No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 57: Meeting Envoy Fu Bi

Flying head barbarian?
Isn’t this the same as the case of the evil monk in Jixiang Lane?

However, the Privy Council is the highest military institution in the Song Dynasty that commands military preparations. If something goes wrong in the Privy Council, this matter is definitely not that simple.

I'm afraid there will be some political struggle involved.

Su Ze had a vague sense of foreboding, but he shouldn't be involved in this case, right?
Probably not?
Su Ze asked Zhang Yaozuo again:
"Uncle, what major events have occurred in the Privy Council recently?"

"Big deal?" Zhang Yaozuo said, stroking his beard.

"If there's anything important, it's the peace talks with the Liao Kingdom."

Talking about the important affairs of the court, Zhang Yaozuo also became serious. He said:

"As you know, the escort envoy Fu Bi has already gone north and should have received the Liao envoy by now. The Council of State and the Privy Council are arguing endlessly about whether to agree to the Liao envoy's terms, whether to fight or make peace. I'm afraid the emperor hasn't made up his mind yet."

Su Ze nodded. This time, the Liao Kingdom's political blackmail had hit the weak spot of the Song Dynasty.

The northwest is still using military force. Since the Treaty of Chanyuan, the north has not used military force for 37 years.

No one in the Song Dynasty had any idea what the northern border garrison was like.

But looking at the situation in the northwest, I don’t think there is much optimism.

Zhang Yaozuo sighed and said:
"We still have to negotiate peace, but how to negotiate is still being debated in the court."

"The best strategy is to increase the annual tribute. Compared to the cost of going to war, the annual tribute is a drop in the bucket. As long as it can stabilize the Liao Kingdom, the government and the prime ministers will be willing to spend more money."

"The next option is marriage alliance, but Privy Councilor Yan Shu firmly opposes it."

Su Ze asked doubtfully:
"Is there any difference between a marriage alliance and annual tribute?"

Zhang Yaozuo said:
"Of course there is a difference."

Zhang Yaozuo counted on his fingers and said:

"Do you think marriages cost little? Each marriage requires a dowry of millions of strings of cash, which is much more than the annual tribute of several hundred thousand strings of cash. Moreover, the Northern Barbarians are greedy and vicious. Once the dowry is gone, they will kill the princess and then ask for another princess in marriage. This will cost much more than the annual tribute."

So that's how it is. Su Ze suddenly realized. No wonder the early Northern Song Dynasty would rather pay annual tribute than marry a princess. Annual tribute was at least paid in installments, while a princess marriage was blackmail, and no one knew how many times the blackmail would be done.

Zhang Yaozuo added:

"This time, the Liao Kingdom is also demanding the land south of the Guan Pass. However, there is a consensus in the court on this point. This is the Central Plains land that Taizu recovered from the Later Jin Dynasty, and it must not be ceded."

Zhang Yaozuo quickly said:

"You can't say what you just said outside! The court's attitude towards peace talks is confidential. There are many Liao spies in Bianjing City right now. If this is leaked, it will be difficult for Fu Bi, the accompanying envoy, to negotiate."

Su Ze nodded. This kind of game between the two countries is just testing each other's cards.

The reason why Song and Liao still had something to talk about was that both sides were not prepared for a full-scale war, just like the two major countries in the east and the west before Su Ze traveled through time.

Since there is a basis for negotiation, the goal of the talks is to maximize one's own interests based on the other party's bottom line.

If the other party's bottom line is touched, the peace talks will fail.

This is just like bidding for a project: to win the bid, you must lower your price as much as possible to other bidders while still making a profit. This is a game of chess.

At this time, both the Song and Liao dynasties wanted to know each other's cards, and it was also the time when espionage activities were most rampant.

As the accompanying envoy, Fu Bi had to test the Liao Kingdom's attitude towards war and peace on the way to Bian Jing with the Liao envoys. He also had to hide the internal differences of the Song Dynasty, show a tougher attitude, and suppress the Liao Kingdom's offer.

This is also the reason why the job of Liao is very important in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty. As long as you do a good job, you will be able to rise to prominence in the future.

However, risks and opportunities coexist. If the peace talks fail, the political future will end there. The journey to the Liao Kingdom is difficult and dangerous. Not to mention whether the Liao Kingdom would kill or detain the envoys, they have to cross many dangerous areas along the way, which is also life-threatening.

According to Su Ze's memory, Fu Bi's negotiations finally achieved peace and there was no war between Song and Liao, but that did not mean that there were no undercurrents during the negotiations.

However, these major events have nothing to do with Su Ze for the time being, and even have nothing to do with Zhang Yaozuo, the judge of Dengwen Drum Court.

The two of them just used it as a topic of conversation.

Zhang Yaozuo stayed up all night and returned to his bedroom to rest. After Su Ze had breakfast, Feng Shiyuan was already waiting at the gate of the mansion.

Today is the day that Su Ze makes an appointment with Feng Shiyuan to check the store, house and property.

Before taking office, Su Ze planned to visit all the shops and houses in Bianjing City to understand the basic situation of the shops and houses.

After all, without investigation, there is no right to speak. If Su Ze does not see the situation of the store and house affairs with his own eyes now, it will be difficult for him to see the real situation after taking office.

This is also the reason why Su Ze asked the government to pardon Feng Shiyuan.

Feng Shiyuan still parked the black carriage at the gate of Zhang Yaozuo's mansion, but this time he replaced it with an ordinary pony and removed all the decorations outside the carriage. After Su Ze followed Feng Shiyuan into the carriage, Feng Shiyuan opened the secret compartment inside the carriage, handed the account book inside the carriage to Su Ze and said:
"Secretary Su, these are the account books for the 3,000 shops and houses I'm responsible for subletting. In addition, there are also the account books for the properties I've helped Lu Yanei and his men manage in Bianjing over the years."

Su Ze finally understood why Bao Zheng and the Imperial City Division couldn't find Feng Shiyuan's account books. It turned out that this guy had stored all the account books in the carriage.

When Feng Shiyuan was arrested, he had already hidden the carriage.

Now that Feng Shiyuan presented the account book to him, which meant he was swearing allegiance to him, Su Ze would certainly not refuse. This would help him grasp the first-hand information on the rental market in Bianjing and the operation of the store and house business.

These can all be handed over to the A Zhang in Taohuayuan for checking.

Su Ze nodded and said:
"After today's inspection, move these account books from the back door of Zhang's house to my room."

"As ordered."

"The three thousand households that Lü Gongbi entrusted to you should be the best products in the store and house business, right?"

Feng Shiyuan nodded and said:
"These 3,000 households are the best located among the 20,000 public housing units in the Dianzhaiwu Department. They are also the ones with the least trouble renting out. Lu Yanei also calculates the monthly rent based on the average rental price of Dianzhaiwu's houses and rents them out to ordinary people. Therefore, as long as these houses can be rented out and the rent can be recovered, it will be profitable."

Su Ze immediately understood that Lu Gongbi had leased 3,000 of the best houses to Feng Shiyuan through contracting, and Feng Shiyuan only needed to pay the rent of these public houses on a monthly basis according to the average price sought by the store and house service.

Feng Shiyuan, the sub-landlord, can make a lot of money from the tenants by paying prices higher than the normal rent.

This is simply a business that makes money without doing anything, and this set of operations is also common in later generations.

No wonder, power is the most profitable business.

(End of this chapter)