big song poppi

Chapter 417 0413 [Qi-Song Peace Talks]

Qin Hui is now proud of the spring breeze.

With his mission to Qi State to promote peace talks and successfully establish contact with Fan Lou, he was promoted to Longtuge Bachelor, Minister of Rites and Zhizhigao.

Zhizhigao belongs to Zhongshu Sheng, and its authority is to draft edicts, and I only serve as consultants.

The Song Dynasty inherited the Tang system, with Hanlin scholars drafting the internal system, and Zhongshu Sheren drafting the external system, which was called the two systems.

The internal system refers to the edicts issued directly by the emperor from the palace. These are actual close ministers. Previously, Liang Shicheng, the internal servant, had been in charge.

Being able to sit in this position is inseparable from the operation of the Wang family and Tong Guan.

Qin Hui was very satisfied with this.

Of course, it would be better if the first wife at home was more gentle.

"Rise to court!"

As the eunuch Li Yan sang "Nai", everyone in the hall looked stern and solemn.

Zhao Ji wore a bright red uniform and walked to the hall to sit down.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

All civil and military officials bowed to greet him.

Looking at the dilapidated hall, Zhao Ji couldn't help but frown slightly.

Living in Yanfu Palace and Genyue, such a dilapidated palace made him a little intolerable.

Zhao Ji has long wanted to build a palace from scratch, and now he has new inspiration. He plans to combine the beauty of the north and the south to build an ancient and modern work of art.

But the problem before us now is that there is no money!

Although he emptied his money this time when he went south, the money was for his enjoyment, and it was not enough to build a new imperial city.

Zhao Ji has ordered Cai Jing to find a way to help him make money.

In addition, there is the most critical point, which is the peace talks with Qi.

Before peace talks, war may break out at any time.

Don't expect Han Zhen to call just as the construction of the Imperial City begins.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ji said loudly: "Peace negotiations are imminent. Is there any beloved minister who is willing to take on the role of peace talks?"

After the words fell, there was silence in the hall.

This is not a good job. If the negotiation breaks down, you will bear the blame.

Even if the negotiation is successful, it will still have to bear the infamy, and it is unlikely that it will be infamy for thousands of years.

After looking around and seeing no one answering, Qin Hui took a step forward.

It was too late for Tong Guan to stop him, so he said loudly: "I wish to go!"

"it is good!"

Zhao Ji's eyes lit up, and the more he looked at Qin Hui, the more he liked him.

Today, there are many responsible ministers.

"I am also willing to go!"

Just then, another voice sounded.

The person who spoke was none other than Zongze.

Due to his meritorious service in guarding Xiangyang, Zongze was transferred back to the central government and was granted the title of deputy privy envoy to the Minister of Soldiers of Baowen Pavilion University.

Zhao Ji made a decision and said: "In that case, I will appoint Zong Qing as the chief envoy and Qin Qing as the deputy envoy, responsible for negotiating peace. Zhongshu's disciples will draft a letter of credence and send it to Qi State."

Negotiating peace is not that simple. Previously, Han Zhen was a member of the Caotai team, so the peace talks between the two parties were relatively casual.

Now that the other party Jianyuan has proclaimed himself emperor, it must be more formal.

Both parties need to submit letters of credence, indicate the envoys for the peace talks, and even the time and layout of the peace talks are particular.

After finalizing the peace talks, Wu Shu reported: "Your Majesty, since the beginning of summer, there have been heavy rains on Jinghu North Road, which has caused frequent floods in the states under its jurisdiction and a large amount of farmland has been submerged. The transshipment envoy Tang Runshan reported to request the treasury to allocate funds for disaster relief."

"..."

Zhao Ji couldn't help but feel a headache when he heard that the person was asking for money.

Now the treasury is empty, and officials and subordinates cannot afford to pay their salaries. They are just waiting for the taxes collected in the summer.

Huang Qianshan rolled his eyes and suggested: "I heard that when Han Zhen was in Shandong, he went to Taoist temples under his rule to recover the taxes owed since the first year of Jianlong. The income tax was astonishing. I feel that I can imitate a few things to solve the problem. Trouble with the treasury.”

To recover the taxes owed since the first year of Jianlong's reign, to put it bluntly, it means confiscating the property, but with a different excuse, it's just a matter of reputation.

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the hall had different expressions.

The official family is most fond of Taoism, so they dare not accept this.

"This plan works!"

Zongze pondered: "The monks are not engaged in production. They only need to ring bells and chant sutras every day, and they can have a lot of money and land, which is of no benefit to the country. I think Han Zhen's move is a great good."

He had long disliked those monks and Taoists. They were not engaged in production, but they were extremely rich.

They also used loan sharks behind the scenes to squeeze believers and pilgrims.

If it weren't for his wrong stance, he would have praised Han Zhen profusely.

Zhao Ji's expression suddenly changed. After he demoted Lin Lingsu from the palace, he no longer cared much about cultivating immortals.

But after all, the Tao that has been cultivated for so many years cannot be changed overnight.

But the treasury is really short of money...

For a moment, Zhao Ji was troubled.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Ji finally did not agree, but just ordered: "The monks and Buddhist temples can recover the taxes owed, but the Taoist temple will be exempted for the time being, and the matter will be left to Huang Qing."

"I accept your order!"

Huang Qianshan was delighted.

This is a fat guy. If he doesn't scratch the ground, wouldn't it be a waste of all his efforts?

……

……

July 18th.

Chang Yukun and Shi Wenhui took a boat down the river and arrived in Gaoyou.

For this peace negotiation, Han Zhen gave full power to the two of them.

The bottom line has already been drawn, so he doesn't need to worry about how to discuss it in detail.

After resting in Gaoyou for two days, early in the morning on the third day, under the escort of Wu Jie, Chang Yukun and Chang Yukun took a boat to Yangzhou.

The location for the peace negotiation was chosen outside Shaobo Town in Yangzhou, which is located on the border between Yangzhou and Gaoyou. The high platform has been built long ago, with colorful ribbons flying.

The maids sent by the two countries are making final arrangements.

The weather is nice today. Although the sun is shining brightly, there are gusts of breeze that take away some of the heat.

Near noon, several carriages came from both sides of the official road.

When he was three hundred steps away from the high platform, Wu Jie warned: "You wait here and guard!"

After asking his soldiers to stay here, he personally escorted Chang Yukun and Shi Wenhui to the peace negotiation stage.

On the other side, Liu Guangshi also asked his soldiers to stop 300 steps away.

Looking at Zongze opposite, whose beard and hair were all white, Chang Yukun cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Brother Rulin, we have been close friends for a long time, and today we finally meet."

Zongze sighed with emotion: "Brother Bo Qiong has finally got what he wanted."

There was a twenty-year age difference between the two of them. Although they had never met in person, they were close friends and had been exchanging letters in the past.

The reason why they sympathize with each other is because their situations are almost exactly the same.

They all offended powerful officials and were suppressed, resulting in a bumpy official career.

However, Chang Yukun offended Cai Jing, and Zongze offended Wu Chuhou.

Both of them have been in the position of county magistrate. They have wasted nearly twenty years, and now they are in high positions at the same time, but each has his own master.

The opportunities in life are truly magical.

Qin Hui did not expect that the two leaders of the peace talks were actually good friends, which made him very happy.

Now that we are here, the next peace talks should be much easier.

However, after the two parties sat down, Chang Yukun immediately changed his expression.

He was smiling all the time before, but suddenly he became aggressive: "The Song Dynasty must pay tribute to our Qi Kingdom and become a vassal. It can no longer be called emperor. It should be changed to the Lord of Jiangnan and accept the canonization of our Majesty!"

Zongze did not show any mercy and refuted: "Your country only occupies four provinces and ten roads, how dare you claim to be a great country? We, the Song Dynasty, are the orthodox Chinese people. In terms of territory and population, we far surpass Qi. With millions of people, Qi State should become its vassal!"

Chang Yukun sneered: "Since we can't reach an agreement, let's continue fighting! I want to see if the walls of Song State can block the front of our Qingzhou Army!"

Zongze said tit for tat: "The battles between Xiangyang and Yangzhou were only a little over a month ago. Wouldn't the Changshe people forget it?"

"The battles in Xiangyang and Yangzhou were all due to the fact that the main force of our army had not arrived."

"You can give it another try."

Qin Hui was frightened when he heard this. He didn't expect Zongze to be so strong.

Although he looked down on Han Zhen's mud-legged background, he never underestimated the Qingzhou Army.

The Song Dynasty suffered two defeats in the Northern Expedition and was beaten by the Liao Dynasty.

The Liao Kingdom was destroyed by the more ferocious Jin people. However, the arrogant Jin people turned around and were pushed to the ground by Han Zhen and beaten violently.

In this comparison, the Song Army is no match for the Qi Army.

At this moment, Qin Hui was extremely anxious, but he said with a smile: "You two calm down, don't hurt your harmony."

Shi Wenhui also became a peacemaker: "Peace talks and peace talks depend on the word "talk"."

"Yes, yes, what Shi Canjun said makes sense."

Qin Hui quickly nodded in agreement.

Chang Yukun and Zongze took advantage of the slope to get off their donkeys and found a step to get off.

Taking a sip of the tea, Zongze said in a deep voice: "There is no need to mention paying tribute and becoming a vassal. Not to mention other things, the queen of your country is the empress of our country. For my Majesty, the Song Dynasty, to procure vassalage to my daughter, wouldn't it be contrary to Tiangang?" , see the outline as nothing?"

Chang Yukun took some time off and said, "The Emperor of the Song Dynasty can take the Zen throne."

Anyway, Zhao Ji has already meditated once, and he doesn’t care about meditating again.

"..."

This sentence made Zongze speechless.

When he came to his senses, he said firmly: "Impossible!"

It is absolutely impossible for him to agree to pay tribute and become a vassal. This is related to the face of the Song Dynasty.

If he really agreed, Zongze's name would be infamy for thousands of years and he would be nailed to the pillar of shame forever.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, Shi Wenhui knew that it was impossible to pay tribute and become a vassal, so he said: "In this case, we can follow the example of Tan Yuan's alliance and form a kingdom of brothers."

"I have Da Song as my brother!"

Zongze spoke first without any hesitation.

Shi Wenhui shook his head: "No, the elder brother is the elder. The Song Dynasty is weak, how can he be the elder brother?"

Zongze refused to give in even a step: "I, the Song Dynasty, must be brothers!"

"Then there's no need to talk, just keep fighting!"

After Chang Yukun said this, he left with a puff of sleeves.

"Always give up to others, always give up to others..."

Qin Hui suddenly panicked, no longer caring about etiquette, and hurriedly stood up to dissuade him.

After all, he is young and has only been in office for a short time.

"Farewell!"

Shi Wenhui cupped his hands towards the two of them, then stood up and left.

In this way, the first peace talks between Qi and Song ended on bad terms.

……

On the way back to Shaobo Town.

In the carriage, Qin Hui had a gloomy face and said in a reproachful tone: "Zong Shangshu is too tough. Now, if the peace talks fail and the war breaks out again, His Majesty will definitely blame him."

Zongze asked in return: "Is it possible for Your Majesty to call Han Zhen your brother?"

"This……"

Qin Hui's tone paused, and then he retorted: "It shouldn't be such a deadlock. The peace talks between the two countries should be magnanimous. Sit down and talk slowly is the right way."

Zongze was silent for a moment and said: "You and I can't decide on this matter. We still need to report it to His Majesty."

"Ah."

Qin Hui nodded.

After returning to Shaobo Town, the two immediately wrote a memorial together and rushed it to Jinling for 800 miles.

(End of this chapter)