Cao Li's eyes lit up when he heard "make peace" and "sui coins"!
The current situation in Junzhou is very similar to the situation in Chanzhou back then (Chanzhou is Kaide Prefecture, just next door to Junzhou)!
At that time, the Liao army went deep alone, and now the gold thieves actually go deep alone. The Liao soldiers were frustrated at the foot of Chanzhou City, and now the gold thieves' vanguard has also been frustrated. At that time, Emperor Zhenzong crossed the river to conduct the expedition in person, but now it is the current officials who conduct the expedition in person. At that time, the Liao army was unable to capture Chanzhou, and many important towns and important places behind it were still in the hands of the Song army. It is equally difficult for today's gold thieves to capture Junzhou Tiancheng Fort, and there are a bunch of cities behind it that are still in the hands of the Song army... Of course, the biggest similarity lies in the Song envoy who was in charge of the peace talks. The surname is Cao (Cao Lili), and Cao Li is also surnamed Cao!
At that time, Cao Lili later became the Prime Minister of Cao, serving as Minister Zuopushe and serving as a minister!
When Cao Li thought that he also had the opportunity to become Prime Minister Cao, he immediately became excited, but he would not let go easily... He had to get Zhao Kai's approval! I need a bigger official.
"Your Majesty," Cao Li said, "I wonder what name I should use as an envoy to Jinying?"
In what name?
Zhao Kai was a little stunned when Cao Li asked him. He didn't think too much. He just wanted to send someone to declare a challenge. Seeing that Cao Li looked majestic and high-spirited, he sent his messenger. Seeing that Cao Li was hesitant and didn't dare to go, he tried to cajole him with peace talks... I didn't expect this guy to take it seriously!
"Then what name do you want?" Zhao Kai didn't think about it, so he let Cao Li think about it himself.
After Cao Li became Cao Bin, his family had been military attachés for generations, and he had long forgotten his ability to fight. However, he was very proficient in the rules of the officialdom, and he immediately thought of a name for himself.
"Your Majesty, I think we should go to Jinying as an envoy to visit the envoys in person."
The envoys of integrity visits were the original envoys who took over official duties on horseback. During the Zhenghe period, their official names were changed. As usual, this mission should be filled by ambassadors and military attachés above. The responsibilities of this dispatch are to supervise the generals, personnel, material conditions, border defense and lawless affairs in the prefectures and counties. In fact, they are the detectives sent by the emperor to the local areas.
Of course, Zhao Kai's army does not need honest envoys or honest ministers (usually two officers, one minister and one military minister), but if Gao Qiu is commanding the army at Sanshan Floating Bridge, then the Song Dynasty court will definitely An envoy to investigate integrity or an envoy to supervise the military will be sent to take a closer look.
"Then I'll grant you the title of "Integrity Visitor," Zhao Kai paused, and then said, "The Integrity Visitor must at least be an ambassador. Then I'll transfer you to a few more officials and become a 8th-grade Xiu Wu Lang... ..Cao Li, official positions in this court cannot be granted casually, do you understand?"
When Cao Li heard this, he bowed in obeisance and said loudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, Cao Li will fulfill his mission!"
Zhao Kai nodded and was about to say a few words of encouragement when Cao Li said again: "Your Majesty, if the gold thief is really willing to retreat...how much should this year's coin be?"
Year coins?
Zhao Kai's face turned gloomy when he heard this. How could he give him the coins? The dignified Song Dynasty, ah, seems to always give Sui coins! It was given to Daliao and Xixia, and historically it was given to Dajin. I don’t know if it was given to the Mongols.
"Here, how much is appropriate?" Zhao Kai looked around.
He Guan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, why don't you give me 800,000 guan! We don't have 800,000 imperial troops now, so we can only give 800,000 guansui first..."
The 800,000 imperial troops cannot be obtained, but the 800,000-year-old coins are a piece of cake for the Song Dynasty!
The Song Dynasty has a lot of money! But can this money be used to fund the enemy? Zhao Kai frowned and turned his attention to Han Shizhong again.
Han Shizhong smiled and said: "Your Majesty, as long as the gold thieves are willing to retreat and restore the borders before the war, I can only give you 800,000 yuan!"
This is really not much! What Han Shizhong proposed was to restore the boundaries before the war, that is, the Song Dynasty would take back Yanshanfu Road.
But this is impossible!
How can we expect the big bad wolf to let go of this big piece of meat?
Moreover, Yanshanfu Road was the gateway for gold thieves to steal money! Once it is taken back by the Song Dynasty, if we put more effort into setting up defenses, will the golden thief be able to come back again?
Thinking of this, Zhao Kai nodded and said sternly: "As long as the gold thief is willing to restore the boundaries before the war, I am willing to give 800,000 coins! If the gold thief is not willing to retreat, then I will personally lead the 800,000 forbidden troops. Fight to the death with the thieves in the north of the Yellow River!
Cao Li, go and tell the gold thief Wushu that if they are unwilling to withdraw their troops and get the coins, quickly call Ouli Bu and Yan Mu to lead the army to fight!
800,000 forbidden troops or 800,000 coins, it’s up to the gold thief to choose! "
Cao Li bowed and said, "I accept the order!"
...
"Incorruptible envoy? What kind of official is this?"
Just an hour after Cao Li left Tiancheng Fort, Jin Wushu received a report from his subordinates, saying that a Lao Shizi had come to visit the Lian envoy, and also brought Taiwei Gao's letter of war and the words of the officials of the Song Dynasty.
Jin Wushu didn't know what an honest interview was, so he asked Pharmacist Guo to ask.
"Reporting to the Fourth Prince," Pharmacist Guo said with a smile, "The so-called envoys are spies sent by the Southern officials to local areas and the army to monitor generals and ministers for any disobedient behavior... .”
"Oh..." Jin Wushu nodded, "So, this envoy is from a southern official family?"
Pharmacist Guo said: "The envoy visiting the integrity is not subject to the control of Lu Commander, and only listens to the words of the Southern Emperor... Therefore, this envoy should have come with the emperor's order."
Jin Wushu asked thoughtfully: "So, the southern officials don't trust Gao Qiu?"
Pharmacist Guo chuckled: "The officials in the South only believe in civil servants and ministers, not military ministers, and they also like to command remotely from the palace in the capital, and they also call it: from the center. So this interview must be Came here under the emperor’s orders!”
Jin Wushu already knew this, but he still didn't forget to take the opportunity to give Guo Yaoshi a beating. He said with a smile: "Then Guo Liushou, when you were an official in the Southern Dynasty, did you also let the envoys who visited Lian to monitor you?" ?”
Pharmacist Guo smiled awkwardly, "Of course there are people who are seeking integrity around me..."
Jin Wushu asked with a smile: "Then they didn't find any disobedience on your part?"
Medicine Master Guo had cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. It was not easy to be a slave with the third surname! It's even harder to be a slave with three surnames for the Jin people! When he was a slave of two surnames for Zhao Ji, although many civil servants suspected that he wanted to be "Guo Lushan", Zhao Ji still treated him well. Not only did he give him the land and property of the Yanshan Prefecture to raise troops, but he also allocated a lot of additional property to him. As a result, Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army was able to expand from 8,000 to 50,000, and even organized and trained 300,000 rural troops.
He originally thought that after joining the Jin people, he could maintain his original treatment and be free from suspicion. As a result...the treatment dropped directly to zero! The military power was also deprived of more than 80%, leaving only the original victorious army of 8,000 households, and the suspicion has doubled!
In the past, it was just a few civil servants of the Song Dynasty who had no sword handles in their hands, but now it was the second prince Yibu and the fourth prince Wushu who had heavy soldiers who could not trust him!
This means not having a penny, and then putting a knife to his neck and asking him if he is loyal or not!
Seeing that Guo Yaoshi was sweating coldly, Wu Shu laughed a few times and ordered his left and right: "Go and call the southern envoy in to talk!"
...
Cao Li entered the Jin army's camp alone, flying a flag with the word "military envoy" on it. The reason for this arrangement was mainly because he was afraid that his attaché would spill the beans in the Jin army camp.
Of course, in the eyes of Jin Wushu, Guo Yaoshi, and Wanyan Alu, Cao Li must have come alone with a secret and needed to carry out a mission with Gao Qiu on his back.
Because Cao Li could not speak Jurchen or Khitan, Jin Wushu arranged for Guo Yaoshi to be a temporary guest general.
Cao Li first took out "Gao Qiu's" letter of war, which was written by Zhao Kai on behalf of Gao Qiu! The content is very simple, it is to tell the Jin people that the officials of the Song Dynasty are going to march personally and lead 800,000 forbidden troops to Sanshan Floating Bridge! If the Jin people are unwilling to retreat, then they can make an appointment to have a hearty fight at the foot of Dagong Mountain on the north bank of the Yellow River!
"Eight hundred thousand..." Pharmacist Guo had already questioned Cao Li's words before he could translate them into Jurchen dialect, "Your Lieutenant Gao is not afraid of the wind blowing his tongue! Where can you southerners have it?" So many imperial troops?"
Cao Li smiled evilly when he heard this, looked at Medicine Master Guo and said: "If Guan Duguan doesn't believe it, he can follow me to count the number in Gao Taiwei's camp... The 800,000 forbidden troops are still a little short of that, but the 400,000 are already there. We're all here! When the hundreds of thousands of people from your second prince's family have arrived, the soldiers and horses from all over the world led by the officials of the Song Dynasty will also arrive. By then, all the soldiers from all over the world will gather, and I'm afraid there will be more than 800,000! Guodu Believe it or not, you can count them one by one when the time comes!"
Medical Master Guo saw that Cao Li's words seemed to be true, and he was a little unsure...could there really be an army of 800,000?
There was more than one translator present. Wanyan Wushu was accompanied by several Bohai people who understood Chinese, Khitan, and Jurchen dialects. They had already translated everything Cao Li and Guo Yaoshi said into Jurchen dialects.
Jin Wushu also frowned. There really were 800,000 forbidden troops!
The Dajin East Route Army only has 150,000 troops at full cost. 800,000 is a full 650,000 more than 150,000... This battle doesn't seem to be easy to fight! Even if they win, Daikin will still suffer heavy losses!
Thinking of this, Jin Wushu interjected: "Mr. Guo, ask him, how much benefit will the southerners be prepared to give if we withdraw our troops?"
Pharmacist Guo immediately translated this into Chinese.
Cao Li stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Guan Duguan, tell the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty that our official family in the Song Dynasty has a good life and is unwilling to kill people to fill the country! So in addition to 800,000 soldiers, the official family has also prepared Five hundred thousand coins... As long as the Jin soldiers are willing to withdraw their troops and restore the borders between the two countries before the war started, our government can give the Jin soldiers five hundred thousand coins every year from now on!"
Pharmacist Guo turned back to Jin Wushu and said: "Fourth Prince, the Song Dynasty people are willing to give us 500,000 years old coins to buy our retreat... However, they want to restore the borders before the war, which means they want to return to Yanshan Mansion."
