Chapter 247 Request for Negotiation
Houcheng is located at the junction of Dali and Xianbei grasslands. Both Dali and Xianbei stationed an army in their respective territories.
On this day, a small group of Xianbei soldiers on patrol discovered that a high platform was being built on the opposite side.
The Xianbei soldiers observed for a while and found that the other side had sent a team with weapons in hand, staring at them intently, as if to prevent them from launching a sneak attack, while another team was still building a platform.
The Xianbei soldiers didn't understand what the other side was doing, so they reported the situation.
The platform was quickly set up, and a burst of gongs and drums immediately attracted the other party's attention.
The soldiers on the Dali side shouted directly, "Xianbei barbarians over there, please ask your General Yuchi Rui to come out. Our county magistrate wants to speak to him!"
The highest-ranking general in the Xianbei army camp at present is Yuchi Rui. Since there is such a big commotion in Dalihou City, he naturally has to come out to take a look.
Lu Desheng climbed up to the observation tower.
Qin Yan followed him.
Among the four brothers of the Qin family, Qin Sheng is the best, followed by Qin Yan.
Le Guicai was below, directing the soldiers to take precautions and respond.
There was no high platform on the Xianbei side, so Yuchi Rui simply asked someone to bring a horse, and he rode on the horse, losing the battle but not the war!
Both sides are on high alert.
Lü Desheng called out, "Excuse me, is that General Yuchi Rui in front of you?"
The other party also replied, "I am Yuchi Rui. May I ask who you are?"
"I am Lü Desheng, the new magistrate of Houcheng County!"
"County Magistrate Lu, what do you mean?"
"I'm here this time to ask you to tell Tuoba Khan that our Dali Kingdom's Liaodong Commandery Houcheng negotiation team wants to talk to him."
Yuchi Rui frowned. The Dali Kingdom’s Liaodong Commandery’s Houcheng negotiation delegation? What the hell?
Before he could speak, the two deputy generals beside him spoke.
"Hahaha, is there no one left in Dali?"
"Does the Dali look down on us Xianbei? How dare you, a mere county magistrate, ask to speak with our Khan?"
Lu Desheng nodded to Le Guicai.
After a while, a person appeared on the platform.
Seeing the little Prince Tuoba Lian being hung up, he was still cursing in Xianbei language.
Yuchi Rui fell silent, and the deputy general's laughter also stopped abruptly.
The new Houcheng County Magistrate said he wants to negotiate. The other party is not qualified, but the other party has your life in his hands. Can you refuse to negotiate?
After making sure that the other party had seen Tuoba Lian clearly, at Lu Desheng's signal, the soldier guarding Tuoba Lian stuffed a rag back into his mouth.
"General Yuchi, our negotiating team is a bit low-ranking, but there's nothing we can do. We have to make do in a hurry. You Xianbei people only gave us five days, and higher-ranking officials can't make it."
Yuchi Rui took a deep breath. "We did give you five days, but it's only been three and a half days. You didn't wait for higher-level officials to arrive, but instead scheduled the negotiations for the fifth day? Do you believe that?"
"How do you want to talk?"
Lu Desheng: "The time for the negotiations is set for noon the day after tomorrow. We'll discuss the details then. Oh, by the way, Tuoba Khan doesn't have to come in person. He can also designate a negotiation team to come."
Yuchi Rui narrowed his eyes, "What if we don't agree to negotiate?"
Lu Desheng patted his face and said, "Little Prince Tuoba Lian, did you hear that? Your father, the Khan, and your Xianbei generals don't care whether you live or die."
“Mmmmm—”
When Tuoba Lian struggled, the Xianbei soldiers on the opposite side became agitated.
"Master Yuchi, tell your people not to act rashly, otherwise..."
As soon as Lu Desheng finished speaking, Le Guicai put the knife on Tuoba Lian's neck and used a little force. The knife entered the flesh and oozed out bright red blood.
"How dare you! Aren't you afraid that our Xianbei cavalry will flatten your Liaodong Commandery?"
"Go ahead, go ahead. We've lost Liaodong County and have no way to survive. Asking us to release them for nothing is out of the question." Lu Desheng said calmly, "At worst, we'll all die together! Anyway, we have little Prince Tuoba Lian buried with us, so that's enough."
Faced with such a tough Lu Desheng, Yuchi Rui quickly shouted to stop and ordered his soldiers to retreat a dozen feet to show submission.
"Come, send a message back to the royal court over eight hundred miles! Tell the Khan that Houcheng County Magistrate Lü Desheng wants to negotiate with us! The negotiation will be scheduled for noon two days from now." After saying this, Yuchi Rui immediately whispered to his archer, "Can you kill him?"
The burly fellow beside Yuchi Rui shook his head. "The lookout tower they've built is precisely calculated. It's just out of my range. Unless I'm a sharpshooter who can shoot accurately from a hundred paces away, I can't kill them."
Yuchi Rui could not hide his disappointment when he heard this.
Having achieved his goal, Lu Desheng smiled and said, "General Yuchi, I will be here in two days to welcome the negotiation team from the Xianbei royal court. Please be punctual, otherwise I don't know what bad things will happen."
"Don't worry, County Magistrate Lu!" Yuchi Rui gritted his teeth.
Then he watched the other side slowly and methodically evacuate.
Xianbei Royal Court
Tuoba Khan sat at the top, watching the people below arguing with each other.
"Dugu Zhong, if you say you don't want to fight this war, then where will we Xianbei put our dignity?"
"That's right. Little Prince Tuoba Lian was captured, and we Xianbei people didn't say anything. Will anyone be able to bully us in the future?"
"Don't be so nice, Helan Yan, He Ximing, you advocate war, isn't it because you want to avenge your sons?"
"Yes, you are too selfish. For your own selfish interests, you don't care about the life and death of the entire tribe!"
"So you mean you won't save little Prince Tuoba Lian?"
"You're talking nonsense! Of course we have to save the people, but we can't just start a war!"
"What's wrong with raising an army? Are we Xianbei people afraid of fighting?!"
"If we start a war now and leave the cattle and sheep behind, we'll miss out on spring grazing. What will our entire tribe eat and drink in the fall and winter?"
"Yes, you really should go down there and listen to the voices of our herdsmen!"
"If we have nothing to eat or drink, we can just go and rob the Han people! We've always done this in the past, so why can't we do it now?! After we've robbed Liaodong County, we can rob Dali's Xuantu County, Liaoxi County, Youpingbei County, and Yuyang County..."
"Do you think Dali is a soft persimmon that we can bully at will?!"
"Khan, please make your decision carefully."
Tuoba Khan on the throne did not speak. Did Tuoba Lian want to save him? He wanted to save him. After all, he was a son, an adult son who could be of great use.
But sending troops south? This is a difficult decision to make, and it must be done carefully. If it goes wrong, the tribe's winter survival will be in jeopardy.
Why don’t these people think about this? It’s true that they can go south to rob the Han people, but robbing requires skills. They have to study where they can rob and where they can’t rob. They can’t just act recklessly!
"Report!"
"What's the matter? Report it!"
"Khan, General Yuchi Rui has reported that the Magistrate of Dalihoucheng County, Lü Desheng, has kidnapped Prince Tuoba Lian and is demanding negotiations with us Xianbei! The negotiation will be held at noon two days from now."
Tuoba Khan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Everyone in the royal court was stunned.
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