"Bang!" Before Xi Fengchang could say what he said, a Xixia envoy below jumped up and shouted: "You Song people are so unreasonable and hateful. Do you really think that I, the Western Dynasty, are easy to bully? "
Following his roar, more envoys stood up and glared at Sun Tu, making clear their uncompromising attitude: "We will never allow the Song people to bully others like this!"
Seeing that they suddenly turned against each other, dozens of guards guarding outside the hall also rushed in, each with their guns drawn and swords drawn. They looked like they were facing a formidable enemy, which frightened the officials of the Song Dynasty who were accompanying them. light. Immediately, someone tried to smooth things over and said, "Lieutenant Sun, there's no need for this. They are guests from afar, they just have different opinions."
Sun Tu also laughed at this time, waved his hand, and said to the soldiers: "Why are you nervous? The guest is just a little drunk, why won't you leave?" Seeing this, the soldiers quickly exited the door, and he Then he continued to look at the angry Xia people with a smile and said: "Why, did I say something wrong? Didn't your Xia Kingdom profess to me, the Song Dynasty, decades ago? Since you are a minister, you should have ministers. Look, do you really have different intentions?"
This sentence really stopped them. A few years ago, perhaps these Xia people would have really dared to confront the Song Dynasty, and they would not be afraid of enmity face to face. Anyway, the Song army would not dare to invade Xixia at will. But today is different from the past. The gap in national power between the two sides is getting wider and wider. If they continue to be enemies with Song Dynasty, Xixia will really be in danger of subjugation. This made their momentum weaken instantly. They could only sit back angrily and whispered: "Even so, we can't leave no room for it..."
Xi Fengchang calmed down at this time, stared at Sun Tu and said: "Is this the intention of the emperor of your country, or is it just the intention of you, Taiwei Sun?"
"Well, this is both my intention and His Majesty's intention." Sun Tu gave an ambiguous answer, and then said: "In addition, this is not a discussion with you, but the attitude of my Majesty. If you If you still want to have further contact with me, the Song Dynasty, these two conditions are fundamental. If you can't do it, there is no need to discuss anything.
"Because it can be seen from this that the Xia Kingdom and the Song Dynasty have never been of the same mind. The so-called surrender now is just a temporary expediency. Maybe at some point, you will fall to the Liao Kingdom or someone else." A country that is rising again. Too many things like this have happened, we can’t always be fooled by you, right?”
"Liu Taiwei, you and I have a long-term friendship, and the national master Jie Sangwali has helped you and saved you many times. Is this how you treat your friends?" It was no longer possible to convince Sun Tu from the official point of view, so Xi Fengchang said I can only be moved by emotion.
But Sun Tu's response made his heart sink even more: "Public is public, private is private. Since Sun is an official of the imperial court and occupies a high position, he cannot affect the overall situation of the imperial court because of his own private affairs. What you did to me back then I will never forget your kindness and will definitely repay it when the time comes. However, this matter is related to the interests of the Song Dynasty, so there is no possibility of giving in. Only when you formally write a letter to me, the Song Dynasty, and sever all ties with the Liao Dynasty. I will order the troops and horses at the border to be taken back after I go to the emperor and take the title of Lord of the country!"
After a pause, he narrowed his eyes again: "Besides, I'm not afraid to tell you the truth.
Qing, if you hadn't sent an envoy to Tokyo in time this time, our Western Army would have used troops against Xixia this year. You should also know that the reason why your Xia people were able to establish a country was because Yuan Hao and his men stole a large area of land in the west of our Song Dynasty decades ago, especially the Hehuang land that was crucial to our Song Dynasty. In the past few decades, many people with lofty ideals in our Song Dynasty have thought about taking back that large area of land. Now the north has successfully taken back the Sixteenth State of Youyun, and then taken back the land of Hehuang, and even took the entire fortress of Jiangnan into its hands to attack us. It's nothing to say. "
These words immediately caused Xi Fengchang and others' expressions to change drastically, and sweat broke out on their foreheads. They really didn't expect that the Song people had already started planning to expand westward. If this was true, the Xia Kingdom would be really in danger.
You must know that there are indeed many problems in the Xia Kingdom today. The most serious ones are the lack of horses, food and iron. In addition to self-produced horses and iron tools, they can also be purchased from the Liao Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom is also willing to use these for military use at low prices. The supplies were sold to Xixia, allowing it to continue to hold back the elites of the Song Dynasty. But now, due to the civil strife in the Liao Dynasty, it was difficult to protect itself. As a result, trade between the two countries was almost cut off. Horses and iron tools in the Xixia Kingdom became a big problem.
As for food, it has nothing to do with the Liao Kingdom. It is entirely due to the endless strife in Xia that led to a food shortage. From last year to this year, there were several natural disasters in the Xia Kingdom, which made the food shortage more serious. In the end, they could only think of blaming the Song Kingdom.
But now, luckily, before this request was made, they heard the bad news that the Song Army was about to go on an expedition, which naturally made them feel uneasy. Even if they felt that Sun Tu's statement was mostly an empty intimidation, they still didn't dare to completely disbelieve it.
After some entanglement and hesitation, Xi Fengchang finally said with difficulty: "The two requirements you mentioned, Taiwei Sun, are indeed too difficult for us, and it is not for me and other ministers to make the decision, so..."
"You can bring the news back first. Whether it succeeds or not depends on the decision of the head of your country." Sun Tu behaved very well, but this time his title had changed. This made Xia Ren's expression change again, but he It’s not good to object to protests.
Seeing this, Sun Tu raised three fingers again: "By the way, I have a third request."
"But...but what is it?" Unexpectedly, he was so pushy. In addition to those two huge problems, he actually had a third request. This made Xi Fengchang feel that his head was as big as a bucket, and he began to regret coming here. One trip. It turned out that he relied on his friendship with Sun Tu, and thought he could start to persuade the other party to be the envoy. He didn't want the other party to completely turn his back on him.
Sun Tu smiled again: "This matter is much simpler. I have long known that you, the Xia people, like to use time. Not only have you planted many spies in the Liao Kingdom, but also in our Song Dynasty. Since you have surrendered to our Song Dynasty, , then there is no need for these people to exist, I want you to hand over all their identity lists."
"This is impossible!" Xi Fengchang shouted immediately. He felt that the conditions proposed by Sun Tu were indeed harsher than the others. The last one is even more unacceptable, because it is not only related to the lives of many people, but also related to the credibility of the entire Xia Kingdom.
Those spies are the most loyal people in the Xia Dynasty's army. They travel thousands of miles for the sake of the country regardless of their own safety.
Sneaking into various places in the Song Dynasty, always being careful and making countless meritorious deeds, that is a real hero. Now, Sun Tu actually asked him to hand over everyone's list, which meant that he would push them to a dead end. This was something that no one could accept.
Once this is done, there will be losses, not to mention the losses. I am afraid that no one in the Xia army or civilians will be willing to take the risk to do such a thing in the future. After all, for any secret agent, the court behind them is the only guarantee they can trust. If they don't have this, they will really die.
Seeing the other party's categorical refusal, Sun Tu just smiled without any further pressure. But just this smile still made people feel a burst of pressure. It was obvious that if they were unwilling to agree to this request, it would be impossible for the Xia people to pass their previous request, and even the Song Dynasty would send troops accordingly.
All the officials from the Song Dynasty who were accompanying the wine below were dumbfounded. They really didn't expect that Sun Tu would behave so aggressively today, leaving no room for the other party step by step. Every request will be difficult for the Xia people to accept, and the losses will be huge. Whether in name or in reality, it will bring a lot of benefits to the Song Dynasty.
They were even in a daze, feeling that all this was so unreal. You must know that just a few years ago, the Song Dynasty was still a country that was always ripped off by Liao, Xia and other countries, and had to pinch its nose to suffer losses. Not to mention anything else, just the tax coins given every year, in many officials It seems to be an extremely difficult thing to accept.
But now it's good. In just a few years, Sun Tu began to force Qi Xia to give up his dignity and hand over the spy list. It really gave people a feeling of pride and pride, and also made many people have a good impression of Sun Tu. After all, everyone knew that the reason why the Song Dynasty was what it is today was still in Sun Tu, the Taiwei.
When Sun Tu saw Xi Fengchang's troubled face, he did not continue to press. Instead, he waved his hand magnanimously and said: "I know you can't give me an answer for the time being, so you can do the same as those two and wait. Think about it before talking. But I have to remind you, I may be able to wait, but the patience of frontline soldiers is very limited, so you have to hurry up."
Xi Fengchang smiled bitterly, what difference does it make? Immediately, he said with a bit of expectation: "Can you change the third rule and let me take all the people away?" This would at least save their lives.
But Sun Tu shook his head: "No. You said you brought everyone back, but how can I believe it? Well, you just need to give me fifty spies, and the others can be brought back. But , if our Song Dynasty officials find out that there are Xixia secret spies in the future, it means that you are declaring war on our Song Dynasty, and when the war breaks out again, it will not be our responsibility."
At this point, Xi Fengchang knew that it was impossible to continue the conversation. At the same time, if he didn't talk about it, he couldn't eat the food no matter how delicious it was. He could only stand up and leave with some helplessness. He had to go to someone to discuss it first, and then report these things to the court. Finally, it was up to the emperor to make the decision.
It was only then that he truly understood that the so-called negotiation had no skills at all. In the final analysis, it was strength that mattered. The Song Dynasty was now much stronger than Xixia, so Sun Tu could make all kinds of unreasonable demands, but they There was not even a chance to object in person.