Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

You're lucky if you get any praise; you don't really have a choice!

With this mindset, literati, scholars, and renowned figures would wield their brushes and ink to express their praise.

However, at this very moment, a new military report arrived in the capital—

[With an army of 70,000, they attacked the Western Xia, taking advantage of their weakness. Together with Marquis Ningyuan, Gu Tingye, they launched a pincer attack, inflicting a great defeat on them and capturing Huizhou and Suizhou in succession.]

Slay the king and expand the territory!

It has both!

Almost immediately after the news spread, poems, lyrics, and essays, one after another, were published.

Poems and lyrics were recited, and famous works were constantly being written.

Even Su Zizhan, who was still in mourning for his father, wrote a poem to express his joy.

The top courtesans in brothels considered it a fashionable thing to do and would compete to discuss it with their guests.

Less than three days later, an even more explosive piece of news arrived.

The entire court was shaken.

Western Xia took the initiative to sue for peace!

Chapter 204 Xifeng's Peace Negotiations! (4k)

The first month of the first year of the Xifeng era.

Huizhou, the central military tent.

Armored soldiers raised their spears.

Each person stood solemnly every three steps.

In the main seat, Jiang Zhao had honey water in his mouth, his face was calm, and his eyes were peaceful and without any emotion.

Below the seat of self-reliant individuals, seats are divided into left and right.

On the left, the civil and military officials, led by Zhang Heng, Gu Tingye, Zhong E, and Bao Shun, all had solemn expressions and did not smile.

On the right, the Western Xia officials, led by Liang Yili, Weiming Manyu, and Xue Zongdao, had solemn expressions and were on high alert.

Besides them, there were dozens of officials from the Great Zhou and Western Xia who were not qualified to be seated, standing solemnly with their eyes fixed straight ahead.

After drinking the cup of honey water, gently set the bamboo cup down.

Jiang Zhao looked down and focused his gaze on a familiar face.

"Prime Minister Weiming, how have you been lately?" Jiang Zhao greeted him with a faint smile.

The king was killed in battle, throwing the Western Xia into chaos.

After about ten days, Li Liangzuo's seven-year-old only son, Li Bingchang, ascended the throne, and Empress Dowager Liang ruled from behind the curtain.

Liang Yili, one of the people in charge of the peace negotiations, was the younger brother of Empress Dowager Liang.

Given the political habits of the Western Xia, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Weiming Manyu's position as prime minister will be stripped sooner or later.

The one who took his place was Liang Yili.

In that case, how could Weiming Manyu possibly be good?

Sure enough, Wei Mingman's face suddenly darkened.

He was Li Liangzuo's cousin and also the prime minister.

When the king personally leads an expedition, the prime minister is naturally in charge of governance and maintaining the operation of the court.

Who would have thought that the king would be killed in battle?

When the young emperor ascended the throne and the empress dowager began ruling from behind the curtain, the situation of the old officials suddenly became dire.

Even the peace negotiations were not initiated by him, but by Liang Yili, the emperor's brother-in-law.

"Ha ha!"

Jiang Zhao shook his head and chuckled softly.

In the past, when the late emperor passed away, Wei Mingman went south to offer condolences, repeatedly referring to the "superior country" and "annual gifts," adopting a humble posture, yet not without a hint of coercion.

Looking at them now, they're nothing more than cheap imitations!

"Let's get down to business."

With his smile vanishing, Jiang Zhao looked toward the Western Xia side and slowly said, "The envoy seeks peace, but what he asks for is nothing more than the corpse of his king, prisoners, and a non-aggression pact, isn't it?"

The process of seeking peace on the frontier is not complicated.

Generally speaking, this means the losing side acknowledging defeat and humbly seeking peace.

Under the leadership of the victor, the victor presents the terms for peace talks, the loser bargains, and an agreement is reached eventually.

Essentially, it's just like bargaining among street vendors.

Liang Yili, Wei Mingmanyu, and Xue Zongdao exchanged glances.

After about three breaths, the emperor's brother-in-law, Liang Yili, tentatively asked, "And the issue of ceding Huizhou and Suizhou."

"Ok?"

Jiang Zhao glanced at it indifferently and said nonchalantly, "Is the envoy joking?"

The issue of ceding Huizhou and Suizhou was, to put it bluntly, that Western Xia still wanted to fight for the ownership of the two prefectures.

How could that be allowed?

Expanding territory on the frontier is a rare opportunity that requires careful consideration of timing, location, and human factors.

This time, if Li Liangzuo had not been unfortunately killed in battle and the Western Xia army had not been defeated and fled, he would not have been able to expand his territory a second time.

At the very least, if Li Liangzuo had not been killed in battle, the difficulty of expanding territory would have been much greater.

How could we possibly return the territory we so painstakingly expanded, the land we gained at the cost of the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers?

Not everyone is like Sima Guang!

Liang Yili sighed and made no comment.

He was just asking tentatively.

At that time, if anyone in the court asks about the issue of territorial cession, he will be able to answer.

"Minister Jiang, please state your terms," ​​Liang Yili said in a deep voice.

The more than 10,000 prisoners, the body of the king, and the non-aggression pact were all things that had to be redeemed.

Seeking peace proactively inevitably comes at an unimaginable cost.

However, even so, they had no choice but to seek peace.

The king was killed in battle, and the young king ascended the throne. The people of the Great Xia were filled with fear, and the civil and military officials were anxious and uneasy.

The desire for peace has reached its peak among everyone, from top to bottom.

Seeking peace is imperative!

"First, Western Xia must become a vassal state. Any ruler of Western Xia must be granted a title by the Emperor of the Great Zhou in order to be considered legitimate," Jiang Zhao said slowly.

This is an agreement that existed before.

The Qingli Peace Treaty, in which Western Xia became a vassal state, was based on a similar treaty.

It may not be important, but in Confucian societies, this is the thing that matters most.

It still needs to be emphasized.

Liang Yili nodded: "Okay."

"Second, Huizhou and Suizhou will henceforth be part of the Great Zhou territory. Therefore, the border troops should be allowed to build fortresses on the outskirts of Huizhou and Suizhou," Jiang Zhao continued.

After a few moments of contemplation, Liang Yi replied, "Okay."

Once the fortress was repaired, it became clear that retaking Huizhou and Suizhou would be extremely difficult.

Even so, we had no choice but to agree.

Who made the Great Xia the loser?

"Third, establish border markets to facilitate trade between the two countries and allow the Western Xia to trade tea, porcelain, silk and medicinal herbs in the form of camels, salt, ironware, grain and medicinal herbs."

This is an unequal trade in goods.

The designated traded goods, including salt, ironware, and grain, are typical strategic materials.

In comparison, tea, porcelain, and silk were far less important.

Is there any trade inequality? Are there any merchants trading?

The answer is yes!

Without exception, all the nobles of the Western Xia Dynasty were extremely fond of tea, porcelain, and silk.

Tea, in particular, was almost an integral part of daily life in the Western Xia Dynasty and was indispensable.

The beef, mutton, milk, and cheese in the diet of the Western Xia people were all greasy and difficult to digest, while tea could help to cut through the greasiness.

The key point is that the Western Xia people consumed a large amount of tea on a daily basis, but the Western Xia territory could hardly produce any tea, so they had to buy it from other countries.

This is why the "annual bestowal" specifically stipulated that tea should be bestowed.

Therefore, even if everyone knows that tea is not as important as salt, ironware, or grain, there will certainly be no shortage of merchants trading with it.

Ultimately, not everyone cares about the survival of the nation; those who want to enjoy tea should continue enjoying their tea.

The courtesan, oblivious to the sorrow of a fallen nation, is truly a reflection of human nature.

"can."

Liang Yili frowned, and after about ten breaths, nodded in agreement.

As a defeated nation, it was destined to sign some unequal treaties.

Jiang Zhao added, "In addition, the Western Xia is famous for its fine horses, and the Tangut horses are renowned throughout the world. The Western Xia must sell a thousand high-quality warhorses to the Great Zhou every year."

"This is impossible!"

Liang Yili was startled and subconsciously rejected the idea.

It should be noted that the Great Xia only produces three to four thousand high-quality warhorses annually.

Forced trade of a thousand high-quality warhorses—a quarter of them gone in one go! That's too ruthless!

Horses have always been a weakness of southern regimes.

Thanks to their superior horses, the Western Xia were able to repeatedly invade the surrounding borders.

During the Jiayou era, Dongzhan signed an alliance and began trading warhorses with the Great Zhou, which to some extent made up for this weakness.

If Great Xia also starts trading, this weakness will become smaller and smaller.

If this continues for too long, it may even cease to exist.

"Anything is possible," Jiang Zhao said with a faint smile.

"I'm afraid that won't work."

After hesitating for a few moments, Liang Yili still chose to refuse.

Warhorses are truly top-tier strategic resources.

It is no exaggeration to say that this matter concerns the fate of the nation.

If they were truly given warhorses, the Great Xia would likely never have a chance to recover.

Jiang Zhao noticed Liang Yili's concerns and looked down intently, saying meaningfully, "With the strength of Western Xia, can they really turn the tide of battle with just a thousand more warhorses?"

"Huh?" Liang Yili was taken aback.

The two looked at each other, and Jiang Zhao glanced sideways, looking towards the direction of the Liao Kingdom.

Warhorses are not for fighting the Western Xia!

With just a glance, Liang Yili's firm stance softened considerably.

Rough words are not rough.