Li Qi said it very calmly, but Duan Zhengyan was shocked when he heard it. He thought that Li Qi would speak loudly at this time, but he never thought that Li Qi would make such a request.
What Zhao Jingyan said is so true. Talking to Li Qi is really troublesome.
Sometimes when you think he will be generous and open-minded, he turns out to be generous and open-minded. Sometimes when you think he will be generous and open-minded, he turns out to be very fussy and you will never guess what his next sentence will be.
"this---."
Duan Zhengyan's mind was a little slow and he said: "Please forgive Duan for being stupid. I wonder what the Privy Councilor meant by this?"
"That's what it means literally." Li Qidao said: "We hope that King Dali can serve us in the Song Dynasty and take care of the southern area, including Dali and Jiaozhi."
This sounds easy to understand, but the meaning contained in it is complicated. Li Qi first said that Duan Zhengyan should serve the Song Dynasty, and then used the southern region to summarize Dali and Jiaozhi. In the final analysis, Dali must be included in
Great Song Dynasty.
Duan Zhengyan frowned and remained silent.
Li Qi smiled softly and said: "King Dali, I would like to ask again, are you raising the army for the Duan family's imperial power or for the people of Dali?"
"Of course it's the common people."
As he spoke, he added: "This Dali country was conquered by my Duan family. Of course I also want to take back the imperial power that belongs to my Duan family." He spoke frankly and did not feel there was anything wrong with it.
Li Qi asked again: "Comparing the two, which one is lighter and which one is more important?"
Duan Zhengyan said bluntly: "There is a saying in the Central Plains that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. No matter whether I think so in my heart, but if you ask me this, I will definitely answer like this."
Oh, do you still have a bit of kingly demeanor? Li Qi smiled and nodded: "What King Dali said makes sense, but I believe that King Dali would never want to see a dying Dali."
As he spoke, he sighed softly and said: "Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize it. In fact, this sentence explains everything. No matter what you plan in your heart, this truth will always be there. If the people of Dali
We are all living in the heat of water, how long do you think you can sit on the throne that you worked so hard to win back?"
Duan Zhengyan was speechless.
Li Qi continued: "Please forgive me for saying something inappropriate. In fact, your Duan family in Dali has long existed in name only. Without our help, you would never have been able to stand up in the hands of the Gao family. In this case, why don't you look away?
I might as well tell you bluntly, with your current strength and the situation in your country, you simply cannot manage this country well. It is not that you are incompetent, but that you do not have enough support. In fact, you understand this very well, otherwise you would not
You will come here to ask me for help."
Duan Zhengyan said with some frustration: "Yes. You are right. I am indeed unable to clean up this mess."
Li Qi opened his hands and said: "Then why are you still struggling with this issue? In fact, we value King Dali's talent far more than anything else. In other words, if King Dali did not exist, we would not necessarily help.
.You always wonder if I am playing tricks, and I can tell you clearly. If I want to play tricks, you have no qualifications to negotiate with me. After all, the strength of my Song Dynasty lies here."
What he said was half true and half false. It was precisely because he believed that Duan Zhengyan was a talent and a person who cared about the people that he spent so much time on Duan Zhengyan. If it were Li Qiande , a person like Gao Mingshun, who regards his own interests above all else, takes another approach.
Duan Shiwen saw that his Lord was speechless by Li Qi one after another, and hurriedly said: "But Your Majesty and the Emperor of your country have always been very friendly. Don't you think it is too cruel for you to ignore death now? ?" As he spoke, his eyes were already moist, because he knew that he was already in an extremely disadvantaged situation, with almost no chance of a comeback.
"cruel?"
Li Qi shook his head and said: "This word is too selfish. When you say we are cruel, you are just targeting the throne of King Dali, not the people of Dali. If King Dali cares about the people, I don't think there will be a struggling expression on his face at this time. From just now to now, you have never thought about the people of Dali for a moment, but started from your power. After all, Dali has almost turned into a hell on earth. The people are suffering, and you are still here for The throne and power are struggling, and they are constantly testing our bottom line, who is the cruel one?"
Li Qi's words just hit Duan Zhengyan's sore spot. You can only choose one or the other, people or power. This is really a very painful choice. Duan Zhengyan always thought that his starting point was the people, but when it came time to choose. , he became very struggling again, there was no doubt that he didn’t want to lose either, which made him doubt his own. At this moment, he suddenly felt that he had become very strange, and he didn’t even know that he really wanted to What is.
Obviously, his psychological defense has gradually collapsed.
Li Qidu saw it, but now is not the time to be kind. In order to prevent the war from eroding the people here in the future, the only way is to let them live under the same country, so that there will be no competition for interests. , because everyone is a common people of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Jingyan also lowered her eyelids and sipped the tea quietly. The tea was very light, but she felt it was very sweet, because success was already close at hand, and could even be said to be within easy reach.
After quite a while, Duan Zhengyan suddenly raised his head and asked bluntly: "You sound as if as long as I surrender to the Song Dynasty, the people of Dali will be able to get out of their predicament immediately."
Li Qi nodded and said: "That's what I mean. Once Dali, Jiaozhi and Song Dynasty are connected together, the benefits for Dali or Jiaozhi will be more than three times. The imperial court's support for these two areas will definitely be continuous. Within two years, the living standards of the people of Dali will definitely be higher than a year ago, and within five years, they will surpass those of Dali's heyday.
I won’t go into details. Now the economy of our Song Dynasty has slowly begun to become saturated. Many people have nowhere to spend their money. If Dali is owned by our Song Dynasty, the court only needs to relax its policies a little. Our Song Dynasty’s Businessmen will flock to Dali, and what they will bring will be a lot of wealth. With this money, prosperity will not be exaggerated."
Duan Zhengyan said: "But don't forget, there are wars and rebellions everywhere in Dali."
Li Qi raised his hand and said: "This is not a problem. Just those puppies and kittens are nothing to worry about. It will be settled within half a year and the people will have a bright future."
Duan Shiwen said: "This is just your one-sided statement."
"What I can give you now are only one-sided words." Li Qi smiled and said: "If none of what I said happened, then it must be --- you cannot blame me, but you, King Dali."
"Blame me again?"
Duan Zhengyan pointed at his mistake and said in astonishment. He thought, no matter how good you are at speaking, Li Qi, you can't tell lies with your eyes open. The words came from your mouth, so why should I take the responsibility?
Li Qi nodded and said: "If you want to ask questions, of course you should ask King Dali. As I said just now, our emperor attaches great importance to King Dali's ability and hopes that King Dali can manage this area. As the manager of this area, you
Well, if something goes wrong, why don't you blame me if I don't blame you?"
Duan Zhengyan said in confusion: "What do you mean by this?"
Li Qi suddenly took out an imperial edict from the side and put it on the table, saying: "This imperial edict was originally intended to be awarded to the person who made the greatest military exploits during this expedition. The emperor said at the beginning that whoever made the greatest contributions would be awarded a title.
He is the King of Zhennan. Judging from the current situation, Yue Fei and Wu Jie are the most likely. But if King Dali is willing to surrender to the Song Dynasty, this imperial decree will naturally belong to you. And King Zhennan will be assigned by you.
The clan is hereditary.
Not only that, when the time comes, Dali and Jiaozhi will also be unified and unified under the management of King Dali. Your governance ideas will be fully brought into play, and you will also receive very strong support. I think this will be beneficial to the Song Dynasty, Dali, and
It is very beneficial for both Cochin and it is a win-win situation.”
Duan Shiwen said cautiously: "The privy envoy will not take advantage of us so much."
"Cheap?" Li Qi asked without answering: "Why do you think so? Do you think this is a very easy job?"
"I---."
Duan Shiwen started to speak but stopped.
Zhao Jingyan smiled and said: "Privy Envoy, I think what Envoy Duan means is, what is the difference between the King of Zhennan and the emperor?"
Li Qi asked: "Really?"
Duan Shiwen chose the default.
Li Qi chuckled: "Of course there is a difference. The emperor is always the biggest one. Is there an emperor above King Zhennan? As for power, although King Zhennan has all the local administrative powers, he even owns most of them.
Decision-making power, but according to the system of our Song Dynasty, military power and financial power will still be controlled by the Privy Council and the Third Division, and King Zhennan must also abide by the laws and systems of our Song Dynasty."
After hearing this, Duan Shiwen immediately felt that his question was a bit idiotic. If all the power was concentrated in Duan Zhengyan's hands, then Song Dynasty might as well not worry about it.
For the emperor, the three powers of military, government, and finance must be highly concentrated, but for the ministers, they can only have a certain part of the power at most, and it is impossible to have the three powers. Even Li Qi is like this. When he took office
After becoming the privy envoy, he immediately handed over the economic envoy involved in financial power to Bai Qiannuo, and made huge concessions on the weapons supervisor. There is only one person in the world who can hold absolute power, and that is the emperor.
This is the fundamental difference between ministers and emperors.
Duan Zhengyan is also an emperor after all. Why doesn't he understand this emperor's art? At this time, he also knew the bottom line of the Song Dynasty and said with a smile: "The Privy Councilor is so sure that I will definitely agree?"
Li Qi shook his head and said: "Human nature is the most complex, and the throne is the most tempting in the world. To be honest, I have never felt confident about it. But on the other hand, if King Dali refuses, I will
I will also feel very happy.”
Duan Zhengyan narrowed his eyes and said, "Oh? How do you say this?"
Li Qidao: "Because this proves that we have misjudged the person from the beginning. A person who is so selfish that he only cares about his own interests and abandons the people. How can such a person manage a land well? Do you think I should
Feel lucky."
Duan Zhengyan smiled and nodded and said: "Duan finally saw what the Privy Council is capable of today. You are using the people to force me to submit."
"Forcing you? I'm afraid this is out of the question." Li Qi chuckled: "Not to mention that the power given to you by the Song Dynasty is much greater than what you had a year ago. At least you will not have empty ambitions but fail to display them.
In addition, from the beginning to the end, I have never gone to find King Dali. You have always come to me, and I have been providing you with help. As far as the current situation is concerned, this is indeed the best policy. I am just
If you don't agree to give me suggestions, of course I won't force you. Everything still depends on your own wishes, King Dali."
Duan Zhengyan looked directly at Li Qi, but the latter did not show any guilty expression and responded with a smile. After a while, Duan Zhengyan gently closed his eyes and exhaled heavily.
When Duan Shiwen saw this, his expression tightened and he hurriedly said: "Privy Envoy, this matter is of great importance, we must consider it carefully."
Li Qi smiled and said, "I said, I'm just giving advice. You don't need to ask me for instructions on what you want to do."
Duan Zhengyan suddenly stood up and said, "No need."
Duan Shiwen said anxiously: "Your Majesty."
Duan Zhengyan turned to look at Duan Shiwen and said: "Shiwen, if we had our way, we wouldn't be here. We can continue to delay it, but the people of Dali cannot afford to wait. One day later, there will be countless people
As a result, lives have been lost, and if this continues, the situation will only get worse."
As he spoke, he came to the middle, looked directly at Li Qi, and said, "I hope you can remember what you said today."
Li Qi shook his head and said: "Whether I remember it or not, it doesn't matter at all. If we can't bring a prosperous life to the people here, let alone King Dali, I'm afraid the people will be the first to stand up and resist.
You will have the opportunity to restore the country, but I, the Song Dynasty, will not give you this opportunity, and the people here will only get better and better."
Having said this, Duan Zhengyan stopped talking and made a big gesture.
Duan Shiwen saw it and knew that the situation had been decided. He hurriedly came to the middle and knelt on the ground.
Finally my hard work was not wasted.
Li Qi handed the imperial edict to Zhao Jingyan, who stood up and took it, then came to Duan Zhengyan, opened the edict and read it aloud. (To be continued...)