Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 581
When Li Jingsui arrived, Dao Le arrived.

Although this Southern Tang emperor's younger brother is not stupid, he is cowardly and has no ambitions. He also likes to have fun and doesn't like to take care of things. He just wants to spend his life in a romantic way.

If someone else wants to be the emperor's younger brother, he must be desperately trying to keep Nantang, because he is the successor, and this country belongs to him.

But Li Jingsui didn't, let alone the emperor's younger brother, even the previous marshals of the soldiers and horses were unwilling to be a marshal.

Let such a person come to negotiate as the main ambassador, it is no different from a big broadcast, which can be seen from the things Li Jingsui brought.

The previous few times were simple gifts chosen at random, but this time with Li Jingsui, there are three sets of Jiangnan refined imperial clothes tributed to Zhang Zhao by the Southern Tang Dynasty, five sets of regular clothes, tea medicine and 1000 taels of gold, silver There are 5000 taels of utensils, [-] pieces of silk brocade, [-] heads of army cattle, and [-] hu of wine.

Li Jing also personally wrote a letter to Zhang Zhao, in which he mentioned his crime of sending troops north to Song and Xu with regret.

Although he still called himself Emperor Tang in the letter, he expressed his willingness to call Zhang Zhao his elder brother, and expressed his willingness to pay tribute every year as long as his elder brother forgives him.

Zhang Zhao crossed out the word Emperor Tang in front of Li Jingsui, and then handed the letter to Li Jingsui.

"Go back and tell your brother, I can agree to his request to call me brother, but to be a younger brother, you have to act like a younger brother.

I can entrust him with the affairs of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, but the title of emperor must be removed, and the title of Tang Zhiguo can no longer be used, because Jian Wangke has never been an emperor.

Brother Er's uncle, Li Shouling, Duke of Longxi County, was still in Chang'an to offer sacrifices to the family temple of the Tang Dynasty, and the lineage of Zheng Wang in the later dynasty was also there. The elders were not called Tang, so how could the nephew be called Tang? "

Coincidentally, Li Shouling is the fourth grandson of Tang Xianzong's second son Li Wang Li Yun, and Li Jing's father Li Min is the fourth grandson of Tang Xianzong's tenth son Jian Wang Li Ke. They both trace their ancestors back to Tang Xianzong.

Li Jing then retracted the letter, but he was a little vague about Zhang Zhao's proposal, so he just said in a low voice.

"My Tang Kingdom lives in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River. It is really not suitable to be called the emperor anymore. If the sage allows it, I can remove the title of emperor and be called the lord of the country."

Zhang Zhao was a little dissatisfied, but he didn't hold back. Li Jing's move was equivalent to half of surrender.

Instead of going to the title of the Tang Dynasty, only the title of the Emperor, and still calling him the Lord of the Tang Dynasty, this is obviously because he does not want to accept Zhang Zhao's canonization.

Of course, negotiations can't be done in one go. After Zhang Zhao was noncommittal, he didn't get entangled in this aspect.

But since Li Jing only wanted to surrender and lose half, the sage was not polite anymore, and started talking loudly.

He asked the Southern Tang for the four prefectures of Shou, Guang, Hao, and Si in the north of Huainan and Jiangbei, as well as Ezhou where Wuchang is located.

This is to attack the Southern Tang from Huainan and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River!

If the four prefectures of Huainan and Ezhou were sacrificed, and Zhang Zhao had already captured Yang, Chu, Hai, Tai, Chu, and six prefectures, then only Luzhou would be left in Huainan and Huaixi.

It also catches up with Wuchang, an important stronghold in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and there is no way to survive at all!
Even Li Jingsui didn't dare to agree to this. If he agreed, Nantang would be gone.

"Without Huainan and Ezhou, my Tang Kingdom is no different from being destroyed. The saint's move is not for peace talks, but for extermination. Then the whole country can only fight to the death."

Feng Yanlu also became loyal. He stood up and said loudly to Zhang Zhao, while Li Jingsui fell on the ground and begged.

Do you want to trust Feng Yanlu?

This was something Zhang Zhao was about to make a decision on.

Because it was obvious that Feng Yanlu was leaning toward him, and he also revealed the possibility of being recruited.

Now that he said this, it meant that it was completely unacceptable for Li Jing to cede the entire Huainan, Jiangbei and Ezhou.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment, then sneered.

"I have tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers on the right side of the river, and I can destroy the city in a short time, and take the whole of Huainan. It's just a piece of cake. If you want to ask for peace, how can it be possible without paying a price?"

Li Jingsui begged for a long time, but Zhang Zhao still refused to let go, Li Jingsui had no choice but to rush back to Jiangning to discuss with Li Jing.

Most of the rest of the Southern Tang courtiers did not go back, and began to visit various civil and military personnel at Zhou Jun's side, hoping that they could help persuade Zhang Zhao.

The time came to the beginning of June, and the weather was getting hotter and more humid. The soldiers and horses in Hexi couldn't stand it any longer.

The various tools of the Shenji Battalion were seriously damaged, and the one hundred camel whirlwind cannons had already returned north, because the camels began to acclimatize to the soil and rotten hooves, and as for the war horses, rotten hooves also began to appear.

During this period, not only the envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty came to the Zhou army camp in Hezhou, but the angels of Zhou Guo also went to Jiangning several times. After constant wrangling, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

Regarding the issue of Zhang Zhao's refusal to let Nan Tang go to the national title, Zhao Pu came to solve the siege in the end.

This sinister guy only asked Zhang Zhao one thing, that is, do you want to repair Nantang again in the future?

If you don't leave an excuse, after returning with a full load this time, Nantang is already extremely obedient, what excuse can you use to attack?Being well-known as a teacher is also a very important thing.

So after Zhang Zhao thought about it, he finally agreed with Zhao Pu's statement, and he had to leave an extremely important handle for Nantang, which would be pulled out and beaten at any time, so as to leave an excuse.

But in Jiangning City, Feng Yansi was actually persuading Li Jing, since he had regressed to such an extent, he should not give Zhou Guo any excuses, Feng Yansi even said it.

"Zhou Guo claimed to inherit the virtues of the Great Tang, but I am called Tang. Isn't this a natural excuse for others to attack?"

But Li Jing had his own considerations. Their identities as descendants of the Great Tang clan couldn't help deliberating. If they went to the Tang Dynasty, what would they use to appeal to people's hearts?
The compensation for land cession can also be said to be a slap in the face, but it is obviously impossible to explain it when you go to Tang Hao!

And Li Jing still felt in his heart that he did make a lot of mistakes this time, but he also learned a lot of lessons.

With experience, Zhou Jun will come again next time, but there will be no such cheap things.

Therefore, the two sides finally reached a settlement in Hezhou, and Zhang Zhao led his army to move back to Yangzhou that day.

Li Jing sent the emperor's younger brother Li Jingsui across the river again, and the two sides reached the following conditions.

[-]. Li Jing removed the name of Emperor, changed the name of the Tang Dynasty to Nantang, called the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the Southern Tang Dynasty became a minister to Zhou Guo.

Every year on Zhang Zhao's birthday, Zhang Zhao's aunt Empress Dowager Ciyou's birthday and birth mother Empress Dowager Cisheng's birthday, Li Jing had to offer congratulatory gifts and send his clan as envoys to celebrate his birthday.

300,000. Southern Tang ceded the four prefectures of Chu, Hai, Hao, and Si in Huainan to Zhou State, and compensated [-] guan for the damage caused by soldiers entering Song and Xu Erzhou, and paid [-] guan for the military expenses of Zhou State's army this time.

300,000. The Southern Tang Dynasty needed to pay to redeem the states occupied by Zhou, including Yangzhou 150,000 guan, Taizhou 75 guan, Chuzhou and Hezhou [-] guan each, Tianchang Jianwu Army and Yancheng [-] guan each, with a total value of [-] guan.

200,000. Southern Tang needs to pay tribute to Zhou State every year, including [-] catties of tea, [-] bolts of brocade, [-] shi of grain and rice, and some other special products of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

The specific number can vary, but the total value is not less than 400,000 guan.The annual tribute must be transported through the Grand Canal, and the Southern Tang Dynasty must ensure the smooth flow of Hangou.

4000. Zhang Zhao released the captured Southern Tang Yan Wang Li Jingda and Bian Hao and other civil servants and military generals, as well as [-] people captured by the Southern Tang Army, but he could take away righteous people who were willing to go north.

[-]. The Southern Tang immediately executed Chen Jue, the privy envoy who attacked Zhou's navy camp, handed over Chen Huo, the commander of the navy, and others, and severely punished the generals who agreed to send troops.

As soon as the treaty was signed, Zhang Zhao knew that half of the Southern Tang Dynasty had been destroyed.

A one-time compensation of 150,000 guan is equivalent to almost the annual fiscal revenue.

The annual tribute money of 400,000 is constantly drawing blood.

This amount is basically equal to [-]% of the annual revenue of the Southern Tang Dynasty, because Chuzhou and Yangzhou are the two largest salt-producing centers in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Without Chuzhou, the financial revenue of the Southern Tang Dynasty will definitely be greatly reduced.

Defensively it was even worse.Without Chuzhou, the Huainan part north of Yangzhou was almost undefended.

Without Haozhou and Sizhou, the remaining land of Huainan, and the Southern Tang Dynasty only had a stronghold of Shouzhou, which could not be defended at all.

In the end, the Southern Tang Dynasty could only shrink the line of defense to Chuzhou, relying on Chuzhou's Qingliu Pass and Tianchang's Jianwu Army for defense.

Regardless of whether it is Qingliuguan or Tianchang, they are simply not comparable to the four states of Shou, Hao, Si, and Chu.

Since then, the entire north of the Yangtze River has limited barriers to Jiangnan, which will become a huge burden.

Moreover, when [-]% of the annual finances are taken away, if you want to defend yourself, you can only squeeze the people as much as possible, and you will definitely lose your mind.

Zhang Zhao suddenly knew that in Li Yu's period in history, the goose gave birth to twins who had to pay taxes, and why.

On June [-]th, Zhang Zhao sent Zhang Lie to become an angel, cross the river to Jiangning, and canonize Li Jing as the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Li Jing led all the civil and military officials out of the city and knelt to greet him. At this point, Zhang Zhao's six-month campaign against the Southern Tang Dynasty officially ended.

In this battle, Zhang Shengren turned the Tang Kingdom established by Li Min into the real Southern Tang, and it is no longer called Southern Tang in history.

Zhang Zhao annexed the four prefectures and nineteen counties in Huainan in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and obtained a large amount of money, food and goods, and the soldiers and generals still had a balance of 600,000 guan.

The annual income of 400,000 can also greatly promote the recovery of production in the Central Plains.

In particular, the rice grains from the south of the Yangtze River could finally be transported to the Central Plains, and Zhang Zhao no longer had to deduct a little bit from Hexi, Longyou, and Guanzhong, which were already in short supply.

On June [-]th, Zhang Zhao paid homage to the more than [-] soldiers who died in this battle and the more than [-] Zhou army warriors who died of illness in Yangzhou.

With [-] large and small warships built in the south of the Yangtze River, more than [-] strong sailors from the south of the Yangtze River were recruited, tens of thousands of family members, and hundreds of workers, and returned from Yangzhou to Hangou North.

While returning north, Zhang Zhao looted all the government treasuries of Yang, Tai, Chu, and four prefectures and counties under his jurisdiction, and then hired tens of thousands of people from Yangzhou, Tianchang, and Yancheng on the spot to help them pull the fibers.

These common people thought that the Zhou army was brutal, because the Southern Tang court propagated it that way, and so did the local tyrants in the countryside.

Therefore, everyone thought that they would either be beaten to death or exhausted to death. When they were 'hired' away, it was as if they were going to die, and there were even a few riots.

But after arriving, I found that the Zhou army was strictly disciplined, the officials of the Zhou state were kind to others, and their work was not heavy.

Not only are three meals a day provided, but you can also have a meal of chicken pancakes, and there is mutton soup every two days.

What's even more exaggerated is that there is still money to get, one big money per person per day, although it is small, it is money, and those who don't need money can also exchange for the same amount of salt and cloth.

If someone is sick, there are also military doctors who ask for medicine and cure the disease.

Under this kind of treatment, the people in Southern Tang and Jiangbei burst out with great enthusiasm. They were dragged all the way to Chuzhou and refused to leave.

Zhang Zhao specially allowed them to send them to Xuzhou, and they had enough food and money along the way.

When they arrived in the outskirts of Xuzhou, Zhang Zhao personally dismissed the more than [-] civilian husbands. For the convenience of their return, Zhang Zhao specially left five large and small boats, which were filled with the cloth and salt tea they deserved.

Then Zhang Shengren issued a decree, saying that he was grateful to the people for sending each other, and rewarded each of them with a piece of cloth and five thousand shi of grain as food for them on the way back home.

A large number of capable people were promoted from the common people as officials, and Zhao Pu, a Zhongshu Sheren and a member of the household department, was sent to send them back to the south.

When the common people heard about it, they were moved to tears and shouted "Long live" outside Xuzhou City. Many people were still kowtowing to thank Zhang Zhao's car after he left.

This is also a conspiracy, because the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty who have received such kind treatment from Zhang Zhao will definitely transfer this expectation to Li Jing.

Then they will find that in order to make up enough tribute to Zhou State every year, and still have a surplus to build defenses from Chuzhou Qingliuguan to Tianchang, the Southern Tang court will definitely increase their taxes greatly.

At that time, the balance of people's hearts will completely tip to the other side.

However, Zhang Zhao's mood was a bit complicated. It can be said that the sufferings these Southern Tang people were about to face had a lot to do with him, but he had to do this.

At least for now, he can't save these people. Instead, he wants to let them be squeezed severely, and then rise up to resist.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao sighed to his eldest son Zhang Xiancun beside him.

"Although it's hard to rejuvenate the people and die to the people, but after the rejuvenation, at least there are some good days to look forward to. This is all I can do."

Zhang Xiancun is already 13 years old this year, and he seems to understand, but his flattering skills are getting better and better, so he cupped his hands.

"Your Excellency is a famous emperor through the ages, and the people under his rule will definitely not suffer."

Zhang Zhao chuckled, not knowing whether to nod or shake his head, he could only make the people suffer less, but it was impossible not to suffer.

People at the bottom of the society, it is impossible in any era not to suffer, the only difference is whether they can get a little bit of sweetness after suffering.

(End of this chapter)