The first-class concubine of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 235 On the Tao
Now that the two most powerful main combatants in the Southern Tang Dynasty demanded to fight Da Song, Li Yu couldn't help hesitating.

"You two lovers, if we fight against the Song Dynasty, what are my chances of winning in the Southern Tang Dynasty?"

"At least [-]%." Li Congshan said it without thinking.

But right after Li Congshan finished speaking, Xigui next to him immediately asked, "I don't know how the lord got the [-]% chance of winning?"

"My Southern Tang was prosperous, and food and grass were not a problem. What's more, my Southern Tang had sufficient troops. I hadn't fought any major battles in the past few years. On the other hand, in the Song Dynasty, they marched south and north in these years, and the supply of food and grass must be insufficient. The Han fought again, and their troops were at a loss. If they still had the strength to fight with me in the Southern Tang Dynasty, why would they send envoys here? Don’t we know who Zhao Kuangyin is? If he can fight, he Absolutely will not stop fighting. When the Southern Han Dynasty was destroyed, it was only because they found a few Southern Han spies in Bianjing that they sent troops as an excuse. Now our king does not go to worship, this is not a small problem, but But he only sent envoys."

After Li Congshan finished speaking, everyone immediately felt that it was reasonable. Now that Zhao Kuangyin just sent envoys, it seemed that Zhao Kuangyin didn't want to fight this battle either.

Xi Gui frowned slightly, and said: "But please don't forget, my lord, although the Song Dynasty has fought in the South and the North in these years, their military strength is not weak. If they use all the power of the whole country to fight against me in the Southern Tang Dynasty, we will fight against you. Does Nantang still have a chance of winning?"

Xigui's words are also good. Over the years, the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty have not fought for a long time, and have been gradually eroded in the prosperity. Where are the opponents of the soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty who fought every year?

When Xi Gui said this, Lin Renzhao became a little unhappy. He is a general, so what Xi Gui meant clearly meant that the soldiers he brought out were no good?
"Master Xi, why have I raised my troops in the Southern Tang Dynasty for so many years? I don't want to be annexed by the Great Song Dynasty. Are we going to let the people of the Great Song Dynasty kill them? Now that the Great Song Dynasty is deceiving people too much, my soldiers in the Southern Tang Dynasty It is filled with righteous indignation, if we don’t take advantage of this morale to attack Da Song, wouldn’t it be a missed opportunity? Besides, if we keep promises at this time, wouldn’t it hurt the hearts of our Southern Tang soldiers, how will we fight this battle in the future, how will we fight?”

Lin Renzhao's words were deafening. The soldiers in the Southern Tang Dynasty were indeed full of morale. If they hurt their hearts, they would be devastated.

Xigui was a little anxious, if a war really started, they, the peacemakers, would lose power in the court, and if they lost power, they would only be suppressed by the warlords.

In fact, from the beginning to the end, what they thought was not the interests of Southern Tang, but their own interests in Southern Tang.

Now that the two sides are sticking to each other, Li Yu is a little hesitant. In his heart, he does not want to fight, but he is the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty after all. What Li Congshan and Lin Renzhao said is very reasonable. There is no help.

After hesitating for a while, Li Yu turned his attention to Zhang Ji and asked, "Zhang Aiqing, do you think this battle will be fought well or not?"

All along, Zhang Ji has been very calm, but every word he utters carries a lot of weight.

Now that Li Yu came to ask for his opinion again, everyone couldn't help but cast their eyes on him.

Zhang Ji thought for a while, and said: "Master, I feel that this battle should be fought, but I can't fight it too hastily."

"Oh, why?" Li Yu was a little puzzled, but Li Congshan and Lin Renzhao next to him were extremely excited. As long as this battle can be fought, it doesn't matter whether he is in a hurry or not.

"First of all, I was not prepared enough in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Even if we want to fight the Song Dynasty, we must first know ourselves and the enemy. And should we defend at the door of our house, or go directly to the territory of the Song Dynasty? These must be carefully considered, so slightly I think we need at least two months to prepare."

For a long time, Zhang Ji has always advocated fighting against the Song Dynasty. At least if they want to start a war with the Song Dynasty, the first thing they must solve is the problem of refined salt.

However, the development of refined salt is a secret, and it is impossible for Zhang Ji to say it in front of these people.

After he said this, everyone present felt that it was feasible, but in this way, there was also a problem that they had to solve.

"I'm afraid it's hard to win two months. Now that the envoy of the Great Song Dynasty is staying in my Southern Tang Dynasty, what do you think should be done?"

Li Yu's worries are not unreasonable. Even if there is a war in two months, the current situation must be resolved first. How can Da Song give them two months?
Everyone glanced at each other, and finally landed on Zhang Ji. Zhang Ji smiled wryly, and said: "My lord, it is not impossible to delay the time for two months. Doesn't Liu Wei want the lord to give him big money?" Song has an idea, whether to go or not to go to this pilgrimage, the lord might as well tell him to go, but you have to wait until after the beginning of spring, otherwise there will be a long cold wind along the way, and the lord may not be able to bear it."

"This is indeed a solution." Li Congshan echoed from the side.

"But what if Liu Wei doesn't want to wait so long?" Xi Gui stood aside and ruthlessly poured cold water on everyone, yes, what if Liu Wei didn't want to wait so long?
"You just try to keep him."

"How to stay?"

"We just said that in a few days it will be the day of our Southern Tang imperial examinations. How can we do it without the king? After the imperial examinations, we will find other reasons to push, such as the birthday of the king, national sacrifices, etc. If we can find the things that cannot be done without the lord, no matter how tough the Song Dynasty is, he can't stop us from doing all these things, right?"

Zhang Ji was quick in thinking and excellent in eloquence. When he said this, it suddenly made people enlightened.

"Okay, let's do what Zhang Aiqing said. You go and tell Liu Wei, the envoy of the Great Song Dynasty, that the lord of the country will go to the Great Song Dynasty to pay homage to their emperor, but only after I finish my work in the Southern Tang Dynasty."
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That evening, Zhang Ji went to the posthouse alone.

After seeing Liu Wei in the posthouse, Zhang Ji immediately smiled and said, "Master Liu, don't come here unharmed. I used to admire Master Liu's skills when I was in Bianjing, but now I am here in Jinling of the Southern Tang Dynasty. I didn't dare to get too close to adults, please don't take offense."

Seeing Zhang Ji coming at this time, Liu Wei suddenly said something like this, and couldn't help but smile: "Master Zhang dare not get close to me in front of everyone, but now he comes to the posthouse alone to meet me, that's a big deal." Aren't you afraid of being misunderstood by your Southern Tang officials?"

Speaking of this, Liu Wei suddenly smiled again: "Tell me, Mr. Zhang came under the order of your country's lord?"

Zhang Ji was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that he just said a word, and Liu Wei guessed his reason for coming, thinking of this, he couldn't help but smiled bitterly, and then explained the truth.

"My Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty agrees to go to Bianjing to worship, but I need to finish some important matters in the Southern Tang Dynasty first. I wonder if Lord Liu can be accommodating?"

"I don't know how long it will take?"

"It's hard to say, in a few days it will be the day when I take the imperial examination in the Southern Tang Dynasty. If it is soon, it may take a month."

Liu Wei hesitated for a moment, but still nodded: "If it's only a month, I can wait, but please also report to the master of your family, the king of a country, after Mr. Zhang returns. Don't go back on your word after you say it."

"It's natural."

After talking about this with Liu Wei, Zhang Ji left the post in a hurry, and then went to the place where the refined salt was developed alone, and he ordered those people to speed up the development.

And just after Zhang Ji left, Lu Duan asked a little puzzled: "Master Liu, why did you agree to their request from Nantang?"

Liu Wei smiled: "Because I can't find an excuse to refuse, the Southern Tang Dynasty wants to take the imperial examination, how can it be done without the king?"

"It's... also."

"Lord Lu, the Southern Tang Dynasty's current main faction is not small, and we must not take it lightly, and order our spies to follow it strictly. Even if we want Li Yu, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, to go to Bianjing with us to worship, we must also weaken the Southern Tang Dynasty. The main combat faction in the Tang Dynasty must be strong, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the goal."

"Master Liu, please don't worry, the subordinates have already sent someone to investigate, and it is estimated that something will happen soon."

After Liu Wei and Lu Duan finished talking, Lu Duan went down to arrange things, when the sky was getting dark and the autumn wind was blowing again.

About an hour later, a spy rushed to report.

"My lord, after Zhang Ji left the post house, he went to a hidden courtyard, and immediately there were knocking sounds from time to time. Because of the tight defense, his subordinates didn't know what the people inside were doing."

"Oh?"

Hearing this news, Liu Wei couldn't help being taken aback, the sound of knocking, could it be that he was building a weapon?Liu Wei thinks it's impossible, that Zhang Ji is definitely not a person who likes to rebel, how could he build weapons privately?
"Try to find out what the people inside are doing." Although I don't know what those people are doing, since Zhang Ji went there quietly, the things in that place must be very secretive and very important. Liu Wei is here now In the Southern Tang Dynasty, he did not dare to take it lightly, so he had to figure out exactly what Zhang Ji was doing.

Just after Liu Wei finished speaking, after the spies left, two figures suddenly entered Liu Wei's room. He was a little surprised when he was about to speak, when one of them said with a smile: "Master Liu is going to find out what secrets are hidden in that place, it is most appropriate to send me there."

"Dong Yu, why are you here?"

The two women who came were Dong Yu and Hua Qiongxian.

"Why can't I come, as long as there is sister Qiushuang alone in Xingwang's mansion, I'm here to see if there's anything I can do for you, don't you think I'm needed now?"

After Dong Yu finished speaking, she pulled Hua Qiongxian's arm, and Hua Qiongxian smiled quickly: "Miss Dongyu's whereabouts are erratic, she came here by herself, and I only discovered her after Miss Qin Yun's boat docked."

Seeing the two of them like this, Liu Wei shrugged helplessly: "Well, I will trouble Miss Dongyu with this matter."

(End of this chapter)