In the second year of Shaoming Dynasty in the Great Zhou Dynasty, 947 AD, Yuan Day, Jinshan Palace.
It has been more than two months since Zhang Chang followed the advice of his ministers and blocked news of Ma Chu from Jiangling.
Ma Xiguang never discovered Zhang Yan's intention, because according to the custom at this time, since he was here for an audience, when there was no urgent matter, it was a very normal thing for the emperor to leave envoys from various countries after the first day before leaving.
The only person who was a little embarrassed was Li Xiaofeng, the envoy of Shu State.
Because since Emperor Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty took away the title of emperor and became the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, only the kings of Meng, Shu and the Southern Han Dynasty were left with the title of emperor.
The rest of Wu and Yue have never proclaimed themselves emperors and have always been vassals of the Central Plains Dynasty.
The same goes for Ma Chu. Starting from Ma Yin, the first king of Chu, Ma Chu pursued the political strategy of "serving the emperor" and regarded himself as a vassal.
Needless to say, Nanping, Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie were not called Gao Laizi for nothing.
The Southern Han Dynasty was far away in Lingnan, and had rarely communicated with the Central Plains dynasty, and they did not come this time.
Therefore, among the envoys from all the countries, only Li Xiaofeng was particularly uncomfortable this time. Meng Chang, the Lord of Shu, was not a vassal of Emperor Shaoming, but his opponent.
Since arriving at Jinshan Palace last year, Li Xiaofeng basically did not dare to accept any invitations from the Zhou Kingdom. He concentrated on thanking guests behind closed doors, and took several envoys who came with him from Shu to have a meal together to express his gratitude.
Loyalty to Meng Chang.
Your Majesty, you must see clearly that we are rich and noble, we cannot be lewd, we are powerful and cannot be subdued, and we have not participated in the activities of all the countries in the world to pay homage to the Emperor of Zhou.
If he hadn't been trapped in Jinshan Palace and couldn't get out, Li Xiaofeng would have run back to Shuzhong.
With a creak, the door was pushed open.
Li Xiaofeng knew who it was without looking. The person coming must be Zhang Lieming, who he once thought was a fool from the clan, but was actually a senior member of the Jinyi Guards.
As for how Zhang Lieming exposed his secret, it is actually very simple, because since getting on the line with Zhang Lieming, Li Xiaofeng discovered that the Jinyi personal guards who had been monitoring them for a long time were missing, sometimes almost none, at least Li Xiaofeng no longer felt
arrived.
Then Li Xiaofeng deliberately waited for Zhang Lieming to come to him, and then asked his followers to find the spy office on the corner of the street who was pretending to be a hawker and had been keeping tabs on him all year round, and told Mr. Zhang that he wanted you to step aside temporarily.
After hearing this, the vendor actually glanced at the Guiyi Building where Zhang Lieming and Li Xiaofeng were staying, and hesitated for a moment. Li Xiaofeng understood immediately.
However, although Zhang Lieming was taught a lesson by Li Xiaofeng, he was not discouraged or embarrassed at all.
He even took the opportunity to express that he and Li Xiaofeng really had the same aspirations and were willing to treat each other as brothers.
Li Xiaofeng was secretly frightened by his ability to remain shameless even after being exposed.
Because although he didn't know Zhang Lieming's specific position, since Zhang Lieming was a member of the clan and was still among the emperor's trusted bodyguards, he was destined to have a low status.
And Zhang Lieming is still willing to lower his status, which must be because he wants something big.
Li Xiaofeng did not dare to offend Zhang Lieming. For him, no matter how important other things were, they were not as important as his own life.
If you act like this now, you have already offended the Emperor of Zhou. If you offend Zhang Lieming again, you may not be able to return to Shu alive.
So he could only open the door wide and welcome Zhang Lieming in. Zhang Lieming was very coquettish and asked him to lead two sheep and bring in several jars of fine wine and fruits and vegetables that were extremely rare in winter.
The members of the Shu delegation who had been eating rough meals for more than ten days were already salivating at the sight of the fat sheep's fine wine, and the gluttons in their stomachs could not be appeased at all.
Zhang Lieming did not give them any room to refuse. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the cooks he brought to start cleaning up the small courtyard of the Shu envoy.
Zhang Lieming took Li Xiaofeng's hand and sat down with him, with a faint smile on his lips.
"Brother is really clever. He saw through my little brother's little ability in a few seconds.
However, the elder brother has made a meritorious service, but the younger brother has suffered terribly. He was almost kicked to death by the emperor's father, but this was all caused by his elder brother."
Li Xiaofeng felt a slight chill on his back. Although Zhang Lieming said it with a smile and a teasing tone, Li Xiaofeng could clearly feel the unhappiness inside.
"Brother Cunjie is indeed the nephew of Prince Shao tomorrow. I am afraid that other civil servants and generals will not be able to get such a close relationship!" Li Xiaofeng had to be careful when he spoke.
Because he knew very well that if he offended Emperor Shao Ming, the worst he could do was to drive him back to Shu in anger. The Emperor of Shang Kingdom would not take such a small thing against him, but that was not the case with Zhang Lieming in front of him.
The King of Hell is easy to meet, but the little devil is difficult to deal with!
Zhang Lieming heard the weakness in Li Xiaofeng's words and suddenly sighed.
"I think back then, when I met my brother and played on the court, it was so unexpected. But now my brother is so wary. Can't you and I really be brothers for once?"
Li Xiaofeng resisted the urge to shake his head and said slowly: "Brother Cunjie and I are our own masters. Besides, my brother is the noble one of the great country, so how can I dare to reach such high places?"
"Then what if Zhou and Shu are no longer separated from each other?" Zhang Lieming narrowed his eyes and whispered.
Li Xiaofeng immediately became extremely serious, "Our great Shu is thousands of miles away with fertile fields, rich people, virtuous and brave people, and a hundred thousand armored men who are loyal to the king. Moreover, the mountains and rivers are dangerous in geography, and the forts and fortresses are strong. There is no way to conquer the country except by going to the country."
"
Zhang Lieming also snorted softly, "If the Lord of Shu has a hundred thousand iron armor, how can he be defeated in Ziwu Valley? Can the civil servants in Shu be as wise as King Zhuge Wuning? Can your Majesty compare with King Wuning?"
Li Xiaofeng's face looked unnatural. Looking at Zhang Lieming's aggressive eyes, he could only slowly shake his head.
"My father is noble, but he is not as good as King Zhuge Wuning. Naturally, there are no civil servants in Shu who can compare with him."
"Who is the bravest military general compared to Guan Zhang?" Zhang Lieming continued to ask.
Li Xiaofeng could only shake his head, "Guan and Zhang are the most powerful generals in the world, and there is no one in Shu who can compare with them."
When Li Xiaofeng shook his head, he also smiled bitterly in his heart. If there were generals such as King Zhuge Wuning and Guan Zhang in Shu at this time, they would have already invaded the Central Plains.
“There are neither civil servants like King Zhuge Wuning nor brave generals like Zhang Guan, so why can’t we succeed in Shu?
Today, the Holy Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty is on the throne. His talents are far superior to those of Wei Wu. His success in winning the country is comparable to that of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty who killed the White Snake in the uprising. He has failed the world. With Longyou in Hexi and twenty-nine states in Anxi and Beiting returning to the country, China will be revitalized.
ambition.
Wen had Zhang, He, Fan, Feng and Zhao who were all talented prime ministers, Wu had Yan Jin Gong, Murong Baipao and other twenty-five loyal men who returned to the country, as well as Gao, Fu, An and Hebei, Zhao Kuangzan, and Shaanzhou Zhao Yanjin.
These are all loyal and brave ministers and famous generals in the world, how can they not succeed in Shu?"
Li Xiaofeng was speechless and could only lower his head in silence.
Zhang Lieming did not let him go, "When I first met my brother, I knew he was a learned man. How could he be inferior to a man who was trapped in the wilderness of Tubo and understood the truth of following the sage, unifying the world, and saving all people from fire and water?
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Now it has been one hundred and eighty years since the great dynasty was in chaos. White bones are exposed in the wild. There are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles. There is not even one household registration in ten. The cruel and unscrupulous people will sing and I will appear. It is the time to bring order to the chaos.
Scholars like us, who were born in this troubled world, why don’t we carry the three-foot sword and have the heart to sacrifice our lives for righteousness, so as to create peace for all generations?”
Zhang Yan knew how to deal with these scholars, and he taught Zhang Lieming how to say this.
Zhang Zhou's biggest advantage now is that he occupies the moral high ground of the Central Plains Kingdom and can arbitrarily accuse the other countries of separatism and separatism.
Sure enough, this set of words quickly touched the weakness deep in Li Xiaofeng's heart.
This is because the classics he has studied since he was a child all have the theme of respecting the unification of the world, and the loyal ministers and righteous men he praises are all loyal ministers who safeguard the unification of the world.
The concept of great unity is a hurdle that all scholars cannot overcome.
Of course, Li Xiaofeng couldn't give in now. He quickly adjusted his mentality and said slowly.
"My father and son have been in Sichuan for decades. They relied on the fertile fields of Shu for their children and their children. The two generations of kings also treated them well. There is no way to betray them."
Zhang Lieming imitated Zhang Yan's appearance and waved his hand boldly.
"Brother, why do you say this? Are you the kind of villain who instigates people to betray their lord? I, the great Zhou Dynasty, do not need to instigate the monarchs and ministers of Meng Shu to conquer Shu. I only need the heavenly troops to suppress the territory.
When I say these things to my brother, I just hope that after the army enters Shu, it can harm the people as little as possible. If there are knowledgeable people in Shu, it will also be easier to restrain the soldiers and generals entering Shu."
Li Xiaofeng looked at Zhang Lieming in surprise, and suddenly felt that this guy actually had such a kind side. Before he could say a few words with emotion, Zhang Lieming looked at him mysteriously.
"In the past few days, I have reported my brother's character to the emperor. After all kinds of begging, His Majesty has basically agreed to let the captured Shu soldiers return to Shu. He has also agreed to let my brother and uncle's family go to Shu. There is only one person left.
Li Han’s brother wants to go with him.”
Zhang Lieming spoke lightly, and Li Xiaofeng didn't pay much attention to it. He didn't even pay much attention to the last sentence. Instead, he took the initiative to grab Zhang Lieming's hand in ecstasy.
"Your Majesty is really willing to let me go?"
"You are not joking! If your Majesty says we will let him go, he will definitely let him go." Zhang Lieming said with certainty.
"However, as an elder brother, I'm afraid it's not suitable for me to discuss with His Majesty. It would be best to have an important minister of your father's level come over."
Li Xiaofeng has never been the target that Zhang Yan wants to win over, or rather he is not the main target. The main target is his father Li Hao.