Chapter 479 Formal Negotiations
Negotiations continue.
The Xianbei forced Dali to cede five states and return Tuoba Lian before they were willing to withdraw their troops and cease fire.
On the Dali side, they demanded that the Xianbei army withdraw unconditionally from Dali and sign a ten-year peace treaty. During the ten years, Tuoba Lian had to be held hostage in Chang'an.
Both sides reiterated their demands and refused to give in.
Lu Desheng threw the notebook aside and looked at the Xianbei negotiating group across from him with a stern tone, "Say it again? You really don't want to talk properly, do you?"
Tuoba Lian, who had just been roughly bandaged, shouted, "Uncle Wang, please talk to me properly and show your sincerity!"
Tuoba Yu: ...
They felt the threat from Lu Desheng.
So, the Xianbei royal court hesitated for a while, and finally decided to give in. "Then let's cede four states. We will give up Liangzhou and take Beijing, Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Pingzhou."
The Xianbei negotiation team felt that they were very sincere after giving up from five states to four states in one go.
Lu Desheng looked at Prince Gong, Lin Ran, Zuo Anmin and others, "What about us?"
Prince Gong said nothing.
Lin Ran was obviously there just to make up the numbers and was indifferent to the progress of the negotiations.
Zuo Anmin was obviously just enjoying the show.
Lu Desheng knocked on the table. These people really had no self-awareness at all. "If no one compromises, there will be no negotiation."
Damn, it's like two stubborn bulls. If I have to suppress one, I have to suppress the other one too. It's so tiring.
Prince Gong pondered for a moment and said, "This negotiation is entirely up to you."
This means letting him make his own decision.
Lu Desheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
He looked at Prince Gong, and Prince Gong turned his face away.
"Four states are too many." Lu Desheng went to talk to the Xianbei negotiation team.
"Don't be so quick to refute me. I admit that your Xianbei army is very brave and capable of fighting. However, of these four states, you have only occupied three counties. Now you are asking Dali to cede more than a dozen cities and counties that you may not be able to capture in advance. Isn't that too much?"
Lu Desheng controlled the whole game.
The Xianbei negotiating team whispered to each other again, and then said, "Three states, our bottom line is three states, any less and there's no room for negotiation!"
Tuoba Yu emphasized.
Lu Desheng was very calm and just thought they were talking nonsense.
"You Xianbei people refuse to give in at all. May I ask, what is the value of Tuoba Lian?"
This time it was Tuoba Xun who spoke, "His value is to create an opportunity for negotiation for you Dali."
Lu Desheng smiled and asked, "Are you sure? I think this opportunity is given to both parties."
"We in Dali certainly don't want war. You Xianbei nobles like to fight, but what about the nomadic herders below? What about their parents, wives, and children? Do they also like war? Are they willing to fight? You know, war means death. When people die, they lose everything."
"Now, if you lower your demands and take the benefits for free, it may not be worse than taking a little more benefits after many people die."
Lu Desheng's words caused the Xianbei negotiation team to whisper to each other again.
Looking at Lu Desheng who was trying hard to negotiate, Prince Gong lowered his eyes. Alas, he knew nothing.
"What Lu Desheng said makes sense."
After the Xianbei negotiating team whispered to each other for a while, Tuoba Yu spoke again, "Two states, not even an inch less of land!"
Seeing that Lu Desheng was about to speak, Tuoba Yu quickly said, "If you don't agree, we can only take it ourselves."
Tuoba Yu threatened, "If you take it yourself, you will only take more."
"Now, cede two states to us, and we will withdraw from Jinyang, Yanmen, and Daijun depending on the situation."
In fact, if we look at the Xianbei’s demands from another perspective, they have occupied three counties, which is a small state. Now it is equivalent to withdrawing their troops if they want one more state.
Their request was to exchange the cities they had captured for one place and give them a state as compensation for their withdrawal. If Dali agreed, they could sign a treaty prohibiting invasion of the south for ten years.
As for Dali's request, Tuoba Lian needed to be a hostage in Chang'an during these ten years.
The Xianbei negotiation team tried to fight for it, but gave up when they found that the Dali side did not agree.
The Xianbei royal court did not care about Tuoba Lian's whereabouts, as long as he was alive. It did not matter whether he was sent to Chang'an as a hostage or released back to Xianbei.
Lu Desheng knew that this was the Xianbei's bottom line and that they would not give in any further. This was also anticipated during their previous simulation analysis.
It's a shame, but he tried his best.
It is still unknown how many years the ten-year agreement can last. Perhaps after the Xianbei have digested these two states, they will invade the south again.
However, from another perspective, the signing of this treaty has also won Dali several years of development time, which is already very good.
For Dali, through this negotiation, Lü Desheng was able to reduce the Xianbei's demand for the cession of five states to only two states. No one can say that Lü Desheng did not try his best this time.
If Dali doesn't want to go to war, this is the smallest price it has to pay.
Prince Gong and others also knew that Lu Desheng was very impressive in negotiating such conditions.
At this time Tuoba Yu said, "If you have no objection to this condition, let's talk about the states that you, Dali, need to cede." The Xianbei people are quick to act and do not like to drag their feet.
Prince Gong asked tentatively, "Which two states do you Xianbei want?"
"We want Pingzhou and Youzhou!" Tuoba Yu said firmly.
They were willing to come to negotiate with the intention of taking Pingzhou into their own hands.
Deng Fangyi, the governor of Youzhou who was sitting nearby, felt dizzy when he heard this.
The governor of Bingzhou was delighted. His two counties were back. The Xianbei didn't want Bingzhou. Could he continue to be the governor of Bingzhou?
The highest officials of the five states that the Xianbei mentioned to cede all came, but the chief officials of the northern border and Liangzhou did not attend the negotiations because they were too far away.
"Impossible!" Lu Desheng was the first to object. Damn it, he had worked so hard to preside over the negotiations, and in the end, he was going to cede his Pingzhou?
Tuoba Xun slammed the table and said, "This is not acceptable, and that is not acceptable. Do you Dali people want to continue the war?"
Prince Gong pressed Lü Desheng, "Prince Tuoba, we in Dali have no objection to this negotiation outcome."
Lu Desheng: "I don't agree to this condition."
Tuoba Yu looked at Prince Gong and asked, "What do you Dali say?"
Pingzhou held a hostage, so his words carried weight. Furthermore, it was Lü Desheng who had been in charge of the negotiations, so Tuoba Yu didn't dare to take Lü Desheng's words lightly.
"Lü Desheng, stop making trouble. The negotiations you presided over were a failure. It's a good thing the court doesn't hold you responsible. Besides, Pingzhou belongs to Dali, and the court has the right to dispose of it."
Lu Desheng sneered. He changed the Xianbei's demands from ceding five states to ceding two states. Is this called a failure?
As for Dali’s request, no one can succeed no matter who comes to negotiate!
What did Dali have? The five armies of the Xianbei invaded Dali from the south, and Jinyang, Yanmen, Youbeiping County, and Dai County fell one after another. The only place they managed to hold on was their Daping Prefecture.
In such a situation, what right did Dali have to refuse to give in? Just relying on Tuoba Lian? Tuoba Khan had no shortage of sons.
"Anyway, I don't agree!"
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