Chapter 476 Preparing for Negotiations
Lu Desheng took a sip and said slowly, "Seventh Prince, you are not nervous at all after hearing this news."
Tuoba Lian was silent, mainly because talking was too tedious.
Lu Desheng was surprised. "You can still be so relaxed. I don't know where you get your confidence from. Do you think nothing will happen to you?"
"Have you ever considered that the conditions proposed by your father Khan are so outrageous? If the negotiations fail, you will be in danger. At the very least, you will lose an arm or a leg, or even your life."
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Lian, who had been indifferent until now, felt a tightness in his heart.
Lu Desheng looked at his expression and said, "You don't have any illusions about your father, the Khan, do you? Do you think he won't let anything happen to you?"
Tuoba Lian was wavering in his heart. His father, the Khan, wouldn't let anything happen to him, right? After all, he was his youngest son.
"Or do you think you can be compared with his grand ambitions?" Lu Desheng asked a soul-searching question.
Tuoba Lian: No.
"Besides, Tuoba Khan has seven sons, and you are not the only one. Even if you are gone, he still has six. Well, at his age, he should be able to have more children. It's a bit difficult to give birth to a series of them, but it should be no problem to give you a few younger brothers later." Lu Desheng's words meant only one thing, that is, Tuoba Khan had no shortage of sons.
By this time, Tuoba Lian's confidence had completely disappeared.
At this time, Lu Desheng slowly said, "Seventh Prince Tuoba, don't say we didn't give you a chance. You should have your own power in the Xianbei royal court, right? Why don't you take the initiative to contact them?"
"Your life is your own. If you don't save yourself, don't blame us for killing you when the time comes."
"We have a saying here: power expires when it's not used. The same goes for influence. If you lose your life, you lose everything. Your influence will be taken over by one of your brothers, right?" Lu Desheng said, shaking his head. "Pathetic."
At this time, Tuoba Lian stared at his tea and said, "I want to drink tea!"
Lü Desheng: ???
Lao Cao next to him quickly expressed his opinion, "Lord Lu, according to regulations, prisoners should be given water once every two hours." He did not abuse the prisoners.
No wonder Lao Cao was nervous, mainly because they had a clear regulation in Pingzhou that it was not allowed to abuse prisoners at will.
Tuoba Lian reiterated his request again.
Lu Desheng was surprised, "Okay, pour him a cup of tea."
"Three cups!" Tuoba Lian emphasized.
"Okay, three cups!" Satisfy him! Poor kid.
After drinking three cups of tea, Tuoba Lian finally couldn't drink any more. "Prepare me some paper and pen."
He wants to work hard for himself.
What Lu Desheng said just now was very true. His life is his own, and if it’s gone, it’s gone.
Lu Desheng: "Come here, bring paper and pen."
Tuoba Lian wrote the letter, gave it to Lu Desheng, and asked him to pass it on to his confidant.
"Don't worry, the letter will be delivered. We can't let you fail in your hands." He said this sincerely. Xiao Lianzi was a very good person. He really couldn't bear to kill him if the talks broke down.
After receiving the secret letter, Lu Desheng was satisfied and left without any regard for his relatives. He decided to discuss with his daughter how to make good use of this secret letter.
After Lu Desheng left, Tuoba Lian told Lao Cao, who was guarding him, that he wanted to go to the toilet.
"Let's go. Lazy donkeys poop a lot." Lao Cao muttered.
Tuoba Lian: ...I can bear it!
Tuoba Lian didn't say anything stubbornly because the people here didn't tolerate him at all.
The guard beside him asked curiously, "Lao Cao, he didn't scold you when you said that to him?"
"Let him curse, let him curse." Lao Cao said nonchalantly. He was not afraid of wasting his breath.
The guards gave him a thumbs-up.
Anyway, we only give him water every two hours, so he can complain if he wants. He deserves the dry mouth.
"Don't be unhappy, I didn't abuse you."
"After drinking the water, do you need to go to the toilet? I am satisfied with just taking care of you all day long. There is no need to do anything else."
Lao Cao muttered, "Because of your Xianbei invasion, everyone is busy, and I have to lend a hand occasionally."
Tuoba Lian now wants them to come to a conclusion quickly and let him go back. It’s too painful!
…
As if to prove their words, the Xianbei royal court captured the neighboring Dai County that same day.
Song Mo was shocked and angry.
Faced with the Xianbei's lion-like cry, everyone in the court was speechless.
It was impossible to agree to this, because to do so would mean ceding five states to Dali, which would be like cutting out one's heart.
But if we don't agree, the foreign army led by the Xianbei is now gathering in Yanmen and marching south is not just talk.
This question is too tricky, how should I decide?
"Ceding five states is absolutely impossible!" These are what Song Mo said.
Faced with the rude demands of the Xianbei royal court, Song Mo's attitude was unusually tough.
At this time, the Xianbei envoy said, "Don't you have a saying in Dali: 'Ask for a high price, pay low'? No matter what, we can negotiate."
After the Xianbei royal court proposed negotiations between the two sides, the Dali court agreed.
We should indeed talk. If we don't, we will have no choice but to go to war.
The location of the negotiations, under Zhang Xian's strong suggestion, was set in Youbeiping County, Youzhou. The reason was to facilitate the escort of the hostages. Otherwise, what if the hostages were kidnapped on the way to the negotiation site?
Zhang Xian’s words made sense, and Song Mo agreed.
The north of Youbeiping County borders the grassland, so the Xianbei people can also station their troops there, and the Xianbei royal court naturally has no objection.
The negotiation site was finally chosen as Youbeiping County, Youzhou.
When Lu Songli learned about it, she smiled slightly.
Youbeiping County currently has no government and is considered an area of power chaos.
Youbeiping County was connected to Liaoxi County in the southeast, the Xianbei Grassland in the north, and Youzhou Yuyang County in the west. No one could take advantage of it.
For the imperial court, now that the negotiation venue has been chosen, what's next? Who will be responsible for the negotiations? What is the court's bottom line in this negotiation?
There was a lot of noise in the court.
This was obviously a thankless job and no minister was willing to do it.
In addition, no minister dared to express his opinion easily.
Agree, that's five states, who dares to advocate for it? The minister who advocates for it will probably be cursed by the world as a traitor, a lackey, and a spineless person.
If I don't agree, I will be a criminal if the Xianbei army marches south.
It’s difficult, too difficult!
Finally, as a last resort, they came up with a compromise.
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