"Huh huh!" Li Luo snorted coldly: "If I remember correctly, two hours ago, the Taiwei was still here urging the emperor to send troops to attack Zheng Guo. What? In the blink of an eye, only two hours later, this Has Zheng Guo become more powerful?"
The more he talked about it, the more he didn't understand. Wang Zhan stamped his foot anxiously, "Hey, Li Xiangguo, I won't be able to explain it to you even if I talk to you for a while! How about I let you meet someone?"
Li Luo nodded, "Okay! I want to see who is talking behind me and can persuade the Taiwei to give up his intention to attack Zheng Guo within two hours!"
Wang Zhan turned around and asked Xiao Yan again, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask for permission to bring a witness into the palace?"
Xiao Yan weakly raised his hand, "It's time to play."
Wang Zhan immediately shouted loudly: "Bring Li Shanwa in."
The guards on duty in front of the palace were ordered to immediately bring Li Shanwa, who had been watched outside the palace, into the Qinzheng Palace. Seeing that Wang Zhan actually brought a young child into the palace to testify, the civil and military ministers couldn't help but look at each other. , I wonder what kind of medicine this Lord Taiwei is selling in his gourd? Unlike other civil servants and generals who were secretly forbearing, as soon as Li Luo saw Li Shanwa, he loudly asked Wang Zhan, "Master Taiwei, is it this little boy who persuaded you to give up your determination to attack Zheng Guo?"
Wang Zhan waved his hand, "Master Xiangguo, please be patient for a moment. I'll let you see a few things!" As he said this, he stretched out his hand to pick up the baggage Li Shanwa was carrying on his back. Unexpectedly, Li Shanwa's body moved nimbly, allowing him to use both hands. Gone empty.
Wang Zhan hung up his hands and cursed casually: "Kid, what are you hiding from?"
Li Shanwa said aggrievedly: "Didn't you look at it just now? Why do you want to look at it again? You promised to take me to Uncle Tian's family, but for some reason you brought me to this big house and wanted to Open the contents of the package and show it to so many people! What if it catches their eyes?"
Wang Zhan heard this and coaxed him: "Shanba, these are all high-ranking officials. No one can take a fancy to the banknotes in your bag. You open the bag and show them, and then take what you saw that day." Let me tell you the story again, they will definitely help you find Uncle Tian’s family.”
Li Shanwa hesitated, nodded and whispered: "Okay."
Then Li Shanwa took off the baggage on his back and opened it. The officials took a closer look and saw that except for some silver taels, almost all of the baggage was from a well-known bank in Qi State. The denomination issued by Qian Debao was three hundred taels or more. The five hundred taels of silver notes, Jiang Yue, the commander in front of the palace, couldn't help blurting out among the crowd. Isn't this the silver note that the Holy Emperor rewarded the knights who went to Zheng State to pick up the silver? "
Wang Zhan said: "Lord Jiang is right, these are the silver notes that the Holy One rewarded to Master Qiu and Commander Ding, but now the owners of these silver notes have been killed in the battle of Zheng!"
Jiang Yue heard this and was surprised: "Did even Qiu Guoshi and Commander Ding die in battle?"
Wang Zhan waved his hand and said, "Mr. Jiang, I don't care what I say. Let this little kid tell you what happened."
So next, Li Shanwa explained in detail what happened that day in the Immortal Cave in Mangdang Mountain.
As soon as Li Shanwa finished speaking, Li Luo said coldly: "Your Majesty, the Grand Lieutenant, won't be frightened by this child's few words, will you?"
"Master Xiangguo, look at this." Wang Zhan reached out and took out a note from his sleeve and handed it to Li Luo.
Li Luo took it and unfolded it, and saw that it read that the Zhengguo Army would hold a live-fire drill for the new artillery force on the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month at Laolongtan in Mangdang Mountain, more than 20 miles away from the new capital.
After Li Luo read the note, he immediately showed disdain. He shook the note and asked, "Sir Taiwei, what weapon does the artillery written on this note use to fight? Is there such a branch of arms now? My guess is that , this is just because the Zheng court was afraid that our country would send troops to attack, so they came up with mysterious strategies to frighten us."
Wang Zhan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, in my opinion, the Zheng court may not be making this up. As far as I know, the Chu State was defeated by something called explosives used by the Zheng army. It is said that this The sound was like rolling thunder. Every time there was a loud sound, dozens to hundreds of soldiers were knocked down by it. I just heard what Li Shanwa and Du Peng said, they heard a loud sound, and there was a light of fire. I think Zheng Jun must have been there at that time. Use this so-called explosive, otherwise with the skills of Commander Ding and the four brothers and Qiu Guoshi and his disciples, how could they be easily killed?"
"So, Taiwei has given up the idea of attacking Zheng Guo?" A cold light flashed in Li Luo's eyes.
Wang Zhan was suddenly startled, shook his head hurriedly, and said as if to reassure himself: "Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, has misunderstood what the official meant. The official has never changed his determination to attack Zheng Guo, but for the sake of safety, the official wants to Please, Your Majesty, allow me to disguise myself and sneak into the state of Zheng to find out what this cannon is so that we can come up with countermeasures."
"Oh, so that's what happened!" Li Luo stroked his beard, thought for a moment, and suddenly said: "How can the Lord Taiwei be allowed to go into danger alone in such a dangerous situation? I am willing to go with the Lord Taiwei." Zheng Guo will see what happens on the spot."
When Wang Zhan heard this, he immediately shook his hands in panic, "No, this is absolutely not possible. The Prime Minister is a minister of the Zhu State. If something goes wrong here, let alone the lower officials who can't afford it, even the entire Qi State can't bear it. Such a big loss!”
Before Wang Zhan finished speaking, the second prince Xiao Daoyuan hurriedly said to Xiao Yan: "Father, I would like to accompany the two adults, Xiangguo and Taiwei, to the State of Zheng to investigate, so as to take precautions in advance. So as not to suffer losses in future battles!”
"Stop talking!" Xiao Yan was so angry that he slapped the dragon case and reprimanded: "You all say it lightly, haven't you ever thought that if someone finds out about this, you and others will be detained as a hostage to Qi State? What to do with the hostages?”
Wang Zhan cupped his fists and said proudly: "Your Majesty, if that happens, I will commit suicide without hesitation and will never be their hostage!"
Xiao Yan brushed his sleeves and snorted coldly: "You've committed suicide, so what's the point of going to see the artillery?"
"Ah, this..." Wang Zhan was speechless.
At this time, a eunuch hurried in from the front door of the palace, knelt down in front of Emperor Qi and said: "Long live, Zheng Guo sent someone to deliver the letter of credence, see you?"
"Hey, this dog emperor of Zheng State has harmed our crown prince and dared to send someone to show off his credentials by sending someone to show off his credentials. This clearly does not take our Qi State seriously and will kill him if I go out!" As he spoke! , a sturdy man rolled up his sleeves and walked out of the train.
"Master Feng, don't be presumptuous." Xiao Yan shouted with a solemn expression.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Feng Shilang immediately turned into a frost-beaten eggplant and returned to the train dejectedly. Originally, he wanted to take the opportunity to please His Majesty, but he did not expect that His Majesty did not appreciate him at all.
Next, Xiao Yan glanced at the ministers who were standing silently, and directly named Lu Yingshu, the Minister of Rites, "Lu Aiqing, this matter should be under the control of your Rites Ministry. How do you think you should handle it?"
Lu Yingshu came out of the queue holding a wat tablet, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have a bold idea. I have to ask your Majesty to forgive me before I dare to speak out."
Xiao Yan frowned, "Lu Aiqing, I forgive you."
Lu Yingshu continued: "Your Majesty, I think that instead of sneaking into Zheng in disguise to observe the so-called artillery drill as Wang Taiwei said, it is better to propose it to the envoy of Zheng in person, in the name of promoting friendly relations between the two countries. A group was organized to go to Zhengguo to watch the drill. "
"Well, Lu Aiqing's idea is a good one." Xiao Yan immediately praised it when he heard it. Then he turned to Wang Zhan and Li Luo, "What do you two Aiqing think?"
Li Luoyi cupped his hand and said, "Your Majesty, although Lu Shangshu's idea makes me feel aggrieved, there is nothing wrong with it."
Wang Zhan then said: "Your Majesty, it is said in the Military Book: Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you survive a hundred battles. I think Lu Shangshu's words are advisable."
At this time, Xiao Yan turned to ask the Empress Dowager who was sitting on the dragon chair with him, "Empress Mother, do you have anything to say?"
Empress Dowager Wan Fang gritted her teeth and said, "No matter what the Ai family does between you and your ministers, we must kill the consort of Zheng State to avenge my grandson."
"Mother, I promise you that within a month, you will see the head of Zheng Guo's consort! Now can you take the queen and concubine back to the harem?" Xiao Yan advised carefully.
It turned out that after hearing the murderous news of her son and grandson in the imperial kitchen just now, the old queen mother was afraid that the minister in the court would come out to prevent the royal family from avenging their children and grandchildren, so she did not listen to Xiao Yan's persuasion, and ignored the royal ancestor's rule that the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics. , dragging the queen and the concubine to the court to watch the ministers. During this period, if any of the ministers could not see that he was arrogant and had low eyesight, and came out to persuade the emperor to give up revenge, she would probably go crazy on the spot.
After hearing the promise made by Xiao Yan in front of all the civil and military officials, the old queen mother felt relieved and took the queen and concubine back to the harem. Then the envoys of the State of Zheng were brought in. After bowing and saluting, they presented a A copy of the credential stamped with the jade seal of the Emperor of Zheng.
Xiao Yan took it and opened it, and saw the writing on it: "His Majesty the Emperor of Qi personally declares that due to the Chu State provoking an invasion war against his country, the emperor's brother, the abbot of Sanqing Temple, has unfortunately died in the chaos. In the army, our dynasty has now enshrined his body in Sanqing Temple in accordance with Taoist rules, and immediately sent Sun Yunzhong, the Minister of Rites of this dynasty, to go to your country to inform and discuss the funeral arrangements on behalf of this dynasty."
Xiao Yan calmly read the letter of credence from the Emperor of Zheng, and said solemnly to the envoy Sun Yunzhong: "Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor of Zheng, for sending Mr. Sun to come all the way to report the news of the death of the emperor. I will get back to you later. The letter of confederation is handed over to Mr. Sun to take back. As for the funeral affairs of the emperor's brother, I will send a delegation to accompany Mr. Sun to the State of Zheng to retrieve the remains of the emperor's brother. I also ask Mr. Sun to report back to His Majesty the Emperor of your country, such as this dynasty's envoy If there are places in your country that need help, please help.”
Sun Yunzhong cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. The emperor told his ministers when he arrived that if your country sends a mission to visit, our country will ensure the safety of the mission and try our best to cooperate with the mission in all matters handled within our country."
Xiao Yan nodded and said: "Thank you for your thoughtful consideration, Your Majesty the Emperor. I would like to ask Lord Sun to go to Honglu Temple for a short break. At midnight, I will instruct the Ministry of Rites to host a banquet for Lord Sun and his party."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." Sun Yunzhong handed over again.
Looking at Sun Yunzhong's back gradually disappearing outside the palace door, Xiao Yan could no longer suppress the overwhelming anger in his heart. He stretched out his hand to the eunuch on duty beside him and said, "Bring the sword."
