C14

Chapter 14 - Boiled Frogs in Warm Water

A few eunuchs had already left, but Zhao Chen and Wang De still stood there.

The two of them had expressions of disbelief on their faces, especially Zhao Chen, whose history clearly recorded the shame of the Jin Army's siege of Kaifeng, Kaifeng City's destruction, and Jingkang! Why did the Jin Army send someone here to negotiate?

Wang De also felt that it was inconceivable, the Jin Army was so powerful, the army of the Song Dynasty was not her opponent! Although there were many royal soldiers in all parts of Song Dynasty and the surrounding cities, it was impossible for these troops to defeat the Golden Army! To the Jin Army, they did not even need to negotiate! Could it be that the Jin Army's forces were insufficient, or something big had happened to them, causing them to stop in their tracks, and request for peace? It was possible! Or could it be that the Jin Army did not have the ambition to destroy Song at all?

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Wang De turned to look, only to see Zhao Chen's forehead covered in sweat.

"Evil, Jin Army is too evil!" Zhao Chen suddenly said.

"Malicious?" Wang De was a little confused.

"I got it, Jin Army is using warm water to boil a frog! It's really a good plan, a really good plan! " Zhao Chen muttered.

"Boiling frogs in warm water, what's that?" Wang De said in shock.

Boiling frogs in warm water was a famous experiment by scientists in the 19th century. As a Song Dynasty, there was no such thing as boiling frogs in warm water.

"If a frog were to throw it into the boiling water, it would try its best to jump out. It might even be able to escape death! But if a frog is thrown into warm water, it will swim leisurely in the water! The people below slowly raised the water temperature, but the frog still didn't feel any danger coming! By the time the water began to boil, the frog knew that something was wrong. However, its body and spirit had already become numb, and it was no longer able to jump out! This is what it means to boil frogs in warm water! " Zhao Chen said.

"What does Your Highness mean?" Wang De asked doubtfully.

"If Nvzhen's intention to destroy their country were to be completely exposed, my Song Dynasty would naturally go all out to deal with them. This is just like a frog in boiling water, even if I had to use all my strength, I would still be able to escape disaster! But now, the Nvzhen said they wanted to negotiate, not destroy the nation! Actually, their negotiation was fake, and was just to give us, the Song Dynasty, a trace of hope. They wanted us to believe that they were only going south to occupy some territories or obtain some treasures, so they could numb us! Isn't this what you call boiling a frog in warm water? " Zhao Chen said.

Zhao Chen was a little shocked in his heart, he never thought that the Nvzhen would actually be so poisonous! These Nvzhen were born barbarians, they did not even have words, they did not have any civilization or culture, they had only risen up for ten years, and now they have learned how to warm water and boil frogs, they are truly powerful! He did not know that this was a scheme that the unrestrained child had taught Wanyan Zonghan! They made the Great Song Dynasty relax his guard and give him hope. When the last moment came and the Great Song Dynasty wanted to fight back, he was already powerless. At that time, they would be able to easily attack the Kaifeng City and complete the great cause of annihilating Song!

That wanderer was actually a well-known figure in history. If history did not change, then he would always play an important role! During the battle between Jin Wushu and Yue Fei, Jin Wushu suffered a huge defeat, and wanted to retreat from the Central Plains. At this time, a scholar stopped him and said, "Crown Prince (Constellation) doesn't have anything to do, we can guard the capital, but Young Master Yue's army has retreated … Since ancient times, there had been no powerful official among them, and a great general had rendered meritorious services to outsiders. That scholar was none other than the free and unrestrained son! However, he was from the martial arts world, and his name was not recorded in historical records!

When Zhao Chen said these words, Wang De who was at the side seemed to understand a little!

"I am going to see royal father, so I can't agree to negotiate with my daughter in any way! This is simply a scam! " Zhao Chen said.

Zhao Chen left the place and walked towards the Funing Hall! But this time, he was stopped before he could even reach the Funing Hall! The Funing Hall was a place where the Great Song Emperor and subjects discussed politics. Even the crown prince had to be informed first before he could go!

Someone immediately went to inform the Song Chin Zong, and when it was afternoon, a eunuch came over, saying that the Song Chin Zong was busy with national affairs, and did not have time to meet Zhao Chen. He told Zhao Chen to return to the scenic garden, and continue learning martial arts with Wang De!

Zhao Chen had no choice but to return back to scenic garden.

At this moment, in the Funing Hall, Song Chin Zong Zhao Huan was discussing the peace with a group of officials!

Zhao Huan's face was filled with joy. These past few days, he had been extremely afraid, and now, he finally relaxed! So Jin Army was not trying to destroy the Song Dynasty. They just wanted to obtain some benefits, but of course, there were a lot of benefits they wanted to obtain! To give up Hebei and Hedong, this was indeed too much! In the afternoon, he summoned the officials to discuss the matter.

"You all tell me, do we have to agree to Jin Army's conditions?" Zhao Huan said.

"Your Majesty, Hebei and Hedong are the foundations of our nation. With millions of citizens and countless cities, as well as an important land for taxes, we cannot cede Hebei and Hedong to the Jin Army!" The one who spoke was a 40-year-old middle-aged man. However, this middle-aged man's hair was completely white! His body was slightly hunched, this person was Li Gang! The future generations would call this person the leader of the "famous officials of the Southern Song Dynasty". It was precisely this person who had turned the tides with Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and the others, allowing the Southern Song to be at peace! He was originally demoted to Jiangxi Province, but due to the invasion of the Jin Army, he was urgently summoned to Kaifeng.

"If we do not let Hebei and Hedong go, how can we defend against the Jin Army?" Zhang Bangchang stood out and said coldly! The fat all over his body was trembling, as if he was extremely angry!

"We can make the world work hard, and there will still be hundreds of thousands of garrisons everywhere. The His Royal Highness is currently contacting the allied forces of Hebei and Hedong to break the Jin Army's back! The whole world is working hard, we will definitely be able to stop the Jin Army! " Li Gang said.

"The troops stationed in various places, can they block Jin Army? Ridiculous! How powerful are the teachers and the seed army? They can't even withstand a single blow from the Jin Army. How can we count on these garrison troops? As for the allied armies from various places, that would be even more absurd. They are all formed from lowly commoners, without any training, without any weapons, how can they defend against the Jin Army? " Zhang Bangchang said "indignantly"!

"But the price of giving up Hebei and Hedong is really too big! If we give up Hebei, HeDong, then the north of the Yellow River will no longer be my Song Dynasty! My Song Dynasty's mountains and rivers have almost been reduced by half! " Li Gang argued.

"Right now, if we give up Hebei and HeDong, we can take them back in the future! If we do not cut off Hebei, HeDong, and Jin Army now, we will lose all of our lands! " Zhang Bangchang said coldly.

"Alright, this matter is over! Hebei can just be ceded to Nvzhen, it's nothing much! " Song Chin Zong said.

Hearing Song Chin Zong's words, all the officials below agreed. Only Li Gang and a few others stood to the side and frowned, not saying a word! It was a pity that these people were not the mainstream of the imperial government. They could not affect Song Chin Zong!

"Your Majesty, I am willing to be the Hebei Forsaken Land Envoy. I will contact the Golden Man and hand Hebei over to the Nvzhen!" Zhang Bangchang stood out and said.

"Zhang Aimin was loyal and did not fear danger. She actually took the initiative to contact Golden Man! Alright, I'll let you handle this matter! "Who is the Emissary of Hedong?" Song Chin Zong said.

The officials discussed amongst themselves. Fan Qiong, the Minister of Government, was appointed as the Emissary of Hedong! However, Fan Qiong and Zhang Bangchang were different, but he was completely filled with fear! Those women were truly like tigers and wolves. If they could not satisfy their needs, then he would not end up like them! However, since the Emperor had already given his orders, he couldn't disobey.

"Aside from letting Hebei and Hedong go, Jin Army wants 10 million gold, 20 million silver, and 10 million silk. Tell me, how do you think we should collect all these?" The Song Chin Zong said.

The ministers below only knew that the Jin Army had sent people to negotiate, but they did not know that the peace conditions of the Jin Army actually contained so many resources! Many of the ministers were secretly shocked, thinking that the Nvzhen was simply too greedy, the amount of supplies they were demanding was simply too much, it was an astronomical figure! A piece of Song Dynasty's medicine was worth ten taels of silver. If the materials requested by the Nvzhen were exchanged for two, it would be worth one hundred million gold, two hundred million silver, and ten million silk! The revenue from the Song Dynasty's treasury was only sixty to seventy million silver taels a year. One gold tael was equivalent to fifteen silver taels, and the Great Song Dynasty had to eat and drink for decades to be able to save so much gold and silver! In the past few years, when Song Huizong had been reigning as the emperor, he had spent all of his money and gold. Now that the Song Chin Zong had ascended to the throne just a year ago, where did he get all of his gold and silver go to hand over to the Jin Army?

"This is too much!" At this moment, Zhang Bangchang was also flabbergasted.

"Your Majesty, the Jin Army is just asking for a sky-high price!" Li Gang said.

"Oh? What do you think we should do? " Song Chin Zong said.

"They are asking for a sky-high price, we will pay them back on the spot! We will also send messengers to the Golden Army to bargain with them! " Li Gang said.

"Oh, I wonder who would be willing to join the Golden Army?" Song Chin Zong said.

Hearing Song Chin Zong's question, all the officials below retreated to the back. Everyone knew that the Jin Army was a barbarian and that it was abnormally cruel. There would definitely be many dangers if they went to the Golden Army, so no one was willing to go.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject is willing to go!" Li Gang said!

"This... Your beloved one cannot go! " Song Chin Zong frowned and said.

"Your Majesty … Your Majesty... This humble subject will die for sure! Your Majesty, you do not have to worry about this humble subject's safety! " Li Gang only thought that the Song Chin Zong was worried about his safety, and for a moment, tears actually filled his eyes!

"My beloved, you have a straightforward character. If you go to the Golden Army, I'm afraid you will anger the Golden Army and affect the peace. That would not be good!" was immediately stunned in place.

"Li Bangyan, why don't you go to the Golden Army and discuss it with them!" Zhao Huan said.

"This humble subject accepts the order!" Li Bangyan was fearful in his heart, but he could only accept the order.

"Your Majesty, Jin Army has finally agreed to the peace. Right now, we should not let the various royal troops go to break the seal on our land, so as to not enrage Jin Army! What do you think? " Zhang Bangchang said.

"That's right!" Song Chin Zong nodded.