National color raw owl

The state banquets for foreign envoys are always held in the Hall of Light, but such a grand event has not happened for many years.

Chu Huan originally thought that participating in the banquet to receive foreign envoys would be unprecedentedly grand, and the officials attended the banquet, but when he went to the banquet the next day, he realized that things were not what he thought at all.

Those who participated in the state banquet were at least officials of the third rank and above, and they were only Beijing officials. Officials below the third rank were not eligible to participate in the state banquet held by the Guangming Palace to welcome foreign envoys. Originally, Chu Huan was only an official of the fourth rank, and did not He is not qualified to participate in the banquet, but now he has two identities, which is enough for him to make great strides into the Hall of Light.

The first is naturally the status of the deputy envoy of the Daqin Mission. This banquet is set up for the Xiliang Mission. Chu Huan will go to Xiliang next, so he is naturally qualified to participate in this banquet. .In addition, His Majesty the Emperor has just conferred him the title of Viscount, and although the state banquet can only be attended by officials of the third rank or above, courtiers with titles can also attend the banquet.

After the founding of the Qin Dynasty, although a lot of titles were bestowed, most of them were founding heroes. Generally speaking, the officials who can be awarded titles are definitely not low. , and many of them have already died under the blade of His Majesty the moody emperor. In fact, there are only a handful of courtiers who hold titles in Beijing. Chu Huan, who is only the head of the household department, can be awarded the title of Viscount. The empire is unique, the only one.

Under the auspices of Zhao Xuan, Minister of the Honglu Temple, the Guangming Palace was already resplendent and resplendent. The imperial officials who attended the banquet had not yet seated at the table, and they were talking in small groups on the square outside the Guangming Palace.

The bright moon was in the sky, and the lights projected from the hall illuminated the white marble brilliantly.

Chu Huan and Xue Huai'an were together at this time, whispering beside a jade carving.

One is the principal envoy and the other is the deputy envoy. This time they are going to go to Xiliang as an envoy. They can also be said to be grasshoppers tied to a rope. Gotta be intimate.

Deep down in Chu Huan's heart, of course he was unwilling to travel thousands of miles to go to Xiliang as an envoy. With his current status, he is completely powerless to raise objections.

He had never thought before that it would be his turn to go to Xiliang with all the officials in the court, and he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a misfortune.

It is certain that if this mission to Xiliang succeeds and successfully completes the task assigned by the emperor, then after he returns, he must be a great achievement, and this will become his political capital based on the officialdom, and he will be confident about his future and himself. What is conceived in the heart must be of great benefit.

However, the mountains are high and the road is far away, and he himself is not sure whether the trip will go smoothly, nor can he be sure whether he will be able to return to Luo'an capital alive.

What he is most worried about now is Yingren's situation.

Although the case of the red silver book has been relatively peaceful for the past two days, Chu Huan knows that it is only because the Xiliang Mission is in Beijing, and the matter will never be settled so easily.

Taizi dang has always been in a weak position and has been squeezed and suppressed by the Hanwang party. Now he has finally caught the handle because of the red silver book. There is a chance to fight back against the Hanwang party. Of course, taizi dang cannot let it go. It is very difficult for Tai Zidang to find a better opportunity after severely injuring the Hanwang Party.

Chu Huan could predict that when the Xiliang mission left Beijing, the shock caused by the red and silver books would be further intensified, and what Yingren said in the court yesterday, tearing face off with the King of Han, might have already fallen into a trap. Dangerously.

Previously, the main force of the Hanwang party was to deal with the prince. Now that King Qi is also involved, the Hanwang party will certainly not be soft on Yingren, and the blade is bound to turn against Yingren.

If Xu Congyang was still in the capital, Chu Huan would be able to leave in peace. Xu Congyang has a high prestige in the court and is extremely scheming. With Xu Congyang in Beijing to protect Yingren, the Hanwang party would not dare to act rashly, even if it really wants to harm Yingren , Xu Congyang can naturally deal with it.

But now that Xu Congyang is on Xishan Road, dealing with the delivery of supplies to the northwest, it is obvious that he will not be able to make it back in a while, and now that he is leaving because of an envoy, Ying Ren is really alone.

Chu Huan was worried that there was no one around Yingren, and the crown prince was bewitching and using him from the sidelines. Although Yingren was smart, he was too young and energetic, so it was impossible for him to have a deep insight into the dangers of politics. If he made a fatal mistake and was caught by the Hanwang party, then things would be bad.

Chu Huan knew better that all the civil and military officials in the court knew that he belonged to Yingren, and if Yingren got out of trouble, he, Yingren's confidant, would definitely be implicated.

Even if he failed the mission this time, even if he came back alive, he might be attacked and suppressed by people with ulterior motives. Therefore, the moment Chu Huan accepted the emperor's will, he knew that this mission could only succeed, not fail.

Of course, Xue Huai'an couldn't possibly know what Chu Huan was thinking, so he just said softly: "Today, Bai Linxi and others are arguing with the Xiliang people. The Holy Majesty has already reminded the Xiliang people not to talk like a lion. It is not good for anyone. But people from Xiliang are lucky, the mouth of the blood plate is as big as the sky, and the list of compensation almost didn't make Bai Linxi faint."

Chu Huan did know that since early this morning, Bai Linxi, his regular attendant, has led the Qin State negotiating team to formally start follow-up negotiations with the Xiliang people.

Bai Linxi is a member of the Hanwang Party. This person has a very close relationship with the Hanwang. He once taught Hanwang articles. The Hanwang Party has An Guogong in the Zhongshu Province, and Bai Linxi in the Menxia Province. The power is naturally very strong. This Bai Linxi is a great Confucian in the empire. He once worked in the Imperial College and had many students. After that, he was promoted to work in the lower province. He is eloquent and eloquent. The emperor handed over the peace negotiation to the King of Han. Therefore, the King of Han naturally invited out this eloquent scholar and asked him to bring people to the negotiating table to bargain on the list proposed by the Xiliang people.

Although His Majesty the Emperor and Maha Zangshang have reached some kind of agreement, but if the conditions of the two parties are really to be implemented, it will naturally require some haggling. If the follow-up negotiations cannot be reached, there is still a possibility that the peace talks will break down.

Just as the emperor said, if Xiliang withdraws troops, the empire can accept compensation for property, but if the people of Xiliang open their mouths and ask for prices, then the empire will naturally not accept it easily.

"Oh?" Chu Huan whispered with a smile: "How much is the price paid by the people of Xiliang?"

Xue Huai'an looked around, then lowered his voice, and raised two fingers, "Don't say anything else, just talk about silver taels, that's the amount!"

"Two million taels?" Chu Huan wondered.

Xue Huai'an smiled wryly and said: "My Lord Chu, you are still the head of the household department, 200 million taels? Can you believe this number?" Shaking his head, he said, "If it's really just this number, let's squeeze it together, but we can barely get it out. .”

Chu Huan frowned and said, "Could it be that people from Xiliang asked for 2000 million taels?"

"Who says it's not?" Xue Huai'an said helplessly: "This Xiliang people really regard our Daqin as a silver treasury, thinking that there is silver everywhere." Putting his hands in his sleeves, he said in a low voice: "If the Xiliang people really insist on 2000 million taels Compensation, the peace talks will definitely fail, and my brother and I don’t need to go to Xiliang. As far as I know, the taxes collected by our Daqin in a year are only 3000 million taels in total in 300 provinces across the country. Calculated from the annual treasury expenditure, in the early years there was a surplus of two to three million taels, but in recent years there has been no surplus at all...!" He approached Chu Huan and asked softly, "Brother Chu, you are in the household department. So can you take out the 2000 million taels of silver?"

The Sixteen Ways of the Great Qin Dynasty, each way is different, and the taxes collected are naturally different. The big way has a tax of two to three million taels a year, while the small way only has a tax of one million taels a year. Sixteen ways Added up, it is nothing more than 300 million taels of silver.

Chu Huan had already shook his head and said, "2000 million taels? Don't talk about this number, it's 200 million taels, and it may not be possible to get it now!" He was telling the truth.

During his stay in the Ministry of Accounts for a while, he actually knows about the current financial situation of the empire. Tongtian Temple, Northwest War, Hebei War and Sitiantai alchemy have consumed a large amount of silver from the treasury. Now the Ministry of Accounting is in short supply. At that time, there was 2000 million taels of silver, which was undoubtedly a fairy tale.

Don't say 2000 million taels, even 1000 million taels, it will be scraped from the people again. In order to let the Xiliang people withdraw from the northwest, and risk forcing the people to rebel, the court will continue to collect taxes. It was stupid, and it was impossible to do such a thing, so Chu Huan felt in his heart that the people of Xiliang couldn't stop them from asking for prices, but of course it was impossible for Qin to reach an agreement with them for such a huge amount, and the people of Xiliang could only back down in the end.

Xue Huai'an said: "The people of Xiliang are not afraid that the wind will slap their tongues. If they insist on this price, the Holy Majesty will definitely not agree. Otherwise, they will not get a tael of silver, and the two countries will start a new war."

Chu Huan pondered slightly, shook his head and smiled, "If they were really capable of fighting, they wouldn't initiate a peace offer. In fact, the price is free for them to open, but whether they can bear it or not, the imperial court naturally has a scale in mind." After a pause, He said softly: "The Holy Majesty agreed to negotiate a peace with Xiliang, perhaps because he was worried about internal and external enemies, and spent some money to stabilize Xiliang for the time being. If Xiliang is really aggressive and refuses to back down, the Holy Majesty may not let them do whatever they want."

Xue Huai'an said: "Actually, I also feel that the Xiliang people are just pretending to show off, and they won't really want to fight. It depends on how Lord Bai and the others talk to the Xiliang people." He suddenly looked not far away , "Hey", Chu Huan couldn't help looking over, and saw a group of people heading towards the Guangming Hall in a side corridor not far away. After opening the box, two Honglu Temple officials arrived at the side of the Guangming Hall, and the guards guarding outside the hall were ordering the group of people to open the box for strict interrogation.

"I'm afraid this is Zhao Xuan's upside-down trick." Xue Huai comforted his short beard and said in a low voice: "I was in the imperial study yesterday, didn't Zhao Xuan still say that he wanted people to perform acrobatics for Xiliang people? It seems that this The group of people is the juggling team. Hehe, Zhao Xuan wants to invite favors in front of the Holy Master, but the people of Xiliang may have never seen our Central Plains jugglers, and it will really open their eyes."

Chu Huan didn't speak, but looked away from there, and looked up at the moon in the sky. The moon was really bright tonight, and the majestic palace was even more majestic under the bath of moonlight.

"Ghost moon and cold stars, chasing souls with iron faces. Long arms and bronze backs, fast hands and darts... It's a good mood for Mr. Chu to watch the moon in this palace!" Chu Huan was staring at the bright moon in the night sky when suddenly a voice came from behind. Hearing these words in a clear and clear voice, Chu Huan's pupils showed unprecedented shock. His pupils shrank and he didn't turn his head immediately. The corners of his eyes twitched twice, but when he turned his head back, his face was full Having completely regained his composure, he saw a person walking towards him with a smile on his face.