Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 1020
Two days later, the second meeting between envoys from Huainan and Liao was concluded.Of course, the specifications this time were much different from the last time. At least the Governor Shen did not attend, but was led by Chang Shi Duhe and Sima Yutiao.

In this second meeting, Huainan's conditions have hardly changed. This is naturally because Huainan occupies the absolute initiative, and they do not have to cooperate with Liaodi.

However, under the guidance of Murong Ke, Liao made great concessions. Even the most demanding Ma Shijin agreed to allow officials to be stationed in Huainan, and he almost fully accepted Huainan's requirements.

As a weaker side, Liaodi seeks cooperation, but in fact, there is not much room for bargaining.This is also one of the reasons why they chose to cooperate with Huainan. After all, Huainan is only a town under Jinzuo, and it is still lacking in the principle of legal system, which makes it possible for Liao to fight for it.

The latest requests put forward by the Murong's envoys are specific matters such as military cooperation, fame and position acquisition, and material assistance.Especially in terms of materials, the Murong family requested a minimum of 2000 hu of grain and grass, [-] armed people and other huge material assistance.The price is that the Murong family is willing to be a vassal of Huainan, and even the Duke of Liaodong, Murong Hao, is willing to accept the supervision and dispatch of the Dudu Mansion.

Such a condition can be said to have put the posture to the minimum, giving up all dignity and decency, just to obtain practical assistance.For the Huainan Governor's Mansion, these conditions are actually nothing. The requirements of Liaodi can even be said to be shabby.

But having a background does not mean being taken advantage of. Huainan has not yet completed the digestion of the Central Plains alone. Even if there is any demand for the Liao border in the northeast, it can only be sighed.Even if the Murong family is willing to treat themselves as a servant, they don't have the spare energy and effective means to carry out substantive operations right now.

People only pursue bluff when they are weak, and it is not worth paying such a high price for a false name, at least in the eyes of the current governor's mansion.

After several rounds of negotiations, the two sides finally reached a consensus.

In the next two months, the Governor's Mansion will launch at least one military operation with a scale of more than [-] people to attack Hebei, so as to relieve the pressure on the battlefield in Liao.At the same time, he helped Murong Hao to become the only leader of the Murong clan in Xianbei recognized by the Jin court, inheriting the title and official position of his father Murong Xin, and at the same time, he was granted the title of Chanyu who controlled many barbarians in the Liao border.

In return, Murong Hao had to write a letter to Jiangdong, pleading guilty for his previous peace with Shi Ni and watching Duan's family being destroyed by Jiehu, and willing to respect Jiangdong's legal system.At the same time, several coastal ports such as Mashijin were placed under the control of the Huainan Governor's Mansion as a base for mutual trade and settlement of Jin people in the Liao area.

As for the actual aid, it is also involved, but it must be based on the total trade volume of the two parties as the standard, and a maximum of 50 hu of grain and grass will be given as direct aid per year according to the total trade volume.In addition to subsidizing commerce and trade, this part of the aid is also used to maintain the construction and operation costs of ports such as Mashijin.

In addition, Huainan will also send envoys to persuade Murong Ren to recognize the rule of his brother Murong Hao, and to give up his arrogated titles as Duke of Liaodong and Governor of Pingzhou.

Of course, in order to obtain these aids in place, Liao should not make peace with Shihu privately, and must take the initiative to send troops to attack the prefectures occupied by Shi Zhao between You and Ping states, so that they can return to the rule of the king.

After this consensus was reached, Shen Zhezi quickly issued instructions and agreed, and wrote a document in front of the Liao envoys, ordering Fangtou and other front-line military towns to start mobilizing money and food for soldiers, preparing to send troops to Hebei.

For Huainan, the use of troops in Hebei was originally a long-established military plan.Although the current digestion and management of the Central Plains is only the beginning, the current situation of the Dudu Mansion is not suitable for large-scale development in Hebei.But in the face of an opponent like Shihu, if the strength allows, only through active offense can effective defense be achieved.

And not long ago, Xie Ai also sent a letter to the Governor's Mansion, planning to organize a new attack in the near future.

The two sides are currently confronting each other with the Yellow River as the boundary. In the past period of time, Shihu mainly used troops in secluded places to level the rear. There was almost no active strategy along the Yellow River, and it was mainly passive defense.The most important of these is the reconstruction of Yecheng, and sending a small group of troops to invade Guanggu City and other areas in Qingzhou.

The Fangtou guarded by Xie Ai is undoubtedly the frontline battle base.However, Huainan's most important task at the moment is to digest the results of last year's battle, completely accept Xuzhou and deal with Taichung's restraint.

So in the past few months, defense has been the main focus.Whether it is for defense needs or to continue to expand Wang Shi's influence in Hebei, it is worth continuing to send troops once.

Therefore, Huainan's dispatch of troops to Hebei not only relieved the pressure on the Liao region, but the existence and resistance of the Murong clan in the Liao region also allowed Huainan to control the rhythm of the war more securely, so that a decisive battle would not break out suddenly and in advance.

As for the reconciliation of Murong's internal conflicts, it was also a means for Huainan to expand its influence in Liao.Previously, Huainan was mainly funded by Murong Ren, but in fact, no matter whether Murong Ren or Murong Hao, it is not in Huainan's interest to dominate.

With the help of Huainan's deterrence, the military confrontation has been temporarily suspended, but the rift between the two sides still exists.In order to maintain a relatively stable state, neither side can ignore Huainan's bias.

Of course, Shen Zhezi couldn't be free enough to mediate the disputes between the Murong brothers' Yanqiang. In fact, although he promised to support Murong Hao to inherit the father's throne, he still left a tail.The next step is to contact Murong Ren and ask him to be appointed as a captain of Dongyi.In essence, the original title and power of Murong Xin was divided and handed over to the Murong brothers.

This is plainly sowing dissension and trying to get the best of both worlds, but just because it's on the bright side, the Murong brothers have no room for rejection.If they could have reached a consensus privately to exclude Huainan, they would not have fought each other and had internal strife for several years.

This is similar to the ex-Han's grace decree. Knowing that the so-called grace is poison, the more you eat it, the weaker you become, but you have to swallow it.Shen Zhezi clearly split up the titles that Murongxin had obtained by coercing the Jin court by taking advantage of the disaster in Yongjia and the chaos in the Central Plains, and awarded them to the Murong brothers, which can be regarded as a popularization of enlightened democracy.

As for the commercial trade that Huainan has been asking for, in fact, from the perspective of real profits, the expected return is actually not too high.In the final analysis, one is that the current navigation technology does not yet support large-scale and frequent maritime commerce, which has a long cycle and high risks, and many merchants are not keen on it.This has nothing to do with boldness. People who don't mix well often have a lot of gamblers. This is an ancient truth.

At the very least, before this business route is mature, its greatest significance lies in the ability to spread the news of the king's affairs in the Liao region, so that the Jin people in the Liao region can know the news of the Central Plains.At the same time, the operation of Mashijin and other places is also to provide these Jin people with a settlement under the control of the Jin court, so that the Jin people who have taken refuge here will not be enslaved by foreign races.

For the envoys from the Liao land, such a result is also mixed. Although the income is beyond expectations, it also buryes hidden dangers, and it can even be said to lure wolves into the house.But this is also helpless, if they do not agree to Huainan's request, they may not even be able to survive this year.

As for the merits and demerits of this line of work, it is still up to the lord Murong Hao to judge.As for them, they had done their best to achieve such a result in such a weak situation.

After such a consensus was reached, the envoys from the Liao region would not stay for long, especially Feng Yi and other important officials of the Liao region were even more impatient to stay in Huainan, and wanted to send the news back to the Liao region as soon as possible.

So soon the first batch of Liao envoys set off on their return journey, and they were only a few important people. More people either chose to stay in the Central Plains directly, or cooperated with Murong Ke as the proton to discuss the details of the cooperation. negotiation.

When Feng Yi and the others embarked on their return journey, the biggest harvest was the [-] sets of armored equipment promised by Shen Zhezi himself. Once they returned to Liao, these weapons would be ready for use immediately.As for other agreed content, it will take longer or shorter time to get feedback.

These equipments are not picked up in Shouchun, but need to go to Luojian's smelting base for delivery.This kind of trivial matter naturally does not need to be accompanied by important officials of the Governor's Mansion. Feng Yi and others received a warrant from the Governor-General Shen at the farewell banquet, so they stopped staying any longer. They took the boat arranged by Huainan and went straight to Luojian to collect equipment. Then go to sea and return to the north.

"The prosperity of Huainan can be seen from this. If the smelting and casting in Liaodi can have this kind of atmosphere, why bother to ask for it outside!"

Murong Ke also followed the team to see him off. When he arrived at Luojian again, he looked at the tall and low chimneys and water reels, and smelled the extremely obvious burnt smell in the air, and couldn't help expressing emotion again.

After Feng Yi and the others heard this, they were also deeply jealous, but they also knew that Liao's background was shallow, and it was only a dream to achieve such a climate.

The Luojian smelting and casting base is a relatively independent system, but after receiving the warrant from the governor, it quickly made arrangements.A full 500 people armed, including armor, bows and knives and other equipment, filled a whole boat.Just seeing the heavy draft of the hull already makes one's heart skip a beat.

Murong Ke, Feng Yi and the others jumped onto the boat, opened the bamboo boxes stacked on top, and saw the restrained brilliance and rigid lines of the armor, they couldn't help showing their fascination, and pressed their hands on the cold armor. Slowly rubbing the hard nail surface.

But this good mood didn't last long. When they continued to check in the cargo hold, they found that the quality of the equipment had suddenly dropped by a notch. There were many missing pieces of armor, and there were extremely obvious chopping marks on the surface. It is full of cracks, and the so-called strong bow is even more damaged, almost unusable.

(End of this chapter)