I, make my own

Chapter 93 Sending the Empress and Princess Together
The second day of December.

The envoys of the Silla Dynasty met with them.

After the Battle of Xitongguan, Wang Gaosong, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Da Chu, bowed his head to the Emperor Da Chu, and at the cost of accepting the appointment of deputy commanders by the court and placing people from the court in key positions, he created a situation where the two sides repaired on the surface.

The three dynasties of Jin Ge, Bihai, and Silla were already afraid of Da Zhou, and the Da Chu court sent a large army north to assist Gao Song, so they finally chose to retreat.

All parties retreated, and the 10,000+ captives of the Silla Dynasty could not be exchanged, so Silla sent envoys.

As for whether the other party has other plans, it is still unknown.

Violet Palace.

"Cui Ye, the envoy of the Silla Dynasty, pays homage to His Majesty Emperor Wude of the Great Zhou Dynasty! Long live Your Majesty!"

Under the cold eyes of the civil and military officials of the Great Zhou on both sides, the Silla envoy named Cui Ye respectfully bowed to Zhou Xin who was sitting on the dragon chair.

Silla was not a vassal of Dazhou, so its envoys naturally did not need to kneel when they met.

Zhou Xin closed his eyes and fell asleep, as if he didn't hear it.

Cui Ye waited for a while and saw no movement, but he didn't dare to stand up straight, so he could only grit his teeth and speak out again.

"Cui Ye, the envoy of the Silla Dynasty, pays homage to His Majesty Emperor Wude of the Great Zhou Dynasty! Long live Your Majesty!"

However, the result was exactly the same as before, the hall was still silent, and there was no response at all.

The corner of Cui Ye's mouth twitched, his face was ugly.

Although he is a master at the early stage of the eighth rank, it is still quite uncomfortable to maintain a bowed posture with his head down and hands parallel to the floor.

More importantly, through this embarrassment, it also shows that this bargaining will be extremely difficult.

This may become his most difficult mission ever.

After a cup of tea, Cui Ye spoke again.

"Cui Ye, the envoy of the Silla Dynasty..."

But before he finished speaking, an unhappy cold hum suddenly sounded from the direction of the dragon chair.

"Who is making noise?"

Zhou Xin rubbed the center of his brows, and opened his eyes with an unhappy expression.

"Return to Your Majesty, the envoy of the Silla Dynasty."

Leng Yun, the chief servant, responded softly, but he didn't mean to smooth things over.

Cui Ye cursed secretly in his heart, suddenly rolled his eyes, took the opportunity to stand up and raised his head, with an expression of apology and embarrassment on his face.

"Foreign Minister Cui Ye, I don't know how your Majesty's mind wandering and disturbing you are, but I hope that His Majesty Emperor Wude will forgive you."

"Oh, so it's the envoy of Silla..."

Zhou Xin blinked, showing a sudden look, as if he just realized it.

"Well, tell me, why did the Silla Dynasty send you here?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, the foreign minister came here under the emperor's order to repair the alliance between the two countries."

Cui Ye lifted his spirits, and hurriedly threw out the topic.

"Is it good to repair the alliance between the two countries?"

At this time, Xun Wen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, sneered and stared at Cui Ye unkindly.

"More than a month ago, Er Xinluo went to war without declaring it, and sent more than 30 troops across the sea to kill our frontier soldiers and invade our Dazhou territory. Such a despicable act, how dare you propose an alliance with our Dazhou?"

Cui Ye suddenly turned his face straight, and said seriously: "Your Majesty, Emperor Wude, this is a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstand?"

Xun Wen laughed back in anger.

Cui Ye, on the other hand, nodded seriously.

"That's right! As a matter of fact, Wei Gaoshuang, my general who conquered the North, was ordered by the emperor to join forces with the Navy and the Mabu Army to perform military exercises at sea."

"However, in the middle of the exercise, our military sentry found that a fishing village had been massacred, resulting in the tragic death of hundreds of people. In the end, only one survivor was found."

"The man said that the fishing village was harmed by a group of thousands of pirates. General Wei was furious, so he ordered to change the regulations of the military exercise, making the extermination of the pirates the ultimate goal."

"After searching all the way, thick fog rose from the sea, and my army lost its sense of direction. When we saw land again, we approached Chichuan Beach in your country."

"It's just that General Wei and the others didn't know this at the time. They thought it was a place where pirates were entrenched, so they killed it."

When Cui Ye came to this point, another Da Zhou official sneered and reprimanded him.

"A joke! Are all the generals of your Silla blind? You don't recognize the environment, but you should recognize the armor and banner of my Da Zhou generals, right?"

"Knowing that it is my Great Zhou's army, but still directly killing them without saying a word, how can there be any misunderstanding?"

"Also, in order to exterminate more than 1000 pirates, you sent more than 30 troops to Silla. Don't you think it's ridiculous?"

Cui Ye shook his head with a calm expression.

"Pirates are cunning and treacherous, and it is not uncommon to pretend to be the army of various dynasties."

"Furthermore, according to the witness, the clothes worn by the pirates in Tucun at that time were indeed somewhat similar to the armor uniforms worn by soldiers of the Great Surrounding Army, which further deepened the misunderstanding."

Having said that, Cui Ye paused slightly and took a breath.

"As for the latter question, well, I have made it very clear before that eradicating pirates is the ultimate goal set by General Wei."

"No one knows how many people are in the pirate's lair. General Wei's move is just in case."

"Besides, the tradition of my Silla dynasty is very clear to the whole world. The quality is not enough, and the quantity is enough."

"For the sake of insurance, it is normal to use enough power to solve the disaster, and there is nothing to make a fuss about."

Seeing Cui Ye uttered these few words without blushing and panting, all the officials in the palace twitched, unable to complain.

To be able to say this kind of thing so brazenly, I really deserve to be from Silla...

Zhou Xin also looked at Cui Ye with great interest, and then spoke quietly.

"Let's talk about it first, what kind of co-cultivation alliance do you want in Silla?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, I am the thirteenth princess who is only twenty years old. I am the most outstanding princess among all the princesses."

"For the good of the alliance and the friendship between the two countries, I, Silla, would like to make the Thirteen Princesses your Majesty's concubine!"

Hearing this, all the officials in the hall were slightly taken aback.

As far as they knew, the thirteenth-ranked Princess Qinxiang was indeed the most beautiful princess in the Silla Dynasty.

In the past two years, Dachu, Bihai and other countries have proposed marriage to Silla, but they were all rejected.

Why is the Silla dynasty suddenly wanting to grant it to His Majesty?

Do you want to use this as a bargaining chip in exchange for the 10,000+ captives?
Or do you want Princess Qinxiang to charm His Majesty?

Or, both?
While all the officials were thinking secretly, Cui Ye coughed lightly and spoke again.

"Princess Qinxiang admires His Majesty very much, and has been fascinated by His Majesty's heroic appearance for a long time."

"Moreover, Princess Qinxiang is very kind-hearted. She doesn't want to see the two countries fighting again, and she can't bear to see the tragic death of soldiers and the displacement of the people."

"Of course, she couldn't bear the pain of longing for soldiers who were far away from their relatives in a foreign country after the war ended."

"Yes, Princess Qinxiang hopes that Dazhou can release those 10,000+ prisoners of war as a congratulatory gift."

"To tell you the truth, Your Majesty, I firmly disagree with this matter. It was Princess Qinxiang's hard work and the condition of returning the prisoners of war. I reluctantly agreed to Your Majesty."

Zhou Xin raised his eyebrows and smiled dumbly.

"In this way, I still have to be grateful and burn incense?"

Cui Ye's expression froze, with a look of fear on his face.

"Your Majesty, don't misunderstand, the foreign ministers have absolutely no such intentions! The foreign ministers just admire Princess Qinxiang and her courage in resolutely marrying His Majesty."

Zhou Xin chuckled and waved his hand.

"Okay, don't make up things. If you insist on redeeming those prisoners of war, it's not impossible, as long as you meet my requirements."

Cui Ye opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, and finally chose to listen quietly.

"First, 10,000+ people eat and drink a lot every day, and it is impossible for me to feed them in vain. You need to send millions of stones, grain and fodder to Silla within half a month."

Cui Ye's eyelids twitched, secretly startled.

According to the top allocation standard of one stone of grain and fodder per month for elite soldiers, one million stones is enough to support a 20 strong army for nearly half a year.

As for the 10,000+ captives, if they are used as coolies, it is not bad to consume [-] stones of food and fodder per month.

"Secondly, send the head of Wei Gaoshuang. Someone has to give an explanation for Xinluo's invasion of our territory."

Cui Ye's face darkened, and he cursed inwardly.

Although Wei Gaoshuang is the general of the defeated army, he should be beheaded logically.

However, the Wei family is extremely powerful in Silla, and is the prince's right-hand man. Even his own emperor can't send him to prison, let alone behead him.

"Thirdly, I heard that there was a concubine named Concubine Yan in the Silla Dynasty. The beauty of Concubine Yan can make birds fall and flowers sway."

"If Silla is really interested, then send this Concubine Yan and Princess Qinxiang together."

Hearing this, Cui Ye couldn't help but turn red, and the veins on his forehead popped out.

For a country to sacrifice its emperor's concubine to others, this is simply a disgrace to the heavens!
Even if Silla was defeated and on the verge of extinction, it was impossible to agree!

"His Majesty Emperor Wude! You..."

Cui Ye took a deep breath and wanted to say something with a gloomy face.

However, Zhou Xin did not give him a chance.

"These three conditions are indispensable, and there is no room for bargaining. If Silla agrees, all prisoners of war will be repatriated. If not, then don't waste your time."

"Retreat."

……

Tai Chi Temple.

"Your Majesty's fire is burning, and the civil strife in Silla may be staged soon."

Several pillars of the Great Zhou gathered here, all with smiles on their faces.

According to the secret report, the prince of Silla could no longer bear the situation of the "Prince Wannian" and wanted to change the palace to seize the throne.

The emperor of Silla also seemed to be aware of it. Today, the Silla Dynasty appears to be calm on the surface, but in fact it has already been undercurrents.

Both sides are secretly preparing, but it is clear that no one is ready yet.

When Cui Ye reports back the situation of today's mission, it is very likely that the civil strife in Silla will break out earlier.

Of course, this is just a stick thrown by Zhou Xin at will, and the early and late civil strife in Silla has little effect on Da Zhou.

"Your Majesty, if there is chaos in Silla, shall we take the opportunity to send troops?"

Yuan Xing, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, asked softly.

Feng Yu's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I am waiting for a lot of waste in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and rushing out troops will greatly slow down the progress of recuperation..."

Zhou Xin waved his hand and said calmly: "I know, there is no rush to send troops. Once the foundations of all industries have been consolidated, it will be easy to win the Silla Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)