In the second year of Shaoming Dynasty in the Great Zhou Dynasty, 947 AD, Yuan Day, Jinshan Palace.
It has been more than two months since Zhang Yan followed the advice of his ministers and blocked news of Ma Chu from Jiangling.
Ma Xiguang never discovered Zhang Yan's intention, because according to the practice at this time, since he was coming to court, it was normal for the emperor to leave envoys from various countries after the first day of the year before leaving when there was no urgent matter.
The only person who was a little embarrassed was Li Xiaofeng, the envoy of Shu State.
Because since Emperor Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty took away the title of emperor and became the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, only the kings of Meng Shu and Southern Han Dynasty were left with the title of emperor.
The rest of Wu and Yue have never proclaimed themselves emperors, and have always been vassals of the Central Plains Dynasty.
The same goes for Ma Chu. Starting from Ma Yin, the first king of Chu, Ma Chu pursued the political strategy of "serving the emperor" and regarded himself as a vassal.
Needless to say, Nanping is not called Gao Laizi by Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie for nothing.
The Southern Han Dynasty was far away in Lingnan and had rarely communicated with the Central Plains Dynasty, and they did not come this time.
Therefore, among the envoys from various countries, only Li Xiaofeng was particularly uncomfortable this time. Meng Chang, the Lord of Shu, was not a vassal of Emperor Shao Ming, but an opponent.
Since arriving at Jinshan Palace last year, Li Xiaofeng basically did not dare to accept any invitations from the Zhou Kingdom. He concentrated on thanking guests behind closed doors, and took a few envoys who came with him from Shu to have a simple meal together to show his respect for Mencius. Chang's loyalty.
Your Majesty, you must see clearly that we are rich and noble, we cannot be licentious, we are powerful and cannot be subdued, and we have not participated in the activities of all the countries in the world to worship the Emperor of Zhou.
If he hadn't been trapped in Jinshan Palace and couldn't get out, Li Xiaofeng would have run back to Shuzhong.
With a creak, the door was pushed open.
Li Xiaofeng knew who it was without looking. The person coming must be Zhang Lieming, who he once thought was a fool from the clan, but was actually a senior member of the Jinyi Guards.
As for how Zhang Lieming exposed his secret, it is actually very simple, because since getting on the line with Zhang Lieming, Li Xiaofeng discovered that the Jinyi personal guards who had been monitoring them for a long time were missing, sometimes almost none, at least Li Xiaofeng no longer felt arrived.
Then Li Xiaofeng deliberately waited for Zhang Lieming to come to him, and then asked his entourage to find the spy office on the corner of the street who was pretending to be a hawker and had been watching him all year round, and told Mr. Zhang that he wanted you to step aside temporarily.
After hearing this, the vendor actually glanced at Guiyi Building where Zhang Lieming and Li Xiaofeng were staying, and hesitated for a moment. Li Xiaofeng understood immediately.
However, although Zhang Lieming was taught a lesson by Li Xiaofeng, he was not discouraged or embarrassed at all.
He even took the opportunity to express that he and Li Xiaofeng really had the same aspirations and were willing to treat each other as brothers.
Li Xiaofeng was secretly frightened by his ability to remain shameless even after being exposed.
Because although he didn't know Zhang Lieming's specific position, since Zhang Lieming was a member of the clan and was still among the emperor's trusted bodyguards, he was destined to have a low status.
And Zhang Lieming is still willing to lower his status, which must be because he wants something big.
Li Xiaofeng did not dare to offend Zhang Lieming. For him, no matter how important other things were, they were not as important as his own life.
If you act like this now, you have already offended the Emperor of Zhou. If you offend Zhang Lieming again, you may not be able to return to Shu alive.
So he could only open the door wide and welcome Zhang Lieming in. Zhang Lieming was also very coquettish and asked him to lead two sheep and bring in several jars of fine wine and fruits and vegetables that were extremely rare in winter.
The members of the Shu Kingdom delegation who had been eating simple meals for more than ten days were already salivating at the sight of the fat sheep's fine wine, and the gluttons in their stomachs could not be appeased at all.
Zhang Lieming didn't give them any room to refuse. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the cooks he brought to start cleaning up the small courtyard of the Shu envoy.
Zhang Lieming took Li Xiaofeng's hand and sat down with him, with a half-smile on his lips.
"Brother is really clever. He saw through my little brother's little ability in a few seconds.
However, the elder brother had made a meritorious service, but the younger brother was in terrible misery. He was almost kicked to death by the emperor's father, but this was all caused by his elder brother. "
Li Xiaofeng felt a slight chill on his back. Although Zhang Lieming said it with a smile and a teasing tone, Li Xiaofeng could clearly feel the unhappiness inside.
"Brother Cunjie is indeed the nephew of Prince Shao tomorrow. I am afraid that other civil servants and generals will not be able to get such a close relationship!" Li Xiaofeng had to be careful when he spoke.
Because he knew very well that if he offended Emperor Shao Ming, the worst he could do was to drive him back to Shu in anger. The Emperor of Shangguo would not target him for such a small thing, but that was not the case with Zhang Lieming in front of him.
The king of hell is easy to meet, but the little devil is difficult to deal with!
Zhang Lieming heard the weakness in Li Xiaofeng's words and suddenly sighed.
"I thought back then, when I met my brother and played on the court, it was so unexpected. But now my brother is so wary. Can't you and I really be brothers for once?"
Li Xiaofeng resisted the urge to shake his head and said slowly: "Brother Cunjie and I are each our own masters. Besides, my brother is a nobleman of the country, how can I dare to reach such high places?"
"What if there is no difference between Zhou and Shu?" Zhang Lieming narrowed his eyes and whispered.
Li Xiaofeng immediately became extremely serious, "Our great Sichuan has thousands of miles of fertile land, rich people, virtuous and brave people, and a hundred thousand iron armors loyal to the king. Moreover, the mountains and rivers are dangerous in geography, and the urn fortresses and fortresses are strong. It is impossible to conquer the country except by going to the country. "
Zhang Lieming also snorted softly, "If the Lord of Shu has a hundred thousand iron armor, how can he be defeated in Ziwu Valley? Can the civil servants in Shu be as wise as King Zhuge Wuning? Can your Majesty be as good as King Wuning?"
Li Xiaofeng's face looked unnatural. Looking at Zhang Lieming's aggressive eyes, he could only slowly shake his head.
"My father is noble, but he is not as good as King Zhuge Wuning. Naturally, there are no civil servants in Shu who can compare with him."
"Who is the bravest military general than Guan Zhang?" Zhang Lieming continued to ask.
Li Xiaofeng could only shake his head, "Guan and Zhang are the most powerful generals in the world, and there is no one in Shu who can compare with them."
When Li Xiaofeng shook his head, he also smiled bitterly in his heart. If there were generals such as King Zhuge Wuning and Guan Zhang in Shu at this time, they would have already invaded the Central Plains.
"There are neither civil servants like King Zhuge Wuning nor brave generals like Guan Zhang, so why can't Sichuan succeed?
Now we, the Holy Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, are on the throne. Our talents are far superior to those of Wei Wu. Our success in winning the country is comparable to that of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty who killed the White Snake Uprising. He has failed the world. He has returned to the country with twenty-nine states in Longyou, Hexi and Beiting, Anxi, and has revitalized China. ambition.
Wen Zhang, He, Fan, Feng and Zhao were all talented prime ministers, Wu had Yan Jin Gong, Murong Baipao and other returning twenty-five loyalists, as well as Gao, Fu, An in Hebei, Zhao Kuangzan in Hezhong, and Zhao Yanjin in Shaanzhou.
These are all loyal and brave ministers and famous generals in the world. How can they not succeed in Shu? "
Li Xiaofeng was speechless and could only lower his head in silence.
Zhang Lieming did not let him go, "When I first met my brother, I knew he was a learned man. How could he be inferior to a man who was trapped in the wilderness of Tubo and understood the truth of following the sage, unifying the world, and saving all people from fire and water?
Now it has been one hundred and eighty years since the great dynasty was in chaos. White bones are exposed in the wild. There are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles. There is not even one household registration out of ten. You are the cruel and unscrupulous person and I will appear. It is the time to bring order to the chaos.
Scholars like us, born in this troubled world, why don’t we carry the three-foot sword, sacrifice our lives for righteousness, and create peace for all generations? "
Zhang Yan knew how to deal with these scholars, and he taught Zhang Lieming how to say this.
Now Zhang Zhou's biggest advantage is that he occupies the moral high ground of the Central Plains Kingdom and can arbitrarily accuse the other countries of separatism and separatism.
Sure enough, this set of words quickly hit the weakness deep in Li Xiaofeng's heart.
Because the classics he has studied since childhood all have the theme of respecting the unification of the world, and the loyal ministers and righteous men he praises are all loyal ministers who safeguard the unification of the world.
The concept of great unity is a hurdle that all scholars cannot overcome.
Of course, Li Xiaofeng couldn't give in now. He quickly adjusted his mentality and said slowly.
"My father and son have been in Sichuan for decades, and their fertility depends on the fertile fields of Shu. The two generations of kings have also treated us well, and there is no way to betray them."
Zhang Lieming imitated Zhang Yan's appearance and waved his hand boldly.
"Brother, why do you say this? Are you the kind of villain who instigates people to betray their lord? I, the Great Zhou Dynasty, do not need to instigate the monarchs and ministers of Meng Shu to conquer Shu. I only need the heavenly troops to suppress the territory.
When I tell my brother these words, I just hope that after the army enters Shu, it can harm the people as little as possible. If there are knowledgeable people in Shu, it will be easier to restrain the soldiers and generals entering Shu. "
Li Xiaofeng looked at Zhang Lieming in surprise, and suddenly felt that this guy actually had such a kind side. Before he could say a few words with emotion, Zhang Lieming looked at him mysteriously.
"In the past few days, I have reported my brother's character to the emperor. After all kinds of begging, His Majesty has basically agreed to let the captured Shu soldiers return to Shu. He has also agreed to let my brother and uncle's family go to Shu. There is only one person left. Li Han’s brother wants to go with him.”
Zhang Lieming said it lightly, and Li Xiaofeng didn't pay much attention to it. He didn't even pay much attention to the last sentence. Instead, he took the initiative to grab Zhang Lieming's hand in ecstasy.
"Your Majesty is really willing to let me go?"
"You are not joking! If your Majesty says to let him go, he will let him go." Zhang Lieming said with certainty.
"However, as an elder brother, I'm afraid it's not suitable to discuss with His Majesty. It would be best to have an important minister of your father's level come over."
Li Xiaofeng has never been Zhang Yan's target, or rather not his main target. The main target is his father Li Hao.
(End of chapter)
