The negotiations were held as scheduled in Lin'an. The person negotiating on behalf of Chen Qing was the special envoy Hu Yun, while the chief official negotiating on behalf of the imperial court was Zhao Yan, the Minister of Rites.
Of course, negotiations cannot be finalized in a day or two. They involve many vital interests of both parties and require constant tug-of-war. The two parties may even be in a stalemate for a long time.
The two parties exchanged greetings and sat down on both sides of a large table in the lobby. In addition to Hu Yun, there were also two of his subordinates, deputy envoy Wang Ming and chief Bo Yang Jingzhi.
There were also three people on the other side: Zhao Yan, the chief negotiator, Wang Hanlin, deputy privy minister, and Gou Hong, a doctor in the Ministry of War.
Zhao Yan was about forty years old and a typical white-faced scholar. He was also from the Zhao royal family, but he was not from the lineage of Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, but a descendant of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. There were very few royal families in Lin'an, and he was also popular with Emperor Zhao Gou.
of trust.
As the host, Zhao Yan took the lead in enlightening Zongyi: "This time the two sides are conducting friendly negotiations to discuss the jurisdiction plan for Bianliang. The officials also hope that both parties will understand and give in and reach a consensus as soon as possible."
Hu Yun smiled slightly and said: "Shilang Zhao is right. We are all ministers of the Song Dynasty. The negotiations between us are only about the distribution of interests within the Song Dynasty. They are completely different in nature from the negotiations between Song and Jin Dynasties. I also believe that a consensus will be reached as soon as possible.
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Zhao Yan nodded, "In that case, let's get started!"
Hu Yun took a paper bag from his boss Bo Yang Jingzhi, put it on the table and pushed it to Zhao Yan across from him, and said with a smile: "Since it is a negotiation, we must first understand what we are going to talk about. These are two maps.
Please let Minister Zhao take a look at the exchange plan we proposed."
Zhao Yan took the paper bag and opened it. Sure enough, there were two maps inside. He looked at it carefully and found that Jinghu South Road and Bianliang were both different from what they thought. The changes in Jinghu South Road were mainly due to the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River was removed from the map.
Half of it is bounded by the center of the river. This is not a big problem and can be discussed. However, the boundaries of Bianliang are only the city and the imperial tomb. In other words, even if it is a nominal ownership, it only includes the city and does not include the suburbs.
Zhao Yan frowned, "Special Envoy Hu, why does Bianliang only have a city? I remember that the area fifty miles outside the city is under the jurisdiction of Bianliang County!"
Hu Yun smiled slightly, "The imperial court does not really want land. What you are interested in is only Bianliang City. Why care about the land in the suburbs?"
Zhao Yan couldn't make the decision, he had to report to the superiors. He nodded and said: "This negotiation is decided by the officials. I have to report the boundary matter to the officials. I will get back to you in the afternoon. Let's talk about your definition now!
The emperor wants to know, what is nominal ownership, and what does it mean specifically?"
The morning negotiation ended after more than an hour, and negotiations continued in the afternoon. Zhao Yan immediately reported to Xu Xiantu, who then took him to the Imperial Study Room to report to the emperor.
Zhao Gou looked at the map provided by the other party, frowned, and said to Zhao Yan: "There is no need to draw boundaries in the waters of the Yangtze River. It is meaningless. I only talk about the boundaries on land, and then Bianliang side, the farmland and mountains outside the city
, I’m not interested, but the tombs of the late emperor are outside the city, so what do you say?”
Zhao Yan bowed and said: "Replying to Your Majesty, the other party means that it is all nominal ownership anyway, so first clearly define the scope of the nominal ownership. They only agree to be within the scope of Bianliang City and do not agree to extend to the suburbs. They
I think the suburbs are under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture and have nothing to do with Bianliang."
"What do you think, Mr. Xu?" Zhao Gou asked Xu Xiantu again.
Xu Xiantu thought for a while and said: "I guess the other party wants to have a clear boundary, and the city wall is the best boundary. Wei Chen thinks that it doesn't matter if we want to go outside the city, but we can use this as a condition to pressure the other party to make concessions in other aspects.
For example, we can fully demand actual control of the late emperor's mausoleum that your majesty just mentioned. Chen Qing cannot object to the return of the late emperor's mausoleum either emotionally or rationally. In addition, there are places like the imperial palace and ancestral temple. We can gradually get them over during negotiations.
, for actual control, we require the garrison to be smaller in number, but it must be under actual control by us."
Xu Xiantu's suggestion touched the heart of Emperor Zhao Gou. He was not satisfied with the nominal ownership. He wanted to actually control Bianliang, but Chen Qing would definitely not agree, so he would settle for the second best and actually control some areas.
By exercising actual control over the palace, ancestral temple, altars, mausoleums and other places involving imperial power, he would not have to worry about Chen Qing using Bianliang to ascend the throne.
As for the common people's land in Bianliang, he has no interest at all. Those are burdens and will not bring him any benefits. They will only make him bleed and pay for them, and he doesn't want to care about them.
Zhao Gou nodded and asked again: "What Xu Aiqing means is that we make demands step by step?"
"Yes! Aren't they limited to Bianliang City? We can agree, but what about the mausoleums outside the city? So we ask for actual control of the mausoleums. I believe they can't object. Since it is a negotiation, you can't just make demands and not do them.
Give in!"
Zhao Gou said happily: "This is the truth. Does the minister understand?"
"Wei Chen understands!"
Zhao Gou added: "Then I want to know, what do they mean by nominal affiliation? Should Minister Zhao have asked?"
"The humble official did ask them, and their answer was very clear. We cannot interfere with the government affairs of Bianliang, cannot garrison troops, cannot levy any taxes on Bianliang, and cannot own government assets. We can appoint the governor of Tokyo and the governor of Kaifeng, but
There can be no actual official office and actual authority, and these two positions can only be held remotely in Lin'an."
The more Zhao Gou listened, the more annoyed he became, and his face became very ugly. Isn't this just drawing cakes to satisfy his hunger? Draw a cake on the paper for yourself, and then exchange it for real gold and silver from Jinghu South Road.
Xu Xiantu said from the side: "Your Majesty, don't worry. It's normal for them to make these demands. The so-called asking for high prices and paying back the money on the ground. Since they can make demands, we can also make demands. Only when both parties compromise and make concessions can we finally reach an agreement."
, this is the purpose of negotiation, otherwise the negotiation will be meaningless."
Zhao Gou nodded, "Ai Qing is right. I don't need to pay attention to their requests. I also have to make demands. I appointed Tokyo to stay behind, but Bianliang cannot garrison troops. Then I ask them not to garrison troops in Bianliang either."
Negotiations continued in the afternoon, and Zhao Yan handed the drawings to Hu Yundao: "The emperor has confirmed these two drawings. Regarding the drawings of Jinghu South Road, the emperor means that the demarcation is limited to land, and everyone can navigate the Yangtze River waterway freely.
So there is no need to draw a line.”
Hu Yun nodded, "Then cancel the Yangtze River. I can make the decision. The Yangtze River is not demarcated and everyone can sail freely. Then what about Bianliang City? Does the Emperor agree to the nominal ownership only within the city?"
Zhao Yan said calmly: "In principle, the emperor agrees to use the city wall as the boundary, but the emperor has a condition, that is, the tomb of the first emperor of the Song Dynasty outside the city must be actually controlled by us. We will assign dedicated personnel to manage it and station a small number of troops."
Hu Yun said slowly: "Each family has its own ancestral tomb, and the ancestral tombs are of course managed by their own family. His Highness King Yong has no objection to this. He can leave the mausoleum to you for management, but no troops can be stationed there."
"What if there are no troops stationed and someone comes to destroy it? Who will stop it?" Zhao Yan said dissatisfied.
Hu Yun sighed in his heart. The tombs of the seven emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty had already been completely destroyed by the Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army. It was His Highness King Yong who had packed them up. No one would destroy them. But he didn't want to say this. I believe it.
The emperor also knew it well.
"The army certainly cannot be stationed, but you can ask the warriors from the Bianliang Martial Arts Hall to be responsible for security. It's actually the same thing."
Zhao Yan's heart moved and he asked with a smile: "We are not familiar with Bianliang, how about the warriors from Lin'an Martial Arts School?"
Hu Yun understood his intention, just use the army to pretend to be martial arts warriors. Of course, it is also possible. He thought for a moment and said: "It is possible, but it must be approved by a certain number of people. I suggest that each tomb guarding warriors should not exceed thirty people."
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Zhao Yan nodded, "It shouldn't be a big problem, but it still needs to be reported to the emperor, and the case can only be finalized if the emperor agrees."
