Before Li Shanqing came to Bianjing, the Jin State had great expectations for the alliance between Jin and Song Dynasty, hoping to become an ally with the Southern Dynasties to jointly deal with the Liao State.
For this reason, Wanyan Aguda summoned Li Shanqing alone and specifically told him that during his mission to the Song Dynasty, he must negotiate carefully with the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty, and it would be best to reach a result through negotiation. Regarding the ownership of the specific places being negotiated, Wanyan Aguda told Li Shanqing: "If the Song Dynasty asks about the ownership of specific places, it must not directly agree to the ownership of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyan. The principle is that whoever conquers the areas will belong to them."
At that time, Wanyan Aguda believed that the Song State was a powerful and powerful country. If they formed an alliance, many places would be captured by the Song State. Therefore, he made the above arrangement to encourage the Song State to attack the Liao State.
Now, Li Shanqing is living in Bianliang, and there is no progress in the alliance between Jin and Song Dynasties to conquer Liao.
During this period, although Li Shanqing was interviewed once by Tong Guan, when discussing the specific contents of the alliance between the two parties, Tong Guan was evasive and did not come up with any specific results. Ma Zheng came a few more times, but did not say anything about specific cooperation matters. Li Shanqing couldn't help but feel anxious. What made Li Shanqing somewhat gratified was that the alliance mentioned by Ma Zheng was indeed the opinion of the Song Dynasty court, and Ma Zheng did go to the Jin Kingdom on behalf of the court.
Sitting in the post house, Li Shanqing thought over and over again and decided to visit Song Dynasty Grand Prime Minister Wang Fu and Prime Minister Cai Jing in order to learn more about the situation, so as to promote the Jin-Song alliance and live up to the great trust of Emperor Wanyan Aguda.
Li Shanqing knew very well that Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and Wang Fu were mainly in charge of matters in the Song Dynasty. So, after sorting things out, Li Shanqing left the post house and first came to Wang Fu's house.
When Wang Fu saw Li Shanqing coming to visit, he quickly greeted Li Shanqing to take a seat. The servants came in, served tea, and then left.
Because he was visiting Wang Fu, Li Shanqing's attitude was very humble, and he was also much more polite in his address.
After Li Shanqing waited for the others to exit the living room, he paid his respects to Wang Fu, and then said: "Master Taifu, Shanqing was appointed by the emperor of our country to come to your country with Ma Zheng, the Wuyi doctor of your country, to discuss the alliance between the Jin and Song Dynasties and to join the expedition. Matters in Liao Dynasty. It has been more than ten days since Shanqing arrived in Bianliang. Your country's attitude is completely different from what Ma Zheng, the Wuyi doctor of your country, said when he was in our country. I wonder what your country means? Shanqing would like to ask for advice. One or two, please tell the truth, Taifu, so that Shanqing can repay the great emperor of our country."
Wang Fu heard this and said: "Forging an alliance with your country and uniting with Liao is our government's established policy. This is absolutely unambiguous. After all, we have a good friendship with the Jurchens and have territorial hatred with the Liao people. Our government's intention is agreed upon. At the specific time, your country will attack from the northeast to the southwest, and our country will attack from the south to the north. The two countries will attack the Liao Dynasty together, and our country will take back the old land that was trapped in the Khitan during the Later Jin Dynasty. Your country will also be able to avenge its long-standing resentment."
When Li Shanqing saw this, he was secretly happy and said: "Master Taifu, Shanqing was very pleased to hear this. It is basically close to what Ma Zheng said in front of the emperor of our country. I can understand this as the official opinion of your country; since it is In this case, can Taifu recommend Shanqing to meet with the Emperor?"
When Wang Fu saw this, he said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please don't be anxious. Privy Council Tong is responsible for all military matters of our dynasty, and Cai Taishi, the prime minister of our dynasty, is responsible for external affairs. Regarding the alliance between the Song and Jin Dynasties to jointly attack the Liao Dynasty, You should first visit Privy Tong and Grand Master Cai, and wait for the specific strategy to be agreed upon before meeting with the Emperor of our country. I feel that it is too early for your envoy to meet with the Emperor of our country now and has no real meaning."
Li Shanqing answered truthfully: "Master Taifu, Privy Tong has summoned Shanqing a few days ago. However, Privy Tong's words were vague and there was no definite word. He just asked our country to come up with a specific plan. Taifu also knows that during the Jin and Song Dynasties, The alliance was initiated by your country, so your country should have a plan first."
Wang Fu said: "Your Majesty is unaware of something. Regarding the alliance between Song and Jin Dynasties, Privy Tong cannot tell you the specific strategy. This has to be decided by Grand Master Cai. Therefore, if this matter comes to pass, you should visit Grand Master Cai and he will give a specific answer. At that time, you can have an audience with the emperor of our dynasty, and the emperor of our dynasty will designate a special envoy, and then go to your country to sign a specific alliance treaty."
After hearing this, Li Shanqing hurriedly stood up and left his seat, saluted Wang Fu, and said, "Thank you very much, Master Wang, for your advice. I will go visit Master Cai right now."
After speaking, Li Shanqing stood up and left.
Wang Fu sent Li Shanqing to the door and told Li Shanqing: "After your envoy visited Grand Master Cai and Privy Council Tong, if anything happens, you should report it to me. I can also coordinate at any time and report it to the emperor to avoid misunderstandings between the two parties. As a result, the alliance failed."
Li Shanqing didn't understand what Wang Fu meant by this explanation, so he casually replied: "If there is any situation, Shanqing will report it to the Grand Tutor."
Li Shanqing immediately left Wang Fu's house and went to visit Cai Jing at the prime minister's house.
In fact, the reason why Wang Fu wanted to know about Li Shanqing's visit to Cai Jing and Tong Guanhou was because he wanted to find evidence about Cai Jing so that he could advise Emperor Huizong to remove Cai Jing and take up the post of prime minister himself.
Wang Fu still knew clearly about Cai Jing. Wang Fu knew that on the surface Cai Jing supported the alliance with Jin to destroy Liao, but in fact he did not want to offend Tong Guan and the Holy One. In private conversations, Cai Jing would definitely tell his true thoughts. At that time, I would go before the Holy One to participate. I wrote a memorial to Cai Jing, which angered the Holy One and caused him to remove Cai Jing from his position as prime minister and appoint me as prime minister.
It was also Cai Jing who should have been dismissed as prime minister for the third time, and it was Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Tong Guan and others who should have taken turns to cause harm to the government. Therefore, when Li Shanqing visited Cai Jing, Cai Jing saw that it was a private place, so he said some sophisticated words, which were not at all The same thing as said in the court made Emperor Huizong unhappy, so he dismissed Cai Jing as prime minister for the third time and appointed Wang Fu as prime minister. As a result, with Wang Fu's active support, the Maritime Alliance was signed, and Fang La in the south was also Forced to revolt.
At that time, after Li Shanqing left Wang Fu's house, he immediately went to visit Prime Minister Cai Jing.
Cai Jing has a great reputation and his talent is known all over the world. Therefore, Li Shanqing went to visit Cai Jing with admiration.
Li Shanqing came to the door of Prime Minister Cai Jing's mansion and asked to see Cai Jing. After the guard in front of Cai Jing's mansion asked about Li Shanqing's identity, he informed Cai Jing of the situation. Cai Jing heard the report and learned that it was the Jin envoy who came to see him, so he asked the guards to lead Li Shanqing in.
At that time, Cai Jing was seventy-five or six years old, already looking like an old man. He came to the lobby with his clothes on, shaking and swishing, to meet Li Shanqing.
Li Shanqing met Cai Jing and hurriedly knelt down and worshiped in the hall.
Seeing this, Cai Jing hurriedly asked Li Shanqing to stand up and said: "You are an envoy of the Jin Kingdom. You don't need to pay such a courtesy. I can't afford it. Your envoy, please get up quickly."
Li Shanqing stood up, bowed respectfully to Cai Jing, and then said: "The Grand Master is a genius in the world, a great scholar in macro-learning, unrivaled in calligraphy and painting, and his reputation has spread to our country. Everyone in the world worships him to the extreme. Students are good at celebrating, Feelings arise from the heart, and kneeling before the master has nothing to do with his status as an envoy of another country."
Cai Jing heard this and said: "Even so, due to the influence of status relationship, there should be a distinction between inside and outside."
Immediately, Cai Jing set up a seat, and the servants offered tea to Li Shanqing and left.
After Li Shanqing exchanged a few words with Cai Jing, he said to Cai Jing: "The students came here to pay homage to the Grand Master. Firstly, they admired the Grand Master's talent and learning. Secondly, they asked the Grand Master about the joint efforts of the Jin and Song Dynasties to conquer Liao. The students respectfully invite the Grand Master to teach me."
Seeing that Li Shanqing was very humble and extremely respectful to him, Cai Jing, who had always been cunning and cunning, actually told the truth at this moment.
At that time, Cai Jing said to Li Shanqing: "To tell you the truth, our dynasty and the Liao Kingdom signed the Chanyuan Covenant a hundred years ago. For 110 years, they have been peaceful and friendly, and there has been no war between them. Our dynasty abides by it. How can a trustworthy country break an alliance easily? Now when it comes to the alliance between the two countries, in my opinion, it is better for each of them to do something. After your envoy returns, he should tell your emperor that if he acts with all his heart, he can achieve If you achieve success, I will treat you with courtesy and regard it as friendly."
Cai Jing's words obviously did not mean to form an alliance. Instead, he said that if the Jin Kingdom wanted to make a difference, the Song Dynasty would give it certain courtesy, which meant that it would recognize the Jin Kingdom diplomatically and be friendly with the Jin Kingdom. In addition, , there is no hint of an alliance between the two parties.
Li Shanqing was secretly surprised when he heard what Cai Jing said, because it was different from what Tong Guan and Wang Fu said, and reflected the differences in the Song Dynasty's strategy of uniting Jin and Liao.
After Cai Jing finished speaking, Li Shanqing left his seat again and saluted Cai Jing.
Cai Jing said: "Please don't be polite when you come. Please sit down."
Li Shanqing sat down again and said to Cai Jing: "What the Grand Master just said, I wonder if he represents the Grand Master personally or on behalf of your country's court?"
Hearing this, Cai Jing said: "The words I just said naturally represent myself, not the imperial court. My intentions are all for the good of the Jin and Song Dynasties."
Li Shanqing nodded in agreement and left.
The next day, Li Shanqing visited Wang Fu again and told Wang Fu about his meeting with Cai Jing.
Wang Fu was overjoyed after hearing what Li Shanqing reported.
Prior to this, Cai Jing, Wang Fu, and Tong Guan had reached an agreement on the matter of uniting with Jin to destroy Liao and regaining Yanyun's homeland, and jointly met with Emperor Huizong. Emperor Huizong also made clear his attitude towards uniting with Jin to destroy Liao. Now, what Cai Jing said in private, and in front of the Jin envoys, was different from the imperial court's established policy. He was obviously playing against Emperor Huizong, undermining the imperial court, and sending the wrong message to the other party. It will seriously affect the next operation of the imperial court to unite the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty. Therefore, Wang Fu hurriedly met with Emperor Huizong and told Emperor Huizong the content of the conversation between Cai Jing and Li Shanqing.
When Huizong heard this, he felt very sad.
Deep down in Emperor Huizong's heart, he still hoped that Cai Jing would support the alliance with Jin to destroy Liao. After hearing Cai Jing's private words, Emperor Huizong was very unhappy.
A few days later, Cai Jing talked with his son Cai Ji and talked about the alliance with Jin to defeat Liao.
Cai Jing said to Cai Qiang: "Only my father can do a good job in uniting Jin Dynasty and Liao Dynasty. If I let Tong Guan and Wang Fu do it, it will definitely cause trouble. However, my father is already this old, and he can still have fame and fortune." How thick is it? Do you still expect to be crowned a king? Now that this is happening, since the emperor prefers Tong Guan, he must let Tong Guan do it so that he can be crowned a prince. "
This was a private conversation between father and son. However, Cai Jing's son Cai Chi was the son-in-law of Emperor Huizong. He was married to Emperor Huizong's favorite maode concubine Zhao Jinfu. The couple had a very good relationship and rarely talked in bed curtains. So, while he was idle, Cai Chi told Zhao Jinfu what Cai Jing had said. When Zhao Jinfu entered the palace, he passed these words to Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji.
After Huizong learned what Cai Jing said in private, he was furious. He immediately dismissed Cai Jing from his post as prime minister and ordered him to be responsible for the suppression of bandits in Liangshan. Cai Jing's position as prime minister was taken over by Wang Fu, who, together with Tong Guan, was mainly responsible for uniting Jin Dynasty to destroy Liao Dynasty.
Since then, the traitor Cai Jing has been dismissed as prime minister for the third time.
