Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 808 Old Friend
"Yang Xuanfu, this is our Great Bai Gao Kingdom's Prime Minister Ren, and this is our Great Bai Gao Kingdom's Kaifeng Prefecture Shao Yin Liu."

Kou Heiyi had been in charge of liaising between the two negotiating parties. At this time, he took the initiative to introduce the chief and deputy envoys sent by Western Xia to Yang Yuan for the peace talks.

Yang Yuan calmed himself down and introduced his deputy, Han Jianjun, to the other party.

The Shao Yin of Kaifeng Prefecture of the Western Xia Kingdom also smiled and introduced himself to Yang Yuan and Han Jingbei. His name was Liu Sheng.

Liu is the second largest surname in Western Xia, second only to Tuoba.

As for why the Shao Yin of Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Xixia, was called the Shao Yin of Kaifeng Prefecture, which is such a strange name...

That’s because when Western Xia was established, it directly copied the official positions of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The Northern Song Dynasty's capital, Tokyo Bianliang, was called Kaifeng Prefecture, and they copied it word for word and forcibly applied it to the Western Xia official system.

Ren Dejing calmed himself down and greeted Yang Yuan and Han Jingbei first.

The two sides exchanged pleasantries across the raft, and Liu Sheng frankly stated Xixia's sincerity in stopping the war:

He abandoned the Jin Kingdom and became a vassal of the Song Dynasty. From then on, all his foreign military operations followed the advance and retreat of the Song Dynasty.

If the Song army wanted to attack the Jin Dynasty through Western Xia, Western Xia would also fully cooperate.

Within the scope of its ability, if Xixia is required to send troops to help, Xixia can agree to do so.

At this time, Western Xia was far from being at the end of its rope. It could still fight at least two more battles of the same scale as the one at the foot of Lingdu Mountain.

As the Song army advanced deeper and the battle line lengthened, wars against Western Xia in history always ended in victory and then defeat.

Therefore, Han Jianjun was overjoyed to hear that Xixia was now so humble.

However, he is not a fool and would not express his mentality so clearly.

Seeing Yang Yuan smiling and looking noncommittal, Military Supervisor Han hid his excitement and acted mysterious.

On the other side, the person explaining all this was mainly Liu Sheng, the Shaoyin of Kaifeng Prefecture of the Great Bai Gao Kingdom.

Perhaps because of his distinguished status, Ren Dejing mostly just sat there and listened to Liu Sheng's explanations.

However, Yang Yuan noticed that the Xixia prime minister's eyes were always on him.

He was the chief envoy from the State of Song, so it was not surprising that Ren Dejing paid attention to him, but his gaze was really strange, and it didn't seem like a simple scrutiny.

But Yang Yuan couldn't explain what kind of look that was.

After being stared at for a long time, Yang Yuan looked back with some confusion.

The moment their eyes met, Ren Dejing lowered his eyes.

At that moment, Yang Yuan seemed to see a hint of...sadness in his eyes?
Although the conditions offered by Xixia were very sincere, Yang Yuan still wanted to resolve the issue once and for all.

As long as the peace talks failed to produce any results, his military operations could continue.

Yang Yuan wanted to delay Xingqing Prefecture and cut off the connection between the Hetao Plain and the Hexi Corridor. After the Liu-Wu coalition forces took over the entire Hexi Corridor, he would turn around and deal with the Hetao Plain.

Therefore, Yang Yuan would neither reject the conditions proposed by Liu Shaoyin decisively nor agree to them readily. What he needed was a tactic of procrastination.

Therefore, Yang Yuan smiled and glanced at Han Jianjun: "Han Xuanyu, what do you think of Liu Shaoyin's proposal?"

Han Jianjun understood immediately. As the chief negotiator, Yang Yuan's words clearly showed that he was still dissatisfied with the conditions proposed by Western Xia.

Yang Yuan is still ruthless.

Han Jingbei wondered secretly, what else did he want to get from Xixia?
I'm not sure, and it's not convenient to ask right now.

But it doesn’t matter. Such an important negotiation cannot be settled in just a few words.

Then, Han Jianjun cleared his throat, nodded to Ren Dejing and Liu Sheng with a smile, and said with a cheerful face: "Today, at the Nine Crossings of the Yellow River, your envoys and ours had cordial and friendly consultations and exchanged opinions frankly."

This tone sounded familiar to Yang Yuan.

After all, it is an ancient country with thousands of years of civilization. Look at how comfortable this little poem is, it makes people feel comfortable listening to it.

"Thus, the mutual understanding between the two sides was enhanced, and the attitude of the Great White Kingdom was understood. For this, our envoy Yang Xuanfu and this envoy deeply appreciate it."

"We will fully consider the conditions you proposed, evaluate them with a cautious and enthusiastic attitude, and respond as soon as possible."

Look, he is indeed the hero who was famous in front of Donghua Gate.

Yang Yuan looked at Han Jingbei with admiration, thinking he was a talented person.

When Liu Sheng heard this, he knew that the envoys from Song State were not very satisfied with the conditions they proposed.

Liu Sheng's expression became a little stiff, and he smiled and said, "Of course, today is the first time we have met, so we do need to have more in-depth communication.

So, what do you need? I hope the two envoys from the Song Dynasty can also be frank and open. "

Now that he understood that Yang Yuan had no intention of expressing his opinion on the spot, Military Supervisor Han handled the situation with ease.

He stroked his beard and smiled, "Of course, of course. It is precisely because we see your sincerity that we want to consider it more carefully and seriously. We hope that the two countries can reach an agreement and implement it as soon as possible."

Han Jingbei smiled and said, "We have heard of Prime Minister Ren and Shaoyin Liu for a long time, and I feel honored to meet them today.

Now, the snow on the river has melted but the ice has not yet melted; the green mountains on both sides of the river are like the beginning of spring after winter, and it is a beautiful spring day. "

Han Jianjun turned to Yang Wanli who was standing with his sword on his shoulders and said, "Tingxiu, I know that you are very intelligent. Why don't you recite a poem on the spot to commemorate the people and events of today?"

As the old saying goes, “The wheels of diplomacy keep turning thanks to ambiguity.”

Seeing that Yang Yuan was not interested and it was not convenient for him to perform a solo, Han Moleng pulled Yang Wanli off the stage.

Ren Dejing had no leisure time to listen to their nonsense. Now that Yang Yuan was right in front of him, he had no idea how much pain he wanted to express.

But even if they met like this, there would still be no chance even if they talked ten more times. Ren Dejing suddenly said, "I want to talk to Yang Xuanfu alone."

"The young days hasten the greening..." After pretending to be humble, Yang Wanli paused as he was about to recite a poem.

Kaifeng Prefecture Shao Yin Liu Sheng was surprised and asked: "Prime Minister, you... want to talk to Yang Xuanfu alone?"

Ren Dejing nodded calmly: "You go over to the raft and ask Yang Xuanfu to come over."

Liu Sheng was shocked and said: "Prime Minister, you must not..."

Yang Yuan is a young man, and in order to understand this negotiating opponent, Xixia also conducted some investigation on him.

As for his martial arts skills, it is said that when he was on a diplomatic mission to the Jin Dynasty, he once, in the capacity of Grand Secretary of the Song Dynasty, violently beat up Kong Yanzhou, the King of Guangping of the Jin Dynasty, who was born a bandit, in front of the military, civilians and gentry of Yingzhou, outside the city of Yingzhou.

Now the two rafts are placed next to each other, and the guards around the prime minister are all top-notch masters of Yipintang, so safety is naturally guaranteed.

But if he and Yang Yuan were allowed to ride on a raft alone, and Yang Yuan attacked the prime minister, the Dabai Gao Kingdom would immediately be in civil strife.

Ren Dejing glanced at Liu Sheng coldly. His prestige was so great that Liu Sheng shuddered and immediately fell silent.

Yang Yuan frowned. He didn't know why the Western Xia Prime Minister wanted to talk to him alone. Considering Ren Dejing's status and position in the Western Xia Kingdom, it must be a very important and private matter.

Could it be that this former Tongpan of the Song Dynasty wanted to make a secret deal with the Song Dynasty without the knowledge of the Western Xia Emperor?
Yang Yuan was slightly tempted, but... he didn't want to negotiate with Xixia at all, no matter what conditions the other party proposed.

His goal is to disrupt the peace talks, and at the current stage it is to delay them.

In this case, there is no need to have a deeper communication with the other party.

Because Ren Dejing was equivalent to the "Emperor of Western Xia", he was more reluctant to abandon Western Xia than the Emperor of Western Xia. No matter what conditions he was willing to give, he would never hand over Western Xia.

Thinking of this, Yang Yuan also smiled and shook his head, expressing his objection: "Mr. Ren, this is inappropriate and against the rules."

Ren Dejing stared at Yang Yuan and suddenly smiled: "In negotiations, appropriate silence or delay is a wise tactical choice.

However, in order to successfully solve a problem, it is not only necessary to have the ability and strength to conquer others, but also to pay attention to listening and understanding in order to solve the problem once and for all.

Among these, the collection, organization and analysis of the other party's demand information is crucial. Are you sure you don't want to talk to me?"

Yang Yuan looked at Ren Dejing and his expression gradually changed.

Yang Shou, Yang Wanli and Han Jianjun, seeing Yang Yuan, who had been calm and composed since getting on the raft and had the upper hand in the negotiations, their pupils dilated in shock and their whole bodies couldn't help shaking.

Yang Shou frowned and looked at Ren Dejing with hostility. He was about to walk to Yang Yuan with his two hammers in hand when he heard Yang Yuan speak.

"When dealing with it on the spot, there should be at least two people accompanying us, right? To avoid shady operations that would make it difficult to explain later.

Moreover, one can play the good cop and the other the bad cop, making it easier to coordinate.”

Ren Dejing looked at Yang Yuan with tears in his eyes.

He looked at Yang Yuan and smiled, "You are a good student."

Yang Wanli felt the raft beneath him suddenly tremble. It was the vibration caused by Yang Yuan's sudden shock.

Yang Wanli looked at Yang Yuan in confusion.

Suddenly, the words spoken by the Western Xia prime minister and Yang Xuanfu became strange.

He could understand every word, but the choice of words and the style of conversation seemed very unfamiliar to him.

But the strange thing is that Yang Yuan and Ren Dejing's conversation styles are inexplicably similar.

Yang Yuan slowly stood up from the raft. His expression became extremely strange and his feet seemed a little unstable.

However, Prime Minister Ren on the opposite raft was still sitting there as steady as a rock.

"Okay...Okay, I...will talk to Prime Minister Ren alone."

The first word "OK" that Yang Yuan uttered was completely hoarse in his throat. He had to repeat it again so that people could hear it clearly.

"Yang Xuanfu..."

Military Supervisor Han also changed his expression. He was not afraid that Yang Yuan and Ren Dejing would have any private contact. Under the current circumstances, it was impossible for Yang Yuan to betray the Song Dynasty and sell out his country. It was very likely that the Prime Minister of Western Xia wanted to reach some secret deal with the Song Dynasty through Yang Yuan in order to preserve his personal interests.

But who knows?
What if the other party did something to the raft and hid some means to assassinate Yang Yuan?
If anything happened to Yang Yuan, this good situation would be ruined.

"No need to say any more!"

Suddenly, Yang Yuan also became extremely decisive.

With his insistence, everyone on Ren Dejing's raft finally moved to this side, while Yang Yuan went to the other side.

Because there were so many people on board at once, the waterline of the raft sank a lot. Even without a boatman to hold it, it drifted very slowly in the water.

Even the boatman of the raft where Ren Dejing was was driven over.

Only Yang Yuan and Ren Dejing were left sitting opposite each other on the raft.

Because there was no boatman to operate the raft, the raft drifted slowly along the current, drifting towards the huge ice block floating on the water downstream.

"who are you?"

When the raft drifted far enough and the people on the other raft could no longer hear their conversation, Yang Yuan immediately asked nervously.

Although Ren Dejing had a complicated expression, he was much calmer than Yang Yuan.

After all, Yang Yuan had just learned some things, while he had been mentally prepared for several years.

He just smiled faintly, looked at Yang Yuan with a complex expression that seemed to be hatred and resentment, and could not be explained clearly, and said faintly:
"When two sea kings meet, whoever is more ruthless becomes the king. It looks like you win, brother Yang Yuan, you have many wives~"

(End of this chapter)