I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 255 The strongest negotiating team in the Song Dynasty: Ouyang Xiu, Bao Zheng, Tang Jie

About an hour later, Yangzhou Port Terminal.

Hundreds of Koreans, with their heads lowered and stacks of books in their arms, were escorted ashore by officials.

When the people in the surrounding area learned that a Korean businessman had been caught stealing books, they were very excited and shouted: "The thief deserves death! The thief deserves death! The thief deserves death!"

Goryeo merchants were known for being cunning and stingy.

In addition, it was a vassal state of Liao, which was disliked by many people.

Huang Youdao, the promotion officer of the Shipping Department, looked frustrated.

With such a serious case of banned book smuggling occurring in Yangzhou Port, this was the end of his career as a promotion official.

Goryeo businessman Li Wangzhou still looked unconvinced, shouting that the Goryeo king would definitely save him.

After Su Liang handed over the relevant chores to Su Shunyuan, he returned home.

Next, how to find and deal with the people who bought and sold books with these Goryeo merchants, how to sentence them, and how to make Li Wangzhou less tyrannical were all matters for Su Shunyuan, the magistrate of Yangzhou.

……

At this time, the Goryeo delegation had arrived in Bianjing.

This matter can be communicated with them, and then he can be reported to the leader of Goryeo.

Su Liang needs to report to the court immediately and implore the court to deal with the matter seriously.

Otherwise, the books, secrets, pictures, and geography of the Song Dynasty would all be lost overseas.

Of course, Su Liang did not forget to send Li Wangzhou's personal letter from Xia Song back to Bianjing City.

In addition, Su Shunyuan, the magistrate of Yangzhou, also wrote the details of the incident into a memorial and sent it to Bianjing City.

……

The morning of the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month.

The memorials of Su Liang and Su Shunyuan arrived in Bianjing one after another.

Inside the Chui Gong Hall.

After Zhao Zhen read the memorial, he said with a dark face: "Xuan's princes!"

After a while.

Wen Yanbo, Xia Song, Fan Zhongyan, Zhang Fangping, Wu Yu, and Song Xiang came to the main hall.

At this moment, the six people knew why the official had summoned them.

Su Liang's memorial reached the imperial court.

However, Su Shunyuan's memorial was submitted to the imperial court after passing through the two governments.

Wen Yanbo was the first to speak: "Officials and Goryeo businessmen were bold enough to plagiarize the secrets of our country and should be severely punished. Of course, our country's supervision of overseas book bans in the past two years also has certain problems, and the intensity should be strengthened in the future."

"Then what do you think the verdict should be?"

Zhang Fangping came out and said: "They will all be punished with sticks, all their property will be confiscated, and then they will be expelled from the country. These thieves will never be allowed to come to our Song Dynasty!"

On the side, Wen Yanbo, Wu Yu, and Song Xiang all nodded.

This kind of punishment can be considered tough.

Zhao Zhen smiled slightly and said: "This crime is still a bit light."

"Jingming's suggestion is that, first, the leader of the thieves should serve for three years, and the remaining Goryeo thieves should be expelled permanently after one year; secondly, during the period of imprisonment, the Goryeo Kingdom must bear the cost of food and clothing for these people, and each person must pay the same amount for one day. Third, order the leader of the Goryeo Kingdom to submit a written apology to the Song Dynasty, stating that if such an incident occurs again, the punishment will be doubled."

Hearing this, Wen Yanbo, Fan Zhongyan and others all laughed.

At first glance, this is Su Liang's style.

Detention, compensation, apology, none of them are missing!

Not only severe punishment.

And they also want to slap the face of Korea.

Imprisonment means imprisonment in a certain place, deprivation of freedom, and forced labor.

As for making Korea bear the cost of food and clothing and asking the leader of Korea to apologize, that is purely to slap the Koreans in the face.

Wu Yu said with a smile: "I think Jingming's strategy is very good, but... I'm afraid the Korean people may not agree."

On the side, Wen Yanbo and Fan Zhongyan laughed out loud.

At this time.

Xia Song stood up slowly.

"Officials, I think that Su Liang's strategy is just to cause war!"

"Although the Koreans were a vassal state of the Liao, they were bullied by the Liao and had no choice but to do so. Their hearts were not with the Liao."

"Now, they were wrong in the first place. If we punish them lightly, they will definitely make Goryeo's heart turn toward us. If there is a war between Song and Liao in the future, we can unite with Goryeo to attack Liao. Back then, Emperor Taizong had united with Goryeo to attack Liao. This is the best opportunity for us to make friends with Korea."

United with Goryeo to fight against the Liao Kingdom.

This policy has been proposed since Taizong.

However, after the Chanyuan Alliance, the Song and Liao Dynasties were at peace for many years. Goryeo was close to the Liao Kingdom and had few interactions with the Song Dynasty.

At this time.

Zhao Zhen took out a letter from the table and said, "Xia Shuxiang, take a look at this."

Xia Song took the letter and after seeing the content, the muscles in the corners of his eyes shrank suddenly, and then returned to normal.

He cupped his hands and said, "Guan, this letter is indeed written by an old minister."

"After the official policy of attracting business, our commerce prospered, and overseas trade was also promoted. However, the procedures for overseas trade were complicated. A Korean businessman came to the minister and said that the local officials had some troubles. I wanted to go overseas for my sake. Trade is booming, so in order to promote the alliance between Song and Li, I wrote to inform the river officials that Korean merchants should be treated favorably."

Immediately, Xia Song handed the letter to Wen Yanbo beside him and said, "Colleagues, you can also take a look at the content of this letter to see if I have selfish motives. Everything I do is to promote the development of commerce. It will be easier to deal with Beiliao in the future!"

Wen Yanbo and others read the letters one after another.

The content of the letter is also very correct.

They all said that Korean merchants should be treated favorably and maritime trade should be promoted, and the content of the letter did not mention the name of the Korean merchant who was arrested this time.

Everyone had to admire Xia Song's cunningness.

If other officials were found to have such "suspected evidence of favoritism", they would definitely deny that it was not their own writing.

Xia Song not only admitted it decisively, but also set his goals very high.

He was dedicated to overseas trade and to having more helpers for the Song Dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty.

If Tang Jie, Ouyang Xiu, or Su Liang were here, they would definitely impeach Xia Song, but these ministers did not say much.

They are more willing to listen to Zhao Zhen's ideas.

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "I believe in Prime Minister Xia Shu. Such trivial matters will be forgotten."

After saying that, Zhao Zhen sat up straight.

"Do you think our government should unite with Goryeo?"

Wen Yanbo walked out first.

"Officials, I think it is absolutely impossible. As a vassal state of Liao, Goryeo has shown goodwill to our court from time to time, but it is just to covet our court's property. If we really want to fight with Liao, what effect can it do as a small country? ? Maybe they will stab us in the back for profit!"

"I agree!" Wu Yu and Zhang Fangping agreed at the same time.

At this time, Fan Zhongyan stood up.

"Officials, I believe that one thing comes to another. Whether we and Goryeo will unite to fight against the Liao depends on the future war situation. Even if we punish the Goryeo lightly today, if we do not give them benefits when we go to war with the Liao in the future, will they help us? "

"Between the two countries, war and peace, alliances and struggles are all for profit. There is no such thing as a so-called brotherly country."

"The current situation is that the Korean people have committed crimes in our Song Dynasty. If we don't punish them, not to mention Korea, all overseas countries will laugh at us!"

"The theft of books this time is of a bad nature. If we accumulate books in Goryeo, we will definitely spread the clouds to Khitan. Without punishment, it will not be enough to scare outsiders!"

"I think we can discuss Jingming's punishment conditions with them first and see how sincere the Korean people are. If they are still arrogant, we don't need to be polite to them!"

As expected of Fan Zhongyan, who has worked hard in the northwest for several years, every word he said hit the point. Zhao Zhen nodded in approval.

"What Fan Qing said makes sense. If you are too kind to others, you are weak. Who wants to negotiate with the Goryeo envoy?"

"I am willing to go!" Wen Yanbo took the lead in asking for orders.

Wu Yu stood up and said: "Guan family, let a few of us go, it would be too embarrassing for the Korean envoy! Moreover, none of us are fierce enough, and we are still a little embarrassed. I recommend Tai Jian to the chief official, Tang Jie Go with Ouyang Xiu."

"Cough...cough..."

Zhang Fangping on the side couldn't help coughing.

If these two were left to negotiate, the Korean envoy would not be able to gain any advantage at all.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said: "These two are indeed good choices to make the Korean people know the consequences of breaking our laws in the Song Dynasty. However, both of them are a bit impatient. I am worried that they may quarrel!"

At this time, Fan Zhongyan reminded: "In the official family, let's add Bao Xiren. He is good at controlling emotions and controlling such situations."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but laugh.

By sending these three people, Song Dynasty would definitely not suffer any loss.

"Okay. This time it's entirely Goryeo's fault. It's time for us to show off our power as a great nation and tell these three people to negotiate according to the three conditions listed by Su Liang."

"I obey." All the ministers raised their hands at the same time.

……

Before noon.

The Korean mission learned from Zhongshu Province that hundreds of Korean businessmen had been arrested for smuggling Song Dynasty books, and Zhongshu also asked the Korean mission to go to Honglu Temple in the afternoon to explain.

Afternoon, Honglu Temple.

The winter sun was bright, and several rays of sunlight splashed on the large table of a conference hall.

Goryeo's special envoy Wang Huqi and deputy envoy Li Zong sat uneasily, not daring to look at the three people opposite them.

The two Koreans never expected that it would be these three people listening to their explanation.

One is Ouyang Xiu, Emperor Wenzong of the Song Dynasty, who was addicted to memorializing and impeached countless officials.

One is the censor Zhongcheng Tang Jie who can stop the dragon chariot and admonish the king.

One is Bao Zheng, who is in charge of Kaifeng Mansion and dares to spit in the emperor's face.

The names of these three people have long been spread throughout the surrounding countries.

Bao Zheng, Tang Jie, and Ouyang Xiu were sitting on one side, all looking at the other side with dark faces.

Wang Huqi and Li Zong felt like they were on trial.

Wang Huqi was the first to say: "Three officials, this matter is the fault of my Korean merchant. We admit our mistake and express that there will never be a next time."

Ouyang Xiu's face was expressionless.

"This is not a mistake, but a crime! You Koreans are so rampant that you smuggled the geographical map of the Song Dynasty. Are you planning to attack the Song Dynasty?"

"No, no, we have absolutely no such intention, absolutely no such intention!" Wang Huqi and Li Zong shook their heads repeatedly.

"Tell me about it! What are you going to do next?" Bao Zheng looked at the two of them.

Wang Huqi, the Korean special envoy, thought for a while and said: "Please let us take all these people back. We guarantee that everyone will be sentenced to double the penalty for the crime of theft!"

"Humph!"

Tang Jie snorted coldly.

This cold snort made Wang Huqi and Li Zong suddenly nervous.

My butt only dares to sit on a small area of ​​​​the chair, and I am always ready to stand up and admit my mistake.

"The one hundred and twenty-eight Koreans involved in this case committed crimes in the Song Dynasty, so they will naturally be punished by the Song Dynasty. According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, the leader of the thieves will be detained for three years, and the remaining Korean thieves will be detained for one year, and then they will be permanently expelled. Do you two have any opinions?"

Li Zong on the side said in a consultative tone: "May I ask the three of you, can you use property to pay for your crime?"

"No!" the three of them said in unison.

"Then... I'm afraid I have to report this matter to the head of my country first, and then inform the three of you. Do we agree?"

"Snapped!"

Ouyang Xiu suddenly slapped the table.

Wang Huqi and Li Zong were so frightened that they stood up immediately.

"Special Envoy Wang, Deputy Envoy Li, we are informing you now, not discussing it. Do you understand?"

The two nodded like chickens chasing rice, and then slowly sat down.

Followed by.

Bao Zheng continued Ouyang Xiu's words and said: "Just now, we only convicted the 128 people in your country for theft. Now let's talk about other crimes. You can inform your country's leader to see if he agrees."

"These businessmen are not the first thieves. After stealing the books, they print and sell them in your country. It is impossible for the ruler of your country to not know about it. They are suspected of covering up."

"In addition, the books stolen by these people involve our country's geography, local records, and border maps. This approach is even more likely to cause war."

"To sum up the above, our court believes that your country should compensate our country for the loss of 100,000 guan of intelligence. In addition, the leader of Goryeo needs to submit a personal apology letter to our officials and swear to prevent such incidents from happening!"

"In addition, you Koreans are detained in our territory, and you need to bear the cost of food and clothing for these people, one person per day. We will release you after the sentence is completed."

The information loss fee of 100,000 yuan was temporarily added by Bao Zheng, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Jie.

They felt that if they negotiated according to Su Liang's terms, the three of them would be too incompetent.

"These...this...these...three, these conditions are too harsh. They are just businessmen of our country, not soldiers!"

"We don't care whether they are merchants or soldiers, we only know that they are thieves, you Goryeo thieves!" Ouyang Xiu glared.

"Then...then...is there any room for relaxation in this matter? Can you not let the leader of my family submit a letter of apology and let me write a letter of apology?"

"no!"

The three people said in unison again, very domineeringly.

Wang Huqi thought for a while and said: "You three, you also know that we are a vassal state of Liao. If this matter gets serious, what if..."

Before Wang Huqi could finish speaking, Tang Jie interrupted him directly.

"Do you think the Liao Kingdom dares to go to war with me for Goryeo? You can give it a try!"

As soon as these words came out.

Wang Huqi and Li Zong have no temper at all.

At the beginning of the year, the Liao army had just withdrawn from Xixia in despair, and it was absolutely impossible to start a full-scale war with the Song Dynasty for the sake of Goryeo.

Li Zong rolled his eyes, leaned forward, and said: "We, Goryeo, have always been oppressed by the Liao Kingdom. If the Song Dynasty can punish this matter lightly, I can persuade the leader of my country to form an alliance with the Song Dynasty in private. Once there is a conflict between Song and Liao, I will Goryeo will definitely help the Song Dynasty!"

"Humph!"

Ouyang Xiu sneered: "When tigers and wolves are fighting, what's the use of a chicken coming to help! And it's still unknown whether this chicken belongs to the north or the south!"

"That...that..."

Wang Huqi wanted to explain again, but Bao Zheng waved his hand directly.

"There is no chance of easing the conditions we have put forward. You directly tell the head of your family whether your face is more important or whether you want to become the enemy of my country, the Song Dynasty!"

Say it.

Ouyang Xiu, Tang Jie, and Bao Zheng stood up and strode away.

Wang Huqi and Li Zong looked depressed.

The two of them originally came to congratulate Song Zhengdan for eating, drinking and having fun, and then returned home with a full load!

Never thought of encountering such a big trouble!

No matter how Korea pays compensation, the careers of these two people as the talkers are over, and they will even be reviled by countless Koreans.

(End of this chapter)