The prince is more stable

Chapter 235: Truce
I did a big thing, and it's very troublesome to clean up the aftermath.

Empress Dowager Liang has been put into a coffin. The legitimate reason is that she had a sudden stroke. After all, it is normal for a strong woman who is in charge of both military and political affairs and the war is not going well to be under a lot of pressure. It is even more normal for her brain to explode under such pressure.

Anyone who believes this reason is an idiot.

But the world is so magical that everyone believed it.

Before dawn, Li Qian brought several Western Xia officials to Xiazhou City and knelt in front of Empress Dowager Liang's coffin, crying bitterly.

The mourning hall for Empress Dowager Liang was arranged in the courtyard of the inn. The inn was emptied early in the morning, and then white banners were hung everywhere, paper money was scattered on the ground, and a group of monks sat cross-legged in front of the coffin and chanted the mantra of rebirth. The scene was solemn and sad.

With such a big incident, officials and generals from the three kingdoms of Song, Liao and Xia were all present.

All members of the Liao delegation were present, and Zhang Yu, Zhong Jianzhong, Zong Ze and others from the Song Dynasty also came. Everyone had a sad expression and respectfully bowed and burned incense to Empress Dowager Liang.

Li Qianshun knelt in front of the coffin and cried loudly, kowtowed to the ground, and his forehead was swollen, but no one could persuade him to stop crying. He looked like an impeccable filial son and grandson.

But Li Qianshun’s acting skills... are hard to evaluate. He really cried and couldn’t stop crying.

...It would be better if you could press the corners of your mouth down a little bit.

My dear brother, I'm glad to know that you're about to take power, but you should at least respect the atmosphere on the set. Isn't it a bit too much to raise the corners of your mouth when you're so sad?
After all, he is still an eleven-year-old child, and he really doesn't hide his thoughts at all.

The acting of the following Xixia officials was much more professional. At their age, they have indeed become veteran actors, and their grief-stricken expressions are very vivid and accurate.

Zhao Xiaoqian and Xiao Guangjing stood beside the coffin. Their acting skills were no less than those of veteran actors. At this moment, their expressions were heavy and sad, and they perfectly expressed their regret for the sudden passing of a powerful female figure in Western Xia.

Li Qianshun cried enough, then turned to Zhao Xiaoqian and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Lord Zhao, for taking care of the funeral for my Queen Mother of Western Xia and allowing her to pass away with dignity." Li Qianshun said sadly.

Zhao Xiaoqian narrowed his eyes. This underage kid, huh, could actually express himself so subtly. Was he taught by adults, or was he born with this ability?

"It happened suddenly, and we were all caught off guard. When the Queen Mother fell ill, we invited a doctor from the city to treat her. Unfortunately, before the doctor arrived at the inn, the Queen Mother had already..."

Zhao Xiaoqian shook his head with regret and said sadly, "It's my fault that the Song Dynasty didn't take good care of me. If I had arranged a doctor at the inn in advance, I'm sure the Queen Mother wouldn't have..."

Li Qianshun said sadly, "It's not your country's fault. It's the Queen Mother's bad luck. In recent years, the Queen Mother has often had trouble sleeping and a poor appetite. The roots of her illness have long been deep-seated. Last night, she suffered a stroke, a dangerous and rapid illness. Even a god cannot save her. In short, Lord Zhao is worried about you."

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed, "Please take care of the funeral. Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. Although the entire nation mourns the passing of the Empress Dowager, Xixia cannot be without a leader. I hope Your Majesty will soon overcome his grief, take over Xixia's military and political affairs, and cultivate friendly relations with the Great Song."

Li Qianshun nodded vigorously: "In the name of the King of Western Xia, I hereby order the withdrawal of troops. From now on, the war between Xia and Song will cease forever."

The two looked at each other deeply for a long time, the corners of their mouths slightly raised at the same time, and then quickly returned to their sad expressions at the same time.

Xiao Guangjing watched coldly and was full of admiration for their acting skills.

A murder case was turned into an accident through a few exchanges of words, and the tone for the peace talks between the two countries was also set.

If it wasn't for the fact that Xiao Guangjing personally handed the cup of poisoned wine to Empress Dowager Liang and watched her die with his own eyes, he would have almost believed it.

The amazing thing is that everyone present believed it was an accident and no one came out to refute the doubts.

It was confirmed that Empress Dowager Liang of Western Xia died of an accidental stroke.

Among the mourning crowd, only Zhang Qie gave Zhao Xiaoqian an unpleasant look.

Last night, Zhao Xiaoqian mobilized troops to start a rebellion, and of course it was impossible for him to bypass Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu was originally strongly opposed to it. After all, the Song Dynasty invited Queen Mother Liang into the city for peace talks. If she was killed during the talks, the reputation of the Song Dynasty would be completely ruined.

This is similar to Sima Yi's oath by the Luo River during the Three Kingdoms period. After this oath, trust and sincerity completely vanished, and Chinese history entered a period of deception and intrigue, with no one trusting so-called oaths anymore. The same thing happened with Zhao Xiaoqian's murder of the Queen Mother of Liang. Even when warring countries were at war, there was a rule not to execute envoys, let alone the Queen Mother of a different country.

How could Zhang Qie, who had spent his entire life reading the books of sages, do such a treacherous thing?
Apart from anything else, if this matter were to be known by the court in Bian Jing, it would certainly cause a huge uproar. Zhao Xiaoqian would be implicated to death by the censors, and even Zhao Xu would not be able to protect him. After all, this matter was too terrible.

Later, Zhao Xiaoqian finally convinced Zhang Yu with just one sentence.

The person who poisoned Empress Dowager Liang was the Liao envoy Xiao Guangjing. What does that have to do with our Song Dynasty?

How can the Song Dynasty still interfere in the affairs of the Liao Kingdom?
This is also the reason why Zhao Xiaoqian insisted that Xiao Guangjing do it himself. He couldn't leave any handle for himself.

Xiao Guangjing was different. He was a Liao person. The Liao Dynasty originated from the Mohe tribes in the north. People there had no habit of reading books of sages. For the sake of profit, they would do anything. Their tribal ancestors did not leave any ancestral precepts of not killing envoys.

Besides, the cause of Empress Dowager Liang’s death will definitely be buried in the truth of history.

Even if the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty wanted to make it public, Li Qianshun would try his best to stop them from saying it.

If word got out that the Empress Dowager had been poisoned, would Li Qianshun still be able to rule as the Western Xia Emperor? Wouldn't the Empress Dowager's followers in Western Xia rebel?
The reason of death from stroke is so perfect, why should we destroy this perfection?

The Song and Liao countries conspired together, and with Li Qianshun as an insider, no one in the world would care about the truth anymore. The upper echelons of the three countries of Song, Liao and Xia only cared about future interests.

After the worship, Li Qianshun took over the funeral arrangements for Empress Dowager Liang and ordered people to find a secret place outside the city for a hasty burial. He then left two Xixia ministers to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.

Li Qianshun issued an edict in the name of Empress Dowager Liang, gathering the troops still pursuing the Song army in the territory of Western Xia, and hurriedly set off for Xingqing Prefecture.

After Empress Dowager Liang died, Li Qianshun had to take over the government, and there were too many troubles waiting for him to deal with.

First, he had to conceal the news of Empress Dowager Liang's death, then take over the military power, go straight to the capital to eliminate the queen's party, reshuffle the court, seek the support and support of various classes such as domestic dignitaries, meritorious landlords, etc.

However, Empress Liang, a powerful woman of Western Xia who caused great attention and headaches to both the Song and Liao dynasties, was nothing more than a handful of yellow earth buried alone in an unknown underground place after her death. The traces of her existence were being quietly erased by history.

Li Qianshun hastily arranged the funeral of Empress Dowager Liang and left. The two Xixia ministers who stayed behind negotiated peace with the Song Dynasty.

There is no suspense about the outcome of the peace talks.

Western Xia agreed to all the conditions proposed by the Song Dynasty.

The original conditions for the peace talks required the Liao Kingdom to intervene. After all, the ownership of Western Xia’s territory and cities was also related to the interests of the Liao Kingdom.

But unfortunately, the Liao envoy was Xiao Guangjing, so it would be easy to negotiate.

The three countries only talked for one morning before finalizing the content and swearing an oath. The covenant was written in three languages ​​and announced to all countries. Stonemasons were also ordered to carve the covenant on a stone stele and erect it in the Stone City on the border between the former Song Dynasty and Western Xia.

In the terms of the peace talks, the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia agreed to cease hostilities forever and restore their friendship. The Western Xia also pledged loyalty to the Song Dynasty and would send envoys to Bian Jing every year to pay tribute to the Song Emperor. The value of the tribute must not be less than 100,000 strings of cash.

As for the territory and cities, Western Xia was willing to cede six cities including Xiazhou, Longzhou, and Yinzhou to the Song Dynasty as an apology for launching the war without authorization, and abolish the three major military commands including the Zuoxiang Shenyong Military Command, the Zhuola and Nan Military Command, and the Jingsai Military Command.

On the third day after the alliance was signed, Zhe Keshi and other Song troops that had been sent deep into the territory of Western Xia were ordered to return to Xiazhou City and regroup.

Outside the Stone City, a towering stone monument stands quietly in the desert of the northwestern plateau, and the setting sun makes it appear blood red.

It seems to be telling the world that a war once took place on this land.

A war that changed the destiny of both countries.

Now, the war is over.

(End of this chapter)