"Your Majesty, yesterday I received a memorial from Zhou Yi, the prefect of Yongzhou and General Tiance. After General Zhou learned that Master Yan Kuanyan was kidnapped by Khitan thieves, General Zhou was heartbroken and specially petitioned Your Majesty to demote him to civilian."
"Master Zhou wrote in the memorial that in the final analysis, Master Yan was robbed because of his disadvantage in protecting Yongzhou, so that Master Yan's soldiers and horses fell into the hands of the thieves."
Yan Song was a little surprised after hearing this. He did not expect that Wei Zhongxian could actually get the memorials of hundreds of officials from all over the Chen Kingdom.
You must know that these memorials usually come directly to him. Now that Wei Zhongxian can get these memorials, it shows how powerful he is.
Wei Zhongxian continued: "Zhou Yi, Master Zhou not only sent a memorial to demote himself, but also sent a blackmail letter from the Khitan people. The despicable and shameless Khitan dog thief sent a message asking us, the Chen Kingdom, to exchange five million taels of silver for Yan. Lord Kuanyan.”
After saying that, Wei Zhongxian took out a small box with blood from his arms.
As soon as Yan Song, the traitorous prime minister, saw the bloody box, a bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart.
Wei Zhongxian slowly opened the small box, and a blood-stained index finger with a green jade ring lay quietly inside.
After looking at the traitor Yan Song, his pupils instantly dilated.
He couldn't recognize other things, but Yan Song recognized the green jade ring that his son wore every day.
The traitor Yan Song asked tremblingly: "This...this...is my son's index finger?"
"We still don't know, but this was sent by Zhou Yi, the prefect of Yongzhou and General Tiance, together with his memorial."
"Oh, by the way! Also sent with it was a blackmail letter from Khitan."
Wei Zhongxian took these things to the treacherous prime minister Yan Song, and said kindly: "This blackmail letter is written in Khitan script. I guess Master Yan doesn't know Khitan script!"
"Shilang Kong, don't you know Khitan? Why don't you help Mr. Yan translate it!"
Yan Song is worthy of being a traitor who has been in official circles for many years and has experienced ups and downs.
Although he lost his temper the first time he saw his son's finger, he soon regained his composure.
Yan Song knew that he had to be more rational and calm at this time, otherwise, there would be no way to save his son.
This time, Yan Song knew he had to admit defeat. It is really a bad move to let his son go to Yongzhou to take over Zhou Yi's command of tens of thousands of powerful guards.
"Your Majesty, Quanzi Yankuan is really incompetent. Let him serve as the commander-in-chief of the mighty guard, but the city veteran made a mistake! Fortunately, this time he was just robbed by the Khitan, and it did not cause a catastrophe. If he had waited until he took office, It would be unavoidable for me, Da Chen, to suffer losses due to his command. In this way, Gouzi has lost his power and humiliated the country, and it is not a pity for him to die now."
Yan Song knelt down sincerely and begged Li Rui who was sitting on the dragon throne: "Chen Li will be on the line, and those who can't will stop. It seems that the mighty guard still has to be led by someone like General Tiance! I beg your majesty to let Tiance be the leader." The general immediately sent troops to beat these ignorant Khitan people into submission. The Khitan wanted to use the dogs as hostages to threaten me, Da Chen, and gain benefits, but little did they know that all this was a delusion!"
At this moment, it was Wei Zhongxian's turn to be a little surprised.
Wei Zhongxian and other ministers did not know that Yan Kuan was under the control of Zhou Yi. Based on the intelligence obtained by Wei Zhongxian's Dongchang, all ministers thought that Yan Kuan was in the hands of the Khitans.
Yan Song suggested that Li Rui let Zhouyi send troops to the Khitan, which was tantamount to pushing his son to a dead end.
As soon as Chen Guo sends troops, the opponent will definitely become angry and kill Yan Kuan directly.
But these people only saw the surface.
The reason why Yan Song did this was to establish a loyal and patriotic persona for himself. By doing this, he directly showed that he would not sacrifice the interests of the country for his son.
Secondly, he indirectly compromised with Zhou Yi. By letting Zhou Yi lead the mighty guards to attack the Khitan, he showed that he would no longer interfere with his military power.
As for his son Yan Kuan, the old thief Yan Song will naturally not sit idly by.
On the surface, he showed no concern for the life and death of his son Yan Kuan in front of the officials and Emperor Li Rui, but in fact, he had already secretly sent someone to communicate with Zhou Yi.
The ransom of five million taels of silver mentioned in the threat letter from the "Khitan people" was simply a drop in the bucket for Yan Song, who had been a prime minister for many years.
When the homes of the most corrupt officials and gentry in the Qing Dynasty were ransacked, 800 million taels of silver were confiscated. Now that Yan Song has been prime minister for so many years, the amount of money he has embezzled and bribed exceeds 800 million taels.
It has to be said that Zhou Yi's asking price of five million taels really underestimated Yan Song's net worth.
Yan Tao, the concierge of Yan Song's confidant's family, had already arrived in Jing'an City when Yan Song went to court in the morning, found Zhou Yi, and sent Yan Song his own handwritten letter.
In the letter, Yan Song had compromised with Zhou Yi and stated that as long as Zhou Yi could ensure that his son came back safe and sound, he would never get involved in the military power of Yongzhou in the future.
Moreover, Yan Song would pay every penny of the five million taels of silver demanded by the "Khitan people". In addition, Zhou Yi's mediation fee was also a full five million taels of silver.
When Zhou Yi saw that Yan Songxin had gotten him ten million taels of silver in one fell swoop, he immediately regretted why he hadn't asked for more than the lion.
So he deliberately lamented to Yan Song's confidant Yan Tao: "Oh! Enfang really makes me embarrassed!"
"We have to send troops to attack the Khitan, and we have to rescue Mr. Yan safely. This task is really difficult!"
Yan Tao, who was sent by Yan Song to negotiate with Zhou Yi, was not a fool. He immediately understood what Zhou Yi meant.
This is to raise the price from the ground up!
Yan Tao immediately held out two fingers: "The prime minister said that there is only this number at most. If the negotiation fails, the prime minister will be in his prime, and at worst, we will have another one."
Zhou Yi said confusedly: "Okay, okay, two hundred million taels of silver is two hundred million taels of silver. I will definitely do my best to rescue Mr. Yan!"
"Admiral Tiance, you are joking. The villain is referring to 20 million taels of silver. The 10 million taels are for the Khitan thieves, and the other 10 million taels are for your hard work, sir!"
"I wonder if you think this hard work is appropriate?" Yan Tao asked with his eyebrows lowered and his waist lowered.
Zhou Yi kept smiling on his face, and he said obediently after getting the advantage: "Since Enxiang is so kind, how can a lower official reject Enxiang's kindness! Not to mention that without the hard work of ten million taels, even if it is to give in to Enxiang, I will go up to the mountains of swords and the seas of fire and the boiling pans of oil. As long as the grace minister opens his mouth, I, Zhou Yi, will never refuse."
"In that case, please ask Marshal Zhou to send troops to rescue Young Master Yan as soon as possible."
After talking about all this, Yan Tao returned to Kyoto early as requested by the traitor Yan Song.
Because Yan Song knew that whether to send troops or not was secondary. As long as Zhou Yi can come forward and contact the other party, his son Yan Kuan will naturally be sent back safely.
