Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 79 Negotiation
Wang Qinian glanced at Lin Ruo and saw many emotions on his face.

The delegation stopped for a while, unloaded most of the food from the carriages, piled them on the side of the road, and distributed them to the garrison troops who remained behind.

The residents of Wuduhe Town watched anxiously, and only showed their joy when the delegation set off.

"In fact, these people should move to the outskirts of Cangzhou City. The imperial court has always wanted to build a large military camp here and guard it by the river. I'm afraid there will be many wars in the future." On the way out of the town, Wang Qinian said with a little concern.

Lin Ruo frowned slightly: "They live on the mountains and rivers. If they leave this area, they won't even have the basic ability to survive."

"Your Excellency is right. The imperial court cannot give them land, so it has never forced the residents of the town to move inland." Wang Qinian echoed.

Forcing residents who have been engaged in farming from the beginning to the end to change their livelihood in a short period of time is no different from taking their lives.

……

The delegation crossed the Wudu River and headed south along the coast. As the sun set, they finally saw the huge military camp complex.

The military camp was stationed along the Wudu River, facing the Northern Qi. The flag of the Qing Kingdom was at the top, fluttering in the wind, and the soldiers were in good order.

In just over a decade, the military strength of Qing had risen to a terrifying level. Even though the emperor of Qing no longer led the army in person, Northern Qi could still feel the pressure from this neighboring country.

A tall and dignified young officer led a group of soldiers and stood outside the camp to welcome the imperial delegation.

Obviously, he is not General Qin.

When the diplomatic envoys arrived, all soldiers in the barracks, regardless of their rank, had to welcome them. Qin Heng was not seen, which meant that he was not in the barracks.

"Mr. General, please come this way."

The soldiers had already arranged tents for the delegation and prepared sumptuous meals to entertain them.

"General Qin has gone out to gather intelligence and may not be back for a while." The speaker was Qin Heng's personal soldier, the tall officer outside the camp, named Zhao Can.

Xin Qiwu praised him: "General Qin does everything by himself, he is worthy of being a young hero."

Lin Ruo asked, "Hasn't Northern Qi and my Qing Kingdom already reached a truce and negotiated peace?"

"Northern Qi is very ambitious and may make a comeback. General Qin has always been on guard against this, so he will go out to explore from time to time." Zhao Can replied.

The three of them talked again. The Northern Qi garrison was stationed forty miles away from the river bank, and there had been no clear movements in recent days.

As for the wars among the surrounding vassal states, they were too far away from the Wudu River and it was impossible to get real-time intelligence.

"You gentlemen can take a break and adjust yourself tonight. The general said that the negotiation will be discussed tomorrow."

Zhao Can left after saying this.

After the meal, the officials of the Honglu Temple some rested in the tents, while others asked the soldiers to take them around the camp to see the style of the Qing army.

Lin Ruo did not stay in the camp and went to the main tent alone.

What he wanted to ask was simple: "What is the current situation of the enclave?"

Zhao Can was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile, "What is the General Envoy talking about?"

Lin Ruo shook his head in dissatisfaction: "Don't play dumb, now that I know, there's no need for you to fool me."

Zhao Can is good at fighting, but he is very bad at acting.

Lin Ruo looked fearless, which made him look even more out of control. He thought to himself that maybe His Majesty had brought news, but he would not tell anyone in the delegation. This matter had to be resolved secretly.

Besides, Your Majesty’s request is clear and it is impossible to change your mind.

Seeing that the envoy was alone, which meant that the delegation was not aware of the situation, Zhao Can felt relieved.

The delegation would certainly visit Yang Hui when they went north from Cangzhou, and he couldn't help but be certain that the person who leaked the information was Yang Hui.

"Your Excellency, please remember to keep this a secret. Your Majesty does not want more people to know about it."

"Tell me about the situation."

"The enclave is called Echeng. Urgent news came yesterday that the vassal states had broken through the south gate and almost half of the city fell. The general went out to deal with it early in the morning. The current situation is unclear." Zhao Can told the truth.

"Then it's most likely gone." Lin Ruo said directly.

Zhao Can seemed annoyed and sighed, "If we can control Echeng, it will not only become a hidden danger to the hinterland of Northern Qi, but also control Dongyi City in the east. It will undoubtedly be of great benefit to the situation in the northern border in the future."

Lin Ruo shook his head: "Without the support of Qing forces around, it's useless to capture it. It's only a matter of time before we throw it back."

Thinking of this, Zhao Can felt even more regretful and said, "So the general does not want the war to stop. Northern Qi is currently weak and incompetent and has no ability to resist the Qing army. Continuing the Northern Expedition will undoubtedly yield more results. At least it will be effortless to wipe out the vassal states around Echeng."

Lin Ruo had a different view: "Northern Qi was the common ruler of the world decades ago. How can it be destroyed in one blow? You generals are overthinking. The best way is to slowly sharpen the knife and nibble away at it step by step."

Zhao Can did not agree, thinking it was just a scholar's opinion. He was slightly dissatisfied that a scholar who had never set foot on the battlefield dared to point fingers at a military general like him.

Lin Ruo smiled, "You don't have to doubt me, because His Majesty thinks so too. If it were really possible to swallow up Northern Qi in one fell swoop, the court would not have agreed to it as soon as Northern Qi stopped fighting."

Zhao Can closed his mouth and said nothing.

Lin Ruo continued, "I don't care about these. The only thing the delegation is responsible for is negotiating one matter."

Zhao Can seemed to understand Lin Ruo's intention to bother, and answered: "Please rest assured, General Envoy, Northern Qi will not mention the enclave issue. This is a war between vassal states and does not involve the peace talks between the two sides."

"That's good."

……

Early the next morning, the delegation gathered in the main camp to discuss the negotiations.

In accordance with the court's request, after the negotiations, except for the remaining border troops, the Qing army withdrew to Cangzhou City.

Qin Heng, a young general of about 25 years old, sat in the main seat with a depressed look on his face. He was very unhappy with this decision.

What he expected, naturally, was to continue the dispute with Northern Qi and gain more benefits.

Since the war with Northern Qi broke out at the end of last year, the youngest general of Qing Kingdom has won victory after victory, gained great fame, and made Northern Qi miserable.

In his eyes, Northern Qi was like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, and it had no ability to compete with Qing.

The current leader of Northern Qi is the young Empress Dowager, who has just turned twenty years old.

Not to mention the four-year-old emperor sitting in front of the curtain. There was no reason for the Northern Qi to let him breathe.

Unfortunately, Your Majesty agreed to Northern Qi's request to stop the war.

"Let's set the negotiation location in my Qing camp. Please ask General Qin to inform the Northern Qi camp that if time permits, we can start the talks tomorrow." Xin Qiwu said as he sat in his seat.

The negotiations between the two countries involve the major issue of territorial division, which cannot be accomplished in a day or two. It is common for the negotiations to take a month.

However, Qing State is in the lead in this negotiation, and Xin Qiwu is confident that it will be concluded within five days.

Qin Heng responded calmly: "Don't worry, Lord Xin, I have already made arrangements for this matter." "Then I will trouble you, General Qin."

The negotiation location was arranged in a tent of moderate size in Qingying, without any special preparation. It was not known whether it was intended to provoke Northern Qi or to express General Qin's dissatisfaction with stopping the war.

The Northern Qi delegation consisted of about twenty people. They arrived at Qingying in the afternoon and started a standoff with officials from the Honglu Temple.

At the negotiation table, the Northern Qi officials looked defiant.

Outside the camp, Lin Ruo asked seriously, "Should I go in too?"

Xin Qiwu was tidying up his clothes and coughed, "My lord, please don't go in. Just leave the negotiation to our Honglu Temple. We will definitely complete the task successfully."

"Actually, I'm quite good at speaking." Lin Ruo said.

"Sir, negotiation has nothing to do with eloquence. Negotiation is about..." Xin Qiwu touched his face, "It's about this."

There were about forty people crammed into the small tent, separated by a long table with tea served on it. Both sides were engaged in intense eye contact.

The officials of Northern Qi were the first to fire, pointing at the shabby negotiation environment and angrily saying, "This is how the great Qing Kingdom entertains its envoys. How unreasonable!"

The officials of the Honglu Temple looked at each other and thought it was very simple, but they certainly could not admit it.

Xin Qiwu sneered and said, "Are you envoys? Please make sure you understand your identities. You are all envoys of surrender. Our Qing Kingdom never treats envoys of surrender with courtesy."

"What surrender envoy? We are clearly negotiating an armistice on equal terms," ​​said an official from Northern Qi.

"Since we are equal, why do you have to lower yourself to come to my Qingying to negotiate?" An official from the Honglu Temple retorted.

"Who said that your Qing Kingdom won? I, Northern Qi, care about the people of the world and do not want them to suffer. We have called for a truce out of kindness and justice. This is a noble cause that cannot be understood by you, the crude southern barbarians."

Xin Qiwu slapped his own face and said sarcastically, "You're still talking about righteousness. How shameless! When the troops come to the capital, I'll see if you can still talk about righteousness."

The only thing that Qing had to consider was to take, and to take as much as possible. But Northern Qi had to consider more, as they had to face irrefutable verbal attacks while ensuring that they did not lose too much profit.

"Qing Kingdom is threatening Northern Qi. It's shameless."

"What's wrong with threatening you? Not only will I threaten you, I will also beat you."

"You sent a young boy to be the chief envoy. Do you have no one else to use in the Qing Kingdom?"

"Ah, there is no one available. If it weren't for the face, we should send a pig, because you are worse than pigs."

Lin Ruo was outside listening to the words of both sides trying to undermine each other's morale, and suddenly felt that he had been violated for no reason.

It's too shameless. I won't listen.

"General Manager Lin, what's the situation inside?" Qin Heng came over to take a look from time to time.

Lin Ruo explained tactfully: "It's just the prelude stage, the main show hasn't started yet."

Qin Heng tilted his head and listened, and heard the fighting power of the two sides exploding with foul language.

He nodded as if he was relieved. As long as the two sides refused to give in to each other and could not reach an agreement through negotiations, there was still a chance that they would resume the war.

Seeing his expression, Lin Ruo knew what he was thinking and couldn't help but curse in his heart, saying that he was a war maniac.

Northern Qi will not start a war with you again. It is just talking big and will compromise later.

The Northern Qi Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, so it was not stingy with this insignificant piece of land.

What they didn't expect was that in the next ten years or so, dividing the land would become the norm.

Lin Ruo turned sideways and looked outside the camp. "Who is that person?"

In the direction that the Northern Qi army was coming from, there stood a man in plain clothes with a sword in his hand. Lin Ruo could clearly sense that this man had a strength no less than that of an eighth-grade warrior.

"Master He, a ninth-rank master from Northern Qi, just made a breakthrough a few days ago." Qin Heng explained simply, his face not looking very good, "He is in Echeng. If it weren't for this man's intervention, the city would definitely not have fallen so quickly."

Why are you still holding on to Oklahoma City? You are too obsessed...

"It seems that the Empress Dowager's younger brother, Marquis Changxin, is not here?" Lin Ruo had observed that this person was not among the officials from Northern Qi who participated in the negotiations.

Qin Heng said without hesitation: "He is about the same age as General Envoy Lin. He is just here to show off to the delegation. Naturally, he will not go there in person."

The discussion continued in the tent. Xin Qiwu said confidently, "According to the request of His Majesty the Emperor of Qing, 20,000 taels of gold, 5,000 pieces of silk, and a 10-li retreat from the border. Not a cent less is allowed. If Northern Qi can accept this, we can sign the agreement immediately."

After discussion, the officials of Northern Qi rejected some of the terms: "We can give you 20,000 taels of gold and 5,000 pieces of silk, but we cannot allow you to retreat ten miles from the border."

"In addition, if Qing can return the area along the Wudu River, Northern Qi can offer another 20,000 taels of gold in exchange."

"Bah, why should the land that Qing Kingdom conquered be returned? Come and grab it if you have the guts."

Seeing that the situation was about to develop in the direction of roguery again, the officials of Northern Qi deliberately suppressed their emotions and said, "30,000 taels of gold is the final bottom line."

The Northern Qi Dynasty succeeded the Northern Wei Dynasty. In terms of wealth, the current Qing Dynasty is far beyond its reach.

Therefore, being able to buy back the land with money can be considered as preserving basic face and being accountable to the people.

The Qing Kingdom naturally could not agree to this. As an important line of defense in the northern border in the future, Wudu River had been included in the garrison plan.

Their vision is not so narrow and they only focus on money.

"If Qing Kingdom does not agree, then Northern Qi will never back down." The Northern Qi official said the most courageous words since the beginning of the negotiations.

The purpose was to scare the officials of Qing, but the officials of Qing were not easily frightened. They told the Northern Qi official very calmly.

Northern Qi could disagree, but it had to be prepared to bear the consequences of war.

Since its establishment, Northern Qi has been suppressed by the Qing Kingdom in the south. At first, they thought it was a fluke, but as the war was lost step by step, their false face was exposed.

The negotiations between the two countries have completely broken down, and the original intention of restoring friendly relations between the two countries has been lost.

In the end, the first day of negotiations did not achieve what both parties wanted, and each side walked away in anger.

The officials of Northern Qi listened to the harsh words of the officials of Qing State and left the Qing camp with heavy hearts, thinking about how to respond.

The officials of the Honglu Temple seemed very relaxed. They believed that Northern Qi was just making a last-ditch effort and would agree to their demands in a few days.

What they had to do next was to maintain their power and take turns playing the red cop and the black cop to intimidate Northern Qi.

"How is the negotiation situation?" Qin Heng asked this question first.

Xin Qiwu's mouth was dry, and he chuckled, "Don't worry, General Qin, it's all according to the plan."

Hearing this, Qin Heng felt uneasy.

(End of this chapter)