As night fell, Li Jiancheng came to the VIP hotel again. Wei Yunqi went out to welcome him into the lobby. The two of them sat down. Li Jiancheng took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Today, the Prime Minister Wei proposed the conditions for a ceasefire during negotiations. My father wanted to know whether the specific details of this condition include the migration of officials?"

Wei Yunqi shook his head, "There is no official change of flags and flags here. In fact, our emperor does not agree with officials betraying their court, and we will not easily accept that in-service officials come to join us. However, if their children come to participate in the imperial examination, it falls under this category of conditions. I hope you will not stop it."

Li Jiancheng nodded, "If the current officials are not included, then we can have your ceasefire conditions, but before the agreement is reached, the father still has one thing to discuss with you."

"Please say this!"

Li Jiancheng pondered for a moment and said, "It is the body of the Tang army prisoners of war and General Qu Tutong in the Taiyuan Battle."

Before Li Jiancheng could finish his words, Wei Yunqi waved his hand and interrupted him, "Our emperor respected General Qu Tutong, who was loyal to the country, and gave him a grand funeral, but if his family wanted to transport the body back to his hometown for burial, that would be fine. We would not stop it, but the issue of prisoners of war is not within the scope of this negotiation."

"Wei Xiangguo misunderstood what I mean."

Li Jiancheng quickly explained: "We know that this time we will only talk about the truce. After all the truce conditions are completed, we will also talk about the prisoners of war, which has nothing to do with the truce agreement."

Wei Yunqi's face was slightly calmer and he said, "Please continue talking with your Royal Highness."

"We don't want all prisoners of war, but we just want to return 20,000 Guanlong soldiers. Their families are all in Guanlong and are looking forward to their relatives' return. As the court, which has put great hopes on the bride, we cannot stand by and watch!"

Li Jiancheng spoke with emotion, but Wei Yunqi secretly despised him. It was obvious that he lacked troops and wanted to take prisoners of war back to continue fighting. How could such a good thing be done in the world? However, if the other party uses money and food to redeem it, then it can be discussed.

Wei Yunqi smiled and said, "I can understand the kindness of Your Highness and the Emperor of Your Country, but feelings are feelings, and rules are rules. The two cannot be confused. If we are asked to put 20,000 Guanlong back to our hometown, we must use money and food to redeem it according to the rules, otherwise we must serve three years of labor before we can return to our hometown."

Of course, Li Jiancheng did not expect the other party to send the person back in vain. His father wanted to redeem 20,000 soldiers. Now they have dug up all the Guanlong nobles and are very rich and powerful, so they can talk to the other party about conditions.

"Prime Minister Wei, please make clear, how much money should we pay?"

Wei Yunqi smiled heartily, "The matter of prisoners of war is not within the scope of this negotiation. I have no right to make decisions. I must ask our emperor for instructions. I will do this! I will send a pigeon letter back to Zhongdu tomorrow morning, and I will give Your Highness a clear reply in three or four days."

"Then I would like to thank the Prime Minister. I will not disturb the Prime Minister's rest, so I will leave first."

Li Jiancheng stood up and said goodbye. Wei Yunqi sent him out of the VIP hotel and took him into the carriage. Li Jiancheng opened the window and smiled and said, "Is there any problem with the contract tomorrow afternoon?"

"I can do it anytime, but I suggest waiting for Zhongdu's reply. Maybe two things can be signed for one."

"It's good that way. I'll go back and discuss it. If the father doesn't object, then wait for another two days."

Li Jiancheng's carriage slowly left. At this time, Wen Yanbo next to him whispered: "Didn't the emperor give the right to negotiate the prisoners of war together with the prime minister?"

Wei Yunqi said lightly: "How can I agree easily? Grind them and give them more money and food."

"I understand, but I suggest that it is best not to return the prisoners of war to them. They are rich in money and food now, but the only thing they lack is people. Giving them 20,000 troops will enhance their strength."

"It's okay. Twenty thousand troops cannot change the overall situation. Moreover, the emperor also wants to blackmail a piece of money and food from them. These 20,000 Guanlong prisoners of war are just our capital."

...........

Three days later, Zhongdu's reply arrived in Chang'an, and Zhang Xuan agreed to put 20,000 prisoners of war back to Guanzhong, but at the same time he also offered a sky-high ransom.

In the imperial study room, Li Jiancheng presented Wei Yunqi's written reply to his father. Li Yuan's face looked very ugly. He did not expect that Zhang Xuan would speak so loudly. Each soldier asked for twenty taels of gold and twenty-five s of grain. Redeeming 20,000 prisoners of war means that they would have to take out 400,000 taels of gold and five hundred thousand stones of grain, which was still a single price. This condition was too harsh, and it was doubled compared to the normal ransom.

"Father, Zhang Xuan is not sincere, so let's give up!" Li Jiancheng whispered.

Li Yuan shook his head and sighed, "It's not that he has no sincerity. He wants to reach this deal with me. If he really has no sincerity, the ransom will be ten times more. But he knows that I have dug up the Guanlong nobles, so he wants to blackmail them."

Li Yuan stood up, walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and finally nodded and said, "Agree with their conditions!"

"Father!"

Li Yuan waved his hand to stop his eldest son, "We have enough money and food, and there is no big problem with this little gold and food. What we lack now is people and the army. If we train these 20,000 troops for a year, they can become the most elite army and compete for ten counties for me. This transaction is worth it."

Li Jiancheng had no choice but to nod his head silently to agree. At this time, Li Yuan asked again: "Does Shimin reply to the armistice negotiation?"

"Reporting to my father, my second brother did not agree in writing. It was just that Changsun Wuji came back and said that my second brother believed that the other party's trade was to empty us, and we should appropriately restrict it. He had no objection to the movement of the people."

Li Yuan snorted coldly, "I don't understand this question yet. If you don't trade, where will the pig iron come from? I have said a long time ago that we must give priority to military affairs this year. Everyone should live a more frugal life, buy less things, and buy less restaurants, and have food. As long as you ensure military material and other civilian products, as long as the other party wants, you will send them all and exchange them for more pig iron for me."

Li Jiancheng actually wanted to use his second brother Li Shimin's mouth to persuade his father not to trade uncontrollably. Unexpectedly, his father only had an army and only pig iron in his heart, so he could do nothing.

At this time, Li Yuan said again: "There is also to ask Shaofu Temple to stop casting coins and melt all the copper into casting arrows and shield armor. I only have one principle, and everything must be given priority."

Li Yuan was ruthless. He could agree to all conditions and tolerate all humiliation. He must use this year to build the army and retake Bashu and Bingzhou. Li Yuan had no way out. He could only make up for this glimmer of hope to turn it into reality.

Everyone retreated one after another, but Li Shentong did not leave. Waiting for everyone to leave, Li Yuan glanced at him and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, something happened to the divine talisman!"

"What?"

Li Yuan was shocked and asked anxiously: "What happened to him?"

Before dawn today, his personal soldiers fled back, saying that the divine talisman was ambushed by unknown people in the Jitou Mountain area of ​​Pingliang County. Most of the 300 personal guards were killed. The divine talisman was also shot two arrows and seriously injured. They fled to Baiquan County to death.

Li Yuan's face became extremely ugly. He sent Li Shenfu as deputy envoy of Longyou's strategy to assist his second son Li Shimin in commanding the army in Longyou, but unexpectedly he was ambushed.

Who is the unknown person? It is clearly the army of Longyou. Although Li Shentong did not explain it clearly, Li Yuan understood the advantages and disadvantages. He slowly gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly: "Sad son!"

"Your Majesty, the divine talisman is not suitable for leading troops outside, so let him return to Beijing!"

Li Yuan was both annoyed and helpless. In this case, he could not turn against his second son, so he had to nod and said, "Okay! Let him go back to Beijing to heal his wounds first, and then talk about the Longyou incident later."

.........

After five days of consultation, the Zhou and Tang dynasties finally reached an agreement. On the condition of freedom of trade and freedom of personnel movement, the two sides ceased to fight for one year. In addition, the Tang dynasty redeemed 20,000 Guanlong soldiers captured in the Taiyuan Battle from the Zhou army at the cost of 400,000 taels of gold and 500,000 stones of grain.

As the armistice took effect, tens of thousands of Zhou troops who were actively conducting offensive preparations outside Pujin Pass also stopped their activities, the army withdrew back to Hedong City, and the battlefield in Bingzhou was completely restored to peace.
Chapter completed!