The temptation of Sichuan was too great. Han Xingzhou believed that as long as he could get Sichuan, the imperial court would not be stingy.
A strange expression appeared on Song Qingshu's face. The other conditions were within his expectations, but the Prince of Qi was truly a pleasant surprise. Although he was called the Golden Snake King, everyone in the world knew that it was just a title. No one really took it seriously.
However, the title of King Qi was different. In China's system of nobility, the title of King of One Word was much more noble than that of King of Two Words. Among the titles of King of One Word, Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu were the most noble titles. However, due to historical reasons, the Song, Zhao, Liang, and Shou kings would not bestow their titles to anyone. Therefore, King Qi was definitely the most noble title.
The reason why it was Qi instead of Qin was that Song Qingshu controlled Jianghuai in Shandong, which was close to the territory of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period.
In this world, legitimacy was more important than anything else. With the title of Prince of Qi, Song QingShu would have a righteous status. He would no longer be a bandit leader, and it would be many times easier for him to attract talents from the Han people.
As for whether he would be treated as a subject of the Song Dynasty, this was not something that needed to be considered. As long as he was strong enough in the future, it would be normal for him to switch positions.
On the contrary, accepting the title of Song would easily arouse the hostility of the Qing, Jin, and Mongols. However, the Qing Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty were now under his control, and because of Zhao Min, the Mongolian Empire had formed a relationship with them. Thus, the problem that was originally a headache had disappeared.
"Okay, it's a deal!" Song Qingshu said in a deep voice.
Then he called Wang Baobao in. The three bargained and finally reached a final agreement.
The Mongols would release Han Xingzhou and his men and return Sichuan.
The Song Dynasty would completely abandon the Jin and pay tribute to the Mongols. At the same time, they would provide the Golden Snake Camp with a year's salary.
The Mongols and the Song Dynasty would recognize the Golden Snake Camp's legal rights in Jianghuai and confer the title of King Qi to Song Qingshu. At the same time, the three parties would sign a non-aggression agreement.
…
The specific details would need to be signed by an official envoy, but with this agreement, the rest was just a formality.
After the agreement was signed, the three parties were all happy.
The Mongols had already decided to give up on Sichuan and retract their forces. At the same time, they allowed the Southern Song Dynasty to once again border their mortal enemy, the Western Xia Dynasty, to consume the national strength of both sides. At the same time, they also replaced the Jin Kingdom as the suzerain of the Southern Song Dynasty and gained the Golden Snake Battalion as their ally.
The Southern Song Dynasty regained control of Sichuan, paid tribute to the Mongols, and provided the Golden Snake Battalion with a year's salary. Compared to the huge military expenditure before, it was just a drop in the bucket. What's more, they were supposed to pay tribute to the Jin Kingdom. Now, they just gave the money to the Mongols and changed their relationship from uncle and nephew to brother. The emperor would be very happy.
In the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, the reason why so many emperors later became emperors was not because they had a high level of consciousness and did not desire power. It was because the agreement between uncle and nephew (later changed to uncle and nephew) with the Jin Kingdom was too much of a trap.
Because of this relationship, the Southern Song Dynasty emperors had to call the Jin Emperor "Uncle" in official letters. They had to greet the Jin Emperor cordially on festivals and birthdays. When the Jin Emperor sent an envoy, the Southern Song Dynasty emperor had to claim to be his nephew to receive the decree. If the Jin Emperor was old, it would be fine. But in history, several Jin Emperors were only young children when they ascended the throne. No matter how shameless the Southern Song Dynasty emperors were, they couldn't bear it. So they simply passed the throne to their sons and let their sons call the Jin Emperor "Uncle" while they lived a happy life.
As for Song Qingshu's gains, it was an ending that all three parties were very satisfied with.
But since all three parties were satisfied, there must be someone who was not. Wang Baobao suddenly thought of something and looked out of the room with a grim smile. "Where are the people of the Song Mountain Sect? Why don't we kill them together?"
The Ruyang Mansion had suffered a great loss in the previous battle with the Song Mountain Sect. Wang Baobao had almost lost half of his masters. He had to make peace with the Song Mountain Sect to deal with the Southern Song Dynasty. But now that he had two allies, Song Qingshu and Han Xingzhou, he naturally wanted to get back at them.
"Agreed!" Han Xingzhou replied coldly. The Song Mountain Sect was a knife sent by Jia Shidao. Although he didn't know the relationship between the two parties, he wouldn't give up the opportunity to cut off one of Jia Shidao's claws.
"I have no problem with that." Song QingShu smiled faintly, but he sighed inwardly. Before this, the Song Mountain Sect had already retreated.
It turned out that Zuo Lenchan was also a smart man. When he saw Song Qingshu talking secretly with Wang Baobao and Han Xingzhou one after another, and the three of them even met together in the end, although he didn't know what the three of them were talking about, his sharp intuition told him that the coming danger was imminent, so he made a prompt decision to retreat with his men.
The people of the Ruyang Mansion, Su Shidan, and the others outside didn't dare to act rashly because they didn't get permission from their masters. Instead, they felt that the pressure on their side had been greatly reduced when they left.
Although Song Qingshu had sensed the actions of Zuo Lenchan and the others through his Qi, he still pretended to know nothing after thinking about it. He wanted to keep the Song Mountain Sect, because it would be of great use in the future.
When Wang Baobao went out and found that the people of the Song Mountain Sect were gone, he was very angry. Han Xingzhou also looked gloomy. Only Song Qingshu was smiling.
Because they had reached an agreement, Wang Baobao directly released Han Xingzhou. Su Shidan and the others hurriedly gathered around Han Xingzhou and asked about his well-being. Seeing this group of loyal subordinates, Han Xingzhou's expression gradually became better.
At this moment, a group of people suddenly came whistling, and the person in the lead was Li Kexiu.
"I heard that some thieves attacked the Jade Pure Temple. Everyone … Are you all right?" Seeing the situation, Li Kexiu couldn't help but be confused, even though she was experienced and knowledgeable. What was going on? Why were the Mongolians and the Southern Song Ambassadors standing together in harmony?
"Commander, you really came at the right time." Wang Baobao couldn't help but say sarcastically. Yangzhou was the territory of the Song Mountain Sect, but he didn't show up even after such a big movement. It was clear that he wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.
Han Xingzhou didn't have a good impression of him either. Previously, the two sides had clearly reached an agreement, but in the end, they were captured by the Mongolians. Li Kexiu didn't come to their rescue, and when he came to the Jade Pure Temple several times, he talked to Wang Baobao in secret. Now, he quietly surrendered to the Golden Snake Camp. In Han Xingzhou's mind, Li Kexiu was a two-faced person, so he naturally wouldn't give him a good face.
Song Qingshu didn't want to see his future father-in-law and ally continue to be embarrassed, so he went over and roughly explained what had just happened. Hearing that he had reached a tripartite agreement with the Mongolians and the Southern Song Dynasty, Li Kexiu couldn't help but change his expression.
However, he quickly concealed it. After a laugh, he warmly invited the three parties to stay in his residence for the time being. Han Xingzhou's group had been imprisoned for a long time and indeed needed a comfortable environment to freshen up. The people of the Ruyang Household were all injured and needed to find a safe place to rest. Song Qingshu had more details of the cooperation that he needed to discuss with Li Kexiu. Therefore, the three parties unanimously accepted his invitation.
The three parties had just reached an agreement and were in the honeymoon period. They talked happily along the way, but didn't notice Li Kexiu's flickering eyes.
---
It was almost the end of the month, and the monthly votes were ranked 20th. He was in a state of being beaten up at any time. He still had a lingering fear of the tragedy of being overtaken by the people behind him in the last five minutes of his ranking.
He really didn't want to repeat the same mistake, so he shamelessly asked for monthly votes here. I will at least update seven chapters today and tomorrow to repay everyone.
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