Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 284 Xixia’s Purpose

Zhao Zongquan smiled and said: "No courtesy!"

"Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty!" The two of them straightened up. Lu Xiuping took out his credentials from his sleeves, held them up with both hands, and said, "This is the credentials of the King of Xixia. Please see it for His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty."

The eunuch bowed forward, took the letter of credence, and passed it all the way to Zhao Zongquan's hands.

Zhao Zongquan took the letter of credence and began to read it.

As he watched, Zhao Zongquan focused his gaze and glanced at Lu Xiuping, who was smiling underneath.

Lu Xiupian looked at Zhao Zongquan with a smile on his face.

The change in Zhao Zongquan's expression was noticed by all civil and military officials in the court, and they all speculated in their hearts about the contents of the Xixia credential.

Zhao Zongquan withdrew his gaze and continued to read. After reading, he pondered for a while and said in a cold voice: "This marriage of Xixia has no sincerity at all. My prince Huan Wang already has a wife, how can he marry the eldest princess of Xixia? princess?"

"Prince Huan has a concubine, and I, the Lord of Xixia, naturally know that. However, I, the Emperor of Xixia, are sincere in entering into a marriage and do not mind His Highness, Prince Huan, divorcing his wife." Lu Xiuping said with a smile.

"boom!"

Zhao Zongquan patted Long An hard and said coldly: "Is this Xixia's sincerity?"

"Your Majesty, Xixia's diplomatic mission this time is simply making a fool of me, Zhou Dynasty! Ordinary people need to make a mistake before divorcing their wives. Princess Huan is a virtuous and virtuous woman who has not made the slightest mistake. How can she be abolished?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I think Xixia's name is peace, but it actually contains evil intentions."

……

For a time, the crowd was furious, and some people even proposed to capture the Xixia envoy and the Xixia eldest princess.

Lu Xiu's expression remained unchanged, as if he wasn't worried at all.

Zhao Zongquan waved his hand to interrupt the courtier's remarks, looked at Lu Xiuping, and said calmly: "Envoy of Xixia, aren't you going to explain?"

"Among the princes of His Majesty the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, only King Huan is an adult. The rest are still young and are not suitable at all. In order to achieve peace, this is the only way."

"I, the Lord of the Xixia Kingdom, also know that this is inappropriate, and have promised that if a marriage is achieved, I will provide 50,000 war horses and five cities near Lingzhou City as a dowry." Lu Xiuping said.

As soon as Lu Xiuping finished speaking, Zhao Zongquan and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty looked shocked.

Yuan Wenshao, who was wearing a purple robe and standing in the second row, frowned slightly.

The conditions given by Xixia were too good. The Great Zhou Dynasty was short of horses, and 50,000 horses were enough to form tens of thousands of cavalry.

The temptation was too great for Da Zhou.

However, the biggest temptation is the latter one.

Although Lingzhou City was recaptured back then, the nearby cities were still in Xixia's hands, and Lingzhou City was like an isolated city.

In order to defend Lingzhou City, the Great Zhou Dynasty stationed tens of thousands of soldiers and horses all year round.

And because several cities near Lingzhou City were in the hands of Xixia, the Xixia governor sent troops to interfere, which greatly affected Zhou's ability to obtain war horses from the Western Regions.

If he agrees to a marriage alliance with Xixia, he will not only be able to immediately organize tens of thousands of cavalry, but without the interference of Xixia, he will also be able to continuously obtain a large number of war horses from the Western Regions.

But Xixia's conditions were difficult for Zhou to accept.

It is impossible for Da Zhou to agree to this, otherwise if word spreads, Zhao Zongquan, an official, and the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty will be nailed to the pillar of shame.

Yuan Wenshao even suspected that Xixia deliberately proposed such conditions because he knew that Zhou would not agree.

But what is the purpose of Xixia?

And isn't Xixia worried that Dazhou won't be able to bear this temptation and agrees?

Zhao Zongquan was so shocked by Xixia's condition that he almost didn't agree directly.

Fortunately, he still had some sense. After hesitating for a while, he said: "What does Xixia think of me, the Great Zhou Dynasty? Princess Huan has no fault at all, and it is impossible to fix her wife and marry another. However, I can let the eldest princess of Xixia be Princess Huan's ping concubine. This This is my bottom line."

"His Majesty the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, the eldest princess of our country is the biological sister of the king of Xixia. She has a deep relationship with the king and cannot accept being a common concubine." Lu Xiuping said.

Zhao Zongquan's face darkened and he said: "Your Xixia marriage is not sincere at all. In this case, the marriage is over."

"His Majesty the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, our country wants to make an alliance with the Zhou Dynasty this time because we want to form an alliance through marriage and jointly send troops to attack the Liao Kingdom. If we can't make the alliance, I'm afraid we will have to give up on the alliance." Lu Xiuping said.

Lu Xiuping's words caused an uproar. They thought Xixia's purpose this time was just to make peace, but they did not expect that they would form an alliance to conspire with the Liao Kingdom.

But this is not impossible.

The relationship between the Zhou, Liao and Xixia kingdoms is somewhat similar to the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has always wanted to regain the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and has fought many wars with the Liao Kingdom, so it has been relatively stable in the past few decades.

Xixia is somewhat similar to Soochow during the Three Kingdoms period. In the past, it had always been at odds between the Zhou Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom.

Both Zhou Dynasty and Liao Kingdom were attacked by Xixia.

It is not impossible for Xixia to propose jointly sending troops with Zhou to attack Liao.

"If you Xixia people really want to unite, please put forward some reasonable conditions. I cannot agree to this condition." Zhao Zongquan said.

If Xixia said it privately, maybe he would really agree.

When the government proposed it, he could not agree, otherwise the world would think of him as an official.

Lu Xiuping pretended to be deep in thought and said: "I, Xixia, are very sincere, but there are not many suitable partners for marriage in Da Zhou. However, the alliance must make concessions to each other before it can be achieved. In order to show sincerity, we Xixia are willing to make concessions and choose to marry our relatives. Replace it with Zhou Guojiu Shen Congxing."

When Zhao Zongquan heard this, a flash of emotion flashed in his eyes.

Although Shen Congxing has decided to get married, he has not yet gotten married. If he can appease the British father-in-law, it is not impossible.

"no!"

The British Duke came out, glared at Lu Xiuping and shouted: "Uncle Shen has already made a marriage arrangement and is about to get married. How can he marry the Princess of Xixia! This so-called alliance of your Xixia people has no sincerity at all."

"We, Xixia, have repeatedly given in, so why are we not sincere? The alliance is good for both families, so it makes no sense that we, Xixia, are the ones giving in? Apart from King Huan, only Uncle Shen is the only person in Zhou who is qualified to marry the eldest princess of Xixia. "Lu Xiu said calmly.

"Who said that only King Huan and Uncle Shen are suitable? We can also let the eldest princess of Xixia enter the palace as a concubine. Our Majesty will definitely treat her as a noble concubine." Han Zhang said solemnly.

"As I said before, Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess and the King of the Kingdom have a deep relationship. Our King has promised to His Highness the Eldest Princess that she will only be the first wife when we get married." Lu Xiu said calmly.

Yuan Wenshao watched the two parties arguing and seemed to understand Xixia's intentions.

At first, they proposed that the eldest princess of Xixia should get married to King Huan, and even asked King Huan to divorce his wife.

But in fact, King Huan was just an introduction, and they should have expected that Zhou Dynasty would not agree.

In fact, Shen Congxing is their target.

First put forward a condition that the other party cannot agree to, and after being rejected, lower the request. In this way, it will be difficult for Da Zhou to refuse.

As for why it was Shen Congxing, Yuan Wenshao seemed to understand after taking a look at the British father-in-law who was trembling with anger and his eyes were burning.

The official marriage was granted, and even though the British father-in-law was very reluctant to let his daughter marry Shen Congxing, he could only admit it with his nose pinched.

Now the news of the British Duke's daughter marrying his uncle Shen Congxing has been spread all over the world, and the wedding date is not far away.

If Zhao Zong stopped the marriage at this time and asked Shen Congxing to marry the eldest princess of Xixia, how would the daughter of the British Duke behave?

There was no way the British public could stand this. Rebellion is unlikely, but with the British public's reputation in the army, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among many people in the army.

It can be said that Xixia's so-called marriage was just a divorce plan, in order to cause chaos within the Zhou Dynasty.

"All right!"

Zhao Zongquan stopped the quarrel and said: "I need to think about this matter carefully. Let's stop here today and retire from the court."

……

"Xi Xia's marriage this time has evil intentions." Gu Tingye said.

"As long as you think about it for a moment, you can understand Xixia's purpose. The problem is that the conditions offered by Xixia are too tempting, not to mention that Xixia has already given in and showed great sincerity." Yuan Wenshao shook his head.

"Do you think the officials will agree?" Gu Tingye asked.

"The officials make their own decisions, and I don't know either." Yuan Wenshao avoided answering.

But Gu Tingye understood what Yuan Wenshao meant and said, "No, I have to go to the officials to make suggestions. I must not agree to Xixia's conditions."

"and many more…"

Yuan Wenshao wanted to persuade Gu Tingye, but when he saw that he had already walked away, he shook his head.

He actually wanted to say that Zhao Zongquan didn't refuse directly, so he must have been moved.

But Zhao Zongquan is not stupid. He was just fascinated by the temptation thrown by Xixia just now.

I'll definitely figure it out when I calm down, no need to persuade.

Forget it, let him be.

Yuan Wenshao frowned and walked out of the palace.

He always felt that Xixia's purpose this time was not as simple as he saw.

Why did Xixia suddenly propose a marriage and form an alliance with Zhou Dynasty?

According to his previous guess, he actually wanted to stabilize Dazhou and prevent Dazhou from interfering with Xixia's seizure of Hehuang.

Even now, Yuan Wenshao has not denied this speculation.

So everything Xixia is doing now actually serves this purpose.

If Zhou agreed to Xixia's conditions and let Shen Congxing marry the eldest princess of Xixia, and the two countries reached an alliance, and this incident chilled the British public, there would inevitably be internal chaos for a period of time, but it would have achieved its goal.

But the premise of all this is that Dazhou can agree.

However, Xixia's purpose was so obvious, didn't they consider that Zhou would refuse?

Once rejected, Dazhou would even reject the alliance in anger because of Xixia's calculations.

In this way, Xixia's plans will all come to nothing.

Xixia is a country after all, and there is no reason to do such superfluous things.

After thinking for a long time, Yuan Wenshao couldn't figure out Xixia's purpose.

He shook his head and was too lazy to think about it. It was not something he could decide anyway.

Yuan Wenshao returned home, stayed with Hualan and the children, and went to the military camp in the afternoon.

After Geng Jiechuan was demoted, no new deputy commander was arranged to come over. Yuan Wenshao could only personally supervise the training of the two battalions.

……

"I see that Emperor Zhou seems to have a heartbeat?" Li Xuan frowned.

"Your Royal Highness, please don't worry. Before departure, An Guogong said that he had contacted Han Zhang and he would persuade the Emperor of Zhou to refuse." Lu Xiuping said.

"That's good. This princess doesn't want to marry a weak Han Chinese." Li Xuan pouted.

"Don't worry, Your Royal Highness, Princess Ying. Duke Ying of Great Zhou has the same status as Duke An Guo in Xixia. As long as the Emperor of Great Zhou is not stupid, there is no way he will agree." Lu Xiuping said firmly.

"Ah."

Li Xuan nodded and asked, "Have the spies been contacted?"

"We have contacted some, but because Jiang Jingming was arrested, the upper echelons were uprooted. The remaining ones have been hiding and are not of much use." Lu Xiuping said.

"How was it exposed?" Li Xuan frowned.

Jiang Jingming's arrest completely paralyzed Xixia's intelligence system in Dazhou, making it difficult to learn any useful information.

This time they came to Dazhou for another purpose, which was to re-establish the intelligence system.

There was so much noise when the Xixia envoys entered Bianjing that the hidden spies naturally knew that some people had already taken the initiative to establish contact with them.

But before that, we need to understand how Jiang Jingming was exposed.

"It's the same as what Duke An Guo asked from Han Zhang. I only know that it was Yuan Wenshao who did it. Those people don't know the specific reason." Lu Xiuping shook his head.

Li Xuan frowned and said, "It's this guy again. This princess would like to meet him."

"No, Your Highness. According to what the spies said, the Great Zhou Dynasty restructured the western suburbs camp a few days ago. This person has been staying in the military camp and is followed by personal guards when traveling. Once discovered, he will be in danger." Lu Xiuping said quickly.

"This is a problem."

Li Xuan frowned and thought for a while, then said: "I can sneak into the military camp, just in time to find out whether Zhou's restructuring is just a show, or whether it is an army reorganization."

"Your Highness, you can't do it. It's too dangerous to sneak into the army. What if your Highness does something bad? How can I explain to Your Majesty when I go back? If Your Highness wants to check the situation in the Zhou army camp, you can let the hidden spies do it." Lu Xiuping said anxiously.

When he met Zhao Zongquan in the morning, many of what he said were false, but one thing was true.

Li Xuan and the Xixia Emperor had a very deep relationship. Originally, according to the Xixia Emperor's wishes, it would be enough to find someone to pretend to be, but Li Xuan insisted on coming to Dazhou to have a look.

The Emperor of Xixia couldn't resist her, so he had no choice but to agree.

Before departure, he summoned him alone and warned him not to let anything happen to Li Xuan.

If Li Xuan was injured in the slightest, he would be dead if he returned.

"No, I can't trust those people's abilities. I've been practicing martial arts since I was a child, so I'll be fine." Li Xuan said nonchalantly.

"Your Highness, let's not talk about how dangerous it is in the military camp. Just around Honglu Temple, there are countless people staring at us. Your Highness can't even get out of Honglu Temple, for fear of being discovered." Lu Xiuping said. Almost crying.

"I wear a hijab and find someone to pretend to be me. As for those who monitor me, I have my own way to deal with it." Li Xuan said.

"No, I can't let Your Highness take risks under any circumstances. If His Highness has to go, just kill me. Anyway, if His Majesty finds out, he will kill me," Lu Xiuping said.

"you…"

Li Xuan saw that Lu Xiuping was looking at death and said angrily: "Isn't it okay if I don't go, please go down, I want to rest."

"Then have a good rest, Your Highness Princess. I will take my leave now," Lu Xiuping said.

(End of this chapter)