The first-class concubine of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 79
It was late at night and the snow had not stopped.

The entire capital city was covered in silver and looked very lonely in the cold wind.

There were still a few lamps in the corridors of Kaifeng Mansion, and the lights were about to go out, swaying by the wind.

And at this moment, several black shadows suddenly appeared on the roof of Kaifeng Mansion, but disappeared soon after. The footprints left on the roof were covered with cold snow, and soon disappeared without a trace.

Kaifeng Mansion was silent, the men in black looked at each other, and finally entered the study set up by King Jin in Kaifeng Mansion.

It was snowing heavily tonight, King Jin did not stay in the Kaifeng mansion, after the man in black pried open the door bolt, he sneaked in, and several men in black entered the study and rummaged around.

"no!"

"Neither here!"

"..."

"..."

The cold wind was howling, blowing against the half-closed door. At this moment, footsteps suddenly came from outside: "Who is it?"

The men in black in the room were slightly startled. After looking at each other, they immediately rushed out.

"Catch assassins!"

"Come on, catch the assassin!"

After shouting a few times, the yamen servants outside the house raised their knives to fight. As soon as the two sides came into contact, those men in black rushed out. They only wanted to escape, not to kill the enemy.

Cold night, snowy road, deep footprints.

When a lot of yamen servants from Kaifeng Mansion came out, the man in black had already disappeared without a trace, even if he followed his footprints to find him, he couldn't.

King Jin fell asleep early, but when the news came that Kaifeng Mansion was attacked, he got up quickly.

He opened the door, and a gust of cold wind blew in with heavy snow. Su Tong looked outside and stood outside with his neck shrunk. King Jin said with a sad expression on his face, "Mr. Su, what's going on?"

Su Tong watched and patted the snow on his body, walked into the room, and said, "My lord, your study was searched by a group of men in black. It's just that the yamen servants found out a little later, so they escaped."

King Jin frowned tightly: "I didn't put any valuables in the study room of Kaifeng mansion, why did the group of men in black invade my study room?"

Su Another looked silent for a moment, and said: "There are no valuables in the study, the prince knows, but those men in black may not know."

King Jin was taken aback for a moment, then asked again: "Who are those men in black?"

Su Another Kan shook his head: "There is no clue, but it is not difficult to guess. It is said that Liu Wei and the envoys of the Southern Tang and Wuyue countries have disagreements on refined salt. I think that people from the Southern Tang Dynasty or Wuyue may have different opinions. Want to get the secret recipe of refined salt."

"Secret recipe of refined salt?" King Jin was a little stunned, and then said: "The secret recipe of refined salt has been handed over to the emperor. Unless they go to the palace to steal it, otherwise they will not be able to steal it."

Su Tongkan smiled: "So they returned without success, but how should we deal with this matter now?" As he said that, Su Tongkan turned his attention to King Jin, who thought for a while and said, "It will be bright tomorrow." Afterwards, I will go to the palace, although the palace is heavily guarded, it is safer to remind the emperor."

The wind was cold and the snow was heavy. After Su Tongkan left King Jin's room, he tightened his clothes again, looked up at the snowy sky, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

Today's capital city is probably unstable.
-
It snowed all night and stopped the next day.

When the snow stopped, even the wind died down. After King Jin got up, he ordered someone to lead a carriage to the palace. On the way King Jin entered the palace, King Wei also hurried to the palace after getting the news. go.

The palace was covered with heavy snow and turned into a piece of plain white.

The king of Jin and the king of Wei arrived one after another. When they arrived at the palace, several young eunuchs were sweeping the snow. The thick snow made creaking noises. Occasionally, sparrows would fly down from the branches, shaking off the trees and snow. .

King Jin didn't expect that King Wei would enter the palace so early, and just when he was puzzled, King Wei said, "Morning, Brother Wang, this is it?"

"I want to report something to the emperor, where is the fourth brother?"

"The matter of the assassin being investigated by the emperor's brother already has some clues, so I am here to report."

King Jin heard that it was about the assassin, so he gave a oh, then nodded slightly, and walked towards the imperial study room, while King Wei followed with small steps after showing a sneer.

Zhao Kuangyin is a hard-working emperor. Although a fresh snow made it colder last night, he still got up early.

Hearing that King Jin and King Wei asked for an audience at the same time, Zhao Kuangyin was a little surprised and curious, so he ordered the eunuch to lead them in.

After Jin Wang and Wei Wang saw Zhao Kuangyin in the imperial study room, they quickly knelt down to salute, Zhao Kuangyin smiled and said: "You two kings don't need to be polite, please get up quickly, I just don't know that you two entered the palace so early. What's the matter?"

King Jin is the third elder brother of King Wei, so he was the first to speak: "Brother, Kaifeng Mansion was attacked by men in black last night. According to my conjecture, they may want to steal the formula for refining refined salt. My brother Entering the palace is to remind the emperor to be more vigilant."

Zhao Kuangyin was slightly startled when he heard that the Kaifeng Mansion had been invaded, and said: "Those people are so bold, they sent someone to investigate, and they will never let them go lightly after they are found out. As for Wang's worry, there is no need for that. Refining refined salt I have destroyed the secret recipe, and only a few close friends know it, so you can rest assured."

King Jin didn't doubt Zhao Kuangyin's words. After slightly nodding his head, he stood aside. At this time, King Wei quickly said: "The matter of the emperor's brother asking the minister to investigate the assassin has come to an end. Those who assassinated Liu Wei The assassins are all spies from the Liao Kingdom."

After hearing King Wei's words, both Zhao Kuangyin and King Jin were shocked. They thought that the assassin was most likely from the Southern Han Dynasty, but they didn't expect it to be from the Liao Kingdom. It's just why the people from the Liao Kingdom wanted to assassinate Liu Wei ?

After Zhao Kuangyin was shocked, he became angry again: "The Liao Kingdom is so courageous. I haven't troubled them yet, but they have attracted my Song's attention. I heard that the Liao Kingdom's political situation is unstable, so I immediately sent troops to attack it." , it won’t work if you don’t teach them a lesson.”

When Zhao Kuangyin said this, he was already furious, but Jin Wang remained calm, and after Zhao Kuangyin finished speaking, he quickly said: "Brother Emperor, absolutely not, we are now using troops against the Southern Han Dynasty, if we attack the Liao Dynasty again If the country uses soldiers, I am afraid that there will be a danger of being stretched. The Southern Tang and Wuyue countries may also take advantage of the fire. At that time, our Song Dynasty will be surrounded by enemies, but it is not good; moreover, there is still a Northern Han Dynasty between our Song Dynasty and Liao Kingdom. The Northern Han Dynasty has always been stubborn and difficult to deal with. When we use troops against the Liao Kingdom, we must first conquer the Northern Han Dynasty. This matter should be discussed in the long term."

Zhao Kuangyin was very angry at first, but after listening to King Jin's words, he gradually calmed down. After seeing Zhao Kuangyin's reaction, King Wei immediately stood up and said, "Brother Emperor, what the third brother said is very true, attack the Liao Kingdom One thing, be careful!"

The imperial study room was silent for a while, and after the silence, Zhao Kuangyin said to King Wei: "I can not use troops against the Liao Kingdom for the time being, but the spies that the Liao Kingdom placed in my Song Dynasty must be wiped out. I will leave this matter to you."
-
When Liu Wei came to the post house of Honglu Temple, the snow inside and outside the post house had been shoveled away, and after setting up an oven in the living room with fine wine, he invited the envoys from the Southern Tang Dynasty, Wuyue and Yue Kingdom again.

Sitting down in the living room, Liu Wei smiled lightly: "Yesterday, everyone suspended the trade negotiation because of the refined salt incident. It's just that there must be a result in this matter. I wonder if the missions of the two countries have anything to say?"

Liu Wei looked calm at this time, and cast his eyes on Han Xizai, Han Xizai still maintained his usual smile, and said: "After a day of thinking, several envoys of my Southern Tang think that it is acceptable to sell refined salt to my Southern Tang. "

When Han Xizai said this, Zhang Ji's expression was cloudy, while Qian Weikai and Zhou Qing, the kings of Dongyue of Wuyue Kingdom, seemed a little surprised. They thought that the people of Southern Tang were going to make a fuss about this matter, but Never thought that Han Xizai would agree so easily. Qian Weikai wanted to speak up, but Zhou Qing stopped him with a wink.

Liu Wei nodded in satisfaction, and then turned his gaze to Qian Weikai. Qian Weikai's eyebrows were slightly condensed, and he was a little uncertain for a while, but Zhou Qing was calmer, and said: "Since the envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty have agreed , I, Wuyue Kingdom, naturally have nothing to say."

Liu Wei nodded and said: "Since the envoys of the two countries have no objection on the matter of refined salt, let's make a detailed plan on other matters now." At this point, Liu Wei stopped suddenly and said: "Oh, Wang Wang told the envoys of the two countries that there were thieves in the study of Prince Jin in Kaifeng Mansion last night, and the prince thought that the purpose of those thieves might be to steal the formula for refining refined salt, so he was very angry."

Liu Wei only said a word, and then began to discuss some other terms and conditions. The envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty and Wuyue Kingdom were a little surprised, so that they were a little absent-minded during the discussion.

They never expected that the Kaifeng mansion was thieves last night, and Liu Wei actually used that incident to warn them. In this way, no matter whether they have the intention to steal the formula of refined salt or not, they must have something to do. They restrained themselves; they knew very well that what Liu Wei said was to let them understand their situation at this time.

After the refined salt matter is resolved, other payments will be easily resolved, so by noon, everyone has reached a preliminary conclusion, and the remaining issues may only take a few days to be resolved.

Because of this, Liu Wei first drew up a rough clause and wrote it as a memorial to Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kuangyin was overjoyed after reading it. Of course, he was most concerned about refined salt. The place is not very important.

However, after he read Liu Wei's memorial, he still sent someone to inform Liu Wei, asking him to tell the envoys of Southern Tang and Wu Yue that although they agreed to sell refined salt into their two countries, they could not do so. If they dare to make small moves behind their backs, Da Song will never forgive them lightly.

For Zhao Kuangyin's message, Liu Wei naturally couldn't be more clear, so he agreed repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)