Bian Jing.
Emperor Zhao Ji smashed a cup in his Daojun Palace, and the two eunuchs serving him were silent.
The person next to him was dressed as a Taoist boy. It turned out to be the Grand Marshal Gao Qiu. Out of love for Gao Qiu, he also followed him to become a Taoist to curry favor with him.
"What does the Privy Council mean? Do they really respect me, the retired emperor? No money? Can't I just repair the lotus pond in Changchun Garden?"
Guo Jing sat on a futon, holding a whisk in his hand: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. Right now, those ministers only have eyes for the current emperor, not for you, the emperor."
This was like adding fuel to the fire. Zhao Ji, who had always been polite, flew into a rage today: "Humph! These sycophantic bastards!"
Guo Jing waved the whisk in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, they don't have that much courage. The Crown Prince is now acting as regent, and this must have been instructed by the other regents. It is said that the Emperor defeated the Jin army in the north and made them flee in panic. These ministers are full of praise for the current Emperor. Now the whole city is full of compliments to the Emperor."
Zhao Ji was furious, and Gao Qiu beside him fanned the flames: "Your Majesty, the other day I went to the Ministry of Revenue to collect palace expenses. Meng Gurao mocked me, saying that the situation on the front lines was tight and asked us to cut back on expenses. How can we cut back on expenses? Are we going to go without food and drink?"
"Did Meng Gu really say that?"
Gao Qiu nodded: "He kept saying that we were spending too much and that Curry had no money."
"This is too much! Take me to the Ministry of Revenue!" Zhao Ji was furious and waved his sleeves.
"Your Majesty, your health is of the utmost importance." Gao Qiu hurriedly stopped him.
"The Emperor can't do that!" Guo Jing stopped him. Now Zhao Ji almost obeyed his every word.
Guo Jing said sarcastically, "The Crown Prince is young, and these regents have their own agendas. They're all trying to curry favor with the Emperor and eliminate dissidents. The Emperor's old ministers have been demoted or transferred. If this continues, it will be a recipe for disaster for the country."
Before Zhao Ji could open his mouth, Gao Qiu beside him immediately bowed and said, "Does the Heavenly Master have a solution?"
Guo Jing waved his whisk and finally stood up. Zhao Ji hurriedly went to help him, but Guo Jing was actually relieved.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is young and ignorant, you must not be confused. Right now, the old ministers are all complaining and dissatisfied with the regents. Why not invite Your Majesty to return to the Purple Palace to handle state affairs and restore the country's laws."
Zhao Ji was shocked: "If Huan'er knew this, I'm afraid..."
Imperial power has always been free from family ties. Although Zhao Ji still yearned for the glory of power, he was ultimately worried about falling out with Zhao Huan. After all, Zhao Huan was now at the height of his power, and the generals and soldiers inside and outside the capital were all loyal to him.
Gao Qiu said, "Retired Emperor, we are only acting as his deputy, not actually handling state affairs. When the Emperor returns from his personal expedition, we will hand the government affairs back to him."
Guo Jing waved his whisk and said, "The Supreme Emperor is a dignified emperor. Does he have to obey the orders of those inferior ministers? Whose dynasty is this Song Dynasty?"
Zhao Ji hesitated: "This..."
…
At the Nanjing government office, Zhao Huan summoned the Jin envoy Ba Gu Nu.
"Emissary Bagu, I can call for a ceasefire, but I have three demands. First, you Jin people withdraw from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and we, the Great Song, take over. Second, the Jin Kingdom becomes a vassal and pays tribute. Every year, you must give the Great Song 30,000 war horses, 100,000 cattle and sheep, and 20 carts of ginseng, deer antlers, and sable furs. Third, deal with the war criminals. Your Jin general Maji was the first to provoke the war, and the Great Jin must hand him over to the Great Song for punishment. Also, Shu Hu Ximeng, the deputy chief of Nanjing Prefecture, is smuggling weapons, and you must also hand him over to the Great Song."
Zhao Huan didn't say he arrested Maji because he killed Nangong Wentian. After all, they each served their own masters, so this reason wouldn't convince the public. But accusing Maji of initiating the Song-Jin War was a sufficient reason to kill him.
Gu Nu did not expect the Song Dynasty to have so many conditions, and he did not dare to agree. He only said: "Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, my master sent me to negotiate peace. He only said that the return of the sixteen states and the payment of tribute could be discussed. We can hand over Lord Shuhu to the Song Dynasty, but this, this return to General Maji, I really cannot make the decision."
"Then what the hell are you talking about? I've been wanting to fight you for a long time!" Sun Wulai, with a rough voice, glared at Gu Nu, then turned and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, don't listen to this Jin thief's sophistry. The Jin are untrustworthy. I am willing to lead 20,000 troops as the vanguard and attack Huining Mansion directly!"
These words made Ba Gu Nu feel uneasy. He thought for a while and finally said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, Ma Ji can be handed over to the Great Song Dynasty for disposal. However, can we waive half of the annual tribute, especially the war horses? Our Great Jin Dynasty is in decline and cannot afford such a large annual tribute."
"What! This is too much. Doesn't your Great Jin boast of having 500,000 war horses?" Zhou Gui, who was standing next to him, shouted so loudly that the tiles on the roof shook.
Ba Gu Nu hung his head, his face weeping, and said, "To be honest, during the reign of Emperor Taizu, the Great Jin indeed had many horses, but we have been at war with the Great Song for years. Furthermore, with the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun being given to the Great Song, we in the Great Jin are stretched thin with these ten thousand military horses."
Beside him, Nangong Lian'er's eyes were watery, as she looked at Zhao Huan with infinite gratitude. Zhao Huan smiled at her, then said to Ba Gu Nu: "Emissary Ba Gu, I may not need your cattle, sheep, deer antlers, and sable furs, but you must provide us with all the war horses. Here's how: you must provide the Song Dynasty with 20,000 war horses each year. The annual tribute will take effect on the day this agreement is signed."
When Gu Nu heard that he only wanted the warhorse and didn't want any other items like sable fur, ginseng, deer antlers, cattle or sheep, he was overjoyed and hurriedly nodded in agreement.
On the second day, Gunu set out to return to the capital of the Jin Dynasty to report. Zhao Huan led the generals to see him off outside the palace.
…
Bring Gu Nu back to Huining Prefecture and go to the palace to meet Wanyan Sheng.
"Your Majesty, the Song Dynasty is so powerful that it conquered Xinzhou in a blink of an eye. My Great Jin is powerless to resist it." Ba Gu beat his chest and stamped his feet.
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