The messenger went down the canal from Lushan and soon returned to Lin'an.
"Reporting to the Queen Mother, Zhang Shijie said that the Prime Minister should supervise the army in the national war and it is not a matter of his authority. What he means is that he thinks his official position is too small."
Xie Dao was used to these ministers reaching out to her for power early in the morning. Hearing this, he nodded and said thoughtfully: "The official position is indeed small, but the promotion is already fast enough. How can I move three times in one day?"
"Your Majesty, I believe that there is no need to stick to the old law when doing extraordinary things in extraordinary times."
"What you said is reasonable. Send a message to the Privy Council to ask the Right Prime Minister to propose another official position for Zhang Shijie..."
The next day.
Select the virtue hall to play the right match.
Now that Wang Yao has been dismissed from office and Chen Yizhong has not yet returned to the court, the Privy Council has changed a group of officials, but they are getting younger and younger.
Xie Daoqing looked around and barely recognized Jia Yuqing, Chen Wenlong, Huang Yong... Huang Yong was just forty years old. He was wearing a scarlet robe and looked very young.
Although Liu Mengyan, who is in his early fifties, is not the eldest, he is the oldest and is the first in charge.
Liu Mengyan always looked aloof and said: "I think that Zhang Shijie can be moved to serve as an envoy along the Yangtze River and in charge of military affairs along the Yangtze River. He has enough power and authority."
Xie Daoqing asked again: "Only a commission? Do I need to give him another rank?"
Liu Mengyan was a little impatient with the old woman, and said calmly: "The Queen Mother, Zhang Shijie has been promoted to an official position three times in less than half a month. If the reward is too great, why should I reward her again in the future?"
"What the Prime Minister said is true, then let's pass on the decree."
At this time, another eunuch came in and whispered: "Your Majesty, there is news from the Privy Council."
"It just so happens that your right minister is here, so I would like to discuss it with you."
"Yes, someone in Lushan reported that Zhang Shijie met with the Tang Army envoy and let him go..."
Xie Daoqing was shocked and said: "What a Zhang Shijie! I asked the important officials of the imperial court, but then I met the rebels. What should I do?"
Liu Mengyan turned around and looked at Jia Yuqing.
Jia Yuqing then took a step forward and replied: "Don't be alarmed, Queen Mother. If Zhang Shijie really wants to rebel and surrender, he only needs to cover it up a little. How could the court know about it so quickly?"
"What does this mean?"
"I guess Zhang Shijie deliberately let the court know."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid he is threatening the imperial court and seeking a high position."
Xie Daoqing suddenly realized.
This is not the first time she has experienced this. From Ye Mengding and Jia Sidao to Wang Yao and Chen Yizhong, who has not been like this?
"I then said that the official position I was given was still low. Right Prime Minister, would you like to give Zhang Shijie another official position?"
Although Liu Mengyan received the most generous salary and reward, he was very impatient when faced with Xie Daoqing's questions. He felt that she would only talk about "right ministers" when encountering problems, but refused to use her own brain to think about it.
He didn't bother to persuade him any more. He just followed Xie Daoqing's wishes and said, "When we return to the Queen Mother, we can add Zhang Shijie as a deputy envoy along the Yangtze River, who will also be aware of the Jiangyin army."
If his daily contribution and rewards are included, this sentence alone is worth the income of an ordinary family for two to three years.
At this point, Zhang Shijie had been promoted from a fifth-rank official to a commander-in-chief in less than half a month.
As for Li Xia's contribution to following Wang Jian in Diaoyu City to kill Meng Ge and recover Hanzhong, Zhao Yun was reluctant to give him the official position.
~~
"Song Rui, you are also stupid. If you recruited ten thousand warriors from Jiangxi Province to join the guard, maybe your official position would be no less than that of Zhang Shijie."
"Are you asking for an official position? Otherwise, if you are reduced to Li Xia, you won't have a high official position."
Liu Mengyan raised his eyebrows and said: "When the "Book of Obedience" came out, it was clear that everyone was in danger. Why is Song Rui so sure? Could it be that he got some kind of promise?"
Wen Yunsun shook his head and sighed, and remained silent for a long time.
Liu Mengyan lowered his head and smiled, with a trace of jealousy flashing in his eyes.
He knew in his heart that now that he was putting in such efforts, he might be favored by the nobles in the north for the time being, but people like Wen Yunsun would appear stubborn and annoying.
But as time goes by, the nobles will think that they can betray the Zhao family today and they can betray them tomorrow. At that time, Wen Yunsun's stubbornness will be more reassuring.
Because even if he, Liu Mengyan, were the ruler, this would still be the case.
Governing the world and choosing good ministers is actually the same as trying to persuade prostitutes to behave in a brothel.
"Song Rui, you and I are both capable ministers, but I am different from you."
"What's the difference?"
Liu Mengyan said: "I can rest assured if I entrust you with everything. But you can't entrust me with everything."
Wen Yun Sun smiled and said: "Is it because Brother Hanfu is lazy?"
"ha."
Liu Mengyan smiled, waved and walked out.
After he walked out of the post house, he said to himself: "Because you seek your true heart, but I only seek profit."
…
The post house is just outside the Imperial Street, and past Chaotianmen is the Privy Council.
In the current situation, Liu Mengyan would rather chat with Wen Yunsun than serve in the Privy Council. The reason for coming here at this time is to discuss peace.
Sure enough, as soon as they arrived at the Privy Council, an official came over and said, "Your Majesty, thank you for saying that the gift list is ready."
"Give me."
They were quite thick volumes. The gifts were not only given to the Emperor of Tang, but also to the empress and concubines, not just to Concubine Kang and Concubine Ning.
This is the thoughtfulness of Xie Tang. Otherwise, if he offends someone, the failure of the peace negotiation will strengthen the other party's determination to attack the Song Dynasty.
Even Shi Jun, Wang Yinglin, Lu Wenhuan and others also have a gift. What kind of rebels and surrenders? Now as long as they can say a few good words for the Song Dynasty, who cares about the rights and wrongs of the past?
Liu Mengyan glanced at it twice, only paying attention to the gift list for Concubine Kang and Concubine Ning.
Finally, he narrowed his eyes, pointed to the four characters "six lion cats" on it, and asked: "Where is this lion cat now?"
"Your Majesty, I'm still in the Ministry of Rites."
"Take me to see it."
"Right Prime Minister, I heard that the Left Prime Minister is on his way back. He may arrive in Lin'an in the afternoon. The Queen Mother has hosted a banquet to welcome him. Are you ready to enter the palace?"
Liu Mengyan said: "I am busy with state affairs, so there is no harm in attending the banquet later."
"yes……"
When they arrived at the side hall where the gifts were placed in the Ministry of Rites, the servant opened the door and heard a cat meowing.
The first thing Liu Mengyan saw were six cages.
He immediately turned cold and turned around and shouted: "Who taught you to arrange it like this?! The royal cats sent to Bianjing are kept in cages?"
"You know you're wrong, I'm going to prepare a room now."
Liu Mengyan had rarely been so concerned recently, so he walked straight to the cage and looked inside.
At the same time, he was thinking about Beifang's instructions in his mind.
"That cat is about ten years old. It is considered an old cat. It has blue eyes, pink ears, and a whole body of snowy white."
"Eyes blue? Blue...less than a tug...meow..."
I saw this important minister in purple robe squatting in front of the cage, meowing non-stop.
"Meow."
"Less than Tutu, smaller than Tutu..."
Afraid that raising the lantern would scare the cat in the cage, Liu Mengyan confirmed for a while that there was no cat with blue eyes in the cage after repeated confirmations.
He couldn't help but get angry.
"What a shame. You are so incompetent. You use mediocre relatives to control the capital. It is no wonder that the country is in such a state of decline that it is simply hopeless!"
The Song army was defeated in Jiaoshan, and Wang Yao blamed him, but he was not so angry. Only this matter related to whether he could gain support in the new dynasty, how could he not be angry?
~~
In fact, Xie Tang had already sent someone north to ask for an audience. He first handed over the gift list and waited for Li Xia to agree to meet the envoy before asking Liu Mengyan to escort the treasure to Kaifeng.
After the messenger left, he stood at the gate with his hands behind his hands and let out a long sigh.
"When I read history when I was young, I couldn't understand Qin Hui, so I scolded him for advocating peace, harming the country, and serving the enemy. Only when I reach middle age do I realize how difficult it is to survive."
"Ms. sir, your right prime minister has arrived."
Xie Tang turned around and saw that Liu Mengyan didn't even sit in the sedan chair. He hurried over from the Ministry of Etiquette and said, "Prepare tea and ask your right minister to come to the public room to talk."
"yes……"
The tea prepared today is Tianmu Qingding. While sipping the tea, Xie Tang said: "If you really surrender to the north, you will have to pay tribute to Chang'an every year. The thought of it will make people sad."
Liu Mengyan was not in the mood to chat with him, and said frankly and honestly: "I went to find out that before Princess Rui came out of the cabinet, she had a cat in the palace. If we find this cat, we are confident that we can ask the princess to help protect the country.
.”
Xie Tang smiled and said: "The right minister is joking, this is all a trivial matter, as long as the gift can satisfy the princess..."
"The princess is nostalgic, and Wei wants the cat she once raised."
"What's the difference?" Xie Tang disagreed and said: "Negotiating peace is a big deal, but there are hundreds and thousands of gifts. The right minister is too concerned about this detail..."
Liu Mengyan wished she could tell Xie Tang directly that she had received orders from the north.
But Xie Tang is a relative, and his status is different after all.
"Brother Xie, you don't understand the princess's thoughts. Just listen to me on this matter, okay?"
"Right Prime Minister, it's not me who doesn't listen to you, but look at it, isn't it ridiculous for you and me, the important ministers of the country, to argue over a kitten?"
"Just tell me whether you took Jia Sidao's cat away when you raided the Geling Villa and gave it to your outer room..."
"How dare you check me?!"
Xie Tang couldn't help but became furious, stood up suddenly, and looked at Liu Mengyan in shock, completely confused as to why he was like this.
After a while, he calmed down a little, lowered his tone and said: "Right Prime Minister, although I am controlling the capital, I will not compete with you for power."
"I don't care how many treasures you brought from Jia Sidao's house." Liu Mengyan said with a cold face, "I only care about that little kitten."
"Alas, the right minister is too serious." Xie Tang had no choice but to sit down again and said: "There are many rare and exotic animals in Geling Villa, including cranes, peacocks, canaries, white-faced hozens, and pure white.
There are about ten lion cats in my country, how do I know which one you are looking for?"
"Take me to identify it."
Xie Tang looked suspicious and took a deep look at Liu Mengyan.
Thinking about it, the reason why Liu Mengyan acted like this was because he wanted to find an excuse to investigate his embezzlement of Mo Jia Si Tao's family property. Why?
Thinking of this, Xie Tang was horrified.
He has understood - now that the emperor has suffered a stroke and is unable to speak, the Empress Dowager Xie may have harmed the interests of some people by taking over the government, and Liu Mengyan may have defected to Empress Quan and wants to overthrow the Empress Dowager.
"Your Majesty, please rest easy. If you really want to find a kitten, isn't it easy? I will bring those cats to you tomorrow, so why go to my other courtyard?"
Even though Liu Mengyan realized what Xie Tang was afraid of, he was stunned and thought it was absurd.
With these wastes, they are always only jealous and worried, and they can't even do such a trivial matter. How can they be expected to save the Song Dynasty?
hopeless.
…
After leaving Fuyamen in Liangzhe Town, Liu Mengyan sat on the sedan chair and tapped his fingers lightly on his knees.
He thought to himself that since Xie Tang was already suspicious and couldn't explain clearly, he was afraid that Xie Tang would transfer the evidence tonight and not bury the cat that Concubine Kang wanted.
"Why don't you contact the Public Opinion Department and give this loser some color? It's not appropriate. It makes them look down on me."
Thinking of this, Liu Mengyan returned home and pretended to have married his wife.
"You immediately visit Xie's house in Wushan and tell Mrs. Xie that Xie Tang has an outer room in Lirenfang. The courtyard is magnificent and luxurious."
"Officer, what are you doing?"
"Go." Liu Mengyan called the servant again and ordered: "Go to Lin'an Mansion with the original order talisman and mobilize a team of people..."