Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 280: Peace talks are finalized! (4k)

In the next two days, Li Binglin continued to negotiate with Zhang Yu. Although he was negotiating, he was paying attention to the movements in the city. He found that Yanzhou City was making great moves. Not only was it collecting a large amount of food and grass, it was also recruiting a large number of soldiers, etc.

The more Li Binglin watched, the more frightened he became: The Song Dynasty was going to go to war again!

When Li Binglin negotiated with Zhang Qie on the third day, he insisted on meeting Su Yun.

Zhang Yu refused several times, but seeing that Li Binglin was very determined, he asked, "Ambassador Li, why are you so insistent on meeting Su Jinglie? I am also the chief of a group, so I am not even qualified to negotiate with you, am I?"

Li Binglin shook his head and said, "I must tell these words to Su Jinglue."

Zhang Qie had no choice but to temporarily end the peace talks. In the afternoon, Su Yun finally showed up, looking a little tired.

Su Yun smiled and said, "Ambassador Li, what do you want to say to me?"

Li Binglin hurriedly said, "Su Jinglie, we Xixia are willing to negotiate, and we are willing to negotiate in a relatively reasonable way!"

Su Yun looked at Zhang Yu, and Zhang Yu said, "We haven't discussed the specific conditions yet."

Su Yun looked a little impatient and said, "Then let's talk. We haven't even finished talking yet. Why are you calling me over? I'm busy."

As he stood up and was about to leave, Li Binglin hurriedly said, "Su Jinglie! Please stay!"

Su Yun turned to look at Li Binglin and said, "Ambassador Li, just tell Chief Steward Zhang if you have anything to say. Chief Steward Zhang can represent the court's opinion..."

"Emperor Su!" Li Binglin said hurriedly, "The peace talks between our two countries will be based on the previous Qingli Peace Agreement, without changing a single word. Whether it is the annual tribute or the territory, you don't need to increase it.

As for the captured soldiers, we can exchange them. We can trade them one for one with you.

However, there is one condition that must be met, the market must be opened, this is our only requirement."

After Su Yun finished listening, he said, "Is that all?"

Li Binglin narrowed his eyes and said, "Su Jinglie, are you still not satisfied?"

Su Yun sneered and said, "What do you think of the territory we conquered this time?"

Li Binglin asked quickly, "Are you talking about the area north of the four villages of Mizhi, Futu, Jialu, and Anjiang?"

Su Yun nodded.

Li Binglin gritted his teeth and said, "I can give it to you, but you are not allowed to build fortresses in these places."

Su Yun laughed and said, "Then please ask Manager Zhang to have a good talk with Ambassador Li to finalize the details. Don't be in a hurry, just talk slowly."

Li Binglin raised his eyebrows and asked, "Talk slowly?"
Li Binglin quickly stood up and said, "Emperor Su, since the grand strategy has been decided, we can't raise troops during this period of time, otherwise the conditions I proposed will no longer count!"

Su Yun shook his head and said, "We should talk and fight, it's irrelevant."

Li Binglin shouted, "Su Jinglie, are you going to take Yinzhou?"

Su Yun looked at Zhang Yu in surprise, and Zhang Yu quickly said, "I have never mentioned this matter."

Li Binglin said: "There is no need to tell others, you Song people have already captured Luowu City, Yinzhou City is the frontline city of Xixia, you have been busy preparing to continue the war recently, there is nothing else except Yinzhou City.

However, I advise you not to think too much. You will definitely not be able to take Yinzhou City. My Daxia elite soldiers have already arrived in Yinzhou City, and I have sent people back to warn you. If you want to fight again, it will definitely not work. "

Li Binglin looked at Su Yun's face as he spoke. Seeing that he frowned slightly and didn't say anything, he knew that he had already figured out the other person's mind, and suddenly he felt a sense of accomplishment.

Haha, so what if you are good at fighting, you are just a boy under 20 years old. You still need to practice your wits!

Su Yun snorted and said, "Can you still fight? After three big battles, you Xixia people are already exhausted.

Not to mention anything else, just the transportation of food and supplies from the country to Yinzhou is enough to put you in trouble, and your manpower has been almost exhausted. If you continue fighting, you won't even be able to carry out basic defense.

Haha, you think the Liao Kingdom can protect you, but once you become weak, I'm afraid they will covet you the most."

Li Binglin laughed and said, "If that time comes, we won't let you off easily. We might as well accept the Liao Kingdom as the legitimate one and pay tribute to it. I think the Liao Kingdom will be very happy. After all, the Liao Kingdom also considers itself the legitimate one in the Central Plains. Can you bear the harsh criticism from the court?"

Su Yun's face suddenly changed.

Li Binglin was even more proud. During the Qingli Peace Talks, the Song Dynasty agreed to the annual tribute request from Daxia in order to preserve its orthodox identity in the Central Plains. This shows that the emperor and his ministers in the Song court attached great importance to this!
The Zhao Song emperor might praise Su Yun for winning the battle, but if he lost his legitimate status because of the victory, it would be a big strategic mistake!

By then, even if the Zhao Song emperor would not blame Su Yun, the officials in the court would certainly not forgive Su Yun.

Li Binglin was an expert on China. He had stayed in Bian Jing for some time and knew a lot about the factions within the Song Dynasty. He knew that Su Yun's faction was not the only one in power. The Prime Minister Wang Gui and Zhang Xu, the councillor, also had considerable influence. Once Su Yun showed a flaw, the other side would certainly not let it go.

So, this is Su Yun’s Achilles’ heel!

Su Yun's face changed and he became furious again. He turned around and said, "Then you Xixia people can just wait for the destruction of your country!"

Li Binglin was shocked at first, but then he reacted: he had found Su Yun's weak spot!
Sure enough, Su Yun left angrily, and Zhang Yu also left with him. However, Li Binglin did not leave, but drank tea leisurely. Not long after, Zhang Yu came back.

At this moment, Li Binglin calmed down because he knew that it was Su Yun who should be worried.

Sure enough, Zhang Qie was much gentler during the conversation than before and was willing to start discussing specific terms. However, Li Binglin wanted to discuss the issue of annual tribute, which made Zhang Qie a little angry. Although he did not turn around and leave, he scolded Li Binglin angrily.

Li Binglin did not dare to go too far and no longer asked for the annual tribute. He had learned from the experience of the peace talks with Zhang Dun and cherished this hard-won opportunity for peace talks. He did not dare to provoke Su Yun too much and just pushed him a little before agreeing to it.

The conditions that were finally put on paper were:

1. Western Xia still regarded the Song Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty, did not take the title of emperor, but was canonized as the ruler of Xia by the Song Dynasty;

2. Abolish the annual tribute given to Xixia before the Song Dynasty;
3. Reopening of trade in border markets such as Baoanjun and Gaopingzhai;
4. Song and Xia exchanged prisoners, with soldiers exchanging soldiers at a ratio of one to one, and soldiers exchanging civilians at a ratio of one to four. As for generals, they were negotiated separately.
5. As for the ownership of the areas north of the four villages of Mizhi, Futu, Jialu and Anjiang, the dispute was temporarily shelved (Li Binglin did not dare to put it on paper. If he did, he might have trouble explaining it when he returned to China).

There were dozens of other unimportant details, and Li Binglin agreed to them.

In this way, a preliminary draft of the peace talks was finalized. Each side held a copy, and then Li Binglin took the preliminary draft back to Xia. These needed to be reviewed by the court before deciding whether to use the seal or not. It was not something that Li Binglin could decide alone.

The same was true for the Song Dynasty. It also needed to be sent back to the court for discussion and would only be used after it was approved. Li Binglin returned to Xixia excitedly, and Yelu Ziming also set off to return to Liao.

As for how he returned, he naturally returned on horseback. Li Binglin bought another 2,000 horses from the market. This time it was open and aboveboard, so Su Yun still couldn't take action.

However, after they left, Su Yun, Zhang Qie and others gathered together.

The result of this peace talk was a great victory.

Although the lands that were snatched back were not included in the territory, Western Xia had actually acknowledged that these lands belonged to the Song Dynasty.

The annual tribute that had been paid for decades was also cancelled by Su Yun.

The key is that it still retains the legitimate identity of the Song Dynasty. This may seem unimportant, but it is actually the most important thing.

The Song Dynasty came to power illegitimately, so it attached great importance to these things. This was not only a matter of face, but also a matter of practical interests.

The Liao Dynasty occupied the north and often regarded itself as the legitimate Chinese nation. This was not just a way of flattering themselves, but also a reflection of the greater good.

If you have a legitimate identity, people all over the world will recognize you. If you don't have this identity, you are a thief and the other party will have a legitimate reason to attack you.

If the name is right, the words will be legitimate. This is never just a matter of face.

Zhang Qi looked at Su Yun with admiration.

Zhang Yu had only recently arrived in Fuyan Road. Previously he was the magistrate of Jingxi Transportation. He received the appointment some time ago and hurried here to take up the post.

In fact, Zhang Yu was not familiar with Su Yun. Although he had heard some news about Su Yun, he was an official in various places after all. He could hear some sporadic news, but it was difficult to know the whole picture.

Before coming here this time, he knew that he would be an official under Su Yun, so he asked someone about it. Only then did he discover to his surprise that his nephew-in-law was truly a rare genius!

A teenage master of classics, a teenage who passed the imperial examination and won the top three places in the imperial examination, this time he was just starting out, but he had achieved such a great achievement. Moreover, the imperial envoy from the court had arrived, and Su Yun had been promoted to the rank of Grand Councilor and Hanlin Academician!
All these made Zhang Qie amazed.

What surprised him even more was that he had watched Su Yun train his troops these days, and the way Su Yun trained his troops also surprised him.

He was keenly aware that, in time, these 8,000 Jingsai troops would become the most elite cavalry troops of the Song Dynasty, and would even surpass the Xixia Iron Harriers and the Liao Dynasty Iron Forest Army to become the best cavalry unit in the world!
When Zhang Qie looked at Su Yun, Su Yun was also quite interested in this father-in-law and cousin.

He really didn't expect that Zhang Yu would work under him. He didn't know whether this arrangement was made by Zhang Dun or Zhao Xu.

If it was an arrangement made by Zhang Dun, it would be fine, but if it was an arrangement made by the emperor, then it would be quite meaningful.

Now he is in charge of Fuyan Road. He recommended Zhe Keshi, the military commander of Fuyan Road. Now the general manager of Fuyan Road is also the cousin of his father-in-law. That basically means he has the final say in Fuyan Road.

Well, Zhang Dun probably couldn’t make this decision. This should have been arranged by Zhao Xu.

If Zhang Dun dared to do this, he would definitely be impeached, but the emperor is still different.

Su Yun could tell that Zhao Xu was very determined this time. He was going to let go completely and do his best.

This is naturally great news.

This time, the government has sent me an excellent helper!

Moreover, not only is Zhang Qie naturally close to him, but the key is that this person is also extremely capable!
Compared with himself, Zhang Qie is an example of a late bloomer.

Although he was born into a family of officials, the first half of his life was not smooth.

His grandfather Zhang Pin, when serving as Imperial Censor, offended Empress Dowager Zhangxian Liu E and was dismissed from office.

After Renzong took power, he wanted to re-employ Zhang Pin, but he had already passed away.

His uncle Zhang Dexiang became prime minister during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty. Zhang Yu was initially appointed as the chief clerk of the Ministry of Works with the help of Zhang Dexiang, and was later transferred to be a military officer of the Ministry of Revenue of Mengzhou.

However, Zhang Yu was not reconciled to his background, so he decided to go to Beijing to take the exam. However, on the way to Beijing, he heard that his father Zhang Fang was imprisoned and was being confronted in Wei County, Hebei. So he gave up the exam and rushed to Wei County to defend himself.

After many twists and turns, he finally passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the second year of Zhiping, and had a good family background. At that time, he was already 39 years old.

Oh, yes, this Zhang Qiao had good genes from the Zhang family. Although he was not the top scorer in the imperial examination, he also won the first place in the province during the examination held by the Ministry of Rites.

After passing the imperial examination, he was appointed magistrate of Chenliu County, and successively served as the director of Shaanxi Changping, the judge of Jingdong Transportation, the director of the criminal justice department of Jinghu North Road, and the deputy envoy of Chengdu Prefecture Transportation.

However, what really made him famous in history was his experience of guarding the northwest.

In the sixth year of Yuanyou, Zhang Qie was appointed as the direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion, the governor of Huanqing Road, and the governor of Qingzhou. He was already 65 years old.

From this time on, Zhang Yu fought two battles successively, and these two battles were the greatest victories of the Northern Song Dynasty over the Western Xia. The first one was called the Battle of Hongde City, and the second one was called the Battle of Pingxia City!
Zhang Yu served as commander in Jingyuan for four years, during which he established one state and nine cities. He recommended and promoted talents regardless of their background, and trained and appointed generals such as Zhe Keshi, Li Zhongjie, and Zhu Zhiyong.

"History of Song Dynasty" states that "since the defeat in Pingxia, Xia was no longer able to fight", and not long after, Zhezong also stopped the war and rested the troops.

The border achievements established by Zhang Yu during this period were known as "the best in the West."

With Zhang Qie as his assistant, why would he worry about not getting things done?

The two of them had a certain sympathy for each other.

Also present were Zhen Shixuan, Zhe Keshi, Qi Keyong, Wang Shunchen and others. They all laughed heartily when they talked about the peace talks.

However, the people present still didn't quite understand why Li Binglin took the initiative to propose this condition?

Previously, Zhen Shixuan came from the capital and told everyone the details of the peace talks. When Li Binglin was in Bianliang, he relied on the support of the Liao Kingdom and was very arrogant.

Why is it that it is as well-behaved as a quail here?
The question was asked by Zhen Shixuan, but everyone looked at Su Yun.

Su Yun wanted to see Zhang Yu's talent, so he looked at Zhang Yu and said with a smile: "Manager Zhang, you have been here for a while. You should have seen all my operations. Can you see anything?"

(End of this chapter)