Chapter nine hundred and forty-eight hundredfold compensation
Of course, Emperor Qianwen was still ill and bedridden. It seemed that he was so angry last time that he was no longer able to govern. What Meng Ziqing saw was Prince Shun Tang Jia, the prince of Daqian.
The Hua Kingdom sent people here. Tang Jia was still a little curious and wanted to see what the other party had to say, so he met him in the small court meeting in Tai Chi Hall. Standing on the left and right were the ministers of the civil and military classes, and everyone held the same arms. He looked at Meng Ziqing who walked into the palace with curiosity.
Judging from his appearance alone, Meng Ziqing is young, tall, and has good facial features. He does have some official authority. But what he said next made everyone's first impressions of him disappear. Especially Tang Ao, the Shun King who oversees the country, was even more angry because his eyes were not his eyes and his nose was not his nose.
From Meng Ziqing's words, everyone knows that a Dahua caravan had an accident in Chaicheng, Qingzhou. Not only were all the 120 carriages escorting the grain robbed, but many of the guards were also killed. . Jin Zhen, the leader of Dahua Chamber of Commerce and a fifth-rank official, was seriously injured and is now receiving treatment in Dahua.
"This...impossible." Tang Jia'er was a little baffled when he heard all this. After he became a prisoner of the country, he paid great attention to his attitude towards getting along with the Great China Kingdom. He deeply remembered what Kong Changshi said. , the current Daqian does not have the ability to deal with the Dahua army alone, so what he has to do now is to be patient, develop silently, and wait for the opportunity to appear.
Tang Jia, who was deeply convinced, had already issued an order that all his subordinates should not have any friction with Dahua.
Even so, how could someone be disobedient and do such an earth-shattering thing?
In fact, not only Tang Jia didn't believe it, but also the other ministers didn't believe it. Everyone knew who Tang Jia was and how courageous he was. How dare he take the initiative to start a war with the Chinese army like this? The command?
Meng Ziqing seemed to have known for a long time that no one would believe it, so he didn't say much, but just threw out the five sets of armors, one of which was a general's armor.
Cheng Bailin, Minister of the Ministry of War, hurriedly stepped forward, and Mingshan, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, also stood up. One of them was responsible for distributing armors, and the other was responsible for making armors. Naturally, they recognized this object. His face turned dark and he turned towards Tang Ao nodded slightly.
"What? Is it really our armor?" Tang Jia was also a little dizzy when he saw this scene. Who is this subordinate who has such courage? This is putting himself in danger.
"Your Highness, don't panic." Kong Fu, who had been allowed to go to court and was named a fourth-grade censor, saw this and strode out.
As soon as he saw Kong Fu appear, Tang Jia's face looked much better, waiting for his wise man to solve the problem.
Kong Fu stood up, first looked at the armors, and then looked at Meng Ziqing and said: "Even if these armors are real, it doesn't mean that our people have robbed your food and grass. What if it's your people?" Where is the armor obtained by actively killing our soldiers?"
"Haha, sir, if this is true or false, you will know after investigation. This envoy will stay in Daliang City for a while, waiting for your news. But this wait will not be unlimited. For half a month, our Majesty will only give you You guys have half a month to investigate the truth of the incident." Facing a crowd of courtiers, Meng Ziqing, who was still a little young, was actually a little nervous. But when he discovered that few people in the palace dared to look at him. At that moment, he felt relieved.
This is the advantage of having a strong country behind you. As the saying goes, a weak country has no diplomacy, and a strong country naturally has more confidence to speak and a louder voice.
After Meng Ziqing said these words with great authority in the Tai Chi Hall, he left, leaving the ministers looking at each other. Later, Tang Jia said angrily, "Arrange a horse to leave the city and go to Chai Chai immediately."
The city will investigate to see if it is true. Well, this matter will cause trouble to Minister Cheng."
As the Minister of War, Cheng Bolin was naturally responsible for what happened to the army. Although he knew that this was a hard job, since Tang Jia openly handed the matter over to him, it was hard to refuse, so he
After agreeing, he took the order and left.
Six days later, Cheng Bolin arrived at Chaicheng under the protection of hundreds of fast horses. During this period, the Chinese army was still secretly mobilizing food and grass. At the same time, the first army preparing to arrive on the battlefield shook the army.
The 3rd Snow Leopard Brigade of the Mountain Guards was also ordered to lead the 4th Wild Wolf Brigade secretly to Mincheng, a small town on the border between Suzhou and Qingzhou.
In addition to the 30,000 Shanshan Guard light cavalry, there were also Zhou Qian's headquarters of the First Field Army, Lei Ming's headquarters of the Fourth Field Army, and the First Firearms Brigade. A total of 105,000 people also secretly marched towards Mincheng.
The direction is gathering.
There were birds in the sky, monkeys in the forest, military scouts on the ground, and spies from Dragon Teeth and Dark Incense to ensure that anyone who appeared in the marching route of the army would be discovered one step ahead and put under house arrest.
On the fourteenth day when Meng Ziqing was waiting for the news, Cheng Shangshu rushed back to Daliang City and brought Tang Jia very bad news. More than 20 days ago, a large army robbed a grain merchant convoy in Chaicheng.
Lu Se, the governor of Chaicheng County, admitted this. However, he said that he did not know that this was Dahua's caravan. If he had known, he would never have made up his mind.
But the problem now is that whether you know or not is secondary. What is important is whether the facts are true.
I didn't expect that my subordinates would be so brave. They ignored the edict and really dared to cause trouble for the Chinese army. Not only did they steal food, but they also killed people.
If you want to do something, just do it well. You should do it well and don't leave anything behind. What's going on when someone comes to your door? How do you explain it to others?
Now that the thing is true, it is obviously impossible to deny it. This is not a quarrel between two scoundrels. If one party has clearly done it, then if you don't admit it, you can only be angry. When it comes to the Dahua Army, they really dare to send troops.
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"Alas." With a sigh, Tang Jia finally decided to see what kind of conditions the Dahua envoy proposed tomorrow. As long as it is not too excessive, he will agree to them.
There is no way, who makes the current Daqian inferior to Dahua?
If you are not as strong as others and do things unreasonably, what else can you do besides bowing your head?
Oh, in the words of later generations, you have to admit when you do something wrong, and you have to stand upright when you are beaten.
Early the next morning, it was still a small morning. Meng Ziqing, who had received the news last night, came outside the Taiji Hall of the Imperial Palace. When he heard the eunuch shouting from inside, inviting the Chinese envoys to come to the hall, he sorted out his plans.
He took off his official uniform and walked toward the hall with long strides.
Compared to the last time, Meng Ziqing was obviously calmer this time. He first saluted Tang Jia, who was supervising the country, and then asked: "The time has come, and the matter must have been clarified. Can we confirm that this envoy did not lie?"
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Listening to this slightly questioning language, all civil and military officials in the dynasty remained silent. They had no choice but to make their first move.
"Ahem." Kong Fu, who was the censor, stood up first. There was no other way. Looking at these civil and military officials, they seemed to be very shameless. They knew they were wrong but did not want to admit it publicly, so he was the only one to stand up. "Messenger Meng, We have investigated this matter, and there may be some misunderstandings. Oh, of course, since it really happened, you will not deny it, but I still want to say that this matter was not our Highness’s original intention. But in fact, it has indeed caused harm to your country. So, please ask Ambassador Meng to propose a charter, and we will make appropriate compensation."
Kong Fu's words were equivalent to admitting his mistakes. But there were still some misunderstandings, it was not the original intention, etc., so he was able to save some face.
Listening to Kong Fu's words, Meng Ziqing felt very comfortable in his heart. In fact, as early as the founding of Dahua, some people were still worried about one issue, that is, whether they could be recognized by other people, especially if they were looked down upon. As the orthodox Emperor Qianwen, would he recognize the status of Great China?
Somehow, this matter was known to Tang Ao, and he immediately smiled and said in a very affirmative tone, "Don't worry about this, because it is not a problem at all, and no one will deny us. "
In fact, there is one thing that Tang Ao has not said yet, that is, no one dares to deny them.
Think about it, Tang Ao now occupies the land of Jiuzhou. When it comes to the scope of influence and population, no other force can compare with it alone. This is confidence, and it is a powerful existence that others cannot ignore.
Besides, when Emperor Qianying proclaimed himself emperor, did you take the initiative to deny it? If they can exist, why can't Dahua?
Facts once again proved that what Tang Ao said was right. When Meng Ziqing heard Kong Fu say words that brought harm to your country, Meng Ziqing felt extremely happy. This was a sense of confidence recognized by others. But saying When it came time to pay compensation, he still said softly: "Okay, since you admit that you were wrong. As for the compensation, it is certain. Let's do this. You hand over the murderer and pay a hundred times the compensation. The specifics are Twelve thousand cartloads of grain and twenty-five million dollars of silver."
"Wait a minute." Kong Fu said.
It is necessary to hand over the murderer, but isn't a hundredfold compensation too much? And what the hell is 20 to 50 million in silver?
After stopping Meng Ziqing, Kong Fu raised his question in front of the court.
Faced with this question, Meng Ziqing replied very calmly: "Oh, that's the case. When Director Jin of our Chamber of Commerce went to Chaicheng, he had a small wooden box containing 500,000 taels that was also taken by you. Someone robbed it. According to the compensation of a hundred times, it is exactly fifty million taels."
