"But now the three towns of Hebei are isolated and helpless, if the Khitan people attack in a big way, they will not be able to resist at all, and then the Khitan army and horses will be able to confront our Qi country across the Yellow River."

"Of course, if they want to cross the river to invade the south, they will have to face several military towns of Li Chongjin on the east side, and Zhao Kuangyin's Jianxiong army on the west side, and they can even use them to consume the military strength of Li Chongjin and Zhao Kuangyin."

"But my lips are cold, especially, I don't want the Liao soldiers to ravage the three towns of Hebei again, otherwise even if I recover my homeland in the future, all I will leave behind is a land full of holes, which is easy to destroy and difficult to recover!"

Lu Ning said, shaking his head.

After a pause, he said: "And now, if the three towns of Hebei can be attached to me, then the strength of my Qi country will be greatly increased." ”

Historically, the three towns of Heshuo or the three towns of Hebei, including Youyun and the Tianxiong Army, which had been semi-independent, were the most powerful places in the Tang Dynasty, and the tax revenue of the three towns of Heshuo was almost half of the country.

As for the three towns of Hebei that Lu Ning is talking about now, it is actually equivalent to one of the three towns of Heshuo, and because of various wars, the population fleeing from the three towns of Hebei is extremely large, but in any case, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, if the three towns of Hebei can really enter the Qi now, the improvement of the strength of the Qi country is obvious.

Of course, the risks that come with it are also enormous.

Lu Ning pondered and said: "If my prediction is correct, the Khitan will soon have a rebellion, and we should not be able to invade the south in a short time, and take advantage of this time to recover the three towns of Hebei and make them return to their hearts, and in the future, we will take the initiative in wrestling with Li Chongjin and Zhao Kuangyin." ”

The so-called Khitan rebellion soon, Lu Ning just guessed, he naturally didn't remember the specific historical events so accurately, he only knew that the Khitan rebellion did not stop when the sleeping king was there, and it happened to be when Guo Rong invaded the Southern Tang Dynasty, a great rebellion broke out, according to history, Guo Rong should still be conquering the Southern Tang Dynasty now.

Recently, there has been no major rebellion in the Khitan, and several expeditions to the south have not been smooth, and the nobles are full of complaints, but they are afraid that once the suppressed nobles launch a rebellion, it will be more violent than in history.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, it is naturally the best time to recover the three towns of Hebei.

"When you were in Zhendongguan, the message you got? Will there be a fake? Princess Yongning asked.

Seeing Lu Ning shaking her head, Princess Yongning bowed slightly, "Then, this is really an opportunity." She had already subconsciously believed Lu Ning's sure words, after all, this guy never said wrong, he said that the Khitan was going to break out in rebellion, and it was probably not fake.

"But how? We and the three towns of Hebei Province are separated by the Yellow River, and it is not easy to mobilize troops and horses. ”

If you want to take the ferry, you have to mobilize ships to transport troops, but Princess Yongning knows that Lu Ning has the support of the Hushang Group, so it is not a problem to seconded ships and the like.

"I'll go alone." Lu Ning smiled.

Yongning was stunned, and his face was full of expressions that were convinced of you, isn't this another idea to slap his head?

"I am single-handed, to show my sincerity, let alone to lead the horse? How much do I bring? It is useless to bring less, and if you bring more, it is inconvenient to transfer, and second, I am afraid that Li Chongjin will take the opportunity to sneak attack Qilu Prefectures. ”

Lu Ning smiled and said: "In the past, Emperor Guangwu collected 300,000 copper horses from a single horse, and the three towns in Hebei that I was going to go to were all officers and soldiers, so what were you afraid of?" ”

Liu Xiu received the bronze horse army, and the Internet in later generations was extremely exaggerated, in fact, it was not so magical at all, but in today's world, there is no Internet to quote scriptures and take the world map to correct errors, and the feat of Guangwu has naturally been read by Princess Yongning, who has read the classics.

"And I'm alone, I come and go freely, and no one can catch me." This is Lu Ning's most important reason.

"So, are you making people feel that there are no more dead soldiers under His Royal Highness?" Yongning suddenly asked rhetorically.

Lu Ning shook his head, and was about to say more, when the big peach outside hurriedly came in, "Master, the fast horse from Yizhou, said that the envoy of the Tang State entered our country, and it was Qiao Kuangshun, a scholar from the Tang Dynasty." ”

Lu Ning bowed slightly, just right, he wrote a letter to the Tang Lord, but there has been no response, but in fact, he is still a bunch of confused accounts with the northern border of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Princess Yongning frowned. "Why is this guy again?"

Lu Ning coughed, and said in his heart that you have only seen him a few times, my mother has been in this world since the, and every time I see the envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty, it is him!

……

On the second day, in the hall of the other garden, Lu Ning met the Qiao Sheren.

Qiao She didn't sing at all, and bowed down to give the silk book to Lu Ning with both hands, "The edict of the Holy Son of Heaven, please look at it from King Qi." ”

Lu Ning picked it up and looked at it, slightly stunned, in the edict of the Tang lord, he named himself the king of Qi, the lord of Qi, and Donghai County.

This is like a vassal state being canonized, and the meaning of the edict of the Tang lord is naturally that Qi is a vassal of Tang from now on, and Tang is the suzerainty of Qi.

The center of the Southern Tang Dynasty, should have been discussed for a long time for this matter, now the Southern Tang Dynasty and Wu Yue are fighting, naturally to stabilize the northern border, this canonization, recognized the legitimacy of their own King Qi, and also nominally became a subject country of the Southern Tang Dynasty, both temporarily maintained the relationship with themselves, so that the northern border is worry-free, and they are equivalent to helping the Southern Tang Dynasty guard the northern border, and in the future, if you recruit yourself, you will also be famous, after all, the vassal state, the suzerainty proposes what conditions, if you refuse, the suzerainty will have the righteousness of conquest.

Donghai County, sent it to its own hometown, and confiscated it back, is also to maintain a relationship with itself.

The edict also stated that the Jing Navy would be abolished.

Come to think of it, there will be drastic personnel changes in Haizhou and Chuzhou, but the edict does not mention it, because the reduction of the Jing Navy is an internal affair of the Tang Dynasty, and he is now the lord of a vassal state, and the affairs of Haizhou and Chuzhou have nothing to do with him.

However, many soldiers in Haizhou and Chuzhou stayed in Qi State, and even former Tang ministers such as Zhang Yanqing stayed and became generals of Qi State, and a large number of immigrants from Haizhou and Chuzhou migrated to Qi.

"The Holy Son of Heaven is extremely generous to His Royal Highness, and the younger brother has been moved from the King of Qi to the King of Chu." Seeing that Lu Ning fell into deep thought after reading the edict, Qiao Sheren said with a smile.

The Southern Tang Dynasty originally had the title of King of Qi, that is, Li Jingda, the fourth brother of the Tang Lord, and now, he has changed the title of King of Chu.

Qiao She also sighed in his heart, he originally thought that it was a quirk for His Royal Highness the King of Qi to kneel to accept the decree, after all, it was not a big deal, but now that he looks at it, it is obvious that His Royal Highness the King of Qi is not a person who is willing to give in to others, and this edict does not know whether it is in line with his heart.

Lu Ning looked up at Qiao Sheren and said with a smile: "Then how much does my Qi country have to pay to Shangbang every year?" ”

Qiao Sheren hurriedly smiled and said, "This is not necessary! It is a tribute, and the Holy Son of Heaven will also have a generous gift. ”

This kind of tribute is actually similar to trading, the norm of the Central Plains Dynasty and vassal states.

Moreover, the Josher people used the word "gift" instead of "give", and the word was extremely cautious.

Lu Ning bowed slightly, "In this way, I will repair the book to the Tang Emperor to thank the Holy Grace, I was originally a Tang minister, and this is also a matter of course." ”

Qiao She people breathed a sigh of relief, since the King of Qi called the Holy Son of Heaven "Emperor", he naturally acquiesced in the relationship between his vassals, so it was good for both parties.

It can be regarded as having a step under each other, so as not to immediately become hostile because of the confusion in the north.

As for what will happen in the future, that day knows......

Lu Ning thought about it for a while, since the Southern Tang Imperial Court finally figured out the conditions that were acceptable to both parties, he didn't want to tear his face with the Southern Tang Dynasty now, otherwise, he would be embattled.

Moreover, Lu Ning remembered the haggard face of the Tang Lord when he met him that day, and sighed softly in his heart, at least, when he was alive, he should not become his confidant, in addition, his son, Li Yu, he will protect him for a prosperous and glorious life, so that he will spread out and multiply, this Southern Tang Dynasty royal family will always be in a better situation than in history, so that he is worthy of the Tang Lord.