At this time, there were a row of low wooden tables standing on the left and right sides of the hall.
Seated on the left are a group of civil servants and generals from the Tang Dynasty, about fifteen people in total.
Seated on the right are Goguryeo people wearing exotic costumes, headed by Mochizuki Dagong, and there are about ten people.
At this time, many people gathered here to discuss peace matters.
In fact, the peace negotiation has been discussed for nearly three days. However, although the preliminary plan for the peace negotiation has been finalized, all parties are dissatisfied with the details.
As the Right Prime Minister, Wei Zheng was the person leading the peace talks. At this time, he began to say: "Ambassador Wangyue, the territory has been acquired and cannot be returned. Your demands are really too much! If you don't make compromises anymore, then
You and I will always be enemies!"
No wonder Wei Zheng was so angry. This time, Wang Yue Dagong's request was that all Goguryeo territory that the Tang Dynasty had occupied would be returned.
As compensation for the defeated country, Wangyue Dagong's side will recognize the Tang Dynasty as its suzerain state, bow its head, and pay an annual tribute of 300,000 taels of gold and high-quality goods.
If Goguryeo had done that before the war, it would have been able to live in harmony with the Tang court.
The problem is that the war has already broken out, and Muchuan has successfully captured one-fifth of the territory of Goguryeo. The Tang Dynasty has the advantage. In this case, as the victorious country, the Tang Dynasty will naturally reap the benefits.
Mochizuki Dagong's compensation plan was very insincere, so Wei Zheng and his party discussed another plan.
One-fifth of the territory captured by the Goguryeo Kingdom will be fully integrated into the Tang Dynasty. Goguryeo will bow to the outside world and pay 200,000 taels of gold and corresponding tributes every year.
However, the plan proposed by Wei Zheng was not agreeable to Mochizuki Dagong, so the two sides faced off and competed with each other.
Wang Yue Dagong said this time: "You Prime Minister, it's not that we are not sincere, in my opinion it is you who are not sincere!"
"Ambassador Mochizuki, please don't go too far. The place you are standing on is imperial territory, and as a defeated country, you have no right to bargain!"
"Is that really the case?
Could it be that Prime Minister Wei is deceiving me that no one in Goguryeo can analyze the current situation and understand current events?"
Wangyue Dagong held the feather fan in his hand and made an enigmatic look. Then he began to explain the whole story to the civil and military ministers of the Tang Dynasty.
Although Datang, as the victor, took all the advantages, the current situation of Datang was simply unable to start another war with Goguryeo.
In the south of the Tang Dynasty, there was an autumn harvest in the northwest, and in Gyeonggi Province there was a rat infestation. The internal worries were very obvious.
Moreover, they would not be afraid if they wanted to fight against Goguryeo. The reason why Goguryeo lost in the battle in the Northeast a few months ago was entirely due to negligence.
Although the Tang Dynasty occupied one-fifth of the territory of Goguryeo, the soldiers of Goguryeo had not lost their vitality, and they could reorganize the army and fight back.
If there is another war, the worst-case scenario is that both countries will suffer losses.
"When it comes to comprehensive national strength, our country of Goguryeo is indeed far inferior to the Tang Dynasty, but if we include Silla, Baekje and the surrounding satellite countries?"
We all know the truth behind the death of lips and teeth. If Goguryeo was annexed by the Tang Dynasty, other countries would not sit idly by and watch, right?
If war really breaks out, Goguryeo can unite with other countries to attack.
This time Wangyue Dagong eloquently described the pros and cons, much like Zhuge Liang's attitude of talking to the Confucian scholars.
All the civil and military ministers of the Tang Dynasty looked at each other in shock, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.
In an instant, the atmosphere on the court fell to freezing point, and even Wei Zheng, who had always been eloquent, was speechless.
It was at this time that Shangguan Jin spoke: "In my opinion, how about we both take a step back?"
Shangguan Jin proposed another plan, which was to return only half of the fifth of the territory captured by the Tang Dynasty and divide some cities.
As a defeated country, Goguryeo had to surrender and pay tribute in money.
After everyone heard this plan, they all understood that it was a compromise plan, but the territorial issue made both parties unsatisfied.
Therefore, Wangyue Dagong said: "Presumably Datang also needs to go back and think carefully about it, right?
How about we wait until the discussion is complete before making a decision?"
"It's done."
Wei Zheng agreed.
After all, the peace negotiations between the two countries involve many things, and Wei Zheng cannot make the decision alone. He still needs to go back and report to the emperor Li Shimin for further judgment.
At noon, the sky was gloomy, and the light fell on the Hubu official residence in Chang'an City. The entire official residence looked sparkling and beautiful.
With tall red beams and pillars, a stone statue of Pixiu standing in front of the door, and gold tiles and red walls, the entire official residence now looks completely new.
Why such a change?
Of course the Ministry of Finance spent a lot of money to renovate the official residence!
In fact, among the six ministers of the Ministry of Finance, the official residence of the Ministry of Hubu is the poorest, with shabby and old furniture. This is probably because the previous Minister of the Ministry of Hubu upheld the virtuous style of "diligence and frugality".
But when Muchuan became the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he did not like "thrift and frugality". After all, he knew very well that instead of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, in order to make the country rich and the treasury sufficient, it was more important to find ways to increase income, rather than save.
Under Muchuan's conscientious management, the national treasury became more abundant, and the household department was not as poor as it was in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, Muchuan naturally had to carry out large-scale construction and repairs to the palace.
When he first arrived at the official residence, Muchuan walked back and forth towards the Hube official residence, his face full of admiration.
"Not bad, this is where people live!"
"It seems that the adults are very satisfied?"
Ouyang Bufan was standing nearby, smiling and talking.
Muchuan nodded: "Yes, I am very satisfied. You did a good job this time, Bufan! But how much did it cost to repair the palace?"
"No more, no more, just three thousand taels of gold."
Hearing that three thousand taels of gold were actually spent, even Muchuan couldn't bear it anymore. He couldn't help but glare at Ouyang Bufan and asked: "Is your kid corrupt?
It’s so expensive to repair the palace!”
Three thousand taels of gold can feed an army!
If it is used to repair the palace, compared with the palace where the imperial concubines live, it only requires one hundred taels of gold. As a result, the repair of this household official residence actually costs three thousand taels of gold, which is thirty times the normal cost. It is no wonder that Muchuan
Questions will be raised.
Ouyang Bufan shouted that he was wronged: "Sir, do I need to embezzle money in my capacity?
It’s just spent so much money!”
If it were just to repair the official residence of the Ministry of Finance, it would not cost so much money. The key is that Muchuan also listed many requirements, such as expanding the palace, building gardens, laying ceramic tiles, adding calculation tools for the Ministry of household affairs, etc.
