Invincible at the beginning: I seek the world in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 111, Literati

next morning
"Invite the Western Chu Mission to the palace"

"Invite the Western Chu Mission to the hall."

In the Southern Tang Dynasty, the ceremony of nine guests was performed to show respect.

Chen Bangzhou, together with members of the mission, Huang Mengjue, Kang Wenyao, and Jiang Wangsheng, walked slowly into the Southern Tang Imperial City.

Seen from a distance, the main hall is full of rays of light, the golden courtyard and jade pillars, Qiong Yuyao are extremely evil, solemn and majestic, and gorgeous and extraordinary.The fine grass and flowers on both sides, the lush forests are like brocade, the horizon is like felt, and the scenery is gorgeous and charming.

A long white jade road with a width of several tens of feet leads to the main hall, with green trees on both sides, a size of ten circumferences, a height of more than a hundred feet, and a gloomy atmosphere.

Cranes and red feathers, magpies and orioles, flying up and down, flying back and forth.

A gust of breeze blows by, and the stone bites lightly with the wind, making a sound of singing jade, which is in harmony with the singing of birds, like the soft sound of fine music, which is very pleasant to the ear.

Chen Bangzhou sighed in his heart: "Who would have thought that there would be such a magnificent scene in the miserable world where corpses were strewn across the fields more than ten years ago."

Chen Bangzhou glanced lightly at the civil and military officials lined up on both sides of the court hall. On one side was the lineage of the empress, and on the other side was the lineage that faintly supported the orthodox lineage.

The empress wore a golden gown with auspicious dragon and phoenix, her posture was awe-inspiring, her mother respected the world, she was not angry and prestige, her phoenix eyes finally fell on Chen Bangzhou.

"The envoys of Western Chu, pay homage to His Majesty the Southern Tang Dynasty." Several people said in unison.

Chen Bangzhou pretended to kneel.

"Prime Minister Chen, hurry up and save yourself from courtesy." Although the Empress is a woman, her voice is resounding, like Huang Zhong Dalu, extremely majestic.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The Empress said, "Prime Minister Chen has traveled thousands of miles, why did you come to me in Southern Tang Dynasty?"

Chen Bangzhou presented a letter of credence with both hands, and replied: "I write a letter to His Majesty, hoping to restore the relationship between the two countries, and to do business, so as to benefit the people and make the world happy."

The empress smiled slightly, and raised her hand to signal her personal guard——Bi Yuntian went to fetch the credentials.

Bi Yuntian nodded slightly, stepped forward gracefully, took the letter of credence handed over by Chen Bangzhou, bowed to Chen Bangzhou in salute, checked it, and presented it to the Empress.

The empress glanced ten lines at a glance, and after reading the content, she said: "Thank you for the emperor of your country. The business is beneficial to both parties, and I should make great efforts to facilitate it."

"Your Majesty is holy." The courtiers of the empress' line hurriedly cupped their hands in praise.

"Prime Minister Chen, you are going to make a big move to enter our territory in the Southern Tang Dynasty and stir up the situation. I'm afraid the purpose is not just for business." A middle-aged man in blue brocade came out.

The empress squinted her eyes and said, "What is the Duke's opinion?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that Western Chu's commercial business has ulterior motives and impure purposes, which may damage our national power in the Southern Tang Dynasty." The Duke shouted loudly every word.

"My ministers agree, there is a feud between us in the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Western Chu Dynasty, and the common people are hostile to each other. If we do business, there will be many frictions. It will do more harm than good." The Secretary of the Household Department of the Southern Tang Dynasty hurriedly said.

"Subsidiary"

"Subsidiary"

"Subsidiary"

Jiang Wangsheng slandered: "Except for the Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, the other four Shangshu are all from another lineage. The Empress was oppressed very badly."

"However, she can think of abolishing the position of the prime minister, setting up Luantai Fengge, dividing the power of the prime minister, and taking the power to herself. Her ability cannot be underestimated." Jiang Wangsheng thought to himself.

The empress's personal guard, Biyuntian, seemed to have sensed Jiang Wangsheng's offending gaze on the empress, and stared at him firmly, as if warning Jiang Wangsheng not to be presumptuous.

Jiang Wangsheng subconsciously rubbed his nose, then turned his eyes away, and began to observe the Duke.

At this moment, Chen Bangzhou's circuitous conversations with other ministers entered from his left ear and exited from his right ear.

"Peng Qiushuo, Duke of the Southern Tang Dynasty." Jiang Wangsheng frowned, and said in his heart: "The survivors of the former dynasty can survive the massacre of the empress and fight against her. Their power should not be underestimated."

"Hmph, I think you, Western Chu, can't defeat Beili, so you want to rely on my Southern Tang's majestic power to survive." The Minister of War of the Southern Tang Dynasty sneered.

As soon as these words came out, most of the courtiers in the court laughed and teased.

Chen Bangzhou smiled indifferently, shaking his feather fan, "That's wrong. I'm here to discuss business matters, but I never said anything about alliance with Southern Tang to fight against Northern Li."

The empress frowned slightly.

Shangguan Teng and Xia Chongshan looked at each other, and they all saw the doubt and incomprehension in each other's eyes.

State Duke Peng Qiushuo said coldly: "Prime Minister Chen has the ability to know the world, he is the pillar of the Western Chu, and he is a minister. Could it be that he took the risk to enter our Southern Tang territory for the sake of mere business?"

"Dangerous? Why do you say that?" Chen Bangzhou was surprised.

"Along the way, there are many difficulties and obstacles, unknowns and changes. Prime Minister Chen is old, so don't you worry that Beili, or even us, will send someone to assassinate you?" Peng Qiushuo said with a smile.

Chen Bangzhou glanced at Jiang Wangsheng, and said: "With him here, even if you Nantang women wear strong clothes and all the men come out, no one can touch me."

The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

"Arrogance!" The Minister of the Ministry of War snorted coldly, "I am in the heyday of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and I don't know how many warriors there are. How can a fledgling young man be able to compare?"

"Someone, please fight this person!" A military officer in armor said.

There was also a person from Fengge, who was a member of the Duke's party, and said: "I have some followers, who are strange people and strange things in the world. It is easy to deal with them."

"That's right, let's not talk about other people, just talk about Qilin'er in Lord Shangguan's family. He is a ninth-rank martial artist at a young age, and his temperament is much better than this son!" One person said.

Shangguan Teng was a little embarrassed, and replied with a smile: "A dog is not talented, a dog is not talented."

Peng Qiushuo stroked his beard and said slowly, "Prime Minister Chen, this is a little too much."

Bi Yuntian looked at the people in the court who didn't know whether to live or die, smiled coldly, and looked at the Empress.

The empress spoke slowly: "Prime Minister Chen, I heard that there is a new innate master in Western Chu who is only in his early twenties, but this person?"

"Your Majesty, it is this person named Jiang Wangsheng." Chen Bangzhou replied with a smile.

The hall fell into deathly silence again.

One of them coughed, broke the silence, and said, "Although this person is young, he has sword-like brows and star-eyed eyes, an extraordinary bearing, and looks like a master of martial arts."

Another person hastily changed his words: "Yeah, the youthful spirit, the horns of the head, and the gestures of the hands are all the demeanor of a superior."

"It makes sense, I think so too."

"Yeah, when you underestimated him just now, I kept silent, because I thought he was as rich as jade, with the appearance of a red furnace and a little snow." An old man said with a smile.

"Old Wang, you are still as sharp-sighted as ever."

"Old Wang, I admire you so much."

As for the warriors present, they all looked at this group of chattering and laughing people with contempt.

Although the military officer who asked for advice was ashamed, he didn't say a word, so I'm unlucky, admit it!
The empress nodded and said: "Young talent, the future is limitless. In this younger generation, Xichu is ahead of me in Nantang."

"Your Majesty, you are serious. Talented scholars in the south of the Yangtze River carve their hearts, and it is difficult for me in Western Chu to compare." Chen Bangzhou said modestly.

"No, with Prime Minister Chen's talent, he can suppress the literary world for 800 years and rule the world for [-] years." The Empress said leisurely.

(End of this chapter)