Chapter 1121: Exorbitant Price
Shortly after Duan Shao's letter was sent, Hu Luguang hurriedly returned to Xialuju from the Qinshui River Valley. After seeing Duan Shao, he immediately asked: "Does King Duan know why the Supreme Lord summoned King Changshan and others to Liaoyang to see him? Will there be news in the future?"
Seeing Hu Luguang's concerned expression, Duan Shao became more and more certain that the relationship between him and the two kings was unusual, and the connection between them might be beyond his expectation.
However, this has little to do with Duan Shao, and if not, it would be difficult for him to take this opportunity to transfer Hu Luguang from the front line. Therefore, when faced with Hu Luguang's urgent inquiry, Duan Shao just sighed, and then said in a deep voice: "I am on the front line now, and I don't know much about the changes in the situation in the country.
I have no idea why the Supreme Being suddenly transferred to Liaoyang or why he summoned the two kings. People in the country are currently in a state of flux, and the slightest disturbance can make people uneasy. Now I invite the King of Xianyang to return to the camp to discuss how we and the soldiers in the border area should take into account the internal and external considerations? "
After Hu Luguang heard this, he was silent for a long time. After a while, he spoke again: "Things have to be urgent. The army and brigade must enter Qin Valley to fight the thieves before things can turn around. Military affairs should be the priority in everything. The rest of the matter needs to be postponed. King Duan may report this matter to His Majesty, because Your Majesty is eager to kill the thieves and knows that he should keep quiet in order to fight against external enemies!"
After Duan Shao heard this, he couldn't help but sigh to himself. Hu Luguang was not unsmart, especially in terms of military strategy. Sometimes even Duan Shao felt that he was not as good as him. However, this person is quite paranoid, stubborn, narrow-minded and short-sighted in his character, and his understanding of certain things is too simple. He does not have the scheming and effortless means of his father Hu Lujin.
His people's entry into the Qinshui River Valley can indeed be called a breakthrough, but it is not enough to turn a corner. Especially in the Western Wei Dynasty, Duan Shao could not feel the enemy's sense of crisis and urgency. Hu Luguang also wanted to use this as a reason to dissuade the emperor from temporarily giving up the personnel actions that had already been launched. If not stupid, it seemed a bit naive.
But Duan Shao naturally has no obligation to explain the hidden meaning of the current situation in the country to Hu Luguang at the moment. After hearing this, he just sighed: "If things really go as the king said, then it would be best. But you and I are both on the sidelines. General, I don’t know enough about the details of the personnel in the court, so I would like to ask the King of Xianyang to come to the court to inspect and report. I hope that the court can send more personnel and materials to the front line as appropriate to prepare for a large-scale counterattack against the Qiang thieves in the future. ”
"But Qingu is still not stable enough..."
Hu Luguang couldn't help but look embarrassed when he heard this, and was somewhat reluctant to enter the court at this critical moment. However, he was worried that personnel changes in the court would delay the military counterattack and delay the war. At the same time, King Changshan had helped him a lot, and now he seemed to be implicated in the incident, which also made Hu Luguang worried.
"Although my son De You is not a talented person, he has already created a situation that King Xianyang has worked hard to create. It should not be difficult to maintain it for a few days based on this. I only hope that King Xianyang can achieve peace both internally and externally after entering the court." situation!”
Although Hu Luguang was still hesitant, Duan Shao already tacitly agreed with him. After proposing a plan to replace him, he also encouraged Hu Luguang.
Hu Luguang still didn't know that Duan Shao had secretly started negotiations with the Western Wei Dynasty. He really thought that Duan Shao was also worried that the chaos in the country might interfere with the war on the front line. After hearing what Duan Shao said, he nodded heavily and said : "In that case, I will seize the time to return to the DPRK and my party, hoping to achieve a stable result!"
Now that he had decided to return to the court to report, Hu Luguang no longer stayed any longer, and Dangjie led a group of close associates to leave Xia Li Ju and head straight for Yedu.
The reason why he agreed so simply was because he hoped that after putting aside the internal disputes, the junior high school could seriously consider launching a counterattack based on his results, so that he could gain greater personnel power and no longer have to accept Duan's demands for everything. Shao's moderation.
After sending away Hu Luguang, Duan Shao had a firmer control over the personnel on the front line. In order to allow the negotiations between the two parties to reach a phased result as soon as possible, he directly sent his confidants as envoys to communicate directly with the Wei army camp. , instead of just scouting and sending messages as before.
Although his own need to stop the war was more urgent, Duan Shao did not blindly cater to the Wei army's request. He did not evacuate the soldiers in the Qinshui Valley immediately, but made another request, hoping that the Wei army could temporarily retreat to Wu. Sioux City, don't stop on the north bank of Tongda River.
After hearing the envoy's request, Li Tai hesitated for a moment and agreed, but at the same time he also pointed out that the Tongtan River would be the boundary for the two sides to stop fighting. Once the Qi army was organized to cross the Tongtan River, Then no matter where the peace talks between the two parties go and whether they have made an agreement or not, they will all be invalidated and they will enter a state of war again.
Duan Shao also agreed with this. At least for now, he has no intention to launch a counterattack, nor does he have the strength. Using Tongtan Water as the battle line is in line with the current situation.
So the main army of the Western Wei Dynasty withdrew to Wusu City after staying in Tongdan River for many days, and the Qi army in the Qinshui Valley also retreated to the Fajiu Valley. There was a certain buffer space between them. Just like before, the tit-for-tat confrontation was about to break out.
The peace talks between the two sides have actually benefited the Qi army more. As a defeated army, they are under greater pressure. It is very difficult for them to regain their hearts and restore their morale when the Wei army continues to maintain the threat of garrison. Now that the main force of the Wei army has withdrawn to the rear, the soldiers of the army are naturally relieved.
But Duan Shao did not dare to relax. He knew that Li Boshan was cunning and seemed to be retreating. He might be planning some offensive means in secret, so he kept the army on high alert.
The peace talks reached this point, but then encountered obstacles. Duan Shao could not meet the requirements put forward by the Wei army at all.
Although this kind of negotiation usually asks for a sky-high price and pays the money, when Duan Shao got the conditions for the withdrawal of the Western Wei brought back by the envoy, he couldn't help but take a breath, and then he couldn't help but get angry. This Li Boshan is not only asking for a sky-high price, but also wants to dismantle their Northern Qi country!
The Western Wei side mainly proposed territorial demands. It was naturally the most basic condition for the Northern Qi to recognize its long-term possession of the occupied territories and cities. It was a prerequisite for continuing the peace talks. If the Northern Qi side refused to agree, then they would continue to fight until they could not fight anymore.
In addition, the Western Wei also used the withdrawal of troops and the cessation of war as a bargaining chip to demand that the Northern Qi cede more territory to it, including but not limited to the three cities of Heyang, Shouyang in Huainan, Zhongli, Guangling and other important towns. This condition was so exaggerated that even Duan Shao felt it was absurd. Not to mention whether he could agree to it, even if he could, how could he dare to give it so generously?
Is Li Boshan crazy for making such an impossible request? Or did he simply regard this peace talk as a joke and make such an unrealistic joke to ridicule and make fun of Duan Shao?
However, Li Boshan's subsequent actions made Duan Shao even more confused.
Originally, such an unrealistic request made Duan Shao feel that the other party was just making things difficult for him, but before Duan Shao could refuse and bargain, the Western Wei side took the initiative to express that in order to show their importance and sincerity in this peace talk, they were willing to take a step back, give up Wusu City and withdraw their main forces to Qinyuan.
When Duan Shao heard this, he wondered if he had heard it wrong. After asking the Wei envoy again, he was sure that the Western Wei side would give up Wusu City and withdraw to Qinyuan without him doing anything else.
After understanding this, Duan Shao was confused again. He could understand that the Western Wei chose to continue withdrawing its troops. Perhaps the pressure on logistics was so heavy that the Western Wei could not bear it, or it was necessary to withdraw the army to redeploy the next offensive.
But what he couldn't understand was that Li Boshan had made so many unrealistic demands before, which gave people a feeling of arrogance and difficulty in communication. But now he seemed polite and sincere. He didn't even make any additional demands to him and directly proposed to withdraw his troops to Qinyuan. His attitude was completely opposite, which really made people feel puzzled.
Could it be that Li Boshan thought that the situation in Northern Qi would take a sharp turn for the worse, and even the extremely harsh demands now might be realized in the future?
Thinking of this, Duan Shao's eyes suddenly condensed, but after pondering for a while, he still shook his head slightly.
Although the current situation and atmosphere in the country are indeed a bit bad, even he, the top dignitary in the country, can't see clearly what will happen next. If Li Boshan, an outsider, can make any firm predictions, such wisdom has gone beyond the scope of ordinary people. Duan Shao would be willing and helpless even if he was played around with.
Maybe the other party just has some trend judgments and is willing to lay some groundwork and invest for this. After all, after winning the previous war, the Western Wei Dynasty has a great advantage in the confrontation between the two countries. Making some forward-looking predictions is also the privilege of the strong.
Duan Shao has not yet come up with a convincing guess. The scouts in front have sent back the news that the Western Wei army burned down the city of Wusu.
Although it is a pity that Wusu City was destroyed, Duan Shao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after learning about it. The Western Wei Dynasty destroyed Wusu City so thoroughly that it seems that it really does not intend to launch an attack from Wusu City in the short term.
Let's not talk about how ridiculous the conditions proposed by Li Boshan were before, and how many mines were buried in the subsequent negotiations. At least for now, the Western Wei army gave up Wusu City and withdrew to Qinyuan, which directly reduced the border defense pressure that Northern Qi had to bear. These are the results obtained by Duan Shao through negotiations. Even if the country wants to investigate him based on this, he can respond.
Especially now, Duan Shao can concentrate his energy and wait for the next changes that will happen in the country. This is also the main reason why he secretly started the peace talks.