Dafeng Night Watchman

Chapter 739 - 739 Yunzhou's Conditions (I)

Song Tingfeng remained calm and said indifferently:

"This is the capital, not Yunzhou. If you want to complain, go ahead.

"If you really dare to do this, I still admire you as a person. If you don't dare, you are a coward without a soft egg."

He pressed the knife with one hand, his expression was defiant.

He was not frightened by Ji Yuan at all.

Is this a fool......Xu Yuanshuang looked at Song Tingfeng in surprise. According to the current situation, the emperor and the officials of Dafeng are eager to negotiate peace and ceasefire.

The entire Dafeng high-level officials were frightened by the "death" of the supervisor. At this juncture, those who dared not to fear the Yunzhou envoys and were so tough were either fools or had backers.

But even if he had the support of the officials in the court, he might not be able to save him if he angered the ninth brother.

"How insolent! "

Ji Yuan did not speak, the Yunzhou officials behind him were angry, pointing at Song Tingfeng and scolding:

"How many heads do you have to chop off for daring to talk to the Ninth Master like this?"

"Insulting the peace envoy in public, just for this crime, you can be imprisoned."

"A crude warrior, you don't know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is."

Ji Yuan opened his folding fan with a snap, looked at Song Tingfeng, and smiled:

"Oh, it seems that you have a backer, tell me about it. .

"I want to know who instructed you to lurk in the post station, trying to disrupt the peace talks and plotting against the law."

A big hat was put on him. If Song Tingfeng had no backer or no backer, he would be imprisoned for this accusation of the Yunzhou delegation.

Among the night watchmen guarding the post station, only this person dared to look at him with hostile eyes. Ji Yuan noticed him when he checked in yesterday.

Although Ji Yuan would not take the initiative to show his power to a silver gong, he would not allow him to act recklessly under his nose.

Xu Yuanshuang frowned and looked at the sky:

"Ninth brother, let's go, the time is almost up."

An old man in a red robe behind Ji Yuan smiled and said:

"A few words will not be a problem. Besides, this is for a reason. If the Dafeng court asks, we will tell the truth."

This is not only to embarrass this little silver gong, but also to put psychological pressure on the officials in the court.

After blocking it lightly with a word, Xu Yuanshuang stopped talking.

Song Tingfeng sneered, keeping the posture of pressing the hilt of the knife with one hand, looking down on everyone.

Neither said harsh words nor gave in.

"Pah!"

Ji Yuan closed his folding fan, glanced at Song Tingfeng, and did not waste too much time on this little man.

He had the bargaining chip to make the Emperor of Dafeng surrender, and he could do whatever he wanted with a small silver gong.

Looking at the backs of the people leaving the post station, Song Tingfeng turned his head and spit out a mouthful of saliva.

"Boss, you were so impressive just now."

Several copper gongs on duty nearby came over with admiration on their faces.

"But boss, won't you cause trouble?"

A copper gong expressed concern.

With the well-informed level of the night watchmen, they knew the attitude of His Majesty and the officials. Qingzhou was lost, the treasury was empty, and even the immortal figure Jianzheng died in Qingzhou.

Anyone with a discerning eye knew that if the war continued like this, the court would definitely be finished.

It would be best if they could avoid fighting, so peace talks became the dawn in the eyes of the officials and His Majesty.

It was irrational for Song to offend the Yunzhou envoys at this critical moment.

Song Tingfeng sneered:

"What did I tell you before?

"I brought Xu Ningyan up, and now he's very successful. He still calls me Brother Song when he sees me. It's just a small matter, why should I be afraid?

"What a shitty Yunzhou delegation, they showed off their power as soon as they entered Beijing. What's the point of being so arrogant? If I were still in Yunzhou, I would have killed him with Xu Ningyan and Zhu Guangxiao without saying a word."

The newly recruited Tongluo were skeptical. Although Song Touer had been touting that he and Xu Yinluo were close friends, they privately sought confirmation from other seniors, who also said that Xu Yinluo, Song Touer, and Zhu Yinluo were close.

But everyone knew that Song Touer liked to brag, and there must be some exaggeration in it.

For example, Song Tou'er often said:

"Xu Ningyan has a hobby. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't go to the brothel for a day. He especially likes to go when he is on duty. Zhu Guangxiao and I are so decent people. We said we didn't want to go because we had to patrol the streets. But he dragged us to the brothel. If you want to ask me why we have to go when we are on duty, of course it is because he has to go to the Jiaofangsi to have sex with Miss Fuxiang for free at night, so he has no time to go to the brothel."

This is a joke. Everyone in the capital knows that Xu Yinluo sleeps with the courtesan in the Jiaofangsi without paying.

A mere brothel, what does he care about?

So the bronze gongs only believe three points of what Song Tingfeng says.

......

On the other side, the Jinluan Palace.

The meeting in front of the palace has ended. Emperor Yongxing suppressed his anxiety and glanced at the eunuch Zhao Xuanzhen who holds the seal calmly.

The latter understood and said loudly:

"Announce the Yunzhou delegation to see the emperor!"

After waiting for half a cup of tea, there was silence outside the palace gate.

"Announce the Yunzhou delegation to see the emperor."

Still no movement.

Zhao Xuanzhen glanced at the emperor with a solemn face, and his forehead was sweating slightly. He turned around and bowed to the throne, and walked out of the palace from the left to inquire about the situation.

Not long after, he trotted back to the throne and whispered:

"Your Majesty, the Yunzhou delegation has not entered the palace yet."

Emperor Yongxing's face sank and he looked at him coldly.

Zhao Xuanzhen did not explain, but just said softly:

"I have sent someone to invite them."

Emperor Yongxing retracted his gaze and said lightly:

"Wait another quarter of an hour."

"Yes!" Zhao Xuanzhen replied in a low voice.

Although the officials in the hall did not hear the conversation between the king and the servant, they could guess what was going on. It was nothing more than that the Yunzhou delegation was "late" and missed the time.

The officials had all experienced great storms and waves. They remained calm, but they secretly evaluated in their hearts.

The leader of the Yunzhou delegation was a young man named Ji Yuan, who called himself the Ninth Prince. He was the ninth son of the city lord of Qianlong City.

In terms of bloodline, he belonged to the Dafeng clan.

The officials already knew the style of this Ninth Prince. He was sharp and domineering.

Fortunately, within a quarter of an hour, Ji Yuan and his party, led by the eunuchs, entered the Golden Palace.

The officials turned their heads and looked at the young man who entered the hall.

He was wearing a moon-white gorgeous dress with exquisite cloud patterns embroidered on it. His sleeves hung naturally, and there were rings and pendants on his waist. He had handsome features and a very good appearance.

Behind him was a pair of boys and girls with similar looks, one indifferent and the other cold.

Further on, among the six old men in official robes, two wore scarlet robes embroidered with clouds and geese, and four wore green robes embroidered with white pheasants and egrets.

The official robes they wore undoubtedly hurt the sensitive hearts of Emperor Yongxing and the other officials. For a mere Yunzhou, the delegation wore formal official robes. What did it mean?

"Yunzhou envoy Ji Yuan greets Your Majesty."

Ji Yuan smiled and bowed slightly, with a noble and calm air.

Emperor Yongxing nodded, his voice loud and calm:

"Master Ji came to the capital to negotiate peace on behalf of Yunzhou. I gave you the greatest courtesy, but you came late.

"Is this the sincerity of Yunzhou's peace talks?"

He looked serious and looked down at His Highness Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan was not panicked at all, and smiled and bowed:

"It was not my intention, but before I set off today, I was harassed and insulted by a silver gong at the post station, which delayed me for some time.

"I came here with sincerity, but I didn't expect that a mere Yinluo would dare to look at me coldly and abuse me. Ji Yuan dared to ask Your Majesty, is this the sincerity of the peace talks between Dafeng and Feng?"

Xu Yuanshuang and Xu Yuanhuai were listening. The brother and sister knew Ji Yuan's eloquence very well. Not to mention being late for a quarter of an hour, even if he was late for an hour, he could still make a clear argument.

Make yourself unreasonable and reasonable.

Look, he turned the tables and put a hat on the ignorant Yinluo in front of the emperor and the officials.

If Emperor Yongxing did not take action, it would be confirmed that he was neglecting and making things difficult, leaving a handle.

Sure enough, Emperor Yongxing frowned, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Who is so unruly and abusive to Envoy Ji?"

Ji Yuan replied calmly:

"Yinluo Song Tingfeng."

Emperor Yongxing went over the name in his mind and had no impression of it. His first reaction was that the ignorant Yinluo might have someone behind him who was instructed to sabotage the peace talks.

There was no need to hesitate to deal with a Yinluo. He was about to speak when Liu Hong, the Left Censor-in-Chief, stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, there must be a misunderstanding."

An official in a scarlet robe behind Ji Yuan retorted:

"What this gentleman means is that our Lord Ji is talking nonsense?"

Liu Hong ignored him and continued:

"Song Yinluo is loyal and brave. When Yunzhou suppressed the rebels, he fought side by side with Xu Qi'an. After that, he made many contributions and was Xu Qi'an's right-hand man when he was Yinluo. How could he deliberately insult and make things difficult for the Yunzhou delegation?

"There must be a reason for this. Your Majesty, please investigate it thoroughly."

Emperor Yongxing said indifferently: "What Liu Aiqing said is very true. I will find out the situation and give an explanation to Envoy Ji. "

What to check? No need to check!

Liu Hong's words made it very clear that the Song Yinluo was Xu Qiyan's man.

With such a big backer behind him, as long as he didn't kill people or set fires, he could basically rest easy.

Emperor Yongxing would naturally not have to make enemies with Xu Qiyan because of such a small matter. He would just send someone to warn the Yinluo and transfer him back to the night watchman's office.

Ji Yuan was stunned, and suddenly realized why the guy dared to be so unscrupulous.

It turned out that he had the support of the number one warrior in Dafeng.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. "

He stopped when he saw that he was ahead and did not hold on to the issue.

It was obvious that the young emperor would not offend Xu Qian'an because of this little thing. If he held on to it, he would only make himself bored.

The six officials who accompanied him to the audience looked at each other in astonishment. No wonder a mere silver gong was so arrogant and domineering.

He was still dissatisfied, but today's peace talks were a big deal, so he did not bother with that little guy.

After some small talk and wrangling, Ji Yuan said loudly:

"Since the beginning of winter, our Yunzhou and Dafeng have been fighting for two months, causing the people to suffer and the lives of the people to be destroyed. The soldiers on both sides also suffered heavy casualties. This official was ordered to come to Beijing to negotiate peace. Your Majesty and the nobles agreed to the peace talks......"

The specific process of the peace talks is to set the main tone first, and then the Honglu Temple will be responsible for the negotiations and confirm some details. If the matter is particularly important, the Ministry of Rites will also be involved.

In this process, the daily negotiation process must be submitted to the emperor for review.

The final result must also be discussed by the emperor and the nobles before it can be decided.

Today, the "main tone" is set, and the framework of the negotiations is set first.

After Ji Yuan finished his long speech, he said:

"My Yunzhou army is unstoppable and has occupied Qingzhou. The governor of Dafeng died half a month ago. However, my father is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the people face war again. He is willing to negotiate with Dafeng. Dafeng needs to agree to our four conditions. "

The Lord of Qianlong City has already proclaimed himself emperor in Yunzhou.

Father... The Supervisor has fallen... Emperor Yongxing glanced at the Yunzhou officials in official robes behind Ji Yuan, took a deep breath, and said:

"Please speak, Envoy Ji."

Ji Yuan said:

"First, Dafeng pays Yunzhou an annual tribute of 500,000 taels of silver and 600,000 pieces of silk. This will take effect immediately after the peace talks. I will bring back this year's tribute first."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Minister of Revenue jumped out and scolded:

"You little brat, you are lying with your eyes open.

"500,000 taels of silver? 600,000 pieces of silk? Aren't you afraid that the wind will blow your tongue away?"

The Minister of Revenue had reason to jump up and down. This money was nothing in the peaceful and prosperous times.

But now the treasury is empty. In order to maintain the operation of the court and military expenses, it has been struggling to support it, and there is no money or food to provide relief to the victims.

If they wanted to take away 500,000 taels of silver at once, Yunzhou didn't even need to fight, they could just wait for the court to collapse.

This was not a peace negotiation, this was a hidden evil intention to force Dafeng to death.

The Minister of Revenue was afraid that Emperor Yongxing didn't understand "economics" and would rashly agree, so he jumped out to criticize.

Ji Yuan opened his folding fan and shook his head:

"The land in the Central Plains is rich, and a mere 500,000 taels is nothing."

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he said:

"Could it be that the court can't even take out 500,000 taels of silver?"

The Minister of Revenue was startled and snorted:

"My Dafeng is strong, how can you, a yellow-haired kid, guess it."

Ji Yuan pressed:

"Oh, if that's the case, then Dafeng has no intention of negotiating peace."

This guy is sharp-tongued...... The gentlemen frowned secretly.