Early the next morning, Qin Hui came to the Imperial Study Room worriedly. The eunuch Kang Shun came forward and said with a smile: "You have been invited by your prime minister. How long have the officials been waiting?"
Qin Hui asked again: "Who else is here?"
"Several ministers are here, but Mr. Qin is the only one missing."
Qin Hui asked in a low voice: "Are you discussing the peace talks with the Jin Kingdom?"
"Exactly!"
"What is the attitude of the officials?"
Kang Shun shook his head, "The officials didn't say anything."
Unable to get a letter of approval, Qin Hui had no choice but to walk to the imperial study. Kang Shun went in to inform, and came out after a while: "The official announced that he is here to see the Prime Minister!"
Qin Hui straightened his clothes and walked quickly in. In the imperial study room, the emperor and the three princes were all there. The emperor Zhao Gou stood by the wall with his hands behind his hands, looking at the map on the wall.
Qin Hui glanced quickly and found that the emperor was looking at Sichuan Road. His heart moved. I am afraid that the emperor still had Sichuan Road in mind.
"I am here to see Your Majesty!"
"Qin Xianggong, do you think it is possible for us to regain the Sichuan Road?" Zhao Gou asked helplessly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, no one knows what will happen in the future, but as long as we insist on the idea of taking back the Sichuan Road, Weichen believes that sooner or later it will be realized."
"sooner or later?"
Zhao Gou snorted, "When is late and early? When will Qin Xianggong answer my question without being ambiguous?"
Qin Hui smiled bitterly and said: "Replying to Your Majesty, it's not that I'm being vague. It's true that I don't know when the opportunity will arise, so I can't answer your Majesty's questions clearly."
Zhao Gou shook his head, "I also asked Vice Prime Minister Li this question. He told me that we can find ways to create opportunities. For example, the Sichuan Road Guard General defected to the court. Does Qin Xianggong know who the Sichuan Road Chief General is?"
"Wei Chen knows that the capital controls Zheng Ping."
Zhao Gou said coldly: "Who is this Zheng Ping? Does Qin Xianggong know?"
"this"
Qin Hui hesitated, shook his head and said, "Wei Chen has indeed not checked."
"Just now Privy Council Governor Xu told me that Zheng Ping is actually the third son of Uncle Zheng. I just found out today that my uncle actually has such an outstanding son, and the road to Sichuan is in his hands."
Qin Hui understood. Is it possible that the officials wanted to take advantage of Zheng Ping? Qin Hui really didn't know.
Zhao Gou added: "If Zheng Ping is willing to submit to the imperial court, I can make him a county king, and his father can also make him a county king. Two county kings in one family. In the Song Dynasty, only Uncle Xiang had this treatment. What does Qin Xianggong think?
?”
"Weichen thinks we can give it a try."
"But other than that, is there any way to get back Sichuan Road?" Zhao Gou asked again.
Qin Hui knew that he could no longer be vague and had to come up with a plan, otherwise the officials would become more and more dissatisfied with him.
"Weichen feels that another way is that something happens to Chen Qing. His son is still young and cannot control the situation. At this time, the court can reach a settlement with the other party and use Sichuan Road in exchange for the court's recognition of Chen Qing's son."
The other three people immediately understood that Qin Hui wanted to assassinate him.
"inappropriate!"
Li Guang immediately objected: "Assassination is an extremely despicable method and the consequences are serious. If the assassination succeeds, that's fine. What if the assassination fails? Chen Qing also used the same method to deal with us. The four of us here can escape."
Did you pass? Don’t say that Chen Qing won’t take revenge. Qin Xianggong might as well take a closer look at Wei Guojiu’s incident.”
Zhu Shengfei coughed and said: "Your Majesty, I am also opposed to the assassination method. As Li Xianggong said, it will set an extremely bad precedent and cause endless disasters."
Zhao Gou nodded, "Mr. Qin, I don't agree with the assassination either. Don't mention it again in the future."
Qin Hui hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the undercover does not refer to assassination, but to bribe the generals around Chen Qing, who will launch a rebellion."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Hui immediately regretted it. He should not have mentioned this matter, as it would cause trouble for himself.
Sure enough, Zhao Gou pondered for a moment and said: "This is similar to bribery of Zheng Ping. I think it is feasible. Mr. Qin, I will leave this matter to you."
Qin Hui wanted to give himself a slap in the face. He really left the matter to himself. How should he do such a thing? Why should he be so mean-mouthed?
He did not dare to refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "I obey the order!"
Zhao Gou's mood improved, and he said to Xu Xiantu: "Governor Xu is familiar with Uncle Zheng Guo. I will leave the matter of Zheng Ping to you. If I need to come forward, I can also talk to Uncle Zheng Guo."
"I obey the order!"
Zhao Gou had a clue in his mind, and waved his hand and said: "Okay, let's talk about the negotiations with the Kingdom of Jin again, Mr. Zhu, please tell me!"
Zhu Shengfei bowed and said: "Wan Yanchang proposed a long-term armistice agreement. One condition is that the imperial court must jointly attack Sichuan and Shaanxi with the Jin Kingdom. This condition is relatively harsh."
"Let me express my attitude first!"
Zhao Gou glanced at Qin Hui and said slowly: "I agree to sign a long-term armistice plan. The two sides will use the Huaihe River as the boundary and cease fighting. If appropriate annual coins are needed, I can also consider it, but the emperor's brother is in the hands of Chen Qing.
, I absolutely do not want to face the situation of two Song Dynasties, that is to say, I do not agree with Song and Jin jointly attacking Sichuan and Shaanxi."
At noon, Xu Xiantu hosted a banquet for Zheng Tongquan in an elegant room in Lin'an Xinfengle Building.
Xu Xiantu had a very good relationship with the Zheng family. Because of this, Xu Xiantu also had a good relationship with Zheng Tongquan. It can be said that Xu Xiantu was one of Zheng Tongquan's backstage.
Xu Xiantu told Zheng Tongquan what the emperor wanted. Zheng Tongquan frowned and bribed his son to betray Chen Qing. How could it be possible?
Xu Xiantu filled a glass of wine for him and said with a smile: "This is not the plan I proposed. In fact, Li Guang proposed it. The officials knew that I have a good relationship with my uncle, so they left the matter to me."
Zheng Tongquan said bitterly: "This matter is more difficult to handle. My son ignored me at all. He ran away from home more than ten years ago and went to the Taihang Mountains to join Wang Yan's Eight-Character Army. We all thought he was dead.
Later I found out that he was still alive. Chen Qing had not yet made a fortune at that time. I wanted to arrange for Zheng Ping to join the palace as a guard, but he ignored me and ran away with Chen Qing. I asked him to betray Chen Qing. How could he listen to me?
?”
Xu Xiantu knew the situation of the Zheng family very well. He knew that what Zheng Tongquan said was true. He sighed and said, "I have also told the officials that my uncle may not be able to persuade his son, but the officials want you to try."
First try, tell Zheng Ping the conditions offered by the officials. If Zheng Ping agrees and returns the Sichuan Road to the court successfully, the officials promise to make Zheng Ping the king of Pingyang County, control the Shenwu Central Army, command an army of 50,000, and then make Zheng Ping the king of Pingyang County.
Hejian County Prince, two county princes in a family, this favor Zheng En was only the Leping County Prince back then, directly catching up with the Xiang brothers."
Zheng Tongquan nodded, "I can write to my son and advise him to put the court first, but I want to make it clear that if my son firmly refuses to agree, it has nothing to do with me, and the emperor cannot vent his anger on me."
Xu Xiantu thought for a while and said: "You write the letter and give it to me. I will show it to the emperor. Then we will send someone to deliver it to Zheng Ping. This matter has nothing to do with Uncle Guo. Uncle Guo has done his best!"
"This is a good idea. I will write a letter tonight to persuade my son."
Zheng Tongquan gave a wry smile and said, "If it weren't for the temptation of the Shuangjun Princes, I really wouldn't dare agree."
Xu Xiantu stroked his beard and laughed. The emperor was right. The temptation of the two princes was really hard for ordinary people to refuse, especially for a businessman like Zheng Tongquan, who had no shortage of money. What he wanted most was a famous prince.
Zheng Tongquan hurried back to his mansion, immediately wrote two secret letters and gave them to his close servants. He whispered: "You rush to Wuhu immediately and give the letter to the prince to Zhou Kuan. Then you rush to Chengdu and give the other letter to Zhou Kuan."
Give the letter to Zheng Ping, I think someone outside will monitor my house, you go out through the secret passage and then take the waterway, do you understand?"
The confidant servant received the letter, nodded and said: "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely take care of it!"
Zheng Tongquan is worthy of being a person who has spent his whole life in shopping malls. He believes in the Three Cunning Rabbits and has secretly dug a secret passage leading to the small courtyard next door. He knows that the emperor will not believe him and will send people to monitor him outside, so at this time, he must not let his servants follow him.
If you go out the front door or the back door and the emperor intercepts those two letters, the Zheng family will be doomed.
He immediately wrote a 2,000-word letter of persuasion to his son, earnestly persuading his son Zheng Ping to put the overall situation first, to be loyal to the court, and not to follow Chen Qing's path into darkness, which would not lead to good results.
The letter also mentioned in detail that the imperial court would make him and himself a county prince and high-ranking official. The letter concluded that this was a rare opportunity for the Zheng family, and Zheng Ping must seize this opportunity to honor his ancestors.
Zheng Tong didn't know whether his son was satisfied with this letter, but he knew that the emperor would be satisfied.