Although the emperor's brother of the Southern Tang Dynasty was not stupid, he was weak and had no ambition. He also liked to have fun and not take care of things. He just wanted to live his life in a romantic and romantic way.
If someone else is the emperor's younger brother, they must be desperately trying to keep the Southern Tang Dynasty, because he is the successor and this country belongs to him.
But Li Jingsui didn't want to be. He didn't want to be the emperor's brother, and even the previous military marshals were not willing to be marshals.
Letting such people come to negotiate with the Lord's envoys is no different from giving away money. This can be seen from what Li Jingsui brought.
The previous few times they were simple gifts chosen at random, but this time Li Jingsui came with them, including three sets of Jiangnan refined imperial uniforms, five sets of regular uniforms, tea medicines and one thousand taels of gold utensils that the Southern Tang Dynasty paid tribute to Zhang Zhao.
Five thousand taels of silverware, two thousand pieces of brocade, five hundred cattle for the army, and two thousand hu of wine.
Li Jing also wrote a letter to Zhang Zhao in his own hand, in which he regretfully mentioned Xu's sins when he sent troops north to the Song Dynasty.
Although the letter still claimed to be Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he expressed his willingness to call Zhang Zhao his brother and expressed his willingness to pay tribute every year as long as his brother forgives him.
Zhang Zhao crossed out the words "Tang Emperor" in front of Li Jingsui, and then handed the letter to Li Jingsui.
"Go back and tell your brother that I can agree to his request to call me brother, but as a younger brother, you must act like a younger brother.
I can entrust him with the affairs of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, but the title of emperor must be removed, and the title of Tang Dynasty cannot be used again, because King Jian Ke has never been emperor.
Your brother's uncle, Duke Li Shouling of Longxi County, is still in Chang'an to offer sacrifices at the Tang family temple, and the descendants of Prince Zheng are also there. If the elders are not called Tang, how can the nephew be called Tang?"
Coincidentally, Li Shouling is the fourth-generation grandson of Li Yun, the second son of Tang Xianzong, and Li Jing's father, Li Min, is the fourth-generation grandson of Li Ke, the tenth son and founding king of Tang Xianzong. They all trace their ancestry to Tang Xianzong.
Li Jingsui took back the letter, but he was a bit vague about Zhang Zhao's proposal and just whispered.
"Our Tang Kingdom is located in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River. It is really not suitable to be called emperor anymore. If the saint allows it, I can give up the title of emperor and call myself the lord of the country."
Zhang Zhao was a little dissatisfied, but he didn't hold back. Li Jing's move was equivalent to half surrender.
Instead of taking the title of Tang Dynasty, he only took the title of Emperor, and he was also called the Lord of Tang Dynasty. This was obviously because he did not want to accept Zhang Zhao's canonization.
Of course, negotiations cannot be settled in one go. After Zhang Zhao made no comment, he did not get entangled in this aspect.
But since Li Jing only wanted to surrender and lose half, the saint Zhang was no longer polite and started to speak like a lion.
He asked the Southern Tang Dynasty for the four prefectures of Shou, Guang, Hao, and Si in the north of the Huainan River, as well as Ezhou, where Wuchang is located.
This is to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty from Huainan and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River!
If the four states of Huainan and Ezhou are sacrificed, and Zhang Zhao has already captured Yang, Chu, Hai, Tai, Chu, and six states, then only Luzhou will be left in Huainan and Huaixi.
We even hit Wuchang, an important stronghold on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and there was no way we could survive!
Not even Li Jingsui dared to agree to this. If he agreed, the Southern Tang Dynasty would be gone.
"Without Huainan and Ezhou, our country, the Tang Dynasty, would have been destroyed. The saint's move was not to negotiate for peace, but to kill them all. Then our country would have no choice but to fight to the death."
Feng Yanlu also became loyal. He stood up and spoke loudly to Zhang Zhao, while Li Jingsui prostrated himself on the ground and begged again and again.
Do you want to trust Feng Yanlu?
This is something Zhang Zhao must make a decision immediately.
Because it was obvious that Feng Yanlu was leaning towards him, and it also revealed the possibility of being recruited.
Now that he is talking like this, it means ceding the entire Huainan, Jiangbei and Ezhou, which is completely unacceptable to Li Jing.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment, and then sneered.
"I have tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers on the right side of the Yangtze River. We can break the city overnight and capture all of Huainan. It's just a piece of cake. How can we ask for peace without paying a price?"
Li Jingsui begged for a long time, but Zhang Zhao still refused to let go. Li Jingsui had no choice but to rush back to Jiangning to discuss with Li Jing again.
Most of the other officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty did not go back and began to visit various civil and military officials in the Zhou army, hoping that they could help persuade Zhang Zhao.
It was early June, and the weather was getting hotter and more humid, and the soldiers and horses in Hexi couldn't stand it any longer.
Various tools of the Shenji Battalion were seriously damaged, and a hundred camel cyclone cannons had returned north long ago, because the camels began to get used to the environment and had rotten hooves. As for the war horses, rotten hooves also began to appear.
During this period, not only the envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty continued to come to the Zhou army camp in Hezhou, but the angels of the Zhou Dynasty also went to Jiangning several times. After constant wrangling, the two sides finally reached an agreement.
Regarding the issue of Zhang Zhao's refusal to let go of Nan Tang's imperial title, it was Zhao Pu who finally came to the rescue.
This sinister guy only asked Zhang Zhao one thing, that is, do you want to repair Southern Tang again in the future?
If we don't leave an excuse, after returning with a full load this time, Southern Tang has been extremely respectful. What excuse can we use to attack? It is also a very important thing to have a famous division.
So after Zhang Zhao thought about it, he finally agreed with Zhao Pu's statement that he had to leave an extremely important handle to the Southern Tang Dynasty that could be pulled out and beaten at any time in order to leave evidence.
In Jiangning City, Feng Yanji was actually trying to persuade Li Jing that since he had already regressed to such an extent, he should not leave any excuse for Zhou Guo. Feng Yanji even said so.
"The State of Zhou claims to inherit the virtues of the Tang Dynasty, but I call myself Tang. Doesn't this naturally give others an excuse to attack?"
But Li Jing had his own considerations. As the descendants of the Tang Dynasty clan, they couldn't help but think about it. If they were transferred to the Tang Dynasty, what else could they use to appeal to people's hearts?
The cession of land and compensation can be said to be a desperate act, but when it comes to Tang Hao, this is obviously inexplicable!
Moreover, Li Jing felt in his heart that he had indeed made a lot of mistakes in this fight, but he had also learned a lot of lessons.
With experience, next time Zhou Jun comes, things won't be so cheap.
As a result, the two sides finally reached a settlement in Hezhou, and Zhang Zhao led his army to move back to Yangzhou that day.
Li Jing once again sent the emperor's younger brother Li Jingsui across the river, and the two sides reached the following conditions.
1. Li Jing lost the title of emperor, changed the name of the Tang Dynasty to Southern Tang, and was called the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The Southern Tang Dynasty declared itself a minister to the Zhou Kingdom. Li Jing called Zhang Zhao his brother, and Zhang Zhao called Li Jing his younger brother.
Every year on Zhang Zhao's birthday, the birthday of Zhang Zhao's aunt, the Empress Dowager Ciyou, and the birthday of his biological mother, the Empress Dowager Cisheng, Li Jing must send congratulatory gifts and send envoys from the clan as birthday congratulators.
Second, the Southern Tang ceded the four states of Chu, Hai, Hao, and Si in Huainan to the Zhou State, and compensated the damage caused by the invasion of the Song and Xu states with 100,000 guan, and paid for the military expenses of the Zhou army worth 300,000 guan.
3. The Southern Tang Dynasty needed to pay to redeem the states occupied by Zhou, including 300,000 guan in Yangzhou, 150,000 guan in Taizhou, 100,000 guan each in Chuzhou and Hezhou, and 50,000 guan each in Tianchang Jianwu Army and Yancheng.
The total value is 750,000 yuan.
Fourth, the Southern Tang Dynasty needs to pay tribute to the Zhou State every year 100,000 catties of tea, 100,000 pieces of brocade, 200,000 shi of grain and rice, and several other specialties of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
The specific amount may vary, but the total value shall not be less than 400,000 guan. The annual tribute must be transported through the Grand Canal, and the Southern Tang Dynasty must ensure the smooth flow of Hangou.
5. Zhang Zhao released the captured Southern Tang Yan King Li Jingda, Bian Hao and other civil servants and generals, as well as 14,000 Southern Tang army prisoners, but he could take away the volunteers who were willing to go north.
Sixth, the Southern Tang Dynasty immediately executed Chen Jue, the privy envoy who attacked the Zhou Dynasty navy camp, handed over the naval commander Chen Hui and others, and severely punished the generals who agreed to send troops.
As soon as the treaty was signed, Zhang Zhao knew that half of the Southern Tang Dynasty had been destroyed.
A one-time compensation of 1.15 million yuan was made, which is equivalent to almost the entire year's fiscal revenue.
The annual tribute money of 400,000 yuan is constantly drawing blood.
This amount is basically equal to 60% of the annual income of the Southern Tang Dynasty, because Chuzhou and Yangzhou are the two largest salt-producing centers in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Without Chuzhou, the financial revenue of the Southern Tang Dynasty will definitely be greatly reduced.
Defense is even worse. Without Chuzhou, the Huainan part north of Yangzhou is almost undefended.
Without Haozhou and Sizhou, the remaining land of Huainan and the Southern Tang Dynasty only had the stronghold of Shouzhou, which could not be defended at all.
In the end, the Southern Tang Dynasty could only shrink its defense line to Chuzhou and rely on Chuzhou's Qingliu Pass and Tianchang's Jianwu Army for defense.
And whether it is Qingliu Pass or Tianchang, they cannot be compared with the four states of Shou, Hao, Si and Chu.
From then on, the entire north of the Yangtze River provided limited barriers to the south of the Yangtze River, which would become a huge burden.
Moreover, if 60% of the annual budget is taken away, if we still want to defend ourselves, we will have to do our best to squeeze the people, and then people will definitely be devastated.
Zhang Zhao suddenly knew why in history, during the Li Yu period, twins born from geese had to pay taxes.
On June 15th, Zhang Zhao sent Zhang Lie to become an angel, cross the river to Jiangning, and consecrate Li Jing as the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Li Jing led hundreds of civil and military officials out of the city for ten miles to kneel to greet him. At this point, Zhang Zhao's six-month campaign against the Southern Tang Dynasty officially ended.
In this battle, Zhang Shengren transformed the Tang Dynasty founded by Li Min into the real Southern Tang Dynasty, and it no longer needed to be called the Southern Tang Dynasty in history.
Zhang Zhao annexed the four prefectures and nineteen counties of Huainan in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and obtained a large amount of money, grain and goods. He gave the soldiers and generals a balance of five to six million guan.
The annual income of 400,000 yuan can also greatly promote the recovery of production in the Central Plains.
In particular, rice from the south of the Yangtze River can finally be transported to the Central Plains. Zhang Zhao no longer has to withhold food bit by bit from Hexi, Longyou and Guanzhong, which are already food-stressed.
On June 20, Zhang Zhao paid homage to more than 600 people who died in this battle and more than 100 Zhou army warriors who died of illness in Yangzhou.
With 130 large and small warships built in the south of the Yangtze River, more than 2,000 strong sailors from the south of the Yangtze River recruited, tens of thousands of people at home, and hundreds of workers, they returned north from Yangzhou via Hangou.
While returning north, Zhang Zhao plundered all the treasuries of Yangzhou, Tai, Chu, and the four prefectures and counties under their jurisdiction, and then hired tens of thousands of people from Yangzhou, Tianchang, and Yancheng to help pull fiber.
These people originally thought that the Zhou army was brutal because the Southern Tang court propagandized it so and the local tyrants also said so.
Therefore, everyone thought that if they went here, they would either be beaten to death or die of exhaustion. When they were "hired" and left, it was as if they were going to die, and there were even several riots.
But after arriving, I found that the Zhou army was well disciplined, the Zhou officials were kind to everyone, and their work of drawing was not heavy.
Not only are three meals provided every day, but you can also have chicken pancakes and mutton soup every two days.
What's even more exaggerated is that there is money to be taken, one big coin per person per day. Although it is small, it is not money. Those who do not need silver can still exchange it for the same amount of salt and cloth.
If someone gets sick, there will be medical doctors accompanying the army to ask for medicine and cure the illness.
Under this kind of treatment, the people in Jiangbei of the Southern Tang Dynasty burst out with great enthusiasm. They dragged him all the way to Chuzhou and refused to leave.
Zhang Zhao then specially allowed them to be sent to Xuzhou, and they had enough food and money along the way.
When they arrived at the outskirts of Xuzhou, Zhang Zhao personally dismissed the more than 30,000 civilians. To facilitate their return, Zhang Zhao also left five ships, large and small, filled with the cloth, salt and tea they deserved.
Then Saint Zhang issued an edict, saying that he was grateful to the people for sending him off, and he would use his own money to reward each of them with a piece of cloth and five thousand shi of grain to feed them on their way back home.
He also promoted a large number of capable people from the common people as officials, and sent Zhao Pu, a member of Zhongshushe and a member of the Ministry of Revenue, to send them back south.
When the people heard this, they were moved to tears and shouted long live in the mountains outside Xuzhou City. Many people continued to kowtow to express gratitude even after Zhang Zhao drove away.
This is also a conspiracy, because the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty who received such kindness from Zhang Zhao will definitely transfer their expectations to Li Jing.
Then they would find that in order to collect the annual tribute to the Zhou State and still have a surplus to build a defense from Qingliu Pass to Tianchang, the Southern Tang Dynasty court would definitely increase their taxes greatly.
At that time, the balance of people's hearts will completely tip to the other side.
However, Zhang Zhao's mood was a bit complicated. It can be said that the suffering that the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty were about to face had a lot to do with him, but he had to do this.
At least for now, he can't save these people. Instead, he will let them be squeezed severely and then rise up to resist.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao sighed to his eldest son Zhang Xiancun beside him.
"Although it is hard to prosper the people and it is hard to destroy the people, after the prosperity, at least there will be some good days to look forward to. This is all I can do."
Zhang Xiancun is thirteen years old this year. He seems to understand what he is saying, but he is getting better and better at flattering him. He raised his hand.
"Your Excellency is a famous king throughout the ages, and the people under his rule will certainly not suffer."
Zhang Zhao chuckled and didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. He could only make the people suffer less. As for not suffering, that was impossible.
People at the bottom of society cannot avoid suffering in any era. The only difference is whether they can get a little sweetness after suffering.