Tibet

Pei Zunqing brought a thick stack of documents. This was the final draft of the negotiation. In fact, it had been ready for a long time. After revising some fine-tuning parts, the final draft of the negotiation was completed.

Li Ye browsed through it roughly. Basically, there were not big problems, and there were many details. For example, which ports the navy could dock at, whether navy soldiers could go ashore, and how to go ashore were all detailed instructions.

For another example, the two sides have also finalized the final withdrawal plan. They have clear agreements on when to withdraw and which materials can and cannot be taken away.

Regarding the three palaces of Chang'an, the two parties agreed that King Qi could only use Xingqing Palace, while Daming Palace and Taiji Palace would be sealed.

The two sides negotiated for a full month, and finally compiled the final draft of the negotiation, which was 300 pages thick.

"Your Highness, there are two copies of the negotiation draft. The Emperor has to read it carefully. It may take two or three days. After the Emperor confirms it, both parties will sign the agreement. Finally, the Emperor will approve it and take effect. This document will be included as an attachment to the agreement!"

Li Ye nodded, "After the agreement is signed, I will leave Luoyang. I'm afraid I won't have time to visit the emperor."

Pei Zunqing said quickly: "The Emperor is planning to entertain His Highness a banquet in Shendu Garden. I hope Your Highness will not postpone it!"

Li Ye readily agreed, "Okay, let's agree on some details!"

After saying a few more words, Pei Zunqing stood up and left.

Liu Yan said to Li Ye: "This banquet always feels unreliable due to my humble position. Can your Highness find a reason to decline?"

Li Ye also knew that if Li Heng wanted to deal with him, this banquet would be his last chance. Although the possibility was unlikely, Li Ye was still very cautious.

He thought for a while and said: "Go and talk to them tomorrow. We will prepare the ingredients and drinks ourselves, and the chef will be our own. If they agree, they will go to the banquet. If they don't agree, they will say that I am ill. If they decide to cancel, they will also Whatever they want.”

Li Heng has also been carefully reviewing the final text of the negotiation in the past two days, and he really discovered a problem, that is, the number of Jingxiang naval forces was not stipulated. I don't know if this was an oversight in the negotiation or something else.

Li Heng was really annoyed and immediately sent someone to call Pei Zunqing for questioning.

In the royal study, Li Heng tapped the manuscript with his fingers, "Why is there no limit on the number of people in the Jingxiang navy? Didn't this issue come into mind during the negotiations?"

Pei Zunqing said calmly: "Your Majesty, we have talked about the number of navy troops, but the other party's attitude is very clear. The number of troops is their internal issue and has nothing to do with negotiations. They will deploy troops according to needs. Sometimes they will increase and sometimes they will decrease. .

We have also discussed internally and believe that limiting the number of naval troops is meaningless. Instead, the other party will seize the opportunity to limit the number of our troops in Jingxiang. "

"Why doesn't it make sense?"

Pei Zunqing explained: "The number of their navy has always been about 30,000. If we limit it to 30,000, but if one day, the number of troops stationed in Jiangxia reaches 100,000, they can also say that the navy is still 30,000." , the others are cavalry and infantry, and have nothing to do with the navy, so they have not violated the agreement."

"What I mean is that the upper limit of Jiangxia and Hanyang's armies must not exceed 30,000 people!"

Pei Zunqing sighed, "Weichen can go and talk to them, but Weichen will worry that this detail change will violate their bottom line, causing the entire Jingxiang negotiation to be scrapped and restarted."

"can you?"

Pei Zunqing nodded, "The other party is very sensitive and tough when it comes to interfering in their military and government affairs. I can be sure that as long as the imperial court requests to limit the number of troops stationed in them, it will definitely cause a series of problems."

"What could be the problem?"

"Your Majesty, for example, if we request to limit the military strength of Jiangxia and Hanyang, does that mean we need to limit the military strength of Tongguan? If we want to limit the military strength of Wuguan in Shangzhou, then do we want to limit the military strength of Hangu Pass? In fact, even if the other party agrees, The number of troops stationed does not exceed 30,000, but there are all kinds of excuses to increase the number of troops to more than 100,000, such as temporary garrisoning, such as militia soldiers, or even ignoring us. What Weichen means is that restrictions are meaningless, and monitoring is the key!"

Pei Zunqing's last words convinced Li Heng that monitoring was the key.

Li Heng took a few steps with his hands behind his back. He was also worried that his request would cause unnecessary trouble and cause all the agreements just reached to be overthrown and restarted. What if Ruzhou's 100,000 troops never withdraw?

All kinds of worries forced him to compromise. Li Heng was silent for a while and said: "Forget it, I will ask the Plum Blossom Guards to set up an intelligence point to monitor the number of the opponent's troops at any time!"

At this time, Pei Zunqing said again: "There is one more thing. Regarding the banquet, I have to report to His Majesty."

"Doesn't he want to participate?"

"No, they used safety as an excuse and made a lot of demands. They asked us to bring our own drinks, ingredients, chefs, and even our own maids. All our guards are not allowed to come within three feet of King Qi."

With a sigh, Li Heng shook his head and said: "In that case, let's cancel the banquet! He is worried that I will do something to him, so why am I not worried that he will do something to me? If we don't trust each other, I won't see him. What's the matter? Zhengshitang came forward.”

In the afternoon, three hundred cavalry escorted a carriage into the Helong Army camp. The carriage stopped, and Li Dai and Pei Sanniang got off the carriage one after another.

Li Ye was waiting at the door of the tent with a smile! He invited his parents to dinner tonight.

Pei Sanniang stepped forward and instinctively wanted to pull her son's ears. Suddenly she thought something was wrong, so she retracted her hand in embarrassment and asked, "Aye, why don't you go into the city to see our new home?"

Li Ye held his mother's arm and smiled: "There are too many people who want to kill your son. We won't give them a chance."

Pei Sanniang raised her eyebrows and said angrily: "Who dares to kill you, the emperor?"

"The emperor is not necessarily the emperor. I am talking about which vassal towns assassinate me and cause chaos in the world. Then they can fish in troubled waters."

Li Dai came up and said, "Madam, what Aye said is right. He is in a dangerous situation and must be careful every step of the way. If he is careless, those assassins will seize the opportunity."

"forget about it!"

Pei Sanniang asked with a bright smile: "I heard that Qingyu gave birth to another big fat boy?"

Li Ye nodded, "This little guy looks domineering. He will probably train in martial arts when he grows up."

"When you move to Chang'an, it will be convenient for Mom to go to Chang'an. You must see this good grandson."

Li Ye invited his parents to sit down in the big tent, served wine and food, and arranged for soldiers to roast a whole lamb outside the tent.

Looking for an opportunity, Li Dai whispered to his son: "In this negotiation, the court generally said that you are too strong and do not follow the rules, which will affect your reputation!"

Li Ye smiled lightly and said: "Father, I only need to remember one thing. Now I am not only considering my own interests, but the interests of the entire Longyou Group."

Li Dai nodded silently, "If you put it like that, I'll understand!"

Soon, the soldiers served wine and food, and the roasted mutton was cut and brought in.

Li Ye raised his glass and said to his parents: "I may have to leave the day after tomorrow, and I won't be able to spend more time with you. This glass of wine will be used as my apology to you two elders. I hope our family can get together in Chang'an as soon as possible."