Ruan Shihao signed the treaty decisively.

For him, things had come to this point, and there was nothing more to say. While the feeling of being completely manipulated was unpleasant, the advantage was that he didn't have to worry about anything. After all, the treaty was drafted by Qinghe, and whether to deny the debt was a matter for His Majesty the King and the Central Government. His only role was to take the blame.

Ruan Shihao spent several days touring Mengyang City, and even went out of the city to accompany Lin Hai to visit and inspect the Xiangyun capital which was under reconstruction.

After seeing the people of Qinghe using something called "cement" to build the new city walls and personally inspecting the steel reinforcement, Nguyen Thi Hao became extremely pessimistic about the Khmer army's invasion of Xiangyun Province again. He even wondered if he knew too much...

"Lord Ruan, don't worry. Your cousin is one of us. Even if you can't join us because of your identity, you are still half one of us. We have nothing to hide from our own people, and they don't have to worry about their safety." This is how Lin Hai explained.

Lin Hai felt that he was being very direct and honest, and he hoped that Ruan Shihao could feel his sincerity.

Ruan Shihao did feel it, but it was more than just sincerity.

As a bureaucrat, Ruan Shihao was adept at hearing unspoken messages: "You're only half one of us, not completely one of us," and "If you're one of us, you don't have to worry about safety. But if one day you're no longer one of us, then we should worry about safety."

Lin Hai never expected Ruan Shihao to think this way.

But even if he knew, he would not explain anything. After all, it was difficult for Lin Hai to say that he did not think so.

Nguyen Thi Hao lived a happy life for a full fifteen days. After fifteen days, Qinghe officially announced the end of the negotiations. The two parties had signed the contract and Nguyen Thi Hao, the plenipotentiary envoy of the Khmer Kingdom, would bring the Cambodian copy back to Bangkok. Qinghe would also send the contract to Zhongdu by express horse.

The treaty will be implemented after ratification by both royal families.

Lin Hai was not worried at all that the royal family of the Daliang Empire would not approve the contract. After all, judging from the content of the contract, Qinghe, representing the Daliang Empire, had the upper hand. More importantly, the empire had no way to open another front, whether it was against Cambodia or Qinghe.

Lin Hai also gave enough respect to the Khmer royal family.

The Qinghe side was the first to spread the news: the entire negotiation was extremely difficult. During the fifteen-day negotiation, the negotiators on both sides argued almost non-stop. The Khmer envoy Nguyen Thi Hao was outnumbered and argued with reason. He also keenly discovered several traps set by the Qinghe side during the negotiation.

Thanh Ha was enraged and threatened with force, but Lord Nguyen truly demonstrated the integrity and magnanimity of a diplomat and scholar. He remained calm even under threat of the axe. In response to Thanh Ha's threat, he simply said, "I can die, but Cambodia's interests must not be harmed."

Faced with the iron-willed Lord Nguyen, the rude and tyrannical Qinghe leader Lin Hai felt ashamed and finally had to approve this peace treaty which "should be of great benefit" to Cambodia.

This is what will definitely be tested in every exam later. You should remember the full text of the "Mongyang Peace Treaty between the Great Liang Empire and the Khmer Kingdom", abbreviated as "Mongyang Peace Treaty", without the teacher highlighting the key points.

In fact, if we look at the content, it seems that neither side has lost anything.

First of all, the Khmer Kingdom did not admit that it had launched a military invasion of Daliang when the Daliang Empire pacified Qitian Village. It only called it "the private behavior of local generals who were instigated and could not represent the kingdom." In view of the fact that the leader of the garrison had been killed in the melee, the Khmer king directly ordered the execution of his nine clans, which was considered to have settled the matter.

Regarding the ownership of Mengyang, Cambodia insisted that Mengyang was Cambodian territory. However, due to the armed conflict some time ago, the Cambodian troops stationed in Mengyang were completely wiped out, so they could only invite the Daliang Empire, which had been friendly with Cambodia for generations, to send troops to station there.

As for the governance of Mengyang, it is Cambodia's absolute sovereignty and Cambodia is unlikely to give it up. Therefore, the Cambodian Royal Government officially appointed Nguyen Bu Ping as the governor of Mengyang, who made great contributions to maintaining Mengyang's normal state after the previous governor died for his country.

From the perspective of the two countries' generations-long friendship, the Daliang Empire accepted the invitation of the Khmer Kingdom and formally sent Lieutenant General Lu You to lead troops to garrison Mengyang to help the Khmer Kingdom suppress the local rebellion. At the same time, in order to demonstrate Daliang's sincerity, Qinghe Bo Linhai and his Qinghe Army will withdraw from Mengyang and return to Qinghe after receiving the official order.

Of course, garrisons cost money, especially foreign garrisons, which could easily lead to conflicts with local people and native troops. Therefore, the Daliang Empire designated Qinghe County to continue the food (slaves) - pig iron trade with the Khmer Kingdom, but the Khmer Kingdom should make certain concessions on prices as compensation to the Daliang Empire.

At the same time, in order to prevent unexpected conflicts between the two armies, Cambodia should withdraw its troops south to the Jingdong-Daqima line, and the Daliang army should not leave the distance of thirty miles south of Mengyang City. The blank area in the middle is a demilitarized zone.

The security of the demilitarized zone is maintained by the yamen runners of Mengyang City, who are under the command of Mengyang Prefect Ruan Buping.

Everyone is happy.

When Ruan Shihao returned to Taijing City, he was treated like a hero.

But it wasn't a surprise. After all, Lin Hai had told him before they set out: "If you go back, they'll treat you like a hero. Just keep whatever you have. If anything unexpected happens, tell him and express your dissatisfaction. I'll send someone to confront him face to face."

When Ruan Shihao was still on the road, Taijing Station had already made full preparations for public opinion.

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