Ships of various sizes sailed up the river from Huangzhou to Ezhou.
Most of the people on the boat were refugees in ragged clothes, squatting there numbly, looking too tired to speak.
Occasionally someone couldn't help but speak.
"The rebels won't let us attack the city and die, right?"
"I heard that when bandits rebel, they always drive the prisoners ahead..."
Cao Xi listened to these whispers among them, spat, and secretly scolded these unruly people for being ignorant and ungrateful. Li Xia is a man with great ambitions, can he be the same as those bandits?
From this we can also see the public sentiment in the Song Dynasty at this time.
Although the ordinary people of Badajiao live a difficult life, they still do not understand the rebels and still obey the rules and order given by the court.
On the contrary, some high-ranking officials, who are better informed and not as dignified as the literati, have begun to speculate when they see the rebel army approaching...
Finally, the river boat slowly arrived at Ezhou Pier.
There was a lively scene on the pier. Cao Xi and his crew got off the boat and formed a team of more than ten people, but they were just a small team among hundreds of refugees.
"Go over there and get a cotton-padded jacket for each person, and get in line!"
Turning around, I saw a row of wooden houses standing in front of them. There were several large boxes in front of the wooden houses, filled with cotton-padded clothes. Someone was distributing them in an orderly manner.
Cao Xi was about to follow the refugees when a soldier suddenly came over and patted him.
"Let's go."
"This utility, let's..."
"What? You also want to get a cotton-padded coat? Do you want to go to the front and have a sip of hot porridge?"
Cao Xi knew that he was going to take him to see Li Xia.
After all, he is different from those refugees.
As for the material he was wearing, the inside was actually made of fox fur, which kept him warm. Why would he need a cotton-padded coat?
The high official from the palace was led by his soldiers through the busy and orderly dock and headed for Ezhou City.
The refugees who came with him received cotton-padded clothes, drank hot porridge, had their names recorded, and were assigned errands, either as logistics for the Tang army or arranged to go to Jiangling Prefecture or even Sichuan.
Cao Xi walked farther and farther.
This eunuch's journey of being knocked down from the common people for the first time in his life was over.
From time to time, I could hear the shouts of Tang soldiers behind me.
"Don't worry, we are King Masters and we won't drive you to your death..."
Walking through the streets, Cao Xi found that Ezhou City was not as ravaged by war as he imagined. Except for the fact that there were more Tang soldiers patrolling the road, this city was not much different from other places.
It can be seen that the news that Lu Wenfu led his army to fight in the streets and fought hard but was captured is untrue.
These warriors panicked and reported the military situation, and the country was ruined in their hands.
After being led all the way to the office, the soldier stepped forward to report.
"General, this person claims to be sent by Empress Zhao Song..."
"Sent someone here privately?"
"It was sent privately, otherwise I wouldn't have dared to bring it."
"Leave it to the Public Opinion Department."
When Cao Xi was about to step forward to speak, the Tang military commander who was guarding the Yamen glanced at him coldly, with a murderous look coming towards him. Cao Xi was shocked and did not dare to say anything.
~~
"It's up to you to judge this person."
Gou Shancai turned around, glanced at Cao Xi, who was beardless, and asked, "Where did the eunuch come from?"
"Finally someone has recognized us as eunuchs, we want to meet..."
"bring it here."
Gou Shancai agreed and took Cao Xi directly from the soldier's hand. He immediately stretched out his hand and touched the whole body of the soldier. He took out all the tokens and other items...
Three days later, Gou Shancai took Cao Xi to see Li Xia.
This was the second time Cao Xi met Li Xia, and he obviously felt that it was different from the last time.
After Li Xia became emperor, his appearance was inevitably different, and everyone who could see him had to undergo such careful scrutiny.
From this link, it may be possible to see that this just
The founding of the Tang Dynasty was gradually forming norms.
…
"Slave Cao Xi, I would like to pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty again."
"You're here again." Li Xia didn't take any time alone, flipping through an account book without even looking at Cao Xi, "Why does a palace eunuch need to visit so often?"
Cao Xi glanced around secretly and said, "The official family of the Song Dynasty... is full of wisdom, and all state affairs are in the hands of the officials. The queen has always seen it, and there is nothing she can do about it. Also, the slave girl also said before, the queen
Offended Jia Sidao..."
"Without further ado."
"Yes, yes. The Queen said that she is willing to agree to His Majesty the Tang Emperor's conditions."
"Can she be the master?"
"As long as you have His Majesty's support, the Queen will naturally be able to make the decision. If Your Majesty is unwilling to negotiate with Chen Yizhong, the imperial court can send Quan Yongjian as an envoy..."
"She wants me to support her?" Li Xia asked, "There is collusion between inside and outside, I help her take power, and she betrays Zhao Song's interests to me?"
Cao Xi couldn't tell from Li Xia's words whether he was happy or unhappy, and was a little nervous.
But I have to say that Li Xia understood it very well. Quan Jiu meant this, but it didn't sound so ugly when he said it.
What Quan Jiu said sounded so nice. Because he cared about the Zhao family and the country, he also sympathized with Li Xia's ambitions, and sympathized with Li Xia in the world. He had no choice but to contact Li Xia privately, hoping to reach a consensus with Li Xia, which would not only protect the people from the war, but also sympathize with Li Xia.
Protect the country from being taken advantage of by foreign enemies.
Cao Xi smiled and said, "The Queen also said that she had met His Majesty when she was in her boudoir. At the Cuju court that year, she knew that His Majesty was determined to recover, and none other than the coward of the Zhao family can be compared..."
"Do you recognize my throne?" Li Xia suddenly interrupted Cao Xi and asked.
He no longer needed to hear anything more from Cao Xi.
He could feel that Quan Jiu was a very strong-willed woman, and he also felt her overtures of kindness and cooperation.
But he will decide whether to accept it or not.
"Of course I admit it!"
Cao Xi hurriedly apologized and said with a smile, "As long as your Majesty can understand the Queen's painstaking efforts, she will not only make Song Ting recognize your Majesty's throne, but also make Song Ting profess vassalage to Your Majesty, pay annual coins, and oh, by the way, Shu people will return to Shu."
..."
"The White Wolf with Empty Gloves."
Li Xia shook his head and said, "I can cooperate with Quan Jiu, but the premise is that she takes power first. Instead of borrowing my power first and then taking power of the Song Dynasty. Why should I go through her?"
Cao Xi was stunned. Because he had not thought about the matter so thoroughly, he did not know how to respond to these words. He could only respond, "After all, the queen is the mother of the world..."
"Go back and tell Quan Jiu, don't take yourself too seriously. The title of Empress Zhao Song means nothing, and she is not worthy of playing at the table."
Cao Xi was stunned again.
Li Xia had already waved his hand and ordered people to take Cao Xi down.
Not long after, Yan Rong came out from behind, hugged Li Xia, hugged Li Xia's neck, and leaned over, saying with a smile, "Your Majesty, your concubine really told you right, right?"
"Are you satisfied?"
"Not satisfied. I promised to humiliate that little bitch severely, but His Majesty opened his mouth and could only say, 'Nothing,' and that was too gentle."
"I seldom say bad words, because you begged me to say this, so be it."
"When your majesty conquers Lin'an, you will have her good harvest." Yan Rong was still filled with anger.
Li Xia put down the account book in his hand and said, "Get ready, let's go to the Lu family's main residence in Xisai Mountain."
"You got it?" Yan Rong was pleasantly surprised.
"It's almost time. I'll take you to see whether the Lu family or Zhao Song Gongcheng is richer..."
xx
That evening, Li Xia and Fang Yankai walked to the top of the Ezhou city and watched the soldiers arranging the refugees.
"Does Fang Qing know what my purpose is in this battle against Song Dynasty?"
"In order to establish the country, in order to make the people of the world recognize the Tang Dynasty and recognize the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Xia nodded and asked, "How can people in this world understand this?"
"Southerners, Northerners."
Yan Kai said, "From south to north, there are scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, all kinds of people."
Li Xia didn't speak for a while, thinking to herself.
During the battle against the Song Dynasty, he had already felt the different attitudes towards him from various classes in the Song Dynasty.
Ordinary people did not accept him so quickly. Although he had won the hearts and minds of Ezhou, there were 254 prefectures and 1,234 counties in Zhao and Song Dynasties. The popularity of only one Ezhou was far from enough. No matter how much he did, Well, news spreads too slowly among ordinary people who are illiterate and live in isolation.
The literati and officials even refused to recognize him, thinking that he had betrayed the emperor and his ministers, and regarded him as a traitor.
However, it was the top dignitaries of the Zhao and Song Dynasties who were more likely to succumb, because they knew in their hearts that the so-called "emperor" was not that sacred. The emperor was just a title, and interests were the most important.
Li Xia didn't agree to Quan Jiu's cooperation because it was too easy and worthless.
Quan Jiu has no power, she just wants to cling to him. Like a vine, seeing that the tree it is attached to is about to wither, she wants to change to a bigger tree...
~~
The next day, Cao Xi was taken out of Ezhou.
He crossed the pier again with a grimace and heard the refugees talking again.
"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was better than the Emperor of Zhao and Song..."
"It's much better..."
Cao Xi thought he heard wrongly.
How is Li Xia?
What a fart.
He didn't understand what was good about Li Xia at all.
Cao Xi turned his head, looked at the beaming people wearing new clothes, and secretly scolded these unruly people for being ignorant and ungrateful, and for forgetting the Song Dynasty's national grace.