Tibet

In Yanzhou, through smell identification, Pugubing finally found three oil wells, dug up the buried soil, and the kerosene gushes out again.

Pugubing also sent people to the city to buy clay pots containing oil. Due to the need of the Helong Army to transport large amounts of oil, five large workshops specializing in firing clay pots appeared in Fushi County. In addition, Yanzhou itself produced coal and yellow Clay is very convenient for firing clay pots.

But it also takes time to make pottery pots. Fortunately, each pottery workshop also had some inventory. In just three days, Pugubing collected 5,000 cans of kerosene. He sent 3,000 soldiers to escort the kerosene cans to Jing. State camp.

The road from Yanzhou to Jingzhou is long and complicated. The team must first go south along the Luoshui River. After arriving at Fangzhou, they will go west through the Ziwu Valley to Ningzhou, continue southward into Pizhou, and turn northwest at Xinping County. Just entered Jingzhou.

On the night of the third day, the oil transport team arrived at Qingyang Gorge at the junction of Yanzhou and Yanzhou, and the army garrisoned in Qingyang Gorge to rest.

In the middle of the night, hundreds of burning gunpowder arrows were suddenly shot from a distance, piercing the clay pot. Although the kerosene was very viscous, it was still easy to ignite, but the smoke was extremely thick.

In just a moment, hundreds of carts were blazing with flames and thick smoke billowing. Soldiers rushed to Luoshui to fetch water to put out the fire. Unexpectedly, water could not put out the fire. The soldiers had no choice but to watch as the flames completely engulfed the carts.

The soldiers returned to Fushi County listlessly. When they heard that the kerosene had been burned, Pugu Bin was so angry that he cursed the general.

At this time, Pugu Bin received another express message from his father Pugu Huai'en. The emperor had sent Wei Xiangguo to Longyou to negotiate. It was very likely that the Yanzhou oil well would be returned to Li Ye. Pugu Huai'en ordered him to quickly get 20,000 cans. Kerosene was shipped out of Yanzhou.

This order made Pugu Bin a little at a loss. Not to mention transporting the kerosene out, he couldn't even buy clay pots now, so how could he get 20,000 cans of kerosene.

Pu Gubin was so anxious that he sent people to the pottery workshops to urge them, requiring several pottery workshops to complete the firing of pots within twenty days.

At the same time, Pugubing sent people to prefectures and counties with a radius of hundreds of miles to purchase various clay pots and containers.

After half a month of long journey, Wei Jiansu and his party finally arrived in Jincheng County and were warmly welcomed by Li Ye and officials of Helong Jiedu Prefecture.

Wei Jiansu held a re-title ceremony and re-titled Li Ye as King of Qi, which belongs to the first-class prince. Currently, only Li Xi has been named King of Zhao, which belongs to the first-class prince. The other brothers or sons of the emperor are all A second-level prince, or even a third-level prince.

At the same time, Dugu Xinyue was canonized as Princess Qi, and Li Ye's son Li Jin was granted the title of Prince of Zhangye County.

Wei Jiansu also announced a reward from the imperial court. Almost everyone had a share, and everyone was happy for a while.

Li Ye then held a grand banquet at the Yellow River Restaurant to entertain Wei Jiansu and his party.

After drinking half full, Wei Jiansu sighed: "I discovered that war is the fastest way to get rich. In the Battle of Luoyang, you got millions of stones of grain and tens of millions of money. All problems were solved. It will take at least twenty years for the imperial court to accumulate such wealth. Hey! An Lushan and Shi Siming have worked hard for so many years and finally made a wedding dress for you. Your Highness is amazing! The timing was very precise."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Wei Xiangguo drank too much wine. Li Ye raised his glass and said with a smile: "Wei Xiangguo means that our toast was too little!"

Everyone burst into laughter and came forward to toast. Wei Jiansu couldn't resist and was drunkenly drunk. Li Ye immediately arranged for a carriage to be sent to the VIP Inn to rest.

In the official room, Li Ye, Li Mi, and Liu Yan discussed the intentions of Wei Jiansu's trip.

Li Ye first said to the two of them: "There is something I didn't tell you. My father has resigned as prime minister and has been appointed as a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion.

Li Mi nodded, "The Anshi Rebellion is over. Although there is still chaos in the Central Plains and Jianghuai, the big problem is gone. It has become inevitable for the court to look west. Li Xiangguo resigned at this time, and he must have felt great pressure."

Li Ye sighed, "That's true. The trigger for my father's resignation was our occupation of Xiaoguan, which shocked the court."

Liu Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Then Wei Xiangguo's visit this time is probably to solve the crisis in Yanzhou to a large extent."

Li Mi also agreed with Liu Yan's judgment. He said to Li Ye: "It should be Liu Shijun's analysis. The Anshi Rebellion is over. Although there are still separate vassal towns in Hebei and the Central Plains, it is not urgent and can be solved slowly. The real urgency is Bashu and Long. Right, but the court cannot solve two directions at the same time, so the real intention of Wei Xiangguo's mission to Longyou this time is to reach some kind of tacit agreement with us and stabilize us. Both sides will keep their own territory and live in peace, and then the court will Concentrate on resolving the crisis in Bashu."

Li Ye nodded, "If this is the case, it will suit my purpose and solve the crisis in Yanzhou. I will focus on dealing with Tubo. I also hope that the court will be stabilized."

In the afternoon of the next day, Li Ye and Wei Jiansu held closed-door talks to negotiate and resolve the Yanzhou issue and the Xiaoguan issue.

"The Xiaoguan issue and the Yanzhou issue are actually the same thing. Without the Yanzhou crisis, there would be no Xiaoguan incident."

Li Ye said frankly: "We have no intention of occupying Yanzhou, we are just mining in Yanzhou, and the black oil we mine is not within the scope of the Ministry of Industry's registration. We only need local consent to mine and send troops to guard it." It is also common practice in mining fields and does not interfere with the government affairs of Yanzhou. This time the imperial court sent 10,000 troops to drive away my guards and occupy my oil wells. It was really too much. I also hope that this matter can be resolved through negotiation. If negotiations cannot To solve it, we can only fight for it by force, but the responsibility does not lie with us."

Wei Jiansu nodded, "The emperor did not understand the situation very well in the Yanzhou incident and was misled by Yu Chaoen. With my persuasion, the emperor has changed his attitude. The emperor has three principle requirements. If His Highness agrees, then the Helong Army It is absolutely possible to continue oil production and everyone will be in peace. I wonder if His Highness agrees?"

Li Ye said calmly: "Please give the Prime Minister three principles and requirements!"

Wei Jiansu said slowly: "The first is the principle of compensation. The black oil in Yanzhou has been officially included in the mineral catalog of the Ministry of Industry, so the Helong Army cannot mine it for free. As for how to compensate the court, we can discuss it; secondly It is the principle of sharing. The black oil in Yanzhou belongs to the imperial court, so the Helong Army cannot monopolize it, and the imperial court also has the right to exploit it; thirdly, the principle of non-garrisoning, you can use other methods, such as asking the local martial arts school to protect you, but We cannot garrison troops in Yanzhou."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said: "The three principles require me to basically agree, but the details need to be discussed by both parties. I suggest that formal negotiations begin tomorrow to discuss the details. We should understand and give in to each other and reach a compromise as soon as possible!"

Wei Jiansu nodded and said with a smile: "If the two sides reach an agreement and solve the Xiaoguan issue, I have a plan to make Xiaoguan a non-garrison checkpoint. Neither side will station troops and leave it to the county government. I don't know what your highness wants." How about the next one?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "I just said that the Xiaoguan incident and the Yanzhou crisis are the same thing. If the Yanzhou crisis is resolved, then the Xiaoguan incident will also be solved."

"Okay! Let's reach a consensus as soon as possible!"

Li Ye smiled and nodded, "I hope that this time we can solve the problem of getting along with each other in the future and prevent incidents like Yanzhou and Xiaoguan from happening again."

Wei Jiansu said slowly: "Your Highness said it very well. This is also the purpose of my trip."