lady, please calm down

On the 19th day of the twelfth lunar month, not long after the team from the Anfeng court of the Great Zhou Dynasty went south to deliver the decree to the Lin'an court of the Great Zhou Dynasty left the city, Shen Gai, the Minister of Rites, who represented the Lin'an court in negotiating peace, also rushed outside Anfeng city.

Shen Gai was forcibly assigned the task of negotiating peace. The original goal of the peace negotiation was to blockade the navy in Qiantang Bay, but before he left, the Lin'an court suddenly learned on the night of the 11th that the King of Chu of Qi State had arrived in Huainan with the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty.

Compared with the naval forces that bombarded the ferry every day but had no ability to land for the time being, the Huainan Incident undoubtedly posed a greater threat to the Lin'an court.

So, under the urgent order from the court, Shen Gai changed his destination overnight and headed north to Huainan.

He came to Huainan for two purposes. One was to check the strength of the Huaibei army, and the other was to confirm the authenticity of the Supreme Emperor.

However, on the way north, bad news came one after another. First, I learned that the Huainan navy of the Great Zhou Dynasty had defected to support the Supreme Emperor, whose truth was unknown for the time being. Then I heard that the Huainan rebels had united with the Huaibei army in just a few days. The next five mansions.

When he arrived at Luzhou, the place was already occupied by Han Shizhong, the so-called You Xiaowei general appointed by the Anfeng court of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

When Han Shizhong learned that Shen's mission was for peace talks, he was not embarrassed and sent a team of soldiers to escort him to Anfeng.

But just last night, Shen Gai heard again that the Supreme Emperor had established a separate court in Anfeng. Not only did he appoint officials at all levels, but what was even more shocking was that the King of Chu of Qi State also appointed the Privy Envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in charge of the country's military and military affairs. Conferred the title of King of Jin.
The situation that the Lin'an court was most worried about emerged.

In fact, by this time, Shen Gai was 80% convinced that the Supreme Emperor staying in Anfeng City was real. Otherwise, many civil and military officials in Huainan would not have surrendered on a large scale in such a short period of time.

At six o'clock on the 19th, Shen Gai's delegation met Chen Jing'an, Pei Weishu, Han Fang and others who were waiting here five miles south of the city.

After some casual greetings, Chen Jingan led Shen to enter the city, but he happened to see the King of Jin's military parade three miles east of the city.
As the war in Tokyo gradually came to an end, with Yang Dalang as the chief general, Zhe Yanwen and Zhang Shuye as deputy generals, the main force of the Huaibei Third Brigade, together with the Zhejia Army, Kuang Daogu Department, Jing Peng Department, Qin Shengwu Department and other troops totaling 100,000 Has passed Taiyuan Prefecture.

Along the way, they pursued Jinxia's defeated troops and continued westward to recover the lost territory in the northwest.

The second brother Peng led more than 40,000 soldiers from Geng Baoxi, Liu Maodan, Ximen Gong, Pan Xiong, and Zhao Mengguang to the south, and set up camp outside Anfeng City yesterday.

Among the soldiers who went south, they have been fighting for several months. It would be a lie to say that they are not tired.

Therefore, the Huaibei Army arranged this military parade to boost morale.

This matter originally had nothing to do with Shen Gai, but with Chen Jingan's level of a thief, how could he not take advantage of such a good opportunity?
He deliberately led Shen Gai's delegation around half a circle outside Anfeng City, so that the other party could "happen" to see the mighty Qi army!
At three o'clock in the morning, the sky was overcast and the north wind was blowing.

Tens of thousands of people lined up neatly in the east of the city. The faces of the soldiers were quite weathered. Although the armor on their bodies was wiped clean, there were occasional torn or missing pieces that still needed to be repaired.

Among the swords and spears in the forest, there were also long-handled sabers with broken blades or even broken in half.
Compared with the 1st and 2nd Guards Regiments, which have updated their equipment in Huaibei, the Armor-breaking Sword undoubtedly looks shabby.

However, no one of the Anfeng ministers and Lin'an envoys who were slowly passing by from a distance dared to underestimate the evil spirit that these soldiers had on each other, which was as tangible as a substance. It was too heavy.

In the depth of winter, the world is desolate.

The dark armor looked even colder, and the queue of tens of thousands of people made no noise, like a silent iron mountain.

Even though they were more than three miles away from the array, everyone could still clearly feel the strong sense of oppression.

More than 30 people from Shen Gai's delegation were riding on horses, all of them keeping their heads tilted and looking north. Chen Jing'an had achieved his goal.

Before negotiating, show off your treasures to avoid too much wrangling at the negotiating table.

But the new Yushi Zhongcheng Han Fang couldn't hold back, stroking his beard and said: "Sir Shen, don't think that the soldiers are at a disadvantage. They are all soldiers who have just returned from outside Tokyo. They fought fiercely with Jinlu Xiahu for sixty days, haha. "

The last 'haha' sound contained an indescribable sense of pride.

Hearing this, Shen Gai sighed with his hands raised and said with a complex expression: "Qi's military strength is indeed extraordinary. The battle in Tokyo attracted the attention of the world, and it greatly exceeded the expectations of the people of the world."

"Haha." Han Fang smiled again. I don't know if he was laughing at Shen Gai's Hu Jian accent, or at the fact that he had to pinch his nose to admit that Qi was powerful, "Yeah, otherwise you, Zhou, wouldn't be able to do that sneak attack against the alliance. It’s a villain’s behavior, but I, the son of Huaibei, am very proud of himself, but I let you down, hahaha.”

"."

Shen Gai looked embarrassed. The drama of the melee between the Four Kingdoms and the siege by the Three Kingdoms had largely settled. Looking back at the series of operations in Lin'an, it was simply embarrassing.

He took advantage of an unprepared attack and retreated in panic after learning that Jin Xia was defeated.

After coming and going, not even an inch of land was gained, not a dime of advantage was taken, but instead it caused a lot of trouble. Inside, there were scholars crying in the temple, merchants going on strike, and outside, Qi State invaded Huainan.
So stupid and cowardly!
At noon that day, Chai Ji gave the delegation a banquet, and the two sides met.

Before Ding Wei, Shen Gai was a courtier of the Zhou Dynasty, so he naturally knew Chai Ji. Now he saw Chai Ji again. Although Chai Ji looked much older, he was not unrecognizable.

Shen Gai felt like he was in another world for a moment, with mixed feelings in his heart, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Chai Ji, on the other hand, gave some gentle words of comfort and acted as a benevolent king. Although Anfeng and Lin'an existed side by side in the Great Zhou Dynasty, from Chai Ji's point of view, the ministers of the Lin'an Dynasty were also his ministers.

But after the banquet, Chen Jing'an, Han Fang and others participated in the negotiations, but the warmth of the lunch banquet was lost.

"Eight million silver was used for the daily expenses of the Supreme Emperor and his heirs, and for the construction of a palace; the release of the imprisoned scholars and merchants in Lin'an Prison; King Kang led Qin Prime Minister and other important ministers to come to Anfeng for an audience."

When Chen Jingan slowly stated these three conditions, the Lin'an mission immediately exploded.

The first one is that Shen should be mentally prepared, isn’t it just to lose money!
If this amount can be spent in the name of "supporting the Supreme Emperor", the Lin'an court can save some face. It is better than the "year-old coins" compensation situation, and it can also show the emperor's "filial piety".

But eight million is too much!
Back then, the amount of annual coins given to the Liao Kingdom was only three to five hundred thousand, but this amount increased dozens of times. Shen Gairuo agreed and would not be sprayed to death when he returned.

As for the third article, let alone mention it. Just the word "Kang Wang" used by the Anfeng court, it is impossible for the Lin'an court to accept it!
Prince Kang, that was the title given to the emperor before he ascended the throne. If he accepted this title, wouldn't he be depriving himself of the emperor's throne?

Only the second item, the release of the detained scholars in Lin'an, can be agreed. After all, the Lin'an court had no intention of keeping this group of people in prison.

Teach them a lesson, and when the storm subsides, they will naturally let them go.

After several days of procrastination, finally on the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month, the Anfeng court took the lead in conceding and temporarily shelved the third item, the audience with King Kang and his ministers. As for the issue between the two monarchs, it was postponed until later in the year.

The amount for "supporting the Supreme Emperor" has also been reduced to five million taels, which can be paid in three years.

Actually, the amount of money is not a trivial matter. The southern half of the Yangtze River occupied by the Zhou Dynasty has been rich for a long time. If you think of some ways to plunder a few from the rich, you can easily collect it. However, due to the huge amount of money and the unfavorable outlook, Shen Gai did not dare to Accept easily.

The top priority was to eliminate the imperial threat posed by the Anfeng Dynasty to the Lin'an Dynasty.

Chen Jing'an promised to discuss the matter in the future, which solved the urgent problem of Lin'an Dynasty.

In the afternoon of the 22nd, the two sides had almost finalized the final details. Shen Gai felt much more relaxed and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, if the peace agreement is settled, can the navy in Qiantang Bay be withdrawn?"

Now that the Chinese New Year is about to come, the navy of Qi State has been blocking Qiantang Bay. In Lin'an City, a large amount of southern goods that were transported by sea in previous years cannot enter the city. Coupled with the impact of merchants' strikes, supplies are becoming increasingly scarce.

If the navy of Qi State does not withdraw, Lin'an City will not have a good life this year.

Unexpectedly, when Chen Jing'an heard this, he looked at Shen Gai in confusion and said, "Did Master Shen make a mistake? What we have been discussing for many days are all the internal state affairs of our Zhou Dynasty. As for the matter between Lin'an and Qi State, Master Shen still needs to discuss this with the Qi State! As a minister of Zhou, I dare not interfere in this matter to avoid being criticized by others!"

"."

Shen Gai almost couldn't breathe.

Do you want face?
Is there any Wangfa?
Is there any law?
After spending several days talking, you now say that you are not from the same family as the King of Chu of Qi State?
Nowadays, who doesn’t know that the Anfeng court was supported by the King of Chu of Qi State? Your Anfeng court exploited my Lin’an court once, and Qi State wants to peel off our skin again?

Feelings, you treat me as one fish and eat two things!

And Chen Jing'an, who doesn't know that you worked as an aide to the King of Chu for many years before becoming an official in the Anfeng Dynasty?
Your brother is a military officer in Huaibei, your son is an official in Hebei Road, Qi State, and your niece is a concubine in the Prince of Chu's Mansion. Just for this, do you have the nerve to say, "You are worried about being criticized for being in charge of Qi State"?
You and King Chu have already worn the same pair of pants!

Mother Ganlin, I have never seen such a shameless person!
The deputy envoy of the Lin'an mission stood up angrily, pointed at Chen Jing'an and cursed: "Mr. Chen, we respect your reputation all over the world, but you behave like a villain to tease us. Could it be that you are treating state affairs as child's play!"

Because of his emotional excitement, the deputy envoy's spit flew everywhere when he scolded him angrily.

Before Chen Jing'an could say anything, Han Fang also slapped the table and stood up, "A villain's behavior? How can it be compared to your sneak attack in Lin'an, betraying the alliance? I, Da Qi, cough, my great Zhou Anfeng court enacts the law of a gentleman to a country of gentlemen. The villain will use his own methods!"

Chen Jing'an slowly wiped the spit that had been splashed on his face by Deputy Envoy Lin'an, and said calmly: "Sir Shen, Deputy Envoy Xu, don't be arrogant. If you don't want to negotiate with Qi, you can just go back to Lin'an." Well. But there is one thing, you two adults need to remember that now that the war in Tokyo has ended, the 40,000 Qi tigers we saw outside the city today are just the first batch of reinforcements coming from the south.
At present, in order to create a good atmosphere for the peace talks, Qi's elite troops have always exercised restraint and have not continued to move south. If we have no results here, I will not be able to suppress the powerful generals of Qi. By then they will send their troops south and it will be too late."

Look, this thief is saying, "I'm worried about being attacked by others in the Qi Kingdom," and at the same time, he keeps threatening us with the Qi army!
"Ha." Shen Gai snorted coldly and said sarcastically: "Your Anfeng court claims to be the Great Zhou court, but it uses the power of Qi to humiliate and force the mother country at every turn. What a loyal subordinate!"

What he said was meaningless, but Shen Gai couldn't stand the fact that Chen Jing'an was clearly sitting in the arms of the King of Chu, yet he had to pretend to be a loyal minister of the Zhou Kingdom.

Therefore, this is a mockery.

However, Chen Jing'an still had a calm expression on his face, and even quoted scriptures and said: "In ancient times, Duke Mu of Qin helped Duke Wen of Jin to restore the country. Now you in Lin'an have failed to consider your father's righteousness and disrespected the emperor's orders. I, An Feng, use the Qi State to uphold justice and justice." What's wrong with punishing those who are unfaithful and unfilial in order to restore the emperor to his throne? I am indeed a loyal minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"."

Shen Gai looked at Chen Jing'an with a sincere face, his chest rose and fell rapidly, and suddenly he felt a fishy sensation in his throat, and a mouthful of hot blood spurted out.

Without morals, anything is possible!
On the 22nd, the Lin'an mission made Shen Gai vomit blood, and the peace talks had to be temporarily suspended.

But after a few days of silence, the Huaibei Army began to take action. On the 23rd, Jiang Huaixiong's Eighth Town Xiang Army and Liu Maodan's troops marched along the river to Chen Bing's Huangzhou line, and faced off across the river with Wang Shu and Wugong's troops who had retreated from Caizhou to Jinghu Road.

On the same day, Peng Er, who had taken a short rest, took the loyal general Zhang Duofu of the Anfeng Dynasty of the Great Zhou Dynasty as the vanguard and led his headquarters to march westward with the first battalion of Lin Chengfu's second Tianlei regiment.

On the 24th, the magistrate of Chao County saw the emperor's handwriting and surrendered without a fight.

On the 26th, Peng Er's army arrived at Liyang City on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

This is an important town in the north of the Yangtze River in the Lin'an Dynasty. Zhang Zhongfu, the general of Huaihualang who was personally promoted by Qin Huizhi, is in charge.

This is also the first time that the Huaibei Army has encountered resistance from the integrated system since it moved south to Huainan.

However, under the blast of more than thirty thunder cannons, in just one afternoon, the urn at the north gate of Liyang City collapsed and the city gate was shattered.

Some of the defenders in the city fled south, while others held on.

After a night of street fighting, in the early morning of the 27th, Liyang changed hands.

Further ahead, there is the rolling Yangtze River.
But this place is only more than 600 miles away from Lin'an. In other words, if the Huaibei Army crosses the natural dangers of the Yangtze River again, the horse army can reach Lin'an City in three or two days.

In the afternoon of the 28th, this news was sent to Anfeng and Lin'an successively.

After hearing the news, Emperor Zhou's first reaction was to move the capital!

Go to Chengdu Prefecture.
At the same time, the Zhou troops who were gathering along the Yangtze River were urgently ordered to speed up their march.

Then Shen Gai, who was stationed in Anfeng, was strictly ordered to agree to all the conditions of Qi as much as possible. As long as he did not become a vassal, the two countries could form a state of father and son, and all the money and beauties were allowed.

At dusk that day, when Emperor Zhou, dressed in casual clothes, quietly left the city with Qin Huizhi, Wan Qixi and other important ministers, the news was leaked for some reason, and he was blocked in the Dongbian Gate by hundreds of officials who came after hearing the news.

The cries were loud and the people in the city were already frightened by the rumbling cannon fire from time to time in Qiantang Bay. When they suddenly saw this scene, they couldn't help but become more panicked, and many people fled Lin'an in all directions.

On the same day, although Shen Gai, who was still recovering from a serious illness in Anfeng City, had not yet received orders from Lin'an, the messengers in the posthouse brought the news of the Huaibei army's invasion of Liyang to the Lin'an mission.

Shen Gai was shocked. Although there was no news about Lin'an yet, he could guess what was happening in Lin'an at this time.

The Lord is shocked and humiliated!

Shen Gai dragged his sick body and asked to see Chen Chu that day.

"I have met the King of Jin, cough, cough, cough."

Shen Gai, who couldn't stop coughing, called Chen Chu the title of Zhou Dynasty as soon as they met.

There is no small matter in diplomacy. Even during the negotiations, Shen Gai never called Chen Jing'an 'Prime Minister Chen'.

Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhangshi is indeed the head of the hundred officials, and there is no problem in calling him "Xiang".

Chen Jing'an was awarded the title of "Xiang" by the Anfeng court. Due to the existence of the Supreme Emperor, Shen Gai naturally did not dare to call the small court of Anfeng a "pseudo court".

But he couldn't recognize Chen Jingan's official position. Otherwise, how would Qin Huizhi, who was also the prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, deal with himself? How did the Lin'an court deal with itself?

But at the moment, Shen Gai has no other choice but to rely on himself to shout 'King of Jin', and the other party will try not to favor Qi in the conflict between Qi and Zhou.
"Oh, I heard Master Shen is sick, why don't you take good care of him in the post house?"

Chen Chu looked concerned.

His attitude was very cordial. But after dealing with Chen Jingan, Shen Gai had already understood the faces of Huaibei officials, and he was not relaxed at all.

Why don't I rest in the post house?

Can I still rest? If we delay for another two days, you may be able to fight as far as Lin'an!

Sighing secretly, Shen Gai said respectfully: "King Jin, why did you suddenly send troops to attack Liyang during the peace talks?"

"Peace negotiation?"

Chen Chu thought for a moment and then remembered the matter of a 'peace negotiation', and said hurriedly: "This king is busy with official duties and has never paid attention to this matter. If Mr. Shen wants to talk about it, I can bring the two countries together between Qi and Zhou. "

"Bringing a string?"

"Yes, Du Zhaoqing, Minister of Rites of the State of Qi, is congratulating the Great Zhou Emperor on his return to his homeland. He happens to be in Anfeng, so you two can meet him."

"Ahem, cough, that's fine."

After a while, Du Zhaoqing, who was wearing a second-grade official robe, walked in slowly. He bowed to the King of Chu first, and then looked at Shen Gai. He couldn't help but snorted coldly, and found a seat to sit down.

He is indeed qualified to throw face off. After all, Zhou Guo provoked Qi Guo first, and now it is Zhou Guo who is anxious to negotiate peace.

"Lord Du"

Shen Gai was sitting on the lower right side of Chen Chu and greeted Du Zhaoqing, who was sitting on the lower left side of Chen Chu, from afar.

Du Zhaoqing, however, was as arrogant as a little girl from a wealthy family, tilting her head at 45 degrees without even looking at Shen Gai.

Fortunately, the considerate King of Jin made peace in the middle, "Hey, Mr. Du, the generals of Qi and Zhou are all sons of our Han family. It would be better for us to have a truce to end the war. I know that you, the Qi State, have been wronged. What do you want, Mr. Du?" , just say it.”

"Yes, yes, please tell Mr. Du what your country's requirements are. Ahem, cough, cough."

Shen Gai hurriedly answered and said that the negotiation between the two countries was nothing more than bargaining, but Qi, as the stronger party, had to put forward conditions first, so Shen Gai would get the best price.

Du Zhaoqing ignored Shen Gai, but gave face to the King of Chu. Hearing this, he glanced at Shen Gai and said, "Okay, for the sake of the King of Chu's mediation, if your country can agree to our three conditions, we will order the army to stop moving south."

"Master Du, please speak."

"First, severely punish the war criminals who encouraged the Zhou army to invade the north; second, open six ports along the Yangtze River for trade; third, compensate the losses caused by the Zhou army in Huaibei."

Du Zhaoqing said that Shen should relax a little. Prime Minister Qin had already made arrangements for the war criminals and had found a scapegoat.

Doing business in the market doesn't seem to be a big deal, it's just doing business.

As for compensation, it is nothing more than money. Compared with Jiangshan Sheji, even cutting off the flesh has to be endured!

After thinking for a few moments, Shen Gai said, "Mr. Du, I wonder how much compensation your country will need?"

"Not much, ten million taels of silver."

"cough cough"

During the illness, Shen Gai's pale face suddenly turned red, and his eyes were as wide as bells. After coughing crazily, he said in disbelief: "How much?"

"Silver, ten million taels."

Du Zhaoqing stretched out a finger and pretended to be big.

Is there anyone in this world who can say the four words "ten million taels" like me, haha.

Since Shen Gai entered Anfeng, he had been humiliated for days. At this moment, the grievance in his heart finally broke out, and he said angrily: "This is unreasonable, this is unreasonable!"

The amount Du Zhaoqing mentioned was beyond the scope of "asking for high prices and paying back the money on the spot".

Ten million taels, even if you discount it in half, it still costs 50 million taels. Is this Du Zhaoqing crazy?

Then, Shen Gai suddenly turned his head to look at Chen Chu, who was standing above him, and said excitedly: "King Jin, even if I scrape the ground three feet away, I still can't get ten million taels! Qi State has no sincerity at all. Jin Since the king is also a minister of Zhou, he should not just sit back and watch!"

"Hey"

Chen Chu let out a long sigh, looked at Du Zhaoqing helplessly, and then looked at Shen Gai with the same gaze, and said tangledly: "I am both the King of Chu of Qi State and the King of Jin of Zhou State. How should I choose, Master Shen? The palms of my hands and the backs of my hands are full. It’s meat”

"."

Shen Gai stood still for a few seconds, when suddenly a mouthful of blood came out from his mouth and nose, then he rolled his eyes and passed out.

"Call the doctor quickly, Master Shen is vomiting blood again!" (End of Chapter)