Zhao Gou also lacked the courage to act resolutely. He agreed with Qin Hui and Xu Xiantu's suggestion. It's the middle of winter, and the new year will be half a month away. Let's wait until the spring of next year. Take advantage of this time to send people to investigate Liu Guangshi's crimes .

At this time, Zhao Gou suddenly thought of a person, and it would be most appropriate for him to investigate Liu Guangshi.

Zhao Gou immediately issued an edict ordering Li Gang, the envoy of Huguang Xuanfu who was currently raising grain and grass in Jiangxia, to investigate what Liu Guangshi had done on South Jingnan Road.

In fact, Qin Hui concealed the source of the news. He got the news from Liu Guangshi that Li Gang sent it to Lin'an through Xiangyang Gexin Station.

He was worried that the emperor would reactivate Li Gang, so he concealed the source of the news. Unexpectedly, Zhao Gou still thought of Li Gang in the end.

Chapter 593 The Game (Seventeen)

In Lin'an Jishanfang, there is a house covering an area of ​​[-] mu. This is the private residence of Zhao Ding, a scholar of Guanwendian, who knows the Shaoxing mansion. Because the New Year is approaching, Zhao Ding returned from Shaoxing to Lin'an to prepare for ancestor worship.

As night fell, Zhao Ding was sitting in the study reading a book, when his son Zhao Wenxin appeared at the door of the study and said, "Father, please excuse me!"

"what's up?"

"A person came from outside the mansion. He said he was Zhang Jun's aide, and he said he had something important to report to his father."

"Zhang Jun's staff? '

Zhao Ding thought for a while, then suddenly realized, "But Wang Mu?"

"It seems to be him."

Zhao Ding quickly said: "Please wait in my guest room, I will come right away!"

Zhao Wenxin left in a hurry, Zhao Ding put on a cotton robe, he felt a little strange, Wang Mu is Zhang Jun's important confidant, what does he want from him?

When Zhao Ding came to the guest room, he saw a middle-aged scribe pacing back and forth in the guest room with his hands behind his back, looking worried. It was Zhang Jun's confidant Wang Mu.

"Brother Wang Mu, long time no see!" Zhao Ding walked into the lobby with a smile.

As an aide, Wang Mu has followed Zhang Jun for more than ten years, and he has won Zhang Jun's trust. Usually, when Zhang Jun is out, he is in charge of sitting in Lin'an and handling various affairs for Zhang Jun.

This time Zhang Jun sent a pigeon letter from Jingzhao. He was worried that the pigeon letter would be lost halfway, so while sending the official pigeon letter, he also sent a pigeon letter to Wang Mu as a backup.

Five days had passed since Wang Mu received the pigeon letter, but he found that there was no movement from the court. Wang Mu became anxious, so he found Zhao Ding overnight.

Wang Mu quickly saluted and said, "There is an important matter, I implore the Grand Scholar for help!"

"Tell me, what is Zhang Xianggong who can't solve it and ask me for help?" Zhao Ding said with a smile.

Wang Mu took out the copy of the pigeon letter and handed it to Zhao Ding together with the original, "This is an urgent pigeon letter sent by Zhang Xianggong from Jingzhao five days ago. He sent a copy to the Privy Council, and this copy was sent to me as a backup. Yes, in case the official does not receive it, at least I have a copy here."

Zhao Ding took the pigeon letter and read it after copying it, he was secretly surprised, this is a big deal!If the negotiation fails, Chen Qing will secretly support Liu Guangshi's rebellion, and the trouble will be big.

"and then?"

"Then there was no movement from the imperial court. I asked the Privy Council and learned that the person responsible for sending and receiving pigeon letters had gone back to his hometown for the New Year two days ago. The Privy Council officials said that they did not see any pigeon letters from Mr. Zhang. I asked the Zhizheng Hall again. Tang Jian, who lives in the bookstore, said that the officials are still anxiously waiting for news from Jingzhao, and they haven’t heard of Jingzhao’s pigeon letter.”

Zhao Ding frowned, "Then you should find Xu Xiantu, who knows the Privy Council, right! Something went wrong in the Privy Council, he should be responsible."

Wang Mu said anxiously: "Xu Xianggong went to Jianghuai to reward the three armies on behalf of the Son of Heaven. He is not in Lin'an. Only Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei are left in Lin'an. Zhu Shengfei is basically idle."