I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 228 Ceding Territory and Paying Indemnities, Attacking Turpan
Under the gaze of everyone, Huang Taiji was also very troubled.

I've never seen you all so obedient before.

In this unfavorable situation where someone has to take the blame, you all seem to be in unison and obeying orders.

Everyone looked at Huang Taiji with only one thought in mind: You are the Great Khan now, if you don't take the blame, who will?
Although Huang Taiji was unhappy with everyone's attitude, he still had to say what needed to be said.

"Let's send someone to negotiate peace again!"

"I wonder who is willing to shoulder this heavy responsibility and go to negotiate peace."

Well.
The group looked at each other, then all lowered their heads and remained silent.

In this situation, nobody wants to go.

Moreover, even if they wanted to negotiate peace, the Celestial Empire would have to agree.

Finally, after further discussion, Huang Taiji made a decision.

Places like Shenyang's Salhu Lake are absolutely impossible to return.

No, what do you mean by "return"? That place is their territory now.

However, they could cede places like Fuzhou and Jinzhou, which are located south of Gaizhouwei City. Since the Celestial Empire has occupied Gaizhouwei and Haizhouwei, ceding those places to the Celestial Empire is not out of the question.

Furthermore, Huang Taiji sent Daishan to negotiate peace.

Although Daishan was unwilling.

However, by this time, Daishan had already lost all his subordinates in the Battle of Datong and had become the last of the princes. How could he possibly refuse?
Furthermore, seeing that someone had taken on the responsibility of negotiating peace, the other princes had no reason to disagree.

What if I disagree and get voted on?
Therefore, with everyone nodding in agreement, Daishan had no choice but to bite the bullet and head to Anshan Station, which had just been occupied by the Celestial Empire.

When the contemporary sage arrived again, carrying a large amount of gold and silver jewelry, Li Yaohui and the others finally allowed him to enter the city.

5 taels of silver and a number of jewels.

Upon hearing this, Li Yaohui raised an eyebrow, his face quickly darkening.

"Is this all you're offering for peace negotiations?"

"No, no, it's just a small gift, it's just a small gift."
If the two countries establish friendly diplomatic relations, even more abundant gifts will surely be presented.

Dai Shan forced a stiff smile.

"Hmm, that's more like it!"

Li Yaohui's expression softened somewhat, and he nodded slightly before speaking:
"Want to negotiate peace? Fine, we'll offer the terms we previously set, plus 50 million taels of silver for our military expenses."

Upon hearing this, Dai Shan's expression changed drastically.

This shows absolutely no sincerity.

If they agree, what difference will there be between their Qing Dynasty and the destruction of their country?
"General, is this the will of the Celestial Court? Or the will of General Wang, the General Who Conquers the North? Or perhaps it is your personal will?"

"The Celestial Empire? The Northeast General?"

Hahaha."

Looking at Dai Shan and the others opposite him, as if he had heard something funny, Li Yaohui suddenly burst into laughter.

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh and shake their heads.

Seeing this, Dai Shan and the others looked even more grim.

After a long while, Li Yaohui finally stopped laughing and said with some disdain:
"You are but a small, insignificant country; what right do you have to meet the General Who Conquers the North? As for the imperial court, what right do you have to disturb it?"

"You, you, you, our two countries are negotiating peace, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to make this decision on your own?"

Dai Shan's face was extremely pale, but he could only suppress his emotions.

"Haha, my General Who Conquers the North said that you are not qualified to see him. As for peace negotiations, I can act on your behalf."

"you"

Dai Shan's expression changed several times. It seemed that the Celestial Empire had no intention of negotiating peace at all.

Thinking back to when they arrived, Huang Taiji had given orders to complete this peace negotiation, so that the Celestial Empire would cease its attacks and allow the Qing Dynasty time to recuperate.

Otherwise, in less than a year, their Qing Dynasty would be completely devoured.

Thinking of this, Dai Shan could only suppress his frustration and anger, and forced a smile again, saying:
"General Li, our Great Qing Dynasty is willing to recognize Haizhou Guard and Gaizhou Guard as belonging to the Celestial Empire, and only hopes that the two countries can establish friendly diplomatic relations."

"Are you stupid? Haizhou Guard and Gaizhou Guard belong to the Celestial Empire. Do you need to acknowledge them?"

"Then, General, what is the best way to end the war?"

"Well, I see you're quite sincere."

Therefore, with the Taizi River as the boundary, the areas south of the Taizi River, including the Dingliao Five Guards, all belonged to the Celestial Empire.
In addition, you also need to compensate my Celestial Empire's army for all the military expenses incurred in rescuing the people, as well as the construction costs in Liaodong and other places.

The total is approximately fifty million taels.

"If you can do these things, I can decide to temporarily cease hostilities."

"This is impossible."

Upon hearing Li Yaohui's request, Dai Shan's eyes widened, and he cried out in surprise.

This request is simply too much.

Even setting aside the ceded Liaodong and other territories, they absolutely could not afford to pay 50 million taels of silver.

"Heh, whether it's possible or not isn't up to you to decide, it's up to me!"

Faced with Dai Shan's loss of composure, Li Yaohui merely smiled wryly and said coldly.

"But we simply don't have that much silver."

Finally, Daishan said with some distress, his tone even carrying a hint of pleading.

Seeing this, Li Yaohui remained unmoved, only smiling and saying:

"Ha, it doesn't necessarily have to be all silver, it can be other things too, right?"

For example, gold, jewelry, etc.

"."

Dai Shan glanced at Li Yaohui with a hint of helplessness. "You don't mean that because I said the silver wasn't enough, I didn't include gold and jewelry, do you?"
"Well, if that's still not enough, ginseng, furs, and other such items from Northeast China can also be used to make up the difference."
If all else fails, you can always pay in installments.

"Installment payment?"

"That's right, you only need to pay ten million taels every year, and it will be paid off in seven or eight years."

"Hmm! Hmm~? Paying ten million taels of silver annually, or fifty million taels of silver, shouldn't it be paid for five years?"

"Are you stupid? Who doesn't pay interest on debts?"

"You and I"

Dai Shan felt a little dazed. Was this even possible?
"Isn't this a bit too high?"

"High? Is it high? Anyway, this is what we require."

Go back and tell Huang Taiji that if he agrees, we can cease hostilities.
disagree.
You'd better disagree.
get out! "

And so, the dazed Daishan and his entourage were driven out of the city once again.

After getting far away, Daishan and his group couldn't help but grit their teeth in anger.

Who is this person? Fifty million taels of silver, why don't you just rob it?

Furthermore, with just a few words, the fifty million taels of silver almost doubled again.

Moreover, don't the people of the Celestial Empire all pride themselves on being a superior nation, a land of propriety and etiquette?
How can you speak so rudely? You're either an idiot or you should get lost.

Moreover, he was, after all, a Beile of the Qing Dynasty, which was equivalent to a prince.

This Celestial Empire actually only sent a junior officer to liaise with him. Isn't this a huge disregard for their Great Qing Dynasty?

Well, okay, they certainly didn't take the Qing Dynasty seriously, and they didn't have the resources to fight back.

Therefore, he could only swallow his anger. Meanwhile, after Dai Shan and the others left, someone couldn't help but speak up:
"Commander, didn't the general say he was demanding ten million taels of silver in compensation?"
That's a fivefold increase, isn't that a bit too high? Can they even afford it?

"Tch, who cares if he can produce it or not? Does he dare to mess with us?"
Besides, isn't this just asking for an exorbitant price? They could easily negotiate a lower price.

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crowd couldn't help but twitch their lips slightly.

Your previous actions did not allow anyone to negotiate a lower price; in the end, you even kicked them out.

After Daishan returned to Shengjing (Shenyang) and recounted the entire incident in detail, Huang Taiji and the others fell silent.

At this moment, although everyone was angry, no one clamored to fight to the death anymore.

It is quite obvious that the Celestial Empire does not seem to want to negotiate peace with them.

They're jumping around now; they'll only die faster that way.

After some discussion, Huang Taiji finally decided to agree to the Celestial Empire's conditions.

If they were to accept the Celestial Empire's terms of ten million taels of silver annually, they could at least delay for seven or eight years.

After all, even for the sake of ten million taels of silver per year, the Celestial Empire probably wouldn't attack them proactively at this time, right?

We should wait until they've paid off their debts before discussing it further.

That's enough time for them to grow even stronger.

Even if they still can't fight against the Celestial Empire, the world is so big, they don't necessarily have to fight the Celestial Empire to the death.

Looking at Dai Shan in front of him, Li Yaohui had a strange expression on his face.

"You agreed?"

"Yes!"

After making the final decision, Daishan became much more at ease and spoke quite naturally.

"All right!"

After staring at Dai Shan for a while, Li Yaohui opened his mouth, but finally nodded.

He truly hadn't expected that Huang Taiji would actually agree to what was already an outrageous and exorbitant price.

In the Forbidden City of Shuntian Prefecture, Wang Chao stared at the "Temporary Ceasefire Agreement in Liaodong" in his hand for a long time, his expression changing repeatedly.

The Qing Dynasty actually agreed to this cession of nearly half of its territory and the exorbitant silver reparations.

What should he say? The inherent traditions of the Qing Dynasty?

Of course, he also had a general understanding of Huang Taiji and others' thoughts.

It's nothing more than trading time for space.

Although they ceded nearly half of their territory.

However, in the north, there is a much larger expanse of land.

It's just that it's too cold in the north.

However, unlike in the Celestial Empire, where almost everyone can condense true qi, they are not like that now.

However, those in the middle and upper ranks among them are still able to condense true qi.

Even ordinary people at the bottom of society, without condensing true qi, have seen their physical fitness greatly improved.

In addition, the shamanistic deities they worship can also bestow some of their power.

Even ordinary people can still survive in places further north.

In that case, they could certainly expand their territory northward.

As long as they can gain a foothold in the more northern regions, it wouldn't be a big deal if they ceded Shenyang, Tieling, and other places to the Celestial Empire.

Looking northeast, the five guards of Dingliao, Jinzhou Guard, Fuzhou Guard and other places in Liaozhong were all shrouded in a faint bright yellow national fortune.

However, what lingered most was a soaring, dark gray aura.

After some deliberation, the dynasty decided to send several hundred more officials to those cities.

We don't aim to expand completely and gain full control of the area immediately.

However, the main cities still need to be controlled.

With their strength, they don't need many people; just a few would be enough, with the help of the nation's destiny, to suppress a city and temporarily stabilize the situation.

Once more manpower has been trained, it will be possible to gradually penetrate deeper and eventually take control of every village.

While the great battle was raging in Liaodong, the West was not at peace either.

Wang Dahu led an army of 5,000 men and brazenly entered the territory of the Turpan Khanate.

The cities along the way surrendered upon seeing the flag of the Celestial Empire, even before Wang Dahu could attack them.

They simply didn't have the courage to resist Wang Dahu's attack.

Wang Dahu was too ruthless here. Any army that fought against him was almost always slaughtered and exterminated, with very few prisoners.

Faced with such a god of death, very few people would be willing to fight him.

In the capital city of Turpan, Turpan Sultan Able Ahmet Ajihan, with a somewhat pale face, looked down at the ministers below.

"The Celestial Empire's army has reached fifty li outside Turpan."
At their speed, they should receive it around noon.
What do you think we should do now?

"Great Khan, now that things have come to this, there is only one path left to take."

"Submit and pay tribute!"

"But judging from the Blood Tiger's posture, it's clearly aiming to destroy the country."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes flickered slightly, and they glanced at Aji Khan imperceptibly.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Ajihan looked at the person who spoke with a gloomy expression.

"Great Khan, why not surrender?"

"Damn it, I am the Great Khan recognized by the Eternal Heaven, how could I possibly surrender like this?"

Even if it means death, we'll fight him to the death!

Ajihan slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and glared at the man with a somewhat manic expression.

"This"

The group exchanged bewildered glances before turning to the general closest to Ajihan.

Sensing the gazes of the crowd, the general paused slightly, then bowed to Ajihan and said:
"Your Majesty, I have another plan for now."

"Hmm? What method?"

"Yes, we need to use one of the Khan's things."

As he spoke, the general moved closer to Aji Khan again.

It seemed he didn't want anyone else to hear.

Seeing his mysterious demeanor, Ajihan immediately became interested.

"What is it? Anything that can resolve this crisis, anything I possess, I can give you."

"That is"

The general took two more steps forward and said in a low voice.

At the same time, as he approached, the golden wolf above the royal city let out an uneasy growl, and wisps of golden dragon energy descended, seemingly trying to envelop Aji Khan.

However, a gray-black mist suddenly rose up around them, enveloping the hanging golden dragon aura and the golden giant wolf, severing their connection with Aji Khan.

Even so, Aji Khan still felt uneasy. He frowned irritably and looked at the general in front of him with a hint of impatience.

(End of this chapter)