Chapter 150 Negotiation (Part 1)

On December 20, the first year of Xuanren, a cavalry team of 3,000 people passed through the land of Longyou and slowly advanced southward. The flags were waving like clouds, the armor shone coldly in the sun, and the expressionless faces were full of murderous aura. These were the elites of the Hexi Army, who guarded their governor to go to Kaiyang County to reach a final agreement.

Under the shuttle mediation of the special envoy Pei Jun, the left prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, Hexi and Longyou reached a final oral compromise. The two sides determined the Yellow River as their boundary as their sphere of influence. Zhang Huan returned the county to Longyou, while Wei Yan handed over nearly 40,000 families of the 8,000 surrendered troops to Hexi, and in principle, merchants were allowed to trade freely in the two places, trafficking in food, horses, iron and other sensitive items.

This time, Zhang Huan went south to formally sign a settlement agreement between the two parties. Pei You, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue of the Tang Dynasty, and Jiang Huan, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, guaranteed Zhang Huan's safety, and held a signing ceremony in Nanyou County, a county under Kaiyang County.

However, the oral compromise reached by both parties did not fall into writing, and all terms must be confirmed one by one on the spot, which means that there is a last step in the negotiation.

The team walked very slowly, and only advanced south at a speed of eighty miles a day. On this day, the team had left Yang County less than a hundred miles away. Zhang Huan rode on the horse. His position was in the middle of the team, guarded by five hundred personal guards on the left and right. This time Pei Ying did not follow him and stayed in Wuwei County. On the carriage next to him was Pei You, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhang Huan glanced at Pei You slightly, and saw that he seemed to have something to say to him when he saw that he was thinking, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "The food problem has always been the weakness of Hexi. This time, Mr. Pei made a special trip to Hexi for food. Zhang Huan thanked me."

Pei You was about forty years old and was Pei Jun's third brother. He was a Jinshi. For more than 20 years, he became the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue from prefectures and counties step by step. He was a powerful figure and controlled the financial and tax revenue and expenditure of the Tang Dynasty. This time he was entrusted by Pei Junzhi to come to Helong. The key point was to confirm whether Zhang Huan really decided to rely on the Pei family. As a condition, the Pei family would support Zhang Huan from Hedong every year. Of course, the grain was allocated under the name of the court supporting Zhang Huan to the west to recover the entire Hexi.

Pei You is humble and doesn't talk much, but every word he always says is at the point. Although Zhang Huan is about to become his niece, he does not regard Zhang Huan as a junior. When Zhang Huan talks about food, he pondered for a moment: "Governor Zhang, this time the allocation of food was specially approved by the left prime minister. He took a lot of effort to convince the cabinet. I hope you can understand this and it is best to go back to Chang'an at the right time."

Of course, Zhang Huan understood that it was not enough to just express dependence verbally. He had to show enough sincerity, that is, he had to express something in his actions. In fact, to put it bluntly, there was a loose alliance of interests between him and Pei Jun, even though they were about to become father-in-law and son-in-law.

"I plan to go to Chang'an after the New Year. Thank you for your care for Zuo Prime Minister." Zhang Huan said with a smile.

Pei You nodded with a smile, "And Ying'er will also take it back together."

"That's certain."

The team moved forward again, less than ten miles away from Nanyou County, and the dark walls of Nanyou County were faintly visible. At this time, a team of cavalry rushed from afar. This was the advance officer sent by Wei Yan. The leader immediately shouted: "Shishang Wei is waiting for Governor Zhang three miles away, and asked the army to station on the spot, with a maximum of 500 followers."

A soldier immediately reported to Zhang Huan, and Zhang Huan waved his hand slightly, "Stop on the spot!"

Three thousand cavalry began to get off the horse and camp, while Zhang Huan, under the escort of the five hundred personal guards, rushed south from the county town with Pei You. The place where the formal negotiations were held was not in the county town. On a high slope five miles north of the county, there were also three thousand Longyou Army stationed in the south of the high slope, at the same distance as the Xiliang Army. This was the details that the two sides had negotiated in advance. Zhang Huan went deep into Longyou himself. If he did not have enough sincerity, he would not be able to reach a true reconciliation.

Six huge tents were built on the high slope, and the tents were all separated by hundreds of steps. From the height of the sky, it seemed like a huge plum blossom. The white tent in the middle was the formal place for consultation. Near the high slope, Sima Luo Guang, the marching of the Xiliang Army, led a few people to usher in a rapid speed from the hillside.

"Governor, my subordinates have made arrangements. Please follow me to take a rest."

Zhang Huan nodded, and he bowed to Pei You and smiled, "Shilarious Minister Pei, let's see you later."

Pei You also bowed and followed the lead to another big tent. The negotiation was led by the court, with three parties participating in it. The specific host was the respected Guo Ziyi. He had great connections in the Helong area, and even Wei Yan was his junior. In this way, the two sides could negotiate in an equal atmosphere.

Zhang Huan entered his big tent, which was arranged very gorgeously. The top of the tent was draped with a light curtain hanging from all sides, as if it was a huge palace, with precious Persian carpets on the ground, and a white jade screen two feet high and three feet long separated the tent in half. A copper stove next to it was surrounded by sandalwood. The whole tent was fragrant, and a high-quality Yuezhou celadon was placed on each corner of the tent. Next to the celadon was a young and beautiful maid, with a shy smile and a plump figure, waiting for call at any time.

Zhang Huan glanced in the tent and couldn't help but smile: "It seems that the Wei family has indeed invested a lot of money to show sincerity!"

Luo Guangzheng nodded, "I heard that the Wei family spent 20,000 guan, as well as thousands of troops' grain and personnel allocation, which was at least tens of thousands of guan. Not only the money, Wei Shangshu also visited twice in person, and met his subordinates in detail about the life habits of the governor. He knew that the governor liked celadon, and specially found these four Yuezhou celadons in Kaiyang County. This shows that they attached great importance to this negotiation."

Zhang Huan glanced at the maids and smiled and said, "Since that's the case, why don't you tell him that I don't need strangers to serve you?"

Luo Guangzheng hesitated and said, "These four women are the intention of Mrs. Wei. The subordinates cannot postpone them. They can only wait until the governor arrives before making a decision."

"Okay! I will decide now that you will send them back to Wei's mansion and replace them with my personal soldiers. I will sleep more peacefully, and this one,"

Zhang Huan pointed to the burning incense burner and celadon that were burning vigorously, "Take them out and ventilate them in the big tent."

Luo Guangzheng had no choice but to do what Zhang Huan ordered. Then ten personal soldiers walked into the tent, held their heads with their swords raised, and stood majestic towards the four corners. The doors in front and back opened wide, and a fresh and cold wind quickly cleaned the strange fragrance in the tent, which immediately added a bit of solemnity in the tent.

At this moment, a hearty laugh suddenly came from outside the tent, "It seems that I am a little extra."

Zhang Huan turned around anxiously and saw Wei Yan coming from afar with several followers, while his personal soldiers were lined up in two rows, staring at him one by one.

Zhang Huan hurriedly went out, and then he found that behind Wei Er was a handsome young man, Wei Qing, but his face looked reluctant.

Zhang Huan stepped forward and bowed and said, "If Uncle Wei Shi, please send someone to say that, since Zhang Huan is visiting, how dare you come here with Uncle Shi in person."

Wei Yan shook his head, and he sighed a little emotion: "I didn't expect that my nephew would still call me Uncle Shi, alas! If I had known this was the case, why would our uncle and nephew have made such an unpleasant thing?"

He pointed to the incense burner and celadon placed next to him, and turned to Wei Qing and said, "Did you see, you are always unwilling to accept others, why are you not as good as you? This is the reason. I asked you to join the army, but you refused to let go of that little wealth and elegance. How can I feel at ease to hand over the Wei family to you?"

Wei Qing had a gloomy face and lowered his head without saying a word. Seeing that he really regarded himself as an elder, Zhang Huan couldn't help but sneer secretly. In two hours, the two sides would start a formal talk, but now he came to get close to him and used his son to lower his identity. He simply wanted to gain a psychological advantage so as to gain the advantage in the final negotiation.

He didn't say much, stood by the side with his hands behind his back and watched leisurely, as if what Wei Er said had nothing to do with him. Wei Er talked about his son for a long time, but Zhang Huan came forward to persuade him. He smiled and said to Zhang Huan again: "Wei Qing is about to go to Beijing to take up his post. He doesn't know anything. I hope his nephew will teach him more. If his nephew doesn't dislike him, let Wei Qing call you "Brother!"

Speaking of this, he winked at his son and asked him to come forward and bow down, but Wei Qing was still indifferent for a long time and seemed to have not heard him. Wei Ye was furious. He turned around suddenly, and with a crisp sound, he slapped Wei Qing hard, "Bastard! You are a loser, a woman is the god?"

Wei Qing covered his face, but he still stubbornly thorned his head, staring at the ground with his eyes tightly, without moving. Zhang Huan smiled slightly and said, "Uncle Wei Shi, a young man is a stubborn person. This is a good thing. If you can be persistent in doing something in the future, you should not blame Wei Wei. In the future, he will be in Beijing, and naturally he will be supported by his uncles. I have been in Hexi for many years, and even if I have the will, I will be powerless."

After saying that, he waved his hand and asked, "Uncle Wei Shi, please sit in the account!"

Wei Yan originally planned to let his son make friends with him before the final negotiation to disrupt Zhang Huan's negotiation deployment, but he did not expect that his son was so unsuccessful and gave up the overall situation for a woman. He also thought that he killed his general without authorization last time, which made him unable to explain in the army. He felt a little discouraged.

He sighed, waved his hand to Zhang Huan, and said nothing more, and went straight away. However, Wei Qing stood there and moved without moving. He covered his face and stared at some point, as if someone had imposed a fixed method.

Zhang Huan was too lazy to pay attention to him, so he went straight into the account. Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked to the account, he heard Wei Qing whisper behind him: "Zhang Huan, since Pei Ying has decided to follow you, please treat her wholeheartedly, don't marry another woman, and make her happy for the rest of her life."

Zhang Huan stopped, and for a while, he sneered with a snorted, threw the curtain, and cleared Wei Qing outside the tent.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Two hours later, the signing ceremony between the two sides officially began. It was completely different from the tents where they lived. The huge white tent was empty and there was nothing. The soldiers were all outside the tent. They stood on one side, clearly separated, each with his waist straight and his eyes were staring at each other coldly.

There were only eight people in the tent that could accommodate thousands of people. They sat in a shape of a character. To the north was the special envoy sent by the imperial court to mediation and several guarantors, two elders, Guo Ziyi and Yan Zhenqing, Pei You, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Jiang Huan, the Minister of Rites, and Guo Quan, the Shaoqing of Taifu Temple. They sat upright, without any expression on their faces.

On the east were the head of the Wei family and several important officials of the Wei family, the crown prince Shaobao, the minister of the Ministry of War, the secretary of the minister, Wei Yan, the secretary of the secretary of the minister, Wei Zheng, the secretary of the Shangshu, Wei Du, the minister of the Shaofu Temple, Wei Ping, the governor of Kaiyang County, and Wei Rang, the governor of Longxi County. They sneered, and looked disdainful in their eyes.

There was only one person sitting directly opposite them, Zhang Huan, who made them both hate and helpless, was the governor of Liangzhou and the governor of Wuwei County. He smiled and greeted the envoys from time to time, but ignored the people on the other side, and seemed to not take the Wei family seriously.

A crisp bell rang and the negotiations officially began. Two waiters carried a low desk table, placed it horizontally between Zhang Huan and Wei's family, and placed pens, ink, paper and inkstone. Today's main mediator is Guo Ziyi, the prince of Fenyang County, and the recorder is Guo Quan, the Shaoqing of Taifu Temple.

"Everyone, I am hereby entrusted by Pei Xiangguo to mediate some disputes between the two families."

Guo Ziyi stood up first, he looked at both sides, smiled and said, "First of all, is the king's land on the shore of the land; is the king's minister under the celestial world? You two families are the ministers of His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the land you are fighting for is also the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Can you two families recognize this premise?"

Wei Yan and Zhang Huan looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
Chapter completed!