Chapter 61 two

The generals of the Yuan army were full of fighting spirit, including A Shu, Zhang Hongfan and other senior generals, all wanted to take advantage of the victory to attack Lin'an, the capital of Song Dynasty. Boyan was infected by the emotions of the soldiers, and also had the idea of ​​​​taking Lin'an as soon as possible and destroying the Song Dynasty.He was about to convene a meeting of generals and generals, when the guards came to report: The Great Khan sent envoys in gold letters, and the prince invited Boyan to his temporary residence for a briefing. After capturing Dingjiazhou, Zhenjin has been living in a private house near Shuaifu.Normally, he never interfered with any of Boyan's combat plans, and even rarely participated in military meetings. Boyan was full of gratitude for his unreserved trust.

Before the Boyan people entered the room, they could already smell the enticing fragrance.When I entered the door, I saw three large plates of seven-color pastries neatly stacked into square cones on the table and two crystal bottles with flat bottom, round belly, thin neck, and turned mouth, which were exactly the same size and shape. Filled with rose colored liquid.Behind the desk, Zhen Jin was waiting for him with a smile. "Prince." Hearing his voice, a person flashed out from the room, his face was covered with drops of water, he seemed to be washing his face just now, when he heard his words, he came out without even caring to wipe it off.

"I pay my respects to Prime Minister Boyan." "Shangdu? So you are the Khan's envoy with gold letters?" "Yes, Prime Minister. The Great Khan sent me to deliver the decree. In addition, I also brought some tributes from the Ili Khanate and the Chagatai Khanate." Shang Wen replied with a smile.Shangwen was promoted from Xingyushitai Dushi to Yushitai Dushi two years ago. From the seventh rank to the sixth rank, Shangwen's promotion can be described as slow, which is related to his honest personality and thus offended Ahema. However, Shangwen is Zhenjin's friend after all. Although Ahema tried his best to suppress him, he didn't dare to get rid of him immediately.

"Prime Minister Boyan, come and sit down. Try these snacks first, you must have never tasted them before. For you, although you are a Mongolian, the Ili Khanate is also your home country - after all, you grew up there. In In the southern battlefield, you must be able to taste the food of the motherland, and you must have a special feeling in your heart. Shang Wen, you sit down too and pour wine for Prime Minister Boyan." "Alright! Prime Minister, please." Boyan was not polite, walked to the table and sat down, took a piece of red pastry on the top of the plate and slowly tasted it.

"How do you feel? Tell me." "Soft but not sticky, crisp but not loose, fragrant but not greasy, after eating, there is a faint fruity aroma left in the mouth. What is this made of? Fruit?" "The envoy of the Ili Khanate said that this is called 'Seven-Color Mincemeat Cake', which is refined from a hundred kinds of fruits in seven colors and some secret recipe. It will not change color or taste after a year or two. It tastes delicious. , Only half of it was reserved to reward the princes and nobles and their families, and the rest were sent to the front. The profuse Khan ordered the fruit cake and wine to be distributed to the prince, the prime minister, the generals of the armies, and the soldiers who have done meritorious service. "

"Long En the Great Khan, Boyan pays homage to the leader on behalf of all the soldiers." "Prime Minister, how about you taste this wine again?" "Isn't this red wine from the Western Regions?" "Yes. However, these bottles of wine have been stored in the cellar for more than a hundred years, and the Chagatai Khanate paid a lot of money to buy them from the people." "No wonder the taste is so... different, um, wonderful. It is not inferior to those famous wines that the Song court paid tribute to the Great Khan: Xiangquan, Tianchun, Lanqiao Fengyue, etc."

"Is that really the case? Shang Wen, let's both pour a glass and have a taste." Boyan was stunned for a moment: "Prince, don't you..." "The prince said that you worked much harder than him in strategizing on the front line. Therefore, he must wait for you to taste these pastries and these bottles of wine before he can enjoy them." Boyan was excited and wanted to say something, his eyes touched Zhen Jin's peaceful face, and he swallowed back the words of gratitude.Zhen Jin is such a person, he acts rashly, does not stick to small details, and regards friendship as more precious than his own life. For such a person, gratitude does not need to be talked about, but only needs to be hidden in the heart.

"Prime Minister Boyan is right, the taste of this wine is very mellow. Shang Wen, what do you think?" "I have never tasted such a mellow wine, but it's a pity that I can't just get drunk." Shangwen smacked his lips regretfully, and Zhenjin smiled unconsciously: "I have half a pot of authentic Western Region wine in my place, which was given to me by Na Muhan half a year ago. Although the taste is worse than these two bottles, It’s also top-notch. If you like it, I’ll give it to you when you go back.” "Really?" Shang Wen was overjoyed. "You are not joking."

"Prince, is there any news about King Peiping and Prime Minister An Tong?" Before Zhen Jin was established as the prince, the struggle between An Tong's faction, who was the right prime minister of Zhongshu Province, and Pingzhang's political affairs Ahema's faction reached a fever pitch.Due to Kublai Khan's favoritism towards Ahema, An Tong would inevitably be restrained in doing anything in the court. In a rage, An Tong took the initiative to ask Namhan, king of Beiping, to go out to the northwest of the town, and got permission.After the Yuan army captured Xiangyang, Haidu, the grandson of Okuotai Khan, rebelled openly in the northwest. Namuhan and Antong were ordered to put down the rebellion, but unexpectedly fell into Haidu's plan to attack the west, and both were captured by Haidu.Boyan asked exactly this matter.

Zhen Jin frowned slightly: "They are still being detained in Haidu's military camp for the time being. Father Khan concluded that Haidu would never have the guts to harm the lives of these two people. He just wanted to use these two as bargaining chips to bargain with Father Khan. A few days ago, Father Khan issued an ultimatum to Haidu, asking for Namuhan and Antong. Haidu expressed his willingness to consider it, but asked Father Khan to pay ten carts of gold as a ransom. Father Khan sent a large army to the northwest, and at the same time sent Prince Xiban ( Shuchi Five Sons) came forward to mediate——Shangwen may not know Xiban very well, so I might as well take this opportunity to say a few more words. In terms of seniority, Xiban is my cousin, and his own brother was Megatron back then. Batu Khan, who established the Golden Horde Khanate in Europe. When Batu Khan was dying, he passed on the position of Khan to his third brother, Brother Bie Erge. Xiban was ordered to report this matter to my Bohan Mengge. At that time, he was still the vassal king My father Khan loves Xiban's eloquence, wisdom and courage, and keeps him by his side. Over the years, Uncle Xiban has been serving as the special envoy of my father Khan, traveling and mediating among the four major khanates, and providing support for the four khanates. Jointly obeying orders from the central government, minimizing friction between each other played a key role——Haidu finally stopped mentioning the matter of ransom, but he could only release people after returning to the fief. In fact, Haidu was worried that his father Khan Therefore, although Na Muhan and An Tong will not be released in the short term, they will not be in danger of their lives."

"If you want me to say, this Haidu is really annoying! If you don't fight well, as soon as you fight him hand-to-hand, he will be defeated; if you don't make peace well, just after you have a truce with him, he will come back and disturb the people. I think Da Khan is also a headache for him." Zhen Jin and Boyan smiled wryly at each other.Shangwen's outspoken evaluation of Haidu coincides with what they think in their hearts. Boyan changed the subject: "The Great Khan sent Shangdu to come, do you have any other orders?" "Not only oral instructions, but also a letter and an imperial decree." "Prince, does Da Khan have anything to say?" Zhenjin smiled: "Oh, the emperor Basiba is going back to Beijing to give lectures, and my father ordered me to return to Dadu with Shangwen." In fact, Zhenjin only mentioned one thing in the letter, and the other was related to Boyan. The matter is not mentioned at all.How did Boyan know that when the Yuan army and the Song army were confronting each other at Yangluo Fort, they accidentally intercepted two carts of jewels and jades that Song Ting used to motivate the generals ahead.After discussing with A Shu and others, Boyan sent Jingqi to transport the two carts of jewelry and jade back to Dadu intact.Before the departure, Boyan was busy directing the battle, so he didn't have time to check the jewels carefully, let alone record the records. As a result, he ignored a brocade box with jade kui on top and a list of bestowed treasures hidden underneath. He ignored it, but Ahema found this list, which stated what was bestowed on which general.After careful checking, Ahema found that one of Song Guobao's "Jade Peach Cups", which was named to Prime Minister Jia Sidao, was missing.Based on this, Ahema played Kublai Khan, insisting that Boyan secretly hid the "Jade Peach Cup".Kublai Khan was skeptical, and ordered his relatives to investigate the matter thoroughly.The envoy was very clever. When he arrived at the commander's camp, he did not go to see Boyan who was directing the battle at the front line. Instead, he went to meet the prince first and told the Khan's intentions.Zhenjin knew that Ahema was acting as a hindrance again, and told the envoy not to tell the story. Then, he wrote a long letter at night and entrusted the envoy to bring it to Father Khan. In the letter, Zhenjin described in detail the whole process of Yuan army soldiers intercepting and escorting the jewelry cart back to Beijing.At the end of the letter, Zhenjin bluntly reprimanded Ahema for creating something out of nothing, for using the heart of a villain to measure the belly of a gentleman.He said that Boyan is working hard and fighting bloody for the unification of the country, and he is willing to sacrifice his life to testify for Boyan.Boyan is bright and upright, with a clean sleeve, and his loyalty can be learned from the world. If Boyan really hid the "Jade Peach Cup", he is willing to lead him to death for Boyan.Never in his life had Zhen Jin used such vehement language to anyone, let alone his father Khan. Zhenjin's uncharacteristic confession made Kublai completely believe in Boyan's innocence.This time he sent Shang Wen, not only brought a reply letter to Zhen Jin written by himself, but also an imperial decree.In order to surprise Boyan, Zhenjin didn't let Shangwen read the imperial decree immediately. Hearing that Zhenjin is about to return to Beijing, the green fruit cake that Boyan just took a bite of seems to have lost its flavor.Having been together day and night for several months, he was really reluctant to part with real gold. "Since the Great Khan has a letter, when is the prince planning to leave?" "The day after tomorrow. Prime Minister Boyan, our army has won consecutive battles recently. Are there any aggressive emotions among the soldiers? This can be said to be the most worrying thing before I leave." "Impatience? Does the prince mean that the soldiers call for a battle and demand that the Song capital Lin'an be besieged immediately?" "Yes. Although the Song court lost hundreds of thousands of elite troops in the battles of Yangluobao and Dingjiazhou, there are still troops from Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Sichuan and Shu. Our army is under heavy siege?" Boyan thought for a while: "The prince is very worried. If the prince hadn't reminded me, I would have almost been influenced by this aggressive mood and made improper deployments. The main task of our army at present is to completely eliminate the remaining forces of the Jiangbei Song army. , Cut off the threat from the flanks. Then the troops are still divided into three groups, all the way to take Dusong Pass, cover Lin'an from the west, and cut off the passage for the Song Dynasty to escape to the inland; The route of escape from the sea; all the way from Changzhou, Suzhou, and Jiaxing to Lin'an City. Such a step-by-step approach, why worry that Lin'an will not be broken, and the Song Dynasty will not be destroyed!" Zhen Jin knew that Boyan had already planned his next move, so he didn't continue this topic.He winked at Shangwen, Shangwen understood, and went to the inner room to get the imperial edict. "Under the imperial decree! Prime Minister Boyan listens to the decree!" Boyan hurriedly left the table and knelt down on the ground. "Chen Boyan—accept the order!" "Written: Boyan Zhongshu Sheng Zuo Prime Minister was promoted to the position of Zhong Shu Sheng You Prime Minister, and he is in charge of the Privy Council. This is your honor!" Boyan was obviously a little surprised, and was taken aback for a moment before thanking him.The Mongolian custom is that the right is the right, and the right is the respect. An Tong was detained by Haidu, and the position of the right prime minister was vacant. At this time, Kublai promoted Boyan as the right prime minister, which in itself was an answer to his son Libao Boyan.Of course, Boyan didn't know anything about the inside story here, and he just thanked Da Khan for his kindness in knowing him from the bottom of his heart.Zhenjin stepped forward to help Boyan, and said affectionately: "Prime Minister Boyan, on the day of the triumphant return of the army, on behalf of my father, I will buy wine for you and all the soldiers at Lizhengmen to celebrate." "Please tell the prince to the Great Khan, the minister will fulfill his mission!" "Okay, I'll tell Father Khan. Take care, Boyan." "You have to take care, Prince!"