Tibet

This time, in addition to Liu Yan himself, there were two assistant officials, one was deputy Sima Jiancang Cao, military officer Qiao Bin, and the other was Du You, chief secretary of the financial department.

Qiao Bin was a good friend who played polo with Li Ye back then. After years of hard work, he has long been able to take charge of his own business. Moreover, Qiao Bin is very senior. He was one of the first officials to follow Li Ye to start a business in Suiye. Over the years, he has been He works hard without complaining, is low-key and pragmatic, and is highly valued by Li Ye.

Although Qiao Bin did not have a professional background, Li Ye made an exception and promoted him to Deputy Sima last year.

At present, Qiao Bin is responsible for the management of money, grain and materials throughout Helong. He has become Liu Yan's right-hand man, and this time he is also the deputy negotiator.

Du You is Liu Yan's assistant, equivalent to Liu Yan's secretary. Liu Yan values ​​him very much and takes him with him wherever he goes.

In the inner hall, Liu Yan slowly said to the two people: "Bashu is different from Helong. Helong was occupied by Tubo. We took back Hexi and Longyou from Tubo, so we basically got the autonomy of Helong.

But Bashu is not. We must understand in our hearts that no court can agree to the autonomy of Bashu, so we cannot let Bashu become the second Helong, and His Highness does not want to bear the reputation of splitting the Tang Dynasty.

Our bottom line is the right to garrison troops, and then we will strive for other rights on the basis of the right to garrison troops, mainly financial rights. Do you understand? "

Both of them nodded, and Qiao Bin asked: "What about the power of appointing and removing officials?"

Liu Yan smiled slightly and said: "The power of appointing and removing officials is probably the bottom line of the court. We can give the power of appointing officials to the court, but we need the power of supervision, mainly to prevent officials from misbehaving and preying on the people."

Du You frowned slightly and said, "If the officials are all appointed by the court, how are the financial rights related to taxation divided?"

"Financial power is not as simple as taxation. It also includes tax-setting and transshipment rights. It is up to us to decide how much tax to levy and what kind of tax to levy. Your Highness will never allow such a situation to occur in Bashu. The final tax We share part of the income with the court, there is no problem with this, but the money and food must be controlled by us, and this is the right of transfer."

"Actually, not much is given to the court!" The two finally understood.

Liu Yan chuckled, "What are you thinking about? Our soldiers shed blood and sacrificed to capture Bashu. How can we give the majority to the imperial court? We are just giving the imperial court a little face."

The two of them laughed and said, "Give face to the court, but we want face."

"It's true that the power to appoint and remove officials seems to be very important, but in fact it is not. The support of local gentry and wealthy families is the key, and the power of supervision is a knife hanging over the heads of local officials. If you dare to damage our reputation and harm our interests, , then the supervisory power can be activated to suspend him and isolate him.

Therefore, the power of appointing officials is face, the power of supervision is lizi, and there is also financial power. The power of taxation is in the hands of local officials, but it must be collected in accordance with the regulations of Guanlong. Then there is the right of transshipment. Money and grain from various places must be concentrated in transshipment warehouses. , and then we will distribute it, so the taxing power is face, and the tax-fixing power and transshipment power are lizi. "

Qiao Bin was silent for a moment and said, "I'm just afraid that the political hall will not be easy to fool!"

Liu Yan shook his head and said: "There is no need to fool the Zhengshitang. Talk to them openly, but you must remember that this is a game. In the end, the participants are not just us and the Zhengshitang. In the end, the person who decides is the emperor, and the influence of the emperor The decision-making is made by the powerful clique, so in addition to the struggles at the negotiating table, there are also behind-the-scenes struggles.”

Early the next morning, the negotiations between the two parties began. The negotiations were held at Qiusi Pavilion of the Political Affairs Hall. The chief negotiator of the imperial court was Li Xian, and the deputy envoys were Yuan Zai and Luo Fengxian.

Li Xian also made a lot of preparations. The two sides wanted to talk about the same scope, mainly garrison power, official appointment and dismissal power, financial power, criminal law power and property rights, mainly these five categories.

Then there are a lot of details under each category.

Li Xian smiled and said: "Let's talk about some general principles first! Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road are both the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and the people in both roads are the subjects of the emperor. Liu Sima has no objection to this!"

Liu Yan nodded, "There is no doubt that the same is true for Guan Long now."

Li Xian's face gradually became serious, "Then what we are talking about is the division of imperial power and local power. Does Liu Sima agree with this?"

Liu Yan said calmly: "I agree in principle, but the details need to be discussed."

Li Xian nodded, "Then let's just start from the principles today. Let's determine some principles first, and then start talking about the details."

Liu Yan said calmly: "The so-called outline can be arrogant, but we should understand that the reason why we are sitting here to negotiate means that we still have differences. So the first principle is that I hope both sides can be pragmatic and not Make some unachievable demands, otherwise the negotiations will remain deadlocked for days, months or even years, then the negotiations will be meaningless and the status quo can only be maintained. How can the interests of the court be guaranteed?"

Li Xian was silent for a moment and said: "We believe that His Highness King Qi wants to obtain some rights and interests legally, otherwise Liu Sima would not be sitting here, but since it is legal, it must be based on the laws of the Tang Dynasty, then it is called legal!"

Liu Yan shook his head, "To be precise, it is reasonable and legal, but what we consider legal is not only the law of the Tang Dynasty, but also the approval of the government and the approval of the emperor. This is also called legal."

"We agree on this. Just like Guan Long, as long as the political hall approves it and the emperor approves it, it is a legal resolution."

Liu Yan's tone also became serious, "Let's talk about pragmatism first. The right to garrison troops is the bottom line of King Qi. There should be nothing to discuss. I don't understand why the right to garrison troops should be included in the negotiations."

Li Xian said calmly: "There is a lot about the right to garrison troops, including the objects of defense, the number of garrison troops, the scope of garrison troops, as well as state soldiers, military fields, placement of military family members, etc. Do they all need to be clarified?"

"That's okay. The Helong Army stationed in Bashu is mainly to defend Tubo and Nanzhao. The number of people is 50,000. The garrison range is equivalent to Jiedufu. In fact, it is the continuation of Jiannan Jiedufu. His Royal Highness the King of Qi also serves as the swordsman. Nan Jiedushi, the officials in the mansion are staff officers and are uniformly appointed by the Jiedushi. Then, except for Jianmen Pass and Jiameng Pass, the garrison at other passes will be removed. Military fields and family members will be resettled in the same way as Jiannan Jiedfu. There will be no state soldiers in each state. .”

Li Xian was silent for a moment and said slowly: "Let's do this! The appointment of the army and Jiedu envoys is the authority of the emperor, not the authority of the political affairs hall. It is decided by the emperor. After the emperor decides, the political affairs hall will approve it, how about it?"

Liu Yan smiled slightly and said: "We completely agree!"

In the Imperial Study Room, Emperor Li Heng and the ministers of the Political Affairs Hall listened to Li Xian's report. In fact, as the emperor, Li Heng paid more attention to some principles.

This is also one of the things he has always been able to tolerate Li Ye, that is, Li Ye adheres to principles, follows political rules, and insists on the delegation of military power. Although it is only a form, this form is very important to Li Heng.

In particular, adhering to political rules satisfied Li Heng and the prime ministers. For example, Li Ye could have sent troops to forcibly occupy Yanzhou, but he did not do so, and instead used the emperor's treasure in exchange.

This is very commendable, and other military governors could not do it. Even Liang Chongyi, the military governor of Jingxiang, continued to occupy Yuzhou and Ruzhou and refused to give up. This made Li Heng very dissatisfied.

This is also the reason why Li Heng continued to acquiesce in Li Ye's army staying in Jingzhou, Xiazhou, Mianzhou, Ezhou and Yuezhou. Li Heng hoped that the Helong army could contain Liang Chongyi.

Li Heng was not a fool. He knew very well that Li Ye would not rebel, but Liang Chongyi would separatist forces and rebel.

There are also three towns in Hebei, and the Jiedu envoy Li Zhengyi of Ziqing. These Jiedu envoys are all foreigners. They will definitely rebel and continue to encroach on the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

If Li Ye can guarantee that he will not rebel, then Helong can be put last in the next step of reducing the feudal vassal.

Thinking of this, Li Heng said calmly: "Let me consider the issue of garrison power. Li Xiangguo should talk about other things first!"