Chapter 707 Negotiations Begin

The Dali envoys were staying not far from the prefecture government office, so they walked there.

When they passed a stall selling wontons, they saw a customer paying the bill.

Zhou Chengzhong and others noticed that the other party was using Pingzhou treasure notes. The customer handed the stall owner 10 cents, and the stall owner gave him 5 cents in change.

Five cents for a big bowl of wontons?

Zhou Chengzhong and other Dali officials knew the exchange rate between Pingzhou treasure notes and silver and copper coins in the past. One dime in Pingzhou was equal to ten coins, and one cent was equal to one coin.

"A bowl of meat wontons is only five cents, so cheap." The small official who was traveling with him whispered.

Now in Dali, meat wontons cost at least ten coins.

"Don't think it's cheap, they are paying with Pingzhou treasure notes, why don't you try paying with silver and copper coins?"

Now three taels of silver can be exchanged for one yuan of Pingzhou treasure notes. If it is copper coins, it will cost fifteen coins a bowl? Hiss, so expensive.

As he was talking, another customer came to pay the bill. This time, he paid for several of his companions. They ordered wontons in large and small bowls, and they had both meat and vegetables, with different prices.

But the stall owner quickly calculated the cost as he reported the number of orders, and then gave him the change.

The customer spoke with a southern accent and exclaimed, "Hey, big brother, you are good at arithmetic."

The stall owner replied with a smile, "I know some simple arithmetic, all learned from my children."

"Is your child studying in the county school?"

"No, my child is still young, and he goes to the school at the entrance of our village."

"The school at the entrance of the village? Do you have many schools like this?"

"There are many schools like this, there is one school in three villages."

"Does it teach arithmetic?"

"Yes."

Zhou Chengzhong and his group walked away, but they could still hear the conversation between the two.

Wang Heyu's face was not good.

From a wonton stall, you can see that the people in Pingzhou really live a good life. Just as Zhou Chengzhong was in a turmoil, they arrived at their destination.

From a distance, he saw an adult in scarlet official uniform standing in front of the government office gate. When Zhou Chengzhong approached, he recognized that this person was none other than his old acquaintance Lu Desheng.

When Zhou Chengzhong saw Lu Desheng, he was in a trance for a moment. Thinking of the deceased Prince Gong, he felt that things had changed.

Lu Desheng smiled when he saw his old friend, "Lord Zhou, long time no see."

Zhou Chengzhong bowed, "Lord Lu, long time no see."

The usher smiled and said, "Lord Lu, can I take them in to see the governor first?"

"Go." Lu Desheng waved his hand, and then said to Zhou Chengzhong, "Business is more important. After we finish business, we can have a good reunion."

Zhou Chengzhong: ... How could he not know that he and Lu Desheng have such a good relationship?

Thinking of the heart he had been upset about him when he was in the Censorate, Zhou Chengzhong just thought he was happy to meet an old friend in a foreign land.

Zhou Chengzhong and his party waited outside the meeting hall for a while, and then heard the guards at the door calling out their names, asking them to go in and meet the governor.

This time, only the three people at the head of the envoy group went in, namely the Minister of the Honglu Temple and the Junior Minister, and Zhou Chengzhong.

"Meet Governor Lu."

"No need to be polite." A gentle and powerful female voice came from the top.

Zhou Chengzhong stood up respectfully.

Wang Heyu was the person in charge of the team this time, and he would step forward to deal with it.

Zhou Chengzhong pretended to glance up accidentally and saw Lu Songli at the top. When he retracted his gaze, he glanced to both sides and took in the whole team of Pingzhou.

Zhou Chengzhong thought to himself that this makeshift team of Pingzhou looked decent, and was not much different from the civil and military officials in the Dali court.

He looked at Lu Desheng standing on the left, very forward, and Zhou Chengzhong thought, damn, Lu Desheng will not become the emperor or the father-in-law in the future, right?

Just when Zhou Chengzhong was distracted, Lv Songli and Wang Heyu had finished their conversation.

After some diplomatic rhetoric, Lv Songli asked them to go to the next meeting room for negotiation.

Zhou Chengzhong quickly collected his mind.

He could understand that as the highest person in charge of Pingzhou, it was good enough for Lv Songli to meet them. It was impossible for her to personally attend the subsequent negotiations.

That would be too bad.

Then, they moved to the next meeting room one after another.

As soon as he entered, he saw a rectangular table in the middle of the meeting room. In addition, there were some short tables and chairs on both sides.

Lv Desheng was sitting on the main seat opposite, and the other officials or chief clerks of Pingzhou sat beside or behind him.

Seeing the full momentum of Lv Desheng, Zhou Chengzhong couldn't help but think of the scene when Lv Desheng fought against the scholars in the court when the previous emperor was still there, and the feeling of being dominated came back.

Yes, how could Lv Desheng be absent from the negotiations, quarrels, and interests?

Lu Wei smiled and said, "Lord Wang, Lord Li, Lord Zhou, please take a seat."

They had just sat down, and before they could even sit still, Lv Desheng said, "It's getting late, let's hurry up and start."

Zhou Chengzhong looked at Wang Heyu, the newly appointed young and ignorant Honglu Temple Minister, with sympathy.

After sitting down, he estimated it and thought to himself that the width of this negotiation table was quite wide. If the person on the other side got excited and pounced on him, he shouldn't be able to hit him, right?

In the meeting hall, Lv Songli saw her father take the lead in going to the next room with a step that didn't recognize any relatives, and was silent.

After everyone left the meeting room, she said to Guo Chong, "Military Advisor Guo, you should go to the next room too."

Qin Heng stationed his troops in Shangdang and General Dali, and they were in a standoff with Dali's heavy army. Both sides were currently keeping their troops in place.

Therefore, after Xue Xu returned to the south, Qin Heng asked Guo Chong to return to Changli.

At this moment, Guo Chong was a little surprised to hear the governor ask him to go next door. After all, in addition to Lord Lu, there were Lord Lu Wei and Lord Chen Yue from Pingzhou who attended the negotiations. As the dominant party, Pingzhou was already well-equipped.

Lu Songli coughed lightly, "You can keep an eye on my father."

Guo Chong understood the governor's concerns, but at the same time he felt that the governor's concerns were a bit redundant. "The chief minister and the junior minister of the Honglu Temple of Dali are both from aristocratic families, and Lord Lu, Lord Lu, Lord Chen, etc. are not unreasonable people. The two sides should be magnanimous in the negotiations."

Lu Songli didn't know what to say, so he waved his hand and asked him to go down.

When Guo Chong entered, the scene was already tense.

He paused, nothing happened, everything was still under control.