Fenghou

Chapter 1351 Protest
In the imperial study room, Emperor Zhao Gou stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, his face ashen and silent.

He fainted briefly, and the imperial doctor asked him to stay in bed, but he refused, and immediately summoned five ministers to discuss matters in the imperial study.

"Tell me! What should I do now?"

Zhao Gou said in a low voice: "Fujian Road was forcibly taken away by the Western Army, and also cut off our connection with Guangnan Road. What retreat do we have?"

The four prime ministers all looked at Qin Hui. He is the prime minister on the right, and he should be the first to answer this question.

Qin Hui had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Now we should summon the special envoys of King Yong and ask them to abide by their promises and withdraw from the Fujian Road they have seized. In any case, we must gain the upper hand in morals and let everyone in the world know about Chen Qing's treachery. .”

Next to him, Xu Xiantu said coldly: "If everyone in the world knows about Chen Qing's treachery, then he really has no worries. How many days can we support if the 50 army is suppressed?"

Xu Xiantu's reminder made Zhao Gou's heart tremble, maybe Chen Qing was really waiting for this day.

"What should I do?"

Qin Hui was dissatisfied and said: "Just watching Fujian Road being taken away, and Guangnan Road being cut off from us? What about the tax on Fujian Road? What about the tax on Guangnan Road? Let Xu Xiangguo talk about it." Your good idea!"

The tax issue hurt Zhao Gou, how could they support the army without the tax on Fujian Road?

Zhao Gou also turned around, and said to Xu Xiantu, "Xu Aiqing, tell me!"

Xu Xiantu said slowly: "Your Majesty, it is a fact that Fujian Road has been forcibly occupied. We also need to take action. It is necessary to summon Hu Yun first. They have indeed violated the original agreement reached by the two parties and asked the other party to give us an explanation.
Secondly, we need to get a channel to communicate with Guangnan Road, which also needs to be negotiated with the other side.
Third, we must actively consider ways to take back Fujian Road, including military pressure and encouraging the gentry and common people of Fujian Road to fight.
Fourth, we are too passive on the water, and we must find a way to reverse this passive situation. "

After Xu Xiantu finished speaking, Qin Hui immediately objected: "Your Majesty, I do not agree with Xu Xianggong's second point. We cannot negotiate with the other party to connect with Guangnan Road. This is tantamount to admitting the legitimacy of the other party's occupation of Fujian Road. .”

Zhao Gou also felt that something was wrong, so he asked Zhang Jun, "What does Mr. Zhang think?"

Recently Zhao Gou thinks highly of Zhang Jun and almost obeys him.

Zhang Jun said calmly: "Your Majesty, I support Xu Xianggong's plan, but on the second point, I suggest that you wait a little longer and don't rush to negotiate with the other party. It is a last resort. Weichen suggested sending people to Guangzhou in the name of a caravan, on the one hand to report the situation to the states of Guangnan and South, and on the other hand to collect ships, prepare to open up sea passages, and continue to maintain our legal rule over Guangnan and South.”

Zhang Jun's suggestion was appreciated by the emperor Zhao Gou. He was very rational and pragmatic. The most urgent thing was to get things done first instead of discussing such illusory things as morality. Of course, Zhao Gou was also afraid of angering Chen Qing, so he had no moral concerns. The Western Army could destroy the Song Dynasty in a few days.

"Let's do it separately! Xu Xianggong went to negotiate with Hu Yun and asked them to fulfill the agreement and withdraw from occupying Fujian Road. Zhang Xiang's police dispatched a military plan to put pressure on Fujian Road's military. Qin Xianggong was responsible for contacting the famous nobles of Fujian Road. Encourage them to stand up against the Western Army's occupation of Fujian Road."

After finalizing the strategy for Fujian Road, Zhao Gou immediately summoned Huang Guinian to encourage him, and then appointed Huang Guinian as the appeasement envoy of Guangnan Lianglu to appease Guangnan Lianglu on behalf of the imperial court, and was responsible for collecting ships and opening up the sea. aisle.

Ships have become the most important thing. Jiangnan's shipbuilding capabilities are actually very strong. There are so many boats in the river, all of which are small boats under 10,000 shi, or tugboats around [-] shi. It is obviously unrealistic to build a big ship because of the strong winds and waves on the sea. First, it cannot afford the time. It will take two or three years at the fastest to build a three thousand stone ship. Second, it is also unaffordable financially. If the salary can be barely guaranteed, all other expenses will be cut, not to mention the expenditure of tens of thousands of guan, [-]+ guan in shipbuilding.

Without the financial resources for shipbuilding, the imperial court could only find ways to get the ideas of the people, but unfortunately, after several rounds of exploitation, the existing ships of the people are very small.

The last hope is on Guangnan Lianglu, where there are still some seagoing ships.

Early the next morning, Xu Xiantu and another deputy prime minister, Guo Wanqixie, came to see Hu Yun and lodged a strong protest to King Yong represented by Hu Yun.

"This is a breach of trust and a complete violation of the Fujian Road agreement reached by the two parties!"

Xu Xiantu took out the agreement reached between Chen Qing and the emperor Zhao Gou, and pointed to the last one: "It is clearly written in black and white. The imperial court handed over Fujian Road Quanzhou to the Chuanshan Xuanfu Envoy for governance. Except for isolated islands in the sea, Fujian Road The rest of the states are all owned by the imperial court, and neither side has any objection."

Hu Yun smiled slightly: "At this time and at that time, the premise of signing this agreement was that the first emperor was still under construction, and that the first emperor would no longer seek the throne. If either of these two prerequisites is not satisfied, then this agreement will be invalidated. These two prerequisites were also written down and signed and approved by both parties, I remember it in the attachment of the text, does Xu Xianggong still remember?"

Of course Xu Xiantu remembered that he was the one who drafted the agreement. Xu Xiantu was silent for a moment and said, "Could it be that these two prerequisites don't exist anymore?"

Hu Yun nodded, "One of them no longer exists, the late emperor died!"

Xu Xiantu and Wan Qixie looked at each other and asked in unison, "When did it happen?"

"Two months ago! He liked to make alchemy, but he died of poisoning after taking the elixir he made. It's a pity that His Highness did not hold a public funeral at the request of the former prince. The coffin will be transported back to Bianliang for burial at the right time."

"this."

Xu Xiantu didn't know what to say. He had a feeling of being punched in the air. He came up with an agreement. He thought he could condemn the other party and gain the upper hand morally. Unexpectedly, he was calmly resolved by the other party. The premise of the agreement was not If so, then this agreement will be invalidated, and there will be no moral clauses that they can restrain each other.

Wan Qixi said unwillingly: "It doesn't mean that without an agreement, you can occupy the land of the imperial court at will. Your behavior itself is illegal and a betrayal of the emperor and the imperial court. The imperial court requires you to immediately withdraw from the illegally occupied Fujian Road. States."

Hu Yun said indifferently: "The territory of the world belongs to the people of the world, and only those who are virtuous can live. We just want to let the people of Fujian Road have enough food, be able to lightly pay and pay, and recuperate. This is the rule of saints.

However, under your rule, the land tax received five taxes and one, and the salt price was four hundred yuan a catty. There has never been such a heavy tax in the past dynasties. The cruel exploitation made the people destitute. In order to survive, the people from all over Fujian Road fled to Quanzhou with their families. , In just a few years, the population of Quanzhou has increased by five times. With such a bad government, you still have the nerve to say that Fujian Road is yours. Where have you read the books of saints? I am really ashamed of you! "

The two were left speechless by the scolding, and Hu Yun naturally didn't accept the so-called protest, but Xu Xiantu and Wan Qixi had no choice but to go back to the emperor for business.

In the imperial study room, Wan Qixie was sent away, and Zhao Gou left only Xu Xiantu alone. The situation changed, and the troops opposed fighting with the Western Army one after another. They were agitated. pressure plan.

At the same time, news came from Wenzhou that dozens of officials who did not want to be loyal to King Yong were driven out of Fujian Road, and the Western Army on Fujian Road did not allow court officials to pass through the border.

Zhao Gou's Fujian Road plan suffered major setbacks and had to be adjusted.

(End of this chapter)