Chapter 483: Zhao Kui's Arrival

On the other side of the distance, Shi Bin and Lu Wende were sitting in the tent drinking, discussing what to do next. Chen Yan and the four of them had already taken their troops to take up their duties in accordance with the holy decree.

Although Lu Wende was a little worried, he did not regret following Shi Bin to make such a big fuss, after all, he had been operating Jiangnan Road for several years. Now that Li Zong is about to take it away with a word, no one will be comfortable, especially the generals who have led the army for many years. If there is no territory, it will be like rootless duckweed, and it will definitely not last long, and it will naturally become a lamb to be slaughtered at that time.

"Brother Lu, brother apologizes to you." Shi Bin raised his wine glass and said slightly apologetically.

From Shi Bin's expression, Lu Wende saw a sincere apology, which made him a little moved, so he also said: "Brother Shi doesn't have to be like this, if there is no brother, I'm afraid I would have died under Meng Ge's knife back then." ”

Although Lu Wende was telling Shi Bin the truth, Shi Bin did not mean to claim to be a benefactor, and what he had to do now was to share the pressure that the Song court was about to exert with Lu Wende, instead of saying these words that might provoke contradictions between the two sides. Therefore, Shi Bin repeatedly humbly said that it was his responsibility. In this way, the two talked happily.

In the end, he couldn't bear it and simply changed the topic and discussed who the Qin mission was about to be sent by the Song court.

"Brother Shi thinks it is, Brother Lu, I can't guess it. I only feel that the six Shangshu seem to be incompetent, and they are all weak scholars, I am afraid that when they see us, they will not even be able to take a step, even if Li Zong orders them to come, they will shirk in every way, so it will not be them. ”

"What Brother Lu said is very true, brother, I also think it will not be them." Shi Bin nodded in agreement.

"Then only Cho Jae-fu and Li Shumi will be left." Lu Wende said.

"Yes, the two of them are probably the biggest. Since the Six Books are not up to this task, one of them may have to put down his work and come to negotiate with us. ”

"Who does Brother Shi think is the most likely to come?"

"If you want to negotiate, you have to have enough prestige, and in order to help Song Ting keep the best interests, you have to make it difficult for the two of us to ask for a price. So I think the most likely person to come is Cho Jae-fu. And he's probably brought us some gifts. Shi Bin said with a meaningful smile.

"Cho Jae-fu? Reasonable. Cho Jae-fu is a veteran figure in both the military and political circles. I grew up with his support. Brother Shi, although you are not supported by him, he has also supported you several times and owes him a lot of favors. It would have been the best for the Emperor to send him. Lu Wende said while thinking, "What is the 'gift' that Brother Shi is talking about?" ”

This was just a casual instinct, so Shi Bin didn't know what the 'gift' was, so he smiled and said that the gift was a bargaining chip. This sentence made Lu Wende understand that what Shi Bin was referring to should indeed be a bargaining chip in the negotiation.

From the bottom of his heart, Lu Wende didn't want to be a separatist warlord like Shi Bin, but for his own safety and hard work to manage his hard-earned wealth, he had to do so, so he remembered his and Shi Bin's respective chips.

Shi Bin has a lot of chips, and at present, he has occupied six roads in the Great Song Dynasty, plus Shaanxi Road and Hedong Road, which may be forcibly occupied, he has the territory of eight roads. If you also add the Huainan two roads of his father-in-law Jia Nidao, there are a total of ten roads in the Great Song Dynasty in the hands of Shi Bin and Weng Gong's son-in-law. And he, Lu Wende, is also in the south of the Yangtze River, and his foundation is very thin.

As if seeing through what Lu Wende was thinking, Shi Bin smiled and said, "Brother Lu, brother, I have an idea, I don't know if you want to hear it." ”

Idea? I didn't understand Shi Bin's sentence so suddenly, but of course I was willing to listen to it.

"Brother Lu also made a great effort in this northern expedition, if he just helped Brother Lu keep the two brothers in the south of the Yangtze River, I feel that I am a little unkind." Shi Bin said with a smile.

Shi Bin's words made Lu Wende feel a hint of sweetness, and he couldn't help but swallow his saliva. Because he felt that a good dish was about to come. However, after many years of being an official, he still calmed down, so he did not show it obviously. just quietly waited for Shi Bin to say something specific.

"I actually occupy the six roads, plus my father-in-law's Huainan two roads have the territory of eight roads, if even Shaanxi and Hedong occupy the territory of the ten roads of the Great Song Dynasty, it is a little inappropriate. Sichuan and Shaanxi have never been one, and Brother Lu resolutely supported my brother and me in this battle, so I want to give you the command of Hedong Road. ”

Give Hedong to yourself? was dizzy by the pie that fell from the sky, and Lu Wende didn't come back to his senses for a long time. In order to make sure that Shi Bin was not playing tricks on himself, Lu Wende gave Shi Bin an inquiring look.

Lu Wende, who understands the cunning of the old man, will not believe that there is a good thing that falls from the sky, so Shi Bin did not hide it, but bluntly said: "Brother Lu, I have insufficient soldiers and horses in my hands to control the two roads of Shaanxi and Hedong at the same time. So if my brother thinks it's better to give Hedong to my eldest brother, it's up to you to decide what to do. ”

Shi Bin's words are very reasonable, this not only narrows the relationship between the two, but also prevents him Lu Wende from working in vain. Lu Wende was very happy, so he smiled and said: "Brother Shi is really generous and courageous. To open your mouth is to send the command all the way. It's just that my brother dares to send my eldest brother, but I don't dare to accept it, I'm afraid that your brothers will trouble me. ”

"Brother Lu don't worry, my brothers are reasonable people and won't be so arrogant. What's more, what I said is true, more than 30,000 soldiers and horses in his hands barely control Shaanxi all the way, how can he control Hedong again? Shi Bin smiled helplessly.

"Brother is reasonable, and the kind brother also took it, but I really can't accept this way" Lu Wende said embarrassedly, "unless you get a compromise plan." ”

"A compromise? Brother Lu said let's take a look. ”

"Let's take Taiyuan as the boundary and divide the east of the river into two halves, north and south, with one person accounting for half, what do you think?" Lu Wende asked.

After Lu Wende said this, Shi Bin immediately understood the meaning, Lu Wende planned to occupy half of the territory in Hedong and not all of it. I want to get benefits without too much stimulation of Shi Bin's brothers, and have a win-win situation.

I didn't want to give up my hard-earned Hedong, but the situation forced it, but now Lu Wende only wants to be halfway to the ground, but Shi Bin is very happy. So what is the halfway way to Lu Wende?

To the north, Lu Wende is facing the Yuanren Bing Peak, will he want it? If he gives it to the south, he will block the Yuanren for him. gave him the land and helped him as a shield, I am afraid that his brothers will still be dissatisfied. Shi Bin suddenly felt in a dilemma.

"Brother Shi is not conflicting, which cities are better for me?" Lu Wende said with a smile.

Looking at Lu Wende, Shi Bin smiled awkwardly and didn't make a sound.

"Big brother, I am willing to ask the territory in the north of the river to block the Yuanren's military peak for my brother, as long as my brother can send troops to help in time when I am in danger." Lu Wende said, "As for the candidate, let my unsuccessful brother Lu Wenfu stay." He is favored by you and is my brother, and it is easy to reconcile relations. Of course, the fortified city of Taiyuan still needs to be garrisoned by Brother Shi's people, otherwise I will lose my trust. ”

This compromise plan was indeed good, and it also had the effect that Shi Bin wanted, so he immediately agreed, and promised that as long as Lu Wenfu asked for support, his first batch of reinforcements would never be less than 3,000 people.

Lu Wende, who received this promise, was relieved a lot, Shi Bin's 3,000 firearms troops were definitely worth the 10,000 Song army's cold weapons troops.

After thinking about it, Shi Bin felt that there was a sentence that he still had to say, otherwise he would be unhappy, so he said: "I believe that Brother Lu also knows why I want to send you this halfway to Hedong is not only because I can't keep it, but also because I have selfishness." ”

Unexpectedly, Shi Bin wanted to say his selfishness, Lu Wende suddenly felt that Shi Bin was too strange, and he also somewhat understood why so many people were willing to follow. But he still pretended not to know, and just asked Shi Bin to say.

"Actually, it's nothing else, it's just brother, I'm worried that Zhao Zaifu will make a counter-plot and take us apart to deal with it. But now I believe in Brother Lu's personality even more, and my brother will never fail you. ”

"You don't have to make things so heavy, just trust each other. How can I not know that my lips are dead and my teeth are cold? If something happens to Jiangnan, big brother, I still expect you to go to the rescue. ”

After hearing this, Shi Bin immediately nodded heavily in affirmation. He, a young man who had never been involved in political negotiations, asked Lu Wende, an old fritter in officialdom, a question: how would Zhao Kui negotiate terms with them.

Without thinking about it, Lu Wende said: "It must be that the military, government, and tax powers are collected by the imperial court as much as possible, even if they know that they can't do it, they will go all out, or give a false name to the general, let's set it up step by step." It would be best if we could let us give them a thug for nothing. ”

"That's fine, do you think he can do it? Does he think we're all idiots? Shi Bin was very surprised by Lu Wende's answer.

"Brother Shi, it's one thing to do it or not, and it's another thing to say it or not. This is like talking about business, what we have to do is always to reduce costs and increase profits, and obtain maximum profits with the least effort. Lu Wende looked at Shi Bin with a smile and said.

Lu Wende's words made Shi Bin sober up a lot, and he was glad that he was sincere to Lu Wende. If it weren't for that, I'm afraid that Lu Wende would be pulled over by Zhao Kui in a short time. So he asked Lu Wende how to deal with Zhao Kui's hand.

"Actually, it's not difficult, as long as we work together. It's like you just said that you can't fall for his counter-tricks. ”

That's what the words say, but how to guarantee it? As the situation changes, so does the heart. Thinking of this, Shi Bin cried with a sad face.

"I have a plan, it's simple and effective." Lu Wende smiled and looked at Shi Bin with a sad face.

Is there a way? When Shi Bin heard this, he immediately came to his senses, and impatiently urged Lu Wende to hurry up and tell him his way.

"During the time when Zhao Zaifu came, let's eat and live together and never see him alone, so that we won't fall for his counter-plots. You know, Zhao Zaifu is quite wise, if we don't work closely together, I'm afraid we won't be able to fight him. ”

I deeply believe in Lu Wende's words, Zhao Kui's political wisdom for decades as an official is not much higher than that of the two of them, and if he dares to fight alone, he must be self-defeating, so he must be closely united. So he said: "Brother Lu is right, Zhao Kui should come over in a few days." Let's eat and live together from today to ensure that we will never fall for Zhao Kui's countermeasures. ”

After discussing, Lu Wende moved into Shi Bin's handsome tent that night. But on the third day, Zhao Kui also came