Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 301 Let them go back

Zhao Pu's words hit the point, and Ye Chen secretly praised in his heart, Zhao Kuangyin nodded slightly, and said: "Mr. .”

Everyone pondered for a while, and all nodded in praise of the emperor and his heart and the clever plan of killing two birds with one stone.Even Xue Juzheng saw some benefits of letting Li Congshan and Xu Xuan go back to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and rushed to say: "Your Majesty Shengming, after this incident, Li Congshan and Xu Xuan will definitely be at odds with the Maitreya sect, and with Nalou Yanming." Shangguan Bingyun has become a mortal enemy. After the two of them return to Southern Tang, they will definitely not deal with Lou Yanming. Given their status in the Southern Tang court, they will definitely gather Southern Tang court officials to fight with the Maitreya Sect. It can be regarded as Consuming the national power of the Southern Tang Dynasty. With the ebb and flow, our army will naturally have less resistance when attacking the Southern Tang Dynasty."

Cao Bin said: "At the beginning, His Majesty sent a large army to crusade against the Southern Han Kingdom. It was because the Southern Han Kingdom was perverted. The whole dynasty was full of eunuchs. In the name of exploiting the people, it was His Majesty's crusade on behalf of the sky. But now if Li Yu is allowed to ask Downgraded to be a minister, Southern Tang asked to be downgraded to the vassal state of our Great Song Dynasty, since then the Tang Kingdom has never shown any disrespect, and if our Great Song Dynasty wants to use troops against the Southern Tang Dynasty in the future, in a sense of righteousness, it is true that the teacher came out of nowhere."

Zhao Kuangyin nodded slightly, this was one of his concerns, but then he sneered and said: "Today is different from the past, now the Central Plains is almost all in my hands, how can I let him sleep soundly beside the couch?"

As soon as the words fell, Zhao Kuangyin glanced at Ye Chen who had been silent all this time, and asked in a gentle voice, "Ye Qing, what do you think about this matter?"

Ye Chen knew that the assassination of the emperor had already set the tone, and what Zhao Kuangyin was asking at this time was about the Southern Tang voluntarily becoming a vassal state of the Song Dynasty.He had already made up his mind, and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I thought that for the 10 taels of silver promised to the Southern Tang Kingdom every year, I might as well agree to the Southern Tang Dynasty's request to be a vassal state of the Great Song Dynasty. And with the fact that your Majesty was assassinated yesterday For one thing, the tribute of 10 taels of silver might as well be doubled. Thinking about the weakness and incompetence of the Southern Tang monarchs and ministers, they would never dare not agree, and this move would also deepen the Southern Tang court’s hatred of Maitreya. I think the extra 10 The ten thousand taels of silver was provoked by the Maitreya Sect. As for the reason why we, Song Dynasty, will send troops to him...Your Majesty, don’t forget who is the chief culprit for the Sichuan and Sichuan Rebellion and the assassination of His Majesty this time.”

Everyone's heart moved, Zhao Kuangyin's eyes lit up, and said: "I understand, when the time comes, I will announce to the world that the chaos in Sichuan and Shu and yesterday's assassination were done by the Maitreya demon monk, and then I will use it in the name of crusade against Maitreya. , sent a large army into Southern Tang."

Xue Juzheng said: "I'm afraid that Li Yu will send someone to destroy the Maitreya Sect before our army enters the country, and send us the leader of the bandit."

Zhao Kuangyin did not answer Xue Juzheng's words, but looked at Ye Chen, and the others did the same.

Ye Chen smiled slightly, thinking that Vice-President Xue really looked up to Li Yu too much, and didn't understand the strength of Maitreya Sect and the methods of Lou Yanming and Shangguan Bingyun.

Given that the Maitreya Sect arranged so many assassins in the mission without anyone knowing it, Ye Chen absolutely did not believe that the Southern Tang Emperor Li Yu and the Southern Tang court could wipe out the Maitreya Sect.This is not to say that the Southern Tang court did not have this strength. After all, although the Maitreya Sect has many followers, it does not have the backing of five thousand black cavalry like Tianyi.The reason why Ye Chen didn't believe it was because he knew that Lou Yanming would never allow Li Yu to issue this order.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Ye Chen said: "Your Majesty! My lords. According to the information I have inquired from the Huaxia Weifu, I don't know if it is because there are experts around Li Yu. Li Yu was not killed by Lou Yanming and Shangguan Bing. The cloud is controlled by hypnotic magic. However, from various signs, Li Yu himself is a fanatical believer of Lou Yanming. He has always regarded Lou Yanming as the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, and he is extremely convinced of Lou Yanming. In other words, he His spiritual beliefs have been controlled by Lou Yanming. Therefore, I can assure you that it is absolutely impossible for the Southern Tang Dynasty to destroy the Maitreya Sect. To attack the Maitreya Sect as a reason to send troops to the Southern Tang Dynasty can be done at any time."

Zhao Pu also smiled at this time and said: "Your Majesty, I think what Xiang Fuhou said is reasonable. I also think that you might as well agree to the Southern Tang's request to surrender to the country, and respond to the matter with the Southern Tang. Our army is well prepared, and then we will suddenly use the reason of attacking the Maitreya Sect to attack it."

Zhao Guangyi suddenly said: "Mr. Zhao, I heard that Xu Xuan, the deputy envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty, went to Mr. Zhao's residence the night before yesterday. Is there such a thing?"

Hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin's expression suddenly became gloomy and he looked at Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu's expression changed slightly. He hated Zhao Guangyi to death in his heart, and quickly said to Zhao Kuangyin: "Your Majesty! Then Xu Xuan went to the minister's house, but the minister ordered him to be arrested. After blasting out of the mansion, I didn't see him at all, and I didn't accept any gifts he brought."

Speaking of this, Zhao Pu found that Zhao Kuangyin's complexion didn't look much better. Knowing whether it was because he had a "conviction" or was suspected by Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Pu was very anxious, and said anxiously: "I swear to the sky, my minister If what you just said is a single lie, I will die."

Zhao Kuangyin looked better now, and scolded: "Mr. Zhao is devoted to the country and is loyal to me. How can I not know it. Don't speak nonsense, I still believe Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Pu said with a grateful face: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will never do anything harmful to Your Majesty and my Song Dynasty.

Seeing this, Zhao Guangyi scolded the old fox secretly in his heart, but he didn't continue to say anything more. He knew that this kind of thing would stop, and talking more would not only be useless, but would make Zhao Kuangyin doubt his intentions.

Zhao Kuangyin pondered for a while, and said: "Okay! Then, according to what the two Qings said just now, I first agreed to the request of the Southern Tang Dynasty to surrender to the country, and responded to the matter with the Southern Tang Dynasty. Our army is well prepared, and then we will suddenly use the reason of attacking the Maitreya Sect to attack it."

Next, the six monarchs and ministers discussed again, guessing that Li Congshan and Xu Xuan would not surrender their national status unconditionally and become the vassal state of the Song Dynasty. In all likelihood, they would put forward some conditions, such as forcing the Song Dynasty to sign a never-ending contract with righteousness. Infringed on the treaty of Tang State.However, with yesterday's assassination incident, neither Li Congshan nor Xu Xuan can be tough anymore, and it is almost impossible to complete the important task Li Yu entrusted to them.

After the final agreement, Zhao Kuangyin ordered Zhao Pu to be fully responsible for signing the letter of credence with the Southern Tang Dynasty, and repeatedly emphasized that he must never be allowed to sign a treaty of non-aggression or mutual non-aggression.

At this time, Wang Jien came in and whispered something in Zhao Kuangyin's ear. Zhao Kuangyin was overjoyed and said, "Since the new Wanli Jiangshan screen is ready, let me take a look at it now."

There is a giant screen in the Chongzheng Hall, which is three feet five feet long and one foot seven feet high. Since Ye Chen drew a very detailed map of the Song Dynasty last year, Zhao Kuangyin ordered someone to change the picture on the screen to the Song Dynasty. The map, and named it Wanli Jiangshan Screen, usually has nothing to feel and appreciate.

After the fall of the Southern Han Dynasty, the territory of the Song Dynasty expanded, so he ordered people to rebuild one.

Soon, the new screen was lifted up by more than a dozen eunuchs and placed in its original position. Zhao Kuangyin, who had always seemed a little too calm, finally had a fiery look in his eyes as he looked at the gradually expanding territory of the Song Dynasty on the map.

Zhao Pu and the others knew what they were interested in, so they naturally wanted to shout Long live and flatter them wantonly, and Shen Yilun, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, also stroked his beard with pride.

Ye Chen, the person who made the first contribution, also felt a little proud in his heart.

With a plan in mind, Zhao Kuangyin looked at the screen of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, and his ambitions flourished again. He said hesitantly: "My dear friends, now that the Southern Han Dynasty is in hand, I plan to wait for my army to rest for a while, within one to two years at most. The treasury is abundant, so I sent a large army to attack Tang. Hmph... Southern Tang, I am determined to win. Do you have a good plan for us to prepare for the crusade against Southern Tang?"

Shen Yilun, who has never said much, has always been prudent in his work. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "Your Majesty, if you don't count the Southern Han Kingdom we just conquered, the Southern Tang Kingdom is not inferior to our Great Song Dynasty in terms of territory or number of troops. Tang Liyu is fatuous and innocent, and since His Majesty proclaimed himself emperor, he has been the master of wisdom throughout the world. My great Song Dynasty has risen like the sun, but the national power and military strength of the Tang State have been declining day by day. With each passing day, the Tang State is no longer my great power. Enemy of the Song Dynasty. However, the so-called centipede is dead but not stiff. The Tang State still has more than [-] soldiers, which is far from comparable to the original Houshu Kingdom and Southern Han Kingdom. Your Majesty wants to take the Tang Kingdom. I think it is still necessary to do well. Be fully prepared, otherwise, the war will drag on for a long time, fearing that people in Jinghu, Fujian, Guangdong, Bashu and other newly descended places will have different ideas, and there will be many changes in the Northwest Party and various departments. If it is defeated by the Southern Tang Dynasty, there will be endless troubles in the future, and the country may be in danger of being destroyed."

Hearing this, Ye Chen couldn't help secretly praising Shen Yilun. This Shen Yilun is unknown, and he usually doesn't seem to be superior to others. Now it seems that there is a reason for him to be the deputy envoy of the Privy Council. He is thoughtful and prudent. He is also good at losing without a fight.Although the emperor will not like what he said, but what he said is indeed very reasonable and important.

Sure enough, Zhao Kuangyin frowned slightly when he heard this, but then his expression lost a bit of contempt for Nan Tang, and more of a sense of awe: "Shen Aiqing is right. The crusade against Nan Tang is indeed to It is best to have complete preparations, and it is best to be very sure before sending troops.”

Ye Chen said suddenly: "Your Majesty! I plan to open a branch of our Huaxia Weifu in Nantang next, and establish a secret intelligence network. Before His Majesty intends to use troops against Nantang, our Huaxia Weifu will definitely deploy Nantang troops. The geographical distribution, the abilities and habits of the leading generals, the relationship between the emperor and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and other information have been inquired clearly, so that His Majesty and all the adults can discuss the strategy and tactics of defeating the Tang Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)