Chapter 724: Divide and Rule
Hancheng Plain
After the military review ceremony, among the three-party peace talks group, Dali and Xianbei were obviously a little quieter.
On the Dali side, the peace negotiation group headed by Wang Yun was leading people to revise the peace negotiation plan.
There was no way out. Pingzhou’s military strength was too strong, and the other side definitely disagreed with their original plan.
They can only make more concessions.
Wang Yun was seen frowning, considering how to satisfy Pingzhou.
In the past two days, the three parties have not officially started negotiations, but are just waiting for the military review ceremony, which is a competition among the quality of the troops of the three forces.
Originally, he planned that if Dali could defeat Pingzhou in this military review, he would have some bargaining chips in his hands.
Unexpectedly, the quality of Pingzhou's soldiers was so high. They lost Dali, and Xianbei also lost.
Therefore, in the subsequent peace talks, they had no choice but to give in.
However, Wang Yun overturned the previous negotiation plan and made this concession decision, which made Fan Quan very dissatisfied.
Back then, Lv Desheng's tenure at the Hongsheng Restaurant had blocked his path to officialdom. He had been silent for six years, and had also worked very hard, hoping for a chance to redeem himself.
Now, the opportunity is right in front of him. He really wants to give it a try, and he is very confident that he can win this round in the verbal confrontation.
Fan Quan tried to persuade Wang Yun not to make major changes to the previous plan.
Wang Yun waved his hand and let him go.
Wang Yun knew that the three-party peace talks were not just a verbal exchange between the negotiators, but also a test of the overall strength of the various forces behind them. Dali's overall strength was inferior to others, so what was the use of Fan Quan's eloquence?
On the Xianbei side, Tuoba Jin could see that his father Khan was really envious of the bows and crossbows displayed in Pingzhou this time.
He thought that when he returned, he would ask Cao Huating to try and see if he could get a batch of bows and crossbows from Pingzhou. Oh, and their shields, which were also good things.
It’s a pity that Cao Huating didn’t come this time, otherwise he could have asked directly.
I did invite him, but he refused. The reason for his refusal was that he was Han Chinese, and appearing in an occasion like the tripartite peace talks would be detrimental to his activities in Pingzhou and Dali.
Tuoba Jin thought it made sense. Cao Huating was currently quite capable in his position. If he was affected, he would also be affected. So he did not force him.
Dali Station
Imperial Physician Lin was treating Song Mo inside.
Lin Ran came out of the imperial tent and went to the imperial kitchen.
As soon as he arrived, he heard people chatting inside. He recognized from their voices that the two people talking were a master and apprentice from the imperial kitchen.
"Xiao Ding, what are you looking at?" Master Li asked his apprentice, then looked in the direction his apprentice was looking, but didn't find anything unusual.
"Master, I'm looking at the totem on the Pingzhou flag."
Master Li said nonchalantly, "Isn't it just a big rooster? What's so good about it?"
Later in the morning, the rest of the Dali and Xianbei people were wondering what the meaning of the twelve young men and women from Pingzhou holding up a huge rooster flag during the military review was.
"Pingzhou's totem actually uses a rooster. I wonder what Governor Lu was thinking."
"Master, do you think it's possible that Governor Lu also knows that she is the one crowing at dawn..."
Upon hearing this, everyone present burst into laughter.
Bang!
Lin Ran kicked the gate open.
The loud noise stopped the laughter inside, and everyone in the imperial kitchen looked at the person who came.
Lin Ran asked them, "Have you laughed enough?"
"Commander Lin! We—"
"You are causing trouble for the Emperor! No matter what Lu Songli is like, he is still a powerful figure!"
The people present were scolded by Lin Ran so hard that they couldn't even raise their heads. Yes, she is a woman, and now she owns five or six states. What about them?
"You guys, do more work and less gossip in the future, otherwise you will get into trouble one day!" Lin Ran said, and then asked, "Where is the porridge made for the emperor? Give it to me!"
“Here—”
Lin Ran was walking back with the lunch box. Halfway through, he was grabbed by Xiang Tingyu, his third aunt's cousin.
Lin Ran looked at the man with red eyes and asked, "What's wrong with you?" This man was a nerd who was chosen to organize documents.
Xiang Tingyu handed the paper in his hand to Lin Ran, "Commander Lin, take a look at this picture."
Lin Ran looked down and saw a picture of Pingzhou's totem, a rooster. Xiang Tingyu drew a large circle around the rooster. "Commander Lin, I've discovered that the totem used by Pingzhou is an expanded version of the original Dali territory map."
Lin Ran understood. Pingzhou was taking over the territory of Dali and part of the territory of Xianbei?
"The totem of Pingzhou not only depicts the territories of the five or six states it owns, but also the entire territory of Dali and part of the Xianbei territory." Xiang Tingyu finished speaking in one breath, looking at the map with his hands on his hips and said, "Ambitious! Truly ambitious!"
Lin Ran had a blank expression on her face. Isn’t Pingzhou always like this?
"Commander Lin, do you think we should report this to the emperor?" Xiang Tingyu asked eagerly.
Lin Ran thought, should I tell the Emperor? He'd be vomiting blood if he heard that? What hatred and resentment are there? Why do they all want the Emperor dead?
But he could only vaguely say, "Let's talk about this later. Don't let it affect the peace talks."
The emperor’s life is also a life.
Xiang Tingyu nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you and put the overall situation first!"
…
On the fourth day of October, the tripartite peace talks officially began.
At noon, the Pingzhou negotiation team headed by Lu Desheng, the Dali negotiation team headed by Wang Yun, and the Xianbei negotiation team headed by Tuoba Jin arrived at the venue one after another.
The seats were also arranged in a triangle, and the three parties took their seats one after another.
Fan Quan was destined to be disappointed. He was completely useless in this peace talks.
Because Wang Yun had already set the tone, and in order to ensure that there were no mistakes on his side, Wang Yun also had someone add some ingredients to his meal.
As for Lu Desheng, he was ready to go, intending to pin Fan Quan and the Dali negotiation team to the ground as soon as he got on the field.
However, as soon as he came on stage and sat down, he glanced at the people on both sides, but did not see any trace of Fan Quan. Where was he?
Forget it, it doesn’t matter that Fan Quan is not here. He is well prepared anyway. It will be the same if all this firepower is directed at other negotiating members of Dali.
After making the decision, Lü Desheng looked at Wang Yun and Tuoba Jin with a sharp gaze and asked first, "How do you and the Xianbei want to negotiate this time? Also, when will you hand over the land in Pingzhou that you promised us?"
Wang Yun and Tuoba Jin: ...We haven't even started the talks yet? Are we asking them to give up their territory?
Wang Yun thought to himself that, just as Wang Heyu had said, the members of the Pingzhou negotiation team were all very difficult to deal with, with Lu Desheng being the most difficult.
Wang Yun was the first to respond, "Lord Lu, we at Dali will certainly honor our promises. Shall we first discuss our respective perspectives? After all, the purpose of peace talks is to reach a consensus."
"Okay, I understand what Dali means." After that, Lu Desheng asked Tuoba Jin, "What about you?"
Tuoba Jin replied, "Let's talk first. Don't worry, since we Xianbei have already said we are willing to give up the Northern Territory and Liang Province as bargaining chips for peace talks, we will definitely take them."
Lu Desheng: "Okay, then tell us your ideas and requests."
Wang Yun said: "We think that your Pingzhou is militarily strong, and we in Dali do not want to fight with you again."
Then, Tuoba Jin also replied, "We Xianbei are the same."
Lu Desheng, Lu Wei, Chen Yue and others were a little confused. Why did these words sound a bit cowardly?
After the last peace talks with Wang Heyu and others, they thought today would also be a tough battle, but such an opening left them confused.
Lu Desheng hummed, "So what?" It's still not certain what Dali and Xianbei are up to, let's wait and see.
"So let's cease fire and divide the land and rule it separately."
Well, Dali actually made such a big concession?
Lu Desheng, Lu Wei, Chen Yue and others looked at each other, feeling confused. In this peace talk, the opponent was unexpectedly timid.
Tuoba Jin followed closely behind, "We Xianbei also have the same idea."
"How do we draw the line?" Lu Desheng shook his head. If he couldn't figure it out, he would just give up thinking about it. Anyway, the current situation was beneficial to Pingzhou.
Wang Yun said, "We Dali will give up Yanzhou, but there is a condition."
Tuoba Jin: "We Xianbei will give up the northern border and Liangzhou in exchange for Jizhou with your Pingzhou. This is our sincerity, but we also have a condition."
Had the Dali and Xianbei reached a preliminary consensus? At this point, Lü Desheng and the others had already confirmed this.
He asked in a deep voice, "What are the conditions?"
Wang Yun: "I hope that after the war ends, Pingzhou will give up Qingzhou, and we, Dali, will give up Yanzhou."
Tuoba Jin: "The Xianbei will take over Jizhou."
Wang Yun explained their purpose, "We three parties will work together to establish a free trade zone consisting of three states, where the people of Dali, Pingzhou, and Xianbei can all trade with each other."
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