Chapter 555: A Girl's Outfit
The next day, a Mongolian merchant dressed as a traveling merchant came to the camp of the Shenwei Army on the south bank of the Yellow River and wanted to see the commander of the Shenwei Army.
The soldier at the gate said arrogantly that there were two commanders in the central army tent, one was the commander of Phosphorus State, the other was the commander of the Northern Group of our Shenwei Army, and there was also an imperial envoy from Chengdu. I wonder which one you want to see?
The merchant asked him to go and inform them quickly that he wanted to see the imperial envoy.
The guard said disdainfully: How can you see the great official of the New Song Dynasty whenever you want?
These are experienced soldiers who have fought in the battlefield for a long time. Although they speak in a rude manner, they are very careful in their work. Some of them have already gone forward to report.
After a while, someone came and took the merchant to the central military tent.
Zhang Guoan immediately dismissed his attendants after seeing the visitor. The Mongolian merchant in front of him quickly took off her makeup, and the generals looked again and found that she was a pretty woman. The woman stepped forward and saluted the generals: "Shunfengsi Xie Wuhui has returned home."
Zhang Guoan immediately returned the greeting and invited Deputy Envoy Xie to take a seat.
It turned out that this woman was Xie Wuhui, the governor of Jiankang Prefecture, who was spared from death by Zhao Yulin three years ago and transferred to be the deputy envoy of Shunfeng Division of Chengdu Prefecture and was called to the desert to protect the emperor's family.
This woman brought three pieces of news: First, Guiyou Khan's army for the westward expedition had been assembled, with a total of 150,000 troops, and a large amount of weapons and equipment for the westward expedition. There was news that they were going to fight with Badu.
Secondly, the grassland royal court was extremely short of money at the moment, and the order given to Hecha was to collect as much as he could. Hecha acted rashly and was eager to make achievements, so he was anxious to have a face-to-face meeting with the special envoy to hand over the work.
The third is that the Mongolian army has hidden cavalry behind Jiuyuan, with no less than 40,000 men and horses, probably to prevent us from crossing the river to rob people.
After thanking the deputy envoy, Zhang Guoan invited the deputy envoy to take a shower and rest.
He happily told his brothers that they could cross the river to negotiate for the release of the person, and asked Hao Xiaoming for 1.2 million silver coins.
Hao Xiaoming said that money is a small matter, and the safety of the brothers is a big matter. Just now, the brothers said that Deputy Envoy Xie went to the desert specifically to protect the old emperor, Mr. Zhao and Grandma Xie. They are a family.
You can't trust everything she says, brothers, there's no need to cross the river.
Hao Xiaoming was so anxious just now that he almost blurted out the word "old emperor" again. After forcing himself to say it back, he stammered and gave a long explanation. The brothers couldn't help laughing when they saw his embarrassed look.
Zhao Guoan smiled and said that life and death are determined by fate. If they don’t go, the Mongolian army will look down on every brother of our Shenwei Army.
Must go.
The Third Young Master said that the Central Government would give him two million without missing a penny, and the money saved would be kept in Linzhou. He wanted to save the money for Baturu's Linzhou to repair the pass and train elite troops.
The generals were in awe and moved over to continue discussing the details.
The next day, Hecha was still wondering why the envoy from Song Dynasty had not come over yet. Could it be that he knew that his family was good at going back on their words and was afraid of being killed so he dared not cross the river?
The guard outside the big tent suddenly screamed loudly: The new envoy from the Song Dynasty has arrived for a visit.
Hecha was overjoyed and asked him to come in.
Later, Zhang Guoan walked in briskly with his personal bodyguards. After drinking the freshly cooked mare's milk made by Hecha, he said, "To make a long story short, pay 1.1 million and release the person."
Hecha knew that he had received 1.1 million, and he felt relieved. This guy said nonchalantly: "No, no. The special envoy stayed on the other side of the river for many days without talking, and our Khan was angry and insisted on 2 million to complete the matter."
Zhang Guoan left a sentence: You are so insincere and treat the friendship between the two countries as a joke.
Just stand up and go.
Behind him, his guards also followed closely out of the tent, carrying heavy boxes.
Damn, that's so disrespectful.
Hecha was furious and ordered his men to arrest and execute him.
The ruffians on both sides quickly picked up their scimitars and rushed forward to surround Zhang Guoan.
Zhang Guoan let out a long roar towards the sky, with a strong and powerful voice. He roared: I will be a hero when I am alive and a hero when I die. I can be a coward who is bullied and humiliated. Come on.
He stood straight with his hands behind his back, like a statue, motionless.
Seeing this, Hecha became timid instead. He stood up and shouted with a smile on his face: "Please stay, envoy. This is all a misunderstanding. Please stay, envoy. Let us discuss this carefully."
His younger brother ran out quickly, stretched out his arms and blocked the road, asking the envoy to sit down and have a rest so that they could discuss the matter.
Zhang Guoan turned around and walked further inside, took a sip of milk tea and said: We have all come through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield, let's not play tricks, let's release them.
Zhang Guoan's guard immediately took out a whistling arrow and fired it in the direction of the martial arts arena. The fireworks exploded in the air, and before they dispersed, three explosions were heard in the martial arts arena.
He was furious and asked Zhang Guoan what he meant.
Are we going to launch a surprise attack on Wang’s army?
Zhang Guoan shook his head calmly and said: Can't we try to see if our cannon is accurate?
This is called "coming without reciprocating".
Oh my god, what new weapon is this of the Shenwei Army?
They actually fought their way to his training ground.
Although Hecha was furious, he was not stupid at all. He said in a deep voice: Let's talk it over. One million and four hundred thousand is his bottom line, no less.
Zhang Guoan said: "One million and two hundred thousand is his bottom line, not a penny more. Our king has said that her father doesn't need it, and the New Song Dynasty will only give this price."
He wanted to ruin the deal and said sinisterly: That means we can't reach an agreement.
Zhang Guoan glanced at Hecha and found a satisfactory answer from the guy's eyes. He immediately said: If we can't reach an agreement, then forget it. Let's go.
He stood up and walked out of the tent.
This time, Hecha stopped pretending and shouted, "Forget it, forget it. I'm the boss. One million and two hundred thousand. Let him go."
Zhang Guoan followed with a sentence: "Deal." With a wave of his hand, the guard immediately brought the box to Hecha and opened it. A box of new silver coins appeared in front of him.
The guy immediately opened his eyes wide and stared at the box greedily.
Zhang Guoan said: Here are 600,000 yuan. After our people cross the river, I and Mr. Zhao will stay to exchange for the remaining 600,000 yuan.
Hecha admired Zhang Guoan's righteousness and shouted, "It's important enough, I approve it." The attendant immediately put away the silver and money box and went to the back hall to count the money.
Outside the big tent, the New Song Dynasty's senator had already led people to welcome the hostages.
Zhang Guoan walked out of the city and came to the dock. The old emperor and old lady Xie were about to board the boat. He stepped forward and said: "Please stay, Mr. Zhao, and let the weak ones board first."
Old Lady Xie roared: How dare you talk like that? How can you ask the emperor to walk behind you?
Before Zhang Guoan responded, Hecha stepped forward, grabbed the old emperor's sleeve and said with a smile: "You foolish king, please stay. The New Song Kingdom has only given me half of the silver. You'd better wait for the next ship."
The old emperor broke free with a slightly angry look on his face and stood next to Zhang Guoan. The deacons and councilors of the Ministry of Rites quickly called on everyone to board the ship . Soon, ferries full of hostages left the dock and headed for the other side.
When a group of people saw that the old emperor had not yet boarded the boat, they knelt on the ground and cried, "The emperor, please get on the boat! The emperor, please get on the boat quickly." The stewards on both sides shouted and pulled people up and dragged them onto the boat.
These loyal ministers were lying on the boat's rails and still shouting: Your Majesty, please get on board quickly! The special envoy must rescue you.
Councillor Zhen, who was sitting at the bow, shouted in a low voice: Stop making trouble. Special Envoy Zhang is the chief guard of the Third Young Master. He was appointed by our King to rescue people. Why wouldn't he bring Mr. Zhao back?
You all have watched it.
When the old emperor saw that almost everyone had left but he was still not allowed to board the ship, he suspected that the envoy had a secret agreement with the Mongolian army and that he would really be left alone. He could not help but feel sad and tears rolled down his eyes.
Seeing this, Zhang Guoan said with a smile: Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, I will personally send you home.
At this time, a brand new ferry came from the other side, and a guard came ashore carrying a box exactly the same as before.
Zhang Guoan nodded at Hecha and called on the old emperor to get on board quickly.
He Hu, who was beside He Cha, immediately stepped forward to take the silver wire box.
He asked Hecha: Do you need to check again?
He had already opened the cash box, which was full of brand new silver coins.
Upon seeing this, Hecha waved his hands and said: The special envoy is honest and heroic. I admire him. See you later.
Zhang Guoan didn't listen to this guy's last words. He stood up straight, bowed to Hecha, and said "see you later". Then he strode onto the ship and set sail.
On the other side, the Shenwei Army controlled the dock with flags flying, surrounded by Shenwei Army soldiers standing upright, and a road covered with bright red scraps of paper stretched from the dock to the shore. The hostages who had come ashore earlier took off their rough grassland clothes while crying loudly, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to the south.
The soldiers on both sides were moved by the scene and shed tears together with their relatives. They helped the kneeling hostage up, took off their own coats and gave them to the hostage, shouting to leave quickly, as this place was still under the artillery fire of the Mongolian army.
When Hao Xiaoming saw Zhang Guoan getting off the boat, he knew the mission was accomplished and ordered nine cannon salutes.
Soon, ten red-clad cannons fired at the river island in the middle of the river. The soldiers guarding on both sides cheered: Welcome back, dear ones, welcome back, dear ones.
After getting ashore, the old emperor let out a long sigh, opened his arms with a look of joy, spun his body, greedily inhaled the fresh air of the New Song Kingdom, and shouted: I'm home, I'm finally home.
The two women were overjoyed to see the energetic man, and whispered with smiles on their faces: We are home, we are home.
Soon, the young deacon from the Ministry of Rites led them to the camp behind to bathe and change clothes. There, the army had already set up a big pot to boil water, and the Ministry of Rites had also prepared brand new clothes for the hostages.
Hao Xiaoming took two quick steps forward and hugged Zhang Guoan tightly in his arms, shouting, "My good brother, let's go home."
All the generals returned to the central army tent for a reunion.
The soldiers outside were already packing their bags and heading south.
Guoan asked: Have the newspapers prepared for Mr. Zhao and Grandma Xie been delivered?
Wu Jie said with a smile: I have followed the special envoy's order and have sent it to the emperor's carriage.
Hao Xiaoming laughed and asked Baturu to toast the envoy.
Baturu immediately called Wu Jie and Liu Honggen to toast Zhang Guoan to thank the special envoy for saving 800,000 to strengthen the army in Linzhou.
Guoan was also happy and drank till the tumbler.
In the camp in the south, the returnees were having a meal after changing into the clothes of the New Song Dynasty. Being served by the soldiers, they could not help crying while eating the fresh dishes with the flavor of the New Song Dynasty. They stood up one by one with their wine glasses in hand. Those who could drink more picked up the jar of Qin Feng wine and shouted: Let's go home, eat, drink, and cheers.
