In order to maintain the connection between Xiao Yu and the Tang Dynasty, Xiao Yu specially brought a few eagle slaves and ten letter eagles, in the inn, Xiao Yu's face sank like water, his lips were stretched into a line, and his eyes were stern as the eagle slave tied a letter to the eagle's legs.

Today's preliminary talks can almost be said to have collapsed, and no substantive issues have been discussed, such as the issue of prisoners of war, the issue of captured ministers, the issue of Nanyang County and Xiyang County, and so on.

Yang Yuanqing set Huining County as a prerequisite for negotiations between the two sides, if the Sui Dynasty did not recognize the ownership of Huining, then there would be no need for negotiations, and tens of thousands of prisoners of war would be thrown into the mines.

And Yang Yuanqing not only did not give up the two counties of Nanyang and Xiyang, but intensified his attack on Jingxiang as a threat, of course, Xiao Yu also knew that this was Yang Yuanqing's strategy to obtain the maximum benefits with a strong attitude.

But Yang Yuanqing's toughness still made him unacceptable, and more importantly, Yang Yuanqing's attitude made him realize that the prospects for this negotiation were bleak, and he had to report to the saint in time.

"Xiangguo, are you ready, do you want to release the eagle?" One of the attendants asked cautiously.

Xiao Yu nodded, "Let it go!" ”

With a wave of his hand, the eagle slave threw the eagle high, and the eagle spread its wings, circled twice over the inn, and flew in the direction of Chang'an in the southwest.

Outside the inn, several Sui army scouts who were monitoring the Tang envoys spotted Xinying and immediately rushed out of the city to report to Yang Yuanqing in the barracks,......

Inside the big tent, Yang Yuanqing listened to the soldier's report coldly, Tang made the eagle go back to Chang'an, which was expected by him, today's preliminary contact, the two sides can be said to have broken up unhappily, and Yang Yuanqing also knew that the conditions he proposed were quite harsh, and Xiao Yu could not accept it anyway.

But that's not his bottom line, in the beginning. Yang Yuanqing decided to exchange the two counties of Nanyang and Xiyang for Huining County, which was the fundamental reason why he ordered Xu Jiye to seize the two counties, but after easily capturing Huining County, he had a new idea.

The two counties of Nanyang and Xiyang could be returned to the Tang Dynasty, and tens of thousands of prisoners of war could also be handed over to the Tang Dynasty, but he wanted the Tang Dynasty to pay the price, and this price was not only Huining County, but also the Tang Dynasty to pay a greater price.

The so-called negotiation. In the final analysis, it is a contest between the strong. Negotiation is not charity, there is no such thing as pity for the weak, and the weak will always be beaten and angry. Only the strong can reap the benefits.

Thinking of this, Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered: "Pass my order, and quickly transfer 10,000 Fengzhou troops to the south." Together with the 10,000 garrisons of Lingwu County, they were handed over to Pei Xingyan to lead, and the army was stationed in Huining County. ”……

Inside the big tent, Yang Yuanqing listened to the soldier's report coldly, and the Tang envoy returned to Chang'an, which was expected by him, today's initial contact, the two sides can be said to have broken up unhappily, and Yang Yuanqing also knew. The conditions he proposed were quite harsh, and Xiao Yu couldn't accept them anyway.

However, this is not his bottom line, at the beginning, Yang Yuanqing decided to exchange the two counties of Nanyang and Xiyang for Huining County, which is the fundamental reason why he ordered Xu Jiye to seize the two counties, but after easily capturing Huining County, he had a new idea.

The two counties of Nanyang and Xiyang could be returned to the Tang Dynasty. He could also hand over tens of thousands of prisoners of war to the Tang Dynasty, but he wanted the Tang Dynasty to pay a price, and this price was not only for Huining County, but also for the Tang Dynasty to pay a greater price.

The so-called negotiation is, in the final analysis, a contest between the strong. Negotiation is not handout, and there is no such thing as pity for the weak. The weak will always be beaten and angry, and only the strong can gain benefits.

Thinking of this, Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered: "Pass my order, quickly transfer 10,000 Fengzhou troops to the south, together with 10,000 garrisons in Lingwu County, and hand them over to Pei Xingyan to lead, and the army will be stationed in Huining County." ”……

It is not far from Yan'an County to Chang'an, and the next morning, Xiao Yu's urgent report appeared on Li Yuan's desk, Yang Yuanqing's harsh conditions made Li Yuan furious, Yang Yuanqing actually took the ownership of Huining County as a prerequisite for negotiations between the two sides, so what is the significance of this negotiation.

"Spread my will, and quickly order Pei Xiangguo and the prince to come to see me!"

Li Yuan paced back and forth in the imperial study with his hands in his hands, and the extreme anger in his heart made him a little out of shape, not to mention that Huining County contained a large number of mineral deposits, even if it was a barren place, but Yang Yuanqing's arrogant attitude made it difficult for him to accept.

What does it mean to determine the ownership of Huiyeong-gun? Obviously it is the land of the Tang Dynasty, what can be discussed, could it be that one day he Yang Yuanqing proposed to determine the ownership of Chang'an, and they also had to sit down and talk? Is it tolerable or unbearable, Li Yuan was a little angry.

At this time, a eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, the prince and Pei Xiangguo are waiting outside the palace." ”

"Announce their audience!"

Soon, the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Xiangguo Pei Lin walked in one after the other, bowing together, "See Your Majesty!" ”

Although Li Jiancheng and Pei Lin walked into the imperial study at the same time, the two of them didn't say a word to each other, and they didn't even look at each other at all, because of Liu Wenjing's death, Li Jiancheng hated Pei Lin so much that he couldn't wait to kill the thief with his own hands.

Li Yuan sat behind the imperial case, and asked Pei Lin with great dissatisfaction, "At the beginning, Xiao Xiangguo advocated the development of the mineral deposits of Huining County, but you strongly opposed it, saying that you are afraid that the Sui army will covet it and it is not safe, but now it is good, the Sui army simply took away the Ning County, and the mineral deposits that could have brought us great wealth have become someone else's meal, how can you explain to me?" ”

Pei Lin was forced to ask and sweated profusely, he wiped the sweat on his forehead and said: "Your Majesty, the mines in Huining County, in fact, it doesn't matter whether they are developed or not, they will be taken away by the Sui army, and the minister thinks that the key is not whether the mine is developed, but whether it can be protected." ”

Li Jiancheng next to him snorted coldly, "This is not the same, if the mine is developed on a large scale, our Tang Dynasty will definitely garrison a heavy army, the Sui army wants to come to seize the mine, they will not succeed so easily, the Tang army will also repel them, it is precisely because there is no mine, so there is no army stationed, Pei Xiangguo, you are obviously responsible, why do you still quibble for yourself?" ”

Pei Lin was said to be sweating profusely, although the saint and the prince blamed him together, he still had to defend himself, "Your Majesty, although the minister advocated temporarily not opening the mines in Huining County at that time, when the government hall voted, it was a four-to-one resolution, and His Royal Highness the prince did not object to shelving the mining industry, why is it that all the responsibility is now put on the minister, although the minister is wrong, but he should not bear all the responsibility?" ”

"Pei Xiangguo, are you blaming the saint for reversing black and white and deliberately wronging you, right?" The prince built a cold road.

Pei Lin suddenly discovered that the prince was not as tolerant as the legend said, and he was also very powerful, so he seized the loophole of a sentence and immediately used the topic to play and expand the situation.

Pei Lin hurriedly said: "The minister didn't mean to blame the saint at all? ”

"Then what do you mean, to make it clear?" Li Jiancheng pressed forward step by step, forcing Pei Lin almost into a corner.

At this time, Li Yuan sighed secretly in his heart, what time has it been now, they are still fighting among themselves, is the sky going to fall, and they don't care?

"Okay, don't fight anymore."

Li Yuan interrupted the infighting between them unhappily, and ordered the eunuch to hand them Xiao Yu's express letter, Li Jiancheng and Pei Lin read the letter one after another, and they were silent, they both felt the seriousness of the situation, and now is indeed not the time to quarrel.

Li Yuan stood up and walked a few steps with his hands in his hands, and said to the two of them: "You two talk about it!" What do we do now? ”

Pei Ju is an appeasement faction in his bones, he bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Yang Yuanqing's attitude is worth discussing, if the minister is not wrong, he sent troops to occupy Nanyang and Xiyang counties in order to seize Huining County, if we can make a step and give him Huining County, and at the same time ask him to return Nanyang and Xiyang counties to us, he should be able to agree, and then discuss the surrender of troops and the captured ministers, and the problem can be satisfactorily resolved." ”

Li Yuan said coldly: "What does Pei Xiang mean to cede Huining County to him?" Such a huge mineral deposit, the copper and silver mined are enough to meet the expenses of the Tang Dynasty, and it can also recruit troops and horses, and it was taken away by the Sui Dynasty before its eyes? ”

Li Jiancheng stood aside, but his eyes glanced at the old eunuch in the corner, and the old eunuch gave him a look, and clenched his fists, which was a hint to him.

Li Jiancheng immediately understood that his father wanted to recapture Huining County by force, in fact, for Li Jiancheng, he was also in a contradiction, on the one hand, he was absolutely unwilling for the Sui Dynasty to occupy Huining's mineral deposits, he was in charge of government affairs, and he knew what those silver and copper mines meant, whether it was for the Tang Dynasty or the Sui Dynasty, it was an immeasurable wealth.

But on the other hand, he did not want his father to start a war with the Sui army for the minerals, once he failed, not only would Huining County be completely occupied by the Sui army, but at the same time, other negotiations would be more passive.

Li Jiancheng was in a dilemma, and at this time, Li Yuan's eyes looked at him, meaning to ask for his opinion.

Li Jiancheng bit his lip and said in a deep voice: "Father, Erchen absolutely does not want the mineral deposits of Huining County to be taken away by the Sui army, Erchen feels that he should fight with the Sui army and compete for Huining County, even if he loses, he can't show weakness, this is a matter of dignity in the Tang Dynasty, if we give in like this, then Huining County will be Wuwei County after it, and Yang Yuanqing will encroach on our territory step by step." ”

After a pause, Li Jiancheng said again: "The key is that even if we lose, Huining County will not be ceded by us, we can give an explanation to the subjects of the Tang Dynasty, and in addition, set the tone for retaking it by force in the future." ”

Li Yuan nodded slowly, "The emperor's words are very agreeable, we can't just give up Huining County, no matter what, we must give an explanation to the people of the world." ”

Speaking of this, Li Yuan resolutely ordered, "Quickly order Li Shentong, the general of the Right Yiwei, to come to see me!" ”……

Li Yuan was never willing to let Huining County, which is rich in minerals, be taken away by the Sui army, and in order to give an explanation to the government and the opposition and the nobles of Guanlong, he resolutely decided to send troops to Huining County, and ordered his brother, Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an County and the general of Youyiwei, to be the governor of Guannei Province and lead an army of 30,000 troops to Huining County