Fenghou

Zhong Huan quickly said: "He said that Qin Hui is the most treacherous and cunning man. Through his nephew Wang Bo, Wei Tong was hooked without knowing it. There are many forces who want to assassinate the county king, and they all pushed Wei Tong out by coincidence."

Chen Qing nodded, "This Jia Yingfang said that his whole family died on the Yellow River Duohuai, is it credible?"

"It should be credible, the humble official can see clearly, his sadness and anger are not fake, the 40-year-old man is crying like a child."

Zhou Kuan laughed and said, "In fact, his life experience is not important. The key is that he did save my life. If he hadn't delivered the letter in time, I would have been assassinated."

"That's right!"

Chen Qing pondered for a moment, then asked Zhou Kuan: "When will the worship of Yonggu Mausoleum be arranged?"

"The morning after tomorrow!"

Chen Qing sneered and said, "Then let the storm be more violent!"

……

In the morning of the next day, at the edge of the West Lake, there was a post every three steps, and a sentry post every five steps. Tens of thousands of soldiers guarded the West Lake tightly. The family will meet the first emperor on the West Lake.

The martial law by the West Lake was confirmed by gossip. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the place near the West Lake, overlooking the water from a distance, and witnessed this historic scene with their own eyes.

There is a [-] stone boat moored on the West Lake. There are more than a dozen boats in the east and west. The west boat is full of palace guards. Liu Qiong personally led three hundred soldiers to stand guard on the bow.

The emperor Zhao Gou and the late emperor Zhao Huan had both entered the big ship, and they could be seen from a distance, sitting on the second floor of the painting boat, drinking tea and chatting, laughing from time to time, looking very relaxed.

In less than half an hour, the emperor Zhao Gou disembarked first, and under the escort of his guards, he boarded another painting boat, and the boat left immediately.

Zhao Huan also disembarked. Several soldiers stepped forward to protect him with large shields, and boarded a painting boat. A dozen boats escorted the painting boat and sailed towards the southeast.

The meeting between the brothers ended within an hour. No one knew what they were talking about and whether they had reached any compromise?

But the behind-the-scenes person who arranged this double emperor meeting was drinking tea in the inner house of Lu's mansion and chatting with Lu Yihao in a leisurely manner.

"After taking Taiyuan, why didn't you think about continuing to go north to take down Datong Mansion?" Lu Yihao asked with a smile.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Didn't win Datong, Jin Guo's focus is on how to keep Datong, and won't think about how to take back the southern part of the East Road. If there is no room left and all Datong is captured, Jin Guo will start thinking about counterattack East Road, their goal will not only be in Taiyuan Mansion."

"It makes sense. Datong is the capital of the Liao Kingdom. The Song Dynasty has almost never obtained it, and it is an important passage for the grassland nomads to go south. The population of the Jin Kingdom itself is too small. They are likely to mobilize nomadic troops to go south. You want Be vigilant."

Chen Qing nodded, now that the Kingdom of Jin is short of troops, Lu Yihao's worries are entirely possible.

"In addition, you have to be careful that Jin Guo proposes peace talks with the imperial court, and they will concentrate their forces and resources to deal with the Western Army."

"Actually, I have also thought about this question. Now I am thinking, will the imperial court take the opportunity to attack Bashu, or secretly support the Kingdom of Jin?"

Lu Yihao nodded, "It's entirely possible. When Wan Yanchang went to Lin'an for the second time, he proposed to exchange the Central Plains for Sichuan."

"The imperial court didn't agree? Restore Bianliang!"

"Qin Hui urged the emperor to agree, and Empress Dowager Wei was also persuading the emperor, but Zhang Jun and I firmly opposed it. After telling the truth to the emperor, the emperor had to give up."

"How did grandfather convince the emperor?"

The grandfather in Chen Qing's tone was very natural, and he said it completely casually, which greatly pleased Lu Yihao.

He smiled slightly and said: "In reality, after the Yellow River burst in the second year of Jianyan, the originally prosperous southern Central Plains was basically destroyed, and the people were in dire straits. That's why the puppet Qi army could easily raise 50 even though they had no military salary. Because of the army, soldiers can eat their stomachs. In fact, you should have a deep understanding. In just one month after the puppet Qi was abolished, millions of people from the Central Plains fled to Guanzhong. Will leave the country in the background."

After a pause, Lu Yihao continued: "Later, we became more and more aware of the situation in the Central Plains, and then several Northern Expeditions caused strong opposition from many officials in the imperial court. They all believed that the imperial court could not afford the destroyed Central Plains, and taking it back would be a huge burden. The imperial court’s finances would collapse, so later the ruling and opposition parties reached a consensus that the Northern Expedition would end at the Huaihe River.”

Chen Qing nodded silently. What Lu Yihao said was absolutely correct. The imperial court would indeed not want the Central Plains anymore, but the imperial court gave up the Central Plains, so he couldn't give up either!

At this moment, Chen Qing suddenly realized that the Central Plains would be his greatest opportunity just because the imperial court gave up.

He cannot leave this opportunity to the court.

Chapter 858 Negotiation

In the afternoon, the emperor Zhao Gou personally accompanied his brother Zhao Huan to the Yonggu Mausoleum to pay homage to the tomb of Emperor Zhao Ji. He will not ask about political affairs anymore, he just wants to recuperate well and live a few more years.

How could the emperor Zhao Gou not like the words so nicely, so after the meeting in the morning, he happily took the emperor brother and hundreds of civil and military officials to pay homage to his father's tomb.

In the evening of that day, [-] copies of "Beijing News" appeared in restaurants and teahouses in Lin'an as scheduled, and they were sold out in an instant. '

It describes in detail the meeting between the Son of Heaven and the late Emperor on the West Lake, and even draws a woodblock print of the two embracing each other on a painting boat, and even quotes a sentence from Zuo Xiangguo Zhu Shengfei, "The officials are waiting for you." In 13, when the moment finally came to see the emperor again, the officials were very excited, and said that he would personally accompany the emperor to the Yonggu Mausoleum to worship the Supreme Emperor. '

After the meeting during the day and the sensational rendering of the "Beijing News" at dusk, Chen Qing finally achieved his goal, that is, the late emperor in his hands is genuine, and the court, the emperor, and the people have all recognized his legitimacy, which is very, very important. This is to prevent the emperor Zhao Gou and the court from resorting to the trick of drawing salary from the bottom of the pot and questioning Zhao Huan's authenticity and legitimacy.

This is also one of the main reasons why Chen Qing traveled all the way to Lin'an with the late emperor, so that the imperial court and Zhao Gou personally recognized the authenticity of the late emperor.

In the prime minister's mansion, Qin Hui stared at today's "Beijing News" in a daze. The headline on the front page made him wake up a bit. What is "two emperors reunited in the spring breeze"? Isn't this a public acknowledgment that there were two emperors in the Song Dynasty?

"Master, what did you find out?" Mrs. Wang brought tea in, and found that her husband looked strange.

Qin Hui put down the newspaper with a dull expression, and said after a while, "We may have been fooled."

"What did you fall for?" Mrs. Wang was puzzled.

"We can announce early that the late emperor died of illness in Liaodong, and resolutely refuse to recognize the late emperor in Chen Qing's hands. He will not have the pawn of the late emperor, and his unauthorized exchange with the Kingdom of Jin will be worthless."

"But you didn't announce it!"

With a mocking smile, Wang said, "Today we arranged for two emperors to meet and worship the Supreme Emperor together. At this time, Chen Qing might not be able to close his mouth with laughter!"

"Zhu Shengfei is an out-and-out idiot, who asked him to arrange today's meeting?" Qin Hui scolded through gritted teeth.

Wang glanced at her husband with contempt. Zhu Shengfei only got back together three days ago, but her husband put the blame on him.

"Sir, can you turn the situation around?"

"How to reverse it? The civil and military affairs of the court, and the people of the city all know that the two brothers met in the West Lake, and they went to pay homage to the Supreme Emperor. Now let's say that he is a fake. Can the emperor afford to lose face?"

"Then at least this matter has nothing to do with the master! When the officials wake up in the future, won't they say that it is the master's responsibility?"

Qin Hui pondered for a while and said: "You reminded me that this negotiation has far-reaching consequences. I must not participate in it. It has nothing to do with me at all. I can't remind him. He will definitely blame me for why I didn't say it earlier and reminded me afterwards. .”

"It's best for the master to find an excuse to leave Lin'an, and come back after Chen Qing has left, so that he can be completely cleared."

Qin Hui nodded, "Tomorrow morning, I will go to Jiangning to visit the grave. I told the emperor before, but I have to leave early."

……

Before dawn the next day, Qin Hui left Lin'an and went to Jiangning to pay homage to his father. In his letter to Zhao Gou, he said that he was deeply moved and ashamed by the scene of the official family and the emperor's brother offering sacrifices to his father. At night, his father had a dream, and he didn't want to delay any more. He had to rush back to his hometown before his father's funeral.

Zhao Gou was deeply moved by the sincerity of the letter, and immediately decreed to give Qin Hui a set of sacrificial ritual utensils, and approved Qin Hui's early departure with his pen.

In the morning, Zhu Shengfei and Taichang Shaoqing Huang Guinian came to the Western Army camp together, and the two sides began formal negotiations.

Of course Zhao Gou was not a fool, even if the emperor said he didn't want to ask about political affairs, it was useless, Chen Qing had to agree, so Zhu Sheng had to come to negotiate, Chen Qing would ask the late emperor to issue an abdication edict for what the court needed to pay.

The plenipotentiary sent by Chen Qing was naturally Zhou Kuan, and Chao Qing, as Zhou Kuan's deputy, participated in the negotiations together.

Zhou Kuan's first condition was completely within Zhu Shengfei's expectations. Chen Qing asked to be promoted to King of Qin, appointed as Grand Master, appointed Sanguan Yitong Third Division, and then named General of Hussars.

There is no problem with his official position. When Chen Qing destroyed Xixia, the imperial court called for Chen Qing to be crowned Grand Master, and he regained the Hexi Corridor. Whether it is the third division of Yitong or the general of Hushi, these are all empty positions, and the emperor will not be stingy.

The key is the title. The emperor agreed to seal Chen Qing as the prince, but he didn't want to seal Chen Qing as the core prince. Who are the core princes?Qin, Jin, Han, Zhao, Wei, Yan, Chu, Shu, and Song Dynasty also had Bianwang, Liangwang, etc., the emperor only wanted to make Chen Qing the Liangwang.

So Chen Qing wanted to be the king of Qin, and the emperor only wanted to be the king of Liang. This was their first conflict.

The two sides were deadlocked for a quarter of an hour, Zhu Shengfei said with a smile: "Why don't you let the name of the specific prince go first, let's look at other conditions."

Zhou Kuan came up with a second condition, asking for the jurisdiction of Jiangling Prefecture, Lizhou, Dingzhou, Yuezhou, and Tanzhou.

……

Chen Qing didn't have many requests, only three, but Zhao Gou couldn't accept each of them.

Zhao Gou couldn't accept the first item even if he wanted the king of Qin. What did Chen Qing want to do when the Qin Dynasty unified the world?

Of course, Zhao Gou also knew Chen Qing's intention for the king of Qin, because his main territory was Shaanxi Road. To be honest, Zhao Gou would not be willing even if he was named the king of Shu.

Thinking of the king of Shu, Zhao Gou suddenly remembered something, and asked anxiously, "What did he say about Sichuan Road?"

"He said that officials from more than a dozen prefectures on the Sichuan Road were selling smuggled salt, and finally rebelled with Li Jinxiao, and those officials who did not want to rebel were brutally killed by him, exterminating their families. Under the control of the company, the entire Sichuan Road has become a mess..."

Zhao Gou was unhappy and interrupted Zhu Shengfei, "Speaking of the main point, what is the final conclusion?"

"He said that all officials were appointed by the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Envoy and submitted to the Ministry of Officials for record."

"no!"

Zhao Gou slapped the table with a slap, and said with a livid face, "I don't accept it. Officials on Sichuan Road must be appointed by the imperial court. At least officials at the state level must be appointed by the imperial court. Continue to negotiate with him."

"Wei Chen knows."

Zhu Shengfei hesitated and said again: "Your Majesty, what about the second condition?"

Zhao Gou glanced at the second condition and asked for the jurisdiction of Jiangling Prefecture, Lizhou, Dingzhou, Yuezhou, and Tanzhou.

Of course he understood what Chen Qing meant. It was tantamount to taking away the surrounding area of ​​Dongting Lake. The so-called jurisdiction meant that the face belonged to the imperial court. They were still the territory of the Song Dynasty, but the insides belonged to Chen Qing.

Zhao Gou took two steps with his hands behind his back, and asked Li Guang, "How is the tax situation on South Jinghu Road?"

Li Guang bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Jinghu South Road has gone through the Yang Yao Rebellion and Liu Guangshi Rebellion. The population is sparse, the foundation is very weak, there is almost no tax, and there is no ten years. Don't try to recover."

Zhao Gou pondered for a long time, and said to Zhu Shengfei: "If he agrees to Sichuan Road, I can agree to the second condition."

"Humble job and talk to them!"

Zhao Gou looked at the third condition and frowned, "What does he want the jurisdiction of Quanzhou for?"

"They said that the Western Army wanted to do overseas trade to supplement the lack of military pay."

Zhao Conceived no idea what else Quanzhou could do besides trade?There is no problem with a mere Quanzhou. The imperial court can put the trade in Guangzhou or Mingzhou.

But what Zhao Gou cared about was the garrison, "Did they say they want to garrison?"

"The humble official also asked. If they want to fight pirates, they must garrison properly."

Zhao Gou thought for a while and said, "You can properly organize militias to combat pirates, but you are not allowed to station troops."

Zhu Shengfei was a little embarrassed, "In this case, I worry that I won't be able to get an abdication edict."

Zhao Gou's eyes widened, and he was really dissatisfied: "Go talk to him first, why are you always thinking about giving in? Tell him, King Qin will definitely not do it, and I can't explain to my ancestors."

At this moment, Xu Xiantu smiled slightly and said, "I just remembered that Chen Qing seems to be His Majesty's brother-in-law, and the person who accompanied him this time seems to be the Empress of Shunde! What I mean is, can I ask her to persuade her?" Chen Qing?"

This was the last thing Zhao Gou wanted to bring up. He waved his hand, "If we don't mention this in advance, we can't think about it later."

Chapter 859 Negotiation

In the afternoon, Zhu Shengfei came to Daying again. He used the noon time to sort out the opinions of the emperor. He wanted to talk about it tomorrow, but Zhao Gou couldn't wait any longer. He wished he could reach an agreement today and drive Chen Qing away at night.

Zhu Shengfei put forward the emperor's opinion to Zhou Kuan, and then waited for Zhou Kuan to report to Chen Qing.

After listening to Zhou Kuan's report, Chen Qing sneered and said, "He actually exchanged Sichuan for Jinghu. Fortunately, he figured it out. Could it be that the edict of abdication is just incidental?"

Zhou Kuan smiled and said, "Does the county king want to listen to the opinion of the humble official?"

"you say!"

Chen Qing waved his hand, signaling for his subordinates to serve tea, and asked Zhou Kuan to speak slowly.

"Your Majesty, the first item is the most important to the emperor. We can discuss it separately. The emperors of the six states of Dongting Lake have already agreed, so the problem is not big. Regarding Sichuan Road, the emperor insists on the appointment of officials at the state level. The suggestion of humble officials can be agreed, but The appointment of the general judge, with the general judge and the county magistrate, other state officials can easily be emptied. We will build a new official office in the form of the general judge and the staff. The other state officials will either secretly pledge allegiance to the county king, or Just put it in the air, give a few bucks a month, and don't worry about it."

Chen Qing nodded, "That's fine. Let's fight for the right to appoint the judges. If the judges refuse to agree, then we will build another set of state officials and remove all the state officials appointed by the imperial court."

"Yes! That's what it means to be humble."

"Let's talk about Zhangzhou, what does the Son of Heaven mean?"

Zhou Kuan laughed and said, "It's actually a question of the right to garrison troops. The Son of Heaven does not allow garrisons, but allows the formation of militias to combat pirates. I believe that there is actually no difference between militias and troops, only the names are different."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "But we have to make an agreement with them. I will not station troops, and the imperial court will not allow troops to be stationed in Quanzhou. In addition, the Salt and Iron Administration and the Municipal Shipbuilding Administration do not allow the establishment of government offices in Quanzhou, and even Sunyan is not allowed. , you have to make an agreement with them that the commercial tax in Quanzhou is my income."

Zhou Kuan nodded, "In this case, we will have to discuss it in detail. I guess they didn't think so much."

"Then let's talk about the first one. Regarding the title of king, I guess he would not agree to be the king of Qin. It's too sensitive. Let's do it! Fengxiang was called Yong in ancient times. I can accept King Yong, but the condition is that the "Beijing News" must be allowed in Lin'an. If he still doesn't agree, then don't want any abdication edict."

"The humble official understands the meaning of the county king, it's just..."

Zhou Kuan hesitated for a while and said, "Is the county king really going to give the late emperor's abdication edict to the emperor?"

Chen Qing laughed, "You don't really think I want to make Zhao Huan emperor!"

"Ah! Humble job really always thought."

Chen Qing said lightly: "I just want to hold the imperial line in my hands, but the emperor has no successors."

Zhou Kuan suddenly said, "I understand!"

……

"Keep Zhu Xianggong waiting for a long time!"