Tibet

"If you take the lead in the negotiations, what will be the consequences?" Liu Yan asked.

"That is, personal interests override the interests of the court. The amount of benefits Li Huaixian gets depends on the extent of his bribery to eunuchs."

"Hasn't the Emperor become a puppet?" Qiu Xuan was a little puzzled.

Li Ye sneered and said: "You underestimate Li Fuguo too much. He will make the outcome of the negotiation very beautiful, so that the emperor will gain face, Li Huaixian will gain honor, and everyone will be happy."

At noon, Li Ye invited Li Mi and Liu Yan to have dinner together. The place where they ate was also the Qingyu Hall. This was no coincidence. The Qingyu Hall was an elegant room reserved exclusively for Li Ye. Only he and his family could use it. There was no way to talk here. It will be eavesdropped and it is relatively safe. It is also a privilege that Li Ye left to himself.

The maid served them wine and food, and Li Mi pondered for a moment and said, "I remember His Highness said that Wei Jiansu will retire this year. Is the news accurate?"

"He said it to me personally. If he wasn't sure, he wouldn't have said that. It should be that he and the emperor have reached a tacit understanding."

"Here comes the question. Even His Highness knows that Wei Jiansu is going to resign. Will Li Fuguo know about it? If he knows, what will he do?"

Liu Yan somewhat understood the meaning of Li Mi's words. He said from the sidelines: "What Chang Shi means is that this Taiyuan negotiation is related to the fight for phase?"

Li Mi nodded, "I think Zhang Hao was blocked by Li Fuguo. I don't know what means Li Fuguo used to make the emperor doubt Zhang Hao's loyalty, so he replaced Zhang Hao on the pretext of unequal negotiating status. I might as well infer that the most beneficial Zhang Hao, who hopes to become the prime minister, has lost his qualifications to become the prime minister, so who will Li Fu Congress recommend to become the prime minister?"

Li Ye smiled lightly and said, "Yuan Zai has great hopes."

"Yuan Zai is still a little young and has insufficient qualifications, but he will rise to the position as a minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs or the Ministry of Personnel. It will be his turn next time. This time he should be a relatively weak person who can easily reach compromises with the eunuchs. The Prime Minister, I think it should be Li Kui, the Minister Zuocheng. The last time he competed with Xiao Hua for the position of Prime Minister, Wei Jiansu opposed it and criticized him for being indecisive and undecided on major issues. This may be an allusion to Li Kui's anti-eunuch party. negative."

Li Ye thought for a moment and said: "Obviously, the eunuchs are preparing to take full control of the political hall, but for us, we are happy to see it happen!"

Chang'an Palace, Linde Hall, this is the emperor's inner study and the emperor's office in the inner palace. In the evenings or on holidays, the emperor would handle court affairs here.

Emperor Li Heng was reviewing several important memorials. He was not in good health and would only read some important memorials or those that interested him. Generally, Li Fuguo reviewed important memorials for him.

At this time, Li Fuguo hurriedly walked into the hall, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the matter in Taiyuan has been investigated clearly!"

Li Heng put down his pen, "You say it, I'm listening!"

"Your Majesty, this is the investigative testimony of Taiyuan Prefecture. There used to be a Bozhou Liaocheng Association in Taiyuan Prefecture, but they all followed the refugees to Longyou. Now there are no Liaocheng people in Taiyuan City. It is even more impossible to come from Liaocheng to give gifts. Zhang Hao They have only been in Taiyuan for two days, and the two places are thousands of miles apart. Even if they grow wings, they will not have time, so the Liaocheng Association is definitely an excuse. The identity of the person who gave the gift is very doubtful. The more concealed it is, the more inhumane it becomes."

Li Heng looked at the investigation testimony and his face became very ugly.

Li Fuguo added: "The other party sent twenty-three boxes of various local products. There were indeed some agricultural products such as red dates and pears. This is the most common way of giving gifts. Use worthless things to cover up valuables. Zhang Hao also divided He gave part of the agricultural products to his subordinates. This is a typical attempt to cover up and make everyone think that he is indeed collecting agricultural products. So the question is here, who is the gift-giver? What valuable property was given? What is the purpose? "

Li Fuguo's investigation was watertight, which dispelled the emperor's original suspicion. He was convinced that Zhang Hao had accepted Li Huaixian's interests and betrayed the interests of the imperial court.

"He disappointed me so much. He failed to withstand the test of money at the critical moment. I immediately transferred him back."

Li Fuguo added: "Your Majesty, I have a suggestion from my humble position. The other party in the negotiation is just Li Huaixian's staff. It is better to transfer Zhang Hao back on the grounds of unequal negotiation qualifications. This can also protect the face of the court."

Li Heng nodded, "This is a good excuse. Let Yuan Zai be promoted to the chief negotiator and continue to negotiate with Li Huaixian. Also, the total strength of the two towns cannot exceed 100,000. The imperial court will not bear military expenses and food. The Jiedu Mansion will By raising money by yourself, you can prepare them to mine and mint money and collect their own taxes. In addition, cross-border troops are not allowed to be used without my consent. This is a principle and must be adhered to. Also, Jiedu envoys are not allowed to be hereditary. The new Jiedu The envoy can allow Li Huaixian to recommend it."

Li Heng was also helpless. He knew that financial independence was a big problem. Soldiers generally would only be loyal to those who paid to support them, but he really had no choice. The current tax revenue of the imperial court was only 30% of what Tianbao had been in thirteen years.

Hebei Province, which had always been ranked first in terms of tax burden, was riddled with holes and had no taxes to collect. The Central Plains, Bashu, Longyou, and Hexi could not collect taxes, so they had to rely on taxes from the south and Jiangnan.

And their biggest expense is to feed the more than 200,000 troops directly under the imperial court, which costs tens of millions of dollars a year. Taxes are basically exhausted, so the imperial court is always unable to pay official salaries. This time, if Luoyang had not arrived in time After bringing in millions of dollars, many officials have to sleep on the streets. "

Li Heng sighed deeply and added: "The three hundred and twenty ritual vessels from the Imperial Ancestral Temple must be sent back as soon as possible!"

The negotiations in Taiyuan have entered the twentieth day. The emperor used the unequal negotiations as an excuse to transfer Zhang Hao back to Chang'an to report on his duties. Now the leader of the negotiations has become Yuan Zai, the Minister of Justice, and the deputy envoy is still Luo Fengxian.

And Yuan Zai will basically listen to Luo Fengxian's opinions, so the negotiations will go much smoother.

Since the imperial court made concessions on military autonomy and fiscal and taxation rights, which are two of the three most core powers, Li Huaixian also made concessions in many aspects, accepting the title of county prince and no longer pursuing the prince. For example, he promised that the army would not cross Even if they cross the border, they must obtain the emperor's consent and agree that the total military strength should be limited to 100,000.

The two sides also reached a compromise on the power of supervising the army. The supervising army will be stationed once a year for no more than one month, which is equivalent to an annual inspection. This is very important to Li Fuguo. This is an opportunity for him to collect money every year.

Of the thirteen conditions, the two parties have reached agreement on eleven, but there are still two key clauses that have not been reached. One is Article 5, the power to appoint local officials, which is one of the three core powers, and the other is Article 7. Article, inheritance rights.

The imperial court made concessions on financial and military power, but it refused to give in on personnel rights. It must obtain the personnel rights of local officials.

And if Li Huaixian wants the right to inherit, of course he must pass on the position of Jiedushi to his son.

The two sides argued for a while and then reached a deadlock.