Chapter 20: The Spicy Young Master Xin

Two days later, inside the Honglu Temple.

"Replace prisoners, this is the first major event." Xin Qiwu no longer had the reckless expression of negotiations between the two countries, and said lightly: "Your Majesty has an order. No matter what, the captured soldiers will be replaced. The rest are trivial matters. We might as well give in to this aspect."

An official below responded and said, "The number of people captured Northern Qi and their small country has been roughly counted. There are more than 2,400 people in total, and we have been captured in total about 1,000 people. According to Your Majesty's will, even if we change one, we can still get it back."

"Yes." Xin Qiwu nodded, satisfied with his subordinates' work efficiency, and said: "Your Majesty's meaning is also very clear about the issue of re-demarcation. If you don't give up a single inch of the land you occupy this time, if you want land, you can exchange it for the grassland of Qianlong Bay."

Qianlong Bay is located northwest of Qing Kingdom and is connected to the only enclave where Qing Kingdom is. If it can be taken back, the enclave in Qing Kingdom will be safe.

The officials below were writing to record the boss's meaning. Someone said with a headache: "But this time, I don't know why, but the Northern Qi Dynasty was particularly tough, as if it was a bit like a death-death. I only agreed to give money to the horse, but I refused to cede the land."

The first master who jumped out during the last tea party was obviously an impulsive person. He slapped the table and cursed: "We have taken those lands, can we still vomit back?"

Xin Qiwu nodded: "Although Lord Xiao is a little more direct, this is indeed the reason." He glanced at his subordinates coldly, put down the teacup in his hand heavily, and said: "My colleagues, don't forget that these lands were shot back by our soldiers with one sword and one gun, and were exchanged for blood and flesh. Of course, we cannot return them with both hands, and those soldiers paid the price of their lives. What about us? We just talk, so we cannot give up our local interests and fight with each other with one ounce of silver and one inch of land."

The man who spoke earlier continued to frown and said, "My Lord said this very thing, but based on the envoys stationed in Shangjing of Northern Qi, the relationship between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor has become more and more moderate due to the defeat of this battle. The Empress Dowager's younger brother has been convicted and returned home. If we ask too much in the negotiations, if the two countries fight again after the breakdown, this is not in line with the emperor's will. Everyone should be clear that if the Northern Qi side really has a firm mind, a centipede worm will be a bite, and it will be difficult to bite people."

"The Northern Qi went to Beijing too far. Once you go back and forth, these information may not be effective." Xin Qiwu had a headache. The most important thing in negotiations was to know yourself and the enemy. Although he currently has the advantage of home court and winner, the other party is in his own capital. Relying on the Northern Qi spy network that the court had not yet had time to conquer Gan Jing, they could have first-hand information on the reaction of the Qing State court. However, the Qing State party wanted to know the true reaction of the Northern Qi State court.

Someone gave an idea and said, "Why don't you ask Your Majesty to ask the Supervisory Office to help us everywhere? You should know that the people in Northern Qi are much more powerful than other yamen in the imperial court."

Everyone's eyes lit up. They thought that this was the truth. As a Kyoto official, of course they were afraid and hated the Supervision Office, but if so, using the Mad Dog of the Supervision Office to deal with the enemy, no official would have any objections, but they would only agree with both hands and feet. To everyone's surprise, when they heard this suggestion, Xin Qiwu suddenly lost his demeanor and cursed: "What are you thinking about? Is this official and the Temple Master unable to think of? What can I do if the Hall of Yama will not give anything? Do you want me to cry and kneel down in front of His Majesty's bedroom?"

The officials thought to themselves that this was the case, and their faces returned to tranquility, but deep down they thought, if they could get information from Northern Qi, what would you be afraid of when you cried on the stone steps in front of Xingqing Palace?

The hall suddenly fell into silence. Although the officials and people of Qing State have always regarded themselves as the most powerful country in the world. Before His Majesty ascended the throne, the people of Qing State have always lived under the terrifying shadow of the vast Northern Wei Dynasty. Although the Northern Wei Dynasty was defeated by His Majesty three northern expeditions, only half of its territory was left. It became the current Northern Qi Dynasty, but if the other party was forced to fight again, it seemed to be a terrifying thing. Therefore, without the support of strong confidence, the negotiations seemed to be the only way to fall into a deadlock.

"I will enter the palace again tonight and ask for the will of your Majesty."

Xin Qiwu frowned and glanced at Fan Xian who had been sitting quietly at the bottom of the game. Fan Xian, the deputy envoy, seemed to have no sense of the deputy envoy. These days, no matter what he negotiated or did, he always sat with a smile on his face, not knowing what he was thinking. Xin Qiwu was ordered by the prince to transfer him here, with the original intention of letting Fan Xian get some political capital. This kid is quite sensible and does not take credit, but it is not a big deal to be so dull.

He thought for a while and said Wen Yan: "Mr. Fan, I wonder what you think about this matter?"

Fan Xian's fist shrank in his sleeves slightly tightened, but his face was still calm. He replied warmly: "The officials thought that the Northern Qi was just bluffing at the moment. If they really had the power to fight again and were determined to fight again, they would not be so anxious to send a delegation to seek peace."

The officials have always known that Lord Fan has a very famous poem and boxing name. In addition, he has admired the other party’s quietness and does not strive for merit these days, so he is somewhat expectant of his speech at this moment, but he found that he could only say such a big way, so he was a little disappointed. But in terms of face, the officials were not good at it, so he echoed a few times.

However, Xin Qiwu thought that since he wanted to sell the other party's favor, he would simply sell it thoroughly and continued to ask in a gentle manner: "This statement is reasonable. It is just that the two countries interact. If it is real, it is empty, and if it is empty, it is real. One country is like a person. Sometimes it is often dominated by emotions, so it cannot be inferred entirely by reason. I wonder if Deputy Envoy Fan has other evidence?" He really hoped that Fan Xian could firmly uphold the belief of the officials of the Honglu Temple.

Fan Xian secretly praised the words Shaoqing in his heart, "A country is like a person." After thinking about it, he said, "The key is that Zhuang Mohan. You all know the status of this person in the hearts of the scholars in the world. If Northern Qi did not intend to seek peace, he would not have spent a big price to ask Zhuang Mohan to come to Kyoto with his delegation."

All the officials of Honglu Temple were from imperial examinations. Of course, they knew Zhuang Mohan’s name. After a moment of pondering, they found that this was indeed the case. However, this one alone was not enough to bring the direction of negotiation back to the original road.

Xin Qiwu frowned and said, "If you could know how Zhuang Mohan was willing to come, it might be of some help."

The case file of the Supervisory Office is clearly written. The reason why Zhuang Mohan is willing to come is that the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi and the Emperor lowers his figure and asks for it. The second is that Zhuang Mohan claims to be a mortal saint and wants to mediate the dispute between the two countries. The third reason seems to be that this person’s private reasons and has not been found out. Although Fan Xian despises the attitude of this "saint", he will not underestimate the other party’s reputation. But at this moment, he will not say these reasons in front of the officials, and just responded softly: "If you can meet him, you may be able to see some clues."

Xiao Zhubu shook his head and said helplessly: "The practice of interacting between the two countries. People like this can only be seen at a banquet in front of the hall. For example, the officials of our Honglu Temple go to ask for a meeting. If the other party doesn't see us, we can't do anything, we just humiliate ourselves." Suddenly, his eyes lit up and said: "But Deputy Envoy Fan's reputation has spread all over the world. I believe Zhuang Mohan will not refuse the title of making friends with poetry."

Fan Xian was stunned and thought that he had only copied three poems. Two of them were written by Ruoru, how could he bring about the reputation of poetry all over the world? Fortunately, Xin Shaoqing shook his head and helped him to help him clear his siege: "Zhuang Mohan has always been very proud. His classics, history, poetry, songs and essays are the first choice for the world. How could he put down his figure and meet Deputy Envoy Fan? In my opinion, the key to the Northern Qi invited him to come this time is the stage of giving a banquet in front of the palace. He wanted to use his reputation to motivate His Majesty."

The officials thought, probably that's the case.

After the meeting ended, Fan Xian looked around. He pulled Master Shaoqing aside and handed over the plan to "tidy up" him and Ruoru for several nights. Xin Qi turned his back and his eyes lit up. He didn't expect that Fan Xian could write such a thing. Although the evidence inside was quite ridiculous, after a closer analysis, it seemed that he directly pointed out the current dynasty in the Northern Qi Dynasty.

"Okay!" Xin Shaoqing said excitedly: "In this way, I will have confidence when negotiating with Honglu Temple. But... Deputy Envoy Fan. Why didn't you mention it before? But you gave it to me privately at this time?"

Fan Xian looked at his boss' suspicious expression and smiled slightly, "Some of the inferences inside are absurd. It's just the personal opinion of the subordinate, so he dare not say it in court. He is just for reference by Shaoqing in private."

Xin Shaoqing couldn't help but feel excited, so he stood in the corridor to read carefully, but his eyebrows gradually frowned. After a long time, he asked softly: "Young Master Fan, there are many things here, which are secrets that the court doesn't know."

Fan Xian felt a little nervous, knowing that he could not hide it from the other party after all, but his qi cultivation skills have been trained from Danzhou to Kyoto for more than ten years, so he remained unchanged and said with a smile: "There are some things that are inconvenient to say more."

One of the key points of being an official is to pretend to be unfathomable. As expected, Xin Qiwu no longer asked about it, but instead smiled gently: "If this negotiation can compete for the full results, I will definitely write to Your Majesty to guarantee you a great contribution."

Fan Xian smiled and bowed and said with a smile.

Xin Qiwu looked at the back of his blue shirt that disappeared in the door, and his face was filled with a confusion. He was close to the prince, so he naturally knew that Si Nanbo Fan Jian had a private force belonging to His Majesty, but this force seemed to have never shown his appearance on the political stage of Qingguo. Could it be... just because of Fan Xian, Fan Jian dared to use it? He never linked Fan Xian with the Supervisory Office. After all, the Supervisory Office was His Majesty's private spy agency, and even the princes could not intervene, let alone the illegitimate son of a minister.
Chapter completed!