Tibet

Chapter 963 The sky-high asking price

In the study room of Linde Hall, Li Heng looked at the fifteen boxes of calligraphy and painting treasures from Fanglin Pavilion, and Long Yan was delighted. These treasures have always been treasures of the imperial palace and were loved by all the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Heng was no exception.

When he was the prince, he went to Fanglin Pavilion many times to pay homage to these treasures. Unfortunately, they were all taken away to Bashu by his father. Of course, if they were not taken away, they would be robbed or destroyed by Anlu Mountain. Those were smashed by the rebels. The broken porcelain fragments piled up like a hill, and the thought of it made Li Heng's heart bleed.

In any case, these treasures came back to him, which made Li Heng extremely happy. For the first time, he had some positive comments about Li Ye. Although Li Ye had all kinds of hateful and unruly qualities, at least He is a member of the Li family, abides by the rules, and knows how to return lost treasures to the palace in order to maintain the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Heng recognized this point of Li Ye very much. For this reason, Li Heng still distinguished Li Ye from other rebels. Li Ye belonged to the internal struggle of the Tang Dynasty royal family, while the other rebels wanted to seize the country of Tang Dynasty and were rebels. thief.

Li Heng nodded and said to Dugu Lie: "I admire your son-in-law very much in this regard. I hope he can continue his efforts to recover everything that has been lost in the palace, and work with me to maintain the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty."

"Wei Chen must convey your Majesty's words to him."

Li Heng slowly hinted: "Some things are very important to me. If King Qi can get them back, I will make some concessions in some aspects."

"Your Majesty's words will be remembered by all ministers!"

Dugu Lie bowed and retreated. Li Heng took out a long wooden box from the first big box. There were four silk scrolls in it. He and two young eunuchs put the silk scrolls on the long table slowly. Slowly unfolding, this is the first volume of Gu Kaizhi's "Luo Shen Fu Tu", and it is also Li Heng's favorite famous painting. At this moment, he was completely immersed in the unparalleled visual enjoyment.

Dugu Lie found his brother Dugu Ming. He looked confused and said: "The emperor seems to want something. He said that some things are very important to him. If Aye can get it back for him, he will give in in some aspects. I Don’t quite understand what he said?”

Dugu Ming smiled slightly and said, "If the emperor doesn't want the jade seal, can Bashu come back?"

"Brother is right, we do have to play a role, but where to start, I haven't thought about it yet."

"We should be able to do something!"

Dugu Ming said slowly: "Actually, the emperor is very pragmatic. He knows very well that Bashu can't get it back, so he has to use Bashu to get what he wants as much as possible. What's really unrealistic are the courtiers. , the game surrounding Bashu will soon begin, in short, it’s just a matter of words, can you swallow this piece of fat in your belly comfortably!"

Dukugu Ming laughed, "Of course I know what the emperor is talking about. He is talking about the eight treasures of the jade seal. Currently, the six treasures including the national treasure and the appointed treasure are in the hands of Li Lin, and they are probably in the hands of A Ye now. , the emperor is a little anxious."

Dugu Lie said in a deep voice: "On such an important issue, I don't want to just run errands."

Dugu Lie was stunned, and after a moment he thought for a moment and said, "That's right!"

Only then did Dugu Lie realize that the treasure that the emperor was longing for turned out to be the jade seal that the emperor had taken away. He shook his head and said noncommittally: "Giving up Bashu for the jade seal, I think the emperor is putting the cart before the horse."

"Don't worry, let's wait and see what happens!"

The political hall has been quite restless these past two days. The prime ministers have also been quarreling over the Bashu incident, including right prime minister Pei Mian, left prime minister Li Xian, Wu Qi, Li Kui and Pei Zunqing. The opinions of the prime ministers are basically the same. unanimously, the imperial court would never give up Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road, and asked Li Ye to hand over the two roads to the court in their entirety.

In the meeting hall of the Political Affairs Hall, Pei Mian put a complete plan on the table, "This is the result of our discussion over the past two days. It has been compiled. Please take a look. If there is anything that needs to be added, put it forward now. The plan will be finalized today." An official sent a copy to each prime minister, and everyone was reading it.

At this time, Pei Zunqing, the assistant minister of Zhongshu, said slowly: "We have discussed before that it is obviously unrealistic to take back all the five major powers of Bashu, military power, official power, financial power, supervisory power and criminal law power. First, the garrison power should be unified. It is impossible for the king to give it to us. Secondly, financial power is also a big issue. Once the army is stationed, where will the military expenses come from? It must be paid from the taxes of Bashu. How much can the court get? This also involves the issue of transshipment and food tax. In whose hands does the gift lie?"

Wu Qi said coldly: "After several days of discussion, everyone has finally come to a consensus. Now, Minister Pei is here to sing the opposite tune. Is it interesting?"

Pei Zunqing glared at Wu Qi, "I'm not playing devil's advocate, I'm just discussing the matter, especially the transshipment rights. Otherwise, on paper the money belongs to Chang'an, but in fact the money and food are controlled by others, that's boring. !”

Pei Mian waved his hand, "You don't need to argue anymore. I have said before that this resolution is the attitude of our political affairs hall. Bashu must be fully taken back. We must not repeat the mistakes of Guanlong and Hebei. All power must be fully taken back." When we come back, Bashu will have nothing to do with Guanlong Jiedu Mansion, and the transfer of power will not be a problem, so we have to show the government's attitude to the emperor and the king of Qi."

Left Prime Minister Li Xian nodded, "Pei Xiangguo is right. First we have to express our attitude. Whether we can succeed or not is one thing. But if we are not firm in our attitude, we will definitely lose more. Only with a firm attitude can King Qi win." Will give in."

Li Kui also added: "The emperor's character is originally relatively weak and easy to compromise. If our attitude is not firm, then Bashu will inevitably become the second in Guanlong."

Speaking of this, Pei Zunqing remained silent. He suddenly had a clear understanding that if he was really tough, he would not negotiate. Negotiation itself was a kind of compromise. How could he get everything? It was just a gesture.

The five prime ministers voted unanimously to pass the resolution and took turns signing their names on the resolution.

Each of these prime ministers is cunning and cunning, and they are well versed in the principle of asking for money in the sky and paying back the money on the ground.

Three days later, Liu Yan, the plenipotentiary representative of the King of Qi, arrived in Chang'an in a low-key manner. He entered the Jinguang Gate in the afternoon with a dozen escorts and went all the way to the Helong Memorial Hall in Chongrenfang.

After settling down in Jinzouyuan, Liu Yan immediately ordered someone to send a post to Dugu Ming, asking him to meet at Wude Restaurant.

Soon, Dugu Ming rushed to Wude Restaurant, asked the restaurant to open the Baiyu Hall, and invited Liu Yan to come in and sit down.

"Liu Sima came so quickly. I thought it would take a few days before setting off from Jincheng."

Liu Yan took a sip of tea and said: "The main reason is that the progress in Bashu is very fast. The war is over. Now His Highness is dealing with the follow-up affairs. I must also hurry up here. What is the situation in the DPRK and China now?"

"There is already a huge quarrel between the DPRK and China. The emperor's problem is not big. The eunuch group has also been bribed. The key is the imperial court. The political hall's attitude is very firm. This negotiation may be a tough nut."

Liu Yan smiled slightly, "It's a business deal! How can we see the other party's real details without talking more than a few times?"

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[I'm really tired, so I'm asking for a leave of absence]

(End of this chapter)