Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 557
Having said this, Qi Zhengxiu glanced at Yeluzhen, and then said: "With this 100 million taels of silver, Your Highness can help His Highness Second Highness recruit troops, bribe and win over high officials in the court, and then His Second Highness and His Highness will definitely be able to kill the Queen." , Great things can happen. But during this period, Your Highness and Second Highness must be cautious, otherwise once the queen finds out about it."

Yeluzhen glanced at him with a smile, and said: "Success is obtained carefully, wealth is sought in danger, and great achievements must be paid. If you succeed, you will become the emperor and hegemony, and if you fail, you will be smashed to pieces. What is there to worry about? This time, second brother, I can become the emperor, and you will follow me to prosperity, if my second brother and I lose."

Yeluzhen smiled coldly, and said solemnly: "But it's no big deal to go into the coffin decades ago."

Qi Zhengxiu hurriedly said: "I'm not afraid. It's just that the queen's methods are really powerful, so I'm a little worried."

Yeluzhen laughed and said, "What are you worried about? We've been preparing for this matter for a long time, and it's just a matter of course when we launch it today. What's left now is to cheat millions of taels of silver from Nantang for military expenses, so you and I The success or failure of this time is related to our great cause and life and death."

Qi Zhengxiu nodded and said yes, Yeluzhen saw that he was still a little worried about Empress Xiao, walked back to the table, sat down and said: "Since Xiao Siwen killed Mu Zong and established Yeluxian, we have already started preparations. Xiao Siwen died to heal Wu Lushan. This is the first step. It's just that we were wrong, we thought that Yeluzhen was weak and could not control the overall situation, and Xiao Siwen could easily depose him once he died, but who knew that the emperor would not live up to his expectations, but a great empress appeared instead."

He sighed, and said with some admiration: "But you are right. This Xiao Chuo is really a female middle-aged woman. Seeing that the court was unstable, she took advantage of the Song Dynasty's attack on the Northern Han Dynasty and personally led troops south. In the end, they failed to keep the Northern Han Dynasty, but after they returned to Shangjing, they rewarded the old ministers with kindness and rewarded the newcomers with their merits. Directly subordinate to the Son of Heaven, the twelve palaces and one mansion have a total force of more than [-] people, all of whom are the elite of our country, in view of this, we have to hold back for the time being and continue preparations until today."

He smiled, and said again: "Using the enemy for help is really a clever plan. Xiao Chuo used Song to protect himself, and defeated Song to gain prestige. She can use this method, and I, Yeluzhen, can naturally use it. She sent me as an envoy to the South Tang, wanted to distract me and prevent my second brother from rebelling with my help, but he didn't know that he just gave me a chance to prepare military food and grass. And your majesty is seriously ill. At this time, there must be no chaos in Shangjing, and the queen will not touch second brother. Don't look at those old guys who are supporting Yeluxian now, they only want peace in the world, if only the second elder brother and me Yeluzhen in the Yelu family can come forward to control the world, they will have to stand on my side."

Qi Zhengxiu showed an excited look, but then remembered something, frowned and said: "I just heard that the Huaxia Weifu of the Song Dynasty is now very powerful in the south. Years ago, Ye Chen personally led people to kill many people in the Southern Tang Dynasty. As he walked away, the army led by the Southern Tang Dynasty could not stop him. Therefore, the lower officials are a little worried that the Huaxia Weifu will send killers to harm His Highness."

Yeluzhen said sharply: "The reason why Huaxia Weifu is so powerful in the south is that the southerners are too weak. The [-] guards I brought are all warriors worth one to ten. As long as they don't fall into the army of the Song Dynasty Surrounded, who can stop me."

The ceremony of welcoming the Khitan envoys in the Southern Tang Dynasty was very grand.Khitan and Song State have always had business contacts through the sea. This time Li Yu kindly invited Khitan to send an envoy to visit. It can be said that he took great pains. According to the news sent to inquire, the army of the Song Dynasty will attack the Tang Dynasty at the latest in the spring.Li Yu fell into the panic of impending national subjugation. He listened to Prime Minister Han Xizai's suggestion and secretly sent envoys disguised as merchants to detour to Khitan by sea to ask for help from Khitan.

Then after the Khitan envoy arrived, he intentionally displayed high-profile contacts with the mighty Khitan. After learning about this, he was worried that the Khitan army would go south, so he had some scruples and did not dare to attack Southern Tang easily.

After participating in the banquet where Li Yu brought civil and military officials to accompany him, Yeluzhen returned to the post, and Qi Zhengxiu greeted him immediately: "Your Highness, I have a letter from Shangjing."

"Oh?" Yeluzhen said movedly, "Second brother wrote you a letter? What did you say?"

"How dare I open the letter written by His Royal Highness, the letter is here, Your Highness, please read it."

Yeluzhen hurriedly took the wax pill.Back in the inner room, crushed the wax pill, took out a thin piece of silk book, read it carefully for a while, then rolled up the silk book, and started to pace slowly in the room.

Qi Zhengxiu hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Your Highness, what does Second Highness say?"

Yeluzhen smiled coldly and said: "As I expected, when I left the capital here, Xiao Chuo began to cut off the wings of our Yelu family in the palace guard army. Now it seems that your majesty probably won't be able to survive the spring." .”

Qi Zhengxiu was taken aback: "The queen actually did it first? What should I do then?"

Yeluzhen said: "It's okay, Xiao Chuo only dared to touch the palace guard army directly controlled by the emperor, and she dared not put her hands in our tent army of the Yelu clan. The second brother Wang letter said that the queen just pulled out I found out that my second brother and I had placed our cronies in the palace guards, and we didn't make any big moves. What the second brother meant was that if you want to take what you want, you should give it first. You might as well show weakness to her and let the queen put us in the palace. The cronies in the guards were transferred away. She thought she had a plan and relaxed her vigilance against us. When the time is right in the future, my second brother and I will lead a large army to take Yeluxian, Han Derang, Yeluxiu brother, Xiao Tuozhi, etc. The people were wiped out in one fell swoop, and then the clan tent army was sent to surround the capital. The queen was forced to compromise, and the queen's decree was issued, respecting my second brother as emperor and marrying my second brother as the queen."

Qi Zhengxiu heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that, his wealth and life had been completely tied to the two princes of the Yelu family.
The next day, Li Yu, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, invited Yeluzhen to worship Buddha at the Great Maitreya Temple.

In the Southern Tang Dynasty, all Maitreya Temples must have the power of Maitreya Sect. The so-called Great Maitreya Temple is the first Maitreya Temple built in Jiming Mountain outside Jinling City when Lou Yanming transferred the remnant forces of Maitreya Sect from Later Shu to Southern Tang Dynasty seven years ago. .

This is also the Holy Land of Maitreya Sect. Since Lou Yanming became the Southern Tang State Teacher, the Great Maitreya Temple has also become the Southern Tang State Temple. All foreign envoys will be arranged by the Southern Tang court to come to the Great Maitreya Temple to worship the Buddha.In fact, this is what Lou Yanming meant. Most of the time, especially with regard to Buddhism, Li Yu has already obeyed Lou Yanming.It's just that court officials usually accompany foreign envoys to the Great Maitreya Temple to pay respects to the Buddha, but now the Southern Tang Dynasty asks for Khitan, and Yeluzhen is also considered to be of high status, so the lord Li Yu condescends to accompany him in person.

At this time, the lord Li Yu, who had just worshiped Wanjin Xiangyouqian, was sitting with a group of gray-robed monks from the Great Maitreya Temple, and personally cut the "toilet slips" for the monks with a knife.The toilet paper is the "toilet paper" when going to the toilet.At that time, there were only a few people who could afford to use paper to go to the toilet. The monks used small bamboo chips to clean, and there was a great demand for this thing.

And Yeluzhen was accompanied by Lou Yanming, a national teacher in a red cassock, watching the murals on the wall and listening to Lou Yanming personally explaining the Buddhist stories in the murals. Yeluzhen listened with interest and saw it out of the corner of his eye Sitting in the pile of monks, Li Yu could not help showing contempt, and thought to himself: "Such an idiot is also worthy of being the lord of a country and enjoying this beautiful country? What a waste. Yesterday and his first day See, between the words, before I said anything, this waste impatiently expressed that he would form an alliance with our country and serve each other, and was willing to pay a one-time tribute of one million taels of silver for this, and he would pay a million taels of silver every year in the future Two silver coins are used to protect Nantang's safety. Although this waste is a big waste, it is of great use to me and my second brother, but since he is so eager to give money, I am not in a hurry to agree to him Forgive him for a few days, maybe this trash will add one hundred thousand and eighty thousand taels of silver on top of the million taels of silver. Go up to the Khitan Emperor, and then attack the north and south together with this trash, and destroy the Song Kingdom. At that time, the Southern Tang Dynasty will also be in the bag, and the thousands of miles of splendor will belong to my two brothers."

At this time, Li Yu cut another brush slip, scraped it on his cheek, tried it, it was extremely smooth, and there were no burrs, so he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.He stood up and said, "Hehe, although Gu didn't try to cut this thing, the toilet slips he cut out seem to be not inferior to those of the masters."

Lou Yanming praised at the right time: "The lord of the country is talented and intelligent. There is nothing in the world that can be difficult for the lord of the country."

When Murong Zhen heard this, he couldn't help but sneered slightly, thinking to himself: "The majestic monarch of a country. Instead of doing business, he actually helped the monks make toilet paper, and even used cheek paper slips, for fear of scratching these people who are only provided for. The chrysanthemums of the great monks, I heard that the Han emperors emphasized benevolence and love for the people, but it is not such a law of love for the people! Today I came all the way from Jinling with this idiot. There are many beggars on the streets and roadsides. Alas, such an idiot turned out to be the ruler of a country, and you deserve the destruction of Nannan Kingdom."

Li Yu said with a smile: "Don't bother the national teacher and the masters, let's walk in the temple, Yeluzun envoy"

Yeluzhen walked to his side after hearing this, and Li Yu said with a smile: "Du Mu's poem "Jiangnanchun" mentioned
'In the 480 temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many buildings were in the mist and rain. 'Now there are more than 480 temples in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Last year, a solitary person counted, and there are more than 200 temples in the Southern Tang Dynasty. This is the great prosperity of Buddhism in our country. "

(End of this chapter)