Chapter 1234: Negotiation (4)

After receiving his son’s secret letter, Qi Xiuyuan immediately sent out the negotiating team led by Li Zhang. The Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, and Ministry of Justice all mobilized some officials.

After all, the Ministry of Rites would be in charge of the etiquette in dealing with the alliance between the two countries. The transactions between the two countries would be negotiated by the Ministry of Revenue. Aside from handling the diplomatic relationship, there would be a lot of work to do, so the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs would definitely have to send two people, too. As for the Ministry of Justice, they would be in charge of discussing various judicial matters during the alliance.

As the person who understood Ogedei and Great Yuan the best, Li Zhang was sent as the envoy. He would negotiate with Ogedei and try his best to fight for more benefits for Great Qi.

Li Zhang had been tortured by Ogedei back then, but he had recovered after half a year. Therefore, he traveled quite quickly and arrived five days after Little Treasure and Little Bear formed an alliance with Ogedei.

Li Zhang only had time to greet Little Treasure and Little Bear before leaving to see Ogedei.

He was very interested in Ogedei’s current state!

Speaking of which, although he had other motives for Ogedei, his thoughts and actions had never harmed his interests.

Back then, they had accidentally been captured and brought to the mine. Ogedei had befriended him because he was loyal, had a good character, and was knowledgeable.

Later, Ogedei wanted to lead the miners to rebel against Great Jin. When he thought of his motive for lurking in Great Jin, he took the initiative to contact King Rong to ask for weapons and rations.

It could be said that without the supplies provided by King Rong, it was impossible for Ogedei to develop so quickly and directly surpass the other rebels to become Great Jin’s number one enemy.

Later on, his development grew even more rapidly. As Li Zhang had saved his life, Ogedei treated him well and had a deep brotherly relationship with him. Only then did it occur to Li Zhang to stay on in Great Jin.

He originally thought that he had to plan slowly, but who knew that after King Rong learnt of his thoughts, he immediately sent his family to Great Yuan and only asked him not to forget his ancestral country.

A scholar would die for his confidant. Since King Rong treated him like a statesman, he naturally had to repay his country.

He could not do anything else, but returning the lost territory of Great Qi was an agreement that Ogedei had made with King Rong a long time ago. Who knew that before Great Jin was destroyed, this person would go back on his word and turn against him?

Li Zhang had never hated Ogedei. Even when he was locked up and tortured, he had never hated him. He only blamed himself for having poor judgment.

However, when he returned to Great Qi, he found out that Ogedei had even sent troops to go after his family. If not for his colleagues hiding in Great Yuan risking their lives to save his family, they’d probably be dead by the time he returned.

If he still didn’t hate Ogedei even now, how could he face his colleagues who had sacrificed themselves for his family?

Therefore, Li Zhang was filled with malice towards Ogedei. On the way here, he had thought of many bloodsucking conditions!

It wasn’t easy for the Crown Prince and Prince Rong to capture him, and the other party had secretly infiltrated Great Qi. If he didn’t take this opportunity to bite off a piece of the other party’s flesh, he would be letting down the oath he had once made!

Ogedei did not know that Li Zhang had already turned evil. Knowing that this sworn brother of his was soft-hearted, he was certain that he could gain his sympathy as long as he set aside his pride.

Hence, when he heard the hurried footsteps outside the room, Ogedei immediately pretended to be disappointed and sad. Just as he put on his expression, Li Zhang pushed the door open and entered.

Seeing his sworn brother’s expression, Li Zhang immediately laughed three times. Seeing the other party’s face stiffen, he cried again.

Li Zhang knew Ogedei too well, especially after the other party gained power. Having studied Ogedei’s methods of subduing his subordinates, Li Zhang naturally knew that he was putting on an act.

However, he was not the only one who knew how to act.

Pointing at Ogedei, Li Zhang cried and laughed. “I didn’t expect you to land in such a state. Back then, you harmed my family and tried to kill me. Do you still remember the oath you made in the mine shed back then?”

Ogedei’s frozen face slowly turned cold. He recalled that when he was sick back then, he was almost dragged out of the mine shed as a dead person. It was Li Zhang who saved up his food for him to eat and risked his life to go to the edge of the mine to dig medicinal herbs to treat him, saving his life…

Later on, he even took a fatal blow for him on the battlefield…

Recalling this, Ogedei felt a little guilty.

Seeing that he lowered his head and didn’t say anything, Li Zhang turned around and ran out.

The next day, he came to negotiate with Ogedei with a cold expression. His attitude at the negotiation table was aggressive, and the conditions he raised were as overboard as could be.

He even proposed that Great Yuan pay 20,000 taels of silver to Great Qi every new year!

Considering the plains were bitterly cold and they had difficulty even providing for themselves, how could it be possible for Great Yuan to pay 20,000 taels of silver every new year?

Although Ogedei felt guilty towards Li Zhang, he had always been calm and indifferent. Guilt was one thing, but compromising his own interests was another.

Hence, the negotiations did not go smoothly, with Li Zhang quarreling with Ogedei almost every day.

Extremely worried about this, Little Bear said, “Seeing as Lord Li is so impulsive, is he up to the task of negotiation? I don’t wish to see Great Qi suffer in the end.”

Little Treasure flipped through the records and said, “Don’t worry. Did you see the other ministers persuade Lord Li in private?”

Little Bear was stunned and asked, “Lord Li is doing it on purpose?”

Seeing Little Treasure nod, he curled his lips and said, “Why would a man use such a petty scheme? It feels like something a girl would do.”

Smiling, Little Treasure said, “As long as it’s useful. Look, although Ogedei tried his best to object, he didn’t dare to say anything too extreme during the negotiation because he felt guilty. As long as he doesn’t slam the table and leave, the other ministers can seize every opportunity to fight for more benefits for Great Qi.”

“Look, although he didn’t agree to pay 20,000 taels every New Year, he promised to send 100 horses, 500 catties of beef and mutton each, plus 500 cows, sheep, and young calves each…”

Little Treasure closed the document and smiled. “Now, only the title of the official in charge of the market has yet to be confirmed. However, this is a trivial problem and should be settled tomorrow. When the time comes, we can send him away.”

Little Bear asked enthusiastically, “Did Royal Uncle and Father agree to our plan?”

Little Treasure sighed. “The letter has been sent out for almost half a month, but there’s still no reply. I guess Royal Father is feeling conflicted.”

Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran didn’t want to send troops for the time being, and Little Treasure and Little Bear didn’t want to start a war. Therefore, the two of them made a plan to peacefully recover the territory that West Xia occupied.

The two children thought that this plan was perfect, but both Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran felt that it was a fantasy.

The two of them had wanted to send their proposals back so that the two children would stop daydreaming. However, Fan Zijin actually supported them this time.

He even roped Mu Yangling in to back him up.

As soon as Mu Yangling finished reading the children’s proposal, she sang praises of them with a proud expression.

Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran’s expressions were tragic, not quite surprised at her reaction.

Qi Xiuyuan thought that perhaps even if the kids were pointing at a pile of sh*t and complimenting it for being fragrant, Mu Yangling would say that they were right!

Just as Qi Xiuyuan finished cursing in his heart, Qi Haoran slowly stood behind his wife and said to his abandoned big brother, “Big Brother, I think Zijin and Ah Ling are right!”

Looking at his younger brother, Qi Xiuyuan almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt that the person who would say such a thing was not Mu Yangling, but his younger brother, Qi Haoran!

Seeing that Qi Haoran had attracted all the wrath of the Emperor, Fan Zijin sat at the side and drank tea with a clear conscience.

Sweating profusely, Qi Haoran explained, “Big Brother, we have to let the children give it a shot. It might just work. In any case, we won’t lose anything. If the plan is leaked, it will only expose Great Yuan’s marching plan. The one to suffer a loss will also be Great Yuan.”