Longzang

Chapter 1075 Clauses
In this great battle, more than two million mountain people were killed or wounded, but the vast majority of them were ordinary mountain people. The next most casualties were those who had just entered the Dao Foundation stage. The casualties among those who had reached the Dao Foundation stage and those who had reached the Dharma Aspect stage were much smaller, with only one Yu Jing falling.

The Qingming army suffered 150,000 casualties out of its 500,000 elite troops, and nearly 1,000 casualties on its template Dao base. Adding the casualties on the eastern front, the Qingming army suffered nearly 400,000 casualties in the battle, while the enemy suffered 3 million casualties and 1.6 million Dao soldiers.

However, since the release of Qingming production capacity, especially the explosive growth of gunpowder production capacity, it has been a long time since we have experienced such heavy casualties.

After the Ji Kingdom withdrew its troops, Wei Yuan immediately redeployed his elite forces to the north, this time leaving no gaps and firmly blocking the mountain people's path eastward and southward.

Subsequently, Wei Yuan began constructing a new Spirit Transformation Pool, intending to refine the massive number of mountain people's corpses into pure spiritual energy to give back to heaven and earth and increase the abundance of the Ji Kingdom's domain.

Not long after the war ended, a delegation from the State of Ji arrived at Guantun County, seeking peace talks. This delegation was large in scale, led by General Xiao Jingyuan, demonstrating its high status and sincerity. The entire delegation consisted of several hundred people, escorted by three thousand elite cavalry.

When the delegation arrived at the lonely former Guantun County town gate, the vanguard rode up at breakneck speed, ran to the central carriage, reined in his horse, and said: "Reporting to the General! Wei Yuan, the military governor of Qingyang, has personally come out of the city to greet us and is waiting outside the city gate!"

"What?!" Xiao Jingyuan's eyes snapped open, a glint of light flashing in them. He said slowly, "It seems Wei Yuan is afraid I haven't died completely!"

Inside the carriage were Xiao Jingyuan's son and adopted son, who both said in unison, "Let's go and meet Wei Yuan!"

Xiao Jingyuan sighed and said, "Wei Yuan personally greeted and waited for us. How could the two of you possibly handle this situation? He's already involved, so this old man of mine has no choice but to step in."

Xiao Jingyuan got out of the carriage, but did not mount his horse. He led his generals directly to the front of the formation and sure enough, he saw Wei Yuan waiting below the city!
Xiao Jingyuan landed in front of Wei Yuan, carefully examined him, and sighed, "Lord Wei, your heroic bearing is unparalleled in the world. I, Xiao, am completely convinced of your defeat."

Wei Yuan smiled slightly and said, "I only want to do something for the world and for the people. General Xiao is too kind."

The two sons behind Xiao Jingyuan cursed inwardly, thinking that Wei Yuan was just trying to gain fame and reputation, and that his words were all high-sounding. Anyone could say such nice things.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wei Yuan warmly took Xiao Jingyuan's hand and, in front of thousands of envoys, walked through the city gate. He then personally led the old general to his residence in the new city.

Guantun New Town has been renovated and cleaned, but traces of the war can still be faintly seen in some corners. Many buildings have undergone emergency repairs.

The delegation was housed in three buildings used as hotels, while Xiao Jingyuan was placed in a separate building. Wei Yuan personally showed him around the room, explaining how to use the various facilities, showing great care.

The interior of this small building was already very close to the style of the outer world, with a decor similar to the apartments provided to researchers by the Umbrella Corporation. Unfortunately, Wei Yuan was just an intern researcher at the time and hadn't been promoted, so he didn't get to see the luxurious mansions of truly senior researchers.

Xiao Jingyuan was somewhat surprised by the layout of the house. The temperature was adjustable, and water flowed automatically—features common to most late-stage Dao Foundation cultivators. However, those were effects of Daoist magic; here, it was a set of facilities, completely independent of Daoist magic. This meant that ordinary wealthy households could also have such facilities.

Xiao Jingyuan was merely slightly surprised and didn't dwell on it. By the standards of a Yujing cultivator, this residence was extremely rudimentary, lacking spirit arrays, immortal springs, auspicious birds and beasts, and rare spiritual fruits available for free. However, he had come to negotiate peace, and as the defeated party, some humiliation was to be expected.

So Xiao Jingyuan actually came prepared to accept whatever criticism he received. The accommodations were actually quite comfortable, and a little lack of decoration wouldn't have been a problem.

However, upon checking into the otherworldly-style inn, the delegation had polarized reactions. Wei Yuan didn't care about their ranks; he crammed them into rooms of four, and all the rooms were identical, without any distinction.

The delegation then made its own arrangements, reserving one room each for Xiao Jingyuan's son and adopted son, and the generals also stayed separately. These generals were naturally full of complaints, mocking that the place was utterly impoverished and lacked even a decent place to live.

Having completed his act, Wei Yuan left on his own. The negotiations wouldn't officially begin until the next morning, and Wei Yuan naturally wouldn't participate.

The negotiations began the following morning.

The negotiations took place in a council chamber of a nearby building, with nine people from each side sitting at the table, followed by dozens of assistants sitting behind them.

To show sincerity, Xiao Jingyuan, as the chief representative of the defeated side, personally attended and sat in the center of the negotiating table. Only after they were seated did Qingming enter.

The generals of Ji Kingdom had originally prepared for Wei Yuan to send a low-level cultivator to negotiate. When the Qingming negotiation team entered, the person in the center was indeed a young cultivator who looked to be under twenty years old.

He was exceptionally handsome, and even in men's clothing, he still captivated many generals of the Ji Kingdom. Once the Qingming group was seated, this young cultivator surprisingly sat in the very center, opposite Xiao Jingyuan.

Xiao Jingyuan's adopted son immediately showed anger, but the young cultivator seemed to sense something and glanced over, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally. Their eyes met, and Xiao Jingyuan's adopted son suddenly felt a sharp, burning pain in his eyes, his vision blurring instantly. In his dazed state, he seemed to see a great sun rising!
Xiao Jingyuan turned his head and glared at his adopted son. The adopted son immediately lowered his head, his arrogance completely gone. That eye contact was essentially an exchange of spiritual senses between them.

This beautiful young cultivator's cultivation was barely at the late stage of the Dharma Aspect realm, far inferior to his adopted son. However, the adopted son was completely defeated in the exchange, indicating that the young cultivator's Dharma Aspect realm was extremely high, far surpassing his adopted son's. Their future achievements were simply not on the same level. After this brief interlude, the two were seated, and the young cultivator said, "I am Xiao Yu, from the Xiao family, and currently the Lord of Qingming Yong'an City. Entrusted by Lord Wei Yuan, I am fully responsible for this negotiation."

Upon hearing Xiao Yu's name, everyone in Ji Kingdom felt a chill run down their spines and no longer dared to underestimate her in the slightest.

When Xiao Yu achieved the Dharma Form, the Xiao family planned to hold a Dharma Form Ceremony and notified all the major families. However, Xiao Yu went to Qingming, and the matter was dropped.

Afterwards, at the Azure Sky Dharma Assembly, Xiaoyu was listed as one of the Twelve Immortal Images, and her name was featured in many publications and distributed throughout the world. Therefore, Xiaoyu is now quite famous, even more so than many Imperial Views.

Unlike other strange and unheard-of immortal appearances, Xiao Yu's Star Lord holding a sword is the most orthodox immortal appearance, which means she has more than a 50% chance of ascending to immortality. Xiao Yu is now blessed with good fortune, so the Xiao family naturally attaches great importance to her.

Purely in terms of status, let alone the generals of Ji Kingdom, even Xiao Jingyuan himself, currently doesn't hold a higher position in the cultivation world than Xiao Yu. Therefore, Wei Yuan sending Xiao Yu to preside over the negotiations was truly a great honor for Ji Kingdom.

Once they understood this, the entire Ji Kingdom delegation lost its initial momentum.

Xiao Yu continued, "In this negotiation, the Realm Lord's intention is to be benevolent. We and the Ji Kingdom will be neighbors, so although your country suffered a crushing defeat, we will not go too far. However, we have some small requests, please consider them carefully."

The negotiations then got down to business, and Wei Yuan was about to state his terms. Xiao Jingyuan immediately said, "Your Majesty sent us here with sincerity. So please speak freely."

Xiao Yu Ningding said, "If the name is not correct, the words will not be proper; if the words are not proper, things will not be accomplished. Therefore, correcting the name is of utmost importance. Lord Wei was originally the military governor of Qingyang in the Great Tang Dynasty, and later he was appointed military governor of Xianghan, reaching the rank of second grade in the Great Tang Dynasty. In the Great Tang Dynasty, if an official reached the rank of one of the Nine Kingdoms, he would be promoted by one grade, which was the custom. Therefore, Lord Wei is equivalent to the first grade in the Ji Kingdom. Do you all agree?"

Xiao Jingyuan nodded and said, "That's exactly right."

Xiao Yu then said, “Lord Wei has made great contributions and saved the people from suffering. He deserves to be rewarded. Therefore, we request that Prince Ji appoint Wei Yuan as Duke of Rong and concurrently as Military Governor of Xianghan. In addition to the two prefectures of Xianghan, his fiefdom will also include Fengyuan Prefecture.”

The people of Ji Kingdom paled instantly, and Xiao Jingyuan was also moved. This was tantamount to directly seizing three prefectures! Leaving aside whether the King of Ji would agree, Xiao Jingyuan knew a bit of the inside story and understood that these three prefectures were designated by the mastermind behind the scenes; how could they possibly give them away?

This first condition is simply impossible to agree to.

But Xiao Jingyuan was an old fox after all, and his expression remained unchanged. He said, "The conferment of a dukedom is a major event, and it must be done by His Majesty himself in accordance with the law. Therefore, this general cannot make the decision on this matter and must report to His Majesty."

His statement was both deconstructive and offensive, mentioning only the Duke title and omitting the other two points, as if all obstacles lay in the Duke title.

Xiao Yu hadn't expected him to agree anyway, and continued, "To prevent further misunderstandings, it's necessary for both sides to exchange information and gain mutual understanding. To deepen this understanding, the Realm Lord intends to invite the princes and princesses, including the Crown Prince, to study and travel in Qingming. Qingming currently has over ten renowned scholars temporarily residing and lecturing there, so it shouldn't interfere with the princes and princesses' studies. However, the journey is long, so it would be best to send more people at once, preferably no fewer than ten."

This clause was tantamount to King Ji sending his crown prince to Qingming, making him a hostage—an extreme humiliation. Everyone in Ji Kingdom wore expressions of anger; had it not been for Xiao Yu sitting opposite them, they would have slammed their fists on the table and stood up!

Xiao Jingyuan remained calm and, citing the need to inform Prince Ji, temporarily shelved the matter, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Xiao Yu didn't take it to heart and continued, "We talked about mutual understanding earlier, so now let's talk about exchanging information. Although this battle was due to a misunderstanding, our side suffered heavy losses, and the cost of supplies and compensation was enormous. Therefore, we request that your country compensate us for the military expenses and compensation totaling one hundred million taels of silver, which can be paid in installments over twenty years."

With a roar, the generals of Ji State were filled with murderous intent!
Xiao Yu sat calmly and unmoved. If any of the generals of Ji were to make a move, they would die.

After the generals quieted down a bit, Xiaoyu said, "This is not open to discussion."

Xiao Jingyuan nodded and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Xiao Yu said, "The key to mutual exchange lies in the word 'exchange.' Therefore, in order to allow merchants from both sides to travel freely, the Realm Lord requests that your country open its entire territory. Within the territory of Ji Kingdom, Qingming Merchant Caravans can travel without hindrance, and no checks, interceptions, or taxes of any kind should be collected at checkpoints along the way."

Secondly, seven border cities will be opened as trading ports. Special zones will be designated within these cities for Qingming's exclusive use, where our troops may be stationed. All matters, large and small, within these zones will be governed by Qingming's laws. Even if officials of the Ji Kingdom break the law, they will be tried by Qingming.

Thirdly, if any citizen of Qingming violates the laws of Ji Kingdom, your country may not arbitrarily conduct a trial; they must be handed over to us for sentencing according to Qingming's laws. We guarantee that the sentencing will be fair and just.

Xiao Yu then took out a completed document and handed it to Xiao Jingyuan, saying, "All the above articles are in these two treaties. One is the 'Guanxian Treaty,' and the other is the 'Qingji Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation Treaty.'"

(End of this chapter)