Reborn in the late Northern Wei Dynasty

Chapter 445 Xu Ling Fulfills His Mission
Since the eighth day of February, Xiao Gang has received letters from many courtiers, asking the emperor to cheer up, even though the current situation is difficult, he should work hard to restore the country.

In the past, even in Xiao Yan's period, the Jiankang court was like a pool of stagnant water, and there has not been such an exciting scene for many years.

But Xiao Gang is determined to turn the tide and help the building to collapse, but he suffers from a lack of money, so he can only do nothing.

Fortunately, a minister proposed to borrow money from Northern Qi. This proposal was approved by everyone, and they recommended themselves one after another, willing to go to Jiangbei to lobby Gao Cheng.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the courtiers gave Xiao Gang a boost to the increasingly depressed Xiao Gang.

"If you can get the help of all the kings, why worry about the country's prosperity,"

Xiao Gang lamented that the ministers were loyal to the country, and ordered Xu Ling, the son of his confidant Xu Qin, to cross the river north to lobby in Luoyang.

Xu Ling was also among the courtiers who persuaded Xiao Gang to cheer up, but he did not secretly collude with Northern Qi.

The reason why he was chosen was because Xiao Gang miscalculated the difficulty of lobbying Gao Cheng.

There is no need to question Xu Ling's talent. He has been praised as "Stone Qilin in the Sky" and "Yan Hui in the World" since he was a child. More importantly, this person has eloquence, which is what Xiao Gang likes.

The 45-year-old Xu Ling was appointed as a permanent servant, and after communicating with Duan Shao, the general of Jingkou Town, he was able to cross the river.

Cars and horses headed north, Xu Ling was worried about the country and the people, and didn't know that his trip was for nothing.

As the saying goes, the country is unfortunate and the poet is lucky. In recent years, Xu Ling's poems have been quite prolific. Different from the previous style of frivolity and beauty, there are many more works about sorrow and sorrow when parting.

The poems and essays spread to the north one after another, and it is said that Gao Cheng, the ruler of Qi, appreciated him, which was also one of the reasons why he was sent as an envoy, just like Gao Cheng was sent to the south of the Yangtze River twice because of Wen Zisheng's talent, which was loved by Xiao Yan.

Gao Cheng has also begun to pay attention to his own cultural accomplishment in recent years, at least he behaves like this in front of people, regardless of whether he reads it or not, at least when the ministers meet with him, he always holds the anthology in his hand.

He also taught the Xianbei nobles without shame:

'I am busy with state affairs every day, and I still don't release the scroll. I often get something, and I hope you will work hard. '

Not to mention saying that I am a barbarian when breaking the rules.

Gao Cheng began to pay attention to his words and deeds, and even flaunted the origin of the Bohai Gao family, but the Bohai Gao family did not get much credit from him.

After Xu Ling came to Luoyang, Gao Cheng's attitude towards Xu Ling was very cold after hearing the person who greeted him tell him about his visit.

It is said that Gao Cheng complained to Yang Min in private:
"I have been in power for five years, lived diligently and frugally, and never built gardens for my own entertainment, but asked me to relieve Jiangdong's difficulties, what's the reason!"

As for how these words came out of the palace, no one can say for sure, but they are widely spread in Luoyang City, even Xu Ling has heard of them.

Of course, Xu Ling was Jiangdong's envoy after all. Although Gao Cheng said he didn't want to see him, he sent Wei Shou to receive him on his behalf.

With such an excellent historian like Zhang Shiqi, Wei Shou is not necessary in Gao Cheng's heart, neither the "Book of Wei" nor national history needs him.

Different people have different fates. Like Chen Yuankang, Wei Shou was seconded by Gao Huan from the Gaocheng shogunate, and finally returned to Luoyang, but he never got Gao Cheng's attention.

This time he was in charge of receiving Xu Ling, and Wei Shou also wanted to take the opportunity to step on it.

Envoys from the two countries have never been without this kind of thing, and they have to take advantage of the lip service.

It just so happened that when Xu Ling arrived in Luoyang, it was already late spring in March, and the weather was getting hotter. Wei Shou said to the accompanying receptionists:

"Today's heat is brought by Xu Changshi."

That person is a qualified fan, so he asked why.

Wei Shou laughed and said:

"The government was in decline, and Xu Changshi was anxious like an ant on a hot pot. He hurried north, bringing heat along with him."

When everyone laughed, Xu Ling retorted:

"In the past, Wang Su crossed the river and established the etiquette for the Northern Dynasty. Today I will come and let you know the cold and heat."

Wei Shou felt ashamed when he heard the words, and dared not despise Xu Ling any more.

Just when Xu Ling thought that this mission was about to fail, Gao Cheng accidentally learned of the verbal quarrel between him and Wei Shou, he treated Xu Ling differently, and even said to his left and right:
"Staying in the country and being unyielding in resisting the knot, this is not Lin Xiangru's visit to Qin."

So he personally summoned Xu Ling and praised him greatly, saying:
"I am not the Lord of Qin, but the Lord is Lin Xiang."

And Xu Ling also brought up the old matter at the right time, asking Gao Cheng to help Jiangdong.

Perhaps because he was overwhelmed by Xu Ling's intelligence and talent, Gao Cheng finally let go, and said with emotion:
"The turmoil in the south of the Yangtze River, the people suffered from the war, I am also deeply saddened.

"Lord Liang, my father-in-law has the ambition to put an end to the civil strife, so why should I be so stingy with some cloth and armor."

Xu Ling didn't expect that Gao Cheng would really give generously, and before he could be pleasantly surprised, he heard Gao Cheng ask Cui Jishu to discuss the specific amount with him.

After some arduous negotiations, it was finally decided by Gao Cheng himself:

"I would like to donate [-] bolts of cloth, [-] armour, and a million arrows. What does Xu Changshi think?"

This string of numbers was enough to move Xu Ling, and he kowtowed excitedly:

"The minister thanked His Majesty Long En!"

Gao Cheng stopped and said:
"Don't be in a hurry to thank them. These cloths and weapons are just for borrowing. In the future, the Lord Liang will have to return the original amount. After all, all the treasury is owned by the people. I have to give an account to the people under my rule."

"As it should be, as it should be!"

After leaving the Mingguang Palace, Xu Ling's mood was still not calm, and he almost fell down several times.

He looked towards the southeast, as if he saw Xiao Gang who was eager for him in Jiankangtai City, and secretly said:

'Your Majesty, this humble minister has fulfilled his mission! '

But what Xu Ling didn't know was that after he left the hall, the smile on Gao Cheng's face became wider.

Previously, Xiao Gang owed him military expenses and was forced to kill a group of rebellious ministers to make up for it. The balance of 20 bolts of cloth needed to be paid in batches.

Now that they have borrowed money from Northern Qi, once the Dongliang treasury is unable to repay it, they may have to be forced and instigated by Gao Cheng to extend the butcher knife to the gentry again.

Even if the Jiangdong gentry were dealt with, Gao Cheng's reputation would not be dirty.

Xu Ling returned to the Jinling Pavilion, Gao Cheng ordered Wei Shou to be summoned, and comforted him:

"Wei Qing has been wronged by today's incident, and don't worry, I will send a letter to Zhang Shiqi, and he will not be allowed to record it in the annals of history."

In order to perform this scene well, Wei Shoushi actually acted as a clown for a while, but there was no other way.

If Xu Ling's trip went smoothly, everyone would be able to detect that there was a conspiracy in it, but Xu Ling was despised by others at first, but he convinced the Northern Qi monarchs and ministers with his own intelligence, so this kind of script can be convincing.

Of course, this kind of performance was just a small scene for the Northern Qi monarchs and ministers.

Back then, the scene between Gao Huan and Gao Cheng's father and son about whether Wei Jing should be punished was called a big drama, second only to He Liuhun's interpretation of Gao Yue in classic level.

　Today I am filling up the outline of the new book, so there is only one small chapter, and the guarantee will be 6000 tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)