The Comeback of the Charming Farmer's Wife-Chapter 2267 - 2269: Applying Pressure
Baili Han was teaching the young Emperor at this moment. Upon hearing that the ministers had come to see him, he paused for a moment. But remembering that today was the day for negotiations between the two dynasties, he allowed the group to come in.
"Greetings, Grand Emperor, Emperor!!"
"..."
After the group paid their respects, without waiting for Baili Han to ask what was going on, General Zha angrily spoke up and presented the treaty from Great Zhou. "Grand Emperor, look at this, Great Zhou is simply shameless, aren’t they? What was supposed to be a plea for peace has turned into negotiations. You said to give them a chance for talks, and anyone sensible would know this is meant for them to beg for peace. Yet they’ve played dumb."
The Military Advisor also took the opportunity to voice his grievances, "What was agreed as ceding territory and reparations turned into a gift from them, and only such meager offerings. Is Great Qi lacking this paltry sum? It’s obvious Great Zhou does not take us seriously. The Grand Emperor considerate of the Great Zhou people, yet they take advantage, this is outrageous."
"Grand Emperor, let’s forget the negotiations," General Zha seized the chance to suggest, "Let me lead troops to annihilate that rogue surnamed Luo, then the good things will all be ours. Though the Grand Emperor has a point, that waiting until they’re fattened up for slaughter is more worthwhile, but I believe it’s safer for us to control Great Zhou."
Baili Han’s eyes gleamed, this notion was rather sensible.
"Alright, what’s everyone so anxious about?" Baili Han glanced up and down the treaty and said, "We need to keep our composure. Besides, I’ve already agreed to negotiations, we can’t go back on our word now, or we would appear petty to others."
"As for this treaty, sideline it for now," Baili Han continued, "Let them linger a few days. General Zha, move the troops forward five li tomorrow as a demonstration. Wait for them to come to us."
Meanwhile, over in Great Zhou, Mr. Zhuge threw out the treaty and returned with a face full of satisfaction, feeling he had done an excellent job.
Even Baili Yan praised him greatly; distorting the meaning of negotiations would clearly mitigate their losses by more than half.
But upon hearing Great Qi’s army had moved forward by five li, the feeling wasn’t good anymore.
Baili Yan understood this was pressure.
No matter what, he absolutely couldn’t agree to the terms proposed by Great Qi.
"Send a letter to Great Qi, saying I want to personally negotiate with their Grand Emperor."
"Yes!"
Watching the messenger leave, Old Mu asked, "He shouldn’t be that amenable, right?" Though they revised the treaty, the contents still couldn’t compare to what Great Qi proposed.
In reality, the ultimate goal of such negotiations lies in the silver and goods offered, otherwise it’s meaningless.
He certainly knew this point, but giving away so much hurt him, and now Great Zhou isn’t wealthy, if he gave away easily, ultimately it would be the people of Great Zhou who suffer. Thus, he could only twist the meaning of negotiations.
"This treaty added many more items in," Baili Yan said, "Though not up to half, but enough to appease those Great Qi ministers. We also can’t completely disregard their concerns."
Initially, Baili Yan was blinded by the massive amount of silver and rashly let Zhuge and others draft such a treaty. Once calm, he realized those things were insufficient, unlikely to get past Great Qi’s ministers.
He thought that if Baili Han agreed to negotiations, it showed he still cared for Great Zhou’s citizens, thus he couldn’t be too selfish and disregard Baili Han’s current situation, so he hurriedly had another draft of the treaty done overnight.
