"What's wrong?"
Li Yuanhao was startled and quickly turned his head to look to the east.
On the top of the mountain in the east, countless figures appeared faintly in the falling winter snow.
Although it was difficult to see clearly what was over there, one could tell with a simple guess that the Song army must have occupied the top of the mountain and might be installing cannons.
"How could this happen? How did the Song army get to that mountain over there?"
Li Yuanhao was shocked.
It was impossible for the Song army to take a detour, as there were mountains for a hundred miles to the east and no road for them to take.
As for going to Dongshan right under their noses, that is even more impossible.
"Could it be that the Song army has heavenly soldiers?"
The other generals were also shocked.
Little did they know that Jia Kui had come here from a small road north of Lanzhou that took a detour of hundreds of kilometers.
Just as everyone was at a loss, Jia Kui said to the surrounding artillerymen on the distant mountain: "Are you ready?"
"General, it's already been installed."
"Give him a fucking blast."
"yes!"
Immediately, an artillery team began loading ammunition.
Then ignite and launch.
"Bang!"
There was a loud bang.
More than ten miles away, on top of the mountains, a black iron egg drew a perfect parabola in the air.
Then, in the sight of everyone, it landed in just a few seconds and headed straight towards the east gate of Zhuo Luo.
"Bang!"
There was another loud bang, and the shells hit the city wall. Although the city wall did not collapse in an instant, the entire East City Gate seemed to have an earthquake, and the soldiers on it could feel the vibration coming from under their feet.
And that cannonball was embedded in the city wall!
All the soldiers in the city were staring at this scene in amazement, and the city was silent.
Only Li Yuanhao's face, which was originally ashen, turned blue and purple. After a long time, he squeezed out a few words from between his teeth and said, "Call Atuo."
Atuo was from the Miqin clan. He was the deputy chief eunuch in Li Yuanhao's palace and also the envoy on this mission.
He came in a hurry.
Li Yuanhao dismissed the surrounding generals and addressed him alone, "Leave the city and go to the Song camp. Tell Yang Xie that Daxia is willing to provide 3,000 cattle, 5,000 sheep, 800 war horses, and 1,000 camels every year in exchange for the withdrawal of the Song army."
"yes."
Mi Qin Atuo quickly bowed in agreement.
When the south city gate was opened, Mi Qin Atuo led the diplomatic delegation to the Song camp again as an envoy.
The Song army had already set up camp outside the south city, with tents everywhere.
Mi Qin Atuo's delegation waited in the wind and snow outside the village for almost half an hour before they were allowed in.
Yang Xie saw him in the tent of the Song camp commander and said calmly, "I'm sorry to have kept Envoy Xia waiting for a long time. I'm busy with official duties and am mobilizing troops to prepare for the attack on the city. I've neglected Envoy Xia."
This was a sarcastic remark, but Miqin Atuo didn't dare to find fault with it. He quickly said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. The commander is busy with official duties. I am sorry for disturbing you."
"hehe."
Seeing his respectful attitude, Yang Xie smiled and said, "What's the purpose of the Xia envoy coming again? Didn't I tell you that if I can't teach you a lesson for your Xixia invasion, how can I explain it to the court?"
Mi Qin Atuo immediately bowed and said, "Commander-in-Chief, our king has never intended to invade the Song Dynasty's borders. This is a misunderstanding. To appease the Song Dynasty's anger, the king is willing to offer 800 cattle, 2,000 sheep, 300 war horses, and 500 camels in exchange for the Song Dynasty's withdrawal."
"oh?"
Yang Xie raised his eyelids and asked, "You think you can get the Song Dynasty to withdraw its troops just with this little bit of money?"
"Of course not."
Mi Qin Atuo said hurriedly: "It is an annual tribute to the Song Dynasty."
These things may not seem like much, but considering the price, they are actually quite a lot.
In the Song Dynasty, the price of a cow was generally around 5-7 guan, and a war horse was much more expensive. By the reign of Emperor Renzong, the price had reached one or two hundred guan per horse.
The value of sheep and camels was between 1-3 strings of cash and 20-40 strings of cash respectively, so all things added up, the conditions given by Li Yuanhao were almost an annual tribute of 200,000 strings of cash.
However, such things naturally require bargaining, mainly because after the defeat of Western Xia, the contract signed by Li Yuanhao included an agreement to provide a thousand sheep, five hundred cattle, five hundred war horses, and three hundred camels.
However, Zhao Zhen had to maintain the tribute system, so no matter how much Li Yuanhao gave him, he would give something in return.
Now it is a war compensation, so naturally there will be no return gift. As an envoy, Mi Qin Atuo will naturally try to lower the price as much as possible to recover some losses for Daxia.
"snort!"
After hearing this, Yang Xie slammed the table in anger and shouted, "You are sending beggars! You have invaded our borders and cost the Song Dynasty such a huge military expenditure. You don't want to pay compensation, right? Then we will make you pay for it!"
"Master Si, calm down! Master Si, calm down!"
Mi Qin Atuo bowed repeatedly and said, "General, you know that my country, Xixia, is small and poor, far less wealthy than the Song Dynasty. How can we afford such a high price? I beg you to be more tolerant of my small country and its small population."
He was also educated, otherwise he would not have been sent as an envoy by Li Yuanhao.
Seeing him bow repeatedly, Yang Xie pretended to calm down and said calmly, "Since you are a small country with few people, you should abide by the law and never recklessly resort to war. Haven't you heard that 'a country that is small but does not humble itself, a country with little strength but does not fear the strong, a country that is rude but insults its powerful neighbors, a country that is greedy and stubborn but does not make good friends, will eventually perish'?"
"Yes, yes, yes."
Mi Qin Atuo said respectfully, "As long as the Song Dynasty is willing to withdraw its troops, Your Majesty will never dare to resort to war again."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
