Chapter 20: Old Spice Ren Shaoqing
Two days later, inside Honglu Temple.
“Exchange of prisoners, this is the first major event.” Xin Qimo no longer had the reckless look he had during the negotiations between the two countries, and said lightly, “His Majesty has decreed that the captured generals must be exchanged back no matter what, the rest is trivial, and we might as well back off a bit in this regard.”
An official below answered and said, “The number of people captured this time from Northern Qi and the small countries under their control has been roughly counted, there are more than 2,400 people in total, and our side has been captured around 1,000 people in total. According to His Majesty’s decree, even if we exchange two of us for one, we can still get them back.”
“Hm.” Xin Qimo nodded, satisfied with his subordinate’s efficiency, and added, “Regarding the redrawing of the border, His Majesty’s intention is also clear, where the land occupied this time, not an inch will be allowed, if Northern Qi wants land, take the grassland in Qianlong Bay and exchange it for it.”
Subterranean Dragon Bay was in the northwest of Qing, connected to Qing’s only enclave there, if it could be taken back, Qing’s piece of the enclave would be safe.
The following officials struggled to record the meaning of their superiors, and someone said with a headache, “It’s just that this time, I don’t know why, but the Northern Qi side is particularly tough, as if there is some fish-dead-net-breaking intention, and they only promise to give money to the horses, they just won’t cede the land.”
The first one to jump out during the last tea party was obviously an impulsive faction, slamming the table and cursing: “We have already occupied those lands, do we still have to spit them back.”
Xin Qimo nodded, “Although Lord Xiao’s words are a bit more direct, this is indeed the truth.” He coldly swept his gaze over his subordinates, heavily put down the teacup in his hand, and said, “Fellow officers, don’t forget that these lands were fought back by our generals and soldiers with a knife and a gun, exchanged with blood and flesh and bones, we certainly can’t give them back with both hands. Those generals paid with their lives, and us? We’re just moving our lips, so it’s all the more reason why we can’t give up our own country’s interests, and have to fight with the other side for a single strand, a couple of silvers, and an inch of land.”
The person who spoke earlier continued to frown and said, “Your Excellency’s words are extremely true, it’s just that according to the secret returns from the envoys stationed in the upper capital of Northern Qi, the relationship between the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi and the Emperor has become pacified because of this defeat, and the Empress Dowager’s own younger brother has also been convicted and returned to his home at the present time, so if our side asks for too much in the negotiation in case of a rupture and the two countries are back to war, this point is not in line with His Holiness’s This is also not what His Majesty wants. Everyone should be clear that if the Northern Qi side is really monarchs and ministers are of one mind, a hundred-footed insect, biting someone is not pleasant either.”
“Beiqi’s Shangjing is too far away, one trip back and forth, and this information may not be useful.” Xinqi things some headache, negotiation is the most critical is to know oneself and know the enemy, although now accounted for the advantage of the home and the winner, but the other party is in the middle of their own capital, relying on those court has not had time to sweep clean the Northern Qi spy network. They are able to have first-hand information about the reaction of the Qing court, while the Qing side wants to know the true reaction of the Northern Qi court, but it is somewhat difficult.
Someone came up with an idea and said, ”Why don’t we ask His Majesty to have the Supervisory Court go around to assist us? You should know that the characters around in Beiqi can be much more powerful than the manpower of the other government offices in the court.”
The crowd’s eyes lit up, thinking that this was true, as Kyoto officials, of course they feared and hated the Supervisory Court, but if they were to use the mad dog of the Supervisory Court to deal with their enemies, no official would have a problem with it, they would only be in favor of it with both hands and feet. Out of everyone’s expectation, upon hearing this suggestion, Xin Qimo immediately lost his demeanor and opened his mouth to scold: “What you guys think of, could this official and the Temple Secretary Lord not think of? That Yama Temple refuses to give something, what can I do? Do you want me to cry and kneel in front of His Majesty’s chambers?”
All the officials thought that this is the case, their faces returned to tranquility, but deep inside they thought, if you can get the information of Northern Qi, what are you afraid of crying on the stone steps in front of Xingqing Palace?
The hall fell into silence, although the Qing officials and people have always considered themselves to be the most powerful country in the world, but before His Majesty took the throne, the people of Qing have always lived under the shadow of the horror of the huge Northern Wei Dynasty. Although Northern Wei was beaten by His Majesty’s three northern expeditions to the point that only half of its territory was left, becoming the present-day Northern Qi, it seemed that if the other side was pushed to the brink of another war, it would be a horrible thing to do. So without the support of strong confidence, the only path for negotiations seemed to be a stalemate.
“I’ll enter the palace once more tonight and ask for His Majesty’s decree.”
Xin Qimo said with a frown, but his gaze glanced at Fan Xian, who had been sitting quietly at the bottom of the table. Fan Xian, the deputy envoy, seemed to have no self-consciousness of being a deputy envoy; these days, no matter if he was negotiating or doing anything, he always sat with a smile on his face without a word, not knowing what he was thinking. Xin Qimo had been transferred here by order of the Crown Prince, with the intention of letting Fan Xian gain some political capital, and this kid knew better than to grab the credit, but it was not a good idea to be bored like this.
He thought for a moment and said warmly, “Lord Fan, I wonder what you think of this matter?”
Fan Xian’s fists shrunk in his sleeves tightened slightly, but his face remained calm, and he warmly responded, “My humble servant thinks that Northern Qi is only bluffing at the moment, and that if they really still had the strength to fight again, and the heart to fight again, they wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to send a mission to seek peace.”
All the officials always know that Lord Fan is quite famous for his poetry and boxing, plus these days and appreciate each other’s quietness and not competing for credit, so for his speech at this moment are some expectations, but found that he can only say such a big road statement, can’t help but be a little disappointed. But in face, the officials are not good how, casually echoed a few.
On the contrary, Xin Qimo thought, since he wanted to sell each other’s favor, he simply sold some thoroughly, and continued to ask warmly: “This is reasonable, but the two countries are dealing with each other, the real is false, and the false is real, a country is like a person, and some times tends to be dominated by emotions, so it can’t be all deduced by reason, I don’t know if Deputy Ambassador Fan can have other proofs?” In his heart, he did hope that Fan Xian would be able to strengthen the beliefs of the officials of Honglu Temple.
Fan Xian in his heart secretly praised the young secretary of the Lord this “one country as one person”, thought for a moment and then said: “the key is that Zhuang Mo Han, you adults are also clear about the status of this person in the world in the hearts of the scholars, if the North Qi is not interested in peace, will not spend a large price to invite this Zhuang Mo Han with the mission to the capital. ”
Honglu Temple officials are all from the imperial examinations, of course, know Zhuang Mo Han’s great name, a little contemplation and found that it is indeed so, but only this pile, is not enough to pull the direction of the negotiations back to the original road.
Xin Qimo frowned and said, “If we can find out how Zhuang Mo Han was willing to come, it might be of some help.”
It was clearly written in the case file of the Supervisory Yuan that the reason why Zhuang Mo Han was willing to come was that the Empress Dowager of Bei Qi and the Emperor had lowered their stature to beg for help, and the second reason was that Zhuang Mo Han had always prided himself on being a mortal saint, and wanted to mediate in the war between the two countries, and the third reason appeared to be the person’s personal reasons, which had not been found out yet. Although Fan Xian despised the attitude of this “saint”, he would not take the other party’s reputation lightly, but at this moment, he would not reveal these reasons in front of all the officials, and only responded softly, “If I can meet with him, I may be able to see some clues.”
Master Xiao shook his head and said somewhat helplessly, “It is customary for the two countries to interact with each other, and characters like this can usually only be seen at the banquet given in front of the temple. If an official like us from Honglu Temple goes to ask for a meeting, if the other party doesn’t see it, we can’t do anything about it, we’re just making a fool of ourselves.” Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said, “However, Vice-Admiral Fan’s reputation for poetry has long been spread throughout the world nowadays, and I believe that Zhuang Mo Han will not refuse the name of a poetry meeting.”
Fan Xian was stunned, thinking that he had only copied three poems in total, two of which were written by Ruo Ruo, so how could he bring up the idea of poetry being famous all over the world? Fortunately, Xin Shaoqing shook his head to help him solve the problem: “Zhuang Mo Han has always been extremely proud of this person, the history, articles, poems and songs, are the world’s first choice of strange people, how would put down the stature to see Deputy Ambassador Fan, in my opinion, this time, the key to the North Qi to invite him to come is to give a banquet in front of the temple. I want to use his reputation to persuade His Majesty.”
The officials thought to themselves that this was probably the case.
After the meeting dispersed, Fan Xian took a moment to pull Lord Shaoqing to one side, and handed over the strategy he and Ruo Ruo had spent several nights “organizing”. Xin Qishu hastily flipped, eyes brightened up, completely did not expect Fan Xian actually can write such a thing out, although the evidence is quite absurd, but analyzed in detail, actually seems to directly point out the current situation of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
“Good!” Xin Shaoqing said excitedly, “In this way, my Honglu Temple will have a bottom line when negotiating. Just …… Deputy Ambassador Fan, why did you not mention it earlier, but give it to me privately at this time?”
Fan Xian looked at his superior’s skeptical expression and said with a slight smile, “Some of the inferences in there are ridiculous, but it’s just my personal opinion, so I don’t dare to say it in front of the hall, but just give it to Lord Shaoqing privately for his reference.”
Xin Shaoqing couldn’t hold back his inner excitement, so he stood between the corridors to peruse it, only to gradually frown between his brows, and only after a long time did he ask softly, “Mr. Fan, there are many things in here that the imperial court doesn’t know about as secret stories.”
Fan Xian’s heart flinched, knowing that he hadn’t been able to hide it from the other party after all, but his qi nourishing kung fu had been honed for more than ten years from Tanyu State to Kyoto, so he smiled with an unchanged countenance and said, “There are some things that my humble servant is not in a position to say much about.”
The way to be an official, one of the main purpose is to pretend to be unpredictable. As expected, Xin Qishu stopped asking questions and instead smiled gently and said, “If this negotiation is successful, I will definitely write to His Majesty and guarantee you a great deal of credit.”
Fan Xian smiled and bowed as he left.
Xin Qimo looked at the back of his green shirt as he disappeared into the courtyard, his face was confused, he was the crown prince’s close friend, naturally he knew that Sinan Bo Fan Jian held a force belonging to his majesty’s private hands, but it seemed that this force had never shown its face in the political arena of the country of Qing, could it be that …… just because of Fan Xian’s sake, Fan Jian would dare to use it? He has never compared Fan Xian to the Supervisors. He had never connected Fan Xian with the Supervisory Authority, after all, the Supervisory Authority was His Majesty’s private secret service, even the princes could not intervene, let alone a minister’s illegitimate son.
Sitting in the sedan chair, Xin Shaoqing propped up his jaw in deep thought, after the sedan chair stopped, he looked at the high vermillion palace wall outside the sedan chair, pondering in his heart, it seems that his advice to the Crown Prince is correct, for the Fan family, can only pull in, can’t fight.