The state banquets to welcome foreign envoys were all held in the Hall of Light, but such a grand event had not appeared for many years.

Chu Huan originally thought that the banquet for receiving foreign envoys must be unprecedented, and the ministers went to the banquet, but when he went to the banquet the next day, he realized that things were not what he thought at all.

Those who participated in the state banquet were at least officials above the third rank, and they were only Beijing officials, and officials below the third rank were not qualified to participate in the state banquet held by the Temple of Bright to welcome foreign envoys, originally Chu Huan was only an official of the fourth grade, and he was not qualified to participate in the banquet, but now he has two identities, which is enough for him to enter the Hall of Light in great strides.

The first is naturally the identity of the deputy envoy of the Great Qin Mission, this banquet is for the Xiliang Mission, Chu Huan is going to Xiliang next, it is reasonable, he is naturally qualified to participate in this banquet. In addition, His Majesty the Emperor has just canonized him as a viscount, and although the state banquet can only be attended by officials above the third rank, but courtiers with knighthoods can also attend the banquet.

Generally speaking, the courtiers who can be knighted are definitely not low, these founding feats have either passed away, or they have become feudal officials, and many have died under the blade of the moody emperor, in fact, there are only a handful of courtiers who bear the title in Beijing, like Chu Huan, who is only the head of the household but can be awarded the title of viscount, which is unique in the Great Qin Empire, only this one.

Under the control of Zhao Xuan, the secretary of Honglu Temple, the Guangming Hall was already splendid, and the imperial officials who went to the banquet had not yet entered the table at this time, and they were all talking in groups on the square outside the Guangming Palace.

When the moon is in the sky, the lights reflected from the hall will illuminate the white marble brightly and extraordinarily.

Chu Huan was getting together with Xue Huai'an at this time, whispering on the edge of a jade carving.

The two of them are the main envoy and the other are the deputy envoys, and this time they are going to Xiliang as envoys, which can also be said to be grasshoppers tied to a rope, and they have been in trouble for a long time since then, so they have become intimate unnaturally.

Chu Huan was deep in his heart, of course, he was unwilling to travel thousands of miles to Xiliang as an envoy, but now he couldn't help himself, the Manchu Dynasty Wudang Dynasty recommended him with ulterior motives, and finally His Majesty the Emperor even made him a deputy envoy, and his current status is powerless to raise objections.

He had never thought that it would be his turn to send Xiliang to the court, and he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a misfortune.

It is certain that if this mission to Xiliang succeeds and successfully completes the task assigned by the emperor, then when he returns, it will definitely be a great achievement, which will also become his political capital based on officialdom, and it will be of great benefit to his future and what he wants.

However, the mountain is high and the road is far away, and he himself can't be sure whether this trip is really smooth, and he can't be sure whether he can return to Luo'an Capital alive.

What he is most worried about now is Yingren's condition.

In the case of the Red and Silver Book, although it has been relatively calm in the past two days, Chu Huan knows that this is just because the Xiliang Mission is in Beijing, and the matter will never end so easily.

The princelings have always been in a weak position, squeezed out and suppressed by the Han Wang Party, and now they have finally caught the handle because of the red and silver books, and there is an opportunity to fight back against the Han Wang Party, of course, the princelings cannot just give up, if they can't take this opportunity to hit the Han Wang Party hard, the princelings want to find a better opportunity, but it is very difficult.

Chu Huan could expect that when the Xiliang delegation left Beijing, the shock generated by the red and silver books would be further intensified, and Yingren's words in the court yesterday tore his face with the King of Han, and it was very likely that he had fallen into danger.

The main energy of the Han King Party was used to deal with the crown prince, but now that the King of Qi is also involved, of course the Han King Party will not be soft on Yingren, and the blade is bound to be against Xiang Yingren.

If Xu Congyang is still in the capital, Chu Huan can still leave with confidence, Xu Congyang has a very high prestige in the court, and he is very scheming, with Xu Congyang in Beijing to protect Yingren, the Han King Party will not dare to act rashly, even if it is really unfavorable to Yingren, Xu Congyang will naturally be able to deal with it.

But now that Xu Congyang is in Xishan Road, dealing with the delivery of materials to the northwest, he will obviously not be able to come back for a while, and now that he has left because of the envoy, Yingren is really alone.

Chu Huan was worried that there was no one around Yingren, and the prince was bewitched and used by him, although Yingren was smart, he was too young, young and vigorous, and naturally he could not have a deep insight into the sinister nature of politics.

Chu Huan knew better that the Manchu Dynasty knew that he was Yingren's person, and once Yingren was out of the basket, he, Yingren's henchman, would definitely be implicated.

Even if he fails this mission, even if he comes back alive, he will probably be attacked and suppressed by people with ulterior motives, so the moment Chu Huan accepted the emperor's will, he knew that this mission could only succeed, not fail.

Of course, Xue Huai'an couldn't know Chu Huan's thoughts, so he just said softly: "Today, Bai Linxi and the people are arguing with the Xiliang people, and the saint has already reminded the Xiliang people not to open their mouths, which is not good for anyone, but the Xiliang people are good, the blood plate is bigger than the sky, and the compensation list listed almost didn't make Bai Linxi faint." ”

Chu Huan knew that since early this morning, Bai Linxi, a regular servant under his door, had already led the Qin State negotiation team to officially start follow-up negotiations with the Xiliang people.

Bai Linxi is a member of the Han King Party, this person has a very close relationship with the Han King, once taught the Han Wang Zhang, the Han King Party has An Guogong in the book province, there is Bai Linxi in the province of Menxia, the two important ministers of the book assist the Han King, the Han Wang Party is naturally very strong, this Bai Linxi is the empire's great Confucian, once served in the Guozijian, there are many students, and then was promoted to the Menxia Province to serve, he is Bo Gu Tong today, there is eloquence talent, the emperor will hand over the matter of peace to the Han King, the Han King naturally invited this debate Confucian, Let him bring someone to the negotiating table and bargain over the list proposed by the Xiliang people.

Although His Majesty the Emperor and Mahazang have reached some kind of agreement in the palace, if the conditions of the two sides are really to be implemented, it will naturally need some bargaining, and if this follow-up negotiation cannot be negotiated, there is still a possibility that the peace will break down.

As the emperor said, the withdrawal of the Western Liang army, the empire can accept the compensation and property, but if the Xiliang people open their mouths and ask for a price, then the empire will naturally not accept it easily.

"Oh?" Chu Huan smiled and said in a low voice: "How much price did the Xiliang people offer?" ”

Xue Huai'an looked left and right, then lowered his voice and raised two fingers, "Don't say anything else, just say silver taels, that's the amount!" ”

"Two million taels?" Chu Huanqi said.

Xue Huai'an smiled bitterly: "My Lord Chu, you are still the head of the household department, two million taels?" Can you believe this number? He shook his head and said, "If it's really just this number, let's squeeze it, and it's hard to get out." ”

Chu Huan frowned and said, "Could it be that the people of Xiliang asked for 20 million taels?" ”

"Who's to say it's not." Xue Huai'an said helplessly: "This Xiliang people really regard our Great Qin as a silver storehouse, thinking that there is silver everywhere. With his hands in his sleeves, he said in a low voice: "If the people of Xiliang really insist on 20 million taels of compensation, this peace negotiation will definitely not be successful, and my brother and I don't need to go to Xiliang." As far as I know, the taxes collected by our Great Qin in a year are only more than 30 million taels in the country, and the annual treasury expenditure is calculated, and in the early years, we can save two or three million taels, but in the past few years, there has been no surplus ......at all! Approaching Chu Huan, he asked softly, "Brother Chu, you are in the household, do you think you can take out 20 million taels of silver?" ”

The sixteen roads of Daqin, the situation of each province is different, and the taxes collected are naturally not different, the big way is two or three million taels a year, and the small way is even only one million taels of taxes a year, and the sixteen roads add up, it is nothing more than about 30 million taels of silver.

Chu Huan had already shook his head and said, "Twenty million taels? Don't say that this number is two million taels, and it may not be said that you can take it out at this moment! He was telling the truth.

In the household department for a while, in fact, he also probably knew the current financial situation of the empire, Tongtian Palace, the Northwest War, the Hebei War and the Si Tiantai Alchemy, which had consumed a large amount of silver taels in the treasury, and now the household department could be said to be short of money and food, and at this time, the 20 million taels of silver was undoubtedly a dream of a fool in the Arabian Nights.

Don't say 20 million taels, it is 10 million taels, then it has to be scraped up from the people again, in order to let the Xiliang people withdraw from the northwest, and take the risk of forcing the people to rebel against the people to impose taxes again, no matter how stupid the court is, it is impossible to do such a thing, so Chu Huan felt in his heart that the Xiliang people's sky-high asking price could not be stopped, but such a huge amount, of course, it was impossible for the Qin State to reach an agreement with it, and in the end, the Xiliang people could only retreat.

Xue Huai'an said: "The people of Xiliang are not afraid of the wind and fanning their tongues, if they insist on this price, the saint will definitely not agree, and if they don't get a tael of silver, they won't be able to get a tael of silver, and the two countries will go to war again." ”

Chu Huan groaned slightly, shook his head and smiled: "If they are really capable of fighting, they will not take the initiative to negotiate peace." In fact, they are free to open the price, but whether they can afford it or not, the court naturally has a heart, and naturally has a scale. After a pause, he said softly: "The saint agreed to negotiate peace with Xiliang, perhaps because he was worried about internal and external enemies, and spent some silver to stabilize Xiliang's side for the time being. ”

Xue Huai'an said: "Actually, I also feel that the Xiliang people are just pretending to be a momentum, and they don't really want to fight, so it depends on how Lord Bai talks to the Xiliang people." Suddenly, he looked not far away, "Huh", Chu Huan couldn't help but look over, only to see that in a side corridor not far away, there was a team of people going to the Guangming Palace, those people were dressed in all kinds of clothes, and they carried a few boxes, and with the two officials of the Honglu Temple to the side of the Deguang Palace, the guards warriors guarding outside the hall were ordering the group of people to open the boxes and strictly check them.

"I'm afraid this is Zhao Xuan's trick." Xue Huai soothed the short beard and said in a low voice: "Yesterday in the imperial study, didn't Zhao Xuan still say that he wanted people to perform acrobatics for the Xiliang people?" It seems that this group of people is a juggling team. Hehe, Zhao Xuan wants to invite pets in front of the saint, but I'm afraid that the people of Xiliang haven't seen our original juggling, and it will really open their eyes when the time comes. ”

Chu Huan didn't speak, his eyes moved away from that side, and he looked up at the moon in the sky, the moon tonight was really bright and tight, and the majestic palace was even more majestic under the moonlight.

"The ghost moon is cold, and the iron mask chases the soul. Long-arm copper back, fast hand dart...... Enjoying the moon in this palace, Lord Chu is full of elegance, what a good mood! Chu Huan was staring at the night sky and the bright moon, and suddenly a clear voice came from behind, hearing this, Chu Huan's pupils were unprecedentedly shocked, his pupils contracted, and he didn't turn back immediately, the corners of his eyes twitched twice, but when he turned his head, his face had completely regained his composure, and he saw a person walking towards him with a smile.