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墨書 Inktalez
After quite a long time, the Imperial Guards appeared outside Tokyo City, but there was only one carriage.
The carriages filled with gold, silver, jewels, and delicacies remained at the Golden Army Camp.
Qin Feng and several generals also saw this; those who went for the Negotiation did not get down. The Guard Soldiers checked briefly and allowed them to pass.
They did not want to provoke them any further, as angering them would lead to trouble for everyone.
However, they heard crying coming from the carriage, a continuous wailing that sounded very frightened.
A member of the Imperial Guards dressed in Black Armor took the token. Li Tui extended a hand, no longer acting arrogantly, looking quite disheveled.
The guard directed the token towards the Guard Soldiers on the city wall and commanded them to open the city gate.
The city gate opened quickly, and dozens of armored Guard Soldiers stood in two rows.
The group sent for Negotiation entered through the city gate and hurried towards the palace.
The soldiers guarding the city gate slightly opened the curtain of the carriage to take a look inside.
They saw Li Tui crying inside, nearly scared to death. They immediately reported back to Qin Feng and the others on the City Wall.
Upon hearing this, Qin Feng and his companions burst into laughter. Previously, Li Tui had been arrogant and domineering, causing a scene at the city gate.
Now, after arriving at the enemy's camp, he was so frightened; it truly showed he was worthless—cowardly and lacking any courage!
They continued their patrol at the city gate, remaining vigilant and prepared for a potential ambush by Jin Bing.
Before long, another group of Imperial Guards arrived from the palace.
This time, they were not leaving through the city gate; they came to invite Qin Feng and some generals to the Morning Court.
Upon inquiry, they learned that the conditions for Negotiation were outrageous, which caused Li Tui to return in tears to report to the emperor.
Qin Feng and those Generals believed that the Jin Kingdom was a cunning wolf, insatiable and impossible to tame, demanding so much.
They mounted their Warhorses and galloped towards the palace.
Upon arriving at the grand hall for discussions, many civil and military officials were already present, some dressed in purple robes, others in red.
They whispered among themselves, their faces filled with panic and fear, constantly debating as if they were ants on a hot pan!
It felt like a great fire was about to engulf them, threatening to burn them alive; each one was extremely anxious and flustered.
Some individuals noticed them and quickly walked over.
Zhao Ding was one of them, accompanied by several High Officials who also appeared anxious.
He said, "Qin Feng, several Generals, are you aware of the Peace Negotiation Terms proposed by the Jin Kingdom? It's utterly absurd; they clearly intend to seize all the wealth of the Great Song!"
Qin Feng and the others were equally worried. In fact, the specifics of this Negotiation were unclear; they only knew it involved many demands but not exactly how many.
"Lord Zhao, what exactly are the Jin Kingdom's Peace Negotiation Terms? Please share with us!"
In the Song Dynasty, civil officials held power. Sometimes, important state matters reached their ears before the emperor even heard about them. Information spread quickly, and soon the court would almost know everything.
Li Tui was part of the Peace Faction; a significant portion of the court belonged to this faction and was omnipresent. They likely knew first.
Zhao Ding performed a bow to express his respect and began to speak.
"Li Bangyan and others learned about it first. However, we were summoned to the grand hall and overheard their discussions regarding the Jin Kingdom's conditions for peace negotiations. They truly are a bunch of beasts."
"The Jin Kingdom actually demands five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, ten thousand cattle and horses each, and one million bolts of silk. How could the Great Song possibly have that much gold and silver? It's more terrifying than robbery."
"Moreover, they want to send a Prince and a Chancellor for negotiations, waiting until they safely withdraw back to their territory before possibly releasing them. They are shameless and despicable! I wish I could wipe them out!"
Qin Feng They felt it was too much as soon as they heard it; just the five million taels of gold had already drained Great Song.
In recent years, the taxes collected by the court from the local areas were not much, and they still had to pay the officials' salaries, along with a large number of redundant officials and staff.
Peasant uprisings were constantly occurring in various regions, and dispatching troops to suppress them consumed a significant amount of manpower, resources, and finances, severely depleting their vitality!
The Jin Kingdom clearly aimed to drain Great Song's financial and material resources before swallowing it whole; their intentions were malicious!
He said, "The Jin people are shameless, demanding such a large sum of wealth. It is obvious they want to exhaust Song State's national strength and plot something sinister. We absolutely cannot agree."
Zhao Ding and the others also laughed, expressing their agreement with anger on their faces; they absolutely could not agree.
Suddenly, a eunuch dressed in a long robe stepped out.
He shouted, "Morning Court is starting! Morning Court is starting!"
The Qin Emperor, wearing the Golden Dragon Robe, quickly walked out, looking flustered and very worried.
Below, the Civil Officials and Generals, who had been discussing fervently, began to return to their positions.
It was still noisy and chaotic, with constant chatter.
Qin Feng then noticed Right Chancellor Li Gang, thinking he had been reassigned elsewhere since he hadn't seen him come in.
He walked out from among several people, looking very angry, still arguing with members of the Peace Faction.
Li Bangyan, Tang Ke, and Geng Nanzhong were there, laughing heartily, clearly having the upper hand.
The Qin Emperor, standing high above, had no intention of sitting down; he anxiously looked at the people below and couldn't help but sigh several times.
Once the noise below quieted down, he finally began to speak.
"I summoned all of you late at night, and I believe you are aware of the Peace Negotiation Terms from the Jin Kingdom."
"The compensation includes five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, ten thousand cattle and horses, and one million bolts of silk. Let's discuss your opinions!"
Li Bangyan immediately stepped forward, laughing as if he were vying for great credit.
"In my opinion, Your Excellency, our Great Song is vast and rich, with countless resources. We can afford to pay that much in real gold and silver, and the fabric is not an issue; we should agree to the Jin people's demands."
"With over a hundred thousand Jin Army outside the city and our army just suffering a major defeat, if they force an attack on the city, we might not be able to hold out. As long as we can protect Great Song, those other matters are not important."
Such flattering words! That money belongs to the national treasury. He is just afraid that the Jin soldiers will breach the city and kill him, taking away his beautiful concubines and family wealth.
The Qin Emperor glared fiercely; he had a point, but where would he find that much wealth? It was impractical!
Li Gang also immediately stood up, loudly refuting his opinion.
"Your Majesty, Left Chancellor Li Bangyan's words are nonsense; please do not believe him!"
"Our Great Song Dynasty is financially strained; it would be difficult enough to produce a few million taels of silver, let alone several hundred million taels of gold and tens of millions of taels of silver. Those one million bolts of fabric are even more impossible to gather."
"Moreover, what can over a hundred thousand Jin Army do? They were already repelled once by us. Although they have lost thirty thousand men, we still have over a hundred thousand; what is there to fear? We can definitely drive them back."
Qin Feng and some members of the Peace Faction echoed his sentiments, opposing the idea of peace.
The Qin Emperor looked on with some delight, a smile appearing on his face. Our Great Song still has many wise ministers, unlike some useless individuals.
However, Zhang Bangchang stepped forward with a sly smile on his face, clearly intending to offer counsel.
Qin Feng looked at him with disdain; someone like him should be on the side of the Peace Faction—greedy for fame and fortune and afraid of death. He really shouldn't be saved.
Zhang Bangchang bowed deeply to the emperor and began to speak.
"Your Majesty, Minister Zhang Bangchang believes that Chancellor Li Bangyan's approach is reasonable, and Prime Minister Li Gang's words are also acceptable, but it is still better than the methods of the Left Chancellor."
"Since the founding of the Great Song by Song Taizu, we have advocated for peace and treated our neighboring countries kindly, always using wealth to exchange for tranquility between the two nations. This has been practiced for a hundred years and must not be interrupted!"
"Our Great Song is vast and rich, with countless treasures. Can we not afford to compensate a mere few million taels of gold? As long as there is peace between the two nations, that wealth will quickly be earned back."
Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to heed the advice of Left Chancellor Li Bangyan, agree to negotiations, and compensate those conditions!
Li Bangyan had the upper hand, like a dog that had received a reward, continuing to persuade the Emperor to accept the Peace Negotiation Terms.
The members of the Peace Faction were also busy discussing and debating!
The Qin Emperor, dressed in golden dragons, began to believe it somewhat; since Song Taizu had done it that way, why couldn't he?
If wealth could bring peace between the two nations, commerce in the Song State could continue to thrive, collecting higher taxes and filling the empty national treasury.
However, looking at those from the War Faction made him feel uneasy; it was not appropriate to proceed in that manner! He felt uncertain and did not know whom to listen to.
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