Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The front hall of the Prince of Qi's mansion is not big. It was rebuilt during the time of Gao Yongchang, so it can easily accommodate more than 20 people to report on business.

On the left and right sides of the not-so-magnificent hall, there were two rows of ministers standing, the left one was civil and the right one was military. When Ma Zheng stepped in, many people looked over and several generals at the back snorted softly.

The Song Dynasty envoy paused, and his gaze on him was somewhat...

Stab someone?

He clenched his hands nervously. Although Ma Zheng was the military commander of Dengzhou, he came directly from the court. However, he had been in the army and had met many warriors on weekdays. He had met and talked with many generals of the imperial guards, but those people did not bring him any pressure at all. Now he felt as if he had entered a den of insects and would be torn to pieces on the spot in the next moment. He could not help but feel a little nervous, but he had to pretend that nothing was wrong.

Damn it. I heard that the foreigners in Liaodong are brave and brave, so it’s okay that their eyes are a little creepy, but some of the generals of Qi are clearly rebels of our dynasty. How can they give people so much pressure? Could it be that these people are all Han people from Liao?
Ma Zheng looked straight ahead. In his peripheral vision, he saw generals wearing armor and with Jurchen braids turning their heads as he walked by. He also saw familiar Song-style armor, but without exception, the "smell" coming from the pile of dead bodies was a bit pungent, making the people being looked at feel uncomfortable all over.

When he reached the middle, Ma Zheng bowed deeply and said, "Ma Zheng, the envoy of the Song Dynasty, greets His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi."

"No gift."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Hearing the voice, Ma Zheng straightened up and looked at Lu Bu who was sitting high in front of him. He took out the imperial edict and bowed again: "This is the imperial edict from our emperor to your Highness. I hope your Highness will take a look at it."

A eunuch stepped forward, took it from his hand, and then stepped back in small steps, wanting to present it to Lu Bu. The figure above waved his hand, then stood at the bottom of the steps, waiting with his head down.

"I can't bear to read those words." Lu Bu didn't even look at the imperial edict held beside him: "If the Song envoy has something to say, just say it directly."

Don't read the edict...

Could it be that Lu Bu is illiterate?
Ma Zheng's thoughts were active in his mind, and he did not dare to neglect it. He said calmly: "Your Highness, the emperor of our dynasty intends to establish diplomatic relations with Qi."

After a short pause, without hearing any response from above, he continued, "Now that Qi has been newly established, and it is in the old territory of Liao, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction in Liao. Whether the king wants to protect himself or continue to expand, the Khitans are unavoidable and must confront them. The Khitans have been established for more than a hundred years and are deeply rooted. They are not easy to deal with. It is possible that Qi will be defeated if it confronts them alone. At that time, the good situation in Liaodong will collapse in an instant. It is really worrying."

The civil and military officials on both sides frowned. E Quanzhong clenched his fist and wanted to hit him, but was stopped by An Renmei. She shook her head at him before calming down and glared at the speaker's back.

Ma Zheng was observing Lü Bu's expression. He didn't look at the expressions of the civil and military officials on both sides. Seeing that Lü Bu remained calm, he nodded in his heart and continued to speak: "The emperor of our dynasty does not want to see a newly established country collapse so quickly, and he is also dissatisfied with having to pay tribute to the Liao people every year. Therefore, he is willing to sign an alliance with Your Highness. Our two countries, one in the north and one in the south, will attack the Liao Kingdom at the same time, and the Liao Kingdom will surely perish. In this way, the disaster of Qi can be solved, and our dynasty can save annual tribute. It can be regarded as a happy event for Song and Qi. I wonder what the king thinks?"

After the voice fell, the hall fell silent for a moment. The generals who had originally disliked Ma Zheng calmed down, and many civil officials had thoughtful expressions on their faces, but no one stood up to speak.

Lu Bu looked at the envoys standing below, and also took in the reactions of the civil and military officials on both sides. He thought for a moment and then said, "What the Song envoy said... is something I have never thought of before."

Ma Zheng was very anxious when he heard this. He was coming from the court, so how could he not know the government's attitude towards this matter? Moreover, both the old minister and the public minister supported this matter. If he returned empty-handed, he could even imagine himself in the Western Army wearing military uniform and leading the charge. He could not help but take a step forward: "Your Highness..."

Lu Bu held out his hand to stop him from talking: "Song envoy, don't be anxious. The alliance between the two countries will not be decided immediately because of your words. Go back to the posthouse and wait for news. I still need to discuss it with my subordinates." "It is Menglang, the minister." Ma Zheng took a breath, calmed down, bowed his head and saluted: "In this case, I will wait for good news from Your Highness."

Lu Bu nodded and ordered the eunuch to send him back to the inn where he was staying. Ma Zheng thanked him again and followed the eunuch out of the hall.

After watching his back go away, Lu Bu stood up and waved his wide sleeves: "You all heard what the Song man said just now. If you have any thoughts, why not speak up now?"

There was a slight commotion below, and for a while, the civil officials Wang Zheng, Yang Pu, Li Zhu, Qiao Lie and others hesitated and did not take a step forward.
On the side of the general, Mi Xian, who looked like a black bear, came out with a red face and saluted: "Your Majesty, although I don't know what the dog emperor of Song is thinking, I think he has bad intentions. Since our army has defeated the Liao army several times, it can be seen that they are not to be feared. Why don't we drive the Song envoy back and fight those spineless Liao people in the west?"

"General Mi is right." E Quanzhong stood up successfully this time and clasped his fists: "I am also against joining forces with the Song people. What can soldiers like him do? There is no need to hinder the king any further."

"You can't say that." Wanyan Zonghan said in a strange tone, "Your Majesty, although the Liao people are weak, they still have four armies of hundreds of thousands. Even if they just stand there and let us cut them down, I don't know how long it will take. Besides, they won't stay like that." He looked at Mi Xian and E Quanzhong apologetically and said, "So I think we should unite with the Song people to tie down some of their forces. This will also reduce the pressure on us and reduce the deaths of elite soldiers."

Mi Xian and E Quanzhong were about to refute him, but after hearing the last sentence they hesitated and said nothing. The soldiers under their command were not grown out of the earth, and they did not want too many people to die.

Wanyan Zongbing, however, looked at Wanyan Zonghan's support for the alliance, snorted, walked out and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I think there is no need to unite with the Song people. The Liao dogs are nothing to be afraid of. As long as we kill them, we will naturally be able to crush them."

"Your Majesty, it is better to unite with the Song people."

Wang De and Tang Bin stood up together and looked at each other. Then Tang Bin made a gesture and Wang De said loudly: "Song and Liao have always had an alliance. How do you know that if we reject the Song people today, they will not join Liao to attack our Qi? You should know that those turbans have no moral integrity and can do anything."

"Your Majesty, please ignore it..."

"I have nothing to say. I will do whatever the king says."

"Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty..."

One general after another came out, expressing their own opinions, which made Lu Bu, who had stood up, feel helpless. He looked at the civil officials and saw that the confusion on their faces had disappeared. He also listened to the military officials talking about their own things, and the noisy voices became a mess. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Alright! Shut up!"

The sound of the explosion silenced the person who was speaking, and Lu Bu walked down the stairs directly: "That's it for today, we will discuss this matter later."

After saying that, he turned around and left. Yu Cheng beside him hurriedly followed. Amid the buzzing sound in the hall, the tall guard nodded, then jumped out of the corridor at the side door and went to the main entrance of the lobby to wait. (End of this chapter)