In the afternoon, Zhu Shengfei came to the camp again. He used the noon time to sort out the emperor's opinions. He originally wanted to discuss it tomorrow, but Zhao Gou was impatient and wanted to reach an agreement today and then drive Chen Qing away in the evening.
Zhu Shengfei put forward the emperor's opinions to Zhou Kuan, and then waited for Zhou Kuan to report to Chen Qing.
After listening to Zhou Kuan's report, Chen Qing sneered and said, "He actually traded Sichuan for Jinghu. Damn he figured it out. Is the abdication edict just incidental?"
Zhou Kuan smiled and said: "Does the prince want to listen to the opinion of the humble official?"
"you say!"
Chen Qing waved his hand, motioning for his men to serve tea, and asked Zhou Kuan to speak slowly.
"Your Majesty, the first one is the most important to the emperor. We can discuss it alone. The emperor of the six states of Dongting Lake has agreed, so the problem is not big. Regarding the Sichuan Road, the emperor insists on the appointment of state-level officials. The humble suggestion can be agreed, but
We need to appoint Tongpan. With Tongpan and county magistrates, other state officials can easily take over. We will build a new official office entirely in the form of tongpan plus staff. Other state officials will either secretly be loyal to the county king or be loyal to the county king secretly.
Just leave it alone, give me a few qian of firewood and rice every month, and forget about it."
Chen Qing nodded, "That's okay. We will fight for the right to appoint Tongpan. If even Tongpan refuses to agree, then we will create another set of state officials and replace all the state officials appointed by the imperial court."
"Yes! That's what humble position means."
"Let's talk about Zhangzhou, what does the emperor mean?"
Zhou Kuan said with a smile: "Actually, it's a matter of garrison power. The emperor does not allow garrisoning, but allows the establishment of militia groups to fight pirates. I think there is no difference between militia groups and the army, they just have different names."
Chen Qing thought for a moment and said: "But we have to make a good deal with them. I will not station troops, and the court will not allow troops to be stationed in Quanzhou. In addition, the Salt and Iron Administration and the Municipal Ship Administration will not allow the establishment of official offices in Quanzhou, and even salt drying is not allowed.
, you have to agree with them that Quanzhou’s business tax is my income.”
Zhou Kuan nodded, "This will require a detailed discussion. I guess they haven't thought of that much."
"Then let's talk about the first point. Regarding the title of King, I guess he will not agree to make him King of Qin. He is too sensitive. Let's do this! Fengxiang was called Yong in ancient times. I can accept King Yong, but the condition is that the "Beijing News" must be allowed to be in Lin'an
Issuing it, if he still doesn’t agree, then don’t ask for an abdication edict.”
"I understand the prince's intention, but..."
Zhou Kuan hesitated for a while and said: "Does the prince really want to give the emperor the emperor's abdication edict?"
Chen Qing laughed, "You don't really think I want to make Zhao Huan emperor!"
"Ah! I really always thought that I was humble."
Chen Qing said calmly: "I just want to hold the direct line of the emperor in my hands. The emperor has no successor."
Zhou Kuan suddenly realized, "I understand, I understand!"
"I have kept Mr. Zhu waiting for a long time!"
Zhou Kuan walked into the tent with a smile and asked the soldiers to serve tea again.
"How about it? Can the prince accept it?"
"Let's not talk about the first one, let's talk about the last two first. The county king agrees that the state officials and government officials on Sichuan Road should be appointed by the court, but the position of general magistrate in the state capital must be appointed by us."
Huang Guinian wrote it down quickly. Zhu Shengfei nodded, "I have written it down and will report it to the emperor. What about the third item?"
"The third article is about Quanzhou. We agree to only arrange rural militia groups, but the imperial court cannot station troops in Quanzhou!"
"no problem!"
Zhu Shengfei readily agreed, "The emperor has promised not to garrison troops in Quanzhou."
The reason why Zhao Gou promised not to garrison troops in Quanzhou was because he decided to garrison heavy troops in Fuzhou next door, which is the same thing as garrisoning troops in Quanzhou.
"Then the imperial court cannot have any official offices in Quanzhou, such as the Salt and Iron Transfer Office and the Municipal Shipping Office. They are not allowed to dry salt. Then the commercial taxes paid by other merchant ships in Quanzhou belong to us."
When Zhu Shengfei heard about the commercial tax, he immediately became nervous. If Quanzhou implemented low commercial tax, wouldn't it attract all the caravans? He quickly said: "The government can agree, but the commercial tax issue needs to be discussed."
Zhou Kuan did not want to quarrel with him on the issue of commercial taxes. The prince of the county did not take Quanzhou for commercial taxes.
"Let's do this! Based on the total amount of commercial tax in Quanzhou last year, half of the commercial tax will be allocated to the court every year, a fixed amount. For example, the commercial tax in Quanzhou last year was 10,000 guan, and then 5,000 guan will be distributed to the court every year. Of course, 10,000 guan
It’s just a random example, you should have the exact amount.”
"Okay! I will go back and report to the emperor together. I wonder what the prince will say?"
Zhu Shengfei was also very nervous. The first one was the most important. The reason why it was important was that above the prefectures were kings, which had the same meaning as the vassal states that were enfeoffed in the Spring and Autumn Period. The names were the same, but in the Tang and Song dynasties, they were not actual enfeoffments, but virtual enfeoffments.
.
But even so, it will have a strong symbolic meaning. For example, if Chen Qing is named King of Qin, then Chen Qing will regard himself as King of Qin, and the people will recognize it, and a de facto independence will be formed.
Only the son of the emperor can be granted the title of prince. There was no precedent in the Song Dynasty for granting the title of prince with a different surname. Therefore, the emperor Zhao Gou firmly refused to agree to grant the title of king of Chen Qing, Qin or other Central Plains kings. At most, he could grant titles to kings from outside the region, such as the king of Liang and the king of Xia.
, his hidden meaning is that if Chen Qing wants to go to the Hexi Corridor or the hometown of Xixia to establish a country, the court doesn't care.
Zhou Kuandao said: "If the emperor firmly refuses to grant the title of King of Qin, then our princes can take a step back, but there are conditions, which is that the Beijing News must be allowed to be published in Lin'an and no further suppression is allowed."
Zhu Shengfei said quickly: "I can report the newspaper to the emperor. I don't think the problem is big. I don't know what the prince means by taking a step back."
"The prince said that Fengxiang was called Yong in ancient times. We can accept King Yong. At this point, we can't make any more concessions. Otherwise, the emperor will not even think about the late emperor's abdication edict."
"Okay! I'll report it to the emperor."
Except for Qin Hui, who is not here for leave, several other husbands are waiting!
Regarding the decentralization of Sichuan Road, Zhao Gou thought for a long time and finally agreed, handing over the appointment power of Tongpan to Chen Qing. If Chen Qing didn't give him anything, he had nothing to do.
Zhao Gou also agreed to Quanzhou's conditions. The business tax in Quanzhou was actually not large, so if he could get half of it, he wouldn't be at a loss.
After all the talk, the key point is still the first one. Zhao Gou asked Li Guangdao: "Does Mr. Li think it is acceptable?"
Li Guang said slowly: "We can ask for the abdication edict to be published in the "Beijing News", not only the "Beijing News" in Lin'an, but also the "Beijing News" in Jingzhao. In fact, it is not a big problem for a newspaper, we can also do it
A newspaper, why compete with it! We are landlords, how can we not compare with the "Beijing News"?
Therefore, Beizhi thinks that the condition of "Beijing News" can be agreed to. As for King Yong, it was the title of Zhang Han at the end of Qin Dynasty, and Yong and Yong have the same pronunciation, which is not auspicious, so Beizhi thinks that it is acceptable."
"What's Mr. Xu's opinion?" Zhao Gou turned his attention to Xu Xiantu.
Xu Xiantu smiled slightly and said: "Regarding the Beijing News, I and Mr. Li have the same idea. There is no need to block it. We can also run newspapers to compete. Besides, the abdication edict was published in the Beijing News, and then we announced that the Beijing News
"If it's illegal, wouldn't that be giving people an excuse?"
"Can!"
Zhao Gou said decisively: "That's the decision for the Beijing News. It is allowed to be published in Lin'an. We run a newspaper to compete with him. The key is King Yong. Does Xu Xianggong think it is appropriate?"
Xu Xiantu smiled and said: "Chen Qing is definitely not willing to accept the King of Liang. It's no wonder that the King of Liang has the suspicion of Xirong and is a bit barbarian. The structure of King Yong is smaller than that of King Qin. He is not a first-level king, or even a king of Yue.
A second-level king like King Wu has some special significance to the Tang Dynasty, but not to us in the Song Dynasty."
The special meaning of Xu Xiantu's explanation is that the capital of the Tang Dynasty was in Chang'an, so King Yong had special significance. Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shi, named King Yong first before he named him the crown prince.
The capital of the Song Dynasty was not in Guanzhong, so it would naturally be meaningless for King Yong to do so.
At this time, Zhu Shengfei also said: "Your Majesty, there is a saying in "The Book of Songs" that shakes the heron to fly, and is in Xiyong. Yongzhe is also a frontier fortress. In fact, it has the same meaning as Xiliang. There is a bit of western frontier fortress, or Xirong.
Wei Chen thinks it’s okay.”
Zhu Shengfei was deceiving the emperor Zhao Gou. The Yong Kingdom was not the Xirong Kingdom. It was the feudal state of Yong Bo, the twelfth son of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty. It is today's Hanoi Prefecture and is an out-and-out Central Plains Kingdom.
The key is that Zhu Shengfei was very afraid that the two parties could not reach an agreement in the end, and Chen Qing left in anger. Zhu Shengfei knew very well the importance of the abdication edict to the emperor. If he could not get the abdication edict, the emperor would definitely put all major responsibilities on himself.
, I really just couldn’t eat it and walked away.
Zhu Shengfei added: "If the two parties sign an agreement tomorrow, the Beijing News will officially publish the late emperor's abdication edict the day after tomorrow, and His Majesty will be able to get it."
Thinking of the emperor's brother's abdication edict, Zhao Gou suddenly felt that it was nothing in fact to make Chen Qing the King of Qin. What else in the world could be more important than his own throne?