Chapter 513 That's Cool
Three days later, King Zhao Feiyan set out for Wenjiang County to attend the preparatory ceremony for the rural council held by Taijiantang there.
Mr. Ding and several Taijian officials greeted her with a smile, pointing to the small benches piled up on the edge of the venue and said: As Mr. Cao promised, our Taijian Hall supports the establishment of deliberative councils in the villages and everyone will be given a small bench.
Everyone laughed.
Shi's son smiled and said: Even though the bench is not big, the matter we gave it to you is big. It gives common people the status to participate in meetings. Only with a seat can one take part in making contributions.
Li Zhongmian said: We give this bench to the discussants, and they should do something.
Mr. Ding was delighted and kept saying: Good, very good.
The council members from all townships and villages lined up in neat clothes, received small stools and sat into the meeting room. Everyone was shouting "Long live the king, long live the king!", which made Zhao Feiyan very happy.
After I gave a brief oral instruction, I immediately left. Along the way, the people who were watching shouted "Long live the king!" and "Good luck to the king!" Zhao Feiyan was a little dizzy because of the cheers of the people.
Shunzhidi, however, thought that it was inappropriate. She felt that the king should have the dignity of a king. That was true, but if it continued in this way, wouldn't the king in the eyes of the people become a real emperor?
She looked at Zhao Feiyan with confusion, who had a very excited face. The little girl discovered something suspicious and asked with a smile what her sister was thinking about.
Shunzhidi was a Baiyi woman with a straightforward heart. She said that the people outside were cheering "Long live her sister" so much that she was worried that she would be used by people with ulterior motives, who would think that her sister wanted to become emperor.
Zhao Feiyan was enjoying the compliments from the people, but she was shocked when she heard this. She asked herself, what's going on?
Why is she so happy to be called Your Majesty and long live her?
Yulin Ge'er hated someone wanting to restore the throne the most. If Yulin Ge'er knew about this, he would definitely ignore her. Zhao Feiyan's face suddenly darkened.
Shunzhidi saw her looking stupidly and asked what was wrong and what she had forgotten.
Zhao Feiyan shook her head and said no, and immediately sent a maid back to Wenjiang to reprimand the county magistrate, ordering him not to shout "Long live her" again, otherwise he would be beheaded.
Shunzhidi immediately laughed and told her that it was not necessary. It was her fault for not planning well and not deciding how the onlookers should welcome and see off the king when he traveled.
We can come up with a strategy later.
Zhao Feiyan immediately put on a smiling face, leaned on Shunzhidi and said: It’s still the elder sister who feels sorry for the younger sister.
Shunzhidi said with a smile: They are all giving advice to our sister, the king. Sister Yangjin even praised her for being able to make decisions independently. That's great. A king should have the dignity of a king.
Zhao Feiyan was so surprised that she didn't want to show off her dignity. She smiled and fell asleep on Shunzhidi. The carriage was shaking all the way, and I actually fell asleep.
After returning, Shunzhidi told Yangjin her idea. Yangjin said that it was easy. The office should formulate a set of welcoming and seeing off rules and send them to the places where the emperor was going to visit, ordering them to be followed. However, those local officials were not doing it properly.
She asked to add a few more:
First, all places should make some small national flags half a foot long, use small wooden sticks to make flagpoles, and ask the onlookers to hold them in their hands and wave them to welcome the king.
Second, we need to unify the welcome slogan: "Welcome, welcome, welcome the king, may the king be blessed."
Third, the onlookers are not allowed to run onto the road to block the way, but can only stand on the side of the road or in wider places. This is to prevent the enemy from assassinating our king.
Shunzhidi stuck out her tongue and said: Wow, so many, my sister is really thoughtful.
Yangjin said proudly: She had seen many reception scenes, and these were just the details. If she wanted to do it more perfectly, she could call the Inspection Department and the Shunfeng Department together to discuss a perfect plan.
The woman imitated Zhao Yulin's tone and uttered two words, "sui sui." She thought these things were very common.
Shunzhidi looked at her with disdain.
In Zhidi's eyes, it was only a country of 80 million people. How could she believe that Yangjin had seen the ceremonies and honor guards of a country with a population of more than one billion?
That's really cool. Every rally or celebration brings joy to tens or hundreds of thousands of people.
The next day, Zhao Feiyan convened all the officials to discuss the matter of Shandong's submission.
Zhao Yulin sent a secret letter from Shangqiu, requesting the Central Council to discuss: appoint Li Quan as Taijian Hall Taijian, Li Quan's son Li Tan as Shandong Garrison Commander, and all other officials at all levels who remained in Shandong would be transferred to deputy positions.
Hua Yue from the Censorate thinks that the policy is too lenient.
Most of Shandong has been conquered by the Shenwei Army, and the remnants are all huddled in Jinan Prefecture, struggling to survive. Our New Song army can easily attack and annihilate them all, so why do we have to offer such generous conditions?
Yangjin spoke next. She believed that Commander Zhao would not normally give in easily. The reason he made such an accommodating suggestion must be that he took into account the critical situation in the northwest and wanted to quickly end the war in Shandong so as to free up his hands to deal with the looting of the expanding army heading south.
Fan Zhong and Du Fan both agreed with Zhao Yulin's report. They liked to use money and negotiate to deal with extreme issues.
Zhao Feiyan said: Lord Meng was worried about the border war and had secretly gone to Guanzhong. It seemed that all the gentlemen were very concerned about the crisis in the northwest. She believed that Commander Zhao must have weighed the pros and cons before submitting the report. Let's handle it according to Commander Zhao's report. I don't know if Shandong can return safely after we make such a concession.
Hua Yue said angrily: These people are indecisive. If our magnanimity is not enough, we must resolutely eliminate them.
Everyone nodded and made the final decision.
In Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi, Cao Youwen was patrolling along the border. As soon as he arrived at Jincheng, Lanzhou, he learned that the Mongolian army had begun to gather on a large scale, and immediately returned to Guanzhong. After leaving the group of investigation officials in Chang'an City, he quietly came to Yan'an Prefecture, where the commander of the Northwest Army was waiting for him.
Lu Huacai reported to Lord Cao excitedly: After the expansion of the Mongolian army and your friend's retreating army joined forces, their arrogance was very high. A large number of scouts ran to the foot of the Great Wall and approached the elm forest to conduct reconnaissance. Many spies even crossed the Great Wall and went deep into our Suide Prefecture to investigate.
Lao Cao was also very excited when he heard this. He slammed the table and said, "Come on, who's afraid of who?" My legs are sore from waiting so long.
Gao Jin also reported: The Mongolian army gathered in large numbers in Wuhai, and continuously sent small troops to approach Lingzhou along both sides of the Yellow River. The Mongolian troops moving south from Wuhai were the most arrogant, and had already had three encounters with Guo Chongma's troops.
When Cao Youwen saw that he also had the look of an excited warmonger, he laughed and said that Brother Yulin wanted to transfer the general to Jincheng for replacement. Did the young general also want to participate in this war?
Gao Jin immediately became anxious. He knelt down on one leg and begged Lord Cao to give him a chance to join the war, saying that he would definitely win a great turnaround.
Cao Youwen laughed and said: "The soldiers dare to fight, good, this battle our new Song will win." He told Gao Jin to put his heart at ease and go to Lanzhou for a change of defense after this battle.
Qiu Ju, the general manager of Shunfeng, reported: The enemy is not only causing trouble on our front, but also mobilizing troops from Datong Prefecture to march south. It seems that the Mongolian army's offensive front is very long and the force is not weak. It is estimated that the total force will reach about 500,000.
In addition, Shunfeng received news from Chengdu: General Meng was on the way.
Lao Cao nodded and told all units to prepare for battle as soon as possible, conduct careful reconnaissance and not to be careless.
In Shangqiu, Henan, Zhao Yulin was also busy. Commander Yang Xingyun reported: Li Quan's troops have informed the Shenwei Army of the ceasefire, and they are preparing to surrender.
However, the Mongolian army's spy activities were rampant, and they assassinated several loyal officials who were loyal to the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Yulin said: "The probability of Li Quan surrendering to our New Song is more than 60%, so we are not afraid." He asked Yang Xingyun to send out the anti-traitor team like the Mongolian army and act together with the Shunfeng Division to help Li Quan kill the Mongolian army's spies and surrenderists and stabilize the situation in Shandong.
The Song and Mongolia sides took the lead in launching a secret spy war.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Quan of Jinan Prefecture finally declared his allegiance to the New Song Kingdom. A tall flagpole was then erected outside the gate of Jinan Prefecture, with a brand new golden dragon flag fluttering in the wind.
Li Quan sent a request to Zhao Yulin, asking the Shenwei Army to enter Jinan Prefecture. Yang Xingyun immediately led the 20,000 main forces of the Second Column to rush to Jeju.
Five days later, Li Quan and his wife came to Shangqiu. Zhao Yulin personally hosted a banquet in the government office, and Xiao Yan Gong enthusiastically served them.
Li Quan was very grateful to the New Song Dynasty court in Chengdu for not despising him and pardoning his crimes. He swore allegiance to the New Song Dynasty court and wanted to drink Wu Gu Feng with Zhao Yulin. Madam immediately looked embarrassed.
Seeing the thin face of Li Quan, who was already in his sixties, Zhao Yulin guessed that Madam Yang was worried about his poor health and that he should not drink alcohol.
He asked the maid to bring the newly made luxurious crystal glass and told them that this kind of wine glass was made in Yibin, so let's taste it.
Li Quan saw this crystal clear happy wine in a three-cent cup and took it in his hand to play with it carefully. After everyone drank three cups, Zhao Yulin thought he had a stomachache and asked them to drink slowly and have some tea.
Looking back, he specially gave Li Quan a box of eight small wine glasses and asked Wu Yuqi to arrange for Shunfengsi to escort them to Chengdu to ensure that Li Quan and his family entered Sichuan safely.
The girl stood at the stern and saw that Zhao Yulin had not left the dock. She felt that Zhao Yulin was so magnanimous and kept his word.
Madam Yang smiled and said: I said that the young man of the Zhao family is a very honest person, far better than any prince of the northern barbarians. That’s why the master was worried at the beginning.
Li Quan did not expect Zhao Yulin to have such thoughtful arrangements. Pointing to the escort fleet in front and behind the official ship, he said: Commander Zhao is more than honest. This young man is meticulous. He treats our affairs as his own and truly regards us as his family.
Mrs. Yang smiled cheerfully, and helped Li Quan back to the cabin as the wind on the river was strong.
As he approached the cabin, his little grandson held the glass given by Zhao Yulin and shouted happily: Grandpa, look, what a beautiful wine glass.
Madam Yang immediately went over to take it and carefully put it back into the box, still muttering: My little ancestor , this is the top-quality crystal cup given to our family by the commander-in-chief. It is grandpa’s darling.
Li Quan smiled and held his grandson's hand and shouted: Come, come, come, sit next to grandpa, grandpa will hug you...
