Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 461 Death of Gu Yankai
Ye Zuxiang remained calm when he heard this and said, "That's because my Liao Kingdom has learned that the rebellion of the Song Dynasty has been quelled, so it has stopped. My Liao Kingdom has dispatched 100,000 soldiers, which is a huge expense. It is right to ask the Song Dynasty for some compensation, right? Who would have thought that the Song Dynasty would launch a surprise attack on my Liao Kingdom soldiers without declaring war, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties among my soldiers.

Now the people and soldiers of Liao are outraged and have written to Your Majesty requesting them to send troops to avenge the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in the battle.

My emperor is kind and considers that the two countries are brotherly allies. He does not want to start a war lightly, which would cause great suffering to the people. However, he cannot explain to the Liao army and civilians. If the Song Dynasty is willing to pay compensation, my emperor can also give an explanation to the army and civilians, and the two countries will still be brotherly allies. Otherwise..."

Ye Zuxiang didn't say what would happen otherwise, but Zhao Zongquan and all the civil and military officials in the court could naturally hear it.

The simple thing is that if the Song Dynasty does not pay compensation, the Liao Kingdom will send troops.

Faced with Ye Zuxiang's threatening words, the civil and military officials in the court were angry, hesitant, and so on.

"This is absolute nonsense! When the Liao army sent out troops, the rebellion in the Song Dynasty had already been put down. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom did not give any notice before sending out the troops, and directly deployed the troops outside the city of Bazhou. Now they say that they are helping the Song Dynasty to put down the rebellion. This is simply ridiculous!" Han Zhang shouted.

Ye Zuxiang refuted calmly, as if he was the one who was right. In any case, he insisted that the Liao Kingdom wanted to help the Song Dynasty quell the rebellion, but the Song Dynasty launched a surprise attack on the Liao Kingdom.

"boom!"

Zhao Zongquan slammed the table and stood up, angrily saying: "The Liao Kingdom has gone too far, the Song Dynasty cannot possibly pay compensation. If the Liao Kingdom wants to fight, I will mobilize the entire country to fight back!"

After saying that, he just turned away.

The civil and military officials in the court were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

Han Zhang looked at Ye Zuxiang and said, "Your Excellency should have seen the emperor's attitude. If you still insist on asking the Song Dynasty for compensation, then please go back."

"If the war breaks out, both countries will suffer heavy casualties. Lord Han, you should try to persuade Emperor Song. I will go back to the Honglu Temple and wait for news." Ye Zuxiang said with a smile.

Naturally, he couldn't be scared by Zhao Zongquan's attitude.

At first, Zhao Zongquan's attitude did surprise him, but he quickly realized that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty and Han Zhang were playing a double act.

"Don't worry about this, your Excellency. The Minister of the Honglu Temple will send the Liao envoy back to the Honglu Temple." Han Zhang ordered.

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the Minister of the Honglu Temple stepped out and looked at Ye Zuxiang and said, "The Liao envoy, please come in!"

Ye Zuxiang smiled slightly and followed the Minister of Honglu Temple out of the hall.

"My Lord, we can't fight anymore. There is not much food in the north. If the stalemate continues, we can only transfer food from Jiangnan. But there is not much food in Jiangnan."

"Yes, sir, it's not just a matter of food and fodder. If too many soldiers are killed or injured, medicine and pensions will cost money, and the treasury doesn't have much money now."

As soon as Ye Zuxiang left, everyone started to persuade him.

"You have seen the attitude of the Liao envoy. Once he gives in, he will definitely ask for an exorbitant amount of money. Do you want to persuade His Majesty to agree?" Han Zhang said indifferently.

As soon as Han Zhang said this, everyone fell silent.

Although they all had this idea, no one was willing to be the first person to persuade them.

Otherwise, if the government agreed, they would be scolded by the people of the world.

Who knows, he will be infamous for eternity in the future.

They tried to persuade Han Zhang, and they also wanted Han Zhang to persuade them. In this way, even if the people were dissatisfied with the peace talks, they would scold Han Zhang.

How could Han Zhang not know these people's little tricks? Naturally, he would not be fooled. He glanced at them and said calmly: "Your Majesty will make the decision on this matter. You don't have to worry about it."

After saying that, Han Zhang walked out.

After leaving the hall, Han Zhang did not go to the Secretariat, but came to the Longtu Pavilion.

The eunuch standing at the entrance of the palace saw Han Zhang coming and bowed, saying, "His Majesty said that when the Grand Master comes, he can go in directly."

Han Zhang nodded slightly when he heard this and walked into the hall.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Han Zhang bowed.

"No gift."

Zhao Zongquan waved his hand, asked someone to let Han Zhang sit down, and asked, "How is it?"

At this moment, there was no anger on Zhao Zongquan's face, but rather it was very calm.

"Your Majesty, the Liao envoy did not leave, but returned to the Honglu Temple." Han Zhang said.

"So the prime minister guessed correctly. The Liao Kingdom does not want to go to war with our Song Dynasty." Zhao Zongquan said.

Ye Zuxiang's guess was correct. He and Han Zhang were indeed acting in collusion at the morning court session.

After receiving the news that the Liao Kingdom had sent envoys to Bian Jing, Zhao Zongquan summoned his ministers several times to discuss how to respond.

After much discussion, Zhao Zongquan was still not satisfied.

Zhao Zongquan knew very well that he must give some benefits to the Liao Kingdom, otherwise the Liao Kingdom would not give up because it would suffer heavy casualties and gain nothing.

Some people may wonder, if we still have to give it, what is the point of sending troops for a surprise attack?

The purpose of sending troops to launch a surprise attack was to demonstrate the attitude of the Song Dynasty and to gain the initiative in negotiations.

The Song Dynasty was unable to cope with a protracted war at this time, and peace negotiations were inevitable.

However, if the Song Dynasty agreed to negotiate peace with the Liao Kingdom at the beginning, the Liao Kingdom would probably ask for an exorbitant amount of money after knowing the Song Dynasty's strengths and weaknesses.

This is the same principle as the marriage between Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty and Tubo.

At first, Tubo wrote a letter asking to marry a Tang princess, but Li Shimin did not agree.

When Tubo launched an invasion, he still did not agree. Instead, he sent troops to defeat Tubo, then selected a girl from the royal family, conferred the title of princess on her, and sent her to marry.

Tubo is located on a plateau and its strength should not be underestimated, making it difficult to destroy.

However, if Tubo writes to marry a Tang princess and Datang agrees, Tubo will certainly look down on Datang and there will be endless trouble in the future.

The purpose of agreeing to the marriage alliance after giving Tubo a good beating was to give Tubo a way out.

To put it bluntly, it means giving someone a beating and then giving them a sweet date.

Tubo also understood this point. Even though they knew that the so-called Tang was just a princess of the royal family, Tubo still happily welcomed her back.

If the Tang Dynasty did not give this sweet treat, even if Songtsen Gampo was frightened by the Tang Dynasty, he might continue to raise troops for the sake of his own reputation.

However, the situation at this time was still very different from the situation in the Tang Dynasty and Tubo at that time.

The Song Dynasty launched a surprise attack to show its strength and let the Liao Kingdom know that the Song Dynasty was not weak and could not be bullied, and would not make excessive demands.

In the end, Han Zhang met with Zhao Zongquan alone and made a suggestion.

When meeting with the Liao envoys, Zhao Zongquan played the bad guy to test the Liao's attitude.

If the Liao envoy left in anger, it would mean that the Liao was not very willing to negotiate. If it wanted to negotiate, the price it would pay would not be small.

But if they did not leave in anger, it meant that the Liao Kingdom was very willing to negotiate and the price paid by the Song Dynasty would be very small.

"That's right. I think if we keep him in the sun for a few more days, we can see the conditions of the Liao Kingdom," Han Zhang said.

"I have played the bad guy role, and now it's up to you, my Lord, to play the good guy role. Remember, the Song Dynasty can only pay a certain amount of compensation to the Liao Kingdom, and it cannot be too much. Increasing the annual tribute is absolutely impossible." Zhao Zongquan said.

"I understand!" Han Zhang replied.

After Han Zhang left, Zhao Zongquan began to review the memorials.

Although the Empress Dowager is now in charge of government, he still has to review the memorials submitted to the throne.

However, after he reviewed it, he would send it to the Empress Dowager. Only after the Empress Dowager had reviewed it and approved it would she stamp her seal on it.

If the Queen Mother feels that it is inappropriate, she will make changes. In short, she has no real power.

Zhao Zongquan had just read a few memorials when a eunuch came in and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager sent someone to invite Your Majesty to go to Fuyan Palace."

Zhao Zongquan frowned slightly and said, "I understand."

The Queen Mother was supposed to be present at the morning court today, but she claimed to be ill and did not go.

Zhao Zongquan naturally knew the Queen Mother's purpose, which was simply to let him face the difficulties raised by the Liao envoys alone.

Originally, after the morning court session ended, he should go to visit his mother and pretend to be a loving and filial son.

Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager didn't even bother to pretend and didn't even call an imperial physician. Zhao Zongquan was angry but didn't go there. He just asked Empress Shen to go visit her when he heard the news.

Now that the Queen Mother sent someone to invite him, he had no choice but to go.

Zhao Zongquan rode a sedan chair to the outside of Fuyan Palace, got off the sedan chair, and walked into the palace.

I walked all the way to the main hall and went in.

"My son, I pay my respects to my mother."

After Zhao Zongquan finished his greetings, he asked with concern, "Is your mother feeling better?"

"It's nothing serious."

The Queen Mother sat back on the couch and waved her hand, "I heard that the Emperor had a fit of rage in the court and left?"

"My dear mother, the Liao Kingdom has gone too far. They saw that I had just ascended the throne, and they deployed troops on the border to force the Song Dynasty to increase the annual tribute, but they said that they sent troops to help the Song Dynasty quell the rebellion. I was so angry that I lost my temper." Zhao Zongquan said.

He did not tell the Queen Mother his plan.

"You are the emperor of the Song Dynasty, the ruler of all the people in the world, and the country and the people are all on your shoulders. No matter how big the matter is, don't get angry easily." The queen mother shook her head.

"Thank you for your teachings, mother. I will take note of it." Zhao Zongquan bowed.

"Hmm." The Queen Mother leaned over and picked up a memorial, saying, "Take a look at this memorial."

Internal official Zhu took the memorial and presented it to Zhao Zongquan.

Zhao Zongquan took it and started reading it, frowning slightly. The document recorded the expenses of the expedition.

"This is the expense of this military expedition that I asked the Ministry of Revenue to calculate. This is only the initial stage. Soldiers who have made meritorious services will be rewarded, and those who died in battle will need pensions. These have not been calculated yet. The initial expenses alone cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. If the subsequent rewards and pensions are included, it will cost at least one million taels of silver." said the Queen Mother.

Zhao Zongquan frowned even deeper when he heard this. Was the Queen Mother accusing him of using military force improperly?
"Do you know how much it cost every year for the defense of the northern border alone before the alliance with the Liao Kingdom was signed?" asked the Queen Mother.

"I don't know." Zhao Zongquan said.

"One hundred or twenty million taels of silver. Now that there has been peace for decades, you can calculate how much silver the Song Dynasty has saved. Although I am a woman, I also know that a country will perish if it is warlike." said the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother hoped that Zhao Zongquan could inherit the late emperor's will and follow his example.

However, Zhao Zongquan's advocacy of war this time went against the ideas of the previous emperor.

Promoting peace among the Three Kingdoms had always been something that the late emperor was very proud of, so the empress dowager naturally did not want Zhao Zongquan to disrupt it.

However, the Queen Mother did not have the idea of ​​replacing Zhao Zongquan at this time.

Firstly, she did not have the ability to do so, and secondly, Zhao Zongquan had just ascended the throne, and the empress dowager felt that she could still change his mind.

The Queen Mother was trying to win over Princess Anyang, and she did have the idea of ​​winning over Li An through her.

It’s not that Li An is so important, but she knows that Li An had old acquaintances with Zhao Ceying, Shen Congxing and others in Yuzhou a few years ago.

He wanted to influence Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing through Li Ang, and then influence Zhao Zongquan.

She felt that this was a good opportunity, and she called Zhao Zongquan to persuade him not to provoke a war.

"Mother, a country as big as you can is doomed to perish if it loves war. But there is another saying behind it: Even if the world is at peace, it still hopes for war! Today's peace is exchanged for annual tributes. In addition, the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia did not have the strength to destroy our Song Dynasty, but it does not mean that the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia did not have the intention to destroy our Song Dynasty." Zhao Zongquan said.

"So the emperor is determined to do what he wants?" the Queen Mother said coldly.

"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood. How could I insist on having my own way? This time, I intend to have peace talks with the Liao Kingdom." Zhao Zongquan told the empress dowager the reason why he was angry in the court.

I didn't say it before because I wanted to see what the Queen Mother wanted to do.

Now I am saying this to comfort the Empress Dowager.

At this moment, he didn't want to fall out with the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother's expression eased upon hearing this. She did not blame Zhao Zongquan for not negotiating before, but wasted time negotiating. She smiled and said, "I am very relieved that your Majesty thinks so. I am not saying that we cannot fight, but there are too many problems within the court, and you have just ascended the throne, so your foundation is not stable. The most important thing to do now is to stabilize the situation, and then find a way to solve the internal problems. As the saying goes, you must first stabilize the country before you can resist foreign aggression. If you can solve the internal problems, I will naturally not oppose the use of troops against the Liao Kingdom. After all, it is the long-cherished wish of Taizu and Taizong to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun."

"I understand, your son." Zhao Zongquan said respectfully.

"Since we have planned to negotiate, let's do it sooner rather than later. With one hundred thousand troops stationed on the border, the daily consumption of food and fodder is huge," said the Queen Mother.

Zhao Zongquan chatted with the empress dowager for a long time before leaving Fuyan Palace.

After leaving Fuyan Palace, a gloomy look flashed across Zhao Zhongquan's eyes.

No one likes to be told what to do, and Zhao Zongquan, who ascended the throne as emperor and was arguably the most powerful person in the Song Dynasty, disliked it even less.

At this time, he still needed the Queen Mother to support him, so he could only endure it.

But these days are almost over. There is a reason why he insisted on sending troops this time, which he did not tell anyone.

That is to let his confidants make military achievements.

Shen Congxing and Gu Tingye both made contributions in this battle. Once the matter is settled, he will be able to arrange for them to enter the western suburbs camp.

As long as he can completely control the troops in the Western Suburbs Camp, his foundation will be completely secure.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Zhao Zongquan's lips.

…………

After half a month of tug-of-war, peace talks were finally reached, with the Song Dynasty paying the Liao Kingdom 100,000 silver coins as compensation.

The two countries reconciled and the amount of annual tribute remained the same as before.

After the Liao envoys left, Zhao Zongquan sent someone to order Duke Ying to return to the capital.

As for whether the Liao Kingdom would take advantage of the Song Dynasty's retreat to launch a surprise attack, Zhao Zongquan was not worried.

There are more than 100,000 troops stationed on the northern border all year round, and the Liao Kingdom cannot break through in the short term. Even if the Liao Kingdom sends troops, there is enough time to react.

The peace talks ended and Queen Shen also ended her prayers.

However, just a few days before the army arrived in Bianliang, a piece of news swept Bianliang.

Ningyuan Marquis Gu Yankai was angered to death by his second son Gu Tingye.

As soon as the news came out, people were talking about it.

You have to know that in the Song Dynasty, where filial piety was paramount, parents would not be punished if their children talked back to them or were beaten to death by them.

Because it was the children who were unfilial first.

It is extremely unfilial for children to anger their father to death.

(End of this chapter)