Li Xiao knew that the reason why the current Qing court was willing to send people to negotiate was indeed that the people were already poor and the army was frustrated, and it was already on the defensive and could no longer compete with the Tang army, so he had to clamp his tail and beg for negotiations in a gloomy manner, hoping to sign a peace agreement and give the Qing country a stable period of recuperation.

I think that at the beginning, the Qing army held back its anger and planned to take advantage of the beginning of spring and snow to send an elite main force to eliminate the Tang army that invaded the Qing territory in one fell swoop. But I didn't expect that their ideals were very full, that is, the reality was too skinny, 50,000 elite Qing troops, with heavy firearms, to the west to conquer a small town with insufficient troops and no artillery, and they couldn't take it down with all their might, but instead lost their generals and elites, so that the Qing Dynasty, which was already struggling to maintain, became weaker and weaker to the point that it could no longer continue to fight with the Tang army.

On the contrary, since the Tang Army landed at Yingkou, it has won successive battles, triumphant songs have been played everywhere, and the morale of the army has been cheered up. The whole army is planning to take advantage of the snow to launch a new offensive against the Qing court again, and strive for new fame for themselves.

Such a change in the situation, rising and falling, is really exciting.

What made Li Xiao even more sneered was that now the Qing court was already in a deep crisis, the country was poor and weak, the foreign enemy had not gone, and the internal strife had resumed. Nahauge and Dolgon, the ministers of the humerus who were known as the regents of the Qing Dynasty, continued to fight with each other over how to negotiate with the Tang army, and did not think about state affairs at all, which is really ridiculous and lamentable.

Li Xiao paced back and forth in the living room, thought for a while, and then sent an order to the living room to call Tian Wei, the mayor of Xingzhong Town, Liu Guoneng, the deputy mayor, Jiang Yueguang, and Zhao Bingwen, the director of the Xingzhong Town Supervision and Pacification Department, to the living room. He wanted to discuss with them how to negotiate peace with the Qing envoys next.

Among them, Zhao Bingwen was the deputy director of the Supervision Department of Andong Town, because he performed very well in the negotiations with the Tokugawa shogunate, and won great benefits for the Tang Army in trade with Japan. Therefore, he was deeply trusted by Li Xiao, and he was transferred back to Jinan, Shandong Province from Satsuma, Japan, to serve as the director of the Supervision Department of Xingzhong Town.

This time in the northern expedition to the Qing court, Zhao Bingwen, as the director of the Supervision and Pacification Department, set off with the army, and he worked very conscientiously along the way, and all the work of the Supervision and Pacification Department was handled in an orderly manner, which made Li Xiao think more and more highly of him.

Therefore, for this confidential discussion, Li Xiao did not hesitate to call him. This value that is not straightforward makes Zhao Bingwen very grateful.

Hearing that the Qing court was going to send an envoy to conduct peace negotiations with the other side, Tian Wei, the mayor of Xingzhong Town, took the lead in expressing his opposition.

"His grandmother's! Now our army is attacking the city and plundering the land, winning successive battles, and its morale is like a rainbow, and it is about to wave its troops to attack again and continue to occupy all parts of the Qing Dynasty. But at this time, the Qing court who entered the dog wanted to come and negotiate peace with us, wouldn't it be a joke! ”

Tian Wei looked disdainful, and said with a sneer: "These shameless people really have a big fucking face. Now that they have lost and eaten the war in a row, they can't fight anymore, so they lick their broken faces and talk about it, it's really fucking shameless! It's okay, if you want to talk about it, it's okay, we adults don't remember villains, then let the Qing court give Liaoyang and Shenyang to us, and let our brothers go to the Qing Dynasty Jinluan Palace in Shenyang to play a good role, and we will agree to sign this peace agreement with them. ”

"What Mayor Tian said is, grandma's, Qinglu is indeed shameless, they just fought a big defeat in Zhenyuan Fort, and the loss of troops will be defeated, afraid that our army will beat it again, so they want to sign a peace agreement to cease the war first, and want to regain time to recuperate in this way. King Pingliao, from my point of view, now the morale of our army is booming, and the soldiers are using their lives, just as they are going all out to advance and sweep through the territory of the Qing Dynasty, why bother to talk to them! In my opinion, in order to establish authority, when these Qing court envoys rush to Haicheng, cut off all their noses and ears, and then put them back, humiliate them well, let them see clearly, have the ability, and then continue to fight with us on the battlefield, shameless and skinless to beg for a truce, count yourself a bird! ”

Liu Guoneng took Tian Wei's words, and he was also very opposed to peace talks with the Qing court, and in the end, he even slammed the chair handle, his expression full of contempt.

Li Xiao, the king of Pingliao, after listening to the words of the two generals under him, smiled slightly, and turned his head to praise Jiang Yueguang with the army, and Zhao Bingwen, the director of the Supervision and Pacification Department, and asked in a deep voice: "Yueguang and Bingwen, what is your opinion?" ”

The two glanced at each other, and Jiang Yueguang took the lead in speaking: "King Yuping Liao, in my opinion, the opinions of Mayor Tian and Deputy Mayor Liu are certainly quite reasonable. However, if we can obtain sufficient benefits by shaking our lips and talking with the envoys of the Qing court in the course of negotiations, then it is not unacceptable for our army to negotiate peace with them. What's more, now that the Qing court has a request for us, and we are sitting firmly in the Diaoyutai, such a negotiation situation can be described as taking what we want, which is really good. In the student's view, if the negotiation is done properly, the peace agreement reached with them can even achieve the best effect of bloodless warfare, but it is far better than the sword war. ”

"Jiang Zan's painting is reasonable, and the students are also looking at it." Zhao Bingwen then said: "There is a way to force people with power and make profits for your own convenience. Our Tang army in the Qing realm, successive battles, triumphant songs, and a high period of time Zhenyuan Fort defeated the Qing army, destroying nearly 10,000 enemies, capturing 5,000 enemies, such a great victory, enough to make the Qing army frightened, let the Qing court frightened. If we can really make good use of our army's current prestige and victory, we can completely blackmail and intimidate the Qing court without using our swords, and as long as the means are appropriate, we will definitely be able to achieve very good results. “

After listening to the almost completely opposite opinions of the two sides, Li Xiao just smiled and did not speak.

He got up from the tiger head chair and walked slowly to the window, and no one could see his expression from the window.

"King Pingliao, what is your opinion?" Tian Wei couldn't help but ask.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your views are reasonable, but in the eyes of this king, there are still many shortcomings."

Li Xiao's concluding words made everyone secretly surprised, and for a while, the entire living room was quiet.

"In the eyes of this king, now our army is indeed a succession of victories, a triumphant song, the morale of the army is very high, it is indeed the time to work hard to forge ahead, how can we frustrate the sharp front, self-defeating, and go to the Qing army to negotiate peace, this is simply a chance to recuperate in vain to the Qing court! From this point of view, the opinions of Tian Wei and Guoneng are very reasonable. “

Listening to Li Xiao's words affirming the opinions of the two, Tian Wei and Liu Guoneng both showed joy on their faces.

It seems that Lord Li, the king of Pingliao, is still on the side of our generals in his heart, and next, it is estimated that we will discuss together how to use troops to fight against the Qing court.

Unexpectedly, what the two didn't expect was that Li Xiao changed his words and said: "However, although our army is strong and has high fighting spirit, there are also hidden worries. It has been several months since our army crossed the sea to fight in the Qing Territory, and the grain, grass, weapons, and so on all need to be replenished by sea from Shandong, and if we are not well prepared, we think of fighting a head-to-head battle with the enemy, but we may not be sure of victory. On the contrary, if the Qing army jumps the dogs in a hurry, the trapped beasts are still fighting, and if they concentrate their forces to fight to the death, even if our army can win, it will also suffer a lot of losses. ”

Li Xiao paused and continued: "Therefore, in the eyes of this king, if we can take advantage of the momentum and military might of our army now, and force those Qing army envoys who come to negotiate to have to agree to more and more humiliating conditions, so as to seek greater benefits for our army without bloodshed, it is also an excellent strategy. From this point of view, the strategy of Jiang Zanhua and Zhao Jianfu is also quite acceptable. “

Li Xiao's words were very appetizing to Jiang Yueguang and Zhao Bingwen, and the two looked at each other and smiled, happy that their opinions were valued by Li Xiao.

Immediately, Jiang Yueguang coughed lightly, and said hurriedly: "Master Li, forgive the students for their vain speculation, what the adults mean, but do you want to combine the advantages of the two, strike with one hand, negotiate with the other, and give the Qing court a two-pronged approach?" “

Li Xiao smiled and nodded: "Jiang Zanhua is right, this king's intention is exactly like this." As you all know, now that our army has won successive victories, there is a lot to be done in both war and talks, and there is a place for full use. Therefore, this king believes that under the situation that the Qing court is so eager to seek peace, we can completely use the pretext of negotiating with the Qing court to fight and negotiate at the same time, so as to strive for more and greater benefits for ourselves. “

Li Xiao's words seemed to be thorough, and everyone didn't understand it. Zhao Bingyi asked: "I still don't understand the meaning of King Pingliao, can we explain it more thoroughly." “

"Ladies and gentlemen, what this king means is to pretend to be our army and pretend to agree to negotiate with the Qing court, but in order for our army to negotiate with the Qing court, the Qing court must first promise our army a precondition."

"What conditions does King Pingliao want to propose?" Tian Wei became interested.

Liu Guoneng, Jiang Yueguang, and Zhao Bingwen all looked at Li Xiao directly, wanting to see what prerequisites he proposed.

Li Xiao looked around at everyone and said with a smile: "That is, if the Qing court wants to negotiate with our army, it must show enough sincerity, and the most sincere condition is that Lushun City in Jinzhou must be ceded to our army first!" ”

"Ceding Lushun?!" Zhao Bingyi was shocked when he heard this: "Lord Li, this precondition for negotiation is inevitably too high. Isn't it time for the Qing court to be at a life-and-death juncture, will they agree? ”

"Is there any other choice for the Qing court? Is there any other way for them to drive our army out of the Clearing Territory? Li Xiao sneered: "Previously, in order to recover the situation, the Qing court forcibly sent troops to attack Zhenyuan Fort garrisoned by our army, regardless of the unfavorable conditions such as the weakness of the country and the lack of morale of the army, but was defeated by our army. After the defeat of Zhenyuanbao, the Qing army was already bold, and now it is in a comprehensive retreat, the morale of the army is extremely low, and the country's financial resources are very scarce to the point that it is difficult to support. Under such harsh conditions, wouldn't it be a joke for them to try to compete with our army again? “

Li Xiao's words made everyone speechless.

Li Xiao sneered and said: "Besides, the land of Lushun in Jinzhou has been broken and plundered by our army twice, the city is dilapidated, and the people are extremely scarce. However, as far as our army is concerned, if it can get Lushun, it will have an excellent port for the naval division, and as long as it can occupy this place, our naval division will have an excellent base and outlet to the sea in southern Liaoning. In the future, whether it is to conquer Korea in the east, Tianjin in the west, or Liaonan in the north, it will be very convenient. What a pity if not! “

Li Xiao paused and replied: "Take a step back, the Qing court is now concentrating on retreating to the main city, this Jinzhou Lushun, located in the extreme of southern Liaoning, even if the Qing court wants to defend it, it is also powerless. Rather than being easily captured by our army at that time, it is better to give it to our army as a gift in exchange for the possibility of peace negotiations with our army. I dare to predict that although the Qing court would be very afraid of this city of Arthur at first, in order to reach a peace agreement, it finally reluctantly agreed. “

When Li Xiao said this, everyone nodded frequently. 、

"So, Lord Li, if the Qing court agrees to this condition, what will the King of Pingliao plan to do in the subsequent negotiations?" Tian Wei asked.

"Hmph, if the Qing court agrees to this condition, it will be in the hands of our army. Then, after we sent troops and horses to take over the land of Arthur, we officially began negotiations with them. During the negotiation process, we can make further requests to them. That is, if our army is to withdraw from Haicheng and Yingkou, it is not impossible, then, first of all, it is necessary to formally determine the area east of the Ussuri River and north of the Heilongjiang River as the territory of our Tang Army. Secondly, the entire Mongol tribes, from then on, were separated from the Qing court and transferred and submitted to our army. In the end, our army's demand was to get the entire state of Jinfu if a peace agreement could be reached. “

"What if the Qing court doesn't agree?" Zhao Bingwen asked.

"Don't say yes? It's easy to do, then let the negotiations drag on, anyway, it's not us who are in a hurry. We just took advantage of this negotiation time to transfer a large number of strategic materials from Shandong to make adequate preparations for our army's long-term stationing in Qingjing. At the same time, the soldiers and horses of our army everywhere can invade the Qing realm in all directions, or burn or plunder, as far as possible, and we must not let the Qing prisoners gain a trace of peace. “

"Lord Li is right, like the Miaojie Fort in the north of our army, it can intrude on the area from Heilongjiang to Songhua River. Vladivostok Fort in the east can attack the area from the mouth of the Tumen River to Hetuala. The Tang army on the west road at Zhenyuan Fort can invade the rest of the Liaoxi forts and make the entire Liaoxi unstable. As for the main forces of the two armies in Haicheng and Yingkou, they can even take advantage of the situation to attack Liaoyang in the north, and use the coercion of the Qing court to overwhelm them. In this way, the Qing court will definitely be set on fire, and there will be turmoil everywhere, so that Dolgon and others will be very busy. In this way, with the strong pressure of our army, I am not afraid that they will not give in. Jiang Yueguang agreed with Li Xiao's strategy very much.

"That's right, now that the enemy is tired and we are at ease, whether it is a negotiation or a war, the initiative is all on me, anyway, in the process of negotiations, put forward conditions that they cannot agree to, try to make the negotiations not easy to reach, keep delaying the time, and the time to reach a peace agreement is very long, so that our army can better accumulate strength and prepare. And when they were almost ready, they put pressure on them for a showdown, telling them that if they did not agree to our army's demands, our army would no longer negotiate, and when the time came, the Qing court would not blame the war for being ruthless, and it would not be blamed for our refusal to give us a chance. On the contrary, this king should see what other skills a group of Tartars led by Dorgon can deal with our army. ”

After Li Xiao finished speaking, everyone in the living room laughed, and for a while, the living room was filled with happy air.