Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 774 Negotiation
The logic stated by Prime Minister Shen Gai is actually from the perspective of a suzerain state, considering its long-term interests and the image of a great power.

This does not mean that Prime Minister Shen Gai’s ideas are foolish, corrupt and conservative.

He believed that as a suzerain state, the Song Dynasty should be a fair arbitrator and patron saint of the vassal states.

In fact, this is also the consistent image positioning of the Central Plains dynasty.

There have been more than one occasion in history when coups d'état occurred in some vassal states.

Those who seized power would immediately submit to the suzerain state, offer tribute, and beg for its approval with trepidation and fear.

But most of the time, the suzerain state remained unmoved and instead issued an edict to reprimand.

The suzerain state would send troops to help the exiled former regime, spending huge amounts of military expenditures and causing many casualties, seeking the restoration of the exiled regime without asking for anything in return.

The results of it?
That's the result.

The old regime that was able to restore its country entirely by relying on the suzerain country will not be loyal or grateful to the suzerain country because of this.

Once the two sides have a conflict of interest, or if the vassal state has grown strong enough to fly solo, it will still turn against the suzerain state immediately like a scumbag.

Therefore, although Yang Yuan could not express his opinion too bluntly in his memorial to the emperor, he still expressed his opinion implicitly:

One's own vital interests and powerful military force are the basis for maintaining the vassal state's awe and loyalty to the suzerain state.

Therefore, everything should be based on the vital interests of our Great Song Dynasty.

These opinions are in line with the views of Regent Zhao Yu.

It’s not because he blindly believed in Yang Yuan, but because he was a failure of Confucian education and a heretic.

It is precisely because his values ​​are naturally in line with Yang Yuan's that they have similar personalities and hit it off immediately.

It was not because of similar personalities that he blindly followed Yang Yuan without principles.

But Shen Xiang was an old man who was deeply influenced by Confucianism, and he firmly believed that he was right.

Moreover, most of the important officials attending the meeting today share similar views on this point.

Wei Liangchen, on the other hand, had more active thoughts.

Seeing that the two sides were arguing and the young emperor was at a loss, Wei Liangchen interrupted and said, "The Sichuan-Xiamen strategy has been implemented since the time of the previous emperor.

Now in your Majesty's hands, it has achieved remarkable results.

The next focus of the Song Dynasty's national policy is to conquer the Western Xia. We are trying to buy time to recover from the Jin Dynasty.

At this time, the Song Dynasty cannot stay in Yunnan for too long."

Wei Liangchen said: "Besides, the distance from Yunnan to here is long and steep, and it takes more than half a month to get a message, and nearly a month to go back and forth.

The court should not have made too detailed clauses and let Yang Ziyue read them out."

Zhao Qi hurriedly asked, "So, what does Wei Xianggong mean?"

Wei Liangchen said: "Yunnan has become a prosperous place, this is an indisputable fact.

The Duan family of Dali has never asked for help from our Great Song Dynasty, and our Great Song Dynasty cannot now give up the national policy of first attacking Western Xia and then conquering the Jin Kingdom.

So, now we have no choice but to acknowledge the rise of the Yang family."

Wei Liangchen glanced at the ministers and added, "As for the specific negotiation terms, since we cannot formulate specific terms, it is better to frame a scope and let Yang Ziyue respond accordingly."

What Wei Liangchen meant was that since the royal family of the Duan clan of Dali Kingdom had not come to the Song Dynasty to file a complaint, we should not be too self-indulgent.

We still have a lot of things to do. Do we have to abandon the established national policy and rush into the quagmire of Nanzhao?
What's the point? A false reputation?
Besides, the road is so long, it would be unimaginable to remotely direct Yang Yuan to negotiate the details.

Therefore, since we cannot determine the upper limit of the negotiation conditions, we might as well draw a bottom line. Above the bottom line, let Yang Yuan negotiate freely.

His proposal was quite to Zhao Qu's liking.

Seeing the young emperor looking at him, Zhao Yu nodded and said, "I think what Wei Xianggong said is a mature view of state affairs."

Seeing that the Regent agreed, Zhao Qi said, "Since this is the case, let's follow the Regent and Prime Minister Wei's opinions and draft a clause."

Shen is about to retire, and Wei Liangchen will take over as prime minister.

Zhao Qu was also the regent.

Now that the emperor agreed with their opinions, the ministers had no more room to argue.

So they quickly came up with a clause, a clause that only set a minimum negotiable limit:

They must pledge allegiance to the Song Dynasty, apologize and pay compensation, treat the Duan family well, and not resort to war rashly.

When important matters were agreed upon, they were immediately sent to the Dali Kingdom by express mail using a gold medal.

Now Zhao Ke has not yet taken power, and it will be three years before he does. Therefore, non-important state affairs will be decided by the regent and the prime minister. It is only necessary to report the results to the emperor so that he can learn how to govern the country from them.

Therefore, Zhao Kai had more free time.

After the imperial meeting, Zhao Qi practiced calligraphy for a while, then went to Zongyang Palace with his written calligraphy.

When Zhao Kai was still the King of Deng, he met Zhao Chen, who was living in seclusion in Zongyang Palace as the Supervisor of the Palace.

The then emperor Zhao Yuan did not prevent their meeting.

Zhao Chen has been imprisoned here and can no longer be manipulated by the Jin people. He is also surrounded by the court's spies and cannot do anything.

After all, he is the former crown prince and a member of the royal family. The Zhao Song royal family has always been very humane.

Zhao Chen was the former eldest son of this big family. His family fell into poverty and he was abducted by the enemy.

When the Zhao family became prosperous again, they were forced back by the enemy to rob their property.

In the end, the plan failed and the former eldest son of the legitimate wife was kept in captivity.

When Zhao Qi ascended the throne and needed to hand over a lot of secret information to him, he knew that Zhao Chen was his uncle.

However, Zhao Kai did not reveal his true identity to Zhao Chen. Every time he went there, he only asked him for advice on calligraphy.

Zhao Chen also adhered to his duties conscientiously and never said anything else except giving advice on calligraphy.

……

In front of the ruler and his ministers of Daxing, Yang Yuan put forward his conditions for stopping the war.

The most important conditions are ceding territory, paying compensation, and stationing troops.

The condition of stationing troops in Dali City was the condition that Yang Yuan left for Yang Liangao to have the face to firmly refuse.

The other two things are what Yang Yuan really wants.

Yang Yuan doesn’t want to station troops in Dali Kingdom at all now. It’s meaningless.

Dali is not a strategic location that the Song Dynasty must conquer now, nor is it a top priority.

It is in the best interest of the Song Dynasty at present to allow this local regime to remain stable.

It would be great if they could raise their own troops and govern the area themselves, becoming a relatively stable region in the southwest of the Song Dynasty and not causing any obstacles or drag on the Song Dynasty's expeditions to the west and north.

For this piece of cake, once we grab the necessary places, then coming back will just be a matter of opening our mouths, right?
As soon as Yang Yuan put forward the three conditions, the ruler and his ministers of Daxing Kingdom all looked unhappy.

Of course, Yang Liangao's grim expression was fake. Well... actually, it wasn't fake. The effect of the medicine had worn off a bit, and he felt a little uncomfortable and bloated in his lower abdomen as he sat there.

Gao Zhenshou knew that he had to surrender and pay a generous compensation.

But he did not expect that Yang Yuan would actually ask them to cede land and station troops in Dali.

This is not in line with the Song Dynasty's consistent image. How can they ask for such an exorbitant amount?

Although negotiations are a two-way process, with such harsh initial conditions, how good can the final agreement be?

As a result, the two sides started to argue, during which the King of Daxing left the table several times, claiming to have a rest.

He really went to pee because he was leaking urine.

But everyone thought that His Majesty was extremely angry and could not lose his temper in front of Yang Yuan, so he could only leave the table and calm down.

Fortunately, the person who actually presided over the negotiations was the hereditary prime minister Gao Zhenshou.

Whether Yang Liangao, the emperor of Daxingguo, is present or not, it doesn’t matter.

The two sides negotiated fiercely for a whole morning and the terms of compensation were quickly reached.

Both sides quickly reached a consensus on surrendering.

But ceding territory and stationing troops were something that the officials of Daxing could never accept.

Yang Yuan was not in a hurry either. Whether you cede the land or not, Liangshan Prefecture had actually been occupied by me.

As for the garrison, I won’t come even if you really ask me to.

Some things may produce opposite effects under different historical conditions and in different historical eras.

Under various objective conditions in later generations, garrisoning troops was a very practical political means.

It’s different in this era.

However, Yang Yuan still insisted in a pretentious tone.

Anyway, the imperial court's decree has not arrived yet, and he cannot sign a treaty with the Daxing Kingdom immediately before confirming the court's final opinion.

Yang Yuan left them enough time to discuss and then returned to the inn.

At this time, Dao Feifei had already returned from Gao's house.

"Have you met Gao Shuyao's family?"

"Well, I visited Yao'er's parents today."

Dao Feifei showed a strange expression on her face and said, "Yao'er's parents don't seem to know what happened in the palace. They also said that when the queen comes home to visit her parents, they want me to go see her."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Such a scandal will certainly not be publicized. Neither the Gao family nor Yang Liangao can afford to lose face. You didn't let it slip, did you?"

"Of course not. I'm not stupid. I asked in a very subtle way."

Dao Feifei retorted, and then couldn't help but worry: "But if she didn't go back to Gao's house, where could she go?"

"you do not need to worry."

As Yang Yuan was speaking, he saw Fan Qing walk in with weak legs, and he couldn't help but smile at her.

Fan Qing gave him a clever, reproachful look in return.

The girl is becoming more and more down-to-earth.

She has a slightly girly feel and a unique charm.

Yang Yuan continued to say to Dao Feifei: "If you didn't say that she is a great martial artist, wouldn't you be too anxious normally? Moreover, since she could do such a thing on the wedding night, she must have been abducted into the palace. I'm afraid she has resentment towards the Gao family, so it's normal for her not to go home."

Fan Qing was puzzled and couldn't help asking, "What wedding night? What happened?"

Yang Yuan lovingly held her in his arms and sat her down on his lap. He hugged her petite and lovely body and said with a smile, "You slept like a log last night, so naturally you don't know anything."

Yang Yuan told Fan Qing about the runaway bride he saw last night and how she disappeared for no apparent reason.

Fan Qing was surprised and laughed when he heard this: "Is there such a thing? This girl Yao'er is independent and unrestrained."

In this era, it is not something that ordinary people can do to rebel against the family's decision, marry the emperor, and give up the position of queen.

No wonder Fan Qing became interested in Gao Shuyao after hearing what she said.

Yang Yuan said: "The negotiation will not have any result until the imperial edict arrives. Let's go out for some sightseeing. I haven't been to Dali for a long time... I've heard of it for a long time, so it's a good opportunity to go for a walk.

By the way, Feifei, I remember you said that your tribe is not far from Dali City, near Erhai Lake, and we can go there for a walk. You can visit your relatives, and I can also visit my father-in-law and mother-in-law. "

Dao Feifei was overjoyed when she heard this, and she ran over to hug Yang Yuan's arm and said coquettishly, "Okay, okay, I was just thinking of going back to visit my family because I was worried that you were busy with official duties. It would be great if you could accompany me."

Yang Yuan spread his legs and let Dao Feifei sit on his other leg. He hugged her on both sides and said with a smile, "I'm not busy with official duties. I'm just waiting for a result. By the way..."

Thinking of what he saw in the council hall today, Yang Yuan couldn't help but have a strange look on his face. He said slowly, "Last night, the Queen of Daxing Kingdom was probably not just running away from her marriage."

Dao Feifei and Fan Qing's big eyes with distinct black and white looked at him.

"how?"

Yang Yuan said hesitantly: "Cousin Lian Gao, he seems... to be a little injured..."

……

He frequently walked out during the negotiations.

Yang Liangao didn't want to let anyone know that his vital parts were seriously injured, so he had to do it himself.

Considering that I can't leave for too long, it is inevitable that the wound will be touched again.

At this time, the meeting was over, and he returned to the bedroom. After sending his attendants away, he was able to untie his skirt and re-bandage his wound.

First, he pulled out the catheter, untied the wine bag tied to his leg, emptied it and tied it back up, cleaned the wound that was wet with urine with a soft towel, reapplied the wound medicine, and then inserted a new reed tube...

Yang Liangao burst into tears.

"Gao Shuyao, Gao Shuyao, I will definitely torture you. I will make you wish you could neither live nor die!"

Yang Liangao held the wine urinal in his hand and gnashed his teeth, "I want to turn you into my urinary toilet..."

Heartbroken Yang Liangao closed his eyes tightly, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has arrived and is waiting to see you in the Imperial Study."

Outside, the voice of the eunuch reporting came, calling Yang Liangao back to his senses.

"I, got it."

Yang Liangao calmed down and began to clean up the mess quickly.

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that Yang Yuan was still in Dali and could pose a sufficient threat to the Gao family so that he could have a showdown with Gao Zhenshou.

The Gao family has treated him so badly, they must make a satisfactory reward for him and hand over that little bitch Gao Shuyao.

Yang Liangao took big steps...pausing after each step, and walked out with steady steps.

……

"We can't alert the enemy, nor can we contact Yang Yuan in advance."

Gao Shuyao said to the abdicated emperor: "Kill Yang Liangao first. Once Yang Liangao dies, the Yang family will be leaderless and in chaos. Then, we can offer Yang Yuan generous conditions. We are not afraid that he will not support you, Your Majesty."

Gao Shuyao was born with fox eyes and was extremely charming. Her every frown, smile, gesture and movement were extremely enchanting.

But what came out of her mouth were murderous words.

"This... We have never had any contact with this general of the Song Dynasty. Can we really convince him to support us?"

"Don't worry! Yang Liangao relies on Yang Yuan's power to control Dali, and Yang Yuan has a concubine who is my childhood sweetheart and my best friend. We have a very close relationship.

She is also Yang Yuan's favorite. As long as we kill Yang Liangao and make the Dali Yang family no longer useful to Yang Yuan, I will contact Yang Yuan through Concubine Dao and will be able to convince him."

Emperor Xun was delighted: "Okay, then let's discuss how to kill Yang Liangao with one strike!"

(End of this chapter)