In the south of Taiyuan City, a team of Sui troops guarding more than a dozen envoys from the Tang Dynasty gradually arrived at Taiyuan City. The leader was about forty years old, tall, thick eyebrows and thin eyes, and a big nose hanging on his face like an eggplant. This person was Li Yuan's consul Li Shentong, who was appointed as the King of Huai'an and the General of the Right Guard.

Li Shentong entered Hedong from Pujin Pass. His 500 soldiers were unable to enter the country, but instead escorted him to Taiyuan by the Sui army.

This time, Li Shentong was responsible for reconciliation with the Sui Dynasty. He was a little nervous. Since the Taiyuan Battle broke out between the Northern Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty has been in a passive state of being beaten, which has made all walks of life in Guanlong generally dissatisfied with the court. In particular, the Tongguan incident led to the Hongnong defeat, which also caused dissatisfaction among the Guanlong nobles with the Li family.

Li Shentong knew very well the tremendous pressure his brother was under. He also agreed with Jiancheng's suggestion, first reconciliation with the Northern Sui Dynasty, and then find ways to make achievements in other aspects and gradually restore public confidence in the court.

When he walked to the city gate, he saw an official waiting by the city gate. He immediately urged his horse to come up and bowed and said, "Is the envoy of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Li Shentong is the envoy of Tang."

"The lower official is Wei Lun, the Neishisanshe, who is here under the order of Ziwei Pavilion to wait for the Tang envoy. Your Highness has worked hard all the way."

Seeing that he was only over 20 years old, Li Shentong was quite well-educated and rational, and responded calmly, and couldn't help but feel a little fond of him, so he replied with a smile: "Thank you!"

At this moment, Li Shentong suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from the city, and there were bursts of shouts from time to time. It was quite lively. He couldn't help but be stunned. What happened in the city?

Wei Lun smiled and said, "Today, it happened to be a new Jinshi parade and praise his official position, so the city is very lively."

Li Shentong suddenly realized, was a little curious, and smiled and said, "Can you go to the city to see?"

"Of course, please!"

Li Shentong and his party entered Taiyuan City and saw that Jinyang Street was crowded with people, with hundreds of thousands gathering on both sides of the street. The crowd was crowded and dense, and there was no limit at a glance. The cavalrymen took three steps and one post and five steps to maintain order.

The whole Taiyuan seemed to be celebrated, beating gongs and drums and suona. At this time, a group of young scholars appeared from the street. They were about 200 people, wearing red colors, wearing vermilion brocade robes, wearing winged gauze hats, and a cluster of big red flowers hanging on their chests. Everyone was full of red faces. The joy was overwhelming.

In front of them were five hundred cavalrymen, followed by a drum band, and finally two hundred Jinshi riding horses. In order to prevent horses from being frightened, each horse was equipped with a groom leading the horse. The Jinshi came in one after another, attracting cheers from the people on both sides. The Jinshi's eyes were so excited that they were shining with light. This glory was unforgettable for them to remember for their lives.

Li Shentong rode a horse and walked slowly outside the crowd. He was very moved. When the Tang Dynasty was still a fierce debate over whether to hold the imperial examination, the Northern Sui Dynasty had already put it into effect, winning the hearts of scholars with glory and respect.

In Chang'an, before leaving, the ruling and the people discussed the most, the marches of Taiyuan scholars. Many people had a gloating in their tone, as if the imperial examinations in Taiyuan had suffered a severe setback. But in fact, the Northern Sui people had long forgotten the unhappiness brought by the parade. Now there was only the glory and pride of scholars. A deep sense of crisis surged in Li Shentong's heart, and the Tang Dynasty was already behind. The Northern Sui not only achieved military victory, but also developed rapidly in all aspects.

Li Shentong thought of going north and seeing the people living and working in peace and contentment. Seeing the government organizing the people to build water conservancy, and seeing so many young and strong men working in the fields instead of wearing armor to serve in the army. This is the implementation of the Northern Sui strategy of enhancing the people. They used a large amount of young and strong people to produce rather than war, which ensured that the Northern Sui Dynasty could cope with the consumption of long-term wars.

The group passed through Taiyuan City, went out from the north city, and headed towards Jinyang Palace. The road was crowded with people watching and waiting. The official road was covered with red felt blankets, extending to the Jinyang Palace in the distance. When Li Shentong came out of the city, the people on both sides thought that the Jinshi came out, which attracted cheers, which made Li Shentong look very embarrassed. He was embarrassed to walk the official road covered with felt blankets, but instead took the insistence path to Jinyang Palace.

The people on both sides are welcoming the new Jinshi. If they know that he is an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, he might be rotten eggs and stones. Li Shentong is self-aware of this.

Li Shentong came to the gate of Jinyang Palace. The two old ministers Su Wei and Pei Ju had been waiting for him here for a long time. Li Shentong knew Su Wei and Pei Ju. These were both prime ministers of the Sui Dynasty back then, especially Su Wei, who was the founding elder of the Sui Dynasty. The welcome of these two heavy figures made him feel a huge pressure.

Li Shentong no longer had the awesomeness of the King of Huai'an. He turned over and dismounted and quickly stepped forward and bowed, "Li Shentong met with the two old prime ministers."

Su Wei squinted his eyes and smiled, "The prince is a distinguished guest of Northern Sui. We have been negligent along the way, please forgive me!"

"I went smoothly all the way. The Sui army was well protected, and the old prime minister Guo Ren was so arrogant."

Pei Ju next to him also smiled and said, "It was supposed to be for the prince to rest for a few days, but we probably are very anxious, so let's talk briefly first!"

"That's right, I also want to talk to the Northern Sui court first, so there is no hurry to rest."

"Then please!"

"Two old prime ministers invite you!"

Li Shentong followed Su Wei and Pei Ju into Jinyang Palace and came all the way to Ziwei Pavilion. He looked at the huge palace pavilion that was ten feet high. He remembered that it was originally called Qifeng Pavilion, but now it was renamed Ziwei Pavilion. This is the highest power center of the Northern Sui Dynasty. Yang Yuanqing also handled court affairs here. I wonder if he would see him?

Li Shentong walked into Ziwei Pavilion in a nervous mood. Du Ruhui and Cui Junsu were greeted by him, but Su Wei and Pei Ju did not come. He was a little surprised. Du Ruhui smiled and said, "I'm sorry, today is the day when the Jinshi is in office. There is a grand ceremony. The two old prime ministers, Su and Pei, will preside over the ceremony, and Wang Prime Ministers will serve as the instructor, so it is only me and Cui Prime Ministers who will talk to the lower palace."

Cui Junsu next to him said again: "General Yang is busy with military affairs and imperial examinations these two days. He will meet His Highness specifically tomorrow and the next day!"

Li Shentong knew in his heart that Yang Yuanqing was actually asking Du Ruhui and others to have a first talk with him and then come forward after some progress. This was also normal, and he was not surprised at all.

"Then I'll trouble Prime Minister Du and Prime Minister Cui."

Li Shentong was invited into the conference room. This was the highest place of Ziwei Pavilion. From the window, you can clearly see the north city gate of Taiyuan. Two hundred Jinshis had already come out of the city and gradually arrived at Jinyang Palace. Carpets and high platforms were laid in front of the palace gate. Su Wei and Pei Ju were waiting with more than a hundred officials. Li Shentong suddenly saw Yang Yuanqing standing on the platform. Du Ruhui smiled and explained: "Today, the general manager will be awarded the Jinshi hat. The top three will be left in the Literature Museum, and then a big banquet will be held. The emperor will also meet them. The etiquette is very complicated. I will take a day off tomorrow and later I will be appointed to the official position in the Ministry of Personnel."

At this time, Yang Shidao, Wei Zheng and Zhang Shu also walked into the meeting hall. Yang Shidao took office as Na Yan. If he had not become a prime minister, he would have been an extremely important figure. Wei Zheng was responsible for the meeting record, and Zhang Shu served as the supervisor of the talks. This was a very formal meeting.

Li Shentong sat down, closed the windows, then retreated, and the meeting hall became very quiet.

Du Ruhui stood up and said solemnly: "We have read all the letters sent by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in advance. The letter proposed to end the hostility and reconcile the two countries. The attitude of the Northern Sui Dynasty was also very clear. We welcome such a reconciliation, but there are many details that need to be implemented, so the two sides should sit down and talk slowly, hoping to reach a complete reconciliation plan before the end of the year."

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An hour later, Du Ruhui appeared in Yang Yuanqing's official room. At this time, the new Jinshi's official celebration had ended. Two hundred Jinshi went to Wenchang Hall to attend a banquet held for them, and Yang Yuanqing returned to his official room.

Compared with the Jinshi ceremony, he actually attached more importance to Li Shentong's secret visit. Just yesterday afternoon, he received a handwritten letter sent by Li Yuan, which expressed his wish to reconcile the two courts.

Yang Yuanqing also hoped to see such a result. He knew in his heart that the Northern Sui Dynasty could not swallow the Tang Dynasty, nor the Tang Dynasty could not destroy the Northern Sui Dynasty. Instead of the two of them endlessly, it would be better to temporarily cease the war and develop their own forces. Yang Yuanqing needed to advance eastward to Hebei, and Li Yuan also needed to completely wipe out the Western Qin State and stabilize the rear.

Both courts had their own urgent tasks, which made reconciliation between them possible. Of course, there are still many details to be implemented if they want to reconcile. For example, what should you do when the Northern Sui attacked Hebei? Luo Yi had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was named King of Beiping. The Northern Sui Dynasty would inevitably attack Youzhou. So what should I do if the settlement agreement was made?

These issues must be resolved through negotiations, and the Tang Dynasty must make concessions, so Yang Yuanqing asked Du Ruhui to be the negotiator and was fully responsible for the negotiations with Li Shentong, and tried to extend the negotiation time, preferably until the end of the year.

"General Manager, this time Li Shentong's mission did not pass through their court. It was just Li Yuan's personal idea. He was sent to test the possibility of reconciliation between the two sides and the price to pay."

"Did you tell him about Youzhou?" Yang Yuanqing asked.

"Speaking of it, according to the requirements of the general manager, I frankly talked about the issue of Youzhou. I hope the Tang Dynasty will give up Youzhou."

"What do you say about Li Shentong?"

"He said he needed to go back and report to the Lord, and he could not make decisions."

"What requests do they make?" Yang Yuanqing asked again.

Du Ruhui bowed and said, "The Tang Dynasty hopes that we will give up our support for the Western Qin State."

If the Tang Dynasty was willing to give up support to Luo Yi in exchange for his support to the Western Qin State, it would not be impossible, but he needed a formal talks, not the so-called secret envoy.

Yang Yuanqing took a few steps behind his back and said to Du Ruhui: "You can tell Li Shentong that I hope it will be a formal talk between the two courts. This way, the settlement agreement reached is more binding, rather than Li Yuan's personal intention. In addition, you must understand the real reason why I asked You to delay the negotiation time."

Du Ruhui did not answer, waiting for Yang Yuanqing's explanation. Yang Yuanqing walked to the north window and stared at the northwest direction. After a while, he said lightly: "Su Dingfang and Shen Chun have led their troops to the northwest. I hope to take down Dunhuang County and Yiwu County before the settlement agreement is signed."

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Chapter completed!