After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

Chapter 394 "Hongmen Banquet"!

Yelu Hongji did not conceal his intention to negotiate peace at all. Half a month after the Song army besieged the city, that is, on the eighth day of the first lunar month in the third year of Yuanyou in the Song Dynasty, Yelu Liang formally handed it over to the Song army.

At this moment, in the Wanping front-line camp, there were many people coming and going, both civil and military officials.

When the idea of ​​peace talks with the Liao Dynasty was accepted by the Song army, the entire Song Dynasty was completely plunged into a sea of ​​joy.

The Gang of Six, headed by Wang Gui, also made a rare collective appearance at the grand court meeting to discuss the candidates for the peace talks going north.

However, there was no consensus at this court meeting. This was mainly because the vice-chancellors Lü Dafang, Liu Zhi, Lü Haoqing, Sheng Changbai, and Su Ziyu believed that what Yelu Hongji had set up was a "Hongmen Banquet."

In particular, the fact that the negotiation venue was chosen to be in Xijin Mansion and that Han Ming was required to attend the banquet in person was seen by them as a potential danger signal.

It is an opportunity to use negotiation and peace talks to resolve Han Ming's Hongmen Banquet!

The suspicions of Lu Dafang and others plunged the court, which was once a sea of ​​joy, into silence. In the end, it was Wang Gui who made the final decision and supported the other party's inference.

"I believe Prime Minister Lu is right. Your Majesty may wish to hand over the frontline negotiations to Prime Minister Han."

"At the same time, the candidates for the imperial court to go north for peace negotiations can be selected by Prime Minister Han."

Although Wang Gui's move was a bit of shirking responsibility, it was indeed a good way to solve the current problem.

Han Ming is such a shrewd person that he can't see what tricks Yelu Hongji is playing. It would be better for him to take full responsibility.

Let Han Ming decide for himself whether this is a peace talk or a "Hongmen Banquet". All the court can do is to trust the other party unconditionally.

"What do you think of what Mr. Wang said?"

The eleven-year-old young official Zhao Xu nodded slightly and began to ask the ministers who were thinking on the side.

"I second the proposal!"

"Seconded!"

"Seconded!"

"..."

Wang Jiefu and others bowed one by one and agreed with Wang Gui's idea.

As a result, the news was passed back to the Wancheng camp. Looking at the court's trust and support for him, Han Ming was a little amused.

"Isn't this Wang Xiang trying to pass the buck?!"

Han Ming flicked the letter sent by Lu Haoqing and shook his head.

"General Han, what do you think of Yelu Hongji's sincerity in this peace negotiation?"

Li Xian has now changed from being a personal eunuch of the emperor to being a military advisor or secretary assistant to Mr. Han.

"Not sincere!"

Han Ming made no secret of his distrust of Yelu Hongji. They were all older than three-year-olds. As a good rival for many years, he knew what Yelu Hongji was going to say no matter how he raised his butt.

"Even though he's already terminally ill?!"

Li Xian had been with Han Ming for a long time and had also come into contact with a lot of information about Cheng Lan. He knew that Yelu Hongji would hardly survive the next two years.

"Haha, as the saying goes, seeing is believing. Who knows if he's genuine or just pretending?"

"A cunning man like Yelu Hongji would never give up easily until the very last moment, even if a knife was placed on his neck."

Han Ming casually placed the letter on the desk, then picked up a serious blank document and began to write.

"If that's the case, then it proves that Yelu Hongji is planning to hold a Hongmen Banquet. General Han can't go there!"

Li Xian felt that Han Ming's analysis made sense. It was hard to say anything else about Yelu Hongji, but his stubbornness and conceit were rare in history.

In the same era, although Emperor Shenzong also had a somewhat extreme personality and was quite conceited, he was not much different from Yelu Hongji on the opposite side.

If Emperor Shenzong's stubbornness and arrogance were the entry level, then Yelu Hongji was the pinnacle.

Once he made a decision, he would never go back on it. Even if there was a wall in front of him, he would still bang his head against it and die. This was Yelu Hongji.

"Why not? They've already set up the stage, so we can't be so rude. We have to go and see the show."

Han Ming smiled calmly and wrote down several names in a very eloquent manner. These were the candidates he would negotiate with in Xijin Prefecture this time.

"Thank you, Lord Military Supervisor, for helping me pass on this document!"

Han Ming blew twice on the wet ink on the document, then handed it to Li Xian with a smile.

"General Han, if this is really the Hongmen Banquet, this is no joke. The safety of over 200,000 troops is at stake, so you can't easily go to Xijin Prefecture!"

Li Xian did not take the document, and quickly grabbed Han Ming's sleeve and said worriedly.

"I have made up my mind. Sir, please do not try to persuade me any further."

Han Ming looked at the eunuch's sincerity and couldn't help but smile. He patted him on the shoulder and left leisurely.

Li Xian was anxious, but he had no way to stop it. In a fit of rage, he sent all of Han Ming's analysis back to the court.

This frightened the emperor and a group of ministers, and they could not help but criticize Han Ming for being irresponsible.

"How can you enter this game knowing the danger?!"

"As a scholar himself, doesn't Han Xiang, who comes from a scholarly family, understand the principle of 'a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall'?!"

"Has this kid gotten cocky now?! He knew it was a Hongmen Banquet, but he still foolishly went in. Isn't this just disregarding 230,000 troops?!"

"..."

In the end, even Han Shipu, the old father, came out to "denounce" a few words. After all, even he couldn't stand Han Ming's age going deep into danger.

We are all adults, why are we still trying to be cool? Why do we have to get involved in Yelu Hongji's fake peace talks?

The officials were extremely angry, and only after being comforted by the ministers did they calm down.

"But I found Han Xiang's list quite interesting."

Lu Haoqing took the initiative to take out Han Ming's list of candidates for peace talks, and found that they were all the diplomatic envoys sent to the Liao Kingdom more than ten years ago, which gave them new guesses.

"Could it be that Prime Minister Han wants to use the same old trick again?"

You should know that Han Ming's mission to Liao caused a lot of controversy. The fascinating stories about his confrontation with the Liao king and his ministers and his escape from Liao are still circulating among the people.

The gentlemen looked at each other and realized that Han was trying to rub salt into Yelu Hongji's wounds. In the end, they could only sigh helplessly and agree to the request to attend the banquet.

Soon, the news that Han Ming once again led his team into the crisis-ridden Xijin Prefecture to participate in the "Hongmen Banquet" of peace talks between the two countries spread like wildfire.

The government and the opposition were divided into two factions. One side praised Han Ming for his courage and wisdom and for going to the negotiations despite the danger.

On the other hand, people strongly belittled Han for putting on a show and gambling with his political life and the 23rd army on the front line, which was irresponsible.

The two sides argued with each other and neither could convince the other, but they all reached a consensus that the banquet set by Yelu Hongji was not a good one.

After the news went around in circles and reached Xijin Prefecture, Yelu Hongji and Yelu Liang's expressions suddenly changed.

"Hahahaha... What a Han Jingyuan! He truly deserves to be my lifelong rival. It's impossible to trick him."

Although Yelu Hongji's hair and beard were all white at this moment, he was in extremely good spirits and did not show the weakness of the past few days at all.

It seems that what Han said is true: "A thousand-year-old fox, what's the point of playing Liao Zhai!"

"Your Majesty, Han Ming knows that 'no banquet is good', yet he still wants to go north to negotiate. It shows that he has another trump card in hand!"

There was nothing wrong with Yelu Liang's consideration, but unfortunately he was facing Han Ming, a man who liked to play by his own rules.

"Why think so much?!"

"I've thought it through now. No matter what tricks I use, it's better to deal with the opponent head-on!"

"No matter how many cards Han Jingyuan has in his hand, he still only has one life."

"He is not Liu Bang, I am not Xiang Yu, and there will not be people like Xiang Bo at this banquet."

"I want to chop his head off in a one-on-one situation!!!"