Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 579: Peace Talks in Zhongluo Bianjing (Special thanks to the book friend who has been reading the book for 2 years and has given monthly tickets!)

Joseph was horrified and said hurriedly:

“Reporting to Your Majesty, on that day in the court of Constantinople, I, the Prime Minister and others all came out to persuade our Emperor Constantine VIII not to kill the envoy and destroy the friendly alliance between the two countries.

"Our Emperor Constantine VIII is young and full of vigor, and he does not know that Your Majesty is the most powerful in the world. I beg Your Majesty to consider the feelings of our late Emperor Basil II and Princess Anna and not to bother with him!"

Xue Ying said:
"Your Majesty, this is exactly what happened in Constantinople that day.

Thanks to the dissuasion of the Eastern Roman Prime Minister Uranus and Marquis Joseph and other ministers, Constantine VII did not kill me. "

Chai Zongxun's expression calmed down a little, and he looked at Joseph and said:

"Since Minister Xue has also interceded for you, I will not pursue the matter further.

Now our Great Zhou Empire is at war with the Eastern Roman Empire. Marquis Joseph, what is the purpose of your visit to our Great Zhou this time?"

Joseph stood up from the ground and said hurriedly:
"Your Majesty, our Majesty deeply regrets that we have acted inappropriately, which has angered Your Majesty and led to the dispatch of troops to invade.

This time, we have specially sent foreign ministers to ask Your Majesty to withdraw the troops so that our two countries can maintain their alliance forever!

This is a small gift that our Majesty ordered the foreign minister to bring to express his apology to His Majesty. "

Joseph took out a gift list from his arms and bowed to present it.

He Yao, the chief eunuch who was standing beside Chai Zongxun, walked down the jade steps, took it back and presented it to Chai Zongxun.

Chai Zongxun glanced at it and saw the following words on the gift list:

Ten thousand taels of gold, three hundred thousand taels of silver, two hundred rare treasures, and two hundred beauties from various ethnic groups in the Eastern Roman Empire.

Chai Zongxun said:

"Marquis Joseph, since you were once an envoy to my country during the reign of Basil II, I will not hide the truth from you.

If Constantine VIII of the Eastern Roman Empire has only offended me this time, then the gifts you brought this time are an apology, and I can let bygones be bygones.

But now that the war between the two countries has begun, it is no longer a matter between me and Constantine VIII!
In the Battle of Ella Plain alone, more than 10,000 soldiers of the Great Zhou were killed.

I have always been kind to the Royal Navy and the Army, and I cannot ignore the future lives of the wives, children and the elderly of these sacrificed soldiers.

For the more than 10,000 martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country, the Great Zhou court paid more than six million taels of silver in pensions.

Who should bear these losses?”

Joseph was shocked when he heard the six million taels of pension. It was a huge sum of money.

After Basil II of the Eastern Roman Empire formed an alliance with the Great Zhou Empire and eliminated the long-time enemy, the Starry Sky Sect, trade between the two countries was fully opened up, the domestic economy prospered greatly, and treasury tax revenue also increased significantly.

The population grew from more than 20 million before the alliance to more than 52 million in more than 30 years, and the national treasury also increased from more than 10 million taels of tax revenue to more than 30 million taels of tax revenue.

Of course, it is hard to say whether the national treasury will have a surplus every year; it all depends on whether the emperor is wise or not.

The pension for soldiers in the country has also increased from dozens of taels of silver to one hundred taels today, but it is still far less than the pension of the Great Zhou Empire.

In this situation, Joseph naturally did not dare to mention that his country had suffered greater losses. After all, when Xue Ying went to Constantinople as an envoy that day, he had already clearly warned the Eastern Roman emperor and his ministers.

Between countries, everything is determined by strength. Based on Joseph's second visit to the Great Zhou Empire and his understanding of the wealth of the people in the Great Zhou Empire, he still believed what Chai Zongxun said, that the pension for each Royal Navy and Army soldier who died in battle was 500 taels.

Thinking of the diplomatic mission, Constantine VIII had told himself that he must sign a peace agreement with the Great Zhou and force the Zhou emperor to withdraw his troops, and the bottom line was that he would not cede land or become a vassal.

Joseph gritted his teeth and said:

"Your Majesty, I am here on the orders of my country's emperor to negotiate with great sincerity.

As long as Your Majesty agrees to withdraw the troops and the two countries return to peace, our country will be willing to compensate the pensions of your country's fallen soldiers!

Your Majesty, our country's financial resources are limited. Can we pay this compensation in three years?"

Chai Zongxun tried to probe Joseph many times, but seeing that he was adamant about ceding territory or becoming a vassal, he knew that he had reached the bottom line for the Eastern Roman monarch and his ministers to seek peace.

Chai Zongxun pondered for a long time and said:
"If it weren't for the relationship between Princess Anna and Basil II, I would have led an army to attack the Eastern Roman Empire and teach my "nephew" Constantine VIII a lesson!
However, both countries are major powers in the world. If they continue to suffer from wars year after year, it will not be a blessing for the people.

I will accept these gifts for now. In a few days, after Minister Xue signs a peace agreement between the two countries on behalf of our Great Zhou and your envoy, you can return to your country to report.

However, the city of Ella will be entrusted to the Longxiang Army of our Great Zhou for three years, and will be handed over to your country after your country has paid the compensation."

Joseph was helpless, but the Eastern Roman Empire was currently defeated and losing territory, and the best outcome would be to quell the war between the two countries. How could he care about such trivial details at this moment?

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A few days later, on February 15, the 62nd year of Kaixi, Xue Ying, the Minister of Rites representing the Great Zhou Empire, and Marquis Joseph, representing the Eastern Roman Empire, signed a ceasefire and friendship agreement in the Lichen Hall in the front yard of the Bianjing Imperial Palace.

The agreement stipulates:

The Eastern Roman Empire withdrew its troops from the Green Caliphate, a vassal state of the Great Zhou Empire. From then on, the four major powers in Europe and West Asia stopped fighting each other and maintained eternal peace.

The Eastern Roman Empire paid the Great Zhou Empire a war indemnity of six million taels of silver, to be paid in three installments.

The two countries ceased fighting and resumed friendly trade.

Later generations also called it the "Zhou-Luo Bianjing Peace Agreement."

After the signing of this peace agreement, peace was maintained in Europe, West Asia and other regions for more than a hundred years. Until the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Zhou (1125-1157), the Eastern Roman Empire cracked the manufacturing technology of artillery and muskets, and then brazenly tore up the peace agreement and launched the "Twenty Years' War" between the two countries.

On the fifth day after the signing of the peace agreement, Joseph bid farewell to the Great Zhou Emperor Chai Zongxun and set off for his country.

Chai Zongxun selected thirty beauties from the two hundred beauties who came as tribute from the Eastern Roman Empire to enter his harem, and the rest were given as rewards to soldiers who had made contributions on the front lines.

Because of his military achievements, Di Qing was promoted to the rank of Wanhu by Chai Zongxun and was rewarded with two Eastern Roman beauties.

On May 7, the 62nd year of Kaixi, after Tang Qi had taught Guo Xi in Heyang Prefecture for several months, he sent someone to escort him to the capital to meet Emperor Chai Zongxun.

When Chai Zongxun saw Tang Qi's letter of recommendation, he immediately summoned Guo Xi to the Yangxin Palace in the afternoon.

After the meeting, Chai Zongxun found that Guo Xi was a handsome man with a Taoist aura, so he couldn't help but talk to him about the art of painting.

Guo Xi said:
"Your Majesty, the ancestor of Chinese painting is said to be "Lei", that is, Xishou, who is said to be the half-sister of Emperor Shun. Her name appears in "Shuowen Jiezi": "Hua Lei, Shun's sister. Painting began with Lei, so it is called: 'Hua Lei'."

Chinese painting pursues the formal meaning and individual expression of painting, reflecting the "same origin of calligraphy and painting". The use of the brush emphasizes that the idea comes before the brush, and the idea is there before the brush can reach it.

The pursuit of poetic and spacious artistic conception is different from the European painting style of "realism in painting".

(End of this chapter)