New Year's Eve is approaching again. This is the seventh year since Zhang Zhao came to this era. It is already the third year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty, 938 AD.
In this year, Xu Zhigao changed his name to Li Sheng, changed the country's name to Tang, and was called Southern Tang in history.
Shi Jingtang formally ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and Khitan, and Yelu Deguang issued an edict to make the imperial capital Shangjing, ascend Youzhou to Nanjing, and Nanjing to Tokyo.
And in four years, the son-emperor Shi Jingtang will die of depression in humiliation, and the great chaos in China will also begin.
Zhang Zhao, who was in Liangzhou, had just completed the most important feat for all Tang children in Longyou, Hexi, unifying the seventeen states in Liangzhou, Hexi.
The angels Lu Dao and Liu Tao sent by the Later Jin Dynasty have also returned to the Central Plains. They are just waiting for Zhang Zhao and Shi Jingtang to complete the negotiation. They are missing the three states of Cheng, Wu, and Qin, but more are Yi, Xi, Hui, and Hexi Longyou Shi from the original four states. The eight-state household registration atlas will be handed over to the Central Plains court.
Since the second year of Dazhong reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, in AD 848, Zhang Zhao’s great-grandfather Zhang Yichao raised an army to overthrow the Tibetan tyranny.
In the past ninety years, Tang'er in Longyou, Hexi Province, had gone through many twists and turns, and finally returned to his motherland, which was about to be completed in the hands of Zhang Zhao.
This is also the reason why Zhang Zhao still obeys the Central Plains court even if Shi Jingtang is a shameless emperor. The return of Hexi Longyou to the country is an obsession in the hearts of people of all ethnic groups, especially the descendants of Tang'er.
The Shazhou Zhang family started with this and used it to unite people's hearts. Even a time traveler like Zhang Zhao has to rely on this great righteousness to unite and lead the various clans under his command.
What he Zhang Zhao followed was not the son-emperor Shi Jingtang, but the imperial court of the Central Plains. It was his righteousness and determination to return to his motherland. As for who sat on the throne, it was not that important.
The persona Zhang Zhao has created for himself now is not that of a warlord separatist, but a loyal minister of the country who has emerged from the mire and remained unsullied.
Of course, as a loyal minister, returning to the country from the Eighteen Prefectures of Longyou in Hexi Province is a concrete manifestation of loyalty to the country.
So it was the duty of Zhang Zhao, a loyal minister, to write a letter to assassinate the king.
Therefore, at the same time that Shi Jingtang formally ceded the sixteen states of Yanyun to the Khitan, Zhang Zhao wrote a sincere but emotionally intense memorial.
Zhang Zhao stated in his memorial, "The Khitans were ministers of the great dynasty of the Central Plains in the past. Although they are suddenly powerful now, they are still barbarians. The foundation of the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures must not be handed over to the Khitans."
Accepting Yelv Deguang as his father was a private matter for everyone (Shi Jingtang), while the cession of the sixteen states of Yanyun was a public matter.
I, Prince Wuwei, and the Ambassador of Longyou Jiedu in Hexi Province, absolutely do not dare to agree with this betrayal of territory, and hope that everyone will take back their orders.
If the Khitans threaten with force, I am willing to send 100,000 elite troops from Longyou, west of Hetao, to march out of Hetao to fight against the barbarians!
As soon as this memorial came out, the world responded. In the later Jin Dynasty, the real power factions such as An Chongrong, Liu Zhiyuan, Yang Guangyuan, etc. all added insult to injury, saying that they wanted to respect the king and repel the barbarians.
This turned Shi Jingtang's face green, and he could only appease Liu Zhiyuan by quickly asking him to go out as Xuzhou's military governor and marry his daughter Princess Chang'an to Yang Guangyuan's son Yang Chengzuo.
An Chongrong, who was the most violent in his words and actions, comforted and prepared for crusade.
In addition to the Later Jin Dynasty, Meng Chang of the Later Shu Dynasty, Li Sheng of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Qian Yuanyuan of Wuyue all took the opportunity to write or submit letters to Shi Jingtang, expressing their opposition to the cession of the sixteen states of Yanyun.
This made Shi Jingtang extremely passive and embarrassed. None of the emperors of the Central Plains, even a foolish emperor like Emperor Hui of Jin, had ever been looked down upon in this way.
But at this point, the Khitan had actually occupied or won over the powerful factions in the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun step by step. Whether Shi Jingtang agreed or not would no longer help the matter.
This year, the Central Plains Dynasty lost its two very important barriers, Yanshan Mountain and Yinshan Mountain, for the first time, and the land of Hebei was opened wide.
The place where powerful vassals once had Wei Boya soldiers and Yinqiang Xiaojiedu began to frequently face prairie cavalry, and was no longer as strong as before.
....
In the Daning Palace in Tokyo, the anxious Shi Jingtang, Sang Weihan and others were discussing.
Liu Zhiyuan and Yang Guangyuan were comforted, and An Chongrong also made preparations.
Later Shu and the Southern Tang Dynasty were purely here to gain Shi Jingtang's reputation, so they can ignore it for the time being.
As for Qian Yuanguan of Wuyue Kingdom, it is easy to deal with. Wuyue's strength is weaker than other vassal towns. Since Qian Miao, he has served the Central Plains court and did not establish an independent country. Instead, like Zhang Zhao, he obeyed the Central Plains as the main one.
Qian Yuanguan's petition this time was also very simple. During the Later Tang Dynasty, there was some friction between the Later Tang court and Wu Yue due to envoy issues.
Although An Chongjie was later executed, the later Tang Dynasty returned all his official positions, including King of Wuyue and Marshal of the Army and Horses of the World, to Qian Mu.
However, after Qian Mu died, Qian Yuanguan did not get these official positions in the Later Jin Dynasty.
So Shi Jingtang immediately asked Sang Weihan to order someone to draw up a decree, and the Jin Dynasty granted Qian Yuanguan the title of King of Wuyue, Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses, and other positions. He also sent angels to come to comfort him, and it was immediately settled.
But in the end, when Zhang Zhao arrived, Shi Jingtang, Sang Weihan, Shi Chonggui and other close friends of Shi Jingtang didn't know how to deal with it.
Because in addition to this memorial against the cession of Yanyun's Sixteen Prefectures, Zhang Zhao also mentioned two major issues.
One is from Guashayi, Gansu, Lianglan, Shanhe, Minkuo, Weitao and Qinhui, returning to the original eighteen states.
The other thing is that Li Shengtian asked for the seal of Anxi Khotan, Shule, Suiye, and Ningyuan, with millions of people and thousands of miles of territory.
These two things have tempted Shi Jingtang to an extreme.
He betrayed the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, and everyone in the world looked down upon him. However, if there were two events such as the return of the Eighteen Prefectures of Longyou in Hexi Province and the request for the seal of Khotan in Anxi Province, it would divert attention and greatly enhance his reputation.
But at the same time, Zhang Zhao's appetite was also very big. The first one was when the eighteen states of Longyou in Hexi returned to the country, Zhang Zhao took Qinzhou with him.
You must know that although Qinzhou belonged to the original Longyou Jiedushi, it is currently controlled by the Central Plains imperial court. Kangfu is the Qinzhou Xiongwu Army Jiedushi.
Zhang Zhao's intention to place Qinzhou among the eighteen states was obvious. He was asking Shi Jingtang to hand over Qinzhou to him as well.
But Qinzhou is different from other places. The Xiongwu Army alone has tens of thousands of soldiers and a population of hundreds of thousands. In addition, it belongs to the Guanzhong area.
Zhang Zhao's acquisition of Qinzhou was like having the hand to open and close the door.
Moreover, after Zhang Zhao had Qinzhou, Chengzhou, which originally belonged to Longyou Jiedushi, and Wuzhou, which is now called Jiezhou, could not be saved.
With the three states of Qin, Cheng, and Qi, Zhang Zhao could even gain certain contact with Hou Shu.
In addition, Zhang Zhao said that he could contribute 800 Hexi knights to the imperial court, so that Shi Jingtang could get rid of Yang Guangyuan's threat to a certain extent.
He hoped to receive hundreds of thousands of workers including blacksmiths, stonemasons, and carpenters in exchange. He also hoped to get help from the imperial court when Hexi recruits all kinds of talents from the Central Plains.
Finally, there is the marriage between Murong Nobunaga and Princess Yongle, Shi Jingtang's fifteenth sister-in-law. Zhang Zhao hopes that it can be settled as soon as possible and that the two can return to Hexi after the marriage.
You must know that Murong Nobunaga has been in Tokyo for almost a year. He has extensive exchanges and generous actions, and has already established the image of the Hexi people as bold and chivalrous among the people of the Central Plains.
If Princess Yongle can still be brought back to Hexi, it will greatly remind Zhang Zhao of the reputation of Princess Yongle Aweng.
Everyone thought hard in Daning Palace, and finally came to the conclusion that they could only agree.
Because Zhang Zhao's three conditions are harmful to Shi Jingtang in the long run, because it will cause Zhang Zhao's reputation to increase dramatically and extend his hand into Guanzhong, which will cause serious trouble in the future.
But for Shi Jingtang, he was currently in dire straits, with domestic opposition rising, and he had to raise silk cloth, salt, sugar and tea to pay tribute to Khitan.
What's more, it is necessary to balance the forces of the powerful generals and maintain their position as emperor. There is not much room for maneuver.
What Zhang Zhao could give him, whether it was the return of the Eighteen States in the name of justice or the actual stay of the Hexi knights in the imperial palace, was what Shi Jingtang urgently needed. What's more, Shi Jingtang still owed Zhang Zhao several hundred thousand guan.
Finally, in the face of reality, Shi Jingtang had to bow his head.
This kind of thing would happen once and for a second time. Bowing to the Khitan was disrespectful, and bowing to Zhang Zhao didn't seem to be that hard for him to accept.
However, before agreeing to Zhang Zhao's request, Shi Jingtang secretly ordered Kang Fu to move Tianxiong's army and Qinzhou residents as far inland as possible, leaving only an empty shell of Qinzhou for Zhang Zhao.
Then he arranged the Xiongwu army and residents to the territory of Fengxiang Jiedushi to enhance Li Congsuo's strength.
So on the surface, Shi Jingtang was credited with pacifying the rebellion in Guanzhong, and Li Congyu, the king of Qi, was made the king of Qin.
They also transferred 2,000 Zuolongwu troops controlled by Li Congchang, Li Congsuo's younger brother, back to Fengxiang Mansion. Li Congchang had just died of illness, so he returned to his hometown in the name of sending a coffin to restore blood to the Fengxiang army that had just been defeated.
This is to rely on the Fengxiang Jiedushi of Qin Wang Li Congyu to fight against Zhang Zhao!
However, Shi Jingtang never expected that the old fox Kangfu had already accepted Zhang Zhao's money and secretly promised a granddaughter to Zhang Zhao as a child. Only God knows how obedient he would be.
As for Li Congsuo, although Shi Jingtang knew from An Shenqi's report that he was badly beaten by Zhang Zhao's Guiyi Army, he had no idea how badly Li Congsuo was beaten.
If he knew that Li Congsuo was beaten to the point of being frightened by Zhang Zhao, he would understand that it is hard to say how effective it would be to use Li Congsuo against Zhang Zhao and use this method of vassal against vassal to deal with the Guiyi Army.
....
Liangzhou, the residence of the Prince of Wuwei County, on New Year's Eve, Zhang Zhao was watching singing and dancing.
Dancing in the middle of the field was a beauty with a slender figure and picturesque features.
Wearing a fiery red brocade skirt, she danced softly but with strength, and had beautiful eyes. She glanced at Zhang Zhao on the main seat from time to time, and she was obviously very satisfied with Zhang Zhao.
The attitude was so eager that even a veteran like Zhang Zhao, who had a lot of women, couldn't resist it and could only pretend to chat with Li Shaozong who was accompanying him to the banquet.
"Cousin Shaozong, my seventh cousin is still as hot-tempered as when she was young!"
Li Cunhui's father, Li Xiuyun's brother Li Shaozong, heard this and was slightly embarrassed.
His sister is unparalleled in beauty, not to mention her figure, but she has a bit of a hot temper, which most people can't stand.
"Your Majesty, do you remember what happened when you were a child?" Li Shaozong narrowed his eyes, acting like an elite salesman.
"That was all so many years ago. Now I have learned to be courteous, and I am much more reserved and gentle. If I hadn't been told that I would marry a hero in the world, I would have been married off by a good man from a wealthy family who broke up the family."
"Really?" Zhang Zhao was very doubtful. Normally, it would not be a shameless thing for someone from a family like Li Xiuyun to become a concubine like a concubine in Zhang Zhao's place.
Li Shaozong was really willing to just send his sister over? And he looked afraid that Zhang Zhao wouldn't accept her.
Li Shaozong was about to say that it was definitely true, but when he raised his eyes, he saw the girl walking straight towards Zhang Zhao, and he suddenly felt something was wrong.
"My dear cousin, I teased you back then, don't you still remember it in your heart? Otherwise, if you marry me back home, you can tease me every day!"
As he said that, Li Xiuyun blinked, which made Zhang Zhao find an image of a weird little pepper in his mind.
Hiss! It seems that this person is really not that easy to tolerate. He has been bold and aggressive since he was a child, daring to love and hate.
Ugh! Li Shaozong was even more embarrassed. He had just said that the girl was reserved and gentle, and now he came up to sell it himself.
At this moment, Cui Huxin, who was on guard duty outside the door today, came in, holding a piece of silk cloth with words written all over it.
Zhang Zhao asked Guo Tiance to take it and take a look. It turned out that it was sent back by Murong Nobunaga.
Shi Jingtang has agreed to Zhang Zhao's conditions, and also wants to confer a royal title on Zhang Zhao.
This chapter has been completed!