On the morning of September 16, a small group of cavalry galloped into the east gate of Bianliang City in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the knights on the horses were dressed in fierce clothes. Dressed in brand-new black armor and carrying gly-glittering maces on their backs, they hurried through the streets with grim eyes and high spirits.

The well-informed people of Bianliang quickly recognized who these people were, and judging from their hair buns, these should be Jurchen people. Coincidentally, just half an hour ago, another group of envoys from the Liao Kingdom also came to Bianliang City. Obviously, both the Liao State and the Jurchens sent envoys, and they didn't know what to discuss with the Great Zhou.

The envoys of the Liao State and the Jurchens came to Bianliang City in the Great Zhou Dynasty 'unanimously', and they did not come to travel. Lü Zhongtian received them in the spacious public room of the political affairs hall, and the Liao envoy Hulu Ba and the Jurchen envoy Hu Lu each handed over the documents signed by the Liao emperor Yeluchun and the Jurchen chief Wanyan Aguda.

After Lu Zhongtian read these two documents separately, his gray eyebrows and beard shook violently, and his face became extremely ugly. But it wasn't long before he regained his composure.

"The two nobles have come in the dust, so they should rest and rest. The old man has already read the documents, but the old man can't make a decision on these things, and he needs to enter the palace to face the saint, and ask the emperor to decide. The two noble envoys and your men will go to rest first. Lu Zhongtian said quietly.

"Prime Minister Lu, we don't dare to delay for too long, the big leader of my family is still waiting for a reply. I hope Prime Minister Lu can reply to us as soon as possible. We Jurchens don't have much patience. The envoy Hulu said in a loud voice.

"Exactly, our emperor is also waiting for a reply, and I hope Prime Minister Lu will give an answer as soon as possible." Kuluba also said in a deep voice.

Lu Zhongtian said coldly: "The old man will go to the palace to face the saint, the two noble envoys should be restless, my Emperor of the Great Zhou should have a will soon." There are rules and procedures for everything, and there is no urgency. ”

Hu Lu and Hu Lu Ba glanced at each other, and at the same time arched their hands and said, "Okay, let's wait for the news." No later than tomorrow afternoon, because by then we will have to return with or without a reply. Farewell. ”

Lu Zhongtian smiled and gave up his hand, and ordered someone to send Hu Luba and Hu Lu out. After the two left, the smile on Lu Zhongtian's face suddenly turned cold, and he slammed the two documents on the table, and scolded angrily: "Barbarians are really hateful, greedy and insatiable. A bunch of bastard stuff. ”

Liu Zhenbang, the deputy minister standing beside him, hurriedly asked, "What are they going to do?" ”

Lu Zhongtian pointed to the official document on the table and said, "You can see for yourself." ”

Liu Zhenbang hurriedly stepped forward and opened the official document to read it, and his face changed greatly: "This ...... That's too deceitful. Isn't this riding on my big head to and pee? Barbarian hate, Lu Xiang, do you need to draw up a palindrome and reprimand? Knock these two envoys out of the Great Zhou. ”

Lu Zhongtian frowned and shouted, "What nonsense? As long as you look, does the old man ask your opinion? ”

Liu Zhenbang was stunned, and said with a smile: "This ...... Xia Guan talked a lot, Lu Xiangmo wanted to be angry, Xia Guan was quick for a while. With Lu Xiang, he has his own way to deal with it. ”

Lu Zhongtian sneered: "The old man has no way to deal with it, this matter has to be decided by the emperor." The old man will go to see the emperor now, you keep me tight-lipped, and no one can say anything about it. Do you hear that? ”

"Yes, yes, Xiaguan understands." Liu Zhenbang hurriedly bowed and said.

……

Guo Xu is sleeping heavily, he was drunk last night, he didn't go to court this morning, and he is sleeping sweetly at the moment.

"Your Majesty, your Emperor wake up, Your Majesty wake up

。 ”

The sound of a call in his ears woke him up. He heard the voice of the yellow dog who was the personal servant, and scolded in annoyance.

"Bastard, do you want to disturb me for a good night's sleep? I skinned your dog and broke your dog's leg. ”

"Your Majesty!" An old voice sounded in his ears, Guo Xu was stunned, followed the sound, and then saw Lu Zhongtian with a cold face standing not far from the bed.

"Grandfather? What are you doing here? Guo Xu hurriedly sat up and said.

"Your Majesty, it's already noon, and it's time for the emperor to get up. Every day is so decadent, is it not a joke for the subjects to spread it. How many things have to be decided by the emperor, how can the emperor be so wasted on political affairs? Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice.

Guo Xu frowned and said, "Didn't I say it?" Grandfather dealt with everything, and there was no need to ask my opinion. I agree that it is. ”

Lu Zhongtian said coldly: "It's easy to say, who is the emperor of the Great Zhou?" It's you! The old man is just a courtier, how dare he overstep his bounds? The old man can take care of government affairs for you, but how can he make decisions about major affairs in the country? Are you going to trap the old man in a place of disloyalty and injustice, and be poked in the back? ”

Guo Xu sneered in his heart, but said in his mouth: "Why did my grandfather say this? How could I mean that? Besides, what big deal can happen now? ”

Lu Zhongtian said: "Of course there is a big event, a catastrophe is coming, can the emperor still sleep?" ”

Guo Xu was taken aback and hurriedly said, "What's wrong?" What happened? ”

"The emperor will see for himself." Lu Zhongtian threw the two official documents in his hand to Guo Xu's bedside, Guo Xu reached out and grabbed them, rubbed his eyes and looked at them quickly, and the whole person suddenly froze at the head of the bed.

"This ...... This is an official document sent by the Liao State and the Jurchens? How can they do that? These backsliding dog thieves are too deceitful. How can such conditions be granted? Grandfather, you say, what should we do? I decreed a severe rebuke to them and drive them out of the Great Zhou. This is absolutely unacceptable. Isn't it crazy? One actually asked us to cede Ansu, and the other asked us to cede Bazhou to them. What do you say about building a market to facilitate trade? We can't cede that to them. Bastard thing. Or the lion opened his mouth and asked us to double the annual tribute to the two countries? Why? Fuck, asshole thing...... Bastard. Guo Xu was indignant, and his words became incoherent.

The content of the official document sent by the Liao State and the Jurchens is as Guo Xu said, and the Liao State asked the Great Zhou to hand over the city of Ansu to the Liao State in the name of establishing a border town to facilitate trade. It is said that since the two countries are on good terms, the small city of Ansu City, a border town, is just used as a trade ground. It is said that in order to facilitate the management of the merchants of the Liao State, it is the best choice to hand over Ansu to the Liao State. The Jurchens also demanded the cession of Bazhou to the Jurchens on the same grounds. It is said that the Jurchens are far away in Zhongjing Road, and there is no border with the Great Zhou, so it is inconvenient to trade, and they must have a city in the surrounding towns, they have taken a fancy to Bazhou, hoping that the Great Zhou can give Bazhou to them. At the same time, in the name of the shortage of food and materials in the country and the difficulty of the people in winter, he asked Da Zhou to double the annual supply to help them tide over the difficulties. He said that this is the best opportunity to show the friendly relations between the three parties and prove each other's sincerity.

In short, these two sudden official documents put forward completely unreasonable and unreasonable demands without any reason. Seeing such an unreasonable request, how could Guo Xu not be so angry that he was incoherent?

"Your Majesty!" Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice: "Does the emperor think that he shouldn't agree to them?" ”

Guo Xu called

said: "Of course you can't agree, how can you agree?" Isn't my grandfather angry? This is a completely unreasonable request, this is to take my Da Zhou seriously at all. Did my grandfather think he should say yes to them? ”

Lu Zhongtian shook his head and said, "How could the old minister think that he should agree to their unreasonable demands. Barbarism is extremely shameful, making people resentful, how can the old minister agree. ”

Guo Xu sighed and said: "That's it, then the palindrome reprimands them for their unreasonable demands and drives away the messenger." ”

Lu Zhongtian frowned and said, "Does the emperor really want to do this?" ”

Guo Xu was stunned and said, "What? What does maternal grandfather mean? ”

Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice: "Can't the emperor see it? This is a deliberately unreasonable request made by the Liao and Jurchens, and they must have known that we would refuse. That's their trick. If we refuse, we actually give them a reason to send troops. They will take this as an opportunity to jointly send troops to attack our Great Zhou. They have clearly colluded with each other to find an excuse. As long as the emperor refuses, they are very likely to be angry or find an excuse to do it. Can't the emperor see it? ”

Guo Xu was stunned and said, "Does grandfather mean ...... Promise them? No, absolutely not. You can promise other things, you can promise money and food, and you can double the annual payment, but if you want the city of my Great Zhou, it will definitely not work. That is the inheritance of my ancestors. ”

Lu Zhongtian said in a deep voice: "If you can't bear it, you will make a big plan." Does the emperor want to lose more city land for the sake of the two border towns? If they use this as an excuse to attack our Great Zhou, we are afraid that we will lose more city land, and they will even attack Bianliang. Your Majesty, the two cities may be the ancestral inheritance, so what are they compared to the entire Great Zhou Society? For the sake of a momentary mood, but it has damaged the entire Great Zhou Society, isn't it worth the loss? ”

Guo Xu shouted: "But, is it too peaceful to give?" Since they have the intention to provoke, it will be endless. ”

"Your Majesty, the old man can negotiate with them and let them make guarantees." Lu Zhongtian Dao.

Guo Xu shook his head slowly and said, "Does my grandfather remember the "Treatise on the Passage of Qin"? The strategic essay written by Lin Jue. The article reads: Cut five cities today, cut ten cities tomorrow, and then sleep peacefully overnight. Looking at the four realms, and the Qin soldiers are at the top. However, the land of the princes is limited, and the desire of the tyrannical Qin is insatiable, and the worship is complicated, and the invasion is more urgent. Therefore, without a fight, the victory or defeat of the strong or weak has been decided. As for subversion, it makes sense. The ancients said: "To do things with the land, it is still necessary to fight the fire with a salary, and the salary is not exhausted, and the fire is not extinguished." Grandfather, isn't the situation similar today? Qin is like a tiger wolf, and the Jurchen and Liao are also the states of tigers and wolves, do you think their appetites can be satisfied? Although I am not good, I can't take the inheritance of my ancestors to take the initiative to cede to these tigers and wolves. If they really want to attack my Great Zhou, then just fight them. I'd rather they take it from me than give it to them. Grandfather, if you still have the slightest gratitude for my kindness to you, you will never persuade me to agree to cede the city to them. Got it? ”

Lu Zhongtian stared at Guo Xu coldly, Guo Xu looked at him with a rare squint, and there was no trace of retreat or dodge, but Lu Zhongtian himself was empty-hearted. He retracted his gaze and sighed softly: "Your Majesty, if this is the case, I'm afraid there will be smoke." Are you really willing to bet the entire country for the sake of two cities? ”

Guo Xu laughed and said: "Great Zhou has its own reason for survival, if it dies in my hands, it is also the will of heaven." I had already thought about it, but the big deal was that the fish died and the net was broken. Grandfather, Prime Minister Lu, I'm not afraid, you seem to be afraid. ”