Although Wanyan Zongwang didn't say anything, he could tell that this Song army was no longer the Song army of the past. Although it was still quite different from the Jin army, it could at least be said to be an army, not a group of people.
Ladies, watching these Southern Dynasty armies become stronger and stronger day by day, I am also very worried.
Before I knew it, it was already noon.
The guard came to announce that it was time to eat.
Wanyan Zongwang smiled and said: "One of the purposes of my coming here today is to try the skills of the Golden Knife Chef King."
"Of course, I have already prepared this. Please."
This didn't matter to Li Qi, because he was originally a chef and never thought that cooking for others was a despicable act.
Wanyan Zongwang raised his hand and said, "But I just want to talk to you. Let's just eat by the river."
"also."
Li Qi immediately ordered someone to bring the food here.
A few people sat on the floor, and after a while, the dish was brought up. It was just a dish, but it was not served in a bowl, but in a big basin. It was full of pieces of lamb chops, red and blooming.
It is shiny, and there are pieces of white jade-like bones hidden inside, with traces of green and looming, piled into the mountain, which has a great visual impact and is very attractive.
Li Qidao: "Ma Qiao, why don't you sit down and eat together, and have a few glasses of wine with the second prince."
In fact, he didn't say anything, and Ma Qiao had no intention of standing and watching them eat. As soon as Li Qi opened his mouth, he had already sat down cross-legged.
Wanyan Zongwang also said to the person next to him: "Shu Liesu, you can also eat together."
"yes."
Shu Liesu, the most powerful general under Wanyan Zongwang, was a prisoner for the first time in his life, and it was thanks to Li Qi's gift.
Li Qi smiled again and said: "This is the shredded lamb chops I made by myself, and I asked the second prince to comment on it." He knew that this golden man was not very good at using chopsticks and ate with his hands, so he might as well make it.
I ordered this shredded lamb chop to prevent others from saying that he bullied his customers and was uneducated.
Wanyan Zongwang didn't know how to be polite, so he directly picked up a piece of mutton chop and started eating it. The mutton chop was not big, and Wanyan Zongwang tore it apart in one bite, leaving only a bone. After chewing it, he felt that the mutton was crispy and delicious.
, fat but not greasy, the meat is soft, there is no mutton smell at all, but it has a spicy taste. After eating this bite, I sweat out. It is so strong that Wanyan Zongwang took a big gulp of the unparalleled sip in the world and shouted loudly.
Shuang said again: "As expected of the Golden Knife Chef King, this mutton is really nothing to say."
Li Qi chuckled and said, "Thank you, thank you."
The four of them started eating one after another.
Except for Li Qi, everyone else here was a big eater, and they were all carnivores, so the large pot of lamb chops was suddenly reduced by one-third.
Wanyan Zongwang and Shu Lisu are both wine jars. But they will not join forces to deal with Maqiao. After three consecutive touches, the first jar of wine will run out.
But for them, this is just to quench their thirst. It's not even about drinking together.
Li Qi took a sip of water with them and asked with a smile: "By the way, I wonder why the second prince came to Yunzhou this time?"
Wanyan Zongwangfeng Qingyun said calmly: "I have been staying in Shangjing these past few years, it's time to go out and take a walk."
"As expected of the second prince of the Jin Kingdom. Without hundreds of thousands of younger brothers, he would be embarrassed to go out. He is so impressive." Li Qi clicked his tongue a few times and said something else.
Wanyan Zongwang knew that Li Qi was referring to the 100,000 soldiers and horses in Xinzhou, so he smiled very relaxedly and said: "There is no way, this man has become very afraid of death when he gets old. It is better to take more people with him when he goes out."
He didn't hide it, but he didn't make his intention clear either. This made Li Qi feel very itchy. If you don't want to fight me, why don't you give me a clear explanation? He continued to test: "But you brought so many people to our door.
It's easy for people to get misunderstood by going back and forth, which will affect the exchanges between the people of our two countries."
Wanyan Zongwang still did not answer directly, only said: "But as far as I know, you have always stocked hundreds of thousands of troops in the Yanyun area, which is far more than us."
Li Qi seemed a little embarrassed when he said this. He thought to himself, can our army of more than 100,000 people compare with yours? But he said: "We don't want to do this either, but who told us that the Song Dynasty has a large population."
"That's okay." Wanyan Zongwang said, suddenly changing the subject and saying, "But there is something that our emperor is very dissatisfied with you."
"What's the matter?" Li Qi asked cautiously.
Wanyan Zongwang said very directly: "You trade weapons in the Southern Dynasties. This is nothing at first, but you don't seem to have considered us as an ally."
Li Qi snorted, frowned and said, "How do you say this?"
Wanyan Zongwang said: "The weapons you sold are now on our border with Dajin, the warships on the Yalu River, and the crossbows on the border north of Xixia are all from your Southern Dynasty."
Li Qidao: "When we open the door for business, we have no control over where customers use the goods they buy."
Wanyan Zongwang snorted softly and said: "But this has threatened my Dajin. Since we are allies, we should take care of each other in everything, especially Xixia. As we all know, this Xixia is a traitor to my Dajin, and you as
Our allies of Daikin are very close to Xixia. If it is just business dealings, then that's fine. However, you have recently exported a large number of weapons to Xixia, which makes us at Daikin very dissatisfied with your actions.
Are you an ally with them or an ally with us? When we negotiated here, we already made enough concessions, so don’t push any further."
Zhao Jingyan, who had been silent all the time, suddenly frowned and was about to speak, but was stopped by Li Qi's eyes, and then heard him say: "This arms trade is our country's policy. Even if we are allies, you have nothing to do."
Please intervene."
Wanyan Zongwang said: "But there is a premise, that is, you cannot cause trouble to me, Daikin, but your weapons sales have already hurt our Daikin. This is not another business. Have you ever considered selling weapons like this?
As an ally of ours, is this what an ally should do? It is also difficult for me, Daijin, to see your sincerity towards the Yunsang Alliance. If our Daikin soldiers die under the weapons you made, do you want us to
How can the emperor give them an explanation? I think this is not a wise decision for me, Dajin, and you, Dasong."
His tone today was very tough and threatening. Why, he was occupying Yunzhou, his army of hundreds of thousands.
ally?
If your mother regards me, the Song Dynasty, as an ally, then you are still playing this secret trick with us. Who is going too far!
Li Qi cursed secretly, but he still didn't know what Jin Guo's intention was, and Wanyan Zongwang's tone clearly contained a threat. He thought to himself, it's better not to get too serious with him at this time, and said: "In this regard
Maybe we were a little careless, so I don’t know what the Second Prince’s opinion is.”
Zhao Jingyan glanced at Li Qi with a hint of surprise. She really didn't expect that Li Qi, who had always been very tough in diplomacy, would become so weak today.
Wanyan Zongwang said: "Stop your arms sales with Goryeo and Xixia immediately."
"This is not possible." Li Qi said: "We have already established an alliance with Goryeo. The business transactions have been signed long ago. If we breach the contract, we will have to pay a lot of money."
"What about Xixia?"
"Xixia?"
Li Qi hesitated for a moment and said, "I can't make the decision."
Wanyan Zongwang said: "I know you can't make the decision, I just want to remind you in advance, because our emperor will soon send someone to your country, and we, Dajin, have not completely recognized the independence of Xixia so far, and there are still some problems in the middle
There are many problems. Therefore, before these problems are clarified, we hope that your country can also fulfill what an ally should do and stop selling weapons to Xixia. There is also Goryeo. We also do not want the country standing on the Yalu River.
You soldiers of the Southern Dynasty."
No matter what, Wanyan Zongwang did not launch an attack out of thin air. The sale of weapons was no different from ordinary sales and might cause very heavy losses to the Jin Kingdom. And so far, Yunsang's alliance was still effective. The Song Dynasty should be wary of its allies.
relationship between.
But his tone was too strong. This made Zhao Jingyan, who had always been arrogant and arrogant, a little unhappy, but no matter what, Li Qi was here, and as Li Qi's wife, she still had to respect Li Qi's opinion in this regard and discuss it in private.
It's another story.
However, Li Qi still did not return to his original diplomacy. He nodded and said: "I already understand what the second prince means. I will report it to the emperor. I think the specific matters should be resolved at the formal negotiation table."
Wanyan Zongwang said: "But before that, your country should immediately stop selling weapons to Xixia. I believe your country won't care about these few months."
Li Qi smiled and said: "Of course there is no problem."
Wanyan Zongwang added: "Oh, one more thing, we hope that your country can buy more livestock from our Golden Kingdom, especially sheep."
There were no pastures in the Northern Song Dynasty, so pigs and sheep were purchased from Xixia or the Jin Kingdom. The annual financial output in this area alone reached millions of dollars, and it was also the largest import trade in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Li Qi pondered for a moment and said: "The imperial court can liberalize this aspect of the policy, but the problem is that we cannot fully control it. Xixia's sheep are cheaper than your sheep. It is impossible for us to let the people run away without buying the cheap ones.
Buy the expensive one.”
Wanyan Zongwang said: "Our sheep are much better than Xixia's sheep, so the price is naturally higher. However, we can lower the price, even lower than Xixia's, as long as you buy enough."
Li Qidao: "We come here based on profit. If your sheep are cheap enough, of course we will buy them from you."
Wanyan Zongwang smiled softly and said: "This is the best thing to do." He thought to himself, it seems that this boy is still very afraid of our Dajin army. Li Qi's attitude also made him a little surprised.
Next, the two talked for a while about bilateral trade in more depth. Unknowingly, the large pot of lamb chops was completely wiped out. After three drinks, Wanyan Zongwang stood up and left.
Li Qi stood on the shore and watched him leave.
Zhao Jingyan, who had been silent all this time, finally couldn't help it anymore and said: "Wanyan Zongwang is too deceptive. If they really take the Yunsang Alliance to heart, they won't suddenly mobilize troops to hoard them here."
."
There was a hint of blaming Li Qi in his words.
Li Qi chuckled and said: "At least this means that the crisis has been resolved. As long as they don't start a war, the Yunsang Alliance will still have a role."
Zhao Jingyan frowned and looked at Li Qi and said: "That's what I say, but is it rare for you to really promise them to stop selling weapons to Xixia?"
Li Qi shook his head and said, "That's not important. What's important is why he made this request at this time."
Zhao Jingyan frowned and said, "What do you mean?"
Li Qi sneered and said: "Xixia is a threat to the Jin Kingdom, but isn't it a threat to the Song Dynasty? We have fought with Xixia far more than we have fought with them, the Jin Dynasty. Just a few days ago, we all regarded Xixia as a
It's an imaginary enemy. Couldn't Wanyan Zongwang have guessed that when we sell weapons to Xixia, we must keep them. It's impossible to sell some of the most advanced weapons to Xixia, and it's even more impossible to treat Xixia like Goryeo. They just say that.
There is only one purpose.”
Zhao Jingyan said: "They want to sow discord between us and Xixia. It seems that the Jin Kingdom plans to attack Xixia."
"good."
Li Qi nodded and said: "This is his purpose. Whether it is livestock trade or weapons trade, Wanyan Zongwang is targeting Xixia. It seems that the Jin Army is about to embark on a western expedition."
Zhao Jingyan said: "Isn't this just what you expected?"
"That's true." Li Qidao: "But I didn't expect that the Jin Congress would take action so quickly. Now we don't have any power in the west at all, and even Tubo has not been solved yet, but this is always a good thing for us.
At least the Jin army has no signs of war against our Song Dynasty. As long as they give me five years, our Song Dynasty will no longer be afraid of them." I added in my heart, as long as there is no war, even if I give them some profits, I will
No matter what.
Zhao Jingyan looked sideways at the smiling Li Qi and thought to herself, it seems that he still hides a lot of things from me! (To be continued...)