Yan Xiang sat opposite the emperor and carefully looked at His Majesty the Emperor, who was leaning on the soft couch opposite him and looked very weak.
He hesitated for a moment and asked: "Your Majesty, the little emperor of the Southern Dynasty has been focusing on the Northern Expedition since he took office. At this time, I am sending an envoy over, because I am afraid that I will not be able to persuade him."
The emperor tightened his clothes because he was a little cold. The eunuch on the side immediately understood and brought him a blanket to cover him. The emperor, regardless of his own image, put the blanket on himself and looked at Yan Li.
"Young people are ignorant, that's why."
"It was the same with his father in his early years."
His Majesty the Emperor coughed, then recovered, and said: "But in the Southern Dynasty court, he alone has the final say..."
Having said this, he paused and smiled to himself: "Just like this dynasty, I don't have the final say on many things."
After the emperor took a deep breath, he said quietly: "In the 29th year of Yong'an, when I married Princess Yun to him, didn't he also agree? But the Queen Mother Sun of the Southern Dynasty agreed."
His Majesty the Emperor looked calm and said: "It is my will to let Zhou Shizhong fight a few fierce battles with the Nanren. At the same time, he sent an envoy to Jiankang to negotiate peace with Nanchen and become a brotherly state with the Huaihe River as the boundary.
Don’t offend each other.”
Hearing these words, even the prime minister, Yan Xiang, couldn't help but be a little surprised.
Because this statement has never been said before in Daqi!
Since Emperor Taizu entered the Central Plains more than sixty years ago, Da Qi's desire has always been to unify the world. In the twenty or thirty years after entering the Pass, Northern Qi's conquests against Nanchen never stopped for even a year.
time.
Even though it became impossible to fight anymore and the two countries ceased war, there was never any talk of being a brotherly country!
Because the two parties did not recognize each other legally before, even if they had intermarriage, deep down in their hearts, they did not really recognize each other.
And now, once this alliance letter is established, it will mean that both parties recognize each other, and they will officially become two countries from now on!
Moreover, once we become a kingdom of brothers, in the future, future kings of Da Qi will become unknown troops if they want to raise troops to go south.
Although it won't have much impact on the war, it won't sound good after all.
Of course, if Nan Chen agrees to this charter, then in the future, unless Northern Qi does something to offend Nan Chen, Nan Chen will have no reason to expedition to the north.
Yan Li just thought about it and figured out what his emperor was thinking.
His Majesty the Emperor is old and in poor health.
Maybe the dragon's arrival as a guest only happened in the past two years.
Now that the Southern and Northern Expeditions are gaining momentum, and with the emergence of a freak like Shen Yi, we have to think of ways to stop them.
To put it bluntly, it is a delaying strategy.
After a few years, when the throne of Da Qi is passed smoothly and the imperial court is stabilized, then Nan Chen can fight however he wants!
It's nothing more than a competition of national strength.
In terms of national strength, today's Northern Qi is much better than Southern Chen.
Wanting to understand the key to this, Prime Minister Yan looked at the emperor, lowered his head slightly, and sighed: "Your Majesty, if it were ten years ago, this alliance would have been something that the Nanchen court would have dreamed of signing..."
His Majesty the Emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty forced a smile: "Even now, it is also the dream of many people in the Southern Dynasty court."
Whether it is the nobles of the court, clan members, or some ministers, all they think about is their own long-lasting wealth.
Once this alliance was signed, in theory, the two countries became brothers. As long as the Northern Qi did not go south, the Southern Qi could live for another hundred years.
This is naturally the best thing for those with vested interests who indulge in sensuality and Jiangnan romance.
In fact, what vested interests like Zhao Clan want to see most is this kind of situation!
Yan Li lowered his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty, I understand what you mean. I will call the people from the Ministry of Rites later and ask Haman, the minister of Rites, to personally take the credentials and go south to be envoy to Jiankang."
Having said this, he hesitated for a moment and then said: "But Your Majesty, how should we deal with Nan Chen's minister Shen Ziheng..."
"I will let the people from the Cleansing Department handle it."
The emperor closed his eyes and said, "If you can, kill him. If you can't kill him, make him bow his head so that he can stop thinking about the Northern Expedition."
For Northern Qi, Nanchen was not terrible.
Nanchen's Northern Expedition is not terrible either.
The scary thing is that some people from Nanchen really crossed the Huaihe River and won the victory north of the Huaihe River!
This momentum must be eliminated.
Because others don't know it, as the Emperor of Da Qi, he clearly knows that Da Qi's national power is slowly declining...
More than sixty years ago, when Da Qi entered the Pass, how many crimes were committed?
Over the past sixty years, how many Han people did Master Zhu Li oppress and kill in order to gain profits in this half of the country?
There are too many to count.
Because of this, Emperor Zhao of Northern Qi was more afraid of liquidation than anyone else.
This reckoning is unlikely to fall on him personally.
But when the day comes, he, the emperor, may not have incense sacrifices in the future!
Yan Li bowed his head respectfully.
"Yes, I understand..."
The emperor tightened the blanket around him, exhaled a breath, and continued: "I will pass on my decree again. All the real people in Beijing and Zhuli, and every household, will send a man to join the army and train in the Forbidden Army..."
Yan Li was stunned for a moment, but still lowered his head.
"Old minister, I obey."
After conversing with the emperor, he stood up and left.
After the strict prime minister left, the emperor wrapped himself in a quilt again and said in a hoarse voice: "Liu Yi."
A eunuch knelt on the ground respectfully.
"The slave is here."
The emperor glanced at him and spoke slowly.
"Send an order to the Purity Department and ask the Purity Department to enter the palace to see me."
Eunuch Liu stood up respectfully and turned around.
The emperor squinted his eyes and looked south.
"The Purification Department has been building Kangbuzi for many years. It should be of use..."
………………
In the next month, nothing major happened.
The only thing worth mentioning is that the Huaihe Navy and the Zhengnan Army were fighting fiercely. The war had been going on for a month, and the fighting was very fierce, with both sides winning or losing.
The total number of troops invested by both sides totaled nearly 100,000.
However, Huai'an was calm during this month, because the Qi people never attacked Huai'an again, and the defenses along the Huai River were tight, so Shen Yi would not be able to find a chance to go north again for a while.
We can only stare at each other with big eyes and small eyes, and neither side can do anything to the other.
In this way, time passes day by day.
In early April of the twelfth year of Hongde, the people of Qi sent Haman, the Minister of Rites, on an envoy to Jiankang.
This Minister Ha submitted his credentials to His Majesty the Emperor Chen, requesting an armistice between the two countries, and that they would become brotherly states and have friendly relations from generation to generation. The Huaihe River would be the boundary and they would never violate each other.
In order to express sincerity, this time Daqi also brought ten beauties from Zhu Lizhen to present to His Majesty the Emperor Chen.
At the great court meeting, His Majesty the Emperor of Dachen squinted his eyes and looked at Minister Ha who was handing over his credentials.
There was no expression on his face, but he was sneering in his heart.
Facing this letter of credence submitted by Northern Qi on its own initiative, the courtiers in the court were all excited.
Because this was the first time in more than sixty years that Northern Qi took the initiative to "seek peace from Da Chen!"
Even Zhongshu Wuxiang has some excitement in his eyes.
His Majesty the Emperor looked at the alliance letter placed in front of him.
This alliance letter was what the former emperor had longed for after his failure in the Northern Expedition.
When the imperial court failed in its Northern Expedition, the former emperor sent people to Yandu to sue for peace. This was roughly the content of the credential handed to the emperor of Northern Qi.
However, the Northern Qi Emperor rejected it.
Now this letter of credence was handed to him again.
Although the words in the credential were sincere, the more he read it, the more irritated he became!
His Majesty the Emperor glanced at the ministers in the court again. He took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice.
"I need to think about this matter for some time. Your envoy is tired from the journey and should go to the Rites Hall to rest."
Haman lowered his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, this time, in addition to the letter of credence given to Your Majesty, the foreign minister also brought a gift from the Empress Dowager of your country to the Queen Mother of your country. I ask His Majesty the Emperor to allow the foreign minister to
I personally gave it to the Queen Mother to show my respect."
The emperor frowned slightly: "What gift?"
Haman lowered his head again and said: "Your Majesty, my clan grew up in the White Mountains and Black Waters. Ginseng is often grown on the White Mountains. The empress of my court has a thousand-year-old ginseng. Eating it can prolong life, nourish the skin and remove toxins. The empress specially asked foreign ministers to bring it
, presented to the Queen Mother."
The emperor thought for a while and felt that this matter could not be hidden from the Queen Mother. After hesitating for a while, he frowned and said.
"In that case, I will take you to see your mother later."
He wanted to keep an eye on it personally to prevent the envoy from talking nonsense.
