Xianxia version of Water Margin

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Wanting to understand what Lehe meant, Cai You looked at Lehe with disbelief and asked: "You teach me to advocate ceding Shandong and Hebei to Jiang Yan?!"

Lehe ignored Cai You's surprise or even disbelief, but asked calmly: "Otherwise, how could you persuade Jiang Yan to accept the recruitment and fight against the other three bandits?"

"this……"

Is Jiang Hongfei a fool?

Certainly not.

If Jiang Hongfei was a fool, how could he have accumulated such a large force in just a few years?

You know, the power of Shuibo Liangshan is now so great that it can even threaten the survival of the Zhao and Song Dynasties!

Is Jiang Hongfei someone like Song Jiang who is "loyal to the emperor and patriotic" and eager to recruit people?

Although Cai You has not confirmed some of the news, he has also heard some rumors.

For example, Li Shishi, the most famous prostitute in the world, who mysteriously disappeared, was actually taken away by Jiang Hongfei.

For another example, the imperial seal in Tian Hu's hand was given to Tian Hu by Jiang Hongfei, and even the jade seals in Wang Qing and Fang La's hands were given by Jiang Hongfei.

If these two pieces of news are true, Jiang Hongfei dared to steal Zhao Ji's women and even the jade seals of the Zhao and Song dynasties. He must be a rebellious official and a traitor. He is loyal to the emperor and patriotic? It has nothing to do with Jiang Hongfei, okay?

Looking at Jiang Hongfei's decisive attitude towards the dignitaries, wealthy families, and gentry of the Zhao and Song Dynasty, it is clear that he wants to destroy the foundation of the rule of the Zhao and Song Dynasty!

Taking a comprehensive look at it, how could Jiang Hongfei have the slightest hint of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism?

If Cai You were to say it, there was no need to recruit rebellious officials and traitors like Jiang Hongfei.

But the problem is, it's not Cai You's decision.

Seeing that Cai You didn't say anything, Le He said without surprise: "To be honest with you, sir, if I guess correctly, the implementation of the restraint system in Shandong and Hebei is just the basis for the Liangshan bandits to accept the recruitment. On this basis, they may They will also ask for more extreme conditions.”

"A more extreme condition?!" Cai You asked with a frown.

Lehe nodded: "Like making a king, getting married, and making war compensation."

Cai You said in shock: "Isn't this asking for peace after defeat? How can it be asking for peace?!"

Lehe sighed: "Alas! From the perspective of the Liangshan bandits, our Song Dynasty is either seeking peace or seeking peace."

Speaking of this, Le He said "sincerely": "The villain told my husband the truth, just to prevent my husband from running this trip in vain and adding risks to this risk-free recruitment."

As soon as he heard the word "risk", Cai You's heart started to rise again!

After much hesitation, Cai You went to the palace again. After seeing Zhao Ji, Cai You hesitated and said: "Officials, I don't know... on what terms should I recruit An Jiangyan?"

There were some words that Zhao Ji didn't want to be spoken by the emperor himself, so he said vaguely: "Jiang Yan and his group are not evil, and they are not determined to resist the imperial court. They can supplement it with heavy rewards and recruit people to surrender. If this is the case, The enemy's remaining three bandits will drive out tigers and devour wolves."

Cai You understood that Zhao Ji was willing to give Jiang Hongfei and the people of Shuibo Liangshan a heavy reward in exchange for Jiang Hongfei and Shuibo Liangshan to surrender to the Zhao Song Dynasty, so as to achieve the purpose of the Zhao Song Dynasty to drive away tigers and devour wolves.

But the problem is, Cai You is not sure whether Zhao Ji is willing to cede land, pay compensation and get married to achieve this goal?

Therefore, relying on him being a good friend of Zhao Ji, Cai You simply made it clear: "The officials are afraid that Jiang Yan is ambitious and wants to win the military envoy of Liangshan Army, so he begs the King of Qi to cut Shandong and Hebei from them. To protect the world..."

After Cai You finished speaking, Zhao Ji couldn't help but feel his heart twitch!

How could no one in the huge Zhao and Song dynasties have thought of Jiang Hongfei's possible conditions?

In fact, just after Zhao Ji appointed Cai You as the recruitment envoy and ordered him to go to Shuibo Liangshan to recruit Jiang Hongfei that day, two veterans found Zhao Ji one after another and told Zhao Ji that Su Yuanjing and Hou Meng were responsible for the recruitment. An Jiang Hongfei's matter was too simplistic. If the Zhao and Song Dynasties tried to recruit An Jiang Hongfei, Jiang Hongfei would definitely regard it as a defeat and seek peace, and then put forward conditions such as ceding land, compensation, and marriage.

The first veteran to come to Zhao Ji was Cai Jing, who had been in charge of the Zhao and Song dynasties for seventeen years.

Cai Jing heard that his eldest son Cai You was appointed by Zhao Ji as the envoy responsible for recruiting people. Jiang Hongfei was about to go to Shuibo Liangshan. He hurried to Chongzheng Hall, cried and stopped, and said to Zhao Ji: "In the official family, the important matter of recruiting people involves the country. Ben, how can Jiang Yan be an ordinary person who controls the land of Qi and Wei, and Cai You is an ignorant and ignorant person. If he is asked to take charge of such a big thing, won't he miss the government's plan to drive away tigers and devour wolves? Absolutely not! I hope the official family will save the lives of the old ministers."

Zhao Ji smiled slightly: "The old master is overly worried. The eldest son is very talented. It will be good for him to recruit An Jiang Yan to sharpen his skills."

Cai Jing knelt down and said with tears: "Then, please follow the example of my mother and ask the officials to pardon me."

Kuomu is the mother of Zhao Kuo. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhao Kuo's mother heard that the king of Zhao wanted her son Zhao Kuo to lead the army in battle, and she immediately wrote a letter to advise him that Zhao Kuo should not be allowed to serve as a general. King Zhao refused to listen, so Kuan's mother went to the palace and said to King Zhao: "If he fails to lead the army in the future, don't blame me."

Zhao Ji heard this and frowned: "Old Master, what do you mean?"

Cai Jing then asserted: "Jiang Yan is a powerful man. This time the government recruits peace, he will definitely regard it as a defeat and a peace request. In all likelihood, he will ask for the restraints of Shandong and Hebei, and the title of king. Perhaps he will also ask for yearly coins, emperors, etc. Ji, but even so, he may not cooperate with the imperial court to exterminate the other three bandits."

Speaking of this, Mr. Cai Jing burst into tears: "Whoever negotiates such recruitment conditions will inevitably be scorned by others. What's worse, they will lose their official positions and their lives, and their families will be affected. The veteran Xining passed the Jinshi title in three years, although he was halfway through There have been three ups and downs, but I have always been thinking about the imperial court. I have served the Song Dynasty for more than fifty years. I hope that the officials will not teach Cai You to recruit An Jiangyan because the old minister has no merit and still has to work hard."

Although Zhao Ji felt that Cai Jing was old, he never doubted Cai Jing's judgment.

On the contrary, as a monarch who has been a partner for seventeen years and has jointly created many dazzling political achievements, Zhao Ji knows better than anyone how accurate Cai Jing's judgment is.

Let's put it this way, before Wang Fu, Zhao Ji had not found anyone who could replace Cai Jing. If Cai Jing had not opposed the strategy of joining forces to destroy Liao and regain Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, a strategy that Zhao Ji strongly promoted, Cai Jing would definitely still do it now. He was the prime minister of the Zhao and Song Dynasties.

Therefore, Cai Jing judged that Jiang Hongfei was by no means the kind of person who could be recruited just by giving him three melons and two dates. He definitely wanted to cede territory, pay compensation, and get married, or even be crowned queen. Only then did Zhao Ji realize what recruiting Jiang Hongfei meant?

Zhao Ji was silent for a long time and then asked Cai Jing: "Old Master, do you think Captain Gao can destroy Jiang Yan?"

After hearing this, Cai Jing was silent for a long time, and then said leisurely: "Politics, economy, military, equipment, soldiers, the right time, place and people, there are too many factors that affect the outcome of the war. I really can't predict whether Gao Taiwei can defeat him." Jiang Yan. I only know that... our Song Dynasty cannot be defeated again, otherwise..."

"Otherwise" Cai Jing did not say the next words.

But Zhao Ji understood that what Cai Jing wanted to say was: "Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous."

After Cai Jing left, Zheng Juzhong, a fellow Privy Councilor, also came to see Zhao Ji.

Zheng Juzhong is very tall, about 1.85 meters tall, and is nicknamed "Zheng Big Man". He is Li Qingzhao's maternal grandfather and the son-in-law of Wang Gui, Qin Hui's wife and Wang's grandfather. Wang Gui served as prime minister during the Song Shenzong era. . Therefore, since Zheng Juzhong entered the official career after passing the Jinshi examination, his personal connections have been very good, and his position has been promoted step by step.

At the same time, Zheng Juzhong is also very good at building relationships. He originally didn't know Zhao Ji's queen, Empress Zheng, but because both of them had the same surname, he actually claimed that he was Empress Zheng's uncle and cousin.

It happened that Empress Zheng had just become empress, and her family had no one who could help her.

Empress Zheng recognized Zheng Juzhong as a relative.

As a result, two people who were originally incompatible with each other became related.

At the beginning, Empress Zheng was very uneasy about Zhao Ji's plan to unite the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty and regain the sixteen states of Yanyun. She felt that the Zhao and Song Dynasty, as a large country in the Central Plains, had no need to contact the Jurchens. Is it possible to rely on these barbarians to regain the Sixteenth State of Yanyun? Now, the world has been at peace for a long time, and there are scenes of singing and dancing everywhere. Everyone is concerned about their own happy life. Who will care about Yan Yun's loss of land?

Empress Zheng thought about it again and again, and finally persuaded Zhao Ji.

But Zhao Ji didn't listen.

There was no other way, so Empress Zheng had no choice but to find Zheng Juzhong through her father Zheng Shen and ask Zheng Juzhong to persuade Zhao Ji to be cautious.

As a result, Zheng Juzhong became the main force opposing the plan of the United Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty and regain the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Zheng Juzhong also heard that Zhao Ji was planning to let Cai You serve as the envoy to recruit Jiang Hongfei, so he came to the palace to see Zhao Ji.

After meeting, Zheng Juzhong asserted: "Jiang Yan, the traitor and traitor, must not be a loyal person! Gao Taiwei and Shijiedu suffered huge defeats on the battlefield, which only fueled the flames of the traitor. He will open his mouth and demand Shandong and Hebei. , even if he is granted the title of king, he may dare to dream!"

After hearing this, Zhao Ji asked calmly: "Then Aiqing is opposed to recruiting An Jiang Yan?"

Unexpectedly, Zheng Juzhong sighed, and then said: "If Gao Qiu and Shi Jiedu had not humiliated the country by losing their masters, I would definitely oppose this matter. However, the current situation teaches me that the Song Dynasty has to compromise!"

Zhao Ji asked: "What does Aiqing mean by this?"

Zheng Juzhong said: "Now the Song Dynasty is at war on all sides. So far, there is no hope of victory anywhere. It is necessary to stop one side and teach the Song Dynasty to slow down."

Speaking of this, Zheng Juzhong began to hesitate: "Just... where to stop? Fang La will definitely not be able to stop. He has occupied the food and economic lifeline of our Song Dynasty, and he will definitely regain it with all the efforts of the whole country; the same is true for Tian Hu , he used the Jade Seal of Chuan Guo as his name, gathered millions of troops, and robbed the land in Guanzhong. That Guanzhong was the place where the Qin and Han Dynasties flourished. If he were to take it, there would be endless troubles. Apart from that, we, the strongest Western power in the Song Dynasty, The army will become rootless duckweeds, which will be too harmful. Wang Qing has already occupied nearly 30% of our territory in the Song Dynasty. It is backed by Shu, and it also occupies Jingxiang, Nanyang, and Xijing. If you retreat, you can separate one side, and if you advance, you can attack us. In the entire Song Dynasty, among the four bandits, he is the most dominant and the least restricted. If the court recruits him again, I'm afraid..."

Among the four major bandits, Wang Qing is having the best life now.

yes.

Wang Qing also had to face the two Western armies on Xihe Road and Qinfeng Road, and even had to fight against Xiaozhong Xianggong Zhong Shizhong and Yao Gu, who was as famous as Zhong Shidao.

But looking at the overall situation, Wang Qing's pressure is undoubtedly the least.

The key is that Wang Qing has the largest strategic space. He can now fight against the Western Army generals such as Zhong Shizhong and Yao Gu while developing outwards.

Not long ago, Wang Qing took advantage of Tian Hu's fight with Zhong Shidao to take over Xijing Luoyang. This is the best evidence.

In fact, it was precisely because Wang Qing robbed Luoyang and could march eastward to threaten Tokyo's Bianliang City at any time, and because Gao Qiu and Shi Jiedu were defeated by Shuibo Liangshan that Zhao Ji took the initiative to recruit Jiang Hongfei. thoughts.

Hearing what Zheng Juzhong said, Zhao Ji became even more worried, but also strengthened his determination to recruit Jiang Hongfei, even if he had to pay a huge price for it.

There is no way.

First of all, Jiang Hongfei is the most suitable to recruit among the four major bandits.

Secondly, Jiang Hongfei was too close to Bianliang City in Tokyo. If Jiang Hongfei defeated Gao Qiu, the Zhao and Song Dynasty would be in danger.

The key is because after more than half a year of all-out war, the Zhao and Song Dynasties have exposed too many problems.

food.

economy.

prestige.

It seems that everything has now reached the critical point of breaking out.

And just like Zheng Juzhong said, the Zhao Song Dynasty had to take a breath, otherwise the Zhao Song Dynasty might be over.

It is precisely because of this that when Cai You proposed that the condition for recruiting Jiang Hongfei might be to cede territory, pay compensation and marry him, Zhao Ji still thought: "We can't fight anymore, we must never fight again. If we continue to fight, the Song Dynasty will Die!"

At the same time, Zhao Ji was a little relieved to see that Cai You could see through the essence of recruiting Jiang Hongfei. He thought to himself: "There are still capable people around Cai You, so I can rest assured."

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Ji said to Cai You: "The matter has come to this, we should focus on the overall situation."

Cai You understood everything this time, and finally knew that Lehe did not trick him, but helped him analyze thoroughly how deep the water was.

Cai You couldn't help wiping a cold sweat in his heart: "Thankfully I have Yin Wenhe, otherwise I might not know how I died."

Cai You didn't say a word. He just bowed down and said, "I will do my best to accomplish this!"

Seeing that Cai You did not look forward and take care of his feathers like Cai Jing, Zhao Ji secretly nodded: "You are indeed my good friend. He does his duty at critical moments, unlike those naughty guys who avoid it one or two!"

Cai You was "loyal", and Zhao Ji had to express his feelings. He promised Cai You: "I love you, just do it, I will ensure that you escape unscathed, and you will be rewarded for your meritorious service."

Who knows, Cai You didn't realize at all that if he negotiated such "recruitment conditions", it would be almost equivalent to signing a traitorous treaty.

After hearing Zhao Ji's words about ensuring that he would be rewarded for his meritorious service, Cai You smiled and asked, "If I return in triumph, what reward will the official receive?"

Zhao Ji asked back: "What does Aiqing want?"

When Cai You saw two beauties beside Zhao Ji, he laughed and said, "Guan family, if I succeed in recruiting An Jiang Yan, will you reward me with these two beauties?"

Zhao Ji just laughed and neither agreed nor refused...

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