Chapter 266 Fish Soup
On March 18, Emperor Zhao formally summoned the Jin envoy Wulinda Zanmo to the Wende Hall, along with Prime Minister Lu Haowen, four prime ministers, six secretaries, nine ministers, all censors from the rank of Zhongcheng of the Censorate, all scholars, all judges and directors of the court, all key officials directly under the provincial government, the Privy Council, and the imperial camp, all the left and right commanders of the imperial camp's central army, and all the commanders of the imperial capital city, all of whom were listed in the hall.
It can be said that the Song court put on the most solemn attitude possible just for the sake of a mere envoy from the Jin Kingdom.
However, this gesture did not make the Jin envoy Wulinda Zanmo feel that he was being treated with any courtesy... On the contrary, after receiving the notice from the Honglu Temple, this experienced diplomat realized that his mission would most likely end here.
The reason is very simple. If the Zhao Song government really wanted to negotiate peace, it would have allowed the people from the capital province, the Privy Council, the Ministry of Rites, and the Honglu Temple to discuss it in detail from beginning to end, and then they would have discussed it repeatedly before the formal meeting to draft the relevant terms, and they would even have been very particular about the etiquette in the palace and the format of the relevant documents.
And now that it's such a quick and formal summons, there's basically only one way to go: meet him in person for a while and then send him away.
However, having said that, as an important official of the Jin Dynasty, how could Wulin Da Zanmo not know the true mentality of the Jin Dynasty’s top leaders, and how could he not know what the mission of his trip was?
Therefore, this person just sighed but did not feel embarrassed.
When the two sides met, perhaps due to the influence of last year's war, Wulin Da Zanmo did not make any trouble with the etiquette and greeted each other directly according to the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. After the greetings, the conversation that followed was extremely direct.
"What are Nianhan's conditions?" Zhao Jiu said expressionlessly, going straight to the point.
"Guolun Bogile led the Grand Marshal (Nianhan) to temporarily take charge of the country's politics and military affairs under the order of the king (Wuqimai). Before the foreign ministers left, they did explain that the two countries had been fighting for a long time, with many casualties, and that God was merciful..."
"Just tell me the conditions directly." Zhao Jiu interrupted the other party without changing his expression.
"No conditions." Wulin Dazanmo stood in the hall with his head held high. "What Marshal Guolun Bogile meant is that although there was a winner and a loser in the battle of Yaoshan, at the root, it was just that the Song Dynasty defended Guanzhong, and the situation of the Jin Dynasty being strong and the Song Dynasty being weak remained unchanged... At this time, the Jin Dynasty's willingness to negotiate peace unconditionally is already a favor."
The five ministers all had stern expressions on their faces, and the civil and military officials around them were in an uproar, many of them unable to hold back and ready to step forward to refute.
"Well said." At this moment, the young official on the throne nodded. "At this time, Jin is strong and Song is weak. I agree with that... You come to say this in person, so that some young officials who are still immersed in the battle of Yaoshan can wake up. But Wulinda... your last name is Wulinda, right?"
"Yes." Wulinda Zanmo was stunned for a moment before he bowed his head. "I am from the Jurchen Wulinda clan."
"Wulin Daqing... I agree with you about the word strong and weak, but can this matter be judged by strength and weakness? No matter how strong the Jin Kingdom is now, is it as strong as it was four years ago? No matter how weak my side is, is it as weak as it was four years ago?" Zhao Jiu continued to face him calmly, with no expression. "Four years ago, I didn't want to make peace, why do I want to negotiate peace with you now?"
Wulinda Zanmo frowned for a moment: "Then your majesty, when do you think peace can be achieved? We can't keep fighting like this for the rest of our lives, can we?"
"It's easy to make peace. Yanshan is the boundary. Jin will become a vassal of Song, return all the people and gold and silver plundered from Bianliang, and kill Nianhan, Wuzhu, Talan, Xiyin, Huonu, Yinshuke, and Balisu to show sincerity... Then, peace will be possible." Zhao Jiu said slowly. "The Jurchens are a native ethnic group in Liao. After all, we are all brothers, sharing the same border. Once the war crimes of the high-level officials are cleared up, I am willing to accept you."
The hall was silent for four or five breaths. Not to mention Wulin Da Zanmo, even the people in the Song court were a little dazed. Only a few important officials who had followed the official for a long time glanced at the official's expression, and they were frightened and their faces became more serious.
"Your Majesty, don't joke..." Wulinda Zanmo suppressed his anger. "The Great Jin respects your Majesty's four years of hard work, so they came to negotiate peace, but your Majesty's response is not the serious words of a ruler of a country."
"This is serious talk." Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged. "This is my original intention."
"The only thing I can say is that Your Majesty is daydreaming!" Wulinda Zanmo immediately protested.
"It's just a daydream." Zhao Jiu remained calm and composed. "However, if you had told me about Nianhan's intention to attack Bianjing when you first came to this palace, I'm afraid all the civil and military officials in the palace would have thought that Nianhan was dreaming... But didn't Nianhan's dream come true? Then why do you say that my daydream can't come true?"
"Your Majesty." Wulinda Zanmo sighed and looked at him seriously. "The Great Jin is indeed sincere in negotiating peace this time. Even if it cannot be achieved for the time being, why must we force the words to this extent?"
"Wulin's answer shows his sincerity." Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking. "I also roughly understand what you mean... You mean, after the Jingkang Incident, the situation has been entangled for four or five years. After the Yaoshan Battle, although the Jin Kingdom still has the advantage militarily, it is also gradually declining. The people in the Jin Kingdom also realized that it is useless to continue fighting like this, so they are indeed in a state of negotiating peace. Although Nianhan, who is in power now, is also clear about it, he cannot show weakness easily because of the defeat of the Western Route Army and Wuqimai's stroke. He can only sign an unconditional ceasefire agreement to avoid the embarrassment of whether to send troops after this autumn. The situation may change. Either Nianhan stabilizes the situation, or one of the Wushu brothers, Wuqimai, or Talan regains power. By then, there may be a peace agreement with practical benefits. Is that what you mean?"
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