Jiangling was originally just the seat of the vassal government. Although it has now become the capital of Nanliang, many supporting facilities are still not fully established. For example, there are still no halls dedicated to entertaining foreign envoys. Sometimes they are simply left
These envoys stayed in the homes of ministers.
The envoy from the Northern Qi Dynasty stayed at the home of the general Pei Zhiheng. Pei Zhiheng was the younger brother of Pei Zhigao. When Pei Zhigao became King Kangqin, he was not even convinced by Liu Zhongli, the leader of the alliance. Although the facts are
It proves that the two are the same, but it also shows their power and confidence.
The Pei family is different from the big families in Jiangling. Their family has lived in Huainan for a long time and has many tribes. They also hope to take back Hefei and other places through negotiation and interaction with the Northern Qi Dynasty, so they are more concerned about the visit of the Qi envoy this time.
The chief envoy of the Northern Qi envoy to Jiangling this time was named Cui Zhan, and the deputy envoy was named Li Zhan. They were respectively from the Cui family of Qinghe and the Li family of Zhaojun. They were both first-class famous families in Guandong.
On the one hand, the Xianbei warriors who were in power in the Northern Qi Dynasty were just arrogant and domineering at home. If they were sent to foreign countries, although it would not be an insult to the country, their words and deeds would not be too embarrassing after all. Therefore, the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty and other countries' envoys have always been
They all chose the Kanto family to take charge of this matter.
On the other hand, the main dispute between Northern Qi and Nanliang is the Huainan area, and the land of Huainan has never been within the scope of achievements of Jinyang nobles. On the contrary, the Guandong aristocrats and Hebei powerful people have made great efforts in this area, so they also hope that
Able to consolidate current results and create new ones.
Cui Zhan is in his thirties, and his face is dotted with some residual scars due to illness, but his demeanor is so outstanding that no one dares to look down upon him. In addition, he comes from a well-known family and has outstanding talents. He is also very popular in the Northern Qi Kingdom.
He enjoys a high reputation, even slightly surpassing his father Cui.
Deputy envoy Li Zhan is relatively mediocre, but because most of his relatives have the experience of being envoys to Nanliang, he is also experienced in dealing with southerners. Although he is a deputy envoy, he is
Cui Zhan, as the frontman, is mainly responsible for discussing candidates with Nanliang.
"When I was talking to Lord Liang just now, Mr. Cui should have been more decisive when it came to Li Boshan. Otherwise, Lord Liang might have thought that I, a Guandong family, still care about old friends and are unwilling to quarrel with Li Boshan."
Because the banquet was suddenly interrupted, when he returned to Pei Zhiheng's house where he was staying, Li Zhan began to reflect on the shortcomings of today's performance, and then he couldn't help but said to Cui Zhan.
Cui Zhan's father Cui and Li Xiaonai are cousins. Even Li Xiao fled to Hebei with his family and lived with the Cui family in Qinghe for more than ten years. Not to mention Li Xiao and his son, even other Li Xiao from Longxi
Before the clan members were called to Jinyang, they all settled in Qinghe County, so they had a lot of friendship with each other.
Logically speaking, the two sides have such a relationship, and now they are planning to make enemies of Mianbei with Nanliang. Cui Zhan should not have been sent as an envoy. However, Cui Zhan received the support of the former Southeast Xingtai Xinshu,
He also said that Cui Zhan's arrival would allow Emperor Liang to see the determination of the Guandong family to break with the Li Boshan family, which would help dispel Emperor Liang's wariness.
For Huainan to be in such a situation, after Murong Shaozong suffered a setback, Xin Shu had made great achievements, so he naturally had the right to speak. Since he advocated this, it was hard for others to say anything.
However, after Cui Zhan came to Jiangling, when Emperor Liang asked him about the relationship between his clan and the Li family in Longxi, Cui Zhan's answer did not reveal a sense of incompatibility, which inevitably made Li Zhan a little unhappy.
They don't really want to fight against Li Boshan in Mianbei and seize Yiyang. Even the top founding kings among Jinyang's nobles were severely taught by Li Boshan. The Guandong family really can't recommend anyone who dares to argue with Li Boshan.
The talent of a general.
But the purpose of coming to Nanliang this time was to induce Liang Emperor to give up the action against Huainan and instead compete with Handong. Naturally, the more fierce the gesture, the better.
After Cui Zhan heard this, he said nonchalantly: "Now the emperor and ministers of the Liang Kingdom have no intention of collaborating with each other. No matter how hard they bend and beg, it only strengthens their arrogance. Although Emperor Liang said that Zhongxing, he still had no intention of conspiring with each other.
His temperament is wretched, and he is full of petty plans, making it difficult for him to make a grand plan. The life and death of the isolated city of Jiangling is at stake, and his people dare not break with the north. They must fight for every inch of land. It is probably a delusion to expect us and other passers-by to raise troops with a little temptation."
Hearing Cui Zhan's depressing words, Li Zhan couldn't help but frown. However, before he could refute, the servant who was sent to inquire why the banquet was interrupted hurriedly returned and informed him.
Because the Wei envoy entered the city, the Liang monarch and his ministers ended the banquet in such a hurry.
The mere entry of envoys into the city made the monarchs and ministers of Nanliang so nervous, which shows how worried they were about changes in their relationship with the Western Wei Dynasty. This also further corroborated Cui Zhan's view that he wanted to use words to seduce Nanliang and the Western Wei Dynasty to fall out.
It is obviously impossible to relieve the pressure on Huainan.
After learning about this situation, Li Zhan's face suddenly darkened, and he couldn't help but said bitterly: "If the monarchs and ministers of a country are so rash and repetitive, how can their country last long!"
Although he was angry, he still hoped for a change. Because when Li Bomu was the governor of Hezhou, the Li family of Zhaojun also invested a lot in Hefei and Huainan. Now with the Su Yu rebellion, the entire Huainan
The land was shaken. If this crisis cannot be rescued, the entire city occupied by Huainan may be lost one after another.
"Explore again and explore again!"
Full of annoyance, he sent out his servants to inquire about the news, hoping to find opportunities there.
The emperor paid off, and soon the servants sent by Li Zhan brought back the latest news. It turned out that the Western Wei envoys and the Nanliang court were also very unhappy, and now they were defending a temple in the city and confronting the city guards.
"God help me, really God help me! If this provocation succeeds, the two countries will definitely be at odds!"
Li Zhan was overjoyed when he heard the news. He clapped his hands excitedly and said: "The story of Dingyuan in the past, every time I read it, my heart is swaying. I didn't expect that we would have such an opportunity today. Mr. Cui can
Do you dare to join me in attacking the Wei envoy?"
After Cui Zhan heard this, he frowned and said: "This is the capital of the Liang Kingdom. Moreover, the current situation cannot be forced to imitate the ancient stories. If you act rashly, no matter whether it is successful or not, the result may not be as expected."
Li Zhan was a bit superior at the moment and refused to listen to Cui Zhan's advice. After hearing this, he just sneered and said: "No wonder Mr. Cui is so famous in the country and his ambition to make a career is indeed good. Since you don't want to go with me,
Please stay here, if you succeed, we will be honored together, if not, please transport some of your heroic bodies back to Hebei!"
"How can I live alone when you are gone? Rather than just pretending to be mediocre, it is better to die generously together."
Seeing that Li Zhan was so stubborn, Cui Zhan also sighed helplessly and then said: "We are entering the city with only a few soldiers. Moreover, the people and land in this city are unfamiliar. If we act recklessly, we will definitely die. We must convince him first.
The owner of the house can only increase his chances of winning by inviting others to work with him."
Li Zhan's blood boiled for a moment, but he didn't think so carefully. After being reminded by Cui Zhan, he nodded in agreement, and immediately ordered his servants to invite the owner of the house to come to discuss matters.
Not long after, a middle-aged man walked in, and he was Pei Ji, the son of Pei Zhigao. When he heard what the two Northern Qi envoys said about their plans, Pei Ji shook his head in refusal. But when he heard the Qi envoy promised to return Hefei to Pei
clan, and there was no need for Pei Ji to take the risk with them, as long as he provided armor staff weapons and led them there.
Although even so, I am afraid that the responsibility cannot be completely eliminated, but the temptation is too tempting. Hefei was lost so easily and it was frustrating. Pei Ji still hates Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang who lost his mind at that time. It was also his father Pei who collected compound fertilizer.
A very high death wish.
Given this opportunity, Pei Ji did not want to miss it. After thinking about it, he nodded and agreed. It was not because he was too naive and fully believed in the promise of the Qi people, but because the interests of the Huainan people and the Jiangling locals were inconsistent.
They are not very keen on making friends with Mianbei, but the quarrels with each other can make some Huainan people's demands that were originally vague and ignored become clearer.
With Pei Ji's help, the planning of the matter was naturally smoother. Soon a batch of sophisticated armor and staff weapons were sent here. The two envoys and their hundreds of servants were quickly armed and prepared under Pei Ji's arrangement.
Under the cover of night, he quietly went to the temple where the envoy of Wei lived.
At this time, in order to dilute the tense atmosphere of confrontation, the city guards who originally surrounded the temple were gradually withdrawn. Only Li Miao and his party were left in the temple and the people who had just been sent by Emperor Liang in accordance with Li Miao's request.
Li Yuxiang et al.
However, in order to ensure that Li Miao and his party did not leave quietly without any chance of recovery, Xiao Yi specially sent the leader Hu Sengyou to lead a battalion to sit here. After he discussed countermeasures with his officials overnight, he would send someone to persuade him tomorrow morning.
Fu Li Miao.
Li Miao was chatting with his nephew Li Yuxiang about his life and study in Jiangling during this period. When talking about this, Li Yuxiang looked excited and joyful.
Various books from Jiankang are being sent to Jiangling one after another. There are hundreds of thousands of volumes in total. This number simply makes Li Yuxiang and others shocked, and these students who were sent to Jiangling have recently been excepted.
Apart from eating and sleeping, I spend most of my time immersed in these scriptures.
After hearing this, Li Miao was marveling at the prosperity of culture and education in Nanliang when he suddenly heard the noise of fighting outside the door, so he quickly grabbed his sword and went to the front hall of the temple together with his subordinates and entourage.
At this time, in front of the temple gate, Hu Sengyou was commanding his troops to fight with the incoming attackers. As Li Miao and others arrived with torches, the scene of the battle gradually became clearer.
"Wait a minute! Why is Cui Yantong here?"
By the light of the torch, Li Miao quickly noticed a man with obvious facial scars during the battle, and he couldn't help shouting.
Cui Zhan couldn't help but froze when he heard this. When he saw Li Miao by voice, his face suddenly froze. His subordinate pulled him to avoid the oncoming blade, and then he looked embarrassed. He replied sadly: "Brother Dao Chi, are you the envoy of Wei? I didn't expect to meet you here at this moment..."