The Earl of Villa is also extremely cunning. Depressed, Du Wei peeked at this guy. I thought to myself: He wants to evade responsibility, and deliberately puts the burden on me... Whether it is war or peace, it has a lot to do with it. !
Besides, Du Wei has dealt with Count Villa several times, so he knows how tactful this guy is. When he was in the imperial capital that day, Du Wei had a conflict with the steward of Count Villa's house in the slave market. The count actually broke the leg of the steward just to show his favor, and threw him at the gate of his Duke's mansion. for a day.
This kind of thing is done at the expense of his own face, it can be seen that this Earl is a very tolerant person! In fact, he didn't need to bow his head to Du Wei at all. Although Du Wei has a higher title than him, he is also favored by Prince Chen. But Earl Villa is also an old friend of Prince Chen before he became the regent, and he has always been an old man on the side of Prince Chen. Otherwise, after the coup, he would not have skyrocketed and immediately divided up the original Solomon family. industry.
He would rather lose face than show weakness to Du Wei. Such a person... should be careful instead
Thinking of this, Du Wei smiled slowly: "Master Earl..."
Villa quickly laughed and said, "You and I are old friends too, so this address is too strange. Like this. Anyway, there are no outsiders now, and we will keep it private in the future. Don't call me Earl, I don't respect you Duke either." , everyone, take it easy."
Du Wei thought about it. He smiled and said, "That's right. You are much older than me, and you were once my father's old friend. If you don't mind, I'll just call you Uncle Villa."
The earl laughed: "Then in private from now on. I'll just call you Du Wei. Just don't think I'm taking advantage of you."
After the two of them had been courteous for a while, you called "Uncle Villa" and I called "Du Wei", and they were very affectionate. Seeing that the fire was almost ready, Du Wei smiled and said, "Uncle Villa. Your family has quite a lot of business dealings with the prairie. You are also familiar with all the affairs on the prairie. This negotiation. Although the regent is in name I am in charge. But I am young and inexperienced. Some embarrassing things in the middle will depend on you to preside over them."
Villa immediately shook his head and said with a smile: "This is out of the question! Du Wei. Although you are young, when it comes to fame, you are more than ten times older than me. Now on the mainland, who doesn't know who the Duke of Tulip is? A genius magician? And although you have only been in the Northwest for one year, you have created countless miracles, not to mention. This time the prairie people sneaked in... Although the military exploits were taken by the Northwest Army guys, but people with discerning eyes know it. The Northwest Army It's just an impostor, you are the one who really defeated the Golden Wolf Head. His Highness Chen values you, and it's a matter of course. This time, you will do your part! I... just wave the flag for you by the side."
Du Wei didn't take it seriously in his heart, and secretly scolded this guy for being cunning, but he smiled more and more affectionately on his face: "Uncle Villa's compliment made me a little embarrassed! Anyway, you are older than me. This government official things. You are much more familiar with it than I am... "
"It's just that I was born a few years earlier. It's just that I have grown older. Du Wei. This negotiation. If there is anything you don't understand about the joint, I will tell you everything. His Highness Chen sent me to assist You. I will try my best to be your assistant."
The two walked around for a long time, but this Villa clung to the word "assistance" tightly, and Du Wei sighed. I knew that the other party would not accept this hot potato. Can't help laughing wryly, and gave up the distracting thoughts in my heart. Finally, after contemplating for a while, he suppressed his smile and said solemnly: "In this case... Uncle Villa, you came from the imperial capital, and now in the imperial capital... what is the tone of the military department and His Highness Chen?"
Suddenly, a trace of disapproval flashed in Villa's eyes: "Military department? Hmph... What can the big bosses in the command department do, but they quarrel three times a day, and the sky is dark. His Highness Chen is also tireless. Sigh, you don't know , Now the High Command is arguing internally, whether to fight or not. Then the High Command is arguing with the Ministry of Finance about how much to increase the military budget. Then, the Ministry of Finance is arguing with the Oversight Office, blaming the Oversight Office for its inability to control intelligence. Finally, the Oversight The department quarreled with the command again, blaming the Northwest Army for not cooperating with the intelligence collection work... The imperial capital is in chaos, and I'm going to say a few unpleasant words here... Hmph, if this quarrel continues, it will just be a joke for the grassland people! I think His Highness Chen assigned the matter to you this time, and moved the venue of the negotiation to Loulan City, in order not to let the grassland people see our internal strife and lose his prestige."
Du Wei was furious when he heard this. This villa is rambling, talking about gossip in the current imperial capital... But how can Du Wei use him to tell these things? I have a source of news from the imperial capital! This Villa kept his mouth shut, and refused to reveal anything.
Thinking of this, Du Wei couldn't help showing some dissatisfaction on his face. He snorted, put down his teacup, and said lightly, "Uncle Villa, the door is closed now, and there are no outsiders. You and I talk, after we go out, No third person will know. I sincerely ask... Whether it is war or peace, what do you mean in private?"
Seeing that Du Wei was getting impatient, Villa also knew that he couldn't pretend anymore, and it was not good to pretend to be a turtle too much. He just smiled: "Du Wei, you are impatient. Well... If you really have to ask me to see it..."
He took a sip of tea slowly, then glanced at the closed door, lowered his voice, "No way!"
Du Wei nodded, and continued to stare at him closely. Villa was helplessly stared at by Du Wei, so he continued to add: "This is what we said in private... Well, in my opinion, the grassland and our empire now seem to be a young man who is about to grow up." , and a strong man who is seriously ill! Both sides are covetous, eager to knock each other down with a punch, but they both have scruples in their hearts. The young man is still underage. His strength has not matured, and he just wants to procrastinate for a while. Let yourself The stronger the body, the better the chances of winning. As for the sick man, he suffered a serious illness and lost his strength. I also want to delay for a few more days until I recover from my illness. My strength has recovered."
Du Wei smiled: "Then let's put it this way. Everyone doesn't want to fight anymore."
"It's not all like this." Villa sighed helplessly: "Both sides know their own situation, but they also know each other's situation. Although young people understand that they need time to grow up, they are also worried that the other party will get sick if time passes. Han's illness is cured. Fighting is more strenuous. And the sick man also thinks that although he is not recovering from illness, if he really waits until the day when he recovers, the young man will become an adult. He will be more powerful. Fighting will be more difficult. It's even more difficult... This is the current contradiction."
In fact, Du Wei also knew what Villa said. But he always needs to force the deputy to stand up. Think here. He continued to ask: "Since it's a contradiction, why do you say that you can't fight, Uncle Villa? I think it's better to have a short-term pain than a long-term pain. Since I'm afraid that it will be troublesome in the future, why don't you just pay the price right now? Beat this young man to the ground. Even if you lose more, it will be done once and for all."
Count Villa's heart skipped a beat. Looking at Du Wei's ruthless eyes, his heart suddenly jumped: This kid is ruthless enough! However, he immediately said: "Your idea is the same as those of the main fighters in the current imperial capital. But... I see. Although this argument is reasonable, it is too difficult to implement. Come on. Once we have a clear understanding of the grassland What should we do with the Northwest Army? Let the Northwest Army go to the grasslands, let alone whether we can mobilize these warlords... Hehe, what if they don't obey the order? Should we mobilize the troops from the north and the south? Or send the Wangcheng Guards to the northwest? How will the Northwest Army react? In case of a fight, it’s okay for the Northwest Army to help us. If they stab us in the back...it’s bad.”
This sentence hits the point.
The current state of the empire. It really can't afford to lose in a war! It doesn't matter whether it is Prince Chen who has just ascended to the throne. It is also a diseased empire. All you need now is stability!
Du Wei saw that Villa had said something true. Only then did he smile with satisfaction: "From this point of view, what Uncle Villa said is really good. It seems that he can't beat him!"
Villa hurriedly said: "This... This is just my own opinion. I can't be sure! Du Wei, as the person who is fully responsible for this time, you can listen to it and not follow it blindly. It's a big idea. I still want you It's good for yourself. His Highness Chen has great trust in you. Moreover, I don't think His Highness has made a decision now, so he will hand over the power to you. If you decide to fight, I think His Highness will probably support you. Before I came, I heard that in the imperial capital, His Highness summoned several bigwigs from the military into the palace for two days in a row and talked about the dawn all night long!"
Du Wei sneered in his heart, did he really delegate power to himself? I'm afraid I'm making myself a villain!
Du Wei came from the world of his previous life, so he naturally knew the truth of "a weak country has no diplomacy"! Just imagine, if you were the spokesperson of the United States' foreign affairs, you would naturally have unlimited scenery. If you want to fight Iraq, you can fight Iraq, and if you want to fight Afghanistan, you can fight Afghanistan. But if it was Li Hongzhang in the late Qing Dynasty, would it be miserable
The most unfortunate thing is that whether it is war or peace, I am afraid that I will offend a group of dignitaries in the imperial capital.
If you advocate war yourself, you will offend the doves. If the main peace, it will offend the hawks.
After talking with Villa for a while, the old fox excused himself from the long journey and went down to rest first. Du Wei immediately found Philip to discuss. Du Wei is relying more and more on this rapidly growing staff now, and the generals around him, such as Longbottom, looked down on this frail young man at first, but gradually respected him later, and privately felt that this young man Man is definitely a prime minister.
After talking with Du Wei for a while, Philip thought for a while, and suddenly proposed a solution.
"My lord duke, I think it's up to you to fight or not! This decision-making power is a hot potato. Since Prince Chen threw it to you, can't you throw it to someone else?"
Du Wei smiled wryly and said, "I want to throw it to Villa, but this guy is slippery than oil, and he refuses to be fooled."
Philip smiled and said in a low voice: "You can't throw it away to your own people... Then, why not throw it to the prairie people?"
"Huh?" Du Wei's eyes lit up! These words were like a ray of light, immediately illuminating the fog in my heart. Du Wei glanced at Philip appreciatively, then smiled and said, "Good Philip, your ideas have become more and more cunning over the past year!"
Philip also smiled slightly, bowed and said: "Working beside adults... well, what was that sentence you said to me at the beginning... Ah, yes: when you get close to red, you will turn red, and if you get close to black, you will turn black. "
Du Wei was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "What... I said that the ground is close to vermilion, and close to ink is black!"
It seems that the people of the Roland Empire really can't understand the real oriental culture. But Du Wei came to his senses immediately, and scolded with a smile: "Good Philip, you are turning a corner. Did you learn your despicableness from me?"
Philip smiled slightly: "When you get close to vermilion, you get red; when you get close to ink, you get black!"
With some ideas, Du Wei immediately relaxed a lot. So he ordered to start preparing for the negotiations.
Count Villa brought a carriage full of documents. There are two big boxes in it, which are the minutes of the negotiations in the imperial capital for many days. Du Wei roughly flipped through it, but there was nothing real. The paper was full of records of some things that the two sides spat at each other, and there was really no nutritious content.
It was as if two vicious and introverted guys were yelling at each other, "Hit me!" "Hit me first!" "Hit me first!" "Hit me first!"
The spittle of these politicians and the quarrels with urchins are actually nothing more than more flowery rhetoric.
Hmm... Throwing this hot potato to the prairie people... is an excellent idea!