Chapter 447: No Bargain in Negotiation
Haha, these people finally set their sights on Duan Xiaoning. Not only did they want him to hand over the new recruits trained in Shanchan Prefecture, but they also wanted him to take out the silver he had saved and send him to New Song to purchase military equipment to arm Dali's imperial guards.
Chengdu had entered a hot summer, and the Chengdu Weekly reported the great victory of the Shenwei Army in Hongzhou, which completely wiped out the rebels in the Jiangnan West Route. The people were excited, and they happily sat around the firewood chicken and hot pot in the hot weather, drinking and joking, and bragging about state affairs.
Some said: Great! The Shenwei Army has captured another city.
The diners next to him corrected him immediately: Wrong, it's not a city, but a road. The Shenwei Army took over the Jiangnan West Road. The fearless momentum is unstoppable, and it won't take long to recover the entire country, hahahaha.
In Tingyu Pavilion in the backyard of the Zhao Mansion, Ma Linger sat in the pavilion early in the morning to watch the lotus and drink tea.
Shunzhidi heard the guard say that Sister Ma Ling had gotten up early in the morning. Knowing that Ma Ling was worried about her eldest son Ma Yuan's injury, she went to Tingyuxuan to talk to her.
Ma Ling'er, holding the letter from Fenghuang in her hand, stared blankly at the lotus buds in the distance. She didn't say a word when Shunzhidi sat next to her.
Shunzhidi comforted her and said: Sister, don't worry, didn't Sister Fenghuang say that Yuanzi only had a minor injury and it's nothing serious? We have all been soldiers, who doesn't have a few wounds?
Ma Linger smiled faintly and said: She was worrying too much. Shouldn't she have let Yuanzi join the army in the first place?
It turned out that the Fire Phoenix wrote to Ma Ling, telling her that her eldest son Ma Yuan was very brave and had joined the assault suicide squad to attack Hongzhou. He was one of the first warriors of our Shenwei Army to climb the city wall.
I was just injured in the battle. I was stabbed and shot by an arrow in the arm by the enemy, but it's nothing serious.
There were only a few simple words in the letter from Fire Phoenix, but as a mother, it made me imagine a lot. Who wouldn't love their own children?
Ma Ling'er had also participated in battles and knew the cruelty of war, so it was normal for her to feel conflicted. After reading the letter, the woman did not sleep well that night. Before dawn, she ran to the pavilion to sit in the cool air and watch the lotus, listlessly worrying about her son who was far away.
Shunzhidi's advice not only failed to resolve Ma Ling's knot, but instead made her burst into tears.
The little woman also thought of the battle scenes with Zhao Yulin in the past. Each time was a separation of life and death. She stood up and hugged Ma Linger behind her and sobbed together.
Zhao Feiyan, Yangjin and Hulan also came to the pavilion and silently surrounded Ma Ling'er. Only Hulan shouted to Ma Ling not to be afraid, saying that Yulin had participated in so many battles and was still fine. The child of our Zhao family will surely be blessed by heaven and live a long life.
She told Ma Ling not to go on the errand and just stay at home for a couple of days. No one dared to say anything bad about her sister.
Ma Linger burst out laughing when she heard this, thinking that this girl is really good at persuading people. She stood up, wiped her tears, and puffed out her chest and said, "What's the big deal? It's a big deal to delay your official business? Let's go, let's all go on the business."
The women went out together and walked towards their respective public housing units.
In Jiankang Prefecture, Zhao Yulin was still sleeping soundly in Fenghuang's room. Fenghuang had made him lie down and squeezed him three times last night, and it seemed like all the bones in his body were crushed.
In his arms, Fenghuang boasted about how brave their eldest son was. He actually joined the death squad that attacked Hongzhou and climbed up the city of Hongzhou in one fell swoop.
Zhao Yulin didn't want to talk, so he just said "hmm" casually, then woke up immediately and hugged the woman and asked: "Really? Did Ma Yuan go to climb Hongzhou City?"
Fenghuang said proudly that it was true, Yuanzi was the first one to climb the wall successfully and killed countless enemies, he was very much like his father.
Zhao Yulin was boasting, and said happily that his offspring, of course, was powerful.
Fenghuang said calmly that swords and knives are merciless on the battlefield, and Ma Yuan still suffered minor injuries.
He was concentrating on his work, but when he heard that Ma Yuan was injured, he immediately stopped, held the woman in his arms tightly with both hands, and remained silent.
Fenghuang told him: Ma Yuan's left arm was slashed by the enemy when he was fighting with the enemy on the city wall, and his left shoulder was hit by an arrow when he entered the city to pursue the enemy. Although it was a minor injury, he still needed to rest for some time.
However, our Yuanzi was indeed very brave. She did not go to the rear with the wounded to rest and heal until the large group of troops entered the city. Manager Zhou was afraid that my brother would worry, so he asked her to talk first.
Ma Yuan is the first child of Zhao Yulin and Ma Ling, and also his eldest son. This kid is brave and daring, and his personality is as simple and lovely as his deceased uncle. Zhao Yulin couldn't stand this kid's repeated entanglement and let him go to Zhou Ping's navy. Unexpectedly, this little brat really went to the battlefield.
Zhao Yulin let out a long sigh and said that he was scared, but it was okay, every soldier has a few scars on his body.
Two days later, Lao Cao and Fenghuang went north to Kaifeng to inspect military discipline. Miao Gui and Zhou Ping led the generals of the navy camp to the government office to report the battle situation.
He praised the navy, saying that Zhou Ping was brave and careful, commanded well, was not afraid of losing pots and pans, and used old boats to help attack the city, reducing casualties, and did a good job. He told them to take Huating County and Haimen County on their way back to Fujian. He said that the navy must firmly control the big rivers in the hands of our Shenwei Army. The first one is the mouth of the Yangtze River.
Zhou Ping agreed immediately and said apologetically that he failed to protect the eldest master and caused Ma Yuan to be injured.
Zhao Yulin laughed and said that this was Ma Yuan going to the battlefield. Which veteran didn't have a few scars? Who could guarantee that they were all unscathed? Ma Yuan had grown up, and he wanted to thank his brother.
After hearing this, Zhou Ping felt embarrassed.
He told his brothers that anyone who entered the barracks was a soldier, including his son, and since they were on the battlefield, they should charge forward and kill the enemy with all their might.
He was very satisfied with the soldiers led by General Zhou, as they were not cowards.
He asked Zhou Ping to select a group of talented people, open classes in Fuzhou, and train the new generation of successors to the Shenwei Army Navy.
The generals were delighted and each of them smiled brightly.
Zhao Yulin invited everyone to the newly opened Firewood Chicken restaurant on the pier to get drunk, and proudly told them that the chef was from Yibin and the food was authentic Yibin flavor.
The brothers were delighted and surrounded him as he went out.
When he got home, Zhao Yulin felt dizzy and asked Yuqi to help him lie down in the inner room. The woman worriedly blamed him: No matter how happy you are, you can't drink like this. It's too harmful to your health.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile, "It's a rare occasion for the brothers to get together. Didn't you see Zhou Ping fall down?" Hahaha.
Wu Yuqi and the maid helped him to bed. The kitchen had already sent over some hangover soup, and the woman carefully tested it with a silver needle before feeding it to him.
There are many people who want to kill Zhao Yulin these days, Shunfeng Division has cracked several cases, Yuqi dare not be careless. He slept in for a rare time, the scorching sun has covered the whole earth, even breathing the air feels hot.
Yuqi brought him some sour plum soup and told him that his brothers knew that their brother was drunk and had left.
Zhao Yulin smiled apologetically and said that he really couldn't hold on any longer and was about to collapse.
Yuqi curled her lips, and after a sweet laugh she asked him: Then why did you try so hard to bully me last night? You are just a wild bull.
Zhao Yulin didn't dare to say anything else. He chuckled twice and drank up the soup in the bowl, praising the chef for its delicious cooking.
Yuqi told him: Lord Xie from Lin'an has arrived and wants to see you, brother.
The two men went to the flower hall, where Xie Lingyun was already waiting. After the two sides exchanged greetings, Xie Gong presented him the letter from Shi's son.
After Zhao Yulin read the letter, he found that Shi's son was no longer concerned about keeping the army, but he proposed to patrol and arrest independently.
This means to leave the capital for his family to guard the house.
Finance, laws and official appointments can all be under the jurisdiction of Chengdu, and he hopes to keep the inspectors and constables directly under his command.
Haha, this guy must be afraid that Zhao Yulin will change his mind and punish him after regretting it.
He thought for a while and told Xie Lingyun: First, the Shenwei Army's South China Sea formation is on its way back to defend, and will take over Huating and Haimen, the counties on the sea and at the mouth of the sea in Dajiangkou. They will be directly governed by the Shenwei Army in the future. The New Song Dynasty must ensure the smooth flow of river shipping and the safety of offshore shipping.
Second, Chengdu could recognize Shi Gong as the prefect of Lin'an and the pacification commissioner of Liangzhe. However, the affairs of Liangzhe should be governed according to the laws of the new Song Dynasty, and there was no country within the country in the new Song Dynasty.
Third, it was wrong for Shi Gong to warn the Shenwei Army not to attack Liangzhe. The New Song Dynasty would never allow Liangzhe to remain divided for a long time. No country would give up the integrity and unity of its territory. As long as the Shenwei Army felt the time was right, it would take action to defend national unity at any time.
Xie Lingyun asked him: We are still in peace talks, can we just start fighting without considering our brotherhood?
Zhao Yulin saw Xie Lingyun's chest heaving violently with anger, and his face changed. In the past, he had said that he would allow Liangzhe to have a high degree of autonomy for a period of transition.
He smiled and said that so-called negotiations have a deadline and require bargaining chips, and it is impossible for the New Song Dynasty to negotiate endlessly with the Liangzhe Region.
What did Xie Gong think Liangzhe could do to stop the Shenwei Army from recovering the territory? The New Song Dynasty court gave Liangzhe opportunities again and again, so what did Shi Gong do?
This time, when the Shenwei Army wiped out the Hongzhou rebels, they actually discovered that the Hongzhou rebels had weapons made in Liangzhe in their hands and in their armories. It was rumored that Shi Gong's eldest grandson even went to Hongzhou to garrison and supervise the battle.
Mr. Zhao is about to ask Mr. Shi, what does this mean?
Xie Lingyun was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said that he didn't know about it, and awkwardly avoided the question.
So that's how it is. The Shenwei Army was upset when they found out that Liangzhe was vigorously building Hongzhou as a bridgehead. While Shi Xiang was negotiating, he sent his eldest grandson to Hongzhou to supervise the battle. He was definitely not sincere in his allegiance.
Seeing that he was still in deep thought, Zhao Yulin smiled and said that to facilitate the peaceful return of Liangzhe, Xie Gong had a long way to go. All the gentlemen in the Central Court in Chengdu were optimistic about Xie Gong, and he believed that the people of Liangzhe would work hard with Xie Gong.
Xie Lingyun was worried about the South China Sea formation of the Shenwei Army, which was heading east to take over several counties at the seaport. He was afraid that the short-sighted navy of Liangzhe would fight with the Shenwei Army, so he immediately stood up and said goodbye, ready to go back and inform Prime Minister Shi.
