In this court meeting, not only three cabinet scholars were appointed and the cabinet was expanded, but more importantly, the emperor received the Tatar envoys at the court meeting and decided to conduct the first negotiations between the two sides in the Wenyuan Pavilion hall in the afternoon.

With the end of the Great Dynasty Meeting, one by one major news spread like wings, quickly spread all over the streets and alleys of Shenjing, causing a sensation throughout the city, and becoming the focus of discussion in Shenjing's major wine shops and teahouses.

Ningrong Street in Shenjing West City was full of joy, not only in front of Sanfumen, but also on the entire street, and the steward in front of Sanfu led the small servants to set off fireworks and firecrackers to celebrate Jia Jue's promotion to deputy general.

Qianqing Palace, Emperor Tianyou has returned to the small study of the dormitory, he just took a nap, and his energy has recovered a little, today he feels very tired, maybe he needs to take a good rest, but there are still many things to deal with, he has to cheer up and deal with some tricky things first.

Now he has put some things in the hands of the crown prince Zhu Wucheng, of course, the major military affairs and the excerpts of civil and military officials above the third rank must be personally reviewed by him, especially the newspapers on the frontier.

Emperor Tianyou leaned on the dragon chair and slowly drank a bowl of ginseng tea, and on the side of the imperial eucalyptus, the crown prince Zhu Wucheng stood with his hands hanging down extremely respectfully, ready to listen to the emperor's teachings.

"What do you think about Tatar?"

Emperor Tianyou finally spoke.

"Those who are not of my race will have different hearts."

This answer made Emperor Tianyou very satisfied, in his heart, everything that could pose a threat to his throne was worthy of vigilance, the first in the past was the late King of Shu, now the first in line is Zhu Houze, followed by Tatar.

After the hard work of Bayan Khan, especially weakened the strength of several major alliance tribes, Bayan Khan's ability to control the various tribes of Tatar was greatly strengthened, under his series of reward and punishment policies, the population increased dramatically, and a cavalry of 200,000 people was formed under his command, which once overwhelmed the Warat people.

Although the Tatars suffered a lot of losses in the hands of Zhu Houze, they still occupied a great advantage, especially because they still had a large number of young women and children, with these, it only took more than ten years for them to recover again, so Emperor Tianyou did not want Zhu Wucheng, as the prince, to take it lightly, because some petty profits could not see the future situation clearly.

After nearly two months of observation, on the whole he was quite satisfied with this prince, and his heart was full of gratification, and after considering all kinds of factors, he announced three new cabinet scholars at the court meeting: Ding Yuanzhu, Han Jun, and Wang Shaoguang, of which Ding Yuanzhu entered the cabinet as a cabinet counselor and assistant military aircraft as a household secretary.

"What do you think of the afternoon negotiations?"

"Asking for a sky-high price, testing the bottom line of the Tatars."

Emperor Tianyou nodded, "Since you already have an idea, you will preside over the afternoon negotiations, and I will let the second assistant assist you." ”

"Son's command."

Zhu Wucheng, who was shaking in his heart, took a deep breath, walked to the middle and knelt down.

"Although the Tatars are of a foreign race and have enmity with the Ming Dynasty, I hope you can keep a normal heart and look at this matter calmly."

Emperor Tianyou said while staring at the expression of the crown prince Zhu Wucheng, he had just made up his mind, first, he was indeed in poor spirits, and secondly, he also wanted to see Zhu Wucheng's ability to adapt on the spot.

"Yes."

Zhu Wucheng kowtowed in a fluctuating mood.

.........

Before the time came, the Tatar mission, which had been waiting in worry, finally waited for the result, and under the escort of a group of forbidden troops, Zhao Sheng came to the imperial city with the deputy envoy and several students.

The negotiations were very formal and serious, and in addition to the crown prince Zhu Wucheng, senior officials from the cabinet and the military department participated.

Liu Wenbin, deputy assistant to the cabinet, Niu Jizong, Shizhenguo of the Cabinet University, Chen Ruiwen, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Hou Xiaokang, and Jia Jue, were more than ten ministers of civil and military affairs.

The place of the meeting is in the side hall of Wenyuan Pavilion, it is said that it is a meeting, in fact, it is still an audience, there are more than a dozen ministers sitting in the side hall, the prince Zhu Wucheng sits on the upper position, under him, sits on the cabinet deputy Liu Wenbin, on both sides of the side hall sits Jia Jue and other court officials, everyone is solemn, listening to the Tatar envoy Zhao Sheng's story.

Zhao Sheng was very well prepared, and he also deliberately brought a huge map, which clearly marked the form of the steppe today, and marked the places of several major battles between the two sides, it can be seen that the Warats are encroaching on the Tatar tribes at a very fast speed, and they already have a slight advantage, as long as it goes smoothly, it is a matter of time before the Tatars are defeated.

After introducing the current situation in one breath, Zhao Sheng breathed a long sigh of relief, it stands to reason that he can't fully reveal his disadvantage just after the negotiation, and there is no way to do it.

Yesterday the royal court sent an urgent letter, the Tatar Khan Bayan Khan led the main Tatar force on the way back to Hulan Hulan Hypothermia encountered a surprise attack by the Warats, after a bloody battle, although the Warats were repulsed, but the Tatars paid a heavy price, the main reason was because of the lack of excellent weapons and armor, which made him have to blow up the disadvantage, let the Ming Dynasty people see the crisis, end this meeting as quickly as possible, and exchange weapons and armor from the Ming Dynasty, otherwise drag on, the Tatar losses will be bigger and bigger.

In the past few days, Zhao Sheng visited the mansions of many ministers of civil and military affairs with heavy gifts, and met the cabinet assistant, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the right attendant of the Ministry of War, and also found out some news from their mouths, some good and bad, the good side is that the Ming Dynasty people are expanding their military warfare and actively dealing with the rising Warats, which shows that the Ming Dynasty people will not sit idly by and watch Warat defeat the Tatars.

The bad thing is that there are two opinions within the Ming Dynasty on whether to support the Tatars, one is the border of the Chen soldiers, and when Warat defeats the Tatars, he will directly move north to defeat the Warats, who also suffered heavy losses.

The second opinion is slightly better than this, not waiting for the Varat to completely defeat the Tatars, and sending troops when the Tartars lose their ability to resist, to put it bluntly, they are all guarding against the Tartars, hoping to weaken the strength of the Tartars as much as possible through the hands of the Varats.

Zhao Sheng realized that this was the selfishness of the Han people, who pursued the concept of 'not my race, their hearts must be different'.

Thinking of this, he saluted the crown prince Zhu Wucheng and said loudly: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, although there have been wars between the Tatars and the Ming Dynasty for more than a hundred years, one thing is true, the Tatars have never invaded the land of the Ming Dynasty, and the root of the war is that the grassland suffered a catastrophe, and the Tatars also attacked the Ming frontier in order to survive.

In recent years, the younger generation of the clan has also been actively learning Han culture, speaking Chinese, and trying to accept Confucian cultural etiquette. The Warats, on the other hand, wanted to invade Shenjing like their ancestors, seize the entire territory of the Ming Dynasty, and re-establish the regime of the steppe people. These are thoughts that we Tatars have never had.

I hope that the Ming Dynasty will pay attention to the rapidly rising Warat and help the Tatars when they are in trouble, and for this reason, we are willing to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty to be friendly from generation to generation and never fight again. ”

Zhao Sheng's attitude was sincere and respectful, and what he said seemed reasonable, but in fact, it was extremely ridiculous, what he said was that the Tatars did not invade the territory of the Ming Dynasty, not attack, and it was not that they did not want to invade, but that they did not have the ability, if the major border towns failed to block their troops, they would have hit Gyeonggi a long time ago.

There are also those border people who were plundered, the reason why they were not tortured and killed by them is because they need labor, and there are records in the archives of the military department, and those border people who were robbed are living a very miserable life.

As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned, and as many people became excited, everyone's eyes looked at the crown prince Zhu Wucheng.

Zhu Wucheng sat there expressionlessly, and Chen Qiang, the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, stood up and arched his hand: "Chief Envoy Zhao, there are a few things that this official needs to explain to you, first, there is no war between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars, it is all your Tatar unilateral invasion of my Ming Dynasty.

Second, you Tatars are not without ambition, but your strength does not allow it.

Third, what kind of life did those people on the border of the Ming Dynasty who were plundered by you live, everyone knows that there is no need to put gold on their faces.

Also, you said that the Tatars attacked the Ming Dynasty in order to survive, hehe, I heard that you have been studying and studying Han culture for decades, I don't know how to say such a brazen bandit logic?! ”

Zhao Sheng's face was flushed with refution, and he hurriedly explained: "This lord, I am not denying the facts, but showing that compared to the Warats, the Tatars have no substantial threat to the Ming Dynasty. We can become allies, and even, as long as the Ming Emperor can marry a princess or a clan lord to Tartary as Kedun, we ......"

"Presumptuous!"

"Bold!

”

"Someone!

！ ”

Liu Wenbin, deputy assistant to the cabinet, stood up reluctantly.

Chen Ruiwen and Niu Jizong also stood up.

Jia Jue even recruited the forbidden army on duty.

All the officials looked at Zhao Sheng and the others with righteous indignation, and angry flames erupted from their eyes, as if they wanted to eat Zhao Sheng and the others.

Zhu Wucheng still sat there expressionlessly.

Zhao Sheng's heart was half cold all of a sudden, he thought that Daming would not agree, he didn't expect to attract such fierce opposition, and glanced at the Ming army who rushed to the gate of the palace, gritted his teeth and said: "His Royal Highness the Prince, as long as the Ming Emperor is willing to marry a princess or the lord of the clan to Tartary for Kedun, the two countries will marry Qin and Jin, Taiji can come to Shenjing in person to complete the marriage, Daming and Tatar are the country of Weng's son-in-law, and in the future, it will be the status of the country of uncle and nephew, accept the canonization of Daming, perform the gift of the vassal country and fulfill the corresponding obligations." ”

"Phew! Wish for the moon! ”

The reprimand of Liu Fusheng, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, caused a burst of knowing laughter, and then Chen Ruiwen said: "As long as His Majesty the Emperor wants it, the Ming military will take it with his own hands, and it is not a difficult thing to think about." ”

Zhu Wucheng pondered for a while before he said coldly: "If this is the attitude of Tatar, there is no need to talk about it. ”

The officials nodded solemnly one by one.

Zhao Sheng sighed secretly, to this extent, no matter how fanciful he was, it was insincere, he laughed dryly, bowed down to the crown prince Zhu Wucheng, and said: "Dear Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we are here with twelve points of sincerity, and we sincerely want to ask to marry a royal lady for Kedun..... Of course, we are also self-aware....."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper, "This is the square eucalyptus that our khan drafted, and I also ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to look at it." ”

Dong Shan took it, looked at it carefully, and presented it to Zhu Wucheng.

Zhu Wucheng: "Open." ”

The Tatars put forward a preliminary plan for military cooperation, agreeing that the two sides would support each other and jointly deal with the Warats, and that the Ming Dynasty would provide the Tatars with weapons and armor support, and the Tatars would use excellent military horses, cattle and sheep to offset the deductions.

Bayan Khan put forward three points: the first was weapons and armor, and he hoped that the Ming Dynasty would provide weapons and armor that could arm 100,000 Tatar cavalry, and the Tatars would use 50,000 military horses and 100,000 cattle and sheep to offset it. In addition, I also hope that Daming can provide them with accurate information.

The second thing was that the two sides reopened border trade, and the Ming Dynasty provided necessities such as salt, iron, and tea for the Tatars, allowing the merchants and people of both sides to trade freely, and the two sides were mutually beneficial.

The last thing is to hope that the Ming Dynasty will release the 20,000 Tatar prisoners of war captured in the Battle of Xuanfu, Bayan Khan needs these prisoners of war to return to the steppe to enrich the army, after several major battles, the Tatars have lost too many elite cavalry, and now there are too many new soldiers.

Jia Jue smiled, these 20,000 prisoners of war are now digging coal in several coal mines of Jia's family, thanks to better food, these Tatar prisoners of war are very cooperative with management, but because of the lack of protection, there are still many people who died of accidents and diseases, and now there are less than 18,000 people, it seems that they can only wait for a group of Warat people from the grassland to dig coal after the autumn.

"May I ask the Commander, how do you guarantee that you will not turn against Da Ming after receiving these weapons and armor?"

This is Liu Wenbin asking a question, although he has met with Zhao Sheng before, but his heart is still full of vigilance against Tatar.

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng smiled slightly, "We have formed a blood feud with the Warat people, we are not so stupid, we will provoke Daming at this time, as for the future, I believe that as long as there are enough interests, the peace between us will last forever, Daming is not interested in the land of the grassland, and we Tatars are used to living on horseback, accustomed to freedom, and have no interest in the Central Plains." ”

Chen Ruiwen, the secretary of the Ministry of War, snorted coldly, "100,000 is too much, 30,000 at most, and I want 100,000 military horses, excellent military horses, don't use those crooked melons and cracked dates to make up the numbers." ”

"20,000 prisoners of war can be brought back by you, but you also have to compensate for the ransom money, accommodation, food expenses and losses of the Jia family, by the way, the Jia family also provided them with tools for labor and taught them a skill, which also has to be charged."

Jia Jue pinched his fingers and calculated, "Since you are here with sincerity, Ben Shuai can't care too much about personal gains and losses, in this way, you can just give 500,000 taels, of which 300,000 taels are their apprenticeship fees, after all, they have learned the most advanced mining skills of my Ming Dynasty." ”

Zhao Sheng was so angry that his face turned red and white, and everyone also showed a strange look - this is too shameless....

Niu Jizong: "I heard that Bayan Khan has a son, and the grassland is full of wars and chaos, and it is not safe. ”

A glimmer of alertness flashed in Zhao Sheng's eyes!

"Not bad."

Jia Jue got up reluctantly, walked to the center of the hall, looked at the huge grassland map, and said to Zhao Sheng: "Didn't the chief envoy say that the young people of your royal court like Han culture now? Just take this opportunity to let them come to Shenjing to study together, by the way, your two sons of Taiji are just the right age to study in the country, and Ben Shuai can personally invite His Majesty the Emperor for you! ”

As he spoke, he took the map from the Tatar deputy envoy's hand, cleaned it up by himself, and turned around and handed it to Chen Ruiwen.

Zhao Sheng's eyes widened, the reason why he showed this map to the Ming Dynasty officials was to increase the bargaining chips for negotiation, which was also too shameless.

The civil officials on the side were also dumbfounded, this one was not only ruthless, but also shameless in action.

Zhao Sheng's heart was sour, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ....."

Zhu Wucheng's eyes flashed, "The envoy has thought about it?" ”

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng felt uncomfortable for a while, "Your Highness, not to mention these 30,000 pairs of weapons and armor, even these 100,000 excellent military horses are not easy to make up now, unless they are drawn from the Tatar cavalry, but in this way, they will fall into a greater disadvantage when facing the Warats."

In addition, this price is too expensive, Daming has a pair of armor twelve taels, plus a standard waist knife, even if it is fifteen taels, 100,000 pairs can't be so much, and now a good military horse costs fifty taels, even if it is calculated according to the usual thirty taels, this is too much difference, and we Tatars can't afford it at all. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at Jia Jue, "And those prisoners of war, I heard that Zhongwubo only spent fifteen thousand taels of silver at the beginning, this is not a discussion at all, this is blackmail!" ”

"Blackmail?"

Jia Jue frowned and said: "Let's do a fair deal, I make a price, you bargain, the deal is not benevolent and righteous, what is the matter with your innocence?" In that case, let's not talk about it. ”

Zhao Sheng: "His Royal Highness the Prince! ”

Zhu Wucheng looked at Jia Jue, and then turned his gaze to him, "Those prisoners of war are the private property of the Jia family, and this palace can't be the master, I'm sorry!" ”

Zhao Sheng's heart sank suddenly, it was really difficult to deal with, he groaned for a while, and said, "I don't know what it takes for the general to agree to release these 20,000 prisoners of war?" ”

"Actually, I'm a reasonable person, and I don't want to make things difficult, I just need to be compensated."

"General, please."

Jia Jue took a slow sip of tea, and then said: "First of all, I bought these 20,000 prisoners of war with real money, and from last year to now, everything they eat, wear, live, and use costs money, and they eat a lot. In addition, they are used for mining, and they have to create a lot of wealth for the Jia family Chamber of Commerce and the imperial court every year, and you have to compensate for this. ”

Everyone's eyes are going to be heard, they have heard of all kinds of compensation, but they have never heard of compensation for future losses.

Zhao Sheng gritted his teeth, he had to redeem the 20,000 prisoners of war, "General, please say, how much does it cost?" ”

Jia Jue smiled and said, "I don't need money, the main envoy only needs to give me 15,000 fine military horses." ”

“.....”

Who is Zhao Sheng, he immediately understood the true intentions of the Ming Dynasty military, they will give Tatar weapons armor, but they will swallow all the best military horses of Tatar, so that the combat power between Tatar and Warat, and even in the future, the Ming and Tatar will fight, and the Ming will have a greater advantage.

Thinking of this, Zhao Sheng hurriedly smiled and said: "The number of military horses is limited, if it is given to the general, then the imperial court will be even worse, you see, how about eight thousand?" ”

At this time, Zhu Wucheng picked up Fang Eucalyptus again and looked at it carefully, "How many military horses can Tatar produce?" ”

Zhao Sheng's spirits perked up, Zhu Wucheng finally spoke, thought for a while, and immediately said: "Without causing the combat power of the army to be cut in half, at most sixty thousand horses, but we can get together, seventy-five thousand horses, but we need weapons and armor to balance the loss of combat power, one hundred thousand pairs!" ”

"Forty thousand."

"Eighty thousand."

"Fifty thousand at most."

Zhao Sheng fell to his knees with a thud, "His Royal Highness the Prince, without this batch of military horses, we are already a lot behind the Warat, if there is no sufficient weapons and armor, the Tatars will soon be destroyed in the hands of the Warats, seventy-five thousand pairs, there can be no less." ”

Zhu Wucheng nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "This palace hopes that the noble Taiji family can come to live in Shenjing, and this palace will also be able to fulfill the friendship of the landlord!" ”

"Thank you, Your Highness the Prince! Thank you, Your Highness the Prince! ”

Zhao Sheng slowly raised his head, "I can't be the master of this matter, I have to repay the Khan." ”

Zhu Wucheng nodded in understanding, "That's it." You write a letter back first, as long as you receive a reply from Bayan Khan, you can be allocated the first batch of weapons and armor here, and you can negotiate with the military department. ”

Niu Jizong: "The prince ....."

Zhu Wucheng: "That's it!" ”

After a while, there were only three people left in the side hall.

"What's this called!"

Niu Jizong said indignantly, got up and left.

Jia Jue looked at his back and smiled without saying a word, and Chen Ruiwen on the side sighed, "I lost fifteen thousand pairs of armor in vain." ”

Jia Jue nodded, and before the Tatars came, it was agreed that 60,000 pairs would be exchanged for most of the Tatars' excellent military horses, further weakening their combat power.

It's a pity that the crown prince Zhu Wucheng doesn't play cards according to the routine, but in the end, the emperor has to nod.