While Li Tang was thinking about how to persuade Cao Bin, suddenly there was a noise behind the deck.
At this time, a servant ran over and reported:
"Sir, it's bad, our soldiers are fighting with the Xixia people."
Li Tang looked panicked and said, "What's going on?"
The servant glanced at Xixia Zhang Yanshou and said:
"I heard that Yu Longzhi's people knocked over the Xixia people's breakfast, and they wanted us to pay compensation."
Li Tang then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "In this case, just compensate them."
The servant was confused for a long time and said: "My lord, you'd better go and have a look. The people in Yu Longzhi don't want to pay compensation..."
Li Tang looked unhappy and said angrily:
"What do I see? Do you still need me to handle such a small matter? It is natural to pay back debts. Since you have done something wrong, you must accept the punishment."
The servant said: "But the Xixia people asked them to compensate one thousand taels."
Hearing this, Li Tang was stunned for a moment, looked at the servant in disbelief and said, "Are you sure it's one thousand taels?"
At this moment, he was a little speechless. You Xixia people eat gold, and you have someone to accompany you for one thousand taels for one meal?
Zhang Yanshou said with some embarrassment:
"Maybe your deputy envoy was too generous, which made our soldiers a little jealous."
"Don't worry, Mr. Li, I will stop them right away."
Hearing this, Li Tang reacted immediately and said quickly:
"Master Zhang, don't worry about it. It's just one tael of silver. I'll just go and adjust it."
With that said, he hurriedly comforted Zhang Yanshou and followed the servant to the place where the conflict broke out.
Isn't this an opportunity to make good friends with the Xixia envoys? Those Qiu Ba also like to show off, otherwise how could they arouse others' covetousness.
Li Tang followed the servant around the deck and saw two parties confronting each other.
On one side are the Yulongzhi soldiers led by Di Qing, and on the other side are the troops sent by Xixia to the Song Dynasty.
With a gloomy face, he walked between the two parties and asked Di Qing, "What's going on? Why did you have a conflict with Xixia?"
When Di Qing saw Li Tang coming in person, he was not afraid of the stage and quickly explained the matter:
"Reporting to your lord, my subordinates are distributing rewards to the brothers."
"I never thought that the Xixia soldiers would lead someone directly into them. I think they deliberately provoked trouble."
After listening to this, Li Tang took a deep breath, his face full of hatred that iron cannot become steel:
"Commander Di, how can you be so ignorant and offend the Xixia people for a little money?"
"Don't you know that our lives are in other people's hands?"
"If this delays important affairs of the imperial court, can you bear the responsibility?"
Di Qing was stunned for a moment and said: "Master Li, what you mean is that we should compensate them according to their requirements?"
He knew that Li Tang's words made sense, but he couldn't suppress the evil fire in his chest.
When the deputy general beside him heard this, he stood up angrily and said:
"Master Li, those Xixia people are obviously greedy because they saw Uncle Cao giving us rewards."
"This is the silver awarded to us by Uncle Cao. Why should we share it with them?"
Li Tang scolded angrily: "You are outrageous, are you talking to me?"
After speaking, he shouted in a low voice:
"In the final analysis, this incident was caused by Cao Bin. He did not know the benefits and harms, and rewarded the soldiers indiscriminately, which allowed the Xixia people to take the opportunity to cause trouble."
"After this incident, I will report his behavior to the court and punish him."
Then, he glanced at Di Qing, waved his hands and said:
"Okay, go and apologize to the Xixia soldiers and pay them the compensation in full."
"If we return without success because of this matter, I will not be able to circumvent you."
"Remember, in everything you do, you have to put the overall situation first."
Finally, he flicked his sleeves, stood sideways, and gave up the space behind him to Di Qing and others.
Upon hearing his order, the soldiers behind Di Qing almost gritted their teeth.
It's obvious that the other party is just looking for trouble, but you still want to apologize to them?
I thought I would make a big fortune with the money I just got, but I didn't expect that half of it would be cheated by these Xixia people in the blink of an eye.
This is too frustrating.
Di Qing gritted his teeth and said:
"Mr. Li, you don't have to give up the money, but it's impossible for us to apologize."
"We are the royal bodyguards of the Imperial Dragon. This is detrimental to the majesty of the Song Dynasty."
Li Tang stared, seeing Di Qing looking at him without timidity, he did not dare to push too hastily, so he said:
"Okay, just do as you say."
As he spoke, he said earnestly:
"Commander Di, specific matters must be dealt with flexibly. This matter has not yet raised the dignity of the country."
"You must have a big mind and put the overall situation first. It's just a little money. What does it mean compared to the important affairs of the country?"
After Di Qing asked people to hand over the silver to the Xixia people, those people immediately started to smile.
All the people in Xixia were soldiers. They prepared their own armor and weapons, and they did not have as generous military pay as the soldiers of the Song Dynasty.
This one thousand taels of silver was a huge amount of money for them.
Seeing that things did not get out of hand, Li Tang breathed a sigh of relief and left as if nothing happened.
The lieutenant behind Di Qing took a sip and said with hatred on his face:
"What kind of person is he, and he says that a thousand taels of silver is nothing? Why doesn't he use the silver to compensate the Xixia people?"
"He is much richer than the rest of us..."
The soldiers behind him were also quite unhappy. For a time, eight generations of Li Tang's ancestors were greeted by them.
Di Qing sighed, waved his hand and said:
"Okay, don't complain, this is a windfall."
"Master Li is right. Everything should be done with the overall situation in mind. After all, we are just guards."
"Although we can't help much, we should try not to cause any trouble."
Although he said this, it was only to comfort his subordinates, and he had no idea how much anger he was holding in his heart.
He didn't understand why the people of the Song Dynasty always had to compromise and seek perfection, while the other party never had to consider the overall situation.
At this time, Li Tang had returned to the front deck of the ship. Seeing Zhang Yanshou waiting for him, he hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"It's nothing serious. Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. Li has already taken care of it."
With that said, he added: "I think Mr. Zhang is lonely on the journey, so Li will go talk to Uncle Zhongjing right now."
Zhang Yanshou became excited when he heard this, grabbed Li Tang and said:
"Master Li, do you really mean what you said?"
"If this can happen, I don't know how to be grateful."
Seeing his eagerness, Li Tang immediately made up his mind that this matter must be done for him.
At this time, Cao Bin was listening to Zhang Dun's analysis of Yuan Hao's character.
Although he has not met Yuan Hao yet, he can get a little idea based on some of Yuan Hao's actions.
The soldier on duty at the door suddenly came in and announced that Li Tangqian was visiting.
"Uncle Zhongjing, now there are billions of people, the safety of the Song Dynasty is entirely in your hands..."
