"Then why not send envoys to Pingshan Guard first and station the army outside Zhending City. If the peace talks fail, then send the army to suppress it. Elders, what do you think of this plan?"
A few pavilion elders. The emperor was overjoyed that he could come up with such a clever plan, his eyes blazing.
"Fellow ministers, who among you is willing to go to Pingshan for peace talks with the King of Jin?"
This is a thankless job, ministers! Seeing that no one answered, the emperor's eyes fell on Fang Yi, the imperial envoy of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
As his name suggests, Fang Yi is upright and resolute. He was the first to propose that King Qi succeed him. When the Empress Dowager took out Taizong's edict, he was the first to stand up and question the authenticity, even if it was later verified to be true. , Fang Yi still refused to give up, and would find something to do every now and then. After Min Xiuwen came out, the most cheerful censors who jumped up and down were all under his instructions.
The emperor had a headache when he saw him.
"Fang Aiqing is a veteran of the three dynasties. He is highly respected and loyal. I have sent you to go for peace talks. Will Fang Aiqing go?"
The whole court was silent, and everyone's eyes fell on Fang Yi.
Fang Yi must have offended the emperor severely.
The little emperor did not trouble him after he ascended the throne, but the time had not come yet. Now that the time had come, the emperor thought of him first.
But this trouble was started a little early. It had only been three years since the emperor took the throne, and the throne was not yet firmly seated.
Besides, even if you are looking for trouble, you have to prioritize. It is a big deal for the King of Jin to rebel. The emperor actually used this to embarrass a loyal veteran minister.
Yes, Fang Yi made many enemies in the court, but even his political enemies never questioned his loyalty to the Zhou Dynasty.
An imperceptible sneer appeared on Fang Yi's lips. He took a step forward, bowed and saluted the emperor: "I wish to go!"
In Jinghong Tower, He Ran laughed and choked on his wine when he heard that the emperor sent people to negotiate peace and asked the army to stop at Zhending.
What is the peace talk about? If the rebels are just a group of bandits, they can be recruited through peace talks, and they can be made kings, nobles, and generals. It is all his good fortune.
This is worth talking about.
If the other party is not rebelling, but has a large army from a neighboring country pressing down on the territory, and one party cannot defeat it, the only option is to negotiate. Giving gold, silver, cattle, sheep, and princesses in exchange for the surrender of one party is worth talking about.
But this man is the King of Jin, one person is inferior to ten thousand people, and he lacks nothing except the dragon chair and thousands of miles of mountains and rivers.
What else is there to talk about with such a person?
What King Jin wants is for you to get off the throne, will you get off? Or are you going to cut off the state and send the government to let the King of Jin establish himself as the king and be equal to you?
Besides, does the emperor know where Zhending is and where Pingshan is? Do you know that Zhending and Pingshan are only a hundred miles apart?
You made an appointment with the King of Jin to come for peace talks, and then stationed heavy troops more than a hundred miles away. If the King of Jin really wants to send people for peace talks, then his brain is underdeveloped like you.
He Ran sat back and watched the show and ordered Zuo Xiaoai to pay attention to the battle ahead.
The real business of Jinghong Tower is news.
There are two sources of information.
One is that someone betrayed the information, just like the old information about the Yan'an Prince's Mansion, which came from insiders back then;
The second is Jinghong Tower’s own investigation.
In those days, every Jinghong Tower had its own Chazi. The first batch of Chazi were scouts and craftsmen who retired after the world was peaceful. He or she did not want to return to his hometown to die in old age. He Jinghong said: If you don’t want to retire, then Re-employ you, I will continue to employ you for my use.
The first batch of inspectors grew old and died, and their children or apprentices took over. Some got old, injured, and retired, and new ones joined in, batch after batch. Even during the decades when they were out of business, Jinghong Lou is there, and so are they. In Guanyi, more than 50 miles away from Pingshanwei, the horse feeder Lao Huang was sitting outside the stable, picking his teeth with a straw stick. Today's meal included meat, several pieces of meat.
Two officers and soldiers came over leading the horses, with beads of sweat on the young faces: "Bring two horses out, you must have good footwork, and you must reach Pingshan Guard before dark."
Lao Huang threw away the straw stick and said with concern: "Pingshan Guard? It's not peaceful there. You have to be careful."
The officers and soldiers sighed: "Who says it's not the case? Isn't it necessary to negotiate? If there is no peace, we have to go."
"You guys are sweating profusely and came here from the capital?" Old Huang picked two strong horses and handed the reins to the two of them.
"Yes." The officer and soldier were absent-minded.
"It's not easy to do your job. Not only is it hard, it's also dangerous." Lao Huang said with concern.
"Isn't that right? Others can rest for a night in Zhending Mansion, but we have to travel all the way to change horses without changing people. We have the same people but different fates. There is no way."
The officers and soldiers took the horse that Lao Huang had prepared for them, looked at it, and asked, "Have these horses been fed?"
"You've been fed, don't worry." Although Lao Huang is just a horse herder, he is diligent and never careless in his work.
The postman got on his horse and galloped in the direction of Pingshan Guard.
Old Huang took the horse that the postman had replaced to feed fodder. He found a small wooden stick and blackened it with a fire stick. He also found a piece of crumpled paper and wrote a few words on it with the blackened wooden stick. The words were rolled up, and a little flower dog ran over and rubbed it on Lao Huang's trouser leg. Lao Huang just gave it half of the meat in the bowl.
Old Huang looked at the little dog's round belly, bent down to adjust the collar around the dog's neck, stuffed the crumpled paper into the middle of the collar, and said with a smile: "Let's go out and play, there will be meat to eat at night."
Hearing that there was still meat, the little flower dog spun around in circles twice and then ran away like flying.
Lao Huang picked up the bucket, went to the well to get a bucket of water, and began to wash the horse. He always had endless work to do.
In a small restaurant, a strong woman came out with a swill bucket. Several beggars immediately gathered around them. The woman looked at them and said angrily: "Remember to clean the bucket and bring it back after you finish eating."
A little flower dog also came to join in the fun. The woman picked it up, patted his fat belly, and threw it to the ground: "Get out of here, be careful, these little kids will get hungry and eat you!"
The little flower dog seemed to understand what she said. It rolled on the ground and ran away. It didn't want to be eaten. It wanted to ask Lao Huang for meat.
The woman returned to the small courtyard behind the restaurant. A pigeon was squatting on the wall. The woman put the note she took out of the collar of the little flower dog into a bamboo tube and tied it to the pigeon's leg: "Send it to Grandma."
The people sent by the capital for peace talks are in Zhending today and will go to Pingshanwei tomorrow.
In a private house in Xinzhou City, Feng Xueying sent the messenger away and walked into King Jin's study with the letter in a bright yellow box.
"Let's take a look. This is the one who sent people to Xinzhou Camp. He has been tested and it is not poisonous." Feng Xueying put the box in front of King Jin.
King Jin took out the letter inside and read it. A trace of ridicule flashed in his eyes: "The false emperor wants peace talks."
Feng Xieying smiled: "It's very interesting."
King Jin closed the letter, thought for a moment, and said, "Send orders to Fu Yansheng to launch an attack tonight. I also want to negotiate peace, but I want to change places."
Feng Jieying laughed loudly, went out and called a close associate, and handed the token into the hands of the close associate: "My lord has an order to attack tonight."
The cronies took the token, turned and left, one by one riding out of the back door of the house, disappearing like an arrow from a string on the street paved with bluestones. (End of chapter)