Fenghou

Chapter 1207
In Lin'an, it has been two days since Zhao Gou received the pigeon letter from Xu Xiantu, but he has yet to make a decision.

I'm afraid Xu Xiantu didn't expect that Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei would resolutely oppose the two conditions that he thought were not serious problems.

Chen Qing put forward two conditions. The first condition was to allow the Western Army fleet to pass through the border, and the second condition was to take over all the siege weapons in the Yangzhou warehouse.

In fact, these two conditions are not high, and Zhao Gou wanted to agree, but Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei firmly opposed it.

Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei also had good reasons for their opposition. They agreed that the disastrous defeat of the Song Army in Haizhou was a trap set by the Jin Bing and the Western Army. It must have been an agreement they had made in advance.

Harming the Song army, and finally using the Song army prisoners of war to bargain, this kind of bad behavior is intolerable, Qin Hui strongly suggested that the emperor would rather not have prisoners of war than compromise with Chen Qing, and must not let the court suffer such a shame.

Are Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei really trying to protect the dignity of the emperor and the court?
In fact, Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei both went for Xu Xiantu. They thought that Xu Xiantu would definitely be fired this time, but they didn't expect that Xu Xiantu actually went to the Central Plains to negotiate with Chen Qing on behalf of the Son of Heaven.

Once the negotiations are successful, Xu Xiantu has made a great contribution in bringing back more than [-] prisoners of war, and it is very likely that the merits and demerits will be offset, and he will escape the catastrophe.

After finally waiting for the good opportunity to dismiss Xu Xiantu, how could Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei make him come back?
Therefore, the conspiracy theory of collusion between the Western Army and the Jin Bing was born. It happened that the Jin Bing handed over the prisoners of war to the Western Army. Qin Hui immediately seized this point to make a fuss. Give it to the Western Army?
Zhao Gou's biggest problem is that his ears are soft and his stand is not firm. Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei's joint opposition has good reasons, which made him hesitate, and he did not make a decision for two days.

This morning, Zhao Gouzheng was pacing back and forth in the imperial study room in dismay. Today was the third day, and he had to make a decision today, whether to agree to Chen Qing's conditions, or to call Xu Xiantu back?But he really couldn't make up his mind.

At this moment, the servant reported at the door: "Your Majesty, the Grand Scholar Tao Linte is here to give an order!"

Zhao Gou was immediately reminded that he could also discuss with Tao Lin, and he quickly said, "Acclaim him an audience!"

Not long after, the scholar Tao Lin hurried into the imperial study. He was ordered to inspect Fujian Road. He just came back the day before yesterday. He has been writing inspection reports in the mansion for the past two days.

"Wei Chen sees His Majesty!"

Seeing that he had lost a lot of weight, Zhao Gou nodded, "Tao Aiqing has worked hard on inspections this month!"

"Wei Chen deserves to work harder!"

He presented a memorial to Zhao Gou, "This is the inspector's report, please read it, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Gou took the memorial, put it aside first, and said with a wry smile: "I happen to be undecided about one thing, and I want to hear Aiqing's opinion!"

"My minister is willing to share the worries for His Majesty!"

Zhao Gou simply told Tao Lin that Xu Xiantu went to negotiate with the Western Army and that Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei objected.

Tao Lin frowned and said, "Your Majesty, I don't think these two conditions are too much! First of all, the first condition is not a condition, it's just an excuse. The second condition is only siege weapons. Idle things, these two conditions do not involve land and property, it should be said that the Western Army is still very sincere, why did His Highness not agree so long?"

"I also think these two conditions are good, but what Qin Xianggong said is also reasonable. If the Western Army and the Jin Bing did not collude, how could the Jin Bing hand over [-] people to the Western Army for no reason? This must be said in advance. good terms?"

Tao Lin shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Qin's objection sounds like a righteous statement, but in fact it does not stand up to careful scrutiny."

Zhao Gou hurriedly said: "Tao Aiqing, please explain in detail, sometimes I am confused by the authorities and cannot see through the situation."

"Your Majesty, first of all, the most important point is that the collusion between the Western Army and the Jin Bing is just the guess of Qin Xianggong. Neither he nor Zhu Xianggong has conclusive evidence. They just said that I think it should be so, I think it should be that way, and the truth is based on feeling ?"

Zhao Gou nodded, "It makes sense, let's continue!"

"Secondly, there is a serious irrationality in this. Neither Qin Xianggong nor Zhu Xianggong saw it. That is, the Western Army took the opportunity to occupy Qushan County. Weichen believes that if the Western Army and Jin Bing really reach an agreement, this agreement will It will definitely not include the surrender of Haizhou and Qushan County to the Western Army, not to mention the large amount of food and supplies, and the annihilation of the city guards."

"It's really impossible!"

"Your Majesty, here lies the problem. If the Western Army and the Jin Bing reach an agreement, and the Western Army takes the opportunity to occupy Qushan County, this is obviously a major violation of the agreement. Why should the Jin Bing implement the agreement honestly and spend [-] Isn't it absurd to hand over many prisoners of war to the Western Army? Your Majesty, it doesn't make sense!"

Zhao Gou was reminded that the Western Army was competing with Jin Bing for the Shandong Road, so how could any agreement be reached?I was really confused, I didn't even think of the most crucial point, if they could reach an agreement to deal with themselves, Da Song would have perished long ago.

"Then why does Aiqing think Jin Bing gave more than [-] prisoners of war to the Western Army?"

"Your Majesty, there are many factors involved. For example, the Jin soldiers have no food, and I don't have enough to eat. How can I manage the rations of the prisoners of the Song Army and throw them directly to the Western Army as a favor, and by the way, I can adjust the relationship between the Western Army and the court. , or the retreat route of the Jin soldiers was cut off, and it is entirely possible to exchange the Song army prisoners for a retreat route, and it is simply ridiculous to say that the two colluded."

At this time, Zhao Gou finally came to his senses. Qin Hui objected to the negotiation, probably because of Xu Xiantu.

He cursed secretly in his heart, then nodded and said: "I understand, thank you Aiqing for clarifying the confusion."

"I don't want to bother His Majesty anymore, please leave!"

Tao Lin saluted and slowly exited the imperial study. Zhao Gou thought for a moment and said, "I will pass on my will and immediately send a pigeon letter to Xu Xiangguo. I agree to the two conditions of the Western Army!"

Ruan De led his men back to the camp in Feng County. They retreated to the east bank of the Yellow River, marched day and night, and rushed back to the camp in Feng County in just one day and one night.

After hearing the report, Chen Qing was overjoyed and ordered a reward of [-] guan and [-] pieces of silk, and all the generals were promoted to one level.

The three of them thanked and retreated, and Chen Qing smiled at Yang Zaixing again: "The cooperation between them is very tacit, and I can see the shadows of Liu Qiong and Tang Qian. They cooperate and can carry out more and more difficult tasks."

Yang Zaixing nodded, "Since His Highness thinks so, I will transfer Huang Dong to the Jiaolong Camp as the deputy general."

Chen Qing said again: "They wiped out the golden soldiers and water army, and they can go deep behind the enemy by boat. Give them fifty warships and let them intercept the enemy's logistics team, especially the [-] lottery in Rencheng County. Army, I got information that the chief general is Zhang Zhongxiong, and they just entered Rencheng County not long ago, which means that Rencheng County did not have enough food and grass in advance, and cutting off the logistics of Rencheng County is a very important part.”

"Understood, make arrangements immediately!"

Yang Zaixing bowed and retired, at this moment, a soldier walked quickly to the door of the big tent and said, "His Royal Highness, Master Zhang accompanied Xu Xiangguo."

"Please come in!"

Zhang Xiao accompanied Xu Xiantu into the big tent, Xu Xiantu was all smiles, with a relaxed look on his face, not as sad as he was two days ago.

"Seeing that Xu Xiangguo brought good news!" Chen Qing laughed.

Xu Xiantu nodded, "The Son of Heaven fully agrees to the two conditions proposed by His Highness, and is willing to give all the siege weapons in the Yangzhou warehouse to the Western Army."

Chen Qing asked the two to sit down, and asked with a smile, "Xu Xianggong should know how many there are!"

Xu Xiantu nodded, "There are thirty heavy-duty trebuchets alone, twenty nest carts, ten battering rams, five thousand-step guns, and more than a thousand siege ladders."

"What about the bed crossbow and the god arm crossbow?" Chen Qing asked again.

Xu Xiantu was taken aback, "These two are defensive weapons, right? Not siege weapons."

"They have both offensive and defensive capabilities. If Mr. Xu is in trouble, I will have half of the two in stock."

Xu Xiantu thought for a while and agreed, "Okay! I'll give you [-] bed crossbows, [-] jackdaw arrows, [-] god-arm crossbows, and [-] arrows. half of."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "In the Yangzhou warehouse, do you still have kerosene and gunpowder?"

"Your Highness is really greedy"

Xu Xiantu sighed helplessly: "We don't produce kerosene. We have never had kerosene since we moved south. It is said that Zhang Jun's army has kerosene. I don't know how he got it, but His Highness should be very clear. As for gunpowder, The stockpiles of the Military Weapons Supervision and Yangzhou are gone, and the mine that produces fire nitrate is on Sichuan Road.”

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "In this case, give me the five hundred craftsmen who make gunpowder! I won't ask your craftsmen for nothing. Xu Xiangguo can tell His Majesty that I will exchange five thousand horses with him."

(End of this chapter)