Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 554 Multi-party talks
The second round of talks was scheduled for three days later, mainly because the fight was so brutal that almost everyone was injured. It would have seemed a bit too disgraceful if the talks were not longer enough.

After this round of group fighting, everyone seemed to have calmed down a bit, and began to be gentle and easy-going when talking. The atmosphere of the first day was still there, but it had changed from being tense to a verbal battle.

Xia Lin was still sitting in the main seat, leaning against the chair, with one hand on the armrest and the other on the table, listening with a smile on his face as they discussed how to divide Western Turkestan.

Naturally, the Western Turkic delegation was not willing to be outdone. From the threat of force to political blackmail, Xia Lin was also enlightened. He had attended similar negotiation projects at the United Nations General Assembly, but the level of the white people was hard to describe. How to say it, if this group of people were allowed to go to the United Nations for a meeting, if the strength was matched, they would be able to overturn all the white people.

Judging from the results of the negotiations, the Eastern Turks wanted land, the Tang wanted resources, and the Wei wanted money. It can be seen that these people had a clear purpose: they would come to the Western Turks to make up for whatever they lacked.

But Xia Lin definitely could not agree to this. He still needed the Western Turks to contain the Eastern Turks. Otherwise, given the behavior of those people in the country, without the Western Turks, the Eastern Turks would grow into gluttonous beasts within five years. By then, the orthodox barbarians would move south, and that would not be a fun thing at all.

To be honest, it is difficult to expand Fuliang's armaments. About 100,000 to 140,000 is the limit. One reason is that the resources cannot support it, and the other is that the production capacity cannot keep up.

You know, even if the armaments are expanded to the maximum of 200,000, it is nothing but a pipe dream to contain the war over millions of square kilometers at the current marching efficiency.

What Xia Lin has to face is not only external threats, but also the modified Central Plains system, the terrifying warlord separatism and peasant uprisings that may explode from time to time.

Therefore, the Western Turks cannot die, and they cannot die at the hands of the Eastern Turks.

So when the negotiations reached a tense stage, Xia Lin spoke up: "Ashina Khan, I am very curious why you suddenly launched an attack on Chang'an. This is not in the current interests of the Western Turks."

This sentence was a secret code. If Ashina didn't understand it, it meant he deserved to die. And someone who could be the Khan for so many years couldn't be a loser, so he understood Xia Lin's meaning at the first moment.

So he stood up, blushing and began to explain: "In fact, I have no intention of attacking the Central Plains. In my eyes, there is only my hometown, the royal court that I have been away from for a long time. It's just..."

He paused here and looked towards Fang Xuanling's delegation. This look made everyone in the Tang Dynasty delegation feel a pang in their hearts. Their first instinctive reaction was that this guy was going to destroy the unspoken rules that they had been following for so long.

"It's just that someone made an offer that I can't refuse." Ashina Khan's voice was rhythmic. He spoke Chinese very well, and his Turkic accent made it sound particularly high-pitched. "This should have been a war that was sure to win. I got one-third of it, and someone took 70%."

Everyone in the room immediately turned their eyes to Fang Xuanling's delegation. Many people smiled with a kind of "as expected" enlightenment, while Xia Lin raised his head and said, "Then please tell us in detail, Khan."

Ashina Khan sneered: "The Central Plains and the grasslands have been neighbors for thousands of years. I believe they all understand the ins and outs of this. I am just a sword in their hands, a bargaining chip they use to negotiate with the king. I don't want to say who it is now, but I believe you all have an idea in your mind."

Then he placed his hands on the table and said with the dignity of an emperor and a tone of neither servility nor arrogance: "I can lose on the battlefield, and I can afford to lose, but in battle, the glory of the Turks cannot be insulted. I came here only to make peace with General Xia who defeated me fairly, not to fight with those villains who hide in the dark and whisper. I cannot agree to it, and neither can the 120,000 Turkic cavalry!"

His words were very tough, and his attitude actually meant "I, a Turkic man, can lose and can afford to lose, but you people who want to bully me are not worthy! You can fight to the death or perish together, he is not afraid."

At the same time, he also pushed the core of the conflict onto Xia Lin. His meaning was very clear. He lost the fight and he should pay compensation, but he lost to the cavalry general Xia Daosheng instead of these literati behind the horse. He only admitted compensation to Xia Lin. If other people wanted to cheat him, forget it.

It is said that a weak country has no diplomacy, but the key point is that the Western Turks are really not weak. In the current situation, if they provoke everyone and fight to the death, no matter which side they are on, they can fight back. Just like a tiger will not easily provoke a 600-pound wild boar. It's not that it can't beat it, but even if a tiger is injured, it will be in danger in the dense forest.

Someone here was thinking, why not just ask Xia Daosheng to beat him?

Grandma! That's a good idea. These people come here to share the meat and drink the soup. What does Xia Lin want from working for them for nothing? You should know that Xia Lin is no one's subject. He obeys orders but not announcements in Wei and neither does in Tang. He is just a warlord. They ride on his head to grab the meat and expect him to come out to protect the country?

Xia Lin did not speak at this moment, still sitting there with that arrogant posture. The scene was extremely quiet for a moment, and everyone's eyes immediately shifted from the Tang envoys to Xia Lin.

"Don't look at me. Just make any demands you want." Xia Lin spread his hands. "You are the ones who negotiate, not me. I have no objection. I am only responsible for defending the country from the enemy. You didn't intend to ask me to intervene in the rest of the matter."

oh well...

The threat was very obvious. Xia Lin almost pointed at the envoys' noses and said, "We use people to move forward instead of backward. Now, you are so awesome that you go and fight against the hundreds of thousands of elite Western Turks. Maybe I will respect him as a man and return all the food, fodder, horses and weapons to him when the time comes."

Looking at the murderous Ashina Khan and Xia Lin who was standing by and watching, several members of the ambassadorial delegation immediately began to whisper to each other.

After a while, Fang Xuanling spoke first: "I hope that Ashina Khan and General Xia can give us some time to deal with this matter. This matter is of great importance. I need to report to His Majesty first."

The Wei envoys left the scene directly. The old man, the top master of the Zongheng family, understood everything after seeing Xia Lin's performance. Who studied this little thing? He was so cunning at such a young age. It didn't matter that they couldn't get the thing, because other families couldn't get it either. Xia Lin got it, and in the end, didn't he build the Jiangnan Road? Where is the Jiangnan Road? It was the last backbone of the Wei Dynasty, and the meat was rotten in the pot. So he announced his retirement with satisfaction, saying that he was old and handed over everything to Xia Lin.

As for the Khan of Eastern Turkic Khaganate, his expression was the ugliest, because he had now seen through Xia Lin's intention, which was to protect Western Turkic Khaganate.

But why did he want to protect the Western Turks? Wasn't it to guard against the Eastern Turks?

Although they are brothers of the opposite sex, and Xia Lin is a co-king in the Turkic royal court, it seems that this brother can't let go of his Central Plains after all.

Forget it, forget it. This is the man who deserves to be our brother. When I invited him to stay, he didn't turn back. It's not surprising that he does such a thing now.

"Then let's relax for a few days." Xia Lin smiled, then raised his head and looked at the Khan of the Eastern Turks: "Brother Zhishi, would you like to have a drink together?"

The Eastern Turk Khan looked up at Xia Lin and smiled: "You go in."

The negotiations reached a deadlock again, and Xia Lin came to the big tent with the Khan of the Eastern Turks. Xia Lin prepared the best barbecue and wine for his sworn brother whom he had not seen for many years.

"Brother, you won't blame me, right?"

Xia Lin stood up and poured wine for Zhishi Dahan, then asked with a smile: "I can understand why you blame me."

The Khan picked up the wine and drank it all in one gulp. "I blame you, of course I blame you. I blame you for not wanting to stay in the royal court. I blame you for not coming to see me for so many years. I shouldn't have let you go back to the Central Plains!"

Xia Lin didn’t answer, but tore off a large piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth: “I have helped you to clear the grassland troubles more than once.”

"I know. You were the one who killed the cronies of my brat." The Khan Zhishi laughed, "Well done! Well done! If they had really caused trouble, the two countries would have been at war for a long time."

"You don't blame me for what happened this time?"

The Khan snorted at Xia Lin's question, then took a sip from his wine glass and said, "It's not strange. You want to use that old dog Ashina to restrain me. I understand. But you are a Han minister, and this is what you should do. If you sell your ancestral land, what's the difference between you and those rubbish in the city who calculate their own gains and losses every day? Only then will you be worthy of being my brother!"

Xia Lin said nothing, but drank three glasses of wine silently.

"Brother, your Chinese is getting better and better." Xia Lin praised him: "Brother has been bringing Han people to the grasslands in recent years. It seems that he also has the ambition to rule the Central Plains."

“Hahahahahaha…” Great Khan Zhishi slapped his thigh and said, “Which emperor in the world doesn’t want to rule the Central Plains? That’s right, brother.”

"exist."

"Give me a Chinese name, and I will trust you."

Xia Lin narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhishi Khan. He could see the arrogant ambition in this man's eyes. He really wanted to take over the world.

"Take a Chinese name, then what?"

"Then? Then I will go back and tell them that I will kill the whole family of anyone who calls me a barbarian." Dahan Zhishi narrowed his eyes and said, "Brother, go ahead and choose a name. Give me a name."

"Okay." Xia Lin shook his head and smiled helplessly: "Then your name will be Liu Bilie."

"Liu Bilie..." Khan Zhishi smacked the name.

Suddenly he slapped his thigh and said, "Great! Support Liu Bilie of the Han Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)