Lingzhou, the palace of the king of Chu.

Ren Dejing sat in the center, and Ren Chunyi stood to his right. On the lower guest seat on the left, sitting was Lai Wenzheng in Taoist uniform, and Suzaku was still dressed as a small Taoist servant, standing behind Lai Wenzheng.

At this time, tea was offered to the people. Lai Wenzheng picked up the teacup, uncovered the tea lid, and was about to drink tea. Ren Dejing suddenly said casually: "I don't know what position I held in the Southern Song Dynasty, I don't know if I can tell the old man the truth?" ”

The Suzaku body behind Lai Wenzheng was shocked, and he clasped three plum blossom needles in the palm of his hand. And Ren Chunyi was also taken aback, looked at Lai Wenzheng, and then looked at his father.

Lai Wenzheng was so calm and calm, as if he knew that Ren Dejing would ask this question, he didn't even shake his hands, he finished drinking the tea in a good time, and then gently put the tea cup on the coffee table, and said with a smile: "Below is the doctor of the Great Song Dynasty, Lai Wenzheng of Taifu Temple." ”

It turned out that except for the director Zhou Xin, other officials would hang a vacant position of a small official position to cover up their true identities, and Lai Wenzheng hung an idle post in Taifu Temple.

"What a guts." Ren Dejing suddenly slapped the armrest of the chair and said sharply: "Come on, grab these two Southern Song Dynasty ** for me." ”

Before the words fell, I saw forty or fifty people coming out from the hall, behind the screen, each holding a knife, and surrounded Lai Wenzheng and Suzaku. Ren Dejing sneered: "Little and small, dare to buy in front of the old man, take them down for me, and immediately behead them." ”

Lai Wenzheng still did not change his face**, first signaled Suzaku not to move, and then stood up calmly, bowed to Ren De, and said with a smile: "That is the case, take the next step ahead, and wait for the Ren clan at the bridge." As he spoke, he deliberately bit the four words of the Ren family, and after finishing speaking, he turned around and walked out.

Ren Chunyi couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed, looked at his father, and was about to speak, but was stopped by Ren Dejing. At this time, Lai Wenzheng and Suzaku walked out of the lobby quickly, and Ren Dejing suddenly said, "Slow." ”

Lai Wenzheng didn't look back, and said, "Isn't Xiangguo going to cut the two of me into a knife?" Why stop it? ”

Ren Dejing "snorted" and said: "You are already an old man who is a fish**, and you are afraid that you will not be able to run away, even if you are allowed to live a long time, what can you do?" If you can answer the old man truthfully, maybe the old man will consider sparing your life. ”

Lai Wenzheng and Suzaku turned around again and returned to the lobby, Lai Wenzheng was not polite, he still sat down in the position he was sitting just now, arched his hand, and said with a smile: "I don't know what Xiangguo has to ask?" ”

Ren Dejing stared at Lai Wenzheng, and after half a sound, he said: "Just now you said that you were going to wait for my Ren clan at the bridge, what do you mean." ”

Lai Wenzheng laughed and said, "Isn't this still clear? The demise of the Ren clan is imminent, and the country is so difficult that you don't know? Even if you wait for a while, Xiangguo will be killed. So it's just a step ahead of the next, and it will inevitably be at the bridgehead, waiting for the Xiangguo clan to go together, but at that time, I don't know if Xiangguo can still remember to say this? ”

Ren Dejing "snorted" again and said: "It's nonsense, the old man is the ruler of the dynasty, and he is also the minister of the big white country. My Ren clan is extremely glorious and illustrious, how can there be a catastrophe. ”

Lai Wenzheng still smiled and said: "If you talk about the great power, in the Western Xia Kingdom, can you still pass the Liang clan in the past, the minister of state asked himself, is the prosperity of the Ren clan stronger than the Liang clan in the past?" ”

The corners of Ren Dejing's mouth moved, and he was silent again: "Not as good as the Liang family." ”

Liang's **** is a major event in the history of Western Xia, which began with Huizong Li Bingchang (16) 168-1199). When Li Bingchang ascended the throne was only eight years old, he was regent by his mother Empress Dowager Liang, and his brother Liang Yi was buried as Xiangguo, and the two sisters and brothers controlled the Western Xia regime, up to two generations, one of the two queen mothers, two Xiangguo, experienced Huizong and Chongzong for more than 30 years, during which Li Bingchang's throne was abolished for a time, and the power was so powerful that compared to the current Ren family, it was really more than that.

Lai Wenzheng said: "In the past, the prosperity of the Liang clan eventually wiped out the clan and died, not to mention today's Ren clan." Lao Tzu said, "The way of heaven, the loss of more than enough and make up for the deficiency" is the so-called thing and the opposite, and the way is that the wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will be the best. It is precisely because the Ren clan is extremely prominent in its glory, and even above the royal family, that it is even more in danger. What's more, Xiangguo is a Han after all, but Xixia is a country of party members, not my race, its heart will be different, dangerous, dangerous. ”

The death of the Liang family was not because of the strong ability of Li Qianshun himself, but because Li Qianshun formed a good alliance with the Liao State and obtained strong foreign aid, so that he could finally defeat the Liang family and regain power. And the current situation is too similar to that year, Emperor Li Renxiao is desperately trying to form a good alliance with the Jin State, ** he has to retreat to Lingzhou now, and if it continues, the result of the Liang family back then is only afraid that it will be the fate of the Ren family today.

Because it was Lai Wenzheng's last sentence, "If you are not of my race, your heart will be different", which deeply touched Ren Dejing's heart. The Western Xia was a state founded by the Dangxiang ethnic group, and the state established by such ethnic minorities was generally more exclusive to the Han people, and the Western Xia was no exception. Although the Liang family is also of Han nationality, they have intermarried with the top of the party for several generations, and belong to the Han people of Fanhua, which can still be accepted by the party members.

After surrendering to Western Xia, although he gradually controlled the power of the imperial court, he was never recognized by the party nobles. Even if some party nobles succumbed to Ren Dejing in order to obtain **** benefits, as soon as Ren Dejing's power moved, they immediately threw themselves on Li Renxiao's side. Now Ren Dejing can trust, except for the clansmen of the Ren clan, there are only some Han officials, and there is not a single party noble.

Ren Dejing was silent for a long time before he said, "According to Mr. Lai's statement, is my Ren clan bound to lose?" ”

Lai Wenzheng waited for a long time, just waiting for Ren Dejing to say this, and immediately said: "Today, the only person who can fight against the Jin State is the Great Song Dynasty, so the Xiang Kingdom can only maintain the glory and wealth of the Ren family by cooperating with the Great Song Dynasty." ”

In fact, Ren Dejing has long understood in his heart that Li Renxiao has the support of the Jin State behind him, and he is in a difficult way to contend with it, and the only way out is to take refuge in the Southern Song Dynasty and obtain the help of the Southern Song Dynasty, so that he can compete with Li Renxiao. But his refusal to send people to contact the Southern Song Dynasty is really unspeakable. First, because during the southern expedition of the Jin Kingdom, he had sent troops to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, and I was afraid that the Southern Song Dynasty would hold a grudge; Second, if you take the initiative to find the Southern Song Dynasty, I am afraid that you will also seem too incompetent. And Ren Dejing also estimated that it was impossible for the Southern Song Dynasty to resist the Western Xia and the Jin State to join forces, and it was very likely that they would take the initiative to contact him, so Ren Dejing did not **** the border with Xinhuizhou, in fact, he was also waiting for the Southern Song Dynasty to send someone to find him.

However, the Southern Song Dynasty never sent anyone to contact Ren Dejing, which also made Ren Dejing very anxious. At this time, Ren Chunyi took the initiative to find Ren Dejing and suggested contacting the Southern Song Dynasty. What kind of person is Ren Dejing, he guessed after a little questioning, and the Taoist priest who told Ren Chunyi this method was sent by the Southern Song Dynasty to unite him, so he calmed down and ignored it, so he could only ask the person to take the initiative to see him, so that he could take the initiative in the negotiation with the Southern Song Dynasty and strive for the greatest interests for himself.

Knowing that he was calm, the other party was also calm, and the two sides were consumed like this. At this time, Wei Ming Jizhong dispatched a large army to attack Lanzhou, which made Ren Dejing very anxious. Because once Wei Ming Jizhong wins, his own son will be even more sad, and once the Song army wins, maybe the Song Dynasty will think that even without his own help, he can defeat the Western Xia, and neither end will be good. Therefore, he had to order Ren Chunyi to go to Lai Wenzheng for an interview.

As soon as the two met, Ren Dejing was tricky again, wanting to give Lai Wenzheng a dismissal. But Lai Wenzheng was also a leader, and he was not moved at all, so Ren Dejing had to take the initiative to withdraw from the ladder.

Lai Wenzheng continued: "Now that Wei Ming Jizhong is attacking Lanzhou, as long as Xiang Guo secretly helps my Great Song Dynasty defeat Wei Ming Zhao Zhong's army, the emperor's power will inevitably be greatly damaged, and then Xiang Guo will come forward to clean up the mess, and my Great Song Dynasty will retreat, and Xiang Guo's prestige will inevitably increase greatly. ”

Ren Dejing listened and was moved, this is indeed a good way. However, he still calmed down, and said: "What if the Song Dynasty did not retreat after the great victory, but took the opportunity to kill our Great White High Kingdom?" This is also another layer of Ren Dejing's concern, although it is a good thing to unite with the Southern Song Dynasty, if you make a wedding dress for others, it will outweigh the losses.

Lai Wenzheng smiled and said: "I'm worried about it, the feud of my Great Song Dynasty is still the Jin Kingdom, not the Western Xia." What's more, if my Great Song Dynasty wants to destroy the Western Xia, the Jin State will never sit idly by, and with the power of the Great Song Dynasty, it will not be able to compete with the Western Xia and the Jin countries. Therefore, my Great Song Dynasty only wants to cultivate a ** force close to my Great Song Dynasty in the Western Xia Kingdom, so that the Western Xia cannot completely stand on the side of the Jin Kingdom. ”

When Ren Dejing heard this, there was a little smile on his face.

Lai Wenzheng continued: "So we will never help Xiangguo to seize the throne of Western Xia, but only to support the forces of Xiangguo, so that they can be involved with the monarch of Western Xia, and when our Great Song Dynasty and Jin State are decisive battles, they can keep Western Xia neutral and not mutually exclusive." ”

After Ren Dejing listened, he couldn't help laughing, and said, "Okay, good, Mr. Lai really told the truth, and he didn't deceive the old man." ”

Lai Wenzheng smiled faintly and said: "Only when both sides are honest can there be any possibility of cooperation!" ”

Ren Dejing nodded, patted the armrest of the seat, and said, "Okay, please ask Mr. Lai to reply to the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, the old man is willing to cooperate with the Great Song Dynasty." ”