Chapter 450: Urgent Matt
Zhao Yulin said that she really couldn't hide it from her, the intelligence chief. The Northwest Army had been training for so long, it was time to pull them out to test their actual combat effectiveness.
He gently bumped the woman with his head and told her to get some sleep as the journey was long.
The woman stroked his cheek and said she was so happy that she couldn't sleep. She put her right hand around his chest and patted him gently, saying, "Brother, go to sleep first. I will keep watch over you."
Zhao Yulin was speechless.
Yuqi was the same age as him, and she was as excited as a little girl of twelve or thirteen to go out. He moved a little and lay down, leaning on Yuqi and pretending to doze off, and soon fell asleep.
In the Central Court of Chengdu, Emperor Zhao Feiyan was discussing matters with the other officials. After the grassland royal court decided that Lai Mazhen would be in charge, the empress realized how difficult it would be to be in charge when she saw that the treasury was empty.
Her court financial lady is a shrewd business woman. Tell her, have you forgotten that there is a female emperor Zhao Feiyan in Western Shu? Her father is in our hands, just in time to exchange for silver.
The empress immediately thought of the New Song Kingdom in the far south, where there was also a female ruler who was supported by the whole nation. It was true that this ruler was elected by the people, but her father was in my hands.
The empress immediately took action and sent a group of envoys to Western Shu to cause trouble.
The empress made three demands: first, to pay 5 million strings of new currency as travel expenses for the Song emperor and his ministers required by the grassland royal court. She also specified that half of the payment must be made in silver coins, because the grassland people still felt that silver coins were wear-resistant and not easy to break.
The second is to ask the New Song to return Zhengzhou, Xuzhou, Kaifeng and Luoyang, because the areas had been settled as early as when the Song Emperor was in power, and the royal court designated these areas as fiefs of the Ture family. If the New Song did not leave, it is possible that the two countries would continue to fight.
Third, the two countries can negotiate to resolve the issue of the Song Emperor being detained in the grassland. The new Song Dynasty must respect the grassland empire as the superior country and establish a relationship between uncle and son-in-law. The Song Emperor will always respect the ruler of the grassland empire as uncle or aunt as a nephew, and pay an annual tribute of 3 million silver coins, 200,000 pieces of Shu brocade, tribute-grade teas such as Qingcheng, Emei, West Lake Longjing and Tianxiang Yulu perfume, and a number of top-quality grains.
This made the officials of the Central Council furious.
Hua Yue, the chief envoy of the Censorate, spoke first, cursing the northern barbarians for being ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. It was such a late hour and they were still dreaming of such a grandiose dream. They wanted land, money and silver, but we would not give them any of them.
However, King Zhao Feiyan was very conflicted. All the above sentences were directed at her father, the former emperor. Her face had already changed.
Fan Zhong and Du Fan were closest and saw the most clearly, and neither of them spoke.
Moreover, when these people were in the Lin'an court in the past, they had to kowtow three times and bow nine times even when facing the old emperor. How could they easily express their opinions when it came to the exchange of the emperor and the abducted ministers?
Seeing that they were silent, Lord Meng coughed twice and said that with Lord Cao and Commander Zhao stationed in Jiangdong, our New Song Dynasty has no fear of the Mongolian army harassing the Central Plains again. If the northern barbarians really dare to come, they will be beaten back with bloody heads.
Seeing Meng Gong had started the conversation, Fan Zhong continued, "We are not afraid of fighting, and the Shenwei Army of the New Song Dynasty will definitely protect the country. However, this time, the hateful northern barbarians came into the city and spread the news that they wanted to exchange land and silver for the freedom of the officials and the abducted officials, which has caused a lot of trouble in the city."
The common people all said that the emperor was the supreme ruler of the country, and that he should be saved even if he had to pay compensation. When the Jin people were rampant, the previous emperor ceded land in exchange for peace in order to worship his ancestors in Kaifeng.
The story told by Fan Zhong is about the ridiculous act of the Southern Song emperor who visited the imperial mausoleum in Kaifeng, which was ruled by the Jin people, in order to pay tribute to his ancestors. The Lin'an court actually offered to cede land in exchange for peace, hoping that the Jin country would show mercy and allow the Lin'an delegation to pay tribute and be buried in the royal cemetery in Kaifeng.
When Yangjin heard Fan Zhong say this, she knew she had to stop him. Otherwise, the court would discuss whether to follow the example of the Lin'an court of the previous dynasty and cede land to seek peace and welcome back Zhao Feiyan's father, the foolish old official.
She immediately took up Fan Zhong's topic and spoke out against the wrong practice of ceding territory in exchange for peace. If Lord Cao and Commander Zhao were here, they would never agree to bow to the Mongol Empire.
She believed that this was not taking the lives of ordinary people seriously and ignoring the thousands of loyal and brave soldiers who were fighting and bleeding on the battlefield to regain their homeland.
She said: "The ancient sages said that the people are more important than the emperor. All of you are working together for the welfare of the people of the world. The court of the New Song Dynasty is not a court that works for only one person. If the Mongolian Empire wants to threaten us with just a few people, it is dreaming."
Yangjin's eloquent speech immediately made the gentlemen sober up, and they firmly disagreed to exchange land for the release of people by the grassland empire.
The rest of the things will be much easier.
Zhao Feiyan made up her mind with difficulty: let the Minister of Rites Li Liang handle the matter with full authority. The New Song Dynasty could pay a so-called travel fee to the Mongol Empire, but without any promises or documents, and could send the envoy away immediately.
Zhao Yulin had no idea that the officials in Jinguan City were making a fuss. He took a nap on the boat. When he woke up, he saw Yuqi guarding him like a little bird. He felt guilty and changed his position to let the woman lie down and rest.
Yuqi didn't want him to hold her. She gathered the thin quilt covering him and said, "Let's go out and take a look. The boat will soon arrive in Ezhou."
Zhao Yulin watched the woman close her eyes sweetly, then went out of the cabin and onto the deck. The guard captain Ke Zhenxie told him that they had arrived in Ezhou. However, he felt that the security situation in Ezhou was very bad. Across the dock and port, there were three small boats chasing and shuttling around our big ship, and the captain of the boat was gesturing at them fiercely.
He said business was more important, so we should ignore these scoundrels and focus on sailing. We would not stop at Ezhou for supplies and continue on our journey.
Zhao Yulin and Wu Yuqi both disguised themselves as business travelers and traveled secretly this time. They did not bring many followers with them. They only had two speedboats and a team of less than 30 people.
We must not add unnecessary complications.
The fleet arrived at a small dock thirty miles upstream from Hanyang. Ke Zhenxie said that there were many merchant ships gathered here, so it was a good opportunity for us to have a meal there.
Zhao Yulin walked into the cabin and helped Yuqi get off the boat. Two huge long wooden tables were set up in front of a simple thatched house restaurant on the dock, and quite a few boatmen diners sat down at them.
Ke Zhenxie went to arrange for it, and the store immediately received a huge order for food for dozens of people. Only the person in charge went ashore to occupy his wooden table to eat, and the other attendants ate on the boat.
The shopkeeper was delighted and called on the waiter to get busy quickly.
He helped Yuqi walk to the empty seat at the east end and sat down. A thin old man in his fifties wearing a short brown shirt asked with a smile: "Sir, you are obviously a son of a wealthy family, but you come to this thatched inn to eat. You must know that Hanyang is too chaotic, so you have to come to this small inn right?"
The old man then let out a sigh.
Zhao Yulin was stunned for a moment, looked at Yuqi, pointed at her clothes and asked her with a smile: Does it look alike?
Yuqi smiled and said, "That's what the old man said. With your new clothes, you really look like a rich young man."
The old man laughed, pointed at the Five Grains that Ke Zhenxie placed in front of them and said, "You are teasing me. If you are eating Five Grains and still not a rich family, then I can only be a beggar." Then he asked cheerfully, "Are you from Western Shu? You sound like you are from Shu."
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: That’s right. I’m new here in your precious place, so please take care of me, sir.
The old man sighed again and said, "What's the point of taking care of them? When they are away from home, they should take care of each other. It seems that they are also working in jobs that require them to be away from home for a long time, so they should be vigilant enough."
But we are all New Song, so we still have different skies, right?
He took a sip of the wine and said that there were bandits and pirates in Hanyang, as well as evil people occupying the docks and collecting money. Even if the boat stopped to stop for a meal, they would charge a ton of money as a berth occupation fee.
Zhao Yulin was slightly stunned and said: The Cuipingshan Wharf in Yibin is also charging berth occupancy fees.
The old man waved his hands and said that was different. Yibin had built a very good dock and they would charge for long-term occupancy. He had never heard of charging docking fees for just having a meal.
Sir, have you seen the docks in Hanyang? A few stones are piled up on the shore, and a wooden plank is used to step ashore, which costs one tael of silver.
One string of money is not a small amount.
Also, when the guests go ashore, they must go to the designated restaurant to eat. A plate of fried soybeans costs five strings of cash, which is very expensive. If you don't go, the bad guys will come with sticks and invite you, and that would be called physical pain.
Damn it, there is such a trick to make money by treating people to a meal.
There’s something even worse .
The old man continued: If a wealthy family like Zhao Yulin came ashore, they would receive a higher level of hospitality. The store owner would send out several ladies to serve them and ask the young man to empty all the silver in his sleeves.
Damn, there are such things as running black shops and forcing consumption.
Zhao Yulin slammed the table angrily and asked: Is there no one in the government in charge?
The old man smiled bitterly and said, "Why should I care?" It is said that the man behind is the personal guard of General Meng, the current vice-king of the New Song Dynasty. This man has made great contributions in protecting his master and broke a leg on the battlefield. The people of Ezhou call him the short-legged tiger.
The prefect of Ezhou was also a colleague of General Meng who had fought against the northern barbarians together. They drank and visited brothels together all day long. How could he possibly speak for the common people?
Fairy, here is the problem.
Zhao Yulin was depressed. This matter involved General Meng Gong, so he could handle it with swift and decisive actions. He was unhappy and grabbed a handful of fried soybeans and put them into his mouth one by one, thinking about how to start.
At this moment, three whistling arrows suddenly flew up from the downstream shore, and the piercing sound of a whistle broke through the air. The shopkeeper immediately came out and shouted to pack up and leave quickly, because the pirates were coming.
While yelling, he hurriedly counted the bills and collected the money, and shouted at people to leave quickly.
Zhao Yulin was furious.
What the hell is this? We are still on the river. We can't even have a meal in peace when Hanyang is so close to us. He stood up and shouted: Don't be afraid, he will take care of these evil thieves.
The shopkeeper, however, begged him to leave quickly, and said tremblingly: "If the hero could deal with these lackeys, he would not be able to keep his shop open."
