Chapter 975: Dong Zhuo's compromise
Chapter 975 Dong Zhuo’s Compromise
Chapter 973: Dong Zhuo’s compromise
Chang'an, Prime Minister's Mansion.
“Isn’t everyone usually quite eloquent? Why is it that they are all mute?”
Dong Zhuo looked at the ministers in the hall angrily and cursed: "A group of people can't even speak to one person, what use does the Zajia have for you?
Trash, they are all a bunch of trash, and the whole family has been completely disgraced by you. "
All the ministers of the Liang army shook their heads, feeling extremely aggrieved, but they did not dare to refute the furious Dong Zhuo. After all, they had indeed failed to argue with Pei Ju.
After Dong Zhuo scolded the ministers for a long time, most of the anger in his heart was extinguished. Then he snorted coldly and asked Li Ru and the other three: "Three military advisors, what do you think we should do?"
After Li Ru, Jia Xu and Lu Buwei looked at each other, Li Ru was the first to stand up and said: "My lord, peace talks must be peace talks, but this is not the way to talk."
“My dear son-in-law, how do you think we should negotiate?”
“The coalition forces are very open this time. Pei Ju asked us to give up three counties, and also asked the lord to demote himself to the position of duke, but he did not mention the release of the captured generals and prisoners of war.”
At this point, Li Ru glanced at Dong Zhuo cautiously, and then continued: "My subordinates believe that future negotiations should focus on how to obtain prisoners of war and generals."
Dong Zhuo immediately showed a displeased look on his face and said calmly: "So, my dear son-in-law, do you also think that the Za family should agree to the two conditions of the coalition?"
"this…"
Li Ru saw Dong Zhuo's unkind expression and did not dare to continue answering. Then Jia Xu stood up and advised:
"My lord, now that Hulao Pass has been lost, the three counties of Hongnong, Hedong, and Hanoi are no longer in danger. Forcibly holding on will only increase casualties. It is better to trade space for time. After our army's strength recovers, we can attack Sizhou again. Just come down.
As for surrendering to the position of Duke, the coalition forces are just asking for a step up. This will not have any impact on you, my lord.
After our army becomes stronger again, even if the lord directly proclaims himself king, the princes will still be unable to do anything to you, lord! "
Jia Xu's in-depth analysis also made Dong Zhuo fall into deep thought. After a while, he sighed: "The Zajia are not willing to accept it... That's all. The Zajia agreed to these two conditions of the coalition."
Hearing this, Li Ru, Jia Xu and Lu Buwei looked at each other and felt relieved at the same time. They were really afraid that Dong Zhuo would continue to fight the coalition forces, and the Liang army's losses would only be more severe.
The next day, the negotiations resumed.
Due to Dong Zhuo's extremely tough attitude yesterday, Pei Ju thought it would take more than ten days of negotiations and a lot of words to convince him.
But when he heard that Dong Zhuo actually agreed directly, Pei Ju couldn't help but feel extremely surprised, and what Dong Zhuo said next made him a little embarrassed.
“The Zajia can agree to Qin Hao’s conditions, but Qin Hao must also agree to the Zajia’s conditions.”
Pei Ju frowned slightly and asked, "Please tell me, Prime Minister, as long as it's not too much, I don't think the princes will refuse."
“The conditions proposed by Zajia are definitely not excessive, as long as the coalition forces release the captured generals and prisoners of war.”
Pei Ju couldn't help but frown more tightly. He also knew that this condition was not too much, but the terrible thing was that Li Shimin was also among the captured generals, and it was absolutely impossible for Qin Hao to let Li Shimin go.
"Prime Minister, the soldiers are easy to talk to, but it is impossible to release them directly. The Prime Minister can redeem them with money and food. As for the captured generals..." Pei Ju raised his head and looked at Dong Zhuo's face. Seeing that there was nothing serious, he continued: "This It’s a bit troublesome.”
"What's the trouble?" Dong Zhuo said pretending to be unhappy.
"The generals who have not surrendered can be redeemed, but generals such as Han Qinhu, Ding Yanping, Zhang Xutuo have surrendered, and I am afraid they will not be able to return to the Liang army."
After Ding Yanping was captured, he finally surrendered after Qin Hao and Luo Cheng took turns persuading him. After all, his adopted brother and adopted son were both in the Qin army.
As for Han Qinhu who was captured alive by Bai Qi, Sun Jian personally begged Qin Hao several times because he was Han Dang's brother.
After weighing the pros and cons, Qin Hao finally handed him over to Sun Jian, and Han Qinhu also surrendered to Sun Jian.
As for Zhang Xutuo, although he did not surrender, he was captured alive by Zhao Kuangyin. It was absolutely impossible to get Zhao Kuangyin to release him, so in order for the negotiation to proceed smoothly, Pei Ju simply said that he had surrendered as well.
After hearing this, Dong Zhuo couldn't help but have a look of disappointment in his eyes. After taking a long breath, he said in a deep voice: "Everyone has his own ambitions. You can't force them. I hope they can find other queens and get better development."
At this point, Dong Zhuo also lost interest, so he left alone and handed over the negotiations to Li Ru. It can be seen that the surrender of his generals also dealt a certain blow to him.
In fact, the negotiations are almost complete now, but there are still many details that need to be worked out slowly.
Just the issue of soldiers' ransom caused the two sides to quarrel at the negotiation table, and both sides wanted to strive for greater interests.
When it came to the issue of Li Shimin, the negotiations almost reached a freezing point, and even Dong Zhuo, who had already left, returned.
“Mr. Pei, I heard that you are also from a wealthy family, why are you making this up so randomly?”
Dong Zhuo looked at Pei Ju coldly and asked sternly: "After the Battle of Luoyang, there has been no news from the people of the world. He is not among the coalition forces. Is he still among our Liang army?"
Pei Ju looked Dong Zhuo directly in the eyes and said without blushing or heartbeat: "Pei Ju dare not deceive the prime minister. General Li Shimin is really not in the Qin army.
Anything can happen on the battlefield. General Li may be captured by other princes, or of course he may be killed in battle. These are all uncertain things. Please forgive me, Prime Minister. "
Dong Zhuo's face was extremely cold, and he said in a cold voice: "So Qin Hao is prepared to refuse to admit it?"
Pei Ju knew that Dong Zhuo was on the verge of an explosion, and immediately said: "Prime Minister, I am just a small envoy, and there are some things that the Marquis cannot make the decision.
Well, I can convey the Prime Minister's conditions to you. Whether it will succeed or not depends on God's will. "
“Go back and tell your lord that there is only one truce condition for the Zajia family now, and that is that Li Shimin must be released, otherwise the Zajia family will fight Qin Hao to the death.”
Dong Zhuo almost finished speaking in a roar, and turned away as soon as he finished speaking, because he was afraid that he would not be able to restrain the murderous intention in his heart, and if he killed Pei Ju, everything would be over.
Pei Ju looked at Dong Zhuo's back with a solemn expression. He had no idea that Li Shimin's status in Dong Zhuo's heart was so high.
Seeing that Pei Ju was in a daze, Li Ru patted his shoulder and said calmly: "Mr. Pei, please come back."
Pei Ju came to his senses instantly, cupped his hands and said, "Farewell."
(End of this chapter)