Yang Lian turned around, sat down slowly, and still poured tea and drank it, with a leisurely attitude. At this time, Liu Zhiyuan was seriously ill, it can be said that his thinking ability has been greatly weakened, and he is the most likely time, just now Yang Lian said that he wanted to go, but it was just for show, at this time Liu Zhiyuan stopped him, and naturally climbed along the pole and stayed.

Liu Zhiyuan closed his eyes, and if it weren't for his fingers gently tapping on the soft couch, it would be like falling asleep. Liu Zhiyuan naturally had his concerns, because Yang Lian's request was too much. The Han Dynasty is a big country, since Zhu Wen replaced the Tang Dynasty, no matter who the Central Plains court is in charge, they all call themselves Zhengshuo, Wu Yue, Nanping, Chu and other countries are dominated by the Central Plains court, most of these countries are called vassals, for example, Wu Yue is only called the king, not the emperor, and the same is true of Nanping.

It is precisely because of the strength of the Central Plains Imperial Court that whether it is the Liang, Tang, Jin, or today's Han Dynasty, they all think that they are superior and orthodox in the world. Therefore, Liu Zhiyuan was really uncomfortable with the condition proposed by Yang Lian, and once he agreed to this condition, the face of the Central Plains Dynasty was lost.

Liu Zhiyuan thought about it, with a lot of thoughts, Yang Lian was unhurried, drinking tea on the side, waiting for Liu Zhiyuan to think. After drinking a pot of tea, Liu Zhiyuan has not yet made a decision. Yang Lian stood up and handed the kettle to a eunuch and asked him to serve another pot of tea.

"Your Majesty, it's been so long, it's time to make a decision, right?" Yang Lian asked lightly, and his tone was not anxious.

Liu Zhiyuan's closed eyes opened slightly, the corners of his mouth twitched, and said, "Yang Lian, what are you anxious about?" ”

"I'm not in a hurry, it's just that it's getting late, and I'm going to rest. I have decided that I will transfer to Jinling in these two days. As Yang Lian spoke, the eunuch hurriedly came and put a pot of tea on the desk.

"What, you're going back to Jinling?" Liu Zhiyuan asked.

"In October last year, I went north to Kaifeng, and now it is nearly half a year, although Kaifeng is good, it is not as good as Jinling." Yang Lian said with a smile.

Liu Zhiyuan nodded and said, "You are homesick." ”

"Your Majesty can understand, it's the best." Yang Lian poured tea again and drank it.

Liu Zhiyuan snorted, paused for a while, and changed the topic very abruptly, saying: "Envoy Yang is so young, he was entrusted with a heavy task by the Tang Emperor, presumably in the Tang Dynasty, he is deeply trusted by Li Jing." ”

"It's not enough to be trusted, but Yang Lian is good friends with King Qi, and it can be regarded as a bit of a way. Your Majesty may not know that the Son of Heaven of the Tang Dynasty wants to establish the King of Qi as the emperor's younger brother, if the King of Qi ascends the throne, I am the minister of Yuan Cong, I dare not say that one person is above ten thousand people, at least I can call the wind and rain. Yang Lian narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu Zhiyuan.

Liu Zhiyuan naturally asked Liu Xin, the king of Cai, who was the envoy to Jinling, from Liu Xin's mouth, he knew a lot of news, such as the secret battle between Li Jingsui, the king of Qi, and Li Hongji, the eldest son of the emperor; For example, the party struggle in the Tang court; These things have seriously weakened the cohesion and combat effectiveness of Datang, just like the Dahan, but the Dahan is more serious.

Of course, Liu Zhiyuan also knew that Yang Lian did have something to do with the King of Qi, Yang Lian relied on the lord of Huairou County to soar to the sky, in just over a year, from a penniless boy to an official from the fifth grade, and also won the trust of Li Jing, became the envoy of the Han Dynasty, in addition to luck, Yang Lian also has some ability.

The reason why Liu Zhiyuan asked like this was just to get something out of Yang Lian's mouth, but Yang Lian was very honest about some of his situation, which made Liu Zhiyuan feel that Yang Lian was somewhat credible. Thinking of Yang Lian's words just now, Liu Zhiyuan felt that as long as Dahan and Datang maintained this relationship for more than ten years, it was quite acceptable.

Moreover, the Tang Dynasty is subject to Wu Yueguo, and it is not easy to unify Jiangnan. Even if the Han Dynasty does not help Wu Yueguo, Chu, Southern Han, and Nanping States will not sit idly by and watch the Tang Dynasty in the south become bigger, and in the absence of the help of the Central Plains regime, nine times out of ten they will unite and create trouble for the Tang Dynasty.

Comparatively speaking, although the Han Dynasty is more difficult than the Tang Dynasty, it also has advantages, that is, the land is vast and the combat effectiveness of the army is much stronger. Yang Lian's words are good, he Liu Zhiyuan can protect the Han Dynasty for a while, but he can't protect the Han Dynasty. In this world, there is no permanent country, it is just a matter of length.

Liu Zhiyuan's most important task is to pave a way for his son and the successor of the Tang Dynasty, so that he can succeed to the throne smoothly and seize power. If Datang can help Dahan at the right time, it would be the best. But Liu Zhiyuan still had doubts in his heart, and he couldn't figure it out.

"But why are you helping the big man?" Liu Zhiyuan couldn't help but ask, if there is a war in the north, wouldn't it be better for Datang?

Yang Lian waved his hand, raised a finger, and said with a smile: "The reason is very simple, first, if there is civil strife in the Central Plains, the Khitans will definitely go south. Although Yang Lian is not a good person, he also does not want the Khitans to go south and slaughter the people of the Central Plains; Second, I think the second prince is very pleasing to the eye, so I want to help him. ”

Liu Zhiyuan was stunned, this is Yang Lian's reason?

"In fact, frankly speaking, Your Majesty is from Shatuo, and Yang Lian doesn't like it, but if the Han Dynasty exists for one day, he can block the Khitan people for one day. Nowadays, the Khitan people implement the official system in the north and south, the Khitan people govern the Khitans in the north, and the south, mainly the sixteen states of Youyun, govern the Han people with the Han people, and I think Your Majesty knows better than me. Yang Lian said again.

Liu Zhiyuan fell into deep thought, the Khitans went south, and almost destroyed the Jin Dynasty, and the Great Jin Emperor was also captured back to the Khitan. However, the perverse behavior of the Khitans in the Central Plains caused the Central Plains army and the people to resist, and every day the Khitans would disappear and die inexplicably.

Liu Zhiyuan sent troops from Taiyuan in the name of blocking the Khitans and wanting to rescue Shi Chonggui, but he marched halfway, suddenly went south, seized the Central Plains, and bought people's hearts on a large scale, and with the support of everyone, the Han Empire was established.

The lesson from the past is just last year, it can be said that it is vivid, why is Liu Zhiyuan not worried about the Khitans going south and destroying the Han? Moreover, Yelude died on the way to retreat, and the Khitans would definitely count this account on Liu Zhiyuan, and once a major event happened in the Han Kingdom, the Khitan would go south nine times out of ten.

At this time, Liu Zhiyuan had already received the news that the Khitan finally made a peaceful transition under the maneuvering of Yelu Wu, and Yelu Lihu agreed to Yelu Ruan as the emperor, at least on the surface, the Khitan was peaceful. The strong national strength of the Khitans, especially the combat effectiveness of the cavalry, made Liu Zhiyuan feel uneasy.

Liu Zhiyuan knew that he would not be able to hold out for a few days, once the news of his death reached the Khitan, Yelu Ruan was very likely to go south, at that time, since the Han was facing the attack of the Khitans, he also had to face the Jiedu envoys from all over the country, and even the possibility of facing the northward invasion of the forces with bad intentions in the south.

As soon as he thought of facing this situation, Liu Zhiyuan felt that his eyes were dark, and he was confident that even if it was him, he would not be able to deal with this situation, let alone the second prince who was not successful? The Khitans implemented the official system in the north and south, and it was clear that there was an attempt to go south, so Liu Zhiyuan had to guard against it.

When Liu Zhiyuan was pondering, Yang Lian looked at Liu Zhiyuan carefully, only to see that his face was full of wrinkles, and his closed eyes occasionally opened, but they looked very turbid, this is an old man who is about to enter the earth, what choice will he make?

Just as Yang Lian was thinking, Liu Zhiyuan sighed faintly, opened his eyes, looked at Yang Lian, and said, "I mean that if, once the Khitans go south, how sure are you that you can persuade the Tang Dynasty to help the Han?" ”

"Frankly speaking, it's only fifty percent, but I'm more sure to persuade the Son of Heaven not to garrison the border and not to put pressure on the Han." Yang Lian said with a smile.

Liu Zhiyuan smiled, in fact, he didn't plan to let Datang send troops, for him, it would be very good if Datang didn't take the opportunity to fall into the ground.

Yang Lian said in a low voice: "However, if Your Majesty agrees to my conditions, I think the chance that Datang will send troops to help is at least eighty percent, and if Dahan does not agree, Datang will never send troops." Yang Lian spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "Since the peace treaty has been signed with the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty will naturally abide by it, if the Tang Dynasty really sends troops, there is no land to obtain, it will cost money and food, and many soldiers will die, there is almost nothing to take advantage of, it is not worth it at all." ”

Liu Zhiyuan naturally wouldn't believe that Yang Lian would not take the opportunity to fall into the well, but Yang Lian's words he thought were reasonable, thought about it, and said: "Since this is the case, I also want to see Datang's sincerity." ”

"What sincerity does Your Majesty want?" Yang Lian asked.

Liu Zhiyuan thought for a while and said, "In addition to the agreement with King Cai last time, I also want a few things, tea from Lianghuai, sea salt from Jiangnan, these things must be sold to Dahan at a price of 30% cheaper in the market." ”

"Thirty percent cheaper?" Yang Lian shook his head and said: "It's not a secret, the tea farmers in Lianghuai are actually extremely exploited, and thirty percent is too high, so I can only let the price be twenty percent!" Your Majesty, rest assured, I will find a way to transport these things to Kaifeng, and I will never go to Xuzhou. ”

Xuzhou is the place where the Grand Canal turns, this time Yang Lian went north from Guangling, it was from Xuzhou, and then the canal turned a bend to the west, heading towards Kaifeng and Luoyang. Liu Zhiyuan naturally knew the purpose of Yang Lian's words, when the Tang Dynasty was trading with the Central Plains Imperial Court, he must go to Xuzhou when he took the canal, and if he went to Xuzhou, he would inevitably be cut by the Wuning Jiedu envoy who governed Xuzhou, so the price of tea and salt that was finally transported to Kaifeng was very good.

Tea is just that, this is the drink of the aristocracy, when the war is in turmoil, where can the ordinary people afford to drink it? But salt is different, if people don't eat salt, they don't have strength. Since the Tang Dynasty, the salt-producing areas are mainly concentrated in a few places, Bashu, Jiangnan, and the two pools in the river are also extremely important salt-producing areas, and Guanzhong is dependent on the supply of the two pools in the river.

Although there are also salt-producing areas in other places, the salt production is not as good as the above-mentioned places, and now, Bashu and Jiangnan are not under the control of the Han Dynasty, and the remaining one of the rivers is also controlled by Li Shouzhen, and this person has different intentions and is very unreliable.

It is not impossible to buy a large amount of salt from Jiangnan and Bashu, but the price is high, and the price sold by the government is ridiculously expensive, which is not in line with the interests of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Zhiyuan thought about it again and again, nodded in agreement, and said, "Okay, since that's the case, I will believe you once." (To be continued.) )