Chapter 46
Unlike the Jin envoy who was left out in the cold, the Mongolian envoys were welcomed by Song officials along the way.
Kuoduan and his entourage went south along the Grand Canal, taking in a panoramic view of the prosperity of the Southern Song Dynasty. At the same time, they also saw clearly the reality and reality of the Southern Song Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, Lin'an is ahead of us!" Yeluxuan said with emotion: "This Southern Song Dynasty is really rich and prosperous!"
Kuo Duan nodded, "I originally thought that the Kingdom of Jin was a world of flowers and flowers. When I arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, I realized that in terms of prosperity, the Kingdom of Jin was not worthy of carrying shoes in the Southern Song Dynasty!"
Ye Luxuan said: "The Southern Song Dynasty had wealth but could not keep it, so what was the use?"
Kuo Duan nodded, "Yes, we, Great Mongolia, will complete what the Liao and Jin Dynasties failed to accomplish, completely conquer the Song Kingdom, and turn everything we see into our pasture!"
Ye Luxuan said hurriedly: "When we get to Lin'an, the prince will not be able to say this again!"
Kuo Duan smiled and said: "Don't worry! I know what to do!"
At this time, the ship continued to sail and soon arrived at the dock. A large number of Song Dynasty officials were already waiting here.
Li Zhixiao, one of the three culprits, led several senior officials and waited at the dock for a long time.
At this time, when he saw the Mongolian mission's ship arriving at the pier, Li Zhixiao hurriedly stepped forward and bowed his hands to everyone on the boat, saying, "It's great to have friends coming from afar! Your Highness, you have worked hard all the way."
Dressed like a Mongolian, he looked at the welcoming team and asked: "I came to the Song Dynasty this time to discuss the matter of the two families joining forces to destroy the gold! I don't know when I can see the emperor of your country?"
In the first month of this year, Mongolia annihilated 150,000 Jin soldiers in Sanfeng Mountain, causing the Jin Kingdom to lose nearly half of its elite troops.
Now the Jin Kingdom is relying on the Yellow River to barely defend itself, but it is actually very empty inside.
At this time, in order to cope with the next Mongolian attack, the Jin Kingdom must be farming and hoarding food while recruiting and training new soldiers.
Therefore, the further the time for destroying gold is pushed back, the more prepared the Jin Kingdom will be.
Wokuotai was greatly disgraced by the destruction of the Jin. He hoped to destroy the Jin quickly and not give the Jin Kingdom a chance to breathe. At the same time, he would also re-establish the prestige of his Great Khan by destroying the Jin.
Kuo Duan saw the Jin envoy in Chuzhou and knew that they were also coming to the Song Dynasty, so he hoped to meet the Song emperor as soon as possible to finalize the matter of jointly destroying the Jin Dynasty.
Li Zhixiao said with a smile: "Your Highness, there is no need to be impatient. Our Prime Minister has already prepared a banquet for you. We will first take care of Your Highness, and then arrange for Your Highness to meet His Majesty!"
Kuo Duan nodded with satisfaction, "As the guest does, the host will do as he pleases, then I will listen to your arrangements!"
"Your Highness! Please!" Li Zhixiao then smiled and turned sideways.
…
In the evening, the senior officials in Lin'an City gathered at the prime minister's residence, and everyone smiled.
They all heard that the Mongols came to discuss the joint attack on the Jin Dynasty, and made a promise to return the Henan area to the Song Dynasty after the Jin Dynasty was destroyed.
Although there were some worried voices in the court, officials headed by Shi Hongyuan, after discussion, believed that the opportunity was not to be missed.
They believed that this would not only allow them to regain lost ground, but also take advantage of the opportunity to avenge Jingkang's humiliation.
At this time, in the Prime Minister's Mansion, everyone was discussing what kind of rewards they could get for their great achievements in recovering Henan.
While everyone was discussing, a shout suddenly came, "The Prime Minister is here!"
At this time, Shi Hongyuan, who was nearly seventy years old and had held power in the Song Dynasty for twenty-seven years, was helped in by several guards.
Seeing this, the officials present immediately stood up and greeted him, but Shi Hongyuan just nodded coldly and arrogantly, then closed his eyes to rest, and the ministers could only sit down awkwardly.
The Southern Song Dynasty paid great attention to the arrival of the Mongolian mission. More than ten tables were set up in the Prime Minister's residence, with various delicacies and fine wines. However, the Mongols had not arrived yet, the banquet had not started, and no one dared to use chopsticks.
This time the Mongolian mission was of a very high standard, sending Kuoduan, the son of the Mongolian Khan, and the Southern Song Dynasty did not dare to neglect it.
These Mongolians were dissatisfied with the king's rule and behaved rather barbarically. The last time they attacked gold, they took the Southern Song Dynasty and messed up many states and counties in the Southern Song Dynasty, so that the Southern Song Dynasty did not dare to offend the Mongols.
Shi Hongyuan is already old. He doesn't ask for anything else but two things.
The first thing is that he is now inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people, so he should be satisfied, but he has one regret, that is, he has not yet been crowned king.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a saying that the one who recaptured Yanyun would be king, so he thought that if he recaptured Bianjing, he might be able to become a king before his death.
The second thing is that when people get older, they tend to be conservative and hope that things around them will not change.
Now that the north is in chaos, the war is very likely to spread to the Southern Song Dynasty, and he hopes that before he dies of old age, the world will be peaceful, not to cause too many troubles for him, and to allow him to live out his last days smoothly.
Shi Hongyuan's two simple wishes require the cooperation of the Mongols if they are to be realized.
To regain Bianjing, we need to unite with the Mongols to destroy the Jin Dynasty and maintain peace. We need the Mongols to not meet the Southern Song Dynasty soldiers after they destroy the Jin Dynasty.
Therefore, Shi Hongyuan gave the Mongolian envoys enough face and personally helped them clean up their troubles.
"His Royal Highness Kuo Duan is here!" The distinguished guest always appears last. The main character, the Mongolian prince Kuo Duan, who was waiting for a large group of officials, finally led a group of Mongolians to the banquet.
Shi Hongyuan stood up, and the surrounding Song Dynasty officials also stood up one after another, "Your Highness is here!"
Chen Zhixiao led Kuoduan to Shi Hongyuan and introduced: "Your Highness, this is our Xianggong Shi of the Song Dynasty!"
Kuo Duan glanced at the old man in front of him, feeling very contemptuous in his heart, but pretending to be surprised on his face, "It turns out he is the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China. I have admired him for a long time!"
Mongolian men can't hide things in their hearts and their acting skills are not up to par. However, Shi Hongyuan has been a powerful prime minister for more than 20 years and has met countless people, so it is obvious that Guanduan's arrogance is obvious.
However, Shi Hongyuan had no resentment in his heart. Instead, he cared about the mood of the Mongolian prince. He smiled and said: "Your Highness, please sit down!"
When Kuo Duan and others took their seats, Shi Hongyuan said: "Since the protagonist is here, let's start the banquet!"
Hearing this, Liu Zhixiao quickly poured wine for Shi Hongyuan and Kuo Duan. Kuo Duan glanced at the small wine glass, and then asked directly: "Shi Xiang! You must be very clear about the purpose of my visit, but you don't know that Shi Xiang will join forces to destroy the Jin Dynasty.
What’s your attitude?”
Shi Hongyuan smiled and said: "Your Highness, I am naturally in favor of jointly destroying the money!"
But Kuo Duan asked: "Since Prime Minister Shi agreed to the alliance, why did I see the Jin envoys in the Song Dynasty? Do you want to talk to them?"
"Haha~" Kuoduan's forcefulness made Shi Hongyuan a little embarrassed. He chuckled to cover up his embarrassment, "Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. Zhao Tai, the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin, has arrived in Chuzhou a long time ago. If the truth wants to talk to him, let him come to Lian'an...
"
Chapter completed!