Fenghou

Chapter 1099 Negotiations
The negotiation was held in Lin'an as scheduled. The representative of Chen Qing's negotiation was the special envoy Hu Yun, while the chief official of the negotiation on behalf of the imperial court was Zhao Yan, Minister of Rites.

Of course, the negotiation cannot be finalized in a day or two, as it involves many vital interests of both parties, and there will be constant see-saw competition, and even the two sides will be deadlocked for a long time.

The two sides exchanged greetings and sat down on both sides of a large table in the lobby. Besides Hu Yun, there were two of his subordinates, Wang Ming, the deputy envoy, and Yang Jingzhi, the chief.

There were also three people on the other side, Zhao Yan as the main talker, Wang Hanlin, the deputy minister of the Privy Council, and Gou Hong, the doctor of the Ministry of War.

Zhao Yannian is about forty years old. He is a typical white-faced scholar. He is also from the royal family of the Zhao family, but not from the lineage of Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi, but a descendant of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. There are very few royal families in Lin'an, and he is also very popular with the emperor Zhao Gou. trust.

As the host, Zhao Yan took the lead in enlightening Zongyi and said: "This time, the two sides are conducting friendly negotiations to discuss the jurisdiction plan of Bianliang. The officials also hope that the two sides will make mutual understanding and compromise and reach a consensus as soon as possible."

Hu Yun smiled slightly and said: "Zhao Shilang is right. We are all courtiers of the Song Dynasty. The negotiation between us is just the distribution of interests within the Song Dynasty. It is completely different from the negotiation between the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty. I also believe that a consensus will be reached as soon as possible. "

Zhao Yan nodded, "In that case, let's start!"

Hu Yun took a paper bag from his boss Bo Yang Jingzhi, put it on the table and pushed it to Zhao Yan, who was opposite him, and said with a smile: "Since it is a negotiation, we must first understand what we are talking about. These are two maps. Please take a look at the exchange plan we proposed."

Zhao Yan took the paper bag and opened it. As expected, there were two maps inside. He looked at it carefully, and found that Jingnan South Road and Bianliang were different from what they had imagined. The main change in Jingnan South Road was the Yangtze River. Half, with Jiangxin as the boundary, this problem is not a big one, it can be discussed, but the boundary of Bianliang is only the city and the imperial tomb, that is to say, even if it is a nominal ownership, it only includes the city and does not include the suburbs.

Zhao Yan frowned, "Special Envoy Hu, why is there only a city in Bianliang? I remember that the area within fifty miles outside the city is under the jurisdiction of Bianliang County!"

Hu Yun smiled slightly, "The imperial court doesn't really want land, and what you are interested in is only Bianliang City. Why do you care about the land in the suburbs?"

Zhao Yan can't make the decision, he has to report to the higher authorities, he nodded and said: "This negotiation is decided by the officials, I have to report the boundary to the officials, and I will get back to you in the afternoon, let's talk about your definitions now! The Son of Heaven would like to know, what is nominal ownership, and what exactly does it mean?"

The negotiations in the morning ended after more than an hour, and the negotiations continued in the afternoon. Zhao Yan immediately reported to Xu Xiantu, and Xu Xiantu took him to the imperial study to report to the emperor.

Zhao Gou looked at the map provided by the other party, frowned, and said to Zhao Yan: "There is no need to draw a boundary in the Yangtze River waters. , I am not interested, but the mausoleum of the first emperor is outside the city, so what should I say?"

Zhao Yan bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, what the other party means is that it is a nominal affiliation anyway, so first divide the scope of the name clearly. They only agree to be within the scope of Bianliang City, and they do not agree to expand to the suburbs. It is believed that the suburbs are under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture and have nothing to do with Bianliang."

"What does Mr. Xu think?" Zhao Gou asked Xu Xiantu again.

Xu Xiantu thought for a while and said, "It is estimated that the other party wants to have a clear boundary, and the city wall is the best boundary. Weichen thinks it doesn't matter if we need it outside the city, but we can use this as a condition to force the other party to make concessions in other areas. For example, the Mausoleum of the First Emperor mentioned by His Majesty just now, we can completely demand actual control. Chen Qing can’t object to going back to the Mausoleum of the First Emperor. In addition, there are places such as the Imperial Palace and the Ancestral Temple. We can gradually ask for them in the negotiation. , to carry out actual control, we require troops to be stationed, the number can be smaller, but it must be controlled by us.”

Xu Xiantu's suggestion touched the heart of the emperor Zhao Gou. He was not satisfied with his nominal affiliation. He wanted to actually control Bianliang, but Chen Qing would definitely not agree, so the next best thing was to actually control some areas. If he actually controls the imperial palace, ancestral temple, altar, mausoleum and other places involving imperial power, he doesn't have to worry about Chen Qing using Bianliang to ascend the throne.

As for the people's land in Bianliang, he has no interest at all. Those are all burdens, which will not give him any benefits, but will only make him pay for it without stopping, so he doesn't want to care about it.

Zhao Gou nodded, and asked again: "What does Xu Aiqing mean, we ask step by step?"

"Yes! Aren't they limited to Bianliang City? We can agree, but what about the mausoleums outside the city? So we demand that the mausoleum be controlled. I believe they can't object. Since it's a negotiation, you can't just make a request and not do it. Give in!"

Zhao Gou said happily: "That's the truth, does the servant understand?"

"Wei Chen understands!"

Zhao Gou said again: "Then I want to know, what do they mean by nominal affiliation? Should Zhao Shilang have asked?"

"The humble staff did ask them, and their answer was very clear. We can't interfere in Bianliang's government affairs, we can't garrison troops, we can't levy any taxes on Bianliang, and we can't own government assets. We can appoint Tokyo left-behind and Kaifeng governors, but There can be no actual official office and actual powers, and you can only take these two positions in Lin'an."

The more Zhao Gou listened, the more annoyed he became, and his face was very ugly. Isn't this just painting cakes to satisfy his hunger?Draw a cake on paper for yourself, and then exchange it for real gold and silver from Jinghu South Road.

Xu Xiantu said from the side: "Your Majesty, don't worry. It's normal for them to make these demands. The so-called extortionate prices and repaying the money on the ground. Since they can make demands, we can also make demands. Only when the two sides compromise and make concessions can an agreement be reached in the end." , This is the purpose of the negotiation, otherwise the negotiation would be meaningless."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Aiqing is right. I don't have to pay attention to their request. I have to make a request. I appointed Tokyo to stay behind, but Bianliang cannot garrison troops. Then I ask them not to garrison troops in Bianliang."

Negotiations continued in the afternoon, and Zhao Yan handed the blueprints to Hu Yundao: "The emperor has confirmed these two blueprints. Regarding the blueprints of Jingnan South Road, what the emperor means is that the demarcation is limited to land, and everyone can navigate freely on the Yangtze River waterway. So there is no need to draw a line."

Hu Yun nodded, "Then cancel the Yangtze River, I can make the decision, the Yangtze River is not demarcated, everyone can sail freely, and what about Bianliang City? Does the emperor agree to be limited to the nominal ownership of the city?"

Zhao Yan said indifferently: "In principle, the Son of Heaven agrees to use the city wall as the boundary, but the Son of Heaven has a condition, that is, the mausoleum of the former emperor of Song Dynasty outside the city must be actually controlled by us, and we will send special personnel to manage it and send a small number of troops to garrison it."

Hu Yun said slowly: "Each family has its own ancestral tomb, and of course the ancestral tomb is managed by its own family. His Royal Highness King Yong has no objection to this. You can manage the mausoleum, but you cannot have troops stationed there."

"If there is no army stationed, what if someone comes to destroy it? Who will stop it?" Zhao Yan dissatisfied.

Hu Yun sighed in his heart. The tombs of the seven emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty had already been completely destroyed by the Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army. It was His Royal Highness Yong who tidied them up so that no one would destroy them. The emperor also knew it well.

"The army can't be stationed there, but you can ask the warriors in the Bianliang Martial Art Museum to be responsible for your safety. It's actually the same thing."

Zhao Yan's heart moved, and he asked with a smile: "We are not familiar with Bianliang, so can the warriors from Lin'an Martial Arts Hall do it?"

Hu Yun understood his intention and used the army to pretend to be martial arts warriors, of course it is also possible, he pondered for a moment and said: "It is possible, but a number must be approved, and I suggest that there should be no more than [-] warriors guarding each mausoleum. "

Zhao Yan nodded, "It shouldn't be a big problem, but it still needs to be reported to the emperor, and the case can only be finalized with the emperor's consent."

(End of this chapter)