Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 420 Nerugu

After meeting with the Liao envoys, Zhao Xing summoned the envoy sent by Yelu Chongyuan.

"A foreign minister pays respect to the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!" Nerugu bowed.

"No gift!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "I already know the purpose of your visit this time, but the Song Dynasty will not send troops."

"His Majesty!"

Nerugu didn't expect that Zhao Xing would directly refuse to send troops before he even opened his mouth. He said anxiously: "The civil unrest in Liao is very beneficial to the Song Dynasty. Moreover, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were originally the territory of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty has always wanted to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. This is a godsend opportunity."

"I do want to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Civil unrest in Liao is also good for the Song Dynasty."

Zhao Xing nodded and said, "But I am not a fool. Yelu Chongyuan's so-called alliance to destroy Liao is just to use the Song Dynasty as a pawn. And you should know that I have met the Liao envoy before I met you. The Liao Kingdom promised that as long as the Song Dynasty did not send troops, the annual tribute would be cancelled.

If I agree, I will be able to save some money in the future, but Yelu Chongyuan is plotting treason.

There are obvious benefits, but he chooses to take the risk of cooperating with a traitor and damaging his reputation.

What would you choose if it were you? "

"I've heard that the Emperor of Song is wise and powerful, but I didn't expect him to be so short-sighted!" Nerugu said sarcastically.

"You are quite courageous, daring to provoke me."

Zhao Xing sneered and said, "I forgot to tell you that the Liao Kingdom promised me some other benefits and asked me to hand you over to them."

"I didn't agree at first, but now it seems that it doesn't matter if I agree."

"After all, Yelu Chongyuan would never choose to surrender just because of you."

Nerugu's face changed when he heard this, and he said anxiously: "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty has misunderstood. The foreign ministers have no intention of provoking the enemy. The Liao Kingdom has put forward these conditions only to stabilize the Song Dynasty. After the Liao Kingdom destroys my father and recovers its vitality, it can still force the Song Dynasty to continue paying tribute to the Liao Kingdom."

Zhao Xing's face darkened when he heard this and he said, "Why, do you think that the Song Dynasty is afraid of the Liao Kingdom? The Liao Kingdom can take it or leave it if it wants, or take it if it wants."

"Of course the Song Dynasty is not afraid of the Liao Kingdom, but if we went to war with the Liao Kingdom at that time, the losses would be even greater. How could it be better to deal with the Liao Kingdom now?"

Nerugu smiled and said, "As long as the Liao Kingdom is destroyed, the Song Dynasty will not only not have to pay tribute to the Liao Kingdom, but will also be able to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. This is something that Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty have not done. If Your Majesty can do it, your achievements will far exceed those of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong."

"Haha, what you said makes me a little moved."

Zhao Xing smiled slightly. Just when Nerugu was happy, Zhao Xing's face turned cold and he said, "But the premise of all this is to destroy the Liao Kingdom, but I don't trust Yelu Chongyuan."

"His Majesty!"

Nerugu gritted his teeth and said, "The foreign minister is willing to stay in the Song Dynasty as a hostage!"

"You think too highly of yourself. Yelu Chongyuan has more than just you as a son. He has so many grandsons." Zhao Xing shook his head.

"I am not the only son, but before coming to the Song Dynasty, my father had already declared me the heir." Nerugu said.

"That's even more useless. Your brothers are probably hoping you'll die and will definitely try to sabotage you," Zhao Xing said.

Protons and the like are completely meaningless and will be discarded when the time comes.

Seeing that Nerugu wanted to say something, Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "The Song Dynasty lacks cavalry. If Yelu Chongyuan is sincere and sends me 100,000 war horses, I will agree to send troops!"

"It's just 100,000 war horses, which is nothing. Foreign ministers can agree to this condition. As long as the Song Dynasty is willing to agree to jointly destroy the Liao Dynasty, let alone 100,000 war horses, even 200,000 will do!" Nerugu said hurriedly.

When he came, Yelu Chongyuan told him that no matter what conditions the Song Dynasty offered, even if it asked them to become vassals of the Song Dynasty, they could agree to them first.

After all, without the help of the Song Dynasty, they would not be able to hold on for long, so why would they care so much?

Moreover, there was no way to transport the war horses over because of the Liao Kingdom in the middle. It was just a blank check, and he didn't care at all.

Zhao Xing sneered in his heart when he heard this. Let alone the current Yelu Chongyuan, even when Yelu Chongyuan had the upper hand before, it cannot be said that 100,000 war horses are nothing.

The Liao Kingdom had only a few hundred thousand cavalrymen. Even though the grassland was in Yelu Chongyuan's hands now, it would still hurt for Yelu Chongyuan to give up 100,000 war horses.

"Then 200,000 horses. I will send troops when they are delivered!" Zhao Xing said calmly.

"Your Majesty is joking."

Nerugu forced a smile and said, "War horses can't fly. If there were only a few hundred of them, we could still send them to the Song Dynasty. But now my father has retreated to the grasslands, and 200,000 war horses cannot be sent to the Song Dynasty at all."

"It's okay. I've thought about it for you. You can go through Hehuang." Zhao Xing said calmly.

"But Hehuang is the territory of the Qiang and Tubo peoples. The Qiang and Tubo peoples will definitely not let go of such a big piece of meat, and even Xixia will take action."

"You don't have to worry about that. If they get robbed, that's the Song Dynasty's business. You just need to send the horses to Hehuang."

The Zuosilo tribe has not yet completely taken control of Hehuang, so Zhao Xing naturally cannot say it.

"this…"

Nerugu agreed so readily because he couldn't deliver the war horses.

But now that Zhao Xing said this, he was in a difficult situation.

"how?"

Zhao Xing saw Nerugu hesitate, his face turned cold and he said, "What you said before was a lie to me, right?"

"Outside officials dare not!"

Nerugu came to his senses and said quickly: "I will send a message back and tell my father about this!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Whatever, I will send troops only when I see war horses!"

Nerugu had no choice but to leave first.

After leaving the palace, Li Ge, who was waiting outside the palace, hurried over to meet him.

"Prince, has the Song Dynasty agreed to send troops?" Li Ge asked.

Nerugu looked down on the Han people and didn't like Li Ge very much. He was also upset. When Li Ge asked him about this, he instinctively got angry. However, when he thought of what his father had told him when he came here, he endured it and said, "Let's get on the carriage first!"

There were some issues with Li Ge, and Yelu Chongyuan could naturally guess a little bit about it.

After all, Li Ge is a Han Chinese, and Yelu Chongyuan could not trust him much.

Li Ge had done a great job on his previous missions, and Yelu Chongyuan simply didn't believe that there was no trick involved.

However, Yelu Chongyuan didn't care. Even if Li Ge defected to the Song Dynasty, what would it matter? As long as he could achieve his desired goal, it would be fine.

Therefore, before coming to the Song Dynasty, Yelu Chongyuan told Nerugu that if the Song Dynasty did not agree, he could listen to Li Ge's opinion and let him think of a solution.

The Khitans were good at riding, but Nerugu was a member of the royal family and had long been accustomed to a comfortable life. Now that the weather was cold, he naturally would not suffer the pain of riding a horse.

The two men got on the carriage, and Nerugu told Li Ge about the conversation in the court.

After listening to this, Li Ge pondered for a while and said, "Prince, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty is right about one thing."

(End of this chapter)