The wind in Lingzhou is very strong. When Guo Shao stayed here, he felt that the houses in the northwest were generally lower than those in the Central Plains. He didn't know whether it was due to the construction technology and materials, or because the buildings that were too high were easily blown down.
The accompanying officials successively held banquets to entertain the leaders of various ethnic groups, but Guo Shao never met them in person.
He was in a room, looking over a map on the wall. He was holding a candle in his hand, and the wind blew in through the cracks in the doors and windows, causing the candle to flicker and the light in the low house to dim.
At this moment, the door creaked and the wind suddenly became stronger. Guo Shao quickly used his big palm to block the direction of the wind.
Wei Renpu's voice said: Your Majesty, I went to the banquet and the situation is good.
Guo Shao did not even turn his head: At this time, the Tibetan tribes were scattered and Buddhism was flourishing, so the threat was not that big; the Western Region Uighurs and Ganzhou Uighurs were at most a threat to the Guiyi Army's territory. The Dangxiang were the most important.
Wei Renpu said: Your Majesty is absolutely right. I have also heard from many sources that all the Dangxiang people are soldiers and value martial arts. They only serve our dynasty in name only, so we must not take it lightly.
The information Guo Shao now knew matched the memories of the Western Xia Kingdom in his mind.
He had forgotten the specific historical knowledge he learned in textbooks, and couldn't remember exactly when the Western Xia Kingdom was founded. It should have been during the Northern Song Dynasty. Anyway, this country was very difficult to deal with, and it stood firm for hundreds of years.
Now Guo Shao is thinking that it is not a very appropriate time for Dangxiang to establish a country recently, but he is afraid that after the war with Liao is deadlocked, the northwest side will take advantage of the opportunity to invade.
At this time, Guo Shao's biggest dream was to defeat the Liao Kingdom and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. He had to avoid various unfavorable factors in advance.
Guo Shao remained silent for a long time.
Wei Renpu said: "As long as the Lingzhou trade is smooth and the Hexi trade route is unblocked, our dynasty will be able to obtain war horses continuously. Everyone is looking for profit, and there must be middlemen who will trade horses with us. If there are few war horses, it means that the profit we give them is not big enough."
Guo Shao suddenly changed the subject: Li Yiyin really has a daughter named Li Yueji
Wei Renpu hurriedly said: "It is true. I have asked the Dangxiang people, and this woman is quite famous. Many Dangxiang people have heard of her reputation. She is just a barbarian woman with a strange appearance. She has not been educated and does not know the truth. How is the real person?"
Guo Shaodao: It doesn’t matter what kind of person she is, as long as she is indeed Li Yiyin’s daughter.
Wei Renpu said: "Yes, if we use our own daughters for marriage, the Dangxiang people will still be very sincere and give a lot of dowry. When the Han and Tang dynasties married with other ethnic groups, they rarely used real princesses, but the Central Plains would only marry if they were sincere and harmonious."
Guo Shao nodded in agreement and said casually: If Li Yiyin wanted to rebel, he wouldn't have to send his daughter here to take the risk.
In this era, signing peace treaties was not a popular form of diplomatic relations, as civilized order had not yet reached that level; alliances were more direct and primitive, namely, marriages between princesses and concubines.
From a modern perspective, Guo Shao had no favorable impression of the Han and Tang dynasties' policy of marriage alliance. However, in the eyes of people at that time, marriage alliance was a very good means, and sacrificing a woman in exchange for peace was a completely worthwhile thing to do. In addition, the dynasty also had some ideas that women in the courts of other countries could have an influence beneficial to the country.
A few days later, Guo Shao received a report that the Tanguts had sent a nobleman named Mo Zang to meet him. Guo Shao immediately received the man, mainly out of courtesy, and then sent Wei Renpu to discuss matters with him in person.
Mo Zang came as a matchmaker to discuss the marriage. This kind of marriage is different from the folk marriage. Etiquette is not the most important thing, what is important is bargaining.
Mo Zang hoped that the court would give him the two states of Fu and Lin as a betrothal gift, and also wanted one thousand sets of new armor for the Zhou army; to replace Feng Jiye, the violent governor of Lingzhou, to ensure peaceful coexistence, to stop burning, killing and looting the Dangxiang tribes, and to promise to pretend to have two thousand war horses, and to allow the Dangxiang people from Xiazhou and other states to go to Lingzhou for trade; to pay tribute to the Great Zhou mainly.
Wei Renpu readily agreed to the last condition. Replacing Feng Jiye was part of the emperor's plan.
Then he directly refused to cede the two states. Wei Renpu's reason was: these two pieces of land could not be negotiated. Linzhou and Fuzhou were the hometowns of the great generals of the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhe family and the Yang family. If the court ceded them to the Dangxiang, where would the two be placed
After Wei Renpu finished speaking, he tried to appease them again, saying that the court would increase the amount of money and property in the betrothal gifts to compensate the Dangxiang.
As for the armor, Wei Renpu kept it a secret because it would be difficult to directly reject two of the Dangxiang people's three conditions without appearing to be insincere.
Wei Renpu said: The Tubo Ganzhou Uighurs also hope that the Great Zhou will trade armor, and they are willing to exchange it for the best war horses.
As expected, Mo Zang immediately dissuaded them, saying: The Dingnan Army is a minister of the court and obeys the emperor's orders; but the Tibetan Uighurs do not obey the imperial edict, and the court should not grant weapons to outsiders.
Wei Renpu knew what Mei Zang meant. In the southeastern part of the Hexi Corridor, the Tibetans were fighting for territory with some Dangxiang tribes, and the Ganzhou Uighurs also had an alliance with the Tibetans. Trading armor with the Tibetans would be extremely disadvantageous to the Dangxiang tribes.
Wei Renpu said: "The emperor hopes to live in harmony with all tribes in the northwest and avoid war. If the armor is given to Xiazhou, I am afraid that the Tubo and other tribes will think that the court is unfair. At this time, the emperor is discussing with the ministers to sell the armor to all tribes or not to any of them. The situation is forced, so the envoy will tell the King of Xiping, and hope that he will understand the emperor's difficulties."
Mei Zang remained noncommittal and was obviously not very satisfied with the betrothal gift.
Wei Renpu hurried to see Guo Shao.
Guo Shao said: Don't talk about collapse. Although Linzhou Prefecture is desolate, its geographical location is important. There is no room for negotiation. We must not cede the land. You can promise Mei Zang that according to the imperial etiquette, I should have one queen and four wives, but so far I only have two wives. If Li Yue'e marries into the royal family, I will confer her the title of virtuous concubine.
Wei Renpu could not help but say: Your Majesty, the status of the concubine is very high. If a Tangut woman is the imperial concubine, will she also have something to do with the government
Guo Shaodao: She is a Tangut woman, and she is unfamiliar with the place in Tokyo. What can she do? Giving her status and position will be better than giving up important land.
Wei Renpu nodded and said: Your Majesty is absolutely right.
Wei Renpu met with Mo Zang again and proposed new conditions. He also persuaded Mo Zang that the establishment of Fulin and Linzhou was not to deal with Dingnan's army, but to guard against Liao. This place was related to the safety of Hedong, and the government did not dare to give it to anyone at will.
Mo Zang asked: If Your Majesty agrees to confer the title of Consort on the Princess, can you first grant the Imperial Edict and Golden Book
Wei Renpu understood that Mei Zang really valued the status of Tangut women, and he immediately said: As long as the deal is reached, there should be no problem.
Wei Renpu also had some thoughts in his mind. He thought that the status of concubine in the harem would be of little use, but he was afraid that if the Dangxiang women were really favored, it would really affect the national policy.