The emperor sent Guo Chongtao as an envoy to the Seven Kings of the South.

Guo Chongtao took the order and went.

Guo Chongtao's first stop on his mission to the Seven Kings of the South was Gao Jixing, the king of Nanping.

Gao Jixing's Nanping is the smallest of the seven kings in the south, and it is also the weakest and easiest to attack.

Where is Nanping?

It is now Jingzhou City, Hubei Province.

The area of Nanping is about the same as the area of a region now, which is one-tenth to one-twentieth of a province. At least it's the smallest in size.

The other kings of the Seven Kings of the South occupied the area of one state, and some occupied the area of two states. Only he occupies such a small area.

At that time, the area of a state was almost equivalent to the area of a province today.

Therefore, Guo Chongtao chose him as the first stop of his southern trip. Because his kingdom is the weakest, he is easy to speak.

If you take him down first, and then try to take down the others, then the odds will be greater.

******

Gao Jixing, the king of Nanping, was originally the envoy of Jingzhou in the former Tang Dynasty.

What kind of official is the "Jingzhou Festival Envoy"?

He is an official who manages the military and political power in the Jingzhou area. This official is not small. The Jingzhou area is all up to him. It is under the direct jurisdiction of the central government. In terms of rank, he is almost the same as the current governor, and he is the head of the place of one side. It's just that the area under his jurisdiction is less. But he is under the direct jurisdiction of the central government.

After the fall of the former Tang Dynasty, Gao Jixing, as a local official, declared independence. He claimed to be the king of the kingdom of Nanping.

After Zhu Wen destroyed the Tang Dynasty, because Zhu Wen was busy dealing with Li Ke and others, Zhu Wen didn't care about getting him, so he still became his king of Nanping.

Of course, Zhu Wen also sent people to him, and also said that he wanted to have a friendly relationship with him.

I can say here casually that the other kings of the Seven Kings of the South are in a similar situation to Gao Jixing, and they were all local officials of the former Tang Dynasty, and they declared independence after the fall of the former Tang Dynasty.

In the past few days, Gao Jixing has been worried. Because he heard that Zhu Liang was destroyed by Li Cunqing, Li Cunqiao established the "Tang Dynasty".

Gao Ji Xingxin said: After Li Cunqiao established the Tang Dynasty, will he beat me! If Li Cunqiao wants to unify the world, the first person he wants to fight must be me! Because my country is weak and weak, it is easy to be destroyed by her!

So, Gao Jixing immediately sent people to the other six countries and told them that Li Cunqiao might beat me, and you can't ignore it when the time comes.

******

At this time, Guo Chongtao of the Li Cunqiao faction came.

As soon as Gao Jixing heard that the Tang Emperor Li Cunqiao had sent someone. Gao Jixing immediately summoned him.

Gao Ji Xingxin said: Now the people I sent to the Six Nations have not returned, and I am not sure what the attitude of the Six Nations is. Guo Chongtao is here, how can I answer him?

Gao Jixing thought again: I haven't done anything bad, I have no enmity with Li Cunmiao, what am I afraid of, I can't surrender, I listen to him for everything, he can still kill me!

But after Gao Jixing met Guo Chongtao, Guo Chongtao's words made Gao Jixing very satisfied.

Guo Chongtao said to Gao Jixing, the purpose of my visit this time is mainly to show my emperor's attitude towards you, and our emperor wants to get along with you amicably.

Gao Jixing was relieved.

However, Gao Jixing is still a little uneasy. Because he knew that Li Cunqiao had long had the heart to unify the world. He wants to unify the world, can he not beat me sooner or later?

Gao Ji Xingxin said: Now it is possible that Li Cunmiao doesn't want to beat me, because he has just killed Zhu Liang, and he has injured a lot of vitality, and he needs to repair for a while. Can it be done later?

Gao Jixing asked Guo Chongtao: "Mr. Guo, I know that your emperor Li Cunqiao has long had the intention of unifying the world. Even now, your emperor Li Cunqiao did not recognize my Nanping Kingdom, and he also called me the king of Nanping. Excuse me, if your emperor wants to get along with me amicably, is it temporary or long-term? ”

Guo Chongtao said: "Ordinary people can still speak with one word, and it is difficult for horses to chase, of course our emperor will not go back on his word." ”

Gao Jixing said: "I heard that your emperor has long had the intention of unifying the world. Excuse me, if your emperor always wants to be friendly with me, how can you unify the world? ”

Guo Chongtao said: "Our emperor has long had the intention of unifying the world, which is natural. Because our emperor is the emperor who is ordered by heaven. But don't worry, as long as you are the virtuous king of one side, our emperor will not send troops to fight you. Because our emperor is a wise king. Our emperor not only wants to be the Daoming monarch of the existing five states, but our emperor also wants to be the Daoming monarch of the whole world. Since there is a Dao Ming Jun, he will not let the people of the world suffer from swords and soldiers for no reason; Since there is a Daoming Jun, even if he wants to unify the world in the future, he will only use peace talks, and he will not use the method of bloodshed with swords. Of course, if you are not a virtuous king of one side, you let your people suffer from this and that, you let there are thieves here and there are thieves on your territory, and our emperor can't bear the possibility of having a way to cut down without a way. ”

Gao Jixing said: "You see the Nanping I am governing now, are the people stable? ”

Guo Chongtao said: "Count." ”

In this way, Guo Chongtao's mission to Nanping was successful.

Gao Jixing and Guo Chongtao signed a non-aggression contract between Nanping and Datang.

******

Then, Guo Chongtao sent envoys to Yang Xingmi, King of Wu, Qian Hao, King of Wuyue, Wang Chao, King of Min, Liu Yin, King of Han, and Ma Yin, King of Chu.

The book is not renewed, and the situation of Guo Chongtao's envoy to the five kings is similar to that of the envoy Gao Jixing, and the five kings also signed a contract with Guo Chongtao on their non-aggression and friendly exchanges with the Tang Dynasty.

This does not need to be detailed.

******

It was when he finally sent Wang Jian, the king of Shu, that something happened to him.

On this day, Guo Chongtao came to Chengdu.

Chengdu was the so-called capital of Shu at that time. At that time, the so-called Shu Kingdom was our current Sichuan.

On this day, after Guo Chongtao came to Chengdu, he was eating at a restaurant with several of his entourage. While he was eating, he saw some people coming from outside. Guo Chongtao saw that those people looked like soldiers. After those people came in, they were still sitting not far from Guo Chongtao.

Guo Chongtao listened to them drinking and talking at the same time.

When Guo Chongtao heard their discussion, Guo Chongtao was startled.

What Guo Chongtao meant when he listened to them was that now Wang Jian, the king of Shu, was terminally ill, and his second son Wang Yan wanted to seize power in the future. The current capital is full of people from his second son Wang Yan.

Guo Chongtao paid attention to that matter.

Originally, Guo Chongtao wanted to leave immediately after finishing his affairs, but Guo Chongtao suddenly changed his mind again.

He wanted to stay a few more days.

Guo Chongtao inquired carefully, and he learned that Wang Jian's second son, Wang Yan, was not a good person, he was lewd and drunk, and others were dissatisfied with him.

Guo Chongtao also inquired. Now Wang Jian's eldest son Wang Xu is not in Chengdu.

Guo Chongtao also inquired, and now Wang Jian's second son Wang Yan has blocked all the news.

It was to block the news of his father's illness.

Why block messages?

The reason is very simple, now the old man is terminally ill, in case the old man dies and he is by the old man's side, he will say whatever it is, then the future power will be his. If the news is not blocked, if the eldest comes back and the family has the eldest son, will the power in the future still be his?

******

After Guo Chongtao stayed for a few more days, he felt that it was not interesting to stay like this any longer, so he wanted to go to see the King of Shu tomorrow.

Guo Chongtao said in his heart: I don't want to stay here all the time, in case the king of Shu really dies, they are busy with funerals and enthronement, and I will delay for several more days. Besides, if the new King of Shu is enthroned, if the new King of Shu is that Wang Yan, I heard that this Wang Yan is notorious and very difficult to speak, don't mess up my affairs again.

Guo Chongtao wanted to go to see the King of Shu tomorrow.

However, something happened at this time.