Peerless Pirates

"Your Majesty, would you like to have some food and then go to the Queen Mother's Palace to have a look?"

It had been more than an hour since the next court session, and Pang Ying was still sitting behind the desk in a daze, muttering to herself from time to time. Qian Mancai knew the emperor's habits and liked to think about things by himself. He would only do it when he couldn't figure it out. Consult with the ministers close to you.

However, Queen Mother Huang Jiao did not appear in the court today. As a personal eunuch, Qian Mancai had the obligation to remind the emperor to visit the Queen Mother.

"What time is it?" Pang Ying raised her head.

"It's already late." The cabinet full of money said quickly, "Your Majesty, you'd better use some food. You've already done it twice." b President deeply loves bb http:mnxub

"Bring some fruits here." Pang Ying didn't have high requirements for food. None of the emperors of Qi Dynasty had the habit of loving delicacies, and Pang Ying was the same.

The cabinet with money was full and he quickly ordered. After a while, several plates of exquisite snacks were brought up. A young eunuch ate some of each kind first. After a cup of tea, the young eunuch kowtowed and left. Then Pang Ying pinched one and stuffed it into his mouth. .While eating, I read through today’s memorial.

Soon, several snacks were eaten. Pang Ying stood up, washed her hands, and ordered her to go to the Queen Mother's palace.

The relationship between Pang Ying and Huang Jiao cannot be said to be cold, but they are by no means affectionate. Regarding the dirty things in the Queen Mother's palace, Pang Ying is no longer as angry as when he first heard about it. He just buries this hatred in his heart and waits for himself to express it. A moment of strength.

In normal times, Pang Ying was not lacking in etiquette. Even if he did not go to the Queen Mother's Palace every day, he would send someone to say a few words of greetings. Most of the time he would get the answer that everything was fine.

Of course, when Huang Jiao was not in court, Pang Ying would always go there in person. But in recent months, Huang Jiao's absences in court were becoming less and less. People outside thought it was the Queen Mother who was slowly returning to the court. After handing over power to Pang Ying, only Pang Ying herself knew that the Queen Mother's body was indeed deteriorating and she was getting thinner and thinner. Even when she appeared in the court a few times, she was always depressed or had some inexplicable anger.

Regarding his mother, Pang Ying couldn't tell whether he was angry or hurt, or a little happy. That joy naturally came from Huang Jiao's delegation of power. Some ordinary tricks were not allowed by Huang Jiao. But it involved major personnel and financial matters. , the opinions of the Queen Mother often conflicted with Pang Ying, which was why Pang Ying was angry.

Speaking of heartache, of course there is some, after all, she is her mother. Pang Ying recalled the past time more than once. Although Huang Jiao was harsh to him at that time, she sincerely loved him. It was not like now, even if When mother and son met, they only talked about business matters. As for the ordinary physical words between mother and son, it was almost...

The so-called greetings have also become formulaic things. "An Hao" or "Sleepy", the same questions and answers every time, always make Pang Ying unconsciously want to be angry with her mother.

While Pang Ying was thinking, the Queen Mother's Palace arrived.

After getting off the car, a young eunuch had already come forward to report. After half a cup of tea, a message came from inside, asking Pang Ying to go in.

Pang Ying was a little surprised, but she still took steps and entered the palace.

The place where Huang Jiao rested was called the Fengchan Hall. Huang Jiao believed in Buddhism, and all the furnishings in the Queen Mother's Palace were related to Buddhism, such as the lotus flowers in the pond, the glazed bricks on the corridor, and the Buddhist paintings on the walls. Including the renamed Fengzen Hall in front of us.

Entering the hall, a sweet scent of sandalwood hit his face, which was stronger than that of Xi Zhai. Pang Ying's eyes immediately turned to a stick of dark incense in the corner of the room.

Huang Jiao was half lying on the bed with her eyes closed, her bun in a loose bun hanging low on the back of her head. Her originally pretty face was now a bit gray. Even if she applied powder, she could not hide her thinness and high cheekbones. She looked like an old woman. There was a thin blanket covering her body - it was summer now!

Outside the end of the bed, a palace maid was cutting a piece of ointment into small dices and mixing them with honey, dried chrysanthemums, jasmine and the like. And on the side of the bed, a young and handsome monk was sitting on a plate. Sitting on a high futon, I recited Buddhist scriptures in a low voice.

Pang Ying frowned slightly, took two steps forward and lowered her head and asked, "Mother, how are you?"

Huang Jiao half-opened her eyes, but did not reply immediately. Instead, she waved her hand slightly. The monk put down the sutra book, bowed his head to Pang Ying, and retreated. The palace maid making tea also put down her hand. The work in hand was put aside.

"Sit down!" Huang Jiao said calmly. As she spoke, she stood up. bPresident deeply lovesbbhttp:mnxub

Pang Ying quickly stepped forward to help her, and the palace maid next to her also stepped forward, placed two pillows behind Huang Jiao, and lifted Huang Jiao's legs up so that she could sit cross-legged on the bed.

"Sit down!" Huang Jiao said again.

Pang Ying looked at it and sat on the nearest futon. There were chairs in the palace, but they were too far away from the bed. Pang Ying still wanted to be closer to her mother. After all, the sight of Huang Jiao in front of her made Pang Ying a little sad.

"Mother, if your health is not good, you should rest peacefully. The same goes for reading the scriptures when you feel better. Listening to the scriptures in this way is also tiring."

"The scriptures make me feel more peaceful, which makes me happier than those messy things." Huang Jiao's words were still as plain as water, without a trace of fireworks.

Pang Ying shut her mouth. For some things, just do your best, even if it is facing your own mother.

Huang Jiao turned her head to the side, and the palace maid immediately poured hot water into the jade bowl, and a very strange smell filled the air. She carefully served the tea, and Huang Jiao seemed not to be afraid of burning it, blowing it gently. He drank it in small sips.

During this process, Pang Ying stood up and stretched out his hand to serve Huang Jiao, but Huang Jiao glanced sideways at him. The outstretched hand stayed there as if it had been cast a restraining spell. Until Huang Jiao After Jiao finished drinking the tea, Pang Ying sat down again.

"I heard that the envoy from Shu came to visit today." Huang Jiao finished drinking tea, paused for a moment, and then said quietly.

Pang Ying knew that anything that happened in the court would be reported to Huang Jiao in detail, so it was not surprising. Despite this, he still explained the matter briefly.

"You are a guest from afar, so entertain them well and forget about the rest."

Pang Ying was stunned, "What about the business?"

"As for the market, we can open it. After all, there are a lot of smugglers there, so we can't give them an advantage. If we open the market, we can increase the tax revenue of the treasury. However, the market cannot be arranged in Daqi, but in Shu." alright."

"This..." Pang Ying hesitated. Regarding the negotiations with the Shu Kingdom, Song Zheng sent a memorial on his way back. The negotiation field was divided into two, one in Fengjie and the other in Zigui. Shu merchants could go to Qi to buy things. , Qi merchants can also purchase goods in Shu. In this way, both Shu and Qi will have tax revenue. It can be regarded as equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, and the cooperation is very in-depth.

If the Qi market was only open in the Shu border, then Qi would have to increase tariffs and raise the price of goods. Moreover, the things that Qi merchants could purchase were relatively random, while Shu merchants could only purchase things provided by Da Qi in the Qi market.

"We in Daqi have no precedent of opening a market in our territory. The Jin Kingdom in the north was like this, and the original Xixia was like this." Huang Jiao explained softly.

"The Kingdom of Shu is different from the Kingdom of Jin." Pang Ying thought about it for a while and whispered, "Both the Kingdom of Jin and Xixia are not as rich as our Daqi State. We, the Daqi State, can earn a lot of money from there every year. In Master Song’s words, this is a trade surplus.”

Pang Ying unknowingly used a noun from Song Zheng's article when he was taking the imperial examination, "The land of Bashu is already rich, and there is no shortage of silks, medicinal materials, etc. that Daqi is famous for. Among them, Shu brocade is even more famous all over the world... …”

"Xishu is just a small state. If our Qi treasury had not been insufficient, why would we have argued with him? Just call him." Huang Jiao's voice became louder, "Don't mention Song Zheng as much." Those things. Song Zheng's mission to Shu last year was just a stopgap measure. We have always been at odds with Shu. In the war ten years ago, they used despicable methods and caused tens of thousands of our soldiers to be injured or killed. Now we will not attack Shu. Lang Zhengchun is already burning incense. There is no need to do business with him!"

Pang Ying had already learned about the Queen Mother's aggressiveness. The Queen Mother was very stubborn no matter which country she dealt with. She almost never considered using diplomatic means or forming alliances. In the past, she was very aggressive towards Dajin and Xixia. This is true, and it is still true for Shu.

Two years ago, Huang Yuandu and Pang Hui agreed to marry Dai Jin. Huang Jiao had no choice but to reluctantly agree. Now that Pang Hui has died, Huang Yuandu "sickly retired", and the Duke Pang Tong came up. He always agreed with Huang Jiao. Huang Jiao had no one to check and balance her, so she became even more assertive. If not for her poor health and the fact that General Pang Ying was in charge, Huang Jiao would probably have sent troops everywhere.

The results of Song Zheng's mission will be compromised. Pang Ying was not willing to accept it and whispered, "Shu sent Jiang Kui's body here with full sincerity. We Daqi should not care too much about it." President b. Deep love bbhttp:mnxub

"This is because they were afraid when they saw Xixia being wiped out by us, so they sent Jiang Kui's body back. You should be able to understand. As for the so-called sincerity, it is not necessarily that sincere. Why didn't they tie Jiang Kui alive? Come here, what's the use of sending a useful corpse? Do you want to imitate Sun Quan's method of sending Guan Yu's corpse?"

When Sun Quan killed Guan Yu, he felt that it was not easy to dispose of the body, so he gave it to Cao Cao. Because Guan Yu had greatly offended Cao Ah Ma, Cao Cao did not expect that Cao Cao would directly give Guan Yu a generous burial, which made Sun Quan very unhappy.

Sun Quan is compared to Lang Zhengchun, and Jiang Kui is compared to Guan Yu. Although it is not appropriate, it means that Lang Zhengchun actually has no good intentions.

Pang Ying was not very happy, but for the sake of the patient, she still tried her best in a low voice, "The Jin Kingdom in the north has sent troops to Xingqing Mansion, and I am afraid it will be captured soon. Dajin occupied most of Guanzhong last year. Coupled with many years of recuperation, the national strength cannot be underestimated. In the next step, Dajin may have plans for us or the Shu Kingdom. We are on good terms with the Shu Kingdom at this time, and we can have one more helping hand in the future."

"Huh, it's getting more and more useless. During the time of Taizu, I, the Qi Dynasty, fought against the three kingdoms of Jin, Xia and Shu alone. We never retreated in a hundred battles and could still stand firm. How heroic is that? I didn't expect his descendants. , but fell to the point of uniting with Shu to fight against Dajin. I really feel more and more alive."

Huang Jiao's words were a bit harsh, and Pang Ying's face immediately turned ugly.

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