Chapter 594 Asking the Emperor
"Governor, do you think Xie Zhan will agree to give Zhuozhou to our Pingzhou?" Xue Xu asked with some reluctance.
"No." Lu Songli's answer was clear and concise.
Xie Zhan should be able to sense the real intention of Pingzhou's attack on Donghai. Knowing this, how could he be willing to make additional concessions?
Moreover, after Xie Zhan returned to the court, he had a mother-in-law above him and could not make all the decisions.
Xie Zhan wanted to use the suppression of the southern rebellion as political capital to return to the court. They in Pingzhou could take advantage of this and put forward conditions for him to mediate with the emperor.
"If the conditions we propose exceed their bottom line, the Emperor of Dali will definitely not agree."
To cede Zhuozhou would touch Song Mo's bottom line.
Song Mo is a crazy person.
Even though Zhuozhou was exchanged for the land of Donghai, for Song Mo, it was ceded. Ceding Zhuozhou meant admitting that the imperial court was inferior to Pingzhou, which was more painful than killing him.
Therefore, the conditions for ceding Zhuozhou were just a smokescreen from the beginning to confuse Song Mo and Xie Zhan.
Xue Xu also understood.
Let’s go back to the East China Sea.
This negotiation was conducted in the presence of more than 200,000 soldiers.
Pingzhou was willing to use the two counties it had acquired in Donghai in exchange for people from all walks of life who were detained by the Dali court officials.
Among all the people, the one who was most deeply moved was the Sun family army led by Sun Congyi.
Ever since their Sun family army secretly surrendered to Pingzhou, Sun Congyi and others were most worried about their families far away in Chang'an.
The other day he received a letter from his father saying that most of the family had left Chang'an under the arrangement of Pingzhou, but his grandmother and other older generations chose to stay in Chang'an for the sake of the younger generations.
Sun Congyi knew that his grandmother and others were the most difficult to rescue.
He didn't expect that in order to rescue his grandmother and others, the governor was willing to exchange two counties with the Dali court.
Sun Congyi thought secretly that Pingzhou sacrificed two counties for them today, and in the future they would expand the territory for Pingzhou and capture more cities for Pingzhou!
After the negotiation results came out, Xie Zhan said he would write a letter to the emperor for instructions, a process that would take several days.
Qin Zhao and others understood.
Then, the three parties at the negotiation site dispersed and returned to their own tents.
But the army did not disperse and still maintained the appearance of being ready to fight at any time.
The King of Jin could not understand why Pingzhou was willing to exchange these two counties for those uncertain people.
Bai Xingzhi did not answer King Jin's questions.
It should be said that he has been silent since Qin Zhao stated the conditions for Pingzhou.
For talented people, it has always been their motto to learn the arts of literature and martial arts and then serve the emperor. He never thought that the emperor would make concessions for them, or even pay a heavy price.
When personal interests conflict with collective interests, someone will advise you to prioritize the overall situation. It is always the weaker individuals who give in and suffer injustice.
For example, this time, even if Pingzhou did not save these people, no one would say anything.
But Pingzhou was saved, even at the cost of giving up the two counties it had obtained.
A gentleman will die for his friend.
He felt that Pingzhou and Lu Songli really deserved a future with wise counselors as numerous as rain and brave generals as numerous as clouds.
As for Xie Zhan, he had already prepared a draft in his mind and was ready to write the memorial.
"Grand Governor, do you really want to agree to Pingzhou's conditions?" Jiang Boya asked hesitantly.
He had previously made a trip to Pingzhou to form an alliance and discovered that Pingzhou was truly full of talented people. Next, if they released the talents they had previously retained through various means, Pingzhou would truly be even more powerful.
Xie Zhan: "This is the minimum price we need to pay to take over the East China Sea."
Doesn't Xie Zhan know the importance of talent? He knows it, even if he didn't understand it before, he understands it now.
Jiang Boya was discouraged. Pingzhou was not an easy place to deal with. If he did not agree to their conditions, it would not be easy to take the two counties from them.
Xie Zhan added, "Pingzhou's move is equivalent to setting a trap for the Emperor and me."
The soldiers were exhausted from the rebellion war and were anxious to find peace. Pingzhou's willingness to trade two counties for talent, rather than resorting to war, was a welcome development for the soldiers.
If he and the emperor insisted on using force to retake the two counties, and there were heavy casualties, if someone instigated them, the soldiers would surely feel resentful.
After comprehensive consideration, Xie Zhan decided to agree to Pingzhou's conditions.
The achievements he made in the battle of Donghai were enough to make him look down upon the court.
"Will the Emperor agree?"
"The Emperor will."
Xie Zhan was confident that he could persuade Song Mo to release the hostages and facilitate the negotiation.
Song Mo did not attach much importance to talents. He always felt that Dali was a vast land with abundant resources and talented people. Talents were like leeks, plentiful and abundant.
Secondly, he could not resist the temptation to quell the entire rebellion south of the Central Plains in one fell swoop without paying any price.
In addition, once the war in the East China Sea is over, the troops deployed in the East China Sea can be transferred to the north to defend against the Xianbei.
There are many benefits.
After the memorial was written, Xie Zhan ordered someone to send it to Chang'an at an urgent speed of 800 miles.
So in the next few days, Xie Zhan, King Jin, Qin Zhao and others did not leave or withdraw their troops. Everyone defended on the spot and was wary of each other.
Song Mo was very angry when he received his memorial.
He was furious that the Sun family army had secretly defected to Pingzhou! He was about to punish the old lady Sun and the other old men!
Xie Zhan's memorial has arrived.
Song Mo only read Xie Zhan's memorial after Liang An's repeated persuasion.
Xie Zhan advised him in his memorial that these people were in Cao's camp but their hearts were with Han, and that keeping them in Dali would always be a hidden danger, because it was impossible to restrict their movements forever.
If Pingzhou had not exchanged land for people, the court could have used slow and steady methods to slowly make them change their minds.
Old Lady Sun and others are indeed hateful, but they are all elderly and dying people.
Of course the emperor could kill them, but killing them would not only allow him to vent his anger, but would also result in the loss of two counties and he would easily be branded as a tyrant, which was not worth it.
Xie Zhan advised people from these aspects.
If Your Majesty feels that this is too much to bear, I have a plan...
Xie Zhan suggested that the emperor grant amnesty in the name of suppressing the rebellion in the south, and even reduce some taxes appropriately in order to stabilize the south.
Xie Zhan believed that there must be some wavering people among these people, and their court could win over these people.
Therefore, in order to win over these talents, it is also to cause trouble for Pingzhou and destroy Pingzhou's plan to win over people.
Song Mo read the memorial three times and reluctantly agreed.
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