In order to let Jiangnan and Jiangbei celebrate the New Year together, Su Yuan had made up his mind to send his troops south before the New Year to destroy the newly established Southern Zhou Dynasty.

Zhou Shu has no objection to this. For her, this is definitely a possibility. Especially after more and more southern intelligence flows into the north recently.

Many southern scholars, common people, and merchants are sparing no effort to provide information. There are also some aristocratic families who will give some extremely confidential information. For example, the Southern Zhou Dynasty court wanted to give Ojin Island to the Japanese. It was announced to the upper court, and the lower court later reported the information.

Just came over.

They were both sending information, but the starting points of both sides were different. Most ordinary people had already realized the good points of the Bei'an Army and the bad points of the Zhou Dynasty.

In the past, when Dazhou still owned Jiangbei, it could discredit the Bei'an Army and Su Yuan through extensive propaganda. Now that Jiangbei has been lost, the Bei'an Army has also stepped up its propaganda work, which caused all the previous smearing to backfire.

Some conscientious scholars in the south could no longer stand the darkness of the Zhou Dynasty. Many of them formed secret societies to secretly inquire about the Bei'an Army, eagerly looking forward to the day when the Bei'an Army would attack.

The people couldn't wait even more, especially after learning that the people in Jiangbei were exempted from taxes and paid less taxes, they were so envious that they couldn't sleep.

Many people were holding their breath. As long as the Bei'an army came, they would definitely cooperate inside and outside, kill the officials in the city, and open the city gates to welcome the Bei'an army.

In such a bad public opinion environment, the governors of Jiangnan states have made great efforts to rectify their problems. They used white terror to arrest people everywhere and banned discussion of the Bei'an Army... It has even developed to the point where some people only need to mention "Su Yuan".

If you give your name, you will be taken to the prison of Da Lao and beaten to death by starvation.

In this way, no one will openly discuss the Bei'an Army, but not talking about it will only make people talk more in their hearts.

Some smart officials understand this in their hearts, but it is better not to see, and to be safe not to listen. No matter what the people think, as long as they don't speak out and cause trouble for them, they can give eye drops to their superiors.

The Southern Zhou Dynasty.

After going to court today, Zhou Cheng looked good.

In the past few days, he had been keeping a straight face and feeling irritable. On the one hand, there was no hope for the Eastern Japanese side. After the Southern Zhou court went back on its word, the Eastern Japanese side was very angry.

In addition, Kamigiya Shingen is currently focusing on the country. He is promoting the "Bei'an Threat Theory" to scare the Eastern Japanese people and gain support. His purpose is to become a daimyo himself. Before achieving this goal, he will not

I will pay more attention to foreign affairs.

On the other hand, news of the Bei'an Army attacking Qinzhou also came.

Everyone knows that Qinzhou cannot be defended. The prefect of Qinzhou is among the officials of the previous dynasty... The prefect of Qinzhou has run away, so there is nothing left to defend.

Previously, it was said that Su Yuan took away half of the Zhou Dynasty, but it still needs to be explained, because without Qinzhou, it cannot be said that he completely occupied Jiangbei. Now, the fall of Qinzhou is an immediate matter, and half of the country will become a reality.

How could this stop Zhou Cheng from worrying? It's just that no matter how much he worries or gets angry, it's useless. Ministers are too clever to make a meal without rice. Without enough troops, the war cannot be fought. This is a very real problem.

But today is different, Zhou Cheng is very happy today.

"Let me introduce it to you all."

He announced a person to come to court. When all the officials looked at him, they saw that the man had red hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a round hat, a short vest and long boots. He looked like an overseas Westerner.

"I have met His Majesty the Emperor." The visitor said, taking off his hat and bowing to Zhou Cheng, speaking in a somewhat lame Zhou dialect.

The Minister of Rites reprimanded: "Western people don't understand etiquette. They have to kneel down and kowtow when they meet the Holy One!"

"Okay." Zhou Cheng said, "It's understandable that people from the Western Kingdom don't understand my Zhou etiquette. This is Thorne, from Xifeng Kingdom."

All the officials looked at each other in confusion. They didn't know where your Majesty got a Xifeng countryman from, or what they wanted to do with him.

Only Prime Minister He Zhongping knew, because he was the one who found this person and introduced him to Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Cheng said to everyone: "This Thorne is an envoy from the Xifeng Kingdom. He came to Great Zhou this time to establish diplomatic relations and trade with our Great Zhou. He is also willing to support our Great Zhou in retaking the land occupied by the rebels."

territory!"

After hearing this, all the officials secretly thought, could it be that His Majesty saw that the Eastern Japanese were unreliable, so he found an overseas Western country to be his backer and helper?

They have heard of Xifeng Country, but they have no relatives or connections, so why would they be willing to support you and help you deal with the Bei'an Army? There will be no pie in the sky, there must be conditions.

The officials' questions were quickly answered, and Thorne revealed Xifeng Kingdom's request.

In this regard, he used a foreign language, and a translator was responsible for converting it into Dazhou language for him:

"Emissary Thorne said that the Xifeng Kingdom wants to rent a piece of land in Haizhou, Yunzhou and other regional cities to build an embassy area and living area for the people of the Xifeng Kingdom. The Xifeng Kingdom will pay rent for this, but the area is also

The laws and language of Xifeng Country will be used."

After the translator finished speaking, the officials were in an uproar.

Isn’t this what Xifeng Country is talking about a country within a country?

At that moment, many ministers showed indignation. If they just rented a piece of land to build an embassy, ​​it would be excusable. But if the Zhou language and laws are not used in this piece of land, it would be too much.

Even a newly enlightened child knows that he has to do as the locals do. The current conditions in Xifeng Country are nothing like renting.

But……

When the ministers were furious and saw He Zhongping's calm expression and the emperor's happy face, they all knew that the two must have discussed this matter in advance and had agreed to this condition. Now it's just a matter of saying it in the court.

Go through the motions.

This made many officials feel cold. They were sad and didn't know what to say. They were silent for a while.

The translator continued: "For this reason, the Xifeng Kingdom is willing to send a thousand sailors and twenty large ships to help the Great Zhou quell the rebellion. I hope that the two countries can cooperate happily and the friendship will last forever."

When Zhou Cheng heard that there were twenty large ships, he was overjoyed: "Great! I feel the sincerity of Xifeng Kingdom, and I agree to your envoy's conditions!"

"Your Majesty..." A minister wanted to go out to dissuade him, but his companion stopped him and shook his head to tell him to shut up.

Zhou Cheng is currently in high spirits, and there will be no good consequences if he goes against the grain at this time.

He Zhongping came out and said: "Your Majesty is wise!"

As soon as he took the lead, other ministers also followed suit. Zhou Cheng was very satisfied and rewarded Thorn with some money. After Thorn left, he couldn't wait to say: "With the help of Xifeng Kingdom, there may be hope to suppress the rebellion!

"

"Xifeng is a big overseas country with hundreds of warships. With their support, as long as the capital's port is destroyed, it will ensure that the Bei'an army cannot get through in the short term! This way, Da Zhou can have more time to recuperate.

.My dear friends, don’t you understand my painstaking efforts?”

After Zhou Cheng finished speaking, all the officials shouted long live, but after the court, everyone looked heavy and left without saying a word. Everyone began to think about a question:
Chapter completed!