After Han Donghu left, two dilapidated carriages whose carriages were damaged by wind and rain drove out from the peach forest.
After the herbal tea stalls were loaded onto the carriage, Han Qian and Feng Liao also got in. The two carriages left the official road one after the other, turned inconspicuously into a fork in the south, and drove towards Maoshan.
The large thatched shed was empty, as if nothing had happened.
"If Xue Ruogu here can reveal the inside story of the assassination case first, and then people in Guangde Mansion will get angry and cause some minor troubles, will it be more helpful to overturn the case?" Feng Liao
said.
Directly funding the revolt of the old soldiers of the Guangde Army would be too risky, and there would be too many subsequent variables.
Just like Tan Yuliang's uprising in Sizhou, he was almost out of Xuzhou's control in the end - Sizhou was still directly under the surveillance of Xuzhou soldiers and horses.
Feng Liao would not raise questions in front of Han Donghu before, but now he got into the carriage and wanted to discuss whether there was another, more gentle option.
Han Qian was also a little hesitant about how to deal with the whole matter, but the possibility mentioned by Feng Liao was not within his consideration. He asked instead: "If you were the one sitting in Chongwen Hall, would you be involved in this matter?"
Do you want to give in?"
Feng Liao said: "If the Forbidden Army's war on the north bank of the Yangtze River goes smoothly, that person may not give in."
"Not only will he not give in, he may even directly order a more bloody suppression." Han Qian shook his head, sighed, and said, "In addition, Li Zhigao and Gao Chengyuan cooperated and advanced by land and water to force them into Chaozhou City.
, taking Chaozhou City won’t cause any trouble, so don’t have any other expectations.”
Feng Liao sighed softly. He just wanted to see if there were any other options, but he also knew that the possibility of the Imperial Army being frustrated on the north bank of the Yangtze River was very slim.
The first stage of the Chu army's war against the Anninggong rebels was to recapture Chaozhou and Chuzhou.
These two states are close to the north bank of the Yangtze River, facing Jinling and Chizhou across the river. If these two places are not recovered, merchant ships going east and west must be careful when crossing the Yangtze River waterway, not to mention that rebels will occasionally infiltrate Jinling City on small boats.
Come.
However, the Chu army sent troops from Shuzhou in large numbers and fought from west to east. The imperial troops stationed on the south bank also kept an eye on the movements on the north bank. From the beginning, no one in the court thought that it would be difficult to regain Chaozhou or Chuzhou.
Even if the rebels really want to hold on to Chaozhou City or Chuzhou City tenaciously, the Chu army is still capable of encircling them until they run out of food and collapse without a fight.
There was no problem with the Chu army's deployment of troops in the first stage.
Even though a large number of Liang troops were stationed in Yingzhou in the north at this time, Yingzhou was more than 250 miles away from Chaozhou and had to cross the vast Huaihe River.
However, Chizhou and Jinling, where Da Chu had heavy troops stationed, were 220 miles away from Chaozhou City and were connected by waterways. At this time, the Chu army was not afraid that Liang Jun would dare to cross the Huai River and interfere with Shouzhou.
during the Reconquest War.
What is really complicated is how to use troops against Shouzhou and Huozhou, which are across the Huaihe River from the Liang army after recapturing Chaozhou and Chuzhou.
Shouzhou, Huozhou and the almost completely crippled Haozhou spread out along the south bank of the Huaihe River. If the Anning Palace rebels shrink back, the Privy Council must consider the collusion between the rebels and Liang Guo. Liang Jun may cross the Huaihe River and go south at any time.
.
According to the information Feng Liao learned after arriving in Jinling, Emperor Yanyou and the Privy Council have no immediate plans to regain Shouzhou and Huozhou. In the first stage, they want to recover Chuzhou and Chaozhou first. This is relatively pragmatic, that is,
We can't expect the Forbidden Army soldiers and horses to make any big mistakes on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, it would be difficult for them to take advantage of the public outrage to force Yang Yuanpu to compromise on the characterization of the assassination case.
To be honest, apart from his paranoid suspicion of Xuzhou, Yang Yuanpu did a good job in other aspects. He left Wei Qun, Cao Gan and others in the cold in Shenjiaji for a few days, and then quickly started the peace negotiation process.
.
This shows that with the assistance of Shen Yang, Yang En, Yang Zhiyuan and others, Yang Yuanpu can still recognize that Liang Jun is the most serious threat to Chu at this time; the conclusion of an alliance between Chu and Shu is also something that Chu needs to determine first.
The conclusion of an alliance between Chu and Shu will greatly affect Xuzhou's interests in the Wuchuan Valley. Feng Liao's main concern during his stay in Jinling during this period was this matter.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly and did not deviate from their previous expectations.
The Shu Kingdom took the initiative to provoke a war and delayed the conclusion of the alliance between the two countries for a full year. After all, it was the party at the disadvantage. The Shu Kingdom was relatively at a disadvantage in all aspects of its strength, but it did not mean that the Shu Kingdom had to lie on the ground.
He endured the ravages of Chu without being able to raise any conditions.
Most of the terms have been agreed upon long ago. The main thing that needs to be adjusted is that the Salt and Iron Envoys will not only implement a new purchase system for Shu merchants entering Chu territory, but also designate several specific cities where Shu merchant ships can berth.
Trade goods with limited trading houses.
In addition, the Salt and Iron Envoy also requested Shu to export a batch of mules, horses, tea, medicine and other commercial goods that were in short supply in Chu every year.
This somewhat implies forced tribute, but it is also related to the fact that after Emperor Yanyou ascended the throne, under the strong advocacy of Shen Yang, Yang En and others, he comprehensively strengthened the system of selling salt, iron, tea and wine, as well as the collection of over-taxes and municipal taxes.
Related to the new policy to make up for the annual income gap.
On the Shu side, Wei Qun was nominally the envoy, but Wei Qun was imprisoned in Jinling for four or five months and had no information from the outside world. In fact, Cao Gan was leading the peace talks.
Cao Qian put forward several conditions tit for tat, mainly focusing on the commercial exchanges of the Qianjiang River Channel.
In the eyes of the ministers in the Chu court, in addition to the need for the Shu envoys to make some bargaining gestures to explain to the domestic government and the public, it was probably partly because the Yuzhou Shu army was supported by Xuzhou in the Wuchuan Valley.
The fight was so brutal that the real fire started.
This gesture of the Shu Kingdom makes it clear that even if they have to form an alliance, even if they still need to purchase soldiers and armor and war equipment from Xuzhou, they will never control the supervision of the Salt and Iron Academy of Wuchuan County and control the casting of soldiers and armor in southwestern Hunan at this time.
States have more opportunities to take advantage.
The Shu army helped suppress Xuzhou, and the kings and ministers of Chu were too late to be happy. How could they refuse at all?
As for Cao Qian's request to increase the price of Shu salt entering Chu, it seems that Jingzhou, Dengxiang and other places will also be affected, but the sea salt produced by Da Chu in the Huaidong salt field can be easily transported to various places through the Yangtze River and its tributaries.
, the quantity is sufficient.
In other words, in southwestern Hunan and central Guizhou, it is more convenient to import well salt from Shu.
However, after the Shu salt significantly increased the price of salt delivered into Chu, the price of well salt delivered in Wuchuan County was raised to three yuan per stone, and the cost gap in transportation was almost eliminated.
This means that even if Xuzhou controls the Yantieyuan Supervisor in Wuchuan County, there will be no huge profits.
"At present, the two countries have concluded an alliance. Wei Qun left Jinling by boat the day before yesterday and returned to the capital of Shu, but Cao Qian temporarily stayed in Jinling to prepare for the construction of the Shu Pavilion," Feng Liao introduced the peace talks between Chu and Shu to establish an alliance.
He asked, "Cao Qian may want to meet me in the near future. Would you like to meet him too?"
At this time, more interests of Yuzhou are tied to Xuzhou, especially the trade agreement on the Qianjiang Passage, which will enable Changxiang Marquis Wang Yong to obtain a large amount of resources. Feng Liao suggested that Han Qian meet with Cao Gan at this time.
Don't worry about being betrayed by Cao Gan.
Chu and Shu formed an alliance. The two countries prepared to build national embassies in each other's capitals and sent permanent envoys to each other so that the two countries could communicate in a timely manner, resolve disputes, and strengthen ties more closely. This was also Han Qian's mission to Shu.
proposed at the time.
Cao Qian temporarily stayed in charge of the affairs of the Shu Pavilion. It is obvious that the Shu Kingdom should hand over all the affairs in this area to Changxiang Hou Wang Yong. At that time, it should also be Changxiang Hou Wang Yong who sent his direct followers to stay permanently.
Jinling Shu Pavilion is responsible for daily communication between the two countries.
In the treaty between the two countries, the Shu Pavilion in Jinling and the Chu Pavilion in the capital of Shu will have some privileges and immunities.
Feng Liao thought that if Xuzhou really wanted to establish a stable intelligence network in Jinling, it should cooperate with the Marquis of Changxiang.
Especially since the Jinyun Division has great power, Xuzhou can not only obtain some sensitive information in a timely manner through the special existence of the Shu Pavilion, but can also use it to carry out some necessary concealment and cover.
Only by establishing contact with Princess Qingyang of Changxin Palace through the Shu State Pavilion can we avoid the eyes and ears of Jinyun Division.
"We'll wait and see when Cao Gan will send someone to contact us." Han Qian didn't say whether he would see him or not. He just waited until then to see what happened. The matter was more complicated than he had expected. He had only been in Jinling for two days and he didn't have many clues.
After thinking about it, I'm not sure it would be beneficial to meet Cao Qian at this time.
Twilight was approaching, and the sky quickly darkened. Fortunately, the starry sky was sparse, and the moonlight shrouded the sky and earth like rippling water, which did not affect the journey at night.
Insects chirped, and some frogs chirped from distant canals and ponds. Don't think about the war on the north bank of the Yangtze River, or the crisis buried deep in Dachu. It really was an idyllic and peaceful atmosphere.
The two carriages quickly drove to Xiao Maofeng at the northwest foot of Maoshan Mountain after dark.
Dozens of riders galloped out of the deep woods, met up with Han Qian, and continued to drive deep into Maoshan. Until the Feng family secretly hid their treasures, Han Qian used Maoshan as a command post to gather and direct the Chishan Army to fight.
In the villa, all the people's carriages and horses stopped.
During the Jinling War, Han Qian took Maoshan and summoned slaves from Gyeonggi Province to join the army. After that, a large number of Chishan Army generals and their families were either resettled in Guangde Mansion, or they were dispersed to various military camps as soldiers of the Imperial Guard.
This caused the villages and towns near Maoshan to suffer a massive loss of population, which was less than 20% to 30% of the pre-war level. There were even fewer people in Maoshan, and Taoist temples, courtyards, and villages were almost all abandoned.
After Han Qian rushed to Jinling, Maoshan, a deserted place, became their best place to stay.
Otherwise, Han Qian was followed by more than a hundred retinues on this trip. In the densely populated Gyeonggi Auxiliary County where the terrain is mainly plains and shallow hills, how could he hide without revealing his flaws?
It was already late at night. In addition to the sentries at the entrance and exit, there were also hidden sentries scattered among the surrounding mountains. Han Qian asked the others to rest first. He stepped into the grass and walked to the backyard.
Xi Rong was still standing in front of the lamp. When she saw Han Qian pushing open the door and walking in, she asked, "Why did it take so long to come back?"