Li Jiangyao couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

This second Turkic prince actually learned to use the trick he had just made up a background of a businessman doing business, and overturned all his demands lightly.

At this time, Yun Qianxue, who was sitting next to Tanley, spoke: "General Li, we are very sincere in coming to Metasequoia City this time. The Turks hope that Her Royal Highness Princess Hesijia can be brought back safely, but this does not mean that you can just talk nonsense and open your mouth. ”

Xu Youchang replied without giving an inch: "Since you are very sincere, then you might as well say it and let us see what kind of sincerity it is." ”

Prince Tanley glanced at Xu Youchang with a grin, and then glanced at Duke Druhan, signaling for him to speak.

Druhan spoke in the stiff Saint Tang language, and said slowly: "Immediately release Princess Hesijia, give it to us to take back, and then open the city gate and sacrifice the metasequoia!" The Turkic armies could guarantee that they would not slaughter the city again. In the same way, your army will be pardoned by the Great Khan, and will not be subject to death. Just exile, very merciful. ”

"Exile?" Xie Tanzhi was a little puzzled by this word.

Druhan explained, "Exile means that all of your soldiers and horses leave Metasequoia City. It's okay to go back to Zijin Pass, it's okay to stay in Xijiang as a horse thief, you can go wherever you like, it's very free! ”

Xu Youchang's eyebrows tightened, and he asked word by word, "What if we don't accept your kindness?" ”

"Don't accept it?!" Druhan pursed his lips contemptuously: "Early tomorrow morning, the 200,000-strong army will begin to attack the city, and all the living things in Metasequoia will be killed!" ”

Yun Qianxue said calmly on the side: "The Great Khan said that if the princess can come back, of course it is the best; If you can't come back, it is equivalent to sacrificing your life for the country, and it will be equally glorious. Anyway, there are more than 100,000 men, women and children in Metasequoia City to accompany her to the funeral, and it is not a loss. ”

"Hey—I said you two don't want to do this, okay?" Prince Tanley stretched out his hand to stop his two companions, and said angrily: "We are here to negotiate, and we should speak kindly." Shouting and shouting at every turn, and killing the whole city as soon as he says it, what does it look like! General Li and the others are all extremely intelligent people, who will judge the situation and assess the situation. ”

In the face of the Turkic people's performance of singing and harmonizing, Li Jiangyao was unmoved: "Your Royal Highness, I think that your side is deliberately changing the concept of negotiation just now and confusing the direction of negotiation. As you said, we have the opportunity to sit together because of Princess Hesijia, so we have to talk about the princess's stay and don't metasequoia's. If there is no princess factor, the Zhenjiang army has only one choice, and that is to fight to the death! You should find out this first. ”

"Don't dare to brag about anything else," Xu Youchang said loudly, "With the military strength and fortifications in the city, as well as the huge food reserves, if you are determined to defend to the death, it will be no problem to drag you for a year and a half!" ”

Xie Tanzhi continued: "Besides, most of you are cavalry, lack large siege equipment, and have no decisive force to deal with water fortresses that have been in operation for many years. Even if some equipment is hastily manufactured, the casualties required to attack the city, have you calculated this account? Judging from the following, the number will definitely not be less than the soldiers and civilians in the city. ”

Li Jiangyao leaned lightly on the back of the chair and sneered: "How long metasequoia can last may be unknown. But how long Princess Hesijia can hold out, you can roughly guess without thinking about it. If your Great Khan's precious daughters, Hanhai Mingzhu and Princess Yingyang, actually end up with a fragrant death under the noses of hundreds of thousands of Turkic elite troops, it is estimated that it will be more uncomfortable than killing you, right? ”

He turned his head to look at Yun Qianxue: "I know that she is your fiancée, so please answer me seriously, if He Sijia dies, do you really think it makes sense to kill all the soldiers and civilians in the city?" ”

Li Jiangyao's words were more to the point than the Turks' routine just now.

The Turks were most worried about the two issues: one was the princess Hesijia, and the other was the Eastern Expedition to Shengtang.

The safety of Hesijia is related to the dignity of the Turkic royal family and the morale of the army. Once there is a half-point spread pool, it is difficult to return. Just like Li Jiangyao's soul torture, even if everyone in Metasequoia City is slaughtered at that time, is it still meaningful?

Similarly, the long-delayed siege war was by no means what the Turkic Great Khan Ashina Jin hoped to see. The strategic layout of the Eastern Expedition to Shengtang has been launched, and every day of delay may miss the most advantageous fighter plane, which will affect major events.

It is precisely because of this that he will mobilize 200,000 troops to besiege Metasequoia, hoping to force Li Jiangyao to compromise as soon as possible under the huge military pressure of the Turks and completely solve the problem of stability in Western Xinjiang.

Li Jiangyao and they also saw through these two key points, so that they had the opportunity to deal with the Turks and counter the army of Tanli and them.

"Oh, General Li, you don't have to learn from my two partners." Prince Tanley was still smiling: "Negotiations, the two sides can compromise and make concessions to each other, so that they can get closer and closer." Everyone threatens each other, and they can only drift apart. In my opinion, neither of us actually wants to fight hard, so we have the opportunity to sit down and talk. ”

Li Jiangyao nodded in agreement: "What His Royal Highness the Prince said is the truth. Like General Yun and His Excellency the Duke, we are all people who lead troops to fight, and we have a hot temper and a straightforward temper. As a local landlord, Li was unhospitable, and asked the three to forgive him. Come. ”

The guards outside the door answered, and walked in with a tray in both hands, with a large pot of wine and six cups, which was placed straight in front of everyone.

"Three of you, please try it," Li Jiangyao said with a smile: "This is our own wild fruit wine, although the taste is not very hot and spicy, but it is fragrant and refreshing, and has a unique flavor." ”

The six of them toasted together, saluted each other, and then drank all at the same time. After Yun Qianxue and Druhan tasted it carefully, they both felt that this wine tasted very good, and nodded slightly. Tanley was even more exaggerated, exclaiming: "It's really delicious." Although this wild fruit wine is a common type in Western Xinjiang, it seems to incorporate some characteristics of Persian chanti wine, which is wonderful and wonderful. ”

Li Jiangyao lifted the wine jug, filled the wine glass for everyone again, and praised at the same time: "Your Highness really has extraordinary knowledge, and the brewing method of this wine is indeed from a Persian old man." ”

Thanley laughed and beckoned everyone to have another drink. At this time, the fierce atmosphere of-for-tat between the two sides has faded a lot.

He put down his wine glass and said with a smile to Li Jiangyao: "General, I still said what I said just now, everyone is a smart person, so there is no need to keep going around the bend and testing each other." You should be very clear about the conditions you mentioned, and we can't agree to all of them, and of course, you don't have to take it to heart what Druhan said. Let's talk about one or two of your most urgent requests, if we can, let's negotiate directly face to face, so that the soldiers on both sides will not suffer from the wind outside. ”

Li Jiangyao touched the bottom of the wine glass and asked Tanli: "Your Highness, no matter how good the ghost desert of the Western Xinjiang is, it can't compare to the Western Continent, hundreds of thousands of Turkic troops have come here for thousands of miles, it can't be for permanent residence." After you leave, who will take over the four cities that robbed me? ”

Prince Tanley's eyes narrowed into a slit, stared at Li Jiangyao for a moment, and suddenly smiled: "I don't know either." Most likely, it will be handed over to the Western Frontier Alliance. ”

"That's good, anyway, it was taken back from them at the beginning," Li Jiangyao said lightly: "It's a big deal, it's good to take it again in the future." ”

Tanli understood what he meant: I can't beat you Turks, but it's okay to beat those soft eggs in the western frontier, as long as the territory is not grabbed from you, both sides have room to turn around. Tanli secretly praised Li Jiangyao for being flexible and bowed slightly: "What the general said is right. This world is originally a world of the jungle, and whoever has a hard fist is qualified to have what he wants. But......" He paused slightly, then stared at Li Jiangyao with bright eyes, and continued: "However, Western Xinjiang will be under Turkic rule in the future, and if you want to survive and further compete for territory with your neighbors, the premise is that you must submit to the Turkic Empire. ”

Li Jiangyao asked calmly: "We are all the people of the Holy Tang Dynasty, how can we surrender to the Turks?" ”

Tanley smiled faintly: "Those who know the times are Junjie." There are some things that will have different positions in different periods, and different positions will lead to different choices, which is really normal. We want the general to release the princess, and the general wants to be able to keep the metasequoia, so the best way is for your army to submit to the Turks. Under this premise, the princess is a good bargaining chip for the general to ask for conditions, isn't it? ”

Xu Youchang coughed twice, and then asked, "What exactly is the surrender you are talking about?" ”

"It's simple." Tanli patiently explained: "In order to ensure my sister's safety, the Turkic Empire's submission conditions are very lenient, as long as you declare that you will renounce the banner of the Holy Tang and accept the Turkic dominance in Western Xinjiang, you will be considered surrendered. When the time comes, we will give you another title, exempt from taxes for a few years, and you, as a new kingdom in the Western Frontier, will be on an equal footing with other countries, and everything will be fine. As for the Western Xinjiang Alliance, if you want to join, you can join, and if you don't want to, you can not join, and develop freely. What do you think? This is much cooler than the red tape of Shengtang, right? ”

"You and I don't have to fight anymore?" Xie Tanzhi asked.

"Of course," Thanley replied, "as long as we declare our surrender, we will be one family." Unless you rebel, the Turks will not attack your subjects for no reason. ”

Li Jiangyao lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then raised his eyes to look at Tanley: "Since this is the case, then next, I will take the honorable Princess Hesijia and carefully talk about the conditions of submission." ”