Chapter 1164: Qi's envoy travels west

Chapter 1164: Qi's envoy travels west

Hongnong City was built under the supervision of Wang Sizheng. Before that, Yuwen Tai died of illness during the Eastern Expedition and the army was defeated. The Northern Qi army chased him all the way and once occupied Hongnong City. Then they burned the city and left, causing Hongnong City to be destroyed at this time.

Later, after Li Tai came to power, he appointed his cousin Li Licheng as the governor of Hongnong and rebuilt the city. The new Hongnong City moved away from the old site and was larger in scale than before. The site selection was not as strategic as the old city. The main consideration was convenient access and unobstructed traffic to facilitate communication between the east and the west.

The reason for this change is that the current situation is different from previous years. Hongnong was also a border city before. Although the Yaohan area in western Henan was also under the control of the Western Wei, this control was not reliable, and Hongnong City occasionally suffered attacks from the enemy.

However, with the strengthening of the defense line in western Henan and the strong counterattack of the Wei army in recent years, the border has moved further and further eastward, and Hongnong City has gradually become a stable inner town. The military functions and needs are no longer as great as before. Instead, it needs to play a more transit role in the exchange and interaction of personnel and materials between the east and the west.

This newly built Hongnong City has a large city wall and a strong commercial atmosphere. In addition to the garrison and residential areas, most of the other areas in the city are markets, warehouses and carts.

Even though it is wartime now, since Hongnong City is not where the army is assembled, it has not been greatly affected. Instead, more merchants have come here. They believe that with the powerful strength of the king's army, even if the battle on the front line is fierce, it will not affect the safety of the rear.

Of course, more importantly, it is profitable to follow the army. In recent years, the Bafu has gradually opened up some channels for private capital to participate in the military, mainly in the military market, allowing merchants to participate in the supply of some military supplies, such as whetstones, flints, and replacement felt tents, sacks and other trivial materials.

Of course, the workshops under the hegemony government can also supply these things, but large-scale production often cannot flexibly match the military's dispatch and expedition, which will cause a lot of resource waste.

Therefore, in the internal reform of the hegemony government to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, these basic production functions were still retained, but production was no longer expanded. Instead, some trivial materials were listed and purchased by the private sector. This also provides a channel for the civilians to cash in on the products they make by hand during their daily farming off-season, and the merchants take on the function of intermediate resale.

At the same time, these merchants can also purchase the spoils captured by the front-line troops through the military market, eliminating the tedious work of the hegemony government to transport and store these spoils inside and outside, and can directly cash them in money and silk to reward meritorious soldiers.

The impression of the people of Qi on the Western Wei Dynasty is either that the land is narrow and the people are weak, or that it is extremely cruel and evil. Words such as prosperity and wealth are usually not associated with the Western Wei Dynasty. Many scholars and civilians who came from Guandong before talked about this point, and they couldn't help but sigh that their past prejudice was indeed a bit narrow.

Guanzhong is indeed still a certain distance away from Hebei, especially from Yedu, a metropolis, but the distance is not as big as imagined, and it is mainly reflected in the planning and construction of the city and the magnificence of the palaces and pavilions. The powerful people in Guanzhong were not keen on civil engineering, and even the imperial palace was built in the early years, which was slightly repaired and used until now.

However, when it comes to the activity of the market, the prosperity of people's livelihood, and the prosperity of commerce, the Western Wei Dynasty is not much inferior to the Northern Qi Dynasty. And because the Western Wei Dynasty successively occupied Shuzhong and Shannan Jiangling and other places, as well as the strengthening of its influence on the Turks and the continuous operation of the Hexi Corridor, the development of Western Wei in commerce has even surpassed that of the Northern Qi Dynasty today.

The Qi envoys came from the south of Heyang, passed the Hanguan Pass and came to Hongnong via the northern road of Xiaohan, preparing to meet the King of Tang and ask for peace. When they just got off the car and saw the prosperous and lively scene inside and outside Hongnong City, they couldn't help but widen their eyes for a moment, a little doubting what they saw: "Is this really Hongnong City? How can it be so prosperous?"

"Of course this is Hongnong City. The Tang King is prosperous and peaceful inside and outside. The people are well-fed and well-clothed, and the national strength is growing day by day. Hongnong is just a small city, which is far from enough to show the prosperity of Guanxi and the strength of Wei at present!"

Han Qinhu, who was responsible for escorting the Qi envoys from Heluo to Hongnong, also smiled and boasted after hearing the Qi envoys sigh and doubt. He naturally wouldn't say that the current Hongnong City is becoming more prosperous because of the war, and as for the usual time, it is not so lively, and let these people sigh by themselves.

After hearing this, the Qi envoys and their entourage were speechless again. Originally, in their concept, the east has always been strong and the west is weak, but a series of recent events are destroying their cognition.

First of all, they suffered a defeat in the war. Their emperor personally led an army of more than 100,000 people to fight a decisive battle with the Western Wei, but was defeated and died of illness.

Now, facing a new round of offensive by the Wei army, the new emperor Gao Yan, after ascending the throne in Jinyang, was even more willing to admit defeat and sent envoys to the south to seek peace and stop the war. This made the people of Qi completely bow to the Western Wei in military terms and dare not compete with them anymore.

Even so, the people of Qi still retained a certain sense of superiority, thinking that the people of Wei were just a group of poor and evil people. When it comes to the abundance of the treasury and the wealth of the people, they are still far from their Northern Qi. Hebei is still the most beautiful place in the world.

But now, when they actually set foot in the territory of Western Wei and saw the cities of Wei with their own eyes, even this sense of superiority was destroyed. In addition to feeling deeply disappointed, I also had to re-establish a correct attitude towards the people of Wei and the state of Wei. Therefore, everyone was silent on the way into the city. The more prosperous scenery they saw in the city, the better they felt. The more complex it is.

The staffing of the Northern Qi envoys to seek peace was extremely high. They were led by Gao Rui, the royal family member of Zhaojun. The deputy envoy Wei Shou was also an eminent scholar from a famous family in the Three Kingdoms. He was also accompanied by Yang Xiuzhi, Lu Yanshi and others, who were also from Hebei Province. Outstanding characters.

The person in charge of receiving them in the Western Wei Dynasty was Cui Zhan, who had accompanied them here, and was also a member of the Guanxi Touhou. As the most outstanding person of the Cui family in Qinghe, Cui Zhanjiu was also well-known in Hebei. He knew all the envoys from the Northern Qi Dynasty, and some of them were former colleagues. Now that they meet again, under such circumstances, each of them can't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"I heard from the past that Cui Zi traveled westward and lamented that the wind and rivers in Hebei were gone. Now I meet you again in Hongnong. I am very pleased to see that your style is even better than in the past. You are the chief minister of the Tang Dynasty, and the rest of the envoys came here to beg for peace. If you can remember the old friendship between the people in Hebei and give a little help to the king of Tang, if you can help the two countries stop fighting and reconcile, then all the relatives and friends in Hebei will be grateful to you for your kindness!"

Wei Shou and Cui Zhan's father, Cui, had never been on good terms. Now when they entered his country and saw that he was about to be controlled by him, he was afraid of Cui Zhan's revenge, so he quickly smiled and complimented him.

It's just that he was eager to show his kindness, but he kept his posture too low and bluntly begged for peace and survival, which naturally made everyone in his party unhappy. Gao Rui, the king of Zhaojun, even snorted coldly, but after looking at Cui Zhan, Still didn't dare to say anything more.

"Young Master Wei's words are serious. I only serve as a counselor for the Tang Dynasty King. It is difficult to decide on military and state affairs. If I can protect the people in Hebei Province from military disasters, I will be extremely happy. But now the Tang Dynasty King is raising troops and Kuang Yi to launch a crusade. , the key to whether the two sides can stop fighting and make peace depends on the sincerity of the Qi Dynasty that your noble envoys bring to the peace."

After Cui Zhan heard this, he replied that he also disliked Wei Shouzhi, but now that he was responsible for receiving the envoys, he could not be rude after all. After a pause, he continued: "You don't know what the temperament of the King of Tang is like. Later, I realized that if I can express my request directly, I can convince the King of Tang if I can be reasonable and reasonable.

"Thank you, Master Cui, for your advice!"

After hearing this, several people nodded and thanked Cui Zhan. Wei Shou smiled faintly, pinched his beard with his fingers and returned to the team.

Cui Zhan then led this group of people directly outside the main hall of the city lord's palace, and immediately went inside to report: "Your Majesty, the envoy from the State of Qi has arrived outside the hall. Do you want to summon them now?"

Li Tai was writing seriously at his desk. After hearing this, he nodded and said, "Invite people in."

Not long after, Gao Rui and his entourage came to the hall and bowed to the King of Tang in the hall: "Qi State envoy Gao Rui and others are envoys from the State of Wei to pay homage to the King of Tang!"

"You don't need to be polite, please take a seat first, and I will talk to you in detail after I finish the small things in the case."

Li Tai still didn't stop writing, he just raised his head and said with a smile to everyone, then lowered his head again and started writing seriously.

Upon seeing this, everyone said that King Tang was dealing with important matters, so they did not dare to disturb him. They sat down and waited quietly. Sitting a little bored, I couldn't help but look at the furnishings in the room and the demeanor of this world-famous King of the Tang Dynasty.

He was seen sitting in the banquet, wearing simple Moxi clothes. He had a tall and straight figure, handsome facial features, and a graceful and elegant temperament. It made people happy, and everyone secretly felt that there was a person who could make people fall in love at first sight. The leader is still Shenwu Emperor Gao Huan, but the Tang King in front of him is even more elegant. When I think of his reputation and deeds, I can't help but admire him more and more.

In this way, nearly half an hour passed before King Tang finally put down the pen in his hand. After seeing this, everyone quickly cheered up and prepared to talk.

"Sorry, please wait."

While flexing his sore wrists, Li Tai pointed at the paper on the desk that was full of writings, and said with a smile to several people in the hall: "The children in the household have just entered the school, but they are busy with the war now and have no time to go back." I wanted to teach him a lesson. I was afraid that he would be childish, naughty, and unwilling to concentrate on his studies, so I personally recorded Xun Qing's "Encouraging Learning" to warn him."