Gao Qiu stood at the head of the military ministers with his head held high. At this moment, the military ministers looked at each other.
Although Gao Qiu had hinted to them before that the purpose of the Liao envoys' mission to the Song Dynasty was likely to change dramatically.
But the problem is that these military ministers have spent a while admiring the pillars of the country in the three provinces and six divisions of the Song Dynasty, and they want to lie down on the floor.
They implored the officials to agree to the request of the Liao people. Their reason was that the Song Dynasty could not defeat the Liao people.
After all, the national strength of the Liao Kingdom was still higher than that of the Song Dynasty. Think about how several emperors at the beginning of the Song Dynasty went to fight with the Liao Kingdom, and one or two of them were beaten to death.
What's more, now that the Song Dynasty has been cut off by Xixia, a large area of land, especially the horse breeding land, is almost completely lost, so that the Song Dynasty has lost its established cavalry.
And what about the Liao Kingdom? The number of horses alone is probably enough to be comparable to the population of the Song Dynasty.
How to fight such a battle, even with the pole and bow?
What if we really reject the request of the Liao Kingdom and provoke the other party to send troops, and our gentle Song Dynasty loses to the vulgar Liao Kingdom again? Who will bear the responsibility?
All in all, military officials had almost no say or decision-making power in the court.
I can only look at these weak and gentle people in aggrieved manner and wonder what I should do to please Daliao.
But today, the treacherous Prime Minister Cai Jing has already stated clearly in the memorial.
With the efforts of Gao Zhang and others, the idea of the Liao envoy was changed, and the emperor of Liao also changed his original intention of sending the envoy.
He no longer got involved in the dispute between the Song Dynasty and Naxixia, and instead started business and trade negotiations between the two countries in a serious manner.
"This, this...is this true?" Commander Yang couldn't help but turn his head and look at Gao Qiu.
He had never looked down upon Gao Qiu, who had become a lieutenant by playing football.
As for Gao Qiu's beloved son Gao Zhang, Commander Yang had a good impression. After all, this child was quite talented and his articles were quite popular.
What is important is that the serious problem of armament disarmament has lasted for decades.
But this 11-year-old prodigy champion has bravely shouldered this responsibility. The important thing is that he can still achieve good results frequently.
Whether it's the high-quality standard hand knife, or the shoulder pole bow that has a range that far exceeds the range of today's ordinary crossbows.
In the past, the elites of the Song Dynasty who lacked cavalry could only form strongholds and fight in vain, but now, even in field battles, they can rely on the ultra-long range of the pole bow.
It is enough to lead the enemy cavalry to feel fear in front of a sufficient number of pole bows.
#####
This made the military officials of the Song Dynasty, headed by Commander Yang, finally have some changes in their impression of Gao Qiu.
In other words, for the sake of having a good son.
But today, Gao Zhang, this little kid, actually withstood the pressure of the Liao Kingdom, and even allowed the Liao Kingdom to take back its previous success.
If this was not a court hall, all the military officials would have wanted to lift up the little champion standing in the hall to show their undisguised love and appreciation for this child.
Finally, after Cai Jing finished reading the full text of the memorial, he took a deep look at Gao Zhang, showed a meaningful smile, and nodded slightly.
"The Number One Scholar really impresses me..."
Gao Zhang met the gaze of the traitorous prime minister of Song Dynasty and bowed respectfully, looking so humble and polite.
"Thank you uncle for your love."
"...Haha." A sinister laughter came from the side.
"???" Gao Zhang and Cai Jing both turned to look at Cai Laoliu with dark expressions on their faces.
Cai Laoliu, who felt extremely evil because his own father actually praised his senior brother instead of himself, the Qilin son of the Cai family, rolled his eyes.
I smiled as soon as I saw it, what can you do to me?
It seemed that both Gao Zhang and Cai Jing had the urge to kill.
Fortunately, these two are gentle people and would never do such vulgar behavior in front of others.
At this moment, the noise in the hall that had been caused by the memorial gradually subsided.
But Cai Jing calmed down and immediately bowed his head to the official family. The Liao envoy went to the Song Dynasty. This long-standing and unresolved problem in the court was finally solved.
All this, coupled with the official Longevity Festival that day, the gods in the sky began to come down to earth to invite the officials to sit down and discuss the truth.
What does this prove? It proved that all of this was the result of the versatile and talented Emperor of the Song Dynasty.
The eyes of all the ministers suddenly lit up, and they came out one after another with flattery. Yes, it's not that we are too incompetent, but that you, the official, are too awesome.
Even God Haotian and Taishang Laojun in the sky want to make friends with you. The Emperor of Liao must have felt your terrible influence in the official family.
Otherwise, how could the Liao Kingdom break their promise and become fat because of an eleven-year-old kid like Gao Zhang?
This is not something that a king of a country can do at all. It can only be explained that it is because you, the official, can communicate with the will of God and frightened the Emperor of Liao Dynasty.
Seeing the ministers and servants in Chui Gong Hall jumping out to flatter the emperor, they did not mention the merits of Gao Zhang, Zhou Bangyan, Na Tong, Cai and others.
The faces of Tong and Cai suddenly became ugly, and the grumpy Tong Zhisheng was about to speak, but saw the comforting look from Gao Zhang.
Only then did he control the anger in his heart and stand still.
#####
Look at the full admiration on the faces of the civil and military officials of the dynasty, and their heartfelt words of praise.
It has been a long time since such a scene appeared in the court of the Song Dynasty.
As an emperor of the Song Dynasty who liked to listen to good things, Zhao Ji, an official, was so flattered by this wave of flattery that he could be said to be fascinated.
Fortunately, after this wave of flattering noises gradually subsided, official Zhao Ji looked at the three young people and showed a relieved smile.
He raised his arm to signal the ministers to quiet down.
"My dear, dear Gao, you still remember what I told you when I entrusted you with this important task in the Chui Gong Hall."
"Of course the ministers will remember what the officials said."
Gao Zhang politely bowed and replied.
"Xiao Gao Aiqing, you have indeed fulfilled the promise you made to me in this Chui Gong Hall that day in front of the civil and military officials of the court."
"Be reasonable and restrained, neither humble nor arrogant, neither losing the majesty of our Song Dynasty nor harming the interests of our Song Dynasty..."
"Let the Liao Kingdom understand that there is no way that our Song Dynasty will bow down just because of the letter of credence from the emperor of Liao Kingdom."
Having said this, the official Zhao Ji glanced meaningfully at the courtiers, especially the group of cowardly ministers, who were pretending to be stupid at this moment.
It's as if the officials are talking about other people and it's none of their business.
#####
The official Zhao Ji praised Gao Zhang, Tong and Cai in the Chui Gong Hall.
It was decided to choose an auspicious day to receive the Liao envoy, and agreed that the Song Dynasty would resume currency imports from the Liao Kingdom and open the sale of various books to the Liao Kingdom.
After all, these things were originally traded with the Liao Kingdom when Zhao Ji's father Shenzong was in power.
Now, it's just reopening this hole.
Just when the officials announced the news, officials from Jiangnan stood up and expressed their opposition.
It is believed that the Song Dynasty controlled the largest number of book printing workshops and paper making workshops, but those books were the essence of culture.
How could they be allowed to easily flow into the hands of the Liao Kingdom, which was eyeing the Song Dynasty?
The Liao Kingdom's military strength was originally far superior to that of the Song Dynasty. If the Liao Kingdom also caught up in terms of culture and cultivated more and more outstanding talents, it would not be a good thing for the Song Dynasty.
And the main reason is that printing books is itself a high-cost job.
Every day, the government forcibly distributes a batch of books to various bookstores for government-run schools in various places.
Nowadays, they actually have to sell them to people from the Liao Kingdom. As a result, the books in the hands of those book printing houses will have no other choice except to increase the price.
As soon as they heard that the price of books was going to increase, the officials at the Imperial College and the Ministry of Household Affairs raised their eyebrows. Why, you officials from Jiangnan have a lot of bookstores in your hands.
Are you planning to raise the price now or what? With everyone's fierce squabbling, the hall became noisy.
Perhaps it was the retreat of the Liao State that finally rekindled the fighting spirit of some officials, wishing that not a single copper coin or a piece of toilet paper from the Song Dynasty could flow into the Liao State.
Gao Zhang narrowed his eyes and looked at the officials, not understanding what was going on.
This horse riding is like the Ming Dynasty officials in later generations who strongly demanded a ban on the sea, but the families of those officials were all running the sea and making a lot of money.
Just like today, those who can engage in book smuggling in the Liao Kingdom are the relatives and families of officials with backgrounds and channels.
#####
At this time, Gao Zhang glanced at Cai Laoliu behind him.
Cai Laoliu, who was already eager to try, finally received the signal from his senior brother and immediately exhaled and spoke.
"The official family, I think, is in order to avoid the huge fluctuations in the price of books in our Song Dynasty, which will affect the thousands of aspiring people in our Song Dynasty who are thirsty for knowledge."
"I request the official's permission to let the Commercial Press of Kaifeng of the Song Dynasty take over the important task of conducting book trade with the Liao Kingdom."
The Chui Gong Hall, which had been bustling with noise just now, fell into a deathly silence.
A pair of eyes were all focused on Cai Laoliu's rebellious fat face.
Even Cai Jing's eyes widened in surprise, shock written all over his face.
This old man from the Commercial Press actually heard this kid mention it.
But the Kaifeng Commercial Press actually wants to monopolize the benefits. Why don’t you, Old Six, you bastard say hello to me in advance?
"Cai Liulang, don't be joking. There is an agreement in the treaty that Prime Minister Cai just read.
The Nine Classics alone would need to be supplied to the Liao Kingdom for 100,000 sets every year. Could the Commercial Press, which came from nowhere, be able to print it? "
"Even the largest book printing house in Jiangnan only prints only 300,000 books a year."
“The Kaifeng Commercial Press is a subsidiary of the Kaifeng Metal Workshop, which had achieved great success before and successfully completed the imperial ordnance outsourcing business.
Why, do you not understand the reputation of Kaifeng Metal Workshop? "
Cai Laoliu was indeed the best provocateur in the Song Dynasty. His defiant expression and squinting eyes made all the court officials almost burst their lungs on the spot.
However, with the name Kaifeng Metal Workshop, there are also Tong Guan, Cai Jing and Gao Qiu who have gloomy expressions and say nothing.
This combination of three powerful eunuchs, a traitorous prime minister, and an old man who hid in the house made the ministers try to calm down.
PS: Keep working hard tomorrow!
(End of chapter)
