I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 413 Return to Beijing, Negotiation

The northern border is the land of Yanyun.

At first, Zhao Wei just wanted to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and complete the main task of the system.

But after two years of fighting, he and the Liao people had already formed a blood feud that would not end until one of them died.

So after defeating the Liao army and recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Zhao Wei came up with the idea of ​​destroying the Liao Kingdom in one fell swoop. It just so happened that the army was in high spirits now, so there might really be a chance.

When the Liao people discovered that Zhao Wei had led his army to invade the Liao mainland, the whole country was terrified.

In the past two years, their emperor led the army in person, but was defeated by Zhao Wei every time. Most of the country's troops were lost on the border, and they no longer have the confidence to fight again.

It was precisely because of this that the Liao Emperor sent envoys to the Song Dynasty to request peace talks.

Zhao Wei led his army to capture cities and territories in the Liao homeland and was invincible. He had already occupied two states. But just when the army was resting and preparing to attack the third state, an imperial edict came from the capital, ordering him to stop fighting immediately and return to Beijing to participate in peace talks between the two countries.

In order to prevent him from disobeying the order, Zhao Heng specially sent Gu Qianfan to lead 3,000 imperial guards to "escort" Zhao Wei back to Beijing.

"Your Highness."

"Well, what's the situation in the court?"

Gu Qianfan organized his words and replied, "This peace talk was ordered by the emperor, which caused opposition from many court officials. However, from what I heard from Prime Minister Xiao, the emperor had no choice but to stop the war and negotiate, as the national treasury could no longer support it. However, the emperor also said that the Liao people must pay a price this time, so he asked Your Highness to preside over the peace talks."

Zhao Wei nodded: "I understand, let's go back to Beijing."

With three thousand imperial guards as guards, Zhao Wei's travel speed was naturally slow. It took him more than a month to get from the border to the capital, and he did not return to the capital until late summer or early autumn.

Calculating the time, it’s exactly three years.

After three years, Zhao Wei returned to Tokyo City again, feeling filled with emotion.

Although he had been exchanging letters with his family since Zhao Pan'er returned to Beijing, he had not seen them for two years after all, and he missed his wife and children very much, so after returning to the capital, he went straight back to the palace.

At Prince Han's Mansion, upon learning the news that Zhao Wei had entered the city, Zhao Pan'er began to pack and dress up to enter the palace. After all, in her opinion, when Zhao Wei returned to the capital after the battle, he would definitely go to pay a visit to the emperor first.

Who would have thought that before she even went out, she heard someone shouting outside the door.

"Your Highness is back, Your Highness is back."

He had not been home for three years, and this time he returned with a great victory, which made everyone in the palace extremely excited.

Zhao Wei walked slowly into the palace and immediately saw Zhao Pan'er rushing out from the yard. He stretched out his arms and picked up Zhao Pan'er.

"Pan'er, I'm back."

Zhao Pan'er was so excited that she forced herself to stop crying and said with a sob, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

After hugging her for a while, Zhao Wei noticed that Zhao Pan'er was wearing the royal princess's attire, so he asked, "What are you going to do dressed like this?"

"Your Highness, you have returned to the capital, and I am preparing to enter the palace. It just so happens that Ye'er was taken to the palace by our mother two years ago. Why didn't you bring him back?"

Zhao Wei was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I went straight back home after entering the city, and have not yet entered the palace."

"what?!"

Zhao Pan'er exclaimed, and said anxiously: "You didn't enter the palace, but went straight back home. Father..."

"I've been running all the way, and I'm almost smelly. I'll go back and change my clothes. Father won't say anything."

Hearing what Zhao Wei said, Zhao Pan'er didn't say anything more and hurriedly ordered people to prepare for a bath. However, as soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Wei picked her up by the waist and strode into the bathroom.

After taking a relaxing bath together, Zhao Pan'er, feeling sore all over, lay on Zhao Wei and didn't want to move at all. While feeling Zhao Wei's breath, she expressed her longing for him for the past two years.

By the time the two men finished talking, the sky had gradually darkened. Zhao Wei simply stayed in the palace and prepared to pay his respects to the palace the next day.

The next day, Wende Hall.

As soon as Zhao Wei and Zhao Pan'er entered the door, they saw a little baby running out, followed by Xiu Yin and Liu Wan, who were shouting "slow down".

"Mother concubine."

When the little guy saw Zhao Pan'er coming in, he immediately shouted crisply, then stood in front of Zhao Pan'er and Zhao Wei, tilting his little head and looking at Zhao Wei curiously, not shy at all.

"You still remember to come back." Liu Wan picked up the little guy and said angrily, "You've been gone for three years. Even your son doesn't recognize you anymore."

The little guy was quite smart. When he heard Liu Wan's words, he fluttered his bright eyes and asked, "Are you my father?"

"Yes, I am your father."

Zhao Wei rubbed the little guy's head lovingly and was about to say something else when he heard Zhao Heng's voice coming from inside.

"Get out yet."

There was a hint of anger in his tone, and it was obvious that he was dissatisfied with the fact that Zhao Wei went back to the palace first yesterday instead of paying his respects in the palace.

"You, you didn't even come to pay your respects to your father before returning to the capital. Go in quickly." Liu Wan sighed helplessly, gave Zhao Wei a wink, and finally waved to Zhao Pan'er to leave.

Three years later, the father and son met again, and the atmosphere was far less harmonious than before. Zhao Heng kept cursing and swearing at him for various reasons, but Zhao Wei could clearly feel that Zhao Heng's attitude towards him had changed greatly.

If Zhao Heng was somewhat wary of him three years ago, now he completely regards him as his successor.

It’s more like teaching than scolding.

Finally, Zhao Heng lavishly rewarded Zhao Wei and, in front of Zhao Wei, stamped the imperial seal on the imperial edict to appoint him as the crown prince.

This was the agreement between father and son. If Zhao Wei recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun within five years, Zhao Heng would enthrone him as the crown prince.

Neither the father nor the son paid much attention to the issue of appointing a crown prince, but it caused a stir in the court and the country. All the officials remonstrated with them, but the common people, especially those in Tokyo City, were cheering and excited.

In fact, in terms of achievements, Zhao Wei destroyed the Dingnan Army, recovered the Hexi Corridor, and then defeated the Liao Army and recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. With such great achievements, plus the fact that he was Zhao Heng's legitimate son, he was definitely qualified to enter the Eastern Palace.

But the affairs of the court are not judged solely by merit. As soon as the decree to enthrone the crown prince came out, it aroused opposition from all officials. At the grand court meeting announcing the enthronement of the crown prince, countless civil servants impeached Zhao Wei.

Some said that Zhao Wei disobeyed the imperial order, some said that Zhao Wei deliberately provoked the war, and some said that Zhao Wei sent troops without authorization, causing a war between the two countries, and that he was guilty of a heinous crime, etc. These civil servants were really good at talking, each one was more eloquent than the other, and they spoke very extravagantly. They did not mention a word about Zhao Wei's achievements, and all of them were crimes.

Zhao Wei seemed to have incurred the wrath of the public, with nearly half of the court officials impeaching and slandering him. Although some people defended Zhao Wei, their voice was much lower than that of the huge opposition.

Zhao Wei, on the other hand, stood silently at the upper left as if nothing had happened, allowing the court officials to impeach and slander him without saying a word. After all, it made no difference whether he said anything or not, as it all depended on Zhao Heng's attitude.

If Zhao Heng is determined, the throne of the Eastern Palace will be his no matter how much the court officials oppose.

Judging from the current situation, Zhao Heng was still very determined. He scolded the court officials and called Zhao Wei to leave. As soon as the father and son entered the hall, Zhao Heng started to scold them.

"I usually tell you not to get too close to the military men, and to get closer to the civil officials. What about you? What did you do? Look at how many people are against you now. It really piss me off."

Zhao Wei rolled his eyes and replied indifferently: "If I had listened to you, father, and been close to the civil officials, it would be impossible to repel the Liao people and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, even to destroy the Dingnan Army and recover the Hexi Corridor."

"You're still talking back to me?!"

"I……"

"Okay, don't worry about this matter anymore. Go and prepare for the negotiations with the Liao people."

"Yes, I will take my leave."

"By the way, the deputy envoy for this peace talk is Ke Zheng. I don't care how you talk, but the Liao people must pay a price. At the very least, the annual tribute in previous years must be cancelled, and the places we currently occupy must not be returned."

Zhao Heng was tough for once, and finally waved his hand and said, "Go and discuss it with Ke Zheng."

"My son, I obey."

Zhao Wei said this, but he had no intention of looking for Ke Zheng and went straight back to the palace.

After that, he never attended court under the pretext of the peace talks between the two countries, but he still knew what was going on in the court.

Zhao Wei knew very well that the reason why the civil service group united to target him was simply because he represented the interests of the military group, and the civil service group did not want to see him come to power, which would affect the interests and voice of the civil service group in the court.

However, Zhao Wei did not care about the slander of those civil servants. He always firmly believed that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Civil servants are important, but there are countless scholars in the world. As long as he has military power, he will not lack scholars to serve him.

In the following period of time, Zhao Wei was constantly impeached by officials, and all kinds of charges came out. Even old events, such as Zhao Wei beating his cousins ​​and skipping classes when he was a child, and marrying a prostitute as his concubine in the past two years, which were not worth bringing up, became reasons to oppose Zhao Wei's entry into the East Palace.

As for other crimes committed during the war, they were even more unforgivable, as if Zhao Wei was the sinner of the Song Dynasty and that severe punishment would not be enough to vent the people's anger.

Zhao Wei had long known that the civil officials of the Song Dynasty were powerful and that confusing right and wrong was their specialty, but he was still quite shocked to see them go to such an extent.

He could only say that with such a court and such officials, the Northern Song Dynasty could last for so many years, which was truly a blessing from God.

Of course, there were also some civil servants who spoke for Zhao Wei, such as Ke Zheng, who had stabbed him in the back before, and the upstarts who had only been in the court for a few years, such as Fan Xiwen, Lu Zongdao, and so on.

But unfortunately, Fan Xiwen and others don't have any say yet, and Ke Zheng has no energy to argue with those people because he is busy with the peace talks.

The stalemate lasted for more than a month. Finally, Zhao Heng used Xiao Qinyan as an example to scare the monkeys and suppressed the opposition voices in the court.

Just as the imperial edict to appoint the crown prince was announced to the world, the team of envoys sent by the Liao Kingdom to negotiate peace also arrived in Bianliang City.

The person leading the team was Yelu Zongsheng. He had been an envoy to the Song Dynasty before, but last time he came to accept tribute from the Song Dynasty, while this time he came to beg for peace talks with the Song Dynasty.

Peace talks between the two countries are not something that can be done overnight, and the so-called peace talks are actually quarrels, both of which are quarrels with the other side for the sake of one's own interests.

Zhao Wei had no interest in listening to people quarreling, and even less interest in quarreling with the Liao people, so he had not shown up since the peace talks began. He was either accompanying Zhao Pan'er to teach her son, or going to the Jiaofangsi to listen to music.

Now I have completed two system tasks, and the only thing left is the last task of listening to music in the brothel a thousand times. I have nothing to do right now, so I might as well do it in my free time.

However, he also sent Zhao Huai'en to keep an eye on the peace talks.

Judging from the information reported by Zhao Huai'en, although the Liao people were the defeated party, they were still very arrogant. They always took the initiative in the negotiations and put forward a lot of various demands.

For example: returning the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, increasing annual tribute, etc.

Since Zhao Wei from the Song Dynasty did not show up, all matters would naturally be discussed by Ke Zheng.

Although Ke Zheng was a war advocate, he was not an unwavering war advocate.

Ever since he reported to Zhao Heng in the northern border, he did not want the two countries to go to war again. Even though Zhao Wei later recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and invaded the Liao mainland, he did not want the Song Dynasty to continue fighting.

Of course, this is not the point. The point is that the Liao Kingdom’s strength has been greatly damaged and it will take decades to recover. Although the Song Dynasty also needs to recuperate, its losses are far less severe than those of the Liao.

In other words, the Liao people wanted the peace talks to succeed more than they did.

In addition, as they were the victorious country and knew Zhao Heng's bottom line, Ke Zheng's attitude was naturally very strong. It was just that other officials involved in the peace talks put themselves in a weak position, which led to the Song Dynasty being passive as a whole.

That afternoon, Zhao Wei was teaching his son martial arts when Zhao Paner came over with Xiao Cui.

Seeing that she seemed to be hesitant to speak, Zhao Wei smiled and said, "Just say whatever you want to say. You and I are husband and wife, so there is nothing that is difficult to say."

Zhao Paner nodded and was silent for a moment before speaking.

"Your Highness, you are the initiator of the peace talks between the two countries. Shouldn't you go and take a look? It's not a good idea to keep dragging it on like this."

The two countries have been negotiating for more than two months. Because the Liao people's demand is the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and the Song Dynasty is unlikely to cede them again, the two sides have been in a stalemate. The Liao people have become a little anxious and threatened to reignite the war.

Zhao Wei guessed that his father and mother were a little anxious, so he asked Zhao Paner to act as a lobbyist.

"Is it the father's intention or the mother's intention?"

"Both my father and my mother have the same idea. My father is about to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to the gods. Both my father and my mother hope to get a result as soon as possible."

Because the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were recovered, the matter of Fengshan at Mount Tai was also put on the agenda. If Zhao Heng had not been waiting for the result of the peace talks, he would have rushed to Mount Tai long ago.

Zhao Wei was silent for a moment before nodding and saying, "Okay, I'll go there tomorrow."

The next day.

Honglu Temple, Sifang Pavilion.

When Zhao Wei arrived, the two sides had already started clashing over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the annual tribute, and the quarrel could be heard from far away.

With the arrival of Zhao Wei, the hall suddenly became quiet, and then both the officials of the Song Dynasty and the people of Liao stood up.

"I, the minister, greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhao Wei nodded, his eyes fell on Yelu Zongsheng: "Prince Liang, the peace talks have been going on for more than two months. I already know your conditions. I have nothing else to say. You should go back and prepare for war."

Before Yelu Zongsheng could speak, the negotiating officials headed by Ke Zheng became anxious.

"His Royal Highness..."

They had just opened their mouths when Zhao Wei glanced over at them, causing their hearts to tremble and they couldn't say what they wanted to say.

Seeing this, Yelu Zongsheng smiled calmly and said, "Your Highness, there is no need to scare me. Although you won the previous battle, my Liao did not fight with all its strength. Do you really dare to start a war with my Liao again?"

(End of this chapter)