usatvline Chapter 504 Negotiation
Chapter 504 Negotiation
The Crown Princess is such an important chess piece, I think they will not move it easily, and there will be no problems for the time being. Instead, they can wait until the matter is over and then remind *** and Su Yu.
That night, everyone just chatted with each other tentatively, and no one mentioned the other's purpose.
Later in the evening, after the banquet ended, Xie Ci'an sent a team to escort him back to Sifang Pavilion, and left behind several ministers, saying that there were important matters to discuss, but asked them to wait in Chuigong Hall first, while he personally escorted Gu Jianchu back to Kunning Hall.
Originally, I wanted to let Gu Jianchu stay in Chuigong Palace tonight to avoid him from going back and forth in this cold weather. But now that I know the purpose of Yelan Kingdom coming to Jin Kingdom, I must discuss with the ministers how to deal with it. Although no one mentioned the purpose tonight, within three days, the King and the Prince of Yelan Kingdom will probably come to find us. After all, their purpose is more urgent, and they will probably want to get rid of it as soon as possible.
The Chuigong Hall must be brightly lit tonight, and it is unknown how long it will last.
Leaving Gu Jianchu in Chuigong Palace, he must not have gotten a good rest. After some thought, Xie Ci'an personally sent him back to Kunning Palace.
He would not feel at ease if he did not send it back personally.
In front of the Kunning Palace, Gu Jianchu took Xie Ci'an's hand and said gently, "Alright, Your Majesty, please don't go in. The Prime Minister and the Minister of the Central Secretariat are waiting in the Chuigong Palace. Don't keep them waiting. I'm already at the Kunning Palace entrance. There's nothing else to do. I'm exhausted now. I'll go back and rest."
The lanterns in the corridor swayed left and right in the wind, their faint light falling on the two of them. Xie Ci'an raised his hand and embraced Gu Jianchu in his arms. He bent down and kissed the top of her head. He stared at her reluctantly and said, "Then you should have a good rest. I guess it will be late when I finish my work tonight. I won't disturb your rest. I'll come over to have breakfast with you tomorrow morning."
"Okay, Your Majesty, please drive slowly on your way back." Gu Jianchu took a lantern from Yunhe and handed it to Cheng Song.
As he had other important matters to attend to, Xie Ci'an did not stay long. He left quickly with Cheng Song, holding a lantern.
Gu Jianchu was supported by Zhuxi and returned to the room.
There was a fire burning in the room. As soon as she entered the room, the warm air hit her face. After a while, she took off her cloak.
Qiutou was tidying the bed, while Zhuxia led people to prepare hot water.
But everything was ready in a short while. After washing up, Gu Jianchu went to bed to rest. She was indeed tired now, but she was not deliberately perfunctory to the emperor.
The next morning, Xie Ci'an came as promised to accompany Gu Jianchu for breakfast. However, just when he was halfway through, news came from Chuigong Palace that the Queen Mother and the Crown Prince of Yelan Kingdom wanted to see him.
They had expected the *** and the prince to ask to see them. The purpose of their visit was very clear, and it was only a matter of time before they met him to explain.
What's more, this matter needs to be exposed first, and then put on the table for the two parties to negotiate. Now that it has not been exposed, there is no way to negotiate conditions.
The Second Prince was also trying to get salt, so this matter was very urgent for them. Even if the Second Prince was not there, salt was a daily necessity for the people in the city, so they had to bring some back as soon as possible. Therefore, they did not have much time to delay and had to expose this matter as soon as possible.
Xie Ci'an quickly finished his breakfast and hurried back to Chuigong Hall.
This time, only the crown prince and the emperor entered the palace, and the accompanying ministers did not follow, so Xie Ci'an was unable to summon the ministers into the palace.
After some polite exchanges, Su Tang did not hesitate and directly told Xie Ci'an the purpose of their visit. Seeing that Xie Ci'an was not surprised, Su Tang knew that Xie Ci'an had guessed their thoughts.
Su Tang sat on the armchair, holding a cloisonné porcelain cup in her hand. "I heard that the Emperor of Jin was intelligent back when we were at the border, and the rumors are indeed true. I'm sure the Emperor has guessed the purpose of our visit. I want to trade with your country and open up the salt and sugar trade. I know this is what we need from you, so feel free to ask for any conditions you have, and I will do my best to meet them."
Xie Ci'an stroked the pattern on the teacup with his fingers, and looked at Su Tang with a hint of coldness in his eyes.
This young lady is indeed courageous. After entering the room, the prince didn't say a word. It was Su Tang who spoke all the time. No wonder the old emperor felt sorry that the young lady was not a man. He had never seen the second prince, but had only heard rumors. Judging from the rumors alone, among these three people, the princess was indeed the most suitable for the throne.
As for what they wanted, all the ministers had already discussed it last night. Opening up trade for mutual benefit was not a bad thing for them, on the contrary it was a good thing. However, the initial requirements had to be higher, and they would have the capital to talk about it only when they got to the negotiation table. I believe they have already thought about their bottom line.
Xie Ci'an tapped the tabletop lightly and spoke slowly, "We must sign a border peace agreement. Furthermore, Yelan will be required to pay five bolts of floating luster brocade cloth and ten war horses to Jin every year. We also offer three hundred taels of gold for each load of salt we sell, and two hundred taels of gold for each load of sugar we sell. If you agree, I can also open trade on the border between Lingnan and Yelan, but this trade will require someone from Jin to manage it. I wonder if Princess can agree to these terms."
Xie Ci'an knew that Su Yu had no say now, so he asked Su Tang directly.
The Yelan Kingdom produces war horses, which are among the best. If we can import them and train a few to use on the battlefield in Liaodong, it will be a great help to the Gu family army led by Lord Gu.
The Huns have already taken the lead in terms of war horses.
Although the Jin State also had good horses, they were still not as good as the Xiongnu's war horses. They even had ponies to drive. The advantage of ponies was that they could be used to dismount people and catch people off guard. Their war horses, combined with scimitars, were artifacts on the battlefield. This was the main reason why Lord Gu could not gain any advantage when fighting against the Xiongnu.
They also needed to import war horses, but it was absolutely impossible to import them from the Huns, so the Yelan Kingdom took the initiative to discuss cooperation this time, so they could import their excellent war horses.
Xie Ci'an knew clearly that it was unlikely to ask them to offer the horses, but it was okay to buy them from them. However, he needed to state the major conditions first before letting them agree to sell. After all, they treasured their war horses very much and would definitely not sell them easily, let alone offer them.
Su Tang stared at Xie Ci'an with a sharp gaze, "The Emperor's request is a bit too much. We are afraid that we cannot agree to some of the conditions. We can't offer so much floating brocade, let alone war horses."