Chapter 479 Formal Negotiations
Negotiations continued.
Xianbei forced Dali to cede five states and return Tuoba Lian before they were willing to withdraw their troops and cease fire.
Dali demanded that the Xianbei army withdraw unconditionally from Dali and sign a ten-year peace treaty. During the ten years, Tuoba Lian had to be a hostage in Chang'an.
Both sides reiterated their demands and refused to give in.
Lv Desheng threw away the notebook and looked at the Xianbei negotiation team opposite him with a bad tone, "Say it again? You really don't want to talk properly, right?"
Tuoba Lian, who had just been roughly bandaged, shouted loudly, "Uncle Wang, you guys talk properly, talk with sincerity!"
Tuoba Yu: ...
They felt Lv Desheng's threat.
So, the Xianbei royal court hesitated and finally decided to give in, "Then cede four states. We give up Liangzhou and want Beijing, Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Pingzhou."
The Xianbei negotiation team felt that they were full of sincerity after retreating from five states to four states at once.
Lu Desheng looked at Prince Gong, Lin Ran, Zuo Anmin and others, "What about us?"
Prince Gong did not speak.
Lin Ran was obviously here to make up the numbers and was indifferent to the progress of the negotiations.
Zuo Anmin was obviously just watching the show.
Lu Desheng knocked on the table. These people really had no self-awareness at all. "If no one makes concessions, there will be no negotiation."
Damn, it's like two stubborn bulls. If you suppress one, you have to suppress the other. It's tiring.
Prince Gong pondered for a moment and said, "This negotiation is completely up to you."
This means that he can make the decision on his own.
Lu Desheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
He looked at Prince Gong, and Prince Gong turned his face away.
"Four states are too many." Lu Desheng went to talk to the Xianbei negotiation team.
"Don't rush to refute. I admit that your Xianbei army is very brave and good at fighting. However, you have only occupied three counties in these four states. Now you are asking Dali to cede more than a dozen cities and counties that you may not be able to take in advance. Isn't it too much?"
Lv Desheng controlled the whole scene.
The Xianbei negotiation team whispered to each other again, and then said, "Three states, our bottom line is three states, any less, no negotiation!"
Tuoba Yu emphasized.
Lv Desheng was very calm, just thinking they were talking nonsense.
"You Xianbei people don't give in at all. May I ask, what is the value of Tuoba Lian?"
This time it was Tuoba Xun who spoke, "His value is to create an opportunity for you Dali to negotiate."
Lv Desheng smiled and asked, "Are you sure? I think this opportunity is given to both sides."
"We Dali certainly don't want to fight. You Xianbei nobles like to fight, but what about the nomadic herders below? What about their parents, wives and children? Do they also like to fight? Are they willing to fight? You know, people will die in war. If they die, they will have nothing."
"Now, if you lower your requirements and take the benefits for free, it may not be worse than taking a little more benefits after many people die."
Lv Desheng's words made the Xianbei negotiation team whisper to each other again.
Looking at Lv Desheng who was negotiating hard, Prince Gong lowered his eyes. Alas, he knew nothing.
"What Lv Desheng said makes sense."
After the Xianbei negotiation team whispered to each other, Tuoba Yu spoke again, "Two states, not an inch less of land!"
Seeing that Lv Desheng was about to speak, Tuoba Yu hurriedly said, "If you don't agree, we can only take it ourselves."
Tuoba Yu threatened, "If we take it ourselves, we will only take more."
"Now, cede two states to us, and we will withdraw from Jinyang, Yanmen and Daijun depending on the situation."
In fact, from another perspective, the Xianbei's request is that they occupied three counties, which is one state less, and now it is equivalent to withdrawing troops if they want one more state.
Their request is to exchange the cities they captured to one place, and then give them a state as compensation for their withdrawal. If Dali agrees, they can sign a treaty that they will not invade the south for ten years.
As for Dali's request, during these ten years, Tuoba Lian needs to be a hostage in Chang'an.
The Xianbei negotiation team tried to fight for it, but gave up after finding that Dali did not agree.
The Xianbei royal court didn't care where Tuoba Lian went, as long as he was alive. It didn't matter whether he went to Chang'an as a hostage or was released back to Xianbei.
Lv Desheng knew that this was the bottom line of the Xianbei, and it was impossible to give in. This was also estimated when they simulated and analyzed before.
It was a pity, but he tried his best.
It was still unknown how many years the ten-year agreement could last. Perhaps after the Xianbei digested these two states, they would invade the south again.
However, from another perspective, the signing of this treaty also won Dali a few years of development time, which was already very good.
For Dali, Lv Desheng negotiated the cession of five states required by the Xianbei to only cede two states through this negotiation. No one could say that Lv Desheng didn't try his best this time.
If they didn't want to go to war, this was already the smallest price Dali had to pay.
Prince Gong and others also knew that Lv Desheng was very powerful in negotiating the conditions to this point.
At this time, Tuoba Yu said, "If you have no objection to this condition, let's talk about the states that you Dali need to cede." Xianbei people are straightforward and don't like to drag things out.
Prince Gong asked tentatively, "Which two states do you Xianbei want?"
"We want Pingzhou and Youzhou!" Tuoba Yu said firmly.
They are willing to negotiate for the purpose of holding Pingzhou in their hands.
Deng Fangyi, the governor of Youzhou, who was sitting next to him, heard this and his eyes went dark.
The governor of Bingzhou was delighted. His two counties were back. Xianbei didn't want Bingzhou. Could he continue to be the governor of Bingzhou?
The highest officials of the five states that Xianbei mentioned to cede came, but the chief officials of Beijing and Liangzhou did not attend the negotiation because they were too far away.
"Impossible!" Lv Desheng was the first to object. Damn, he worked hard to preside over the negotiations, and in the end, he had to cede his Pingzhou?
Tuoba Xun slammed the table at this time, "This is not okay, that is not okay, do you Dali want to continue the war?"
Prince Gong pressed Lv Desheng, "Prince Tuoba, we Dali have no objection to this negotiation result."
Lv Desheng: "I don't agree to this condition."
Tuoba Yu looked at Prince Gong, "What do you Dali say?"
Pingzhou held a hostage in his hand, so his words still carried weight. And Lv Desheng had been presiding over the negotiations just now, so Tuoba Yu did not dare to take Lv Desheng's words lightly.
"Lü Desheng, don't make a scene. The negotiation you presided over was a failure. It's good enough that the court doesn't hold you responsible. Besides, Pingzhou belongs to Dali, and the court has the right to deal with it."
Lü Desheng sneered. He changed Xianbei's request from ceding five states to ceding two states. Is this a failure?
No matter who negotiates, it will never succeed in Dali's request!
What does Dali have? The five armies of Xianbei invaded Dali from the south, and Jinyang, Yanmen, Youbeiping County, and Dai County were successively lost. The only one that was defended was their Dapingzhou.
In such a situation, what qualifications does Dali have to not give in? Just relying on Tuoba Lian? Tuoba Khan is not short of sons.
"In short, I don't agree!"