Chapter 533 Peace Talks (Part 2)
"emperor!"
"emperor!"
When Ning Yongnian slowly walked around the screen and appeared in the main hall, all the envoys from Daning immediately stood up and saluted with expressions of utmost respect.
However, the people on Dafeng's side behaved differently.
Someone secretly looked at Ning Yongnian with a fearful expression.
Some people glared with their eyes wide open and clenched their teeth.
Some people lowered their heads and said nothing, not knowing what they were thinking about.
Some people were trembling slightly, and seemed to be a little frightened. Of course, Li Qi was still looking silly, sitting at the first seat on one side of the long table, playing with the corner of his clothes.
As for Li Wutong, who was sitting next to him, her gaze was somewhat evasive, as if she didn't dare to look at Ning Yongnian.
“.”
“Crash!”
The sound of fluttering sleeves was loud. After Ning Yongnian sat down in the main seat, all the envoys from Daning also sat down with their sleeves folded.
"emperor."
A white-haired old man in purple clothes stood up unsteadily and bowed to look at Ning Yongnian.
This man's name was Sima Cong, and he held the official title of Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He was also the chief envoy to the Daning side in this peace talk.
The chief envoy of Dafeng was a civil official named Min Zhongguang.
“.”
The tall and empty hall was silent. Apart from the sound of people breathing, there was no other sound for a while.
"Um."
After a moment, Ning Yongnian nodded slightly without changing his expression.
Then, Sima Cong cleared his throat and spoke slowly, word by word: "Everyone, since the war between the two countries began, many people have been displaced and separated due to the war, and many innocent people have died. The people of the world have suffered."
"Both emperors do not want the people to suffer this disaster, so they are willing to resolve the dispute between the two countries with a benevolent heart, a peaceful way, and peaceful actions."
“.”
In any negotiation, the person who really makes the decision is often the one who speaks the least.
Normally, the subordinates will talk first, and if they really can't reach an agreement, the boss will make the final decision.
The same is true for the peace talks today.
Although Ning Yongnian and Li Qi were present, the specific details were basically "discussed" by Sima Cong and Min Zhongguang.
"Discuss" is of course a more euphemistic term.
As the victorious party on the battlefield, Daning certainly had an absolute advantage in the peace talks.
Simply put, Daning will put forward a total of five conditions.
As long as both sides can agree on these five conditions, Daning will withdraw its troops.
Like all "unequal treaties", the first condition naturally concerns the status and territory of the two countries.
"From the date of the signing of the treaty, Dafeng must respect Daning as the main country and cede Jiujiang Prefecture, Dangping Prefecture, Miyun Prefecture, Jiangxia Prefecture, and Sanchuan Prefecture. A total of five prefectures will be incorporated into the territory of Daning and will never be recovered."
“.”
Respect Da Ning as the master country and recognize Da Feng as the vassal state of the former.
And they also had to cede five prefectures.
Compared with many "unequal treaties" in previous lives, such a condition seems very harsh at first glance.
But in fact, Dafeng did not react too strongly to this.
Or maybe they were already mentally prepared.
It is normal to cede territory and seek peace after losing a war.
As for whether the five prefectures have a lot of land, Dafeng has a total of twenty-four prefectures. A prefecture is basically the same as a state in Daning in terms of area and population.
Of course, each prefecture is different. Some are important, while others are dispensable.
These five prefectures are all located on the border between the two countries and are not very prosperous.
Therefore, what Ning Yongnian asked for was not much and was even much lower than Dafeng’s previous expectations.
But even if I was secretly happy, I still had to do what I had to do.
"snort!"
After secretly exchanging a glance with Li Wutong, Min Zhongguang snorted coldly and said in indignation: "Master Sima! This is absolutely impossible!"
“.”
About half an hour later, the door of the hall was slowly pushed open halfway, and the cold wind mixed with snowflakes immediately squeezed into the hall.
An eunuch walked out of the hall holding a small note, handed the note to the ceremonial officer waiting outside, and then returned to the hall.
The ceremonial officer lowered his head to glance at the note, then nodded to the soldiers beside him.
“Ding! Ding! Ding!”
The next moment, a deafening drum sound rang out, dull and heavy.
There was an instant commotion outside the government office. The entire street was filled with people standing in the heavy snow, looking up and holding their breath, waiting for something.
Then they heard the calm but extremely clear voice of the ceremonial officer.
"Huai Ling Alliance, the first one!"
"The two countries have temporarily agreed that from the date of the signing of the treaty, Dafeng must respect Daning as the main country and cede Jiujiang Prefecture, Dangping Prefecture, Miyun Prefecture, Jiangxia Prefecture, a total of four prefectures to Daning's territory, and they can never be recovered!"
“.”
Under Ning Yongnian's deliberate arrangement, the negotiation progress of both parties was made public as soon as possible.
It is difficult to say for what purpose the former did so.
Anyway, it is difficult for the people of Dafeng to remain calm at this time.
Besides anger, the feeling is perhaps more of helplessness.
"Oh, how frustrating!"
"Why would the Emperor and the Princess agree to such conditions?"
"That's enough. It's not bad. It's only the land of four prefectures. It's not much."
"That's all?! This is my Dafeng territory!!"
"But the imperial court has lost the war. What else can it do except cede territory and seek peace? If the emperor does not agree, what do you think Ning Yongnian will do?"
"this"
"Huh? Why is our Huai Ling not among these four prefectures?"
"What? Do you still want to be Daning's running dog?!"
"Don't misunderstand me, my dear brother. I just find it strange. After all, Huailing Prefecture is also on the border between the two countries."
“.”
Soon, the crowd outside the government office began to talk with either indignation or sighing.
Regardless of their attitude, whether sad or sober, the negotiations in the hall will not be affected and will continue soon.
After discussing the territorial issue, the next thing will definitely be "compensation".
The "war reparations" were 500 million taels, to be paid within three years.
In addition, as a vassal state, Dafeng had to pay tribute to Daning every year with 20 million taels of silver, 10,000 fine horses, 10 million dan of fine grain, silk, cattle, sheep and other special products. Compared with "ceding land", "compensation" does not involve sovereignty issues, but the damage it causes to a country is more direct and fierce.
After all, the war in Daning cost a lot of money, and so did that in Dafeng.
And since the national treasury is already empty, these huge compensations can only be exploited from the common people.
By then, all kinds of complicated and harsh taxes will emerge one after another, and the people will suffer, which will cause Dafeng to enter a vicious cycle of declining national strength. Eventually, as one side gains while the other loses, Dafeng will no longer be a match for Daning. Everyone understands this truth.
Whether it is Min Zhongguang or Li Wutong, they are all very clear about the consequences of taking on such a huge "debt".
But what can I do if I don’t agree?
Therefore, in the absence of a conflict in the bottom lines of both parties, the issue of "compensation" was also discussed quickly.
Sima Cong still symbolically relaxed his tone and reduced the indemnity by 100 million taels.
After many unsuccessful attempts, Min Zhongguang finally had no choice but to accept this amount.
The indemnity is 400 million taels, to be paid in full within three years, and the other conditions remain unchanged . So far, two of the five conditions have been agreed upon.
These two points can be said to be both within Dafeng's expectations and within their acceptable range.
Even Li Qi, Ning Yongnian and Li Wutong did not say a single word during this process.
The former is to act dumb and not speak.
The latter two knew that it was not the time for them to speak yet. The heavy snow continued outside, and the voice of the ceremonial officer once again rang out in Huailing City.
And as Sima Cong calmly stated the third condition a moment later, the atmosphere in the hall finally became tense for the first time.
(End of this chapter)
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