Fenghou

Chapter 859 Negotiations

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." After thirteen years, 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 pay homage to 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."

(End of this chapter)