"Whenever the wind blows, it ruffles a pool of spring water and leads the fragrant mandarin ducks into the path... I look forward to seeing you all day long, but I raise my head to smell the joy of the birds."

An elegant man with a high echelon of education held a jade bowl and sang softly by the lake. After singing, he turned around and looked at the people behind him, but everyone turned their attention to Li Jing, who was sitting in the middle.

Li Jing seemed to have just recovered from the beautiful lyrics. He put down his wine bowl and stroked his palms gently and said: "What a wonderful 'blowing a pool of spring water'. Feng Qing's skills are much better!" Seeing Li Jing.

When you praise him, others also agree with him.

This was a literary banquet between Emperor Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty and his ministers, but except for Li Jing, Han Xizai, Feng Yansi and Li Congjia, everyone else was just joining in the fun.

Hearing Li Jing's praise, Feng Yansi hurriedly said humbly: "It's not as good as your Majesty's 'The small building blows through the cold jade pipe', that is a famous saying that can be passed down through the ages!"

"Haha..." Li Jing laughed, "That was my old work last year. To say that the best today is still Feng Qing's "Visiting the Golden Gate". If you have no objections, this set of silver pots and jade bowls is

They were all rewarded to Feng Qing.

He suddenly looked at Li Congjia and said, "Chongguang, do you have any other masterpieces?"

Li Congjia cupped his hands and replied: "My child has run out of ideas today, and the best person today must be Feng Xianggong. However, my child has another good poem written by someone else, so I can share it with everyone."

Li Jing smiled and said: "Oh, who did it? Read it quickly and listen."

Li Congjia immediately read: "Seven stars stirred up the Tianchi with their swords, rolled back the Milky Way and landed on the ground. Three million jade dragons were defeated, and broken scales and armor were flying all over the sky."

Han Xizai immediately praised: "This is a poem about snow. Although it is not delicate and beautiful, it is more powerful and powerful. The most wonderful thing is that there is not a single word for snow in the whole poem. It is definitely not pure to write such a heroic poem.

Literary scholar, may I ask who created this great king?"

Li Congjia immediately replied: "According to Scholar Han, this poem about the snow was composed by Xu Xian, the former chief minister of Zhou Guodian."

As soon as he said this, he noticed that the expressions of everyone around him changed, especially his father's eyes with a hint of hatred. He didn't know why and asked: "What's going on?"

Li Congjia inevitably followed in the footsteps of his uncle and was poisoned by his eldest brother, so he spent all his time traveling around the mountains and rivers and ignoring political affairs. He would not have come to the palace if Li Jing hadn't recruited him. He didn't know that it was Xu Xian who he said defeated the Southern Tang Dynasty.

The reinforcements also killed the coach Liu Yanzhen.

Han Xizai quickly whispered a few words to Li Congjia. Li Congjia was startled when he heard the words. He quickly stood up and knelt down to apologize to Li Jing, "It is really hateful for Thief Xu to kill my soldiers and kill my ministers. I will never read his poems in the future. I said something careless today.

Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

However, Li Jing chuckled and said, "The two countries are at war without killing the envoys, let alone just tasting a few of his poems. I heard that the upper echelons of the Liao Kingdom also admire the customs of the Central Plains. Am I not as reasonable as the Khitan barbarians?"

When the ministers heard this, they immediately sent a lot of flattery and praised Li Jing for his magnanimity and the demeanor of a wise king.

Li Jing said: "It's a pity that such a versatile civil and military talent cannot be used by me. Not long ago, Liu Renzhan sent a fake. I originally wanted to kill him to vent his anger, but who knew that the man turned against me?"

He complained sincerely, even though I couldn’t tell the truth from the lies after all the world’s events, so I sent him to southern Fujian to fight the rebellion.”

After he finished speaking, he raised the wine bowl and said, "Don't talk about this disappointing thing, all my dear friends, please accompany me and drink another bowl!"

After finishing a bowl of wine, a eunuch came over with a memorandum and said, "Your Majesty, this is an urgent report from the Privy Council!"

In the past few years when he was expanding his territory to the south, what Li Jing longed for most was to receive urgent reports from the Privy Council. But in the past two years, it was the opposite. He couldn't help but panic when he heard about the military situation, and always felt that nothing good was going to happen.

Li Jing took the military report and scanned it at a glance. He immediately showed an angry expression, and there was even a little fear in his eyes. He suddenly threw the memorial to the ground, overturned the case, and roared: "

Xu Xian, I will cut you into pieces!"

The military report was handed over by spies from Chuzhou, and its content is self-evident. In one day, the Zhou army broke through the dangerous pass and built the city, and all the Chuzhou city at Qingliu Pass fell into the enemy's hands. The governor of Chuzhou hanged himself, the training envoy of the Chuzhou regiment surrendered to the enemy, and Huangfu Hui waved

He killed himself with a sword, and the supervisor Yao Feng was killed in battle. Now the Zhou army and Jinling are only a few steps away from each other across the Yangtze River.

Li Jing was not a foolish king. After receiving such military information, he no longer had the intention to drink wine and write lyrics. He immediately returned to the palace to discuss it with his confidants.

Feng Yansi stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, please don't be anxious. The Zhou Kingdom cannot cross the Yangtze River without its navy. This matter can be discussed in the long run."

Li Jing sighed: "I know that the Zhou army can't get through, but I can't just watch them occupy the land north of the Yangtze River. Now it's urgent. Please let me know if you have any good ideas."

Li Deming, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, said: "The Zhou army was able to conquer a city in one day with only 5,000 troops. Our army has been defeated in succession, which shows that the Zhou army is brave. Since we are unable to defeat the enemy, it is better to ask for peace from Zhou.

, give him some money and food and ask him to retreat..."

This sentence seemed to have reached Li Jing's heart. A minister said it for him, but he didn't want it, but he couldn't agree straight away. He just pretended to be silent and non-committal.

Han Xizai also said: "Now that Shouzhou is still in my hands, I still have bargaining chips. If I wait until Shouzhou is occupied before I seek peace, the Zhou Kingdom will inevitably speak like a lion. Your Majesty should make a decision early." After hearing this, other ministers also agreed.

.

"Why do you have the ambition of others to destroy your own prestige!" A burly man came out of the squad and shouted to Li Jing: "My brother is willing to lead the army to the rescue of Shouzhou and chop off the head of the Emperor of Zhou to present to His Majesty."

This man's appearance is similar to that of Li Jing. He is Li Jing's younger brother Li Jingda. Li Min liked him very much when he was alive. Li Jingda was not arrogant because of his favor. He was an upright person and had long looked down upon the group of jesters around Li Jing.

However, he repeatedly advised Li Jing to stay away from them.

As a prince, Li Jingda's words had their own weight, so the ministers immediately shut up. If he was angered, he might be beaten.

Li Jing didn't want Chai Rong's head, but he also knew that his country's soldiers were useless. At this time, it was indeed wise to ask Zhou for peace, but he didn't want to be looked down upon by his brothers, so he persuaded him: "How can I ask Guo Rong

"Boy, please bow your head. The Rain Master just prepares his troops and horses to be ready to cross the river at any time. Brother, I will write a letter to Guo Rong to slow down the troops."

Li Jing deceived his brother and immediately wrote a letter to Chai Rong. He did not ask anyone to send it directly to Chai Rong. Instead, he sent it from Sizhou under the Southern Tang Dynasty to Xuzhou under the Later Zhou Dynasty, and then forwarded it to Chai Rong from Xuzhou.

In Rong's hands.

It was not because the messenger from the Southern Tang Dynasty didn't know the way to Shouzhou, but if Li Jing sent someone directly to see Chai Rong, he would immediately be shortchanged by Chai Rong.

After receiving Li Jing's letter, Chai Rong read it carefully. The content was similar to what Shi Jingtang wrote to the Khitans. Li Jing, who was already in his forties, expressed his willingness to recognize Chai Rong, who was in his early thirties, as his brother and was willing to donate New Year coins.

Although it was used as military supplies, it did not mean to cede territory and become vassals, but the words were extremely humble.

Seeing the smile on Chai Rong's lips, all the officials looked curious. Fan, who was accompanying him on the expedition, asked: "Your Majesty, what did Li Jing write in the letter that makes Your Majesty so happy?"

Chai Rong put down Li Jing's memorial and said with a smile: "Li Jing said he would call me brother and send money to Dazhou every year."

All the ministers laughed when they heard this, and Han Lingkun said: "Your Majesty may have benefited from the Emperor of Tang in vain. At least he must ask him for five million coins every year."

"Five million guans is too little. To be rich in the Southern Tang Dynasty, at least 8 million guans are needed!"

"Then why not come up with a round number and ask him for 10 million yuan!"

…

Those who spoke were all warriors, and no matter how much tax the Southern Tang Dynasty could collect every year, they just wanted to keep their mouth open. Whether they were soldiers or generals, most of the wars were for money; in fact, civil servants also like money, and if they have money in the treasury, they can

Save them a lot of trouble.

Of course Chai Rong also loves money, otherwise why would he plunder the fortune accumulated by Buddhism for hundreds of years? It’s just that he loves the emperor’s great cause more than money. The reason he laughed just now was not because Li Jing wanted to give him money, but because Li Jing had given in. Just

It was because Zhao Kuangyin captured Chuzhou.

He suddenly threw Li Jing's letter on the table and shouted, "Generals, listen to your orders!"

The generals who were having a heated discussion about how many years old coins they should receive from the Southern Tang Dynasty quickly prostrated themselves, only to hear Chai Rong say: "Han Lingkun and Zhao Hongyin led 15,000 troops to attack Yangzhou; Bai Yanyu led 8,000 troops to attack Haozhou..."

Li Jing misjudged the wrong person. Chai Rong was not one of those local emperors who were blind to money. On the contrary, he was a militant who was very cautious. Zhao Kuangyin only captured one Chuzhou and asked Li Jing to surrender and beg for mercy. If there were more fourteen states in Jiangbei,

If you win a few, what will Li Jing do?

Seeing the generals taking orders and leaving one by one, Chai Rong remembered the hero this time and told the officials of the Ministry of Personnel: "Promote Zhao Kuangyin to the commander of the front division of the palace, and Xu Xian... forget it.

, no more promotion!”

Old Mu Tou was holding his arms beside him to express his grievance for Xu Xian, "Your Majesty is unfair!"

Chai Rong glanced at him angrily, "He is only twenty-two years old, how do you tell me to promote him!"

"If you have merit, you should be rewarded. There is no age difference. He is His Majesty's Guard and it is not a good thing to have resentment in his heart."

Chai Rong pondered for a moment, "It happens that Bai Yanyu is going to Tongzhou, so let him serve as the commander of the Hujie Army. He can hold five thousand soldiers and horses, which is enough for rebellion!"

This letter from Li Jing can be regarded as a self-defeat. Chai Rong's troops marched around Shouzhou to attack the city and seize territory. Han Lingkun and Zhao Hongyin performed the most eye-catchingly. The two of them captured the city with almost no effort.

Yangzhou.

Jia Chong, the commander of the Dongdu camp, set a fire and fled. Feng Yanlu, the deputy left-behind man in Dongdu, was so frightened that he shaved his head and hid in a temple. He was picked out by Han Lingkun and sent to Chai Rong. Han Lingkun still didn't give up.

After resting and reorganizing, they sent troops to Taizhou. After the battle, Fang Ne, the governor of Taizhou, abandoned the city and fled.

Since ancient times, Yangzhou has been rich in money and grain, and for the Southern Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou was not only a place for collecting money and grain, but also the eastern capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Yangzhou has always been the capital of the Yang and Wu regimes. Li Min rose to take control of the political power here and moved the capital to Jinling after proclaiming himself emperor.

, Li Min was also buried in Yangzhou after his death.

The fall of Yangzhou was of great significance. Li Jing was completely panicked and sent people to sue for peace again. This time he did not put on airs and sent Zhong Mo, the Minister of Hubu, and Li Deming, the Minister of Works, to personally come to Xiacai where Chai Rong was stationed.

Looking at the gift list sent by the Tang envoy, Chai Rong threw it on the ground. Zhong and Li immediately understood that Chai Rong was not satisfied, so they simply asked Chai Rong for the price.

Chai Rong asked the two men how much food there was in the treasury of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Zhong Mo, the Minister of Household Affairs, immediately made up a nonsense figure. Chai Rong, however, asked someone to tell the three armies that the money in the treasury of Jinling had been owned by the soldiers.

The military camp in Houzhou was boiling in an instant, and the shouts of long live were overwhelming. Li Deming was so frightened that he stayed in Chai Rong's camp and did not dare to go back.

——————

"Off with your head!"

The knife was swung horizontally, and a head rolled to the ground. The Muggle wiped the blade of the knife on the body without looking and went straight to the next one. The poor man looked at the ferocious face of the Muggle, and he wet his pants and was trembling with fear.

He said carelessly: "Jun... Master Jun, I really didn't snatch those clothes... I'm just a tailor... I made the clothes and was about to send them to people... I don't know how... I just took them...

Caught."

The man obviously asked the wrong person. Even if he had great grievances, Muggles could not make the decision for him. Maybe the person in charge was putting his legs on the desk at the moment, looking at the sky with a melancholy face, and muttering to himself,

"Chai Rong, Chai Rong, it's fine if you don't promote me to an official position. Why do you ask me to serve as the Marquis of Yu who is a member of the Hujie Army? Don't you know that I support this red scarf with my own money?"

Is it just for nothing that there are three thousand more subordinates, and the future expenses will double. It is not cost-effective to raise that group of veterans. If you have the money, you might as well expand the Red Scarf City. Is it because you are worried about me?"
To be continued...