The prince is more stable

Chapter 421 Everyone has their own agenda
The so-called "envoys" in ancient times actually went abroad on behalf of their own country and engaged in verbal battles with the other side. Well, that was roughly their role.

When it comes to talking big, Zhao Xiaoqian has always been good at it.

No matter what the other party says, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, just remember one principle: strength determines everything.

Without the ability, it is useless to talk big. We are not fools and we all know each other's background.

If you have the strength, even if you just sit there and say nothing, it is enough to cause great intimidation to everyone.

Just like China in later generations, which became stronger after going through that period of humiliation, and after various new weapons and equipment came out, it kept saying "peace-loving", who among the neighboring countries would dare not be peaceful?

This is the deterrence of strength. Even without firing a single shot, it can determine whether the entire continent will be in chaos.

Xiao Zhengyou in front of him was now a little timid. He was very clear about his mission. His original plan was to quickly occupy the moral high ground when they met, saying that the Song Dynasty provoked the war first and allowed its soldiers to plunder the people of the Liao Dynasty.

Only by occupying the moral high ground can we negotiate conditions and grasp Zhao Xiaoqian's psychological bottom line.

Unexpectedly, this Duke of Zhao did not play by the rules at all. He just opened his mouth and said everything he wanted to say.

What Zhao Xiaoqian said were all his poems.

What made Xiao Zhengyou even more uncomfortable was that since Zhao Xiaoqian had said the words he had prepared, it meant that these words had no effect on him at all. What did it matter if you were on a moral high ground? No matter how high you stood, people would not take you seriously.

How can you use morality to restrain and condemn a person who has no morals?
Of course Zhao Xiaoqian will not indulge him. Since you have come to me on your own initiative, I will completely crush your arrogance, otherwise you will really think you are moral.

"Your Excellency, there is something I would like to ask you..." Zhao Xiaoqian said slowly.

Xiao Zhengyou forced a smile and said, "Please speak, Lord Zhao."

"A few days ago, our Great Song took the initiative to send troops and completely wiped out 10,000 Liao troops. In your opinion, this is our Great Song tearing up the Treaty of Chanyuan and launching an undeclared war, right?"

Xiao Zhengyou puffed out his chest and said, "Exactly! Liao and Song have been friendly neighbors for a hundred years, yet your country has betrayed us and launched a surprise attack on a brotherly nation. This is truly outrageous..."

"Stop! I'm not interested in your long speech. I just want to ask you one thing."

Zhao Xiaoqian said slowly, "Does your Excellency know why our Song army took the initiative to attack?"

Xiao Zhengyou sneered: "Of course..."

Before he could finish his words, Zhao Xiaoqian interrupted him again: "Half a month ago, the Liao Kingdom mobilized 40,000 troops from Shangjing and Xijin Prefecture and marched straight towards Zhending Prefecture. This happened before our army annihilated 10,000 Liao troops. Now tell me, who was the first to break their promise?"

Xiao Zhengyou suddenly opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth, and found himself speechless again.

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered, "Don't tell me that the Liao army sent tens of thousands of troops to celebrate the birthday of my Great Song emperor. Only after learning of the Liao army's mobilization did our army preemptively launch an attack. It was clearly you who planned to provoke the war first, and now you have the nerve to come and accuse me?"

Xiao Zhengyou's face turned pale: "......"

Things are gradually going wrong. Why does it seem like he has the moral high ground now?

How could such a great high ground be lost inexplicably?
In the silent atmosphere, Xiao Zhengyou avoided Zhao Xiaoqian's gaze guiltily. After a long moment, he suddenly mustered up the courage to say, "But... you shouldn't have allowed your troops to plunder the villages and tribes of my Great Liao and kill so many civilians..."

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed angrily. "You're getting more and more shameless the more you talk. Who has been crossing the border to kill and plunder the people of the Song Dynasty all these years? You've done it so many times, and I only did it once, and you're condemning me?"

"There's a saying in our Central Plains Dynasty. I wonder if your Excellency has heard it before: 'If the invaders can go, I can go too.' To put it simply, it means that if the monks can touch it, I can touch it too."

Xiao Zhengyou: “…………”

Xiao Zhengyou was one of the few scholars in the Liao Kingdom. He was quite familiar with some classics of the sages in the Central Plains. "If the enemy can go, I can go too" comes from "Zuo Zhuan". The meaning is very straightforward and anyone who can understand human language can understand it.

But Zhao Xiaoqian insisted on translating it, and the translation was a little confusing...

All the excuses and accusations were blocked by Zhao Xiaoqian, and Xiao Zhengyou was finally speechless.

Zhao Xiaoqian said leisurely, "There's no point in arguing about how the Song and Liao countries came to this point. Let's get down to business."

Staring at Xiao Zhengyou's sullen face, Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "I heard that Yelu Chun's 40,000-man army suddenly stopped on the march and has been stationed there for several days. What is this Yelu Junwang's intention?"

Xiao Zhengyou's spirits lifted, and he hurriedly said, "I came here to discuss this very matter. The Prince of Beiping has always been friendly towards the Song State. Now that he has been ordered to lead his troops, he himself is actually not happy about it. After hearing that your army defeated my 10,000 Liao troops, the Prince is even more reluctant to become an enemy of the Song State."

"So, what Yelu Chun meant was..."

Xiao Zhengyou said solemnly, "On the march, the Duke submitted a petition to His Majesty in the capital, requesting his approval. Since the Chanyuan Incident, the two countries have enjoyed a century of friendship, and the Liao Kingdom is unwilling to disrupt this peaceful relationship. The Duke's message is that he hopes the two countries can resolve their disputes through negotiation, rather than resorting to war."

"The Prince's memorial has been sent to the capital by express horse, awaiting Your Majesty's approval. It will take some time to get back and forth. Is it possible for the two countries to cease hostilities during this period, pending a meeting of envoys from both countries to negotiate a solution?"

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and nodded, "I didn't expect that the Liao Kingdom would actually be peace-loving..."

I really laughed. I feel that the situation in front of me is a bit similar to the situation between China and the United States in the future. When China became strong, the United States immediately changed its tone and said it loved peace.

Zhao Xiaoqian always claimed to be a messenger of peace, a man as innocent and pure as a white dove. Naturally, he agreed to the Liao Kingdom's request for peace.

"No problem. The two countries will temporarily cease hostilities and resolve previous disputes through negotiations. I will wait here for the arrival of your country's delegation." Zhao Xiaoqian said readily.

Xiao Zhengyou's expression was a bit complicated, he was about to speak but hesitated, finally he couldn't help but said: "The place where Zhao Jungong is now is in the territory of my Liao Kingdom. It was once the headquarters of my Liao army. Do you think your army should retreat back to the border?..." "No, just wait here. According to the etiquette and rules of my Great Song Dynasty, it is more respectful to your country's delegation to go out more than thirty miles to greet them. This place is exactly thirty miles away from the border of my Great Song Dynasty. It's fate!"

The words were polite, but Zhao Xiaoqian's tone was firm.

Xiao Zhengyou sighed secretly. He knew that it was impossible to make the Song army withdraw at the moment. As long as he could achieve the goal of temporarily suspending the fighting, the mission of this trip would be successfully completed.

At this time, the aroma of barbecue in the general's tent became stronger and stronger. Xiao Zhengyou couldn't help but sniff, swallowed secretly, and stared at the sizzling sheep on the grill.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Xiaoqian said earnestly, "Now that we have concluded our business, please return and report as soon as possible. This is a matter of peace between our two countries, and we cannot waste a moment."

"Chen Shou, show the guests out!"

Xiao Zhengyou's cheeks twitched and he sighed sadly.

As expected, he didn’t even get a single meal. Does this young duke really have no idea about the ways of the world?
Zhao Xiaoqian turned his head away and pretended not to see his resentful look.

I'm sorry, it's not that I don't understand the ways of the world, I'm just simply stingy.

…………

Chen's general Xiao Zhengyou was escorted out of the camp gate. When he was about to mount his horse, he saw a dense crowd of people appearing on the open plain outside the camp. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was the Song army returning to the camp.

Xiao Zhengyou was immediately delighted. The Song army stopped looting and returned to the camp. Did this mean that Zhao Xiaoqian actually didn't want to escalate the war between the two countries?

After all, the Song State was not under Zhao Xiaoqian's control. When he provoked a war, did the Song court have no reaction? He must have been under considerable pressure, so he only dared to control the war between the two countries within a small scope.

In this way, Yelu Chun and Zhao Xiaoqian actually had their own fears.

Yelu Chun was afraid of the strength of the Song army, so he had to stay camp and wait for reinforcements.

Zhao Xiaoqian was afraid of the pressure from the court in Bian Jing and did not dare to escalate the war.

The pressure from the court in Bian Jing was always there, but when Yelu Chunruo received reinforcements, his fear disappeared.

So, the advantage is mine.

Xiao Zhengyou felt relieved and mounted his horse with a smile on his face and left.

Riding alone, Xiao Zhengyou passed by Zhong Jianzhong's troops.

Zhong Jianzhong, who was marching in the team, couldn't help but glance at Xiao Zhengyou. Seeing that this man was dressed in Khitan clothes, riding on a horse but smiling like a flower, full of the joy of a winner, Zhong Jianzhong couldn't help but frown and stared at his back for a long time in a daze.

"Who is this person? Why does he look like he just served a patron and made a lot of money?" Zhong Jianzhong muttered to himself.

Then Zhong Jianzhong gritted his teeth.

No matter who he is, I can't stand seeing this Khitan thief laughing so happily. It's hateful!

"Bring the bow!" Zhong Jianzhong shouted in a deep voice.

The guard next to him immediately handed over a three-stone bow.

Zhong Jianzhong drew his bow and arrow, took a deep breath, and aimed...

Whoosh.

The arrow shot out and hit the horse's butt right under Xiao Zhengyou's crotch in the distance.

The horse neighed in pain and stood up. Xiao Zhengyou was caught off the horse and thrown off the horse, and fell dizzy.

The horse that was shot by the arrow did not even look back, but neighed in pain and ran away.

Xiao Zhengyou was confused and stared at his horse galloping away in amazement. He still didn't understand what was going on.

Until the end, he finally saw the arrow stuck in the horse's butt. He was immediately shocked and angry, and turned to look at the Song army.

The team was still moving forward slowly. An armored general on the side of the road was staring at him coldly, holding a strong bow in his hand, his eyes eager to try, as if if he dared to curse, the next target of the strong bow would be him.

Xiao Zhengyou was so angry that he was trembling, but he didn't dare to curse out loud.

Today, the Liao people, from top to bottom, have long changed their impression of the Song people. They all know that the Song people are no longer the cowards who allowed themselves to be bullied.

Whenever a conflict occurred, there was no doubt that the Song people really dared to kill the Liao people.

Xiao Zhengyou gritted his teeth. This was the greatest humiliation he had ever suffered in his life, but he could only swallow it and did not dare to gamble with his own life.

So Xiao Zhengyou had no choice but to get up and limp forward, chasing the beloved horse that was shot in the butt by an arrow, referred to as "Aima Shi".

(End of this chapter)