The two came to the big tent of the Chinese army and sat down, Li Yanqing let the soldiers serve tea, Liu Tao took a sip of hot tea, and continued the topic just now with a smile, "After the Jinxia alliance, a copy was signed, if the Western Xia encountered a crisis of annihilation, the Jin State must receive and protect the nobles and important ministers of the Western Xia, and help the Western Xia to restore the country, there are more detailed terms, it should be based on this article, the Western Xia magnates began to transfer their property, if I guessed correctly, the Western Xia should have asked the Jin State for help many times." “

"That's right, I know that Western Xia has asked for help from the Jin State twice, but the Jin soldiers of Datong Mansion have always stood still, which is enough to show that the Jin State does not want to turn against us now, and it also shows that the Jin State is not going well in conquering the Mobei tribes."

"Speaking of the conquest of Mobei, I heard a news that Marshal Du is supporting the Mobei departments behind his back!"

Of course, Li Yanqing knew that Liu Ziyu told his father, and he groaned and said: "I know that this matter will be made public sooner or later, but now the matter has not been successful, and it cannot be known by the Jin State, otherwise the Datong Jin soldiers will send troops to sabotage it, so I hope that Liu Jingluo will keep this matter absolutely secret, and even the imperial court can't say it!" ”

Liu Tao was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "I understand the importance of this matter, of course it will be kept absolutely secret, but is Marshal Du alluding to someone in the court colluding with the Jin State?" ”

"Liu Jingluo thinks that the ministers of the DPRK and China are all loyal and upright, and there are no people who collude with the Jin State?"

Liu Tao was silent, how could it be? There is no shortage of traitors in any dynasty, and how can the Song Dynasty be an exception?

After a moment of silence, he nodded, "Li Dushuai is right, this matter is very important, and it must be kept strictly confidential, the dog told me about this matter, and I have repeatedly told him not to leak it at all." “

Li Yanqing said lightly: "I didn't deliberately hide it from the imperial court, I just wanted to wait for this matter to be completed, and then report to the imperial court. ”

"If that's the case, I'm willing to share part of the responsibility for Li Dushuai, and this matter was decided by Li Dushuai after discussing with me."

Looking at Liu Tao's upright gaze, Li Yanqing was moved in his heart, he smiled and asked, "Let's talk about Hexi!" What is the situation in Hexi? ”

"Hexi is very smooth, I have taken Shazhou, currently stationed in Dunhuang County, Shazhou 5,000 troops, I will set up the temporary governor's office of Hexi in Zhangye County, Ganzhou, when will I invite Du Shuai to inspect Hexi?"

"Of course I'm going, but not now, let's wait until Xixia is destroyed! In fact, I am more concerned about whether the people of Hexi are willing to attach themselves to the Great Song Dynasty? ”

Liu Tao smiled slightly, "If they are happy and loyal to the Great Song Dynasty, it is not very realistic, in fact, the main thing is interests, my taxes are much lower than those of Western Xia, and the first three years are tax-free, and recognize the pastures left by their ancestors, do not encroach on their property, these interests and sincerity are enough for them to accept the Great Song Dynasty to rule Hexi, and lay the foundation for the Great Song Dynasty to take over Hexi smoothly, I have written to the imperial court, asking the imperial court to send officials to receive Hexi as soon as possible." “

Li Yanqing was silent for a moment and said: "I have recommended Liu Jingliu to the imperial court as the first envoy of Hexi Jingluo, and I believe that the imperial court will accept my suggestion." ”

Liu Tao shook his head, "Not necessarily!" “

Liu Tao said what he said, Li Yanqing also knew it, the two were silent for a while, and after a while, Liu Tao said in a low voice: "Could it be that the Emperor Taishang really wants to be restored?" ”

Li Yanqing noticed that Liu Ji used the slightly derogatory word restoration, rather than the word reset, which shows that he did not want Zhao Ji to regain the throne, Li Yanqing sighed and said: "I can clearly tell Liu Jingluo that I will resolutely defend the throne of the official family, it is I who support the official family to ascend the throne, I will never allow anyone to overthrow him, this is my principle, if Liu Jingluo is different from me, we had better avoid talking about this matter." ”

Liu Tao laughed, "I am also a supporter of the official family, frankly speaking, I don't approve of the Emperor Taishang ascending the throne again, the Great Song Dynasty wants to move forward, to have young vitality and vitality, not backwards, I admit that the Emperor Taishang has scheming and skill, but the Great Song Dynasty is becoming more and more corrupt, he has an unshirkable responsibility, on the contrary, the official family is a good emperor, maybe he is also a little weak in the Jin State, but he is diligent, thrifty, self-disciplined, able to cherish the people, committed to the restoration of prosperity in the Great Song Dynasty, just by virtue of this, we should fully support him." “

Li Yanqing nodded, "I hope that the great victory in Western Xia can bring prestige to the official family and support his throne." ”

"So I want to persuade Du Shuai that it is better to destroy Western Xia sooner rather than later."

"Did Liu Jingluo hear any news?"

Liu Tao saw that there was no one left and right, so he lowered his voice and said: "I got a news on the road yesterday, Qin Hui was inspecting Xihe Road when he wooed Yao Xiuhong, the prefect of Fengxiang, Yao Xiuhong pretended to accept his wooing, Qin Hui told Yao Xiuhong after drinking that the Emperor Taishang had already controlled half of the Imperial Forest Army and the Lin'an garrison, and it was likely that a coup would happen, Yao Xiuhong immediately sent someone to send me a letter. ”

Li Yanqing took a few steps with his hands down, and the Liu and Miao mutinies occurred at about this time in history, he thought that he had changed history, and the Liu and Miao mutinies would not happen again, but now he suddenly realized that the Liu and Miao mutinies were likely to occur in another way.

Thinking of this, Li Yanqing felt that he had to remind Zhao Gou immediately.

At this moment, the prince reported outside the tent, "Qiyu Dutong, two ministers came to the city of Xingqing Mansion, saying that it was the order of the Emperor of Western Xia to come to negotiate peace with Dutong." ”

"Who is it?"

"It's Xiangguo Cao Price and the military department Shangshu Yinggui."

Li Yanqing sneered, both of them had transferred a lot of wealth to the outside world, and he actually had the face to negotiate on behalf of the emperor.

Liu Tao said with a smile: "It's actually okay to talk about it, if their emperor is willing to go out of the city and surrender, he can spare their imperial family and send them to Lin'an, which is good for subduing the Dangxiang clan and stabilizing the control of the Western Xia region in the future." ”

Li Yanqing thought about it and said with a smile: "I don't have the energy to talk to them, it's better for Liu Jingluo to negotiate with them for me, there's no problem!" ”

Liu Tao laughed, "Du Shuai will catch strong men, it seems that I came too timely." ”

"Who's to say it isn't? Liu Jingluo came early rather than coincidentally, which is called the right time. ”

The two looked at each other and laughed together.

．．．．．．．

Cao Price and Yinggui entered the camp of the Song army, and were immediately led to the deputy tent for a while, both of them were in a bit of a heavy mood, and they saw with their own eyes the high morale and well-trained of the Song army.

Yinggui also noticed a detail, there was not a single scattered soldier in the Song army camp, all the soldiers were walking in rows, and then if you looked closely, it was two people in a row, three people in a row, the big tent and various items were neatly ordered, and the ground was clean, these details were enough to prove that the Song army was well-trained, and it also proved that this Song army was no longer the decadent Song army that had been fought against a hundred years in the Western Xia.

The two people in the big tent were silent, and after a long time, Yinggui sighed and said, "I'm afraid that the Son of Heaven will be disappointed in this negotiation." ”

Cao Price shook his head, "Let's do our best!" Look for every possible opportunity to reconcile. ”

At this time, there were footsteps outside the tent, and the two hurriedly got up, only to see a middle-aged civil official about fifty years old walk in, both of them were stunned, it was rumored that Li Yanqing was only twenty years old, no matter how this person looked, it could not be Li Yanqing, they looked behind this person again, and there was no one else.

The middle-aged man smiled slightly, "Liu Tao, the envoy on the Xiaxi River Road, will receive the two on behalf of the marshal of my family!" ”

Cao Fei was a little displeased, "I am the prime minister of the Western Xia Kingdom, don't I have the qualifications to negotiate peace with all of you?" ”

Liu Tao said lightly: "Cao Xiangguo can choose not to talk about it. ”

Yinggui hurriedly snorted and explained: "Don't misunderstand Liu Yuanjun, our Son of Heaven has a handwritten letter to Li Dutong, instructing us to hand it over to Li Dutong in person, Cao Xiangguo means this." ”

"It's okay, I can do it on my behalf."

Cao Gao also thought about it, they had no choice now, he had to acquiesce in Song Jun's arrangement and handed the letter to Liu Tao.

Liu Tao handed the letter to a personal soldier of Li Yanqing, and the personal soldier rushed away, and Liu Tao waved his hand, "Please sit down!" ”

The two sat down at a wide table, Liu Tao sat down opposite them, and Cao Ye, Li Yanqing's chief bookkeeper, also sat next to Liu Tao, putting out the paper and pen, and he was Liu Tao's negotiation assistant, responsible for recording the negotiations between the two sides throughout the process.

Cao Price was still not very comfortable in his heart, so he gave Yinggui a look and asked him to speak, Yinggui understood, so he bowed and said: "The two countries of Song and Xia have fought for a hundred years, and they have also reconciled for a hundred years, and the Western Xia has been at war with the Song Dynasty in the past two years, and it has no intention of fighting with the Song Dynasty, so after reaching a truce and compromise last time, the Western Xia has always adhered to the boundaries agreed by the two sides, and has never harassed the Qinggangzhai that has been close to the Western Xia, which is a manifestation of our sincerity, but this time the Song army suddenly tore up the agreement and trampled on the sincerity of the Western Xia, we deeply regret it." “

Liu Tao smiled, "For more than 100 years since the Song and Xia wars, the Song Dynasty has a deep understanding of the sincerity of your country, so don't mention any sincerity here, as for tearing up the agreement, it is just a truce agreement, there is no time limit on it, that is to say, the two sides can go to war at any time, so there is nothing to talk about tearing up the agreement, if you must talk about the agreement, then there is really no need to negotiate." “

Liu Tao went back directly, when did he still have to use the big reason to oppress people, that is, he didn't know how thick the sky was.

This is also because Liu Tao is a civil official, he has a good temper, and he gives them face, if Li Yanqing sits here, he will immediately let people beat them out with a stick, when is it, he still doesn't kneel down and beg for mercy, and he actually comes to accuse him of violating the agreement.

Cao Price waved his hand and asked Yinggui not to mention this time, he groaned and said: "As long as your army can retreat, we in Western Xia are willing to make the following concessions, first, Western Xia is willing to remove the emperor's title, call himself a vassal to the Great Song Dynasty, and become a vassal state of the Great Song Dynasty; Second, we will pay tribute to the Great Song Dynasty every year to pay 300,000 sheep, and we will return the New Year's coins of the Great Song Dynasty year by year; Third, the Song and Xia signed a permanent peace agreement, and the Western Xia pledged in writing not to invade an inch of land in the Great Song Dynasty within a hundred years; Fourth, all civilians captured by the Song Dynasty in the Western Xia should be returned, and they should be appropriately compensated; Fifth, the Western Xia was willing to form an anti-Jin alliance with the Song Dynasty to jointly fight against the Jin State, and the above five points fully demonstrated the sincerity of the Western Xia, and I implore your army to consider it carefully. “

Liu Tao smiled slightly, "I believe in your sincerity, but these five rules are more suitable for the two sides to fight on the frontier and adopt them in the case of the defeat of Western Xia, not for the current situation, of course, I have no right to make any decisions." I immediately reported to Marshal Du, and it was up to him to decide. ”

At this time, Cao Ye had already finished writing, and took the memo to Liu Tao to read it carefully, Liu Tao read it again, and then said to Cao Ye: "Yes, take it to Li Dushuai." ”

Cao Ye hurriedly went, and came back after a while, and said a few words to Liu Tao with his ear, Liu Tao nodded, and said to the two people who looked nervous: "Marshal Du can't accept your conditions, if you decide that Marshal Du's level is too small, you can also send someone to Lin'an to negotiate, Marshal Du will obey the decision of the imperial court, then I can only be disappointed." “

Liu Tao got up to leave, but Yinggui hurriedly shouted: "Liu Jingluo, please stay, in fact, we still have the sixth article." ”

This is the so-called negotiation, which is essentially similar to bargaining in the vegetable field, and it is impossible for the Western Xia side to do it in one step, seeing that the other party wants to end the peace talks, they hurriedly throw out new concessions.

Liu Tao sat down again, nodded and said, "We are willing to listen!" ”

Yinggui and Cao Price discussed in a low voice, and Yinggui sighed and said: "We promised to cede the four states of Hexi to the Great Song Dynasty, this is our biggest concession, please Li Dutong must agree." “

Cao Ye went out again, and after a while, he came back with a letter and handed it to Liu Tao, Liu Tao looked at it, and handed the letter to Yinggui, "We all think that it should be Song Jun's conditions now, this is our condition, you go back and return to your life!" “

Yinggui opened the envelope, and Cao Price also hurriedly stepped forward to take a closer look, and the two were suddenly stunned by the conditions inside.

Liu Tao said lightly: "I also said just now, if you think that Li Dushuai is not qualified to negotiate, you can send someone to Lin'an to negotiate with the imperial court, if the imperial court makes a decision, we will implement it according to the decision of the imperial court, I have said enough, please go back!" ”

............

Cao Fei and Yinggui returned to Xingqing Mansion in great disappointment, and they returned to the palace, where Li Qianshun and a group of ministers were waiting.

When Li Qianshun finished reading the conditions written by Li Yanqing himself, his face suddenly turned pale, he waved his hand and said to Yinggui: "Yingshang is reading to everyone!" ”

Yinggui had to read it out one by one.

1. The defenders of Xingqing Mansion must immediately disarm and surrender, and if the sincerity of surrender is sufficient, the Song army can cancel the surrender ceremony.

2. The Western Xia surrendered, and the Li royal family and the concubines of the Western Xia were escorted to Lin'an by the Song army, and the king of the Western Xia could guarantee the honor of being crowned a king with a different surname, and his personal belongings could be retained.

3. When Western Xia surrendered, the Song army would treat the various tribes of the Dangxiang clan well, not to seize their property and land, and to allow their descendants to live at the foot of Mount Henan for generations.

Fourth, when Western Xia surrendered, the Song army would strictly manage military discipline and not allow any plundering of the people.

5. With the surrender of Western Xia, the Song Dynasty will restore the territory of the Heshuo region and its prefectures and counties during the Tang Dynasty, and will also promote some party members who understand Chinese as state and county officials as appropriate.

The above five conditions are the final conditions of the Jingzhao Army, and if the city is broken and surrendered, the above conditions will be reduced as appropriate.

Yinggui read it, and the crowd in the hall was suddenly excited, and Brother Richard said angrily: "Li Yanqing is too deceitful, I still have an army of 50,000 in Western Xia, and I don't know who will kill the deer, let him wait and see who will have the last laugh." ”

Jiao Yanting also shook his head and said: "This is the condition for the destruction of the country, we agreed, and the Western Xia will perish, I am sorry for the ancestors who shed blood and tears for the establishment of the Western Xia, I would rather die in battle than agree to this humiliating condition!" “

At this time, Cao Gao waved his hand and said to everyone: "This is only Li Yanqing's condition, not the condition of the Great Song Dynasty, I should find a way to rush to Lin'an as quickly as possible to negotiate with the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty, and things may take a turn for the better." “

Li Qianshun perked up, "This is a good method, it can be implemented, Jiao Shangshu has been dealing with the Song Dynasty for a long time, and I will leave this matter to you." ”

Jiao Yan bowed and said, "The minister will never be dishonored!" ”

Yinggui added: "From here to Lin'an and back, running day and night with the horse's hooves, it will take a month at the earliest, the key is whether we can hold Xingqing Mansion this month?" ”

Everyone also realized that this problem was the key, Li Qianshun thought about it, and finally set his eyes on Brother Richard. “

"His Royal Highness the King of Jin, the power to command the military and civilian resistance in the city will be handed over to you."

Brother Richard bowed and saluted, "The minister will never be dishonored!" ”