The road back to Jiangning for Zhou Zong and Feng Yanlu was not easy, because the navy of the Southern Tang Dynasty, which was still in control of the river, was already extremely nervous.
When they saw two small boats sailing out from Jiangbei, they panicked as if the Zhou army was coming.
While the boat was still in the river, the navy camps at Bailuzhou and Xinlinpu on the riverside exploded.
Some warships actually sailed out of the harbor and ran downstream. Some people gathered around them in fear and wanted to fight to the death. As a result, all their arrows were shot out, and only then did they realize that they were two small boats.
The navy of the Southern Tang Dynasty breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhou Zong was so frightened that he died. It would be funny if he did not die in the hands of Zhou's army, but in the hands of his own people.
In desperation, Zhou Zong took off the silver-white robe around him and waved it constantly. Feng Yanlu also asked several of his followers to shout loudly, so that they were not shot to death by his own people.
When the two arrived at Jiangning City, they found that the city had fallen into chaos.
A large number of people, including the elderly and the young, fled from the city, and even the officials in many places fled.
Zhou Zong and Feng Yanlu were extremely puzzled. It was not uncommon for people to flee, and it was even foreseeable for officials to flee.
But the Yizheng War has been over for five days. Why did you come out to run away at this time? Shouldn't you have disappeared long ago?
As a result, the two people inquired and found out that the imperial court wanted to conceal the results of the Yizheng Battle to avoid causing large-scale chaos.
You may think so, but the entire court has long been a sieve for leaks. Only a few days later, the news has spread to everyone.
Moreover, due to the early concealment, people began to distrust the government's news. As a result, the news became more and more terrifying as it spread.
The Zhou army originally only occupied the eastern capital again and defeated all the forces of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Jiangbei.
Now the rumor has become that the Zhou army is massacred in Jiangbei, Yangzhou has been emptied out, and there are almost no living people in Taizhou. The next step is that the Zhou army will cross the river and kill everyone in Jiangning City.
This rumor is completely an enhanced version of Sun Ru’s attack on Yangzhou!
Zhou and Feng, who had just been baptized by Zhang Zhao, looked at each other and both had deep doubts about the court's ability to respond and govern.
Compared with the cohesive and orderly state of Zhou, the Jiangning court looked like a grass-roots team.
Not only in terms of system, but also in terms of temperament, there is a huge difference.
It was getting late at this time. Zhou Zong was a veteran of the previous dynasty. He had some respect in this dynasty, but he was not very close to Li Jing.
Feng Yanlu's elder brother, Feng Yanji, was the most favored minister of the imperial court, but he, Feng Yanlu, was not.
Therefore, neither of them had the ability to enter the palace at dusk, so they could only wait until tomorrow to be summoned.
Moreover, Feng Yanlu must go back to discuss with his brother Feng Yanji. What should be said and what should not be said must be decided by Feng Yanji.
Zhou Zong looked at Feng Yanlu and gave a wry smile. Originally, he was an old fool who only wanted to be rich and prosperous for a few more years, but this time, he would inevitably be labeled as a member of Feng Yanji's party.
However, Zhou Zong didn't care much about this, because he could sense the changes in Feng Yanlu's heart.
If it hadn't been for a big hole in his psychological defense, Feng Yanlu would not have been able to say those words in the Dongdu Stay Office in Yangzhou.
His wry smile was mostly due to this.
That Emperor Shaoming of Zhou State is so awesome! He won't say a word to solicit you, let alone threaten you with punishment or even life and death.
But just by being treated in such an approachable manner and simply explaining his ambition, people can't help but want to follow him.
"The world here has been in dire straits for two hundred years since the Yan rebels invaded China. The emperors of the Xianmiao and Wumiao dynasties tried to cheer up, but in the end they were unable to recover.
After that, Li Yazi Yingrui Shenwu of Zhuang Temple had the ambition to dominate the world. In the past, he defeated the king of Shu, and three of the four in the world were defeated.
Even Emperor Yizu wanted to return to the Central Plains, but it was a pity that he died in Xingjiaomen before the world was settled.
Today, the Emperor of Zhou has the desire to unify the world. Shuwen, look at the difference between the Emperor of Zhou Shao and Emperor Zhuangmiao."
Feng Yanlu glanced at Zhou Zong. Before this, his relationship with Zhou Zong was not close, but at this moment, the fate of the two has been tied together to some extent.
Although Zhou Zong himself is old, he still has children and grandchildren. If he wants to keep his descendants wealthy, it is impossible to completely stay out of the matter.
Feng Yanlu knew that Zhou Zong wanted to confirm his thoughts through these words, but he couldn't make it too clear.
And he also knew that it didn't matter what he thought, what mattered was what his brother Feng Yanji thought.
"I heard that in the past, Emperor Zhuangmiao was very concerned about people. Before the world was settled, he would take away the power of soldiers and generals at all levels, but he refused to give him wealth, gold and silver.
She also stayed close to the actors and alienated her confidants, which led to the internal neglect and external emphasis. Empress Liu in the harem was mean, ungrateful and greedy. The teachings and edicts went hand in hand, without distinction between internal and external affairs, and public and private affairs were unclear, which led to the overthrow of the empire.
But now Emperor Shaoming has great righteousness in his hands. He uses Xiaorui from Hexi as his minions to govern the inside and outside. He uses his bodyguards in royal robes as his eyes and ears to visit all directions. He uses banks to collect gold and silver from all over the world, and he has gods and Buddhas to protect his body."
When Feng Yanlu said this, he stopped talking and looked at Zhou Zong, who nodded in agreement.
"Two hundred years of chaos, instability from top to bottom, and the Central Plains getting weaker and weaker. The fact that the Khitans can enter Kaifeng is proof that people have peace of mind!"
Speaking of this, Zhou Zong stopped talking. Both of them knew each other's intentions. There was definitely no such thing as surrendering to Zhou State, but in their hearts, both of them were more optimistic about Zhang Zhao.
Feng Yanlu saluted Zhou Zong, and Zhou Zong returned the salute and said to Feng Yanlu: "If the saint can forgive me for losing the Eastern Capital this time, I will build a separate property on Jiangshan Mountain, and Shuwen can come here often in the future."
Get together."
Feng Yanlu nodded, and the two immediately parted ways. Of course Zhou Zong went home to write a memorial and report to Li Jing, but Feng Yanlu didn't even return home and ran directly to his brother Feng Yanji's house.
.
.
What Zhang Zhao didn't understand was that the real Feng Yanji in history was not the Five Ghosts of the Southern Tang Dynasty that he was familiar with.
On the contrary, although Feng Yanji's ability to govern was not top-notch, he still had the ability to be a Taiping prime minister and to follow the rules and regulations.
Feng Yanji was not a treacherous minister. On the contrary, he was tolerant and generous and extremely filial to his mother.
In politics, he attacks his political opponents fiercely and is good at catching others in their mistakes. He also has to concoct some specious lies.
But just drive them away from their positions and never put anyone to death.
In history, the reason why Feng Yanji and others were labeled as the "Five Ghosts" was because he later lost power and had no successor.
On the other hand, the political opponents Sun Cheng and Han Xizai's faction had a large number of talents, and in the Northern Song Dynasty, a large number of people were still serving as officials.
When Lu You and others compiled the "Book of the Southern Tang Dynasty", the sources of information were all descendants of Han Xizai's group, so one can imagine Feng Yanji's reputation.
Feng Yanlu entered Feng Yanji's residence quietly through the back door without anyone informing him.
Although these two brothers are only half-brothers, they have a very good relationship.
Feng Yanji was also very filial to Feng Yanlu's mother, his stepmother.
Seeing that his brother had returned safely, Feng Yanji was so excited that he almost burst into tears. While he sent people to guard the inner courtyard to prevent outsiders from coming in, he also arranged for people to take Feng Yanlu to wash up and change clothes.
"How did Wulang come back from Yangzhou?"
Feng Yanji asked excitedly. Feng Yanlu took off his hat and showed Feng Yanji a scabrous head.
When Feng Yanji saw it, his tears of excitement were immediately replaced by tears of laughter and he flowed out.
"Hahaha! He is indeed my younger brother, Feng Zhengzhong. He has changed his hair and appearance. Not bad! Not bad!"
Feng Yanlu stopped Feng Yanji from arranging for him to wash up, but once again signaled Feng Yanqing to retreat.
Feng Yanji understood immediately and immediately asked his eldest son to drive everyone out. After only a few Feng brothers were left in the inner courtyard, Feng Yanlu said with a bitter smile.
"This Kunfa method can only be used once and not a second time. I was still captured by the Zhou army. If I can come back this time, it is actually Lord Zhou who let me come back."
As he said that, Feng Yanlu also took out the Yishan Guan that he had always kept close to his chest.
As a Confucian literati, he certainly knows the significance of this thing. For now, it is also a good story! It is to leave a name in history.
For thousands of years, the history has been filled with anxiety. To be able to leave one's own name, or to leave one's name with a good story, is something that many people can't hope for in their lifetime.
When Feng Yanji mentioned that Yi Shanguan and Zhang Zhao had released them back to Jiangning, Feng Yanji immediately noticed the change in Feng Yanlu's mood very keenly. He looked at his brother extremely seriously.
"Wulang, you and I, brothers who have received the salary of the Tang Dynasty, should be worthy of the imperial court. My Feng family has been in the south of the Yangtze River for two generations and has been favored by three generations of emperors. I must be worthy of the saints."
"There are brothers who are loyal ministers and righteous men, how can there be brothers who betray the country and seek glory? I, Feng Wulang, have never thought about cheating, and Emperor Shao Ming has never said that he wants to recruit someone.
But brother, today the world has been in chaos for hundreds of years, and people have peace of mind. Emperor Shao Ming is indeed a heroic and benevolent lord that he has only seen in his life.
As for Emperor Baoda, it is difficult to call him benevolent, let alone wise.
The Zhou Kingdom has inherited the virtues of the Tang Dynasty, and will never tolerate us, a peaceful country that claims to inherit the Tang Dynasty.
You and I, brothers, we, the Feng family, don’t need to seek refuge with us, we just need to cooperate a little to show off to the Emperor of Heaven for the sake of all the people in the world.
In this way, one can bring peace to the world, and two, less evil can be committed, and in the future, if the emperor loses his throne, he can be treated like Emperor Huai of the Han Dynasty."
Emperor Huai of the Han Dynasty was his later master Liu Chan. Among all the subjugated kings in the past, this man could be regarded as having the best treatment and living a very comfortable life, so Feng Yanlu took him as an example.
Feng Yanlu's words also proved that the relationship between the brothers was excellent, because they were extremely bold. Feng Yanlu said what he said was righteous, but what he wanted to do was actually traitorous to the country.
The expression on Feng Yanji's face changed twice, and then he glared at Feng Yanlu fiercely.
"What you say today will come out of your mouth and into the ears of our brothers, so don't have such thoughts.
I, Feng Zhengzhong, have been greatly favored by Your Majesty, and I will never do such a thing as betraying His Majesty. If you dare to do it, don’t blame a certain person for killing your relatives."
After saying that, perhaps because he felt that he had spoken too harshly, Feng Yanji looked at Feng Yanlu and said softly.
“If we, the ministers, are not loyal and loyal, how can we be respected by the king?
My Feng family has hundreds of people living in Jiangning. If anything goes wrong, won't it affect my family?
Finally, if Prince Shaoming is really as wise and powerful as you say, with the talents of you and I, brothers, if we want to stabilize Jiangnan, can we get around it?"
Feng Yanlu was convinced. His brother was worthy of being a great man who could prime minister the Southern Kingdom. He had a long-term vision and clear organization.
"Since my brother said this, I won't say this anymore. It's just that regarding the matter of seeking peace, I would like to give you some advice. The Zhou army is so powerful that we cannot match it."
Feng Yanji thought for a moment and nodded slowly. He did not refuse this, because Li Jing was already frightened. If he could ask for peace, it would be a dream!
.
.
The next day, after receiving the news that Zhou Zong and Feng Yanlu had returned from Jiangbei, Li Jing immediately summoned them.
Feng Yanji knew Li Jing well. This young man who had always lived under his father's wings had not experienced much at all.
The greatest danger he had ever seen was when his third uncle Xu Zhixun wanted to fight for power with his father Li Min.
But Xu Zhixun didn't even support his biological brother, but supported Li Min, his sworn brother. It was said to be dangerous, but it wasn't even a crisis.
So when he suddenly faced the situation where the Central Plains army had captured Dongdu and faced the Yangtze River, Li Jing was horrified and at a loss as to what to do.
He suddenly discovered that everything he thought was strong suddenly became so fragile.
Li Jing now even wants to go to Hongzhou and rename Hongzhou Nanchang, turning Jiangning into the eastern capital and Nanchang into the western capital.
But now he still couldn't speak out, so he hinted to his confidant Wei Cen, but Wei Cen pretended not to understand and refused to come forward.
So Li Jing originally wanted to summon Feng Yanji today, and then ask Feng Yanji to take charge of the matter.
But now that Zhou Zong and Feng Yanlu have been released, we might as well listen to their opinions first.
Zhou Zong was present, and after Feng Yanji's advice, Feng Yanlu naturally did not dare to talk nonsense, so he told Li Jing the truth.
When Li Jing heard that the Zhou army was thinking of withdrawing to the north, he was very excited!
As for letting him cross the river to pay homage, Li Jing's IQ is still online and he knows that this can be negotiated.
So he set his sights on the crown prince of the Southern Tang Dynasty, his second brother, the marshal of all armies and horses, and the King of Qi Li Jingsui.
Well! Li Jing nodded. He had already thought about it. If he really wanted to negotiate, he might as well make his second brother the emperor's younger brother and let him cross the river to pay homage to Lord Zhou on his behalf.
As soon as Li Jingsui looked at Li Jing's eyes, he knew something was up to him. He really didn't want to be the emperor's younger brother!
The Prince of Qi of the Southern Tang Dynasty had no other abilities, but he was very clear-headed and knew that being a brother to a younger brother did not mean great wealth, but great danger, so he always wanted to refuse the title of crown prince, but Li Jing refused to let him go.
Is this okay? If we are really sent across the river, will this one still survive?
Just when Li Jingsui was trying to find some excuse to dispel Li Jing's idea, the commander of the imperial army guarding the palace ran in in great joy.
It turned out that Chen Jue, the privy envoy and the governor of Zhaowu Army in Fuzhou, had returned with 6,000 naval troops from Wuchang Army and 15,000 troops from Fujian.
Among the army that conquered Fujian, there were the famous Southern Tang general Zhu Kuangye and his son Zhu Lingyun, who was known as the invincible marksman, as well as powerful generals such as He Jingzhu and Huangfuhui.
In addition, Minister Pan Chengyou recruited Xu Wenzhen, the military envoy of the Yong'an Army of Jianzhou, the former king of Fujian, Chen Jie, the governor of Jianzhou, Zheng Yanhua, Lin Renhan, and Lin Renzhao, the former generals of the former king of Fujian, and recruited the brothers of Jianzhou, Jianzhou, and Tingzhou in Fujian.
There are five thousand athletes.
At this time, Wang Min's defeat was actually due to his lack of internal affairs, brothers fighting each other, and the civil servants and generals being attacked and destroyed. There was not a large loss of soldiers.
Therefore, after Wang Min's kingdom was destroyed, a large number of Wang Min's soldiers would return to their hometowns in places such as Jianzhou, which was Wang Min's main source of soldiers.
Among them, Chen Hui, Zheng Yanhua and Lin Renzhao are the main ones. These three are all rare and powerful generals.
Not to mention Lin Renzhao, Zheng Yanhua is also a powerful man who can kill a nearly adult tiger by himself.
In history, Chen Jie was given the posthumous title of Zhonglie in the Southern Tang Dynasty. He was very good at naval warfare. In the Battle of Fuzhou, he led his navy to sail hundreds of miles day and night to defeat the Wu and Yue navy. He was a rare naval warrior.
This Li Jing, a second ago was thinking about sending his younger brother Li Jingsui across the river to beg for mercy, but now that he has received reinforcements, he feels that he has support and does not want to give in so quickly.
He looked at the dusty Feng Yanlu. Li Jing did not trust others, but Li Jing trusted Feng Yanji very much. He also trusted Feng Yanji's younger brother Feng Yanlu.
"Since Lord Zhou intends to return to the north but has not mentioned any conditions, do the Qing family dare to go there again? Go and ask Lord Zhou what the conditions are."
If other people wanted to cross the river, they would definitely be horrified, but Feng Yanlu was not afraid at all, but he still looked embarrassed, and finally said through gritted teeth.
"Since I am sent by a saint, I am willing to cross the river again. However, if Lord Zhou asks about the conditions of our country, I will not be able to deal with it. I would like to ask your Majesty to draw a limit."
Before Li Jing said anything, Feng Yanji raised his eyebrows. He felt that his younger brother Feng Yanlu was trying to trick the saint, but after hesitating again and again, Feng Yanji still didn't stop him.
Li Jing didn't think much about it. He looked at Chang Mengxi, the Minister of Household Affairs. This person was the most upright. If he spoke first, there would be no deviation.
Chang Mengxi also went out of the queue without hesitation. There were not many ministers in the palace at this time, and they were not afraid of leaks.
"Saints, since ancient times, when defending the river in the Southern Dynasties, one must defend the Huaihe River. If there is no Huaibei, there must be Huainan. Now that Chuzhou and Haizhou are in the hands of the Zhou State, the entire Huainan is like a hole being bitten by a tiger or wolf.
It's better to give more gold, silver, brocade and silk, or even pay tribute to the emperor as a minister, but you must have Huainan."
At this time, Huainan formed a chain of defense points from Shouzhou to Haozhou, Sizhou and then to Chuzhou.
With all four states present, the defense power will naturally double. If one of the states is missing, the defense power will decrease.
Among them, Shouzhou is especially important, followed by Chuzhou. It can be said that without Chuzhou, Huainan's defense is indeed like a fence that has been dug out by a ferocious beast with a big hole that can be entered and exited.
However, everyone knows that this is nonsense. Zhou Guo even occupied Yangzhou, the eastern capital, and he is still thinking about Chuzhou. How is it possible? This suggestion should be regarded as unspoken.
However, to everyone's surprise, Feng Yanji and his party, who usually used these words to attack, did not say anything.
Han Xizai thought that they had restrained themselves at this critical moment, so he quickly came out to make amends.
"Sage, I believe that the most important thing now is to get back Dongdu, and the second is to get Taizhou back.
If these two cities were in the hands of the Zhou State, even if the Zhou army returned to the north, it would still be like a fishnet in the throat for our country.
Although Chuzhou is important, the Lord of Zhou will definitely not let it go. This time the Zhou army went south, using the excuse of offending Song and Xuzhou, with the intention of reaching into Huainan. Chuzhou will definitely not come back.
However, although the defense of Huainan is followed by Chuzhou, it is not as indispensable as Shouzhou, because without Chuzhou, we can still build forts in the Tianchang area to block the enemy."
After Han Xizai finished speaking, Feng Yanji finally stood up. Of course, he had to wait for Chang Mengxi, Han Xizai and others to express their opinions first, because then he would be less likely to be caught when he came out to agree with this opinion.
"Sage, I believe that whether there is Chuzhou or not, it is not the most important thing. The most important thing now is that the Zhou army must return to the north as soon as possible, because as long as the Zhou army is in the south, the court will be in more danger.
And once the Zhou army returns to the north, even if there is no Chuzhou, if the entire Tang Dynasty can unite as one, not give the Zhou people any excuses, cultivate virtue internally, refine the armor and soldiers, build more forts, and use this to become a prosperous land, it will only take three to five years. If we keep it for a long time, we can regain our strength and protect our country forever."
What this means, to put it nicely, is that it is from a high position, and its vision is not limited to one city or one place.
But in reality, it is too vague. Whether it is unity or internal cultivation of virtue, it is not so easy to achieve.
But Li Jing couldn't stand it and liked listening to it! Moreover, Li Jing also suddenly realized that the most important thing now is indeed not the gains and losses of a city or a place, but to quickly send away these plague gods from the Zhou Kingdom.
So in Li Jing's ardent expectation, Feng Yanlu "risked" crossing the river again and took his handwritten letter to Zhang Zhao to beg for surrender and peace.
.
.
Zhang Zhao was extremely surprised by Feng Yanlu's arrival this time, because Feng Yanlu dared to cross the river, which proved that he was no longer afraid of him.
As a minister of a foreign country, he is not afraid of enemy monarchs like Zhang Zhao who come to his doorstep.
This is either an extremely loyal minister who has no regard for life or death, or he already has a bias in his heart.
But this time, since it was an official mission, Zhang Zhao entertained Feng Yanlu well at the banquet.
Zhang Zhao gave Feng Yanlu and the envoys and officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty fifty pieces of Hexi white cotton cloth, ten catties of rock sugar, three catties each of fragrant leaves, cardamom, and olive oil.
Feng Yanlu and all the envoys danced to express their gratitude.
Zhang Zhao once again personally presented him with cheese lamb chops, rock sugar braised pork and other famous Hexi dishes, especially rock sugar braised pork, which was invented by Zhang Shengren himself.
The envoys and officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty were filled with gratitude and immediately wrote poems to congratulate him. For a while, the two sides talked very harmoniously.
Sure enough, after the banquet, Jin Yiwei carefully searched Feng Yanlu's leftover roasted chicken and found two wax balls.