Lu Jiang's rescue performance was pretty good, and he successfully entered Runzhou City. However, Lu Jiang did not die at the hands of the Northern Song Dynasty and Wuyue coalition forces, but almost died at the hands of his own people. Liu Cheng, who was about to surrender, hated Lu Jiang's arrival very much. Because Lu Jiang came, the surrender was probably going to ruin, so Liu Cheng secretly instigated his generals to kill Lu Jiang.

Fortunately, Lu Jiang was very popular among the Southern Tang army and got the news in advance, so he abandoned the city and fled. After clearing the obstacle of Lu Jiang, Liu Cheng was worried that the night would last for a long time and dreamed, so he immediately opened the city to surrender.

In September of the eighth year of Kaibao, the Northern Song Dynasty and Wuyue coalition forces conquered Runzhou. The coalition forces wiped out all important military strongholds east of Jinling City and finally pointed their targets to Jinling City. After the Northern Song army on the west road eliminated 100,000 reinforcements led by Zhu Lingyun, the Duke of the Southern Tang Divine Guard, completely cut off the external ties of Jinling City. Jinling City was surrounded by the Song army and was out of touch.

Zhao Kuangyin did not want to launch an attack on Jinling immediately, because Jinling was known as the ancient city of the Six Dynasties, with high and thick walls, which was definitely not comparable to ordinary cities. A strong attack would inevitably cause huge losses, so he had to be polite and then soldiers and persuade them to surrender first. However, although Li Yu was cowardly and incompetent, he was very stubborn and refused to give up the throne. During Jinling's besiege, Li Yu sent envoys several times to the Northern Song Dynasty, giving generous gifts and complimenting. In short, Li Yu hoped that the Northern Song Dynasty could withdraw his troops and let him retain this territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin was angry by Li Yu's stubborn attitude and directly ordered an attack. The Northern Song army besieged Jinling had hundreds of thousands of people. Shen Chengli's 10,000 Wu Yue army had been neglected and submerged in the vast army of the Northern Song Dynasty. At most, his task was to follow the Northern Song army and shout a few times. Shen Chengli was naturally unwilling to be ignored. At the last moment, he decided to rise up and let the Wu Yue army show his face again!

On November 1, the eighth year of Kaibao, the Northern Song Dynasty launched a general attack on Jinling. That night, Shen Chengli summoned Wu Yue soldiers to conduct a general mobilization before the war: Jinling City thought that today was a festival, and we must slack off, so we must take the opportunity to attack them unprepared. Shen Chengli selected thousands of brave and warlike soldiers from the army as suicide squads, and took advantage of the night to set fire to the east gate of Jinling City, and broke through the east gate.

Jinling City was captured by the Wuyue coalition forces of the Northern Song Dynasty on the winter solstice in November. Although Shen Chengli's Wuyue army played a certain role in the process of capturing Jinling City, the Northern Song Dynasty was the boss after all. No matter how much role Shen Chengli's Wuyue army played in the process of capturing Jinling, the winner could only be the Song army.

Jinling City was captured, Li Yu was captured, and the Southern Tang Dynasty was declared destruction. The stubborn Li Yu had a good result, and Zhao Kuangyin did not punish Li Yu severely. Zhao Kuangyin granted Li Yu a title of resignation and brought Li Yu's family from Jinling to Bianjing.

To eliminate the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin completed the most critical step in his plan to unify the world. The Southern Tang Dynasty was the largest separatist force among the ten countries with the strongest military strength. The elimination of the Southern Tang Dynasty was the most difficult war since the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty. Victory was hard-won, so naturally we had to reward meritorious officials, and the Wu Yue Kingdom was not forgotten by Zhao Kuangyin.

In December of the eighth year of Kaibao, Zhao Kuangyin rewarded Wu Yue Kingdom with great rewards. Qian Chu was naturally the number one hero. He was given eight pairs of colorful brocade, one pair of imperial clothes, one golden helmet, one pair of golden armor, one hundred bottles of imperial wine, and three hundred camels and horses.

The battles on the battlefield shine brightly, earning the honor of the soldiers of Wu Yue Kingdom

Li also received the reward he deserved and was named the governor of Ninghai Army. Although Qian Chu's brother-in-law Sun Chengyou did not have the outstanding military achievements like Chen Chengli, he was always busy with diplomatic activities and worked hard and made great contributions. He was named the governor of Pingjiang Army. Zhao Kuangyin also issued three defense envoys and six state governors for other meritorious people.

Zhao Kuangyin rewarded the monarchs and ministers of Wu Yue with unprecedented levels and treatment. After tasting carrots and honey, a super stick will always appear. Zhao Kuangyin finally revealed his true face and asked Qian Chu to come to the palace to meet him.

Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict saying that Qian Chu made great contributions in the war to pacify the Southern Tang Dynasty, so he missed him very much. He hoped that he could visit Bianjing and talk in person to show his gratitude. Of course, Zhao Kuangyin also promised that he would not live in Bianjing for a long time, and he could return to his hometown Wuyue after staying for one to two months.

What does it mean to visit the palace to meet? Qian Chu knew very well that the last moment finally came! After the demise of the Southern Tang Dynasty, only the independent forces in separatist areas remained in Wu and Yue, Northern Han, and Chen Hongjin, who separatist Zhang and Quan. Chen Hongjin was not within the scope of Zhao Kuangyin's consideration at all. The Northern Han still had to keep it due to the needs of military combat readiness, so he had to attack Wu and Yue!

Entering the court to meet may mean that he will not be able to return to his hometown of Wuyue for the rest of his life, and may mean that the country of Wuyue, which was founded by his parents, will end and perish. Refusing to enter the court would be the same as Li Yu, which would inevitably lead to a large-scale attack by the Northern Song army, and the Qian family and the people of Wuyue would suffer from war. At the critical moment, Cui Renji, the new prime minister of Wuyue, pointed out the right direction for Qian Chu.

Cui Renji was from Qiantang, Hangzhou and served as a bachelor of the Tongru Academy. Prime Minister Chen Huzi was dismissed by Qian Chu, Cui Renji was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Wu Yue by Qian Chu. He will play an extremely critical role in the late Wu Yue Kingdom. Cui Renji and Shen Huzi and others have different views, and he sees the situation very clearly. The Northern Song Dynasty's demise of Wu Yue Kingdom and unification of the world was an irreversible trend. He can no longer have any illusions and must adapt to the tide of history.

Cui Renji said to Qian Chu: "The Song lord is wise and powerful, and he is invincible. Only protecting the whole tribe and the whole people is the best strategy." He has been extremely humble and absolutely obedient to the Central Plains dynasty for decades, and he is asking for protection of the whole tribe and the whole people. After listening to Cui Renji's persuasion, Qian Chu made his own choice and decided to go north to meet Zhao Kuangyin in person.

In the first month of the ninth year of Kaibao, Qian Chu asked his subordinate Qian Weizhi to stay in Hangzhou to handle military and national affairs. He took his wife, Sun, the prince Qian Weirui, brother-in-law Sun Chengyou, Prime Minister Cui Renji and others to set out from Hangzhou and head north to Bianliang. This was the first time Qian Chu, who was in his forties, left Jiangnan and went north to the Central Plains dynasty. When he crossed the Yangtze River in Runzhou and came to Jiangbei, Qian Chu couldn't help looking back and looking at the prosperous Jiangnan. He didn't know if this time he looked back was his last time to look at his hometown! More than a month later, they successfully arrived at Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty!

Qian Chu's arrival was grandly welcomed and received by Zhao Kuangyin. This was the first person among the monarchs of the ten countries to take the initiative to meet in Bianjing. Gao Jichong, Meng Chang, Zhou Baoquan, Liu Yi, Li Yu and others were all forced to invite him. When he came, he was no longer a monarch. Qian Chu's situation was naturally not comparable to these people, and Zhao Kuangyin naturally would not be too casual in terms of reception specifications.

Zhao Kuangyin sent the prince Zhao Dezhao to welcome Qian Chu in Songzhou in advance. After Qian Chu came to Bianliang, Zhao Kuangyin immediately arranged for him to

Yingchunyuan held a banquet and warmly welcomed Qian Chu and others. After the banquet, Zhao Kuangyin arranged for Qian Chu and others to live in Lixian Academy. The reception standards for Lixian Academy were determined by Zhao Kuangyin personally inspected and inspected.

As a younger brother, Qian Chu had no choice but to be treated as such a level as the boss, so he could only reply with double tribute. On February 21, Qian Chu met Zhao Kuangyin at Chongde Hall and tributed 40,000 taels of platinum and 50,000 pieces of silk to the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin gave Qian Chu a gift of clothes, jade belt, ten thousand taels of gold, and three thousand silk, and gave him a banquet at Changchun Hall.

On February 22, in order to thank Zhao Kuangyin for his reward, Qian Chu once again paid tribute to 20,000 taels of platinum, 30,000 pieces of silk, and 20,000 kilograms of frankincense. On February 25, Qian Chu paid tribute three times on the grounds of celebrating the pacification of Jiangnan in the Northern Song Dynasty, and paid 50,000 taels of platinum, 100,000 kilograms of 800,000 pieces of tea, 200 rhinoceros horns and 300 kilograms of incense.

Faced with the younger brother's several gifts, Zhao Kuangyin, as the eldest, naturally had to pay tribute. On February 27, Zhao Kuangyin went to the Lixian Courtyard where Qian Chu lived and rewarded Qian Chu with 2,000 taels of gold, 30,000 taels of silver, 20,000 pieces of silk, and also gave the crown prince Qian Weirui, Cui Renji and others some silk.

After arriving in Bianliang, Qian Chu found that Zhao Kuangyin was approachable, friendly and enthusiastic, and did not make any embarrassment on him. He treated himself as a real friend. The exchange activities between the two sides were very smooth and friendly.

In March, Zhao Kuangyin rewarded Qian Chu and other ministers of Wu Yue. Qian Chu's wife Sun was canonized as the princess of Wu Yue, and Qian Chu's daughter was canonized as the monarch of Pengcheng County. She also gave Sun's soup, medicine, wine, tea and fruits, etc. more than 500 things.

The entire Qian family was treated and rewarded by Zhao Kuangyin, and Qian Chu was moved by this. At a banquet, Qian Chu cried and said, "Sons and grandchildren, be loyal and filial!" Zhao Kuangyin also responded to Qian Chu's performance. He bowed to Qian Chu and said, "I will not kill King Qian."

Qian Chu's life in Bianliang was very beautiful. He dressed in and fed well every day, attended various banquets, and was rewarded by Zhao Kuangyin from time to time. This kind of life was easy to make people happy. But Qian Chu was not the Liu Adu who was happy to Shu. The comfort and comfort of life did not make Qian Chu truly happy. It seemed that it had been a month since Bianliang, and what he should do had been done, and what he should talk about had been finished, but Zhao Kuangyin just didn't mention asking Qian Chu to return to his country.

Did Zhao Kuangyin want to break his previous promise? He would live to the Bianliang City in his entire life? When Qian Chu was deeply worried about this, things turned around. Zhao Kuangyin was planning to go to the Western Capital Luoyang tour as planned. This was definitely not good news for Qian Chu. If Zhao Kuangyin went to Luoyang to stay for a year or two, then his return to China would be far away.

However, if Zhao Kuangyin proposed to return to Wuyue at this time, it would definitely arouse Zhao Kuangyin's suspicion and disgust. The clever Qian Chu decided to take the method of playing hard to get. One day, Qian Chu begged Zhao Kuangyin, hoping to follow Zhao Kuangyin to visit Luoyang, the Western Capital. Zhao Kuangyin naturally expressed his opposition, but Qian Chu's proactive petition attracted Zhao Kuangyin's attention.

I was about to visit Xijing, and it was really not appropriate to put Qian Chu and others in Bianliang at this time. My promise before the New Year should be fulfilled, so let Qian Chu return to Wuyue Kingdom. It is rare for him to be extremely humble and obedient, so there is no need to doubt his loyalty to the Northern Song Dynasty.
Chapter completed!