kingnovel Chapter 453 Negotiation, title of Duke!
Chapter 453 Negotiation, title of Duke!
Hearing Baili Gongshu say it was difficult, Gu Jingzhi just smiled.
"Old Baili, strictly speaking, I'm not here to discuss this with you, but to inform you!"
"Not only do we need land and money, but we also need war horses, cattle and sheep. However, these can be discussed with the people below!"
"As for money... not even a tael of silver can be missing!"
Baili Gongshu taunted him, "Master Gu, you should know what 30 million taels means. If it were your country ten years ago, the annual tax revenue, in silver alone, would probably not exceed 20 million taels!"
"Do you think my Beili treasury has that much?"
After hearing this, Gu Jingzhi just smiled and said, "Beili can't come up with the money, what does it have to do with my Daxia?"
"Besides, Beili has been established for a hundred years, and there are many powerful and noble families here. You can definitely contact them! Not to mention anything else, just by investigating a few corrupt officials, you can come up with the 30 million taels!"
"you……"
Baili Gongshu was so angry!
Does this guy want them to mess with the powerful?
Not only that, in addition to land and money, he even wanted war horses, cattle and sheep. What a vicious person he is!
However... no matter what Baili Gongshu said later, Gu Jingzhi never gave in. Instead, he said, "Old Baili, in my opinion, it's better to agree to this condition as soon as possible. You know, my Yunzhou Army has already fought with Wu Tianyao in the northwest!"
"Just imagine, without the support of the Liyue army, how long can they hold out against the two most elite border troops of our Great Xia?"
"If Li Yue's army is wiped out, then Da Xia will have enough troops to attack Bei Li!"
"I've always loved peace, but once a war becomes unavoidable... how long it will last, how long it can last, is hard to say!"
"Isn't a peaceful negotiation solution better than us going there ourselves to take it?"
Baili Gongshu: "..."
He thought for a moment and said, "Master Gu just said that fighting is still going on in the northwest. Why not take a look at the situation there first? A few days won't make any difference!"
Gu Jingzhi's eyes flickered when he heard this, and he said earnestly, "Master Baili, let me remind you that you need to wait for the battle situation in the northwest... It's not impossible, but if Daxia wins the battle in the northwest, we will not be willing to negotiate on this condition again!"
"The soldiers have won on the battlefield. If I, Gu Jingzhi, still can't gain any benefits at the negotiation table, then we might as well have a good fight!"
"It just so happens that Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and is in urgent need of expanding territory to demonstrate our power and virtue. What do you think?"
Baili Gongshu raised his eyelids and said, "Master Gu is unwilling to give in anymore!"
"hehe!"
Gu Jingzhi smiled slightly, then stood up and said, "It seems that today's negotiation will be another fruitless one!"
……
It seemed that it was because the previous battle in Yunzhou was too frustrating, or Li Sheng knew that Gu Jingzhi was under too much pressure.
In short, after Li Sheng arrived in the northwest, the confrontation with Wu Tianyao was extremely fierce. Li Sheng joined forces with the Northwest Army and almost beat Wu Tianyao violently.
Especially since Da Xia had suffered losses from the Shuangtou Peak terrain before, this time they did not leave this type of terrain to Wu Tianyao, which forced Wu Tianyao to confront the Da Xia army head-on.
This famous general, who was good at using strange and cunning tactics to fight, was unable to display his skills at all.
In the end, they could only suffer defeat at the hands of the Great Xia Army. Wu Tianyao escaped with more than a thousand people. Li Sheng, fearing that it would burden the logistics, did not pursue him. After a brief rest, the Yunzhou Army and the Northwest Army returned to their respective places.
When the news reached Gu Jingzhi, Baili Gongshu reluctantly agreed to the conditions discussed previously. After all, in the entire northern part of Daxia, Beili and Liyue had deployed 700,000 to 800,000 troops, but in the end, these 700,000 to 800,000 were almost lost.
They no longer have any hope!
It is possible, but there is Beili between Liyue and Daxia, otherwise Gu Jingzhi could still take advantage of Liyue.
But Wu Tianyao escaped...
After reading Li Sheng's private message, Gu Jingzhi fell silent.
He knew that Nangong Shouyi's life or death in Gu Jingzhi's hands depended entirely on Wu Tianyao's life or death. Li Sheng did not send troops to pursue him, but in fact he was telling Gu Jingzhi that it would be better not to kill Nangong Shouyi!
Almost in an instant, Gu Jingzhi understood the veteran's thoughts.
The emperor was young and had just ascended the throne when he was overshadowed. In order to avoid further disputes in the country in the future, Li Sheng actually wanted to tell Gu Jingzhi.
Raise the bandits to respect themselves.
Gu Jingzhi thought about it and deliberately asked someone to pretend to be careless and let Nangong Shouyi escape!
He couldn't openly ask Beili to pay to redeem the person. Anyone who understood would know what Nangong Shouyi meant. With such a famous general around, Beili's national destiny would at least be extended for a long time.
For Daxia, killing Nangong Shouyi is in the best interests of Daxia.
Therefore, if he asked Beili to spend money to buy the person back, it would be equivalent to telling Zhou Quan that he was harboring the enemy for his own benefit.
It's just a pity that if Wu Tianyao and Nangong Shouyi were gone, Daxia might have a chance to destroy the two countries if it accumulates its strength for another five to ten years.
Unfortunately, Zhou Quan was not the Emperor of Xia, and was not even as good as Emperor Wen, so Gu Jingzhi could only resort to this last resort.
……
After the two sides finalized the negotiation terms, Baili Gongshu also had someone report it to the Beili court, and then the Beili court drafted the letter of credence.
Baili Gongshu is about to embark on a diplomatic mission to Daxia again.
After the war ended on Li Sheng's side, his journey back was much faster than when he went out to fight. By the time he returned to Yunzhou, another twenty days had passed.
Before and after this battle, Gu Jingzhi had been away from home for four months since the troops were dispatched from the capital.
To be honest, he was extremely mentally exhausted during this period of time.
He set out on his return journey with Baili Gongshu and the Beili delegation. It took him almost another month to get here, and the capital of Daxia was in sight!
……
After returning to the capital, Daxia and Beili exchanged letters of credence. The moment Zhou Quan signed the letters of credence, it seemed as if he had ushered in the most glorious moment since he ascended the throne.
After all, after he ascended the throne, Daxia faced an unprecedented crisis.
However, in one battle, he not only wiped out the invading enemy, but also recovered all the territory of Yun Kingdom, and forced Beili to pay a large sum of money as compensation. If this were to be recorded in history books, it would also be a military achievement he had made in this dynasty!
It was Gu Jingzhi.
Qiao Shuwan and Zhou Quan, mother and son, did not treat him badly. His title was raised again, and he directly inherited the title of Duke of Ningguo that Emperor Xia had given to Gu Shun. Even his eldest son was given the title of earl.
One family has two titles!
In addition, Lin Chong was also granted a title, but not a marquis, but an earl, a lower-class title.
The court was naturally envious and jealous of this, but Gu Jingzhi's achievements were all earned through hard work. However, they also understood that following Gu Jingzhi, there was a bright future ahead!