Tibet

Gao Lishi gave a thumbs up, "Li Linfu has a grandson like you. It's time for him to rest in peace. For this reason, I will also advise the Supreme Emperor to help you with all his strength!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Thank you Gao Weng for your kindness. I don't need your help for the time being, and he can't help me. In addition, there is a person, Gao Weng, please take him away!"

Li Ye ordered people to bring Feng Yanhuan in. Although Feng Yanhuan was not a qualified military supervisor, he never interfered in Jingxiang's military affairs and never reported to the court.

Li Ye owed him a big favor, and Li Ye also knew that he would be severely punished when he returned. It was a trivial matter to make a mistake, and he might lose his life.

So Li Ye sent someone to forcibly take the imprisoned Feng Yanhuan out from the VIP Hotel and handed him to Gao Lishi to take away.

When Feng Yanhuan saw Gao Lishi, he immediately fell to the ground, hugged his legs and cried loudly.

Feng Yanhuan had served Gao Lishi for twenty years since he was a child. Gao Lishi also regarded him as his son and specially changed his surname to Feng. He didn't expect to meet him here.

Gao Lishi's eyes were moist. He patted his head and choked with sobs: "Chi'er, since we are destined to meet again, just come with me!"

Gao Lishi left soon, and Li Ye sent a team of cavalry to send Gao Lishi and Feng Yanhuan south in a cart to catch a boat in Jiangling.

Three more days have passed and the negotiations have entered deep waters.

There are three core issues in the deep water area. One is the Hanzhong issue. Li Ye wanted to borrow Liangzhou, Fengzhou and Xingzhou for three years. Although he wanted to report to the emperor and the court for a decision, Cheng Yuanzhen made his own decision. If Xingzhou is willing to be given, Liangzhou and Fengzhou will not be given, and the garrison in Xingzhou cannot exceed 3,000 people, so there is no way to talk about it.

The second issue is the authority of the Jiedushi. Since An Lushan's rebellion, the imperial court has completely reduced the power of the Jiedushi in various places. The Jiedushi first had to intervene in politics, and secondly sent supervisory troops.

But Li Ye wanted the power of the former Jiedushi, and the governors and chief historians among local state officials could be appointed by the imperial court, but they had to be recommended by him. County-level officials were directly appointed by the Jiedu government, and the governors of each governorate were also appointed by the imperial government. He appointed, and he did not accept the supervision of the army.

The third core issue is Li Ye's term of office. Li Ye proposed at least two terms, that is, ten years, but Emperor Li Heng was only willing to give him a five-year term. In fact, he was asked to contribute to the recovery of Longyou, Hexi, and then Then he was transferred out on the grounds that his term had expired.

In addition to these three core issues, there is the imperial court's support for Li Ye. The imperial court also supports Li Ye with one million shi of grain, which will be paid in three years. In other words, he will be given a maximum of 330,000 shi of grain each year.

After all, it only supported 30% of his food supply, and it was only for three years. He had to raise the other 70% of his food supply and military salary by himself.

This is not because the imperial court was stingy. Before Anlushan's rebellion, the imperial court could no longer afford the salaries and food of the border troops. It gave them financial autonomy and allowed them to raise their own funds. Now after Anlushan's rebellion, the imperial court even provided food and military supplies to the army directly under it. It is difficult to guarantee the salary, and there is no remaining strength to support Li Ye's army.

Therefore, the imperial court directly delegated the financial power to Li Ye, which was not ambiguous at all. Emperor Li Heng knew very well that Li Ye's army was taking food from Tubo's mouth, and the financial power of Longyou and Hexi was meaningless to the court.

But in terms of finance, there is still a problem. Li Ye hopes to get the taxing power of the Sogdian caravan. Back then, this taxing power was given to Anxi and Beiting. Now Anxi and Beiting still have a small amount of troops left. Li Ye Ye hoped that taxation rights could be transferred to Hexi.

In fact, this problem is not big. After An Lushan’s rebellion, the Silk Road was actually cut off by Tibet, and the Maritime Silk Road emerged because of this.

Of course, Li Yu could not answer this request and could only report it to the court. Li Yu and Cheng Yuanzhen each sent one person to Chang'an to report.

Negotiations are temporarily suspended!

In the afternoon, Li Ye arrived at the Yingbin Post. Dugu Ming was packing his things. He also had to rush back to Chang'an overnight.

Dugu Ming asked Li Ye to sit down in the inner hall and asked with a smile: "How do you feel about this negotiation?"

Li Ye smiled bitterly, "Wherever I need to make concessions, we can quickly reach a consensus, but where the court needs to make concessions, it is difficult to advance."

Dugu Ming smiled slightly, "Of course, Jing Xiang is the one who makes the decision, and Li Yu can't make the decision. He must report it to the court. So it is difficult for the court to make concessions."

"Actually, I think there is another reason, and that is the eunuchs interfering in politics. Cheng Yuanzhen is very hateful and will never relent on the Hanzhong issue. I estimate that he will persuade Li Fuguo not to give in on the Hanzhong issue."

Dugu Ming couldn't help but laugh, and Li Ye couldn't help but be startled, "What are you laughing at, third uncle?"

"I laugh at you for being smart all your life and being confused for a while. When eunuchs come to negotiate, it's an opportunity for you, but you regard them as evil people?

Let me tell you, what is really difficult to deal with is the imperial court. They will not betray the interests of the Tang Dynasty, but it is the eunuchs who betray the interests of the Tang Dynasty. Why did Cheng Yuanzhen go sightseeing? He is hinting to you that you have not expressed any attitude. It would be strange if it is not directed at you. Any benefit of the Tang Dynasty has a clear price tag in the eyes of the eunuchs. "

Li Ye was silent for a moment and said, "I'm just afraid that their lion mouths will be too big to be satisfied!"

"So you are right to come to me, but I know their prices. The price of Cheng Yuanzhen and Yu Chaoen is 100,000 guan, and the price of Li Fuguo is 200,000 guan. This is the price paid by Huai Wang Li Huan to buy them. The three of them If you give me a little more, why do you need to negotiate? Whatever you want, you can get."

"But it's Li Yu who is doing the negotiating. Even though he has a good personal relationship with me, I even invited him to a meal and helped him, but he refused. It's very difficult for him to handle it!"

Dugu Ming said calmly: "The Dugu family can help you with this matter."

Li Ye thought for a while and then said: "There is one more thing I want to tell my third uncle. The Supreme Emperor sent Gao Lishi to find me. I agreed to the Supreme Emperor's request and released King Yong into Shu."

"I know about this. There are people of mine at Qingyang Palace in Chengdu, and your father-in-law also knows that it is right for you to reach an agreement with the Supreme Emperor. After all, he treated your grandfather well and treated you well, so what are you worried about?"

"I'm worried that once the emperor knows about this, he will suspect that I am colluding with the emperor, which will affect my appeal in Hanzhong."

Dugu Ming shook his head, "Anything is black or white is what people say. King Yong's entry into Shu will make the emperor determined to let you leave Jingxiang as soon as possible. Compared with Hanzhong, Jingxiang is more important to Bashu , do you think the Supreme Emperor will choose the Northern Expedition or the eastward expansion?"

After a pause, Dugu Ming continued: "There is a key point on the Hanzhong issue. You should not consider the control of political power. As long as you get the garrison power and land, nothing else matters. As long as the imperial court still maintains the appointment and dismissal of officials in Hanzhong." Quan, once your money is delivered, there will basically be no problem."

Li Ye added: "The first batch of tax money sent from Jiangnan will soon arrive in Jingxiang. It is about two million yuan. Do you want me to withhold it to put pressure on the court?"

"Please do not!"

Dugu Ming quickly waved his hand and said: "You are not offending the emperor by withholding the tax money, but the officials and the army. The court has already owed salary for two months, and everyone is eagerly waiting for the Jiangnan tax money to arrive. If you withhold the money, you will If you lose your righteousness, all the officials in the imperial court will hate you to the core. You should be released as generously as last winter’s grain, and everyone will praise you for taking care of the overall situation.”

Li Ye nodded, "I understand. I will immediately send warships to escort them to avoid being robbed by Li Lin. In addition, I would like to ask my third uncle to advance money to Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen for me. Li Fuguo will give 80,000 taels of silver, and Yu Chaoen Chaoen will give you 30,000 taels, and I will take care of Cheng Zhenyuan’s side myself, and I will return it to the Dugu family later.”

"Don't worry! It's a trivial matter."

In the afternoon, Dugu Ming left Xiangyang in a carriage with a dozen of his men and rushed back to Chang'an overnight.

That night, Cheng Zhenyuan received Xiangzhou specialties sent to him by Li Ye. Of course, every negotiator had one, but what others received were real specialties, Xiangzhou sake and drunken fish, drunken shrimps, and drunken crabs. .

But what Cheng Zhenyuan received was 30,000 Sogdian gold coins, which were worth 120,000 gold coins at the current exchange price.

At the same time, the gift giver also hinted that Cheng Zhenyuan, Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen also received the same Xiangzhou specialty.

Sure enough, Cheng Zhenyuan came to visit Li Ye the next day and vowed that he would do his best to complete the negotiations as soon as possible and would make Li Ye leave Jingxiang with satisfaction.