at this time.
Li Yuan, an envoy from the State of Chu, entered the imperial court with an air of arrogance.
He glanced at the Qin officials, and finally, with disdain, he looked at Ying Yuan, who was sitting high on the dragon throne, and simply clasped his fists and said, "Foreign minister Li Yuan greets the Emperor of Qin."
As soon as the words fell.
An Lushan, one of the four generals, immediately shouted angrily, "How dare you! You refuse to kneel before our emperor! Are all Chu people so unruly?"
He has a hot temper and gets angry easily.
So when he realized that Li Yuan was arrogant, he was the first to stand up and scold him.
Hearing this, Li Yuan remained calm. He stood with his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice, "I am a minister of the State of Chu. I only kneel before the Emperor of the Great Chu."
Cai Jing sneered, "One hundred and thirty years ago, Emperor Jing of Chu seemed to have knelt before the Emperor of Qi.
Why, you don't have the custom of officials kneeling, but you have the custom of the emperor kneeling?"
"you!"
Li Yuan first glared at Cai Jing fiercely, then took a deep breath, looked at Ying Yuan with gritted teeth, and said with a fist:
"Qin Emperor, is this how you treat your Qin State? This foreign minister has come with full sincerity, intending to discuss peace with your country.
If all the ministers of your country are like this, then from the perspective of foreign officials, there is no point in negotiating peace!"
He is very arrogant.
Even if Xiang Yan was defeated.
However, Qin's homeland has not yet been completely recovered.
From a big picture perspective, the State of Chu still has the initiative.
What's more, Li Yuan has already figured out the national strength of Qin.
Including the so-called four provincial governors, the armies under their command, and various other soldiers, there were only 600,000 at most.
And what about Da Chu?
The standing military force alone is nearly two million.
This does not include Xiang Yan's army.
Just based on the oppressive feeling of these two million troops, what can Qin use to fight back?
Moreover, the four provincial governors all had ulterior motives.
If war breaks out again, how could Qin be a match for Chu?
It is precisely because of this that he has full confidence that he can act arrogantly in the Qin State.
Sure enough, after he talked about the peace talks.
Everyone was silent.
Indeed, the national strength of Chu, both financially and militarily, was far superior to that of Qin.
Comparing the two is like a mayfly shaking a big tree.
There's no comparison at all.
Instead of negotiating peace, go to war with the State of Chu?
I really don't have much confidence.
"Since you want to negotiate peace, I wonder what conditions you, the Chu State, have?"
Qin Hui said with narrowed eyes.
Upon hearing this, Li Yuan said bluntly: "Our army will return Hangu Pass, but you, the Qin State, must pay tribute to our Chu State.
"Every year, you must pay sufficient annual tribute. This year, it is 30 million taels, and from now on, it will be 15 million taels each year."
As his voice fell.
Everyone in the court hall was extremely shocked.
It's really a huge opening.
but...
It's not unacceptable.
The annual tax revenue of the Qin Dynasty is about 60 million taels. If we live frugally, it is enough to pay this annual tribute.
The key is that as long as the full amount is paid for the first year, and Daqin has a chance to catch its breath, then you don't have to pay for the second and third years.
By that time, although the Qin State still could not compete with the Chu State, it would definitely not have a problem protecting itself.
Moreover, Hangu Pass is really too important to the Qin Dynasty. If it remains in the hands of the enemy, the Qin Dynasty will lose a barrier.
"There's no rush regarding the peace talks. I already know about it. Please ask the envoy to withdraw first. I will discuss the peace talks with the envoy again after I have discussed it with my ministers."
Ying Yuan said expressionlessly.
After Li Yuan bowed and left the court, Cai Jing and others said one after another:
"Your Majesty, regarding the peace talks, in my humble opinion, we can agree to them. As for the annual tribute, we can gradually hand it over to the State of Chu. As long as this gives Great Qin a chance to breathe, then we will definitely demand double the tribute back."
"Your Majesty, the national strength of Chu is far superior to that of Great Qin. If we continue to confront it head-on, I'm afraid it will be like an egg hitting a rock. Therefore, we still need to be more patient."
"If Chu sends more troops to Hangu Pass, the situation will be unfavorable to our Great Qin. Although Minister Cao is skilled in military operations, I'm afraid he will be somewhat overwhelmed by the powerful Chu."
"Given the current situation, Great Qin must not engage in any more major conflicts with Chu. Otherwise, Great Qin will inevitably face the danger of national destruction."
“…”
All the civil officials in the court feared the State of Chu like a tiger.
Although the generals haven't said anything yet, the meaning of their silence is already very clear.
That is, we really can't continue fighting with the State of Chu.
If we only compete with national strength, they can exhaust us.
The four provincial governors had different ideas.
But after hearing the advice of the ministers, they fell silent.
Indeed, the little property he had was far from enough to compete with the State of Chu.
Ying Yuan heard everyone's suggestions and summarized them in one point.
That is, we really cannot fight the State of Chu head-on.
Otherwise, if the fight goes on, it will definitely be Qin that loses the country.
To be honest, Cai Jing's opinion is the most pertinent.
First, he pretended to negotiate peace with the enemy, and then took Hangu Pass without bloodshed.
The content of the peace talks can be changed at any time.
As for the annual tribute, if you want to pay it, pay it. If you don’t want to pay it, just say you have no money.
If the State of Chu attacks again at that time, the worst that can happen is that the peace talks will fail.
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