When Yelu Nanyin brought a huge Silk Road convoy passing by the junction of Liao and Xia, suddenly a guard came to Yelu Nanyin to report.
"Princess Qi! The Xixia envoy is visiting!"
Yelu Nanyin couldn't help but frown. Why did the Xixia envoy find her, a princess with no real power, instead of going to Beijing?
"Invite him over!" Yelu Nanyin said, suppressing the doubts in his heart.
Soon, Weiming Awu came to Yelu Nanyin's horse! He solemnly bowed and said: "Farewell to Bianjing in the Song Dynasty, Princess Yelu is even more elegant than before!"
Weiming Awu and Yelu Nanyin had known each other for a long time when they were in Bianjing for peace talks with the Song Dynasty, but they didn't expect to meet at this moment.
"It turns out to be Sir Wei Ming. I wonder what the important thing is for stopping Nanyin?" Yelu Nanyin said in surprise.
Wei Ming A Wu showed a trace of uneasiness and said: "Your Highness the Princess should know that the Song State broke off diplomatic relations with Daxia without any reason. Not only did it cut off the Sui coins, but also sealed all the forecourts. It is really too much to deceive people."
Yelu Nanyin said calmly: "If Xixia hadn't repeatedly violated the border, how could the Song Dynasty have done everything possible? It's Xixia's own fault for this matter."
This is not because Yelu Nanyin favors the Song Dynasty, but the attitude of many people in the Liao Kingdom. Although Song and Liao are at odds with each other and secretly compete with each other, no one knows that they cannot truly defeat each other.
Therefore, since the signing of the Chanyuan Alliance, the two countries have not had a war for nearly a hundred years, which is extremely rare in any dynasty.
After Xixia and the Song Dynasty signed the Qingli Peace Agreement, they continued to fight many times. Xixia won the battle and extorted a sum of money from the Song Dynasty. If they lost, they took the Liao Kingdom to put pressure on the Song Dynasty! This rogue style of play annoyed the Liao Kingdom.
Weiming Awu was a determined opponent of the Song faction. Hearing this, he couldn't help but said in embarrassment: "Song and Xia have been entangled in grievances for a long time, and it has long been difficult to tell who is right and who is wrong. However, the Song Dynasty cut off the currency and the market, and the Xia Dynasty The Queen Mother does not even have the latest silk clothes, and for fear of being disrespectful, she specially ordered her ministers to come to Princess Yelu to purchase a batch of Silk Road materials."
In the past, the Song Dynasty continuously sent coins to Xixia, and with the opening of the market, there was no shortage of these materials. Xixia could even sell these materials to the Uighurs and other countries in the Western Regions, earning a lot of profits.
Now in the Battle of Pingxia City, Xixia was defeated miserably. The Song Dynasty took the opportunity to retaliate and used the profits from the Silk Road to make Liao and Xia at odds. Xixia was completely isolated and helpless.
When Yelu Nanyin heard this, he waved his hand and said, "It's a simple matter. I'll prepare a generous gift for Mr. Weiming Awu to take back to Xingqing Mansion. It will be treated as a gift from Nanyin to Empress Dowager Xiaoliang."
Weiming Awu twitched his lips and said: "Thank you very much for Princess Nanyin's kindness. Xixia's intention is to establish a long-term cooperation with the princess and purchase a large amount of silk and other materials from the princess."
How can the Empress Dowager Xiaoliang be short of silk? This is just an excuse for Weiming Awu.
Yelu Nanyin was stunned when he heard this. It turned out that Xixia saw the huge benefits gained from the Liao Silk Road and couldn't help but want a piece of the pie.
At that moment, Yelu Nanyin pretended not to know: "So it turns out that Nanyin and Master Weiming Awu are old acquaintances. When Nanyin is sold to the countries in the Western Regions, it is sold at a price increase of five times. So, let's sell it to Xixia at four times the price." To demonstrate the friendship between Liao and Xia."
"Four times the price?"
Weiming Awu exclaimed that when Xixia was operating the Silk Road, they usually only doubled the price, or tripled the price at most, which was already a huge profit.
But now they directly sell it at a five-fold increase, and sell it to Xixia at a four-fold increase, but they still look at the friendship between Liao and Xia.
"Princess Yelu, are you kidding! We both know the price of silk in the Song Dynasty. It is too expensive to increase the price by four times!"
Weiming Ah Wu smiled bitterly.
"Is it expensive?"
Yelu Nanyin asked back: "As long as I send this batch of materials to the Western Regions, let alone five times the price, when the supply is tight, the supply will still exceed demand at ten times the price."
Nowadays, only the Liao Kingdom can open up the Silk Road, and the Liao Kingdom can directly send Silk Road materials to Zhaisangbo Lake in the far west, eliminating the long journey of Hu merchants in the Western Regions, reducing most of the time, and at the same time avoiding The security is greatly improved against the invasion of sand pirates, and the price of five times is extremely reasonable. "
Weiming Awu was speechless. He naturally knew that Xixia increased the price of silk supplies by twice as much, while the Uighurs and other countries further away might increase the price even more.
Zhaisangbo is located to the west of the Uighurs in the Western Regions and closer to the Western Regions. The Liao Kingdom was vast and sparsely populated, almost running from east to west, and bordered the countries in the Western Regions, which greatly simplified the distance and risks of the Silk Road. In addition, This was the exclusive business of the Liao Kingdom, and of course the selling price also increased sharply.
"With such huge profits, no wonder the Liao Dynasty would be willing to give up the annual coins." Weiming Awu said bitterly in his heart.
Even so, Wei Ming A Wu could only hold his nose and buy a batch of Silk Road materials, including soaps and mirrors. After all, he could transport them back to Xixia and sell them at a higher price, which would also make a huge profit. Make a fortune.
………………
Xingqing Mansion!
Queen Mother Xiaoliang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.
Today, the situation in Xixia is very critical. Since the defeat of Pingxia City, her prestige in Xixia has plummeted, and various party ministries are increasingly dissatisfied with her.
According to past experience, even if Xixia is defeated, as long as they give in a little and win over the Liao Kingdom to use both soft and hard tactics, the Song Dynasty will immediately obediently send 300,000 yuan worth of annual coins to win over the leaders of the party departments.
However, this time she miscalculated, and the Song Dynasty went against the norm and directly cut off all the Xixia coins, closed the Song and Xia's convenient shopping malls, and used the benefits of the Silk Road to prevent the Liao Kingdom from helping each other.
Now Xixia has not only lost 300,000 yuan of annual coins, but also lost the financial source of the Silk Road, which has made the finances that were originally maintained by looting extremely tight.
"Reporting to the official family, the Jingsai Army Commander came to report that the Song army marched out of Pingxia City more than ten times in January and burned countless farmlands. Our Xixia people could not bear the disturbance and have retreated for more than 200 miles." In the court hall, Prime Minister Liang Yibu Report.
"Pingxia City!" Empress Dowager Xiaoliang said through gritted teeth. The humiliation she had suffered under Pingxia City couldn't help but flood her heart.
What made her even more angry was that since the defeat of the Xia army in Pingxia City, the Song Dynasty used Pingxia City as a stronghold and implemented the tactics of shallow attacks and harassment of farming. It no longer went deep into the hinterland of Xixia to attack, and continued to invade the farming areas of Xixia. Xixia lost a large area of grain-producing area, which made Xixia's already fragile economy even worse.
"Has the team that went to request a marriage ever sent back any news?"
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang said helplessly that now that Xixia was at a disadvantage, they could only hope for help from the Liao Kingdom.
"To report to the Queen Mother, there is news from the Liao Kingdom. Emperor Yelu Hongji of the Liao Dynasty believes that His Majesty is too young and it is too early to get married." Liang Yibu shook his head.
"Too early? It's common for people to get married on the twelfth or third day of the year. It's just right to get engaged now and get married in a few years." Empress Dowager Xiaoliang frowned. Most of the royal families get married at the age of fifteen, and Xixia has repeatedly requested for marriage. Although they do not get married immediately, it is not an exaggeration to get engaged first.
Liang Yibu said helplessly: "What Emperor Liao means is that according to the research of doctors in the Song Dynasty, it is most suitable for men to marry at the age of 18 and for women at the age of 16."
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang's face suddenly turned red. How could the marriage between Liao and Xia be related to the research of the Song Dynasty doctors? This was obviously the Liao Kingdom's delaying technique. They did not want to offend the Song Dynasty prematurely and monopolize the benefits of the Silk Road. At the same time, they also wanted to Let Xixia continue to weaken the Song Dynasty.
Liang Yibu suddenly felt relieved, remembering that when he proposed to have the Liang family and the royal family get married again, the Empress Dowager Xiao Liang rejected it on the grounds that the close relationship between the Song Dynasty doctors was a close relative.
Now Empress Dowager Xiaoliang has finally reaped the consequences. The Liao State has delayed the marriage on the grounds that the man is an adult at the age of eighteen.
However, the Liao Kingdom is now so powerful that Xixia cannot offend it at all. They can only pin their hopes on Weiming Awu to buy a batch of Silk Road materials from Yelu Nanyin to ease Xixia's finances.
"Reporting to the Queen Mother, Wei Chen returned from Princess Yelu's motorcade. Princess Yelu only agreed to sell Xixia silk and other goods at a price four times higher." Weiming Awu hurried back and reported.
"Four times the price?"
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang was furious. She did not expect that Song Dynasty had taken the initiative to send them silk tea leaves in order to seek peace, but Xixia had dismissed it, and now it was asking Xixia to pay a huge price.
"The Liao Kingdom is too unkind!"
Liang Yibu said angrily that the Liao Kingdom's move obviously did not want Xixia to get involved in the Silk Road as a financial source again, so as to ensure the maximum interests of the Liao Kingdom.
"The humble minister has no choice but to buy a small amount of materials to meet the needs of the Queen Mother and the country." Weiming Awu said helplessly.
At the moment, Wei Ming A Wu presented a bunch of silks and tea leaves to the Empress Dowager Xiao Liang, as well as exquisite glass mirrors and soaps.
"This is?"
Queen Mother Trabecular was immediately attracted to the mirror and soap.
"This is the mirror made by the evil doctor Fan Zheng for Li Qingzhao when he was getting married. It is the clearest mirror in the world, allowing people to see everything! It is now the best-selling product in Song and Liao Dynasties, and is highly sought after by ladies and ladies." Wei's name is A Wu Xian Bao Dao.
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang looked at her beautiful face in the mirror. Her first reaction was to envy Li Qingzhao's good luck. Her second reaction was that Weiming Awu bought this thing from goods on the Silk Road. It was so magical. Once the goods are sent to the Western Regions, they will be worth a lot of money.
"This should have been Xixia's source of wealth!" Empress Dowager Xiaoliang was heartbroken. He did not expect that after Song and Xia turned against each other, so many good things would appear in the Song Kingdom. If the negotiations between the two countries continued, these materials would naturally come from Hexi first. The corridor passed and earned Xixia a lot of money.
Now, the Song and Liao countries have united, making Xixia miss out on such a huge fortune.
"This thing is soap. It was also created by the evil doctor Fan Zheng. It is used to clean the human body. It is said that there are countless invisible mites on the human face. Washing the face and bathing with soap can greatly remove the mites on the human body. "Weiming Awu said again.
“There are mites in the human body, it’s nonsense!”
The two queens of the Liang family, coupled with the fact that she controlled the power of Xixia at a young age, gave birth to the arrogant character of Queen Mother Xiaoliang. Looking at her beautiful face in the mirror, she couldn't believe that there were countless bugs on her face.
"What the Queen Mother said is true! This thing must be an exaggeration by doctors." Weiming Awu agreed.
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang snorted coldly and dismissed the soap in front of her. However, she did not know that soap was a good medicine that could save her life in the future, but she abandoned it like a shoe.
"Reporting to the Queen Mother, the Song Dynasty is now pressing hard on Great Xia and constantly harassing it. The Liao Kingdom is attracted by the Song Dynasty's interests in using the Silk Road, and has repeatedly pushed back the Liao-Xia peace. For this plan, Xixia The only way is to find another ally to fight against the Song Dynasty." Liang Yibu suggested.
"Who is the ally mentioned by the Prime Minister?" Empress Dowager Xiaoliang said with joy. She naturally knew that Xixia's national strength alone might not be enough to deal with the Song Dynasty, and the Liao Kingdom and Xixia were seemingly inseparable. For the current plan, it was of course urgent to find another ally.
"Qingtang!" Liang Yibu said proudly.
"Qingtang?" Queen Mother Xiaoliang couldn't help but be stunned. Qingtang and Xixia are adjacent to each other, and there have been many frictions. The relationship between the two countries is not very good.
Weiming Awu frowned and said: "Now that the Song Dynasty is so powerful, how can Qingtang be willing to take risks to fight against the Song Dynasty!"
Liang Yibu solemnly said: "The land of Qingtang is too barren. Now the owner of Qingtang is Ali Gu, who has long coveted the six states of Xihe. Now the Song Dynasty occupies the six states of Xihe. As long as the Queen Mother promises, the two countries will work together." Attacking the Song Dynasty and promising the six states of Xihe to Qingtang will definitely make Ali's heart beat.
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang immediately fell into hesitation. The six states of Xihe were originally the territory of Xixia. They were previously occupied by the Song Dynasty. Xixia had long wanted to take them back. Now that they are being ceded to Qingtang, I am afraid that there will be great dissatisfaction within Xixia.
Liang Yibu advised: "Now that the six states of Xihe have been taken away by the Song Dynasty, Xixia has been unable to regain it. If not, why not use this to promise Qingtang first, and then slowly pursue it in the future? Otherwise, how can we get Qingtang back?"
Queen Mother Xiaoliang was finally persuaded and nodded slightly. Although she was arrogant, she still knew that the current situation was not good for Xixia. If Xixia did not pay the price, she might not be able to persuade Qingtang to send troops.
"In addition, if you want to fight against the Song Dynasty, you need to marry Qingtang!" Liang Yibu said again.
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang couldn't help but frown, marrying Qingtang? The Western Xia emperor has been passed down for two generations, and there is no royal princess at all. How to marry Qingtang.
Liang Yibu said at the right time: "Although the royal family does not have a princess, the Liang family does have a noble daughter. As the legitimate daughter of the Liang family, marrying Qingtang will definitely not humiliate Ali's bones."
"The legitimate daughter of the Liang family?" Queen Mother Xiao Liang was moved in her heart. Her brother once proposed that her daughter marry Li Qianshun, but she did not want to increase the power of the Liang family, plus the dangers of incest marriage, so she refused directly.
Now using her niece to marry Qingtang is indeed a good idea.
"allow!"
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang waved her hand.
"The Queen Mother is wise!" Liang Yibu said secretly in his heart.
He chose to marry his daughter to Qingtang not really to increase support for Xixia, but to facilitate his future power grab. Naturally, he did not believe that the Song Dynasty would sincerely help him win power. However, as long as the Song Dynasty cooperates secretly, with the help of Qingtang's power, and the Liang family's overwhelming power in the Song Dynasty, it is not impossible for the Liang family to replace Li.
"According to the decree, each military division secretly prepares its military and builds siege weapons. After the Qingtang marriage, the two countries will jointly attack the Song Dynasty and divide the Song Dynasty." Empress Dowager Xiaoliang said sternly.
"The Queen Mother is wise!"
Weiming Awu and Liang Yibu bowed.
After Liang Yibu returned to Liang Mansion, he immediately sent envoys to Qingtang to discuss the marriage. After doing all this, he summoned Lu Dong, the spy of the Song Dynasty.
"The Queen Mother is preparing to unite with Qingtang to attack Pingxia City in the autumn." Liang Yibu revealed Xixia's strategy without hesitation.
"Seriously?" Lu Dong couldn't help but be shocked. Xixia had just suffered a big loss under Pingxia City, and it was actually preparing to attack Pingxia City.
"I have sent the message, but I want you to secretly smuggle a large amount of Silk Road materials for my use." Liang Yibu said directly.
If he wants to seize power, in addition to Qingtang's help, financial resources are also essential. Now that the price of Silk Road materials has soared in Xixia, it is the best time for him to obtain financial resources.
Once his layout is completed, it will be time for Liang to replace Li.
(End of chapter)
