The sound of heavy and rapid footsteps echoed in the corridors of the palace, and every step was filled with anger and irritability. Behind him were several ministers of the Shu Kingdom, following closely behind Meng Chang.
When he entered the Wenxian Hall, he picked up a piece of jade and threw it on the ground. The fragments even splashed onto Wang Zhaoyuan who was following at the front. Meng Chang's gloomy face couldn't hold back any longer, and his handsome face was a little distorted for a moment. He raised his hand and said angrily: "This is unreasonable! This is unreasonable!"
"Your Majesty, calm down!" All the ministers were frightened, and Prime Minister Wu Zhaoyi took a step forward and softly consoled him.
"Where is this anger?" Meng Chang turned his head and stared at him, clenched his fists, suppressed the boiling anger in his chest, and asked in a cold voice: "You all heard the peace agreement of the Northern Han Dynasty just now, tell me. Well, how to respond!"
"Your Majesty, the four points advocated by Zhao Pu clearly show no sincerity in the peace talks! He was arrogant and unruly in the main hall of our Shu Palace, despised my monarch and his ministers, and was even more rude!" Wang Zhaoyuan immediately jumped out and spoke fiercely: "Your Majesty, please don't You need to worry more, the Northern Han Dynasty is going to fight, and our court can accompany you to the end!"
After Wang Zhaoyuan finished speaking, the prime minister Li Hao immediately objected: "Privy Wang's angry words are really not worth mentioning. Zhao Pu's arrogance is pretentious and means to bully others. It should not be taken seriously. Since both countries have peace talks, If you want to discuss something, you should calm down and discuss it calmly!"
"According to Li Xiang's intention, do you want to agree to the ridiculous and humiliating terms of the Northern Han Dynasty?" Wang Zhaoyuan stared at Li Hao, the dissatisfaction in his eyes almost overflowing.
Wang Zhaoyuan's indignation was not only due to Zhao Pu's sarcasm and the Northern Han Dynasty's power treaty, but also because ministers such as Li Hao and Wu Zhaoyi began to raise their heads and dared to confront him head-on.
At first, Meng Chang endured for fifteen years and finally brought back the powerful minister Zhang Ye and the corrupt former Privy Councilor Wang Chu. Wang Zhaoyuan, as a former emperor, was able to inform the Council of Ministers and take charge of important military affairs. Steadily promoted, power and position gradually consolidated.
As for Wang Zhaoyuan, the privy envoy, he actually combined military and political power into one, and his position reached the highest level among ministers. It seemed that official ministers such as Wu Zhaoyi and Li Hao were lower than him. In the past few years, Wang Zhaoyuan's reputation and power have not been compromised at all, otherwise it would be difficult for him to be "taken seriously" by the monarchs and ministers of the Northern Han Dynasty.
However, with the repeated defeats in the war against the Han, the military strength was greatly reduced, and the national power was greatly weakened. As the first person in charge of the military agency, Meng Chang's trust in Wang Zhaoyuan also began to waver.
After Wang Chu returned, Meng Chang chose Wang Zhaoyuan for several reasons. First, he was someone close to him and knew the basics; second, he was fed up with the constraints of the old ministers and generals, so he promoted a person with junior qualifications to balance him. The power of the court; thirdly, Wang Zhaoyuan does have some talent. If he is a complete idiot, Meng Chang will not be able to help him even if he forcibly helps him.
However, no matter how deep the trust is, it will eventually be worn away by constant failures. Although he is still in the position of Privy Councilor, Meng Chang's attitude towards him has obviously changed. Wu, Li and others noticed it, so they began to raise their heads in the court to speak out. Wang Zhaoyuan also noticed it, so his heart was filled with anxiety and impatience recently.
He didn't dare to complain about Meng Chang, so he could only target ministers like Li Hao. At this time, facing Wang Zhaoyuan's cold gaze, Li Hao acted calmly and said leisurely: "Privy Wang, please don't misinterpret my meaning!"
After saying that, he bowed to Meng Chang and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should not take the peace treaty terms proposed by the Han envoys too seriously. Even in business transactions, there is talk of bargaining and bargaining, and this is because of the seriousness of national affairs. Although our dynasty Frustrated by border affairs, but there is still a danger in Sichuan and Shu, we cannot let the Northern Han Dynasty take whatever it wants. Even if the Northern Han Dynasty was greedy, it would not be so unwise and put forward such harsh demands. It was just to use deception to obey us. It’s just about grabbing profits!”
After hearing what Li Hao said, Meng Chang calmed down and thought for a moment: "What does Li Qing mean, can we talk about it?"
"Exactly! I think the fact that the Northern Han Dynasty sent envoys proves that the Northern Han Dynasty also means to make peace. They fought fiercely for a long time and fought against the winter. The price paid by the Northern Han Dynasty is equally serious!" Li Hao said confidently.
"Your Majesty, since the Northern Han Dynasty is willing to negotiate peace, our government cannot show weakness and accept its blackmail!" Seeing that Meng Chang was almost persuaded, Wang Zhaoyuan couldn't help it and said loudly: "According to the detailed reports from Hanzhong, the Northern Han Dynasty The monarchs and ministers of the Han Dynasty were so happy about their achievements that they resorted to military warfare. In Feng, Cheng, Jie, Xing and other places, there were widespread complaints and complaints. The people of Shu could not bear the heavy labor and gathered together many times to resist the tyranny.
Regardless of the weather, in order to capture Xixian and Nanzheng, they suffered more than 10,000 casualties. Today, including Hanzhong, there is a sign of famine. The Han army has only 20,000 troops and needs to be divided into counties for defense and suppression.
Therefore, the Han army has no spare strength to move south. Your Majesty must not be intimidated by his false words, negotiate easily, let alone agree to his unreasonable demands! "
"When Privy Wang said this, he only looked at the present and never looked at the future. It is still the twelfth lunar month of winter. Although the Han army is short of men and horses, and it is difficult to sustain food and grass, what about the coming year? If we rest for several months or half a year, with the strength of the Han army, then How can we resist?" Wu Zhaoyi spoke.
"As the prime ministers of Great Shu, why do you keep saying things to praise the enemy but suppress yourself? Is it true that the Northern Han Dynasty makes you, the official minister, afraid of you like this?" Wang Zhaoyuan asked excitedly.
"Privy Master Wang is well versed in military strategy. He prides himself on being an expert in governing the country and mastering military maneuvers. Why are he defeated repeatedly in battles? The envoy can control the invaders outside the country's gates. How can we join the Northern Han Dynasty in vain?" Li Hao glanced at him. Wang Zhaoyuan retorted calmly: "I have said long ago that the Northern Han Dynasty rose from the Central Plains, with strong soldiers and horses. Only our dynasty can fight against it.
Send an envoy to repair it. However, Privy Wang wanted to follow the example of Marquis Wu and repeatedly raised troops for the Northern Expedition, angering the powerful Han Dynasty and causing disaster to the Northern Army. Now, with the loss of troops and the fall of the city, and the Han envoys coming to the west, what price must be paid to bring the two countries back together? "
"Stop arguing!" Seeing that the dispute between the two parties was aggravating, Meng Chang immediately scolded him and said seriously: "You can't dwell on the past. I'm calling you. I just want to hear some real insights from you, and what you say can be useful. I don’t want to listen to your arguments about peace talks!”
"Your Majesty, I have found out that Zhao Pu, the envoy of the Han Dynasty, is here and carries the full authority of the Han Emperor. I believe that Zhao Pu is greedy for money and lust. If we can bribe this person, we may be able to negotiate a peace treaty that is acceptable to both parties!" Wu Zhaoyi took the initiative.
Hearing this, Meng Chang's brows condensed at first, he thought about it for a while, then gradually relaxed, glanced at Wu Zhaoyi and Li Hao, and ordered: "Wu Qing, Li Qing, you two will go and talk to that Zhao Pu." Let’s talk!”
"Yes!" Seeing the emperor's decision, the two men responded in unison.
While the monarchs and ministers of Shu were angrily arguing over the "Four Articles of Zhao Pu", after the Han envoys left the Shu Palace, they started touring Chengdu in a relaxed mood.
Wan Jing Yuncuo, a member of the Department Store Sichuan Committee, has personally experienced it. The prosperity of Chengdu is still somewhat beyond Zhao Pu's imagination. Of course, there is indeed some chaos in the market. Zhao Pu walked all the way, carefully appreciating every plant, tree, brick and tile in Chengdu, and listened to the talk in the streets. The so-called observation of people's hearts, no matter how big or small, can always see some signs of rise and fall.
We swam all the way to the Hejiang Pavilion in the southeastern part of Luocheng City in Chengdu. Looking across, we saw the Qingyuan and Jianjiang rivers surrounding the city, with light boats and merchant ships passing by, and there was still a rush scene.
"Looking at the world, there are not many cities that can compare with Chengdu!" Standing on the pavilion, Zhao Pu sighed: "I am afraid that most of the wealth in Shu will be gathered here, and Shu will be destroyed in the future. We need to warn the soldiers to try their best to preserve the city. ....."
"Servant, the people from Wude Division sent a secret message." It was not until evening that he returned to the hotel. He Jiyun, the escort officer of the mission, came up, interrupted Zhao Pu who was thinking all the way, and handed him a wax pill.
Zhao Pu came back to his senses, took it vaguely, crushed it and took out a piece of paper to read. His eyes glanced up and down a few times, and he smiled a little.
He Jiyun saw him at the side and couldn't help but wonder: "Is it convenient for the minister to tell me what happened?"
Zhao Pu chuckled and said: "Meng Chang, Lord of Shu, is very angry about the four peace terms I proposed today!"
"Servant, don't blame me for talking too much. The four points you proposed are indeed a bit harsh. If you think about it, the Lord of Shu would not agree. No wonder he is angry. Will this affect the outcome of the peace talks?" He Jiyun whispered.
"I didn't expect General He Qiang Qiang to have such insight!" After hearing what he said, Zhao Pu smiled and said: "Don't worry! The more angry the Shu Lord is, the more it shows that he is willing to negotiate a truce. Otherwise, I will be here in the palace today. It would not be surprising if he expelled us or even took my head!"
Weiji seemed to have received the news that Zhao Pu had returned to the hotel. Zhao Pu was invited, and Prime Minister Li Hao hosted a banquet in his mansion to entertain him.
"Pack up, let's go through the house together and discuss the business..." Zhao Puxin said.
