Fenghou

Chapter 860 Negotiations

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!"

Zhou Kuan walked into the big tent with a smile, and asked the soldiers to serve tea again.

"How about it, can the king accept it?"

"Let's not talk about the first one, let's talk about the second two first. The county king agrees that the state officials and magistrates of Sichuan Road should be appointed by the court, but the general judge in the state capital must be appointed by us."

Huang Guinian wrote it down quickly, Zhu Shengfei nodded, "I've made a note, and I will report it to the emperor, what about the third one?"

"The third article is about Quanzhou. We agree to only arrange the township militia, but the imperial court cannot garrison troops in Quanzhou!"

"no problem!"

Zhu Shengfei readily agreed, "The Son of Heaven has promised not to garrison troops in Quanzhou."

The reason why Zhao Gou promised not to garrison troops in Quanzhou was because he decided to garrison heavy troops in Fuzhou next door, which is the same thing as garrisoning troops in Quanzhou.

"Then the imperial court is not allowed to have any official offices in Quanzhou, such as the Salt and Iron Transshipment Administration and the Municipal Shipping Administration are not allowed, and salt drying is not allowed, and then the commercial taxes paid by other merchant ships in Quanzhou belong to us."

When Zhu Shengfei heard about the commercial tax, he immediately became nervous. If Quanzhou implements a low commercial tax, wouldn’t it attract all the caravans? He quickly said: "The government can agree, but the commercial tax issue needs to be discussed."

Zhou Kuan didn't want to entangle with him on the issue of commercial taxation, and the intention of the county king to take Quanzhou was not commercial taxation.

"How about this! According to the total amount of Quanzhou business tax last year, half of the business tax will be distributed to the imperial court every year, a fixed amount. For example, last year's Quanzhou commercial tax was [-] guan, and then [-] guan will be distributed to the court every year. Of course, [-] guan It’s just a random example, you should have an amount for the specific amount.”

"Okay! I'll go back and report to the emperor. I wonder what the prince will say?"

Zhu Shengfei is also very nervous. The first one is the most important. The reason why it is important is because the county king is above the king, which means the same thing as the vassal states divided into Spring and Autumn. .

But even so, there will be a strong symbolic meaning. For example, if Chen Qing is named the King of Qin, then Chen Qing will regard himself as the King of Qin, and the people will recognize it, which will form a de facto independence.

Only the son of the emperor can be named a prince. There has never been a precedent in the Song Dynasty to confer a prince with a different surname, so the emperor Zhao Gou firmly refused to agree to confer the title of Chen Qing, King of Qin or other kings of the Central Plains. , His subconscious meaning is that if you, Chen Qing, want to go to the Hexi Corridor or the hometown of Xixia to establish a country, the court doesn't care.

Zhou Kuan said: "If the Son of Heaven is determined not to be the king of Qin, then our county king can take a step back, but there is a condition, that is, the "Beijing News" must be allowed to be published in Lin'an, and no further suppression is allowed."

Zhu Shengfei hurriedly said: "I can report to the emperor in the newspaper. I don't think the problem is big. I don't know what the king of the county means by taking a step back."

"The king of the county said that Fengxiang was called Yong in ancient times. We can accept King Yong. We can't make any concessions until now. Otherwise, the emperor will not even think about the emperor's abdication edict."

"Okay! I'll report to the emperor."

Except for Qin Hui who is absent on leave, the other gentlemen are waiting!
Regarding the division of power on Sichuan Road, Zhao Gou pondered for a long time, and finally agreed, and handed over the appointment of the general judge to Chen Qing. If Chen Qing didn't give him anything, he had nothing to do.

Zhao Gou also agreed to Quanzhou's conditions. Quanzhou's commercial tax is actually not much, and he would not lose if he could get half of it.

After all, the key point is the first one. Zhao Gou asked Li Guangdao: "Does Li Xianggong think it is acceptable?"

Li Guang said slowly: "We can ask for the abdication edict to be published in the "Beijing News", not only the "Jing News" in Lin'an, but also the "Jing News" in Jingzhao. In fact, a newspaper is not a big problem, and we can also do it. A newspaper, let’s compete with it! We are landlords, so can’t we compare to the Beijing News?
Therefore, I believe that the condition of "Beijing News" can be agreed. As for King Yong, it is the title of Zhang Han at the end of Qin Dynasty, and Yong and Yong have the same pronunciation, which is not auspicious. I think it is acceptable. "

"What about Xu Xianggong's opinion?" Zhao Gou turned his gaze to Xu Xiantu again.

Xu Xiantu smiled slightly and said, "About the "Beijing News", I have the same idea as Li Xianggong. There is no need to block it, we can also run a newspaper to compete, and besides, the abdication edict is published on the "Beijing News", and then we announce the "Beijing News". "It's not legal, so isn't that giving someone a handle?"

"can!"

Zhao Gou said decisively: "The "Beijing News" is so decided. It is allowed to publish in Lin'an. We run a newspaper to compete with him. The key is King Yong. Does Xu Xianggong think it is appropriate?"

Xu Xiantu said with a smile: "Chen Qing is definitely not willing to accept King Liang, no wonder, King Liang is suspected of Xirong, with a slightly barbaric meaning, King Yong is smaller than King Qin, not a first-level king, not even a king of Yue, A second-level king like King Wu has special meaning to the Tang Dynasty, but not to us in the Song Dynasty."

The special meaning Xu Xiantu said refers to the fact that the capital of the Tang Dynasty was in Chang'an, so King Yong had a special meaning. Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, Li Shi, named King Yong first before he was crowned prince.

The capital of the Song Dynasty was not in Guanzhong, so King Yong was naturally meaningless.

At this time, Zhu Shengfei also said: "Your Majesty, there is a saying in the "Book of Songs" that the heron is flying, and it is in Pixiyong, Yongzhe, and the frontier fortress. In fact, it has the same meaning as Xiliang. I mean, I think it's okay."

Zhu Shengfei was fooling the emperor Zhao Gou. The Yong Kingdom is not the Xirong Kingdom, but the feudal kingdom of Yongbo, the twelfth son of King Wen of Zhou.

The point is that Zhu Shengfei was very afraid that the two parties would not be able to negotiate in the end. Chen Qing left in a rage. Zhu Shengfei was very aware of the importance of the abdication edict to the emperor. If he could not get the abdication edict, the emperor would definitely push all the major responsibilities , I really just couldn't eat and walked away.

Zhu Shengfei added: "If the two parties sign the agreement tomorrow, the "Beijing News" will officially publish the edict of the late emperor's abdication the day after tomorrow, and His Majesty will be able to get it."

Thinking of the emperor's imperial edict to abdicate, Zhao Gou suddenly felt that even if Chen Qing was made the King of Qin, it would be nothing. In this world, what could be more important than his own throne?
(End of this chapter)