Chapter 26 Soft and hard threats

Meng Chang and all the ministers felt that the matter they were facing this time was very difficult.The envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the envoys of the Great Zhou Dynasty arrived together by coincidence, and their purpose may also be related to their raising tax rates, but the starting point of the two must be completely opposite.Dazhou wants to get the support of Xishu's economic strategy to tide over the crisis and calm the panic in its domestic market.Then they may re-formulate a strategy to deal with the Southern Tang's tax rate increase and robbery from financial or military force.And Nan Tang must have thought of this, and their increase in tax rates will definitely become the target of public criticism from neighboring countries.The most seriously affected is Da Zhou, a country that will never let its enemies go easily.Therefore, they must find some countries that do not border with him and have no conflicts of interest to support them, and start with economic strategies and people's livelihood, and suppress many countries around them like wolves, tigers and leopards.

It's really unfortunate that among the dozens of ministers above the Western Shu Palace, none of them fully guessed the real purpose of Da Zhou and Nan Tang's visit.It's not that there is a lack of talents among them, but that they are in different situations and look at things from different angles, as the saying goes, "people don't know their situation in the game." So when Meng Chang thought that everything was considered mature, when he personally summoned Wang Ce and Zhao Pu in the imperial palace, he didn't expect to encounter the other party's unabashed accusations, and the words were so restrained that he couldn't deal with them at all.

Zhao Pu was quite polite, and he first said bluntly that due to the Southern Tang Dynasty's substantial increase in import and export goods taxes, grain prices soared, and grain storage was scarce.A group of ministers had no good solution, so they sent the two of them as envoys to the Kingdom of Shu to see if there was a solution, or if the Kingdom of Shu was willing to lend a helping hand to solve the predicament at this difficult time. But before Zhao Pu finished speaking, Wang Ce immediately reprimanded and asked: "But when the two of us entered the territory of Shu, we found that not only will your country not help me in Dazhou, but you also want to use this opportunity to do something different." picture."

Meng Chang thought that what he said was referring to the fact that Shu took advantage of the current difficult situation in Dazhou, and went to the border of Dazhou to barter for profits.Although this incident is not considered a major hazard, at least it does not appear to be grand enough, and it feels a bit like a villain.In particular, there was a covenant between the Kingdom of Shu and the Great Zhou Dynasty.So when Wang Ce finished speaking, Meng Chang's face suddenly became very uncomfortable. "It's just a little profit, just a little profit." Meng Chang responded embarrassingly.

"King of Shu, you will mobilize your troops, transport a large amount of grain and grass to the border of Zhou and Shu, and want to wage an unruly war against the Great Zhou, and you still say that you are just taking advantage of it?" Wang Ce's voice raised, and the breath of his words made the beard on his lips sway. rise.Zhao Kuangyin said that when you come to the Shu Kingdom, you must find the Shu Kingdom's handle, and don't give Meng Chang face, so as to knock the mountains and shake the tiger.This point that Wang Ce grasped should be regarded as the first handle.

Now Meng Chang's mind was befuddled and his direction was lost. He didn't know where he started talking.And those ministers of His Highness also looked at each other in blank dismay, completely clueless. "My lord, you questioned my majesty unreasonably without evidence. Could it be that you were instigated by some treacherous person." Wu Zhaoyi came out to speak.Seemingly protecting Meng Chang's face, he was actually trying to smooth things over for Wang Ce. "I'm not afraid of instigation. If I offend the king of Shu, I'll just leave my head here. I'm afraid I'll be deceived by a traitor. Then I'm afraid I will leave the country of the Great Zhou to others."

"My lord, although you are an envoy of a great country, you must not be so arrogant and rude. My emperor is benevolent, and I don't care about you. But if you can't produce evidence, I, Zhao Chongzuo, will not let you go." Second Minister Zhao Chongzuo stood up. "Hehe, what evidence do you want? I am the evidence. I have seen with my own eyes the large amount of grain, grass and salt you transported to the grain and grass field of the Fengzhou military camp. I have personally experienced the assassin's ambush when I entered your territory. By the way, you Mr. Zhao If you don't be kind to me, let it go, is it because you don't ask the people from Yuanguan to take your old man's life in this city of Chengdu, at the foot of the King of Shu?" Although Wang Ce is a civil servant, he is upright, sharp-tongued and venomous. strong.And the fact of the assassination is really another handle.

"If you don't talk, you can't get it right. Once Mr. Wang said this, we will know where the misunderstanding is." Wu Zhaoyi was cunning and cunning, and stopped Zhao Chongzuo from taking the conversation. "Part of the grain and grass transported to Fengzhou is indeed for military reserves, but the other part is for bartering with Da Zhou. As you know, Mr. Wang, the production of horses, cattle and sheep in our country is not very good, and the breed is not very good. So I want to use these grains and grasses to exchange for a batch of fine-bred horses, cattle and sheep from Dazhou, and see if they can be bred and raised in the territory. Although this is beneficial to our country, it is even better for your current food shortage situation in Dazhou Mr. Wang, do you think so?"

"If it's really barter food, it must be excellent. It's a pity that this is what Mr. Wu said so eloquently. Why would officers and soldiers come to escort the merchants to barter food and store it in the barracks?" "This barter is exactly what the officials did. In fact, the exchange of cattle, sheep and horses is still secondary. The main reason is that my emperor remembered the previous agreement between our two countries and wanted to give Da Zhou a certain amount of assistance at the right time to show the sincerity and integrity of our country. The reason. The reason why this method is adopted is actually to take care of Da Zhou’s face. If you take some grain, grass and salt and give it directly to you Da Zhou, you will feel it is a kind of humiliation. There is no burden for both parties, and each benefits, so why not do it?"

"But I didn't see any barter in the market in Fengzhou, and we were attacked by assassins as soon as we entered Fengzhou City. It seems that we are afraid that we will pass back some of what we saw to Da Zhou." Wang Ce still didn't believe it. "When you arrived in Fengzhou, our grain and grass had just arrived, so it hadn't been put into the barter market in time. When Mr. Wang returns to Fengzhou in another day, you can see another prosperous market. As for the assassins, The first ones to be killed were the City Patrol Envoy and the Inspector of Fengzhou City. If we can’t be honest with each other and still suspect each other, then I can also say that you Zhou Guo misunderstood that we are going to send troops from Fengzhou to enter the pass. So I sent assassins to kill those two lords. Lord Wang, do you think the situation I said is more convincing?" Wu Zhaoyi deserved to be the prime minister of the Shu Kingdom, his words were tight but not chaotic, and every sentence pointed to the vital point .

"No, the two adults Zhu Keshu and Yu Zhenyang entered Fengzhou City first with our guard of honor that day. Our Lord Wang wisely speculated that the assassin misunderstood those two adults as the two of us. So from the very beginning, we two Talent is the real target of the assassins. And the subsequent assassination on the way to Chengdu also illustrates this point." Zhao Pu spoke darkly beside him. "Lord Zhao, you shouldn't suspect that we sent people from Shu Kingdom to do it. Just imagine, if I don't ask Yuanguan to kill you, why don't you kill you three times and four times if you don't succeed the second time? You will be on dangerous peaks along the way to Chengdu Jedi, there will always be a place to succeed. And instead of doing it again, we sent more guards to escort the two of them to Shudu, isn't that unreasonable?" Zhao Chongzuo's words really made sense. "My lord's words made me suddenly understand, and there must be other reasons." Zhao Pu easily believed Zhao Chongzuo's words, but he couldn't tell whether he was not as stubborn as Wang Ce, or he had other plans in mind. Meng Chang saw that the matter was settled, that the other party had already believed in the sincerity of the Shu Kingdom, and that the envoys of the Great Zhou Dynasty were also very much in favor of the barter, so he felt relieved.Although all the strategies he considered were not used, the result still satisfied him. "However," Zhao Pu didn't finish his sentence, he just meditated and took a long breath. "If this is the case, then there is a third party who wants to prevent us from coming to Shudu. And this third party should be afraid that we will reach a consensus again during this trip and fulfill the previous covenant." "Yes, you said that this assassin was not sent by the Shu Kingdom, so there must be a reason and a purpose. He will not take pleasure in killing me for no reason. Master Zhu Keshu and Yu Zhenyang will replace me The news of the assassination must have spread to Shudu long ago, so I don't know if Mr. Zhao and Mr. Wu have found out some clues during the many days we traveled from Fengzhou to Chengdu, or whether they have not or cannot be investigated at all. "Wang Ce once again attacked with words, completely disregarding Meng Chang's face. Wu Zhaoyi and Zhao Chongzuo were in Chengdu, how could they investigate the assassination case in Fengzhou in person.Even if you urge the local government to investigate this matter, it will take skill, luck, and time to find out some clues.So they really didn't know how to answer Wang Ce's question. At this time, Wang Zhaoyuan stood up: "What the two adults said is very true. As far as the current world situation is concerned, countries are fighting for separate regimes, so it is inevitable that mutual constraints and hidden stumbling blocks are inevitable. It is better to directly talk about the third country than the third country." , then the involvement is much simpler. Now we only need to think about it, Shu and Dazhou fulfilled the previous agreement, and provided food, grass and salt to Dazhou. Then we only need to calculate which country will be the most damaged by this move? Then This country is what the two adults called the third party." Meng Chang suddenly stood up from the dragon chair: "You mean Nantang?" "Yes, all the incidents were caused by the unethical taking of money in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Not only did it cause huge losses to Dazhou, but it also affected the surrounding areas of Nanping, Chu, Wuyue, and Southern Han. Once we help Dazhou, let Dazhou get through this In the next step, Dazhou will definitely take Nantang as the number one enemy to retaliate. Therefore, Nantang will definitely do everything possible to destroy our previous covenant, so that Dazhou will not recover, and there will be no strength to mobilize against it." Wang Zhaoyuan actually said It's too long-winded, and when Meng Chang mentioned the Southern Tang Dynasty, everyone in the hall already felt that this was the answer to the mystery. "I heard that envoys from the Southern Tang Dynasty also came to Chengdu and stayed in the same post house with us. After we arrived in the capital of Shu, we stayed behind closed doors and waited for the King of Shu to summon us. But I heard that the envoys from the Southern Tang Dynasty came out Returning late, visiting the ministers of Shu. I think they must be trying to bribe you to persuade the king of Shu to abandon my covenant, and even unite with the Southern Tang Dynasty to use troops against me. That's why the king of Shu was surprised and assassinated me just now When the third party of the two was Southern Tang, the adults did not show the slightest surprise, they must have known about it before." Wang Ce smacked his tongue again, and this time wiped all the ministers faceless. "False words!" "Bloody spitting!" "There is no guesswork, no extravagance!" There was an uproar in the palace. "My lords, if I, Wang Ce, have really wronged you, then I should be grateful for the amount of the Shu Kingdom. The envoys sent by the Southern Tang Dynasty this time have ulterior motives and ulterior motives. They raised the tax rate this time. , is to take food from the mouths of the neighboring countries. Although my Dazhou is in embarrassment because of its greed, it will certainly not be my Dazhou that suffers the most, but your Shu Kingdom." Wang Ce said generously. "Where did Mr. Wang start with this truth?" Wu Zhaoyi's heart moved, and Wang Ce's words woke him up. "If the Southern Tang raises taxes, if its neighboring countries are to balance the losses, they will also raise taxes accordingly. Then the damage will eventually be transferred to the remote countries that no longer benefit from the export and transit of goods. Western Shu, Northern Han, The Liao Kingdom is a country that will eventually suffer from it and has nowhere to move. Although my Great Zhou has suffered a lot from it, I have not raised the tax rate accordingly, precisely because I have a previous agreement with you, the Shu Kingdom, and I dare not easily break my promise and my neighbors." There was silence in the hall, and this silence was a compliment to what Wang Ce said. Meng Chang slowly sat back on the dragon chair, and he muttered a few words in a low voice: "No, it won't be like this. Could it be that Prince Hongji just calm down and give up?"