During this period, Li Jing led an army to sweep across the south of the Yangtze River, and with the Song clan sending troops to help, it was only a matter of time before the south of the Yangtze River was pacified.
Once the Yangzhou side pacifies the south of the Yangtze River, Wagangzhai will be the first to send troops northward.
Both Zhai Rang and Li Mi clearly understood Li Yizhi's threat, and they also wanted to send troops to participate in the siege to completely eliminate the threat.
However, they are now facing an important juncture and are really unable to do anything at the same time.
On the one hand, they wanted to capture Luokou Cang so that they could obtain enough food to recruit troops and capture Luoyang.
On the other hand, the struggle between them has become increasingly fierce, and they have no energy to deal with Li Yizhi.
Of course, they also hoped that Xiao Xian and Lin Shihong's alliance could hold back Li Yizhi until the two of them decided the winner, or even until they captured Luoyang.
However, it backfired.
Facing the sharp and invincible Yangzhou, Li Mi finally sent some of his men to Yangzhou to take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate the threat of Li Yizhi.
"Of course it's impossible to lose money. The silver content in this silver coin is only about 70%, and the remaining 30% is the profit margin. Even after excluding certain costs, there should be more than 10%
Profits, otherwise Li Yizhi would not be able to promote new coins with such full force."
Shen Luoyan shook his head and said worriedly, "What I'm most worried about now is that in the future, these new coins will flow to our Wagang Village on a large scale, which means that a large amount of our wealth will be robbed out of thin air by Li Yizhi."
Zu Junyan sneered and said, "Luoyan, you are worrying too much. He, Li Yizhi, does not have this chance. Not to mention that he will probably die in Yu Wenshang's hands, let's just say that no one from all the princes in the world is willing to see him walk out of Shaobo Lake alive."
Now among the hundreds of warriors watching the battle in Yangzhou, I don’t know how many of them are from them.”
Wang Bodang said casually, "Jun Yan is right. Although Li Yizhi is powerful, he is still too young after all. How can he be Yu Wenshang's opponent? Moreover, even if he is lucky enough to win, I am sure to kill him with one arrow."
.”
Shen Luoyan was a little uneasy. Last time they joined forces with rebel forces from all sides, but in the end they were defeated and suffered heavy losses.
…………
Night falls.
A living room in the Duke's Mansion was brightly lit.
This time Li Yizhi invited Song Shidao and Song Zhi to a banquet because the matter discussed was relatively sensitive and might make the relationship between the two parties tense or even lead to confrontation.
Therefore, Li Yizhi did not ask anyone else to accompany him, just the three of them.
The dishes are over five flavors, and the wine is over three rounds.
Li Yizhi put down his chopsticks, organized his words and said, "Second uncle, Shidao. This banquet for you is mainly to talk about marriage?"
Song Zhi didn't show any surprise. In fact, he noticed a strange atmosphere when he first took the seat.
Because from the perspective of etiquette, whether it is public or private, this banquet should be accompanied by someone. He had guessed about this unusual thing, and I am afraid that Li Yizhi had other ideas about the marriage.
Therefore, we created such a relatively relaxed and private place to discuss this matter, so as not to stalemate the relationship between the two parties.
Song Shidao didn't notice this. He said happily, "Yizhi, we will be a family in the future. Maybe it won't be long before you have to change your name to second brother, haha."
Li Yizhi smiled awkwardly and did not answer.
Song Shidao suddenly reacted. He looked at Li Yizhi, then at Song Zhi, and suddenly felt a bad feeling in his heart.
Song Zhi just smiled politely and said, "If the Duke of Chu has any thoughts on this matter, you can tell him directly. Although my Song family lives in Lingnan, I still have the magnanimity that a big family should have."
He meant what he said very tactfully. To put it bluntly, if you don't like us, we won't fawn over you. We will see in the future.
Li Yizhi shook his head and said, "Perhaps in your opinion, marriage is indeed a good way to deepen the relationship between us and make cooperation closer. But you and I both know that in the face of real interests, any marriage is nothing.
It’s a piece of waste paper and can be torn up at any time.”
"Real close cooperation should be a community of interests. We have the same goals and the same interests, and we can also make up for each other's shortcomings. And you and I actually have such conditions."
"That is, you help me unify the world, and finally get corresponding rewards, including high-ranking officials, generous salaries, gold and silver treasures. And I need to rely on the foundation and influence of your Song family, especially in terms of talents. Therefore, in my opinion, we are not
There is no need for marriage to achieve close cooperation."
Song Shidao was angry and said in a deep voice, "Yizhi, you should be able to tell that Yuzhi has fallen in love with you for a long time. Could it be that you don't like Yuzhi, or that Yuzhi is not good enough for you?"
Li Yizhi sighed, "Shidao, I don't want to mix other things into my love. Yuzhi is very good, both in appearance and character, but we are not suitable. Even if I agree today, for her
It’s not a good thing, she’s not a tool.”
When Song Shidao heard this, although he was still angry, he had to praise some of Li Yizhi's views. At least the other party respected Song Yuzhi.
Song Zhi is more rational and will not listen to Li Yizhi's one-sided words.
Since Li Yizhi doesn't agree with the marriage, he naturally doesn't want to cooperate with the Song family. From now on, he will definitely be an enemy rather than a friend.
He stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you so much, Lord Chu, for your hospitality tonight. It's getting late, so we'll go back first."
Li Yizhi also hurriedly stood up and said apologetically, "I was at fault in this matter. No matter whether we will unite again in the future, as compensation, I won't take any money from the salt exposure in the future, and it will all belong to the Song family."
Song Zhi raised his eyebrows and was shocked.
He knew very well the profits from drying salt, which amounted to tens of millions of taels of silver a year, or even more.
Li Yizhi actually gave up right away. At least his attitude was very sincere and he didn't look like he would be an enemy of the Song family in the future.
This made Song Zhi feel a lot calmer, and at the same time he thought about the reason why Li Yizhi did not agree with the marriage.
Suddenly, something moved in his heart and he immediately said, "Yizhi, if you have other loves in your heart, don't worry about it. Even if you marry Yuzhi, you can marry him in the future and give them the same status."
Li Yizhi shook his head and said, "That's not the reason."
Song Shidao was still angry. He didn't care how much the Song family gained, but he cared more about his sister's happiness.
So, he asked, "What is the reason? Yuzhi did not marry you for the future queenship. I believe she will be very happy even if she is a noble concubine. If you really like a woman, you can make her the queen at worst.
that is."
When Song Zhi heard this, he couldn't help but glared at Song Shidao.
He, the legitimate daughter of the Song family, will naturally be the queen.
However, they could take a step back and allow Li Yizhi to establish an extra queen. Anyway, there is precedent in ancient times.
The nearest one is Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who granted five empresses in total; the far one is the last emperor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, who would directly grant the title of empress to whomever he liked, and in the end there were too many to count.