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Jinling City.
Xiao Qi’s message had arrived in Jinling City just two days ago, and immediately after, news of Huaizhou City’s fall arrived.
Upon hearing this news, the Prince of Wei collapsed into his seat.
“Father King, things are very clear now. If we don’t sign the truce agreement, Xiao Ming will continue to conquer cities and seize land, and the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Zhao will only stand by. After all, it’s Father King’s refusal to agree to the truce conditions that led to the fall of Huaizhou.”
Xiao Han’s face was anxious. In this situation, his father was still stubborn and unyielding like a stone in an outhouse. If this continued, all the cities in Wei’s territory would belong to Xiao Ming, so what land would he, the heir, have left to inherit in the future?
Therefore, after Huaizhou fell, he immediately allied with loyal officials to go to the royal residence and advise.
The Prince of Wei on the throne stared blankly. In the last battle of Pengzhou, some of the defending troops managed to escape, but this time, the Huaizhou defenders were either killed or captured, with only a very few managing to escape.
The Battle of Pengzhou was a fluke, Tongzhou might also have been a fluke, but now that Huaizhou was also conquered, he finally realized the gap between the Wei army and the Qi army.
Without cannons and firearms, he simply could not defeat Xiao Ming.
“Your Highness, the most important thing now is a truce. Only by giving us time can we reorganize our army, otherwise Wei’s territory will be lost.”
Xiao Han looked heartbroken: “Father King, Xiao Qi’s painstaking efforts to form an alliance this time resulted in this truce agreement. If we don’t seize the opportunity, the other vassal kings will certainly ignore our Wei territory!”
The Prince of Wei’s face was extremely grim. He was once ambitious, ready to ascend the supreme throne of Chang’an, but now he could only live humbly in Xiao Ming’s shadow.
“Send someone to tell Xiao Qi that I have agreed to the terms of the truce agreement,” the Prince of Wei finally said, word by word.
Xiao Han and the officials immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Wei’s territory had thirteen prefectures. What did it matter if they lost three? As long as they could preserve their wealth and status, they could negotiate anything.
Soon, a lone rider carried the Prince of Wei’s message to Qingzhou.
Five days later, the five envoys met again.
Compared to ten-odd days ago, Zhan Xingchang was even more energetic now. The capture of Huaizhou had put all officials in the fief in a state of fervor.
Expanding territory was the duty of a minister, and now that they saw the fief’s territory growing day by day, they were naturally happy.
“Xiao Qi, that day I told you to sign it. Didn’t you bring this upon yourselves? Now Huaizhou is lost too.” Cui Zhang said sarcastically.
When Xiao Wenxuan was in power, the Prince of Wei’s fief was the largest in area, with the most cities and population.
Precisely for this reason, other vassal kings of different surnames were somewhat wary of him. However, even losing three cities now had not reached the point of crippling Wei’s territory.
Wang Xi’s expression was somewhat complex. King Qi’s army had taken another city in such a short time, which shocked him greatly. Thinking that the Prince of Zhao and the King of Shu had been fighting for over a month with no significant results, he grew even more wary of Xiao Ming.
However, his purpose in coming to Qingzhou this time was merely to mediate the alliance. Now, the Prince of Zhao was powerless to attack Xiao Ming with others, so even though he knew Xiao Ming had taken another city, he was helpless. If he said too much, he feared provoking Xiao Ming into providing large quantities of firearms to the King of Shu.
As the five of them were casually chatting, Xiao Ming walked in.
Lu Fei had already sent the battle report to Qingzhou. This time, Lu Fei’s easy capture of Huaizhou gave Xiao Ming a new understanding of the combat effectiveness of current feudal armies.
Previously, he had seemingly overestimated the armies of these vassal kings. Now, Lu Fei had proven the combat power of the vassal armies with facts, and he suddenly had a clear understanding.
As Pang Yukun said, Great Yu Empire was now in a state of widespread decay. This decay was not just limited to the imperial family; land annexation had also reached its peak in the fiefs of the various vassal kings.
The powerful families and gentry were already a cancerous growth, and now they had also plundered the wealth of the world. The battle report sent back by Ye Qingyun further illustrated this problem.
The indifference of the common people when they attacked Tongzhou City was astonishing.
So, after analyzing this issue, Xiao Ming realized that perhaps he could be bolder. After all, despite the numerous vassal kings, he was the only one undergoing fundamental reform.
“Your Highness.”
Xiao Ming arrived, and everyone stood to greet him.
At this point, Xiao Qi proactively said, “Your Highness, the Prince of Wei is willing to agree to the truce agreement and hopes it can be signed soon.”
“That’s right, Your Highness. We have been in Qingzhou for some time now. Calculating the days, it’s time for us to return. We hope Your Highness will make a decision soon.”
Xiao Ming did not speak, but instead suddenly spread a map on the table.
Everyone looked, and saw that it was a map of Wei’s territory, with the current cities of Wei’s territory and the cities that had already been captured marked on it.
When Xiao Qi saw this map, his face changed drastically, because besides the already captured cities being marked, a circle was drawn around Yangzhou.
“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?” Xiao Qi was both surprised and angry. He had already guessed a few things.
“It’s simple. Besides Pengzhou, Tongzhou, and Huaizhou cities belonging to me, also cede Yangzhou and pay five million taels of silver in compensation. Fulfill these conditions, and I will affix my seal to the truce agreement,” Xiao Ming said loudly.
Xiao Qi’s face suddenly flushed red. “Your Highness, you are going too far!”
“It’s the Prince of Wei who is going too far, isn’t it? This truce agreement was already giving him face, but he refused to accept it. In that case, he cannot blame me,” Xiao Ming’s tone was somewhat firm.
Zheng Hao looked at Xiao Qi, then at Xiao Ming, “Your Royal Highness King Qi, this is truly a bit excessive. Since Your Highness has taken Huaizhou, it’s fine to give Huaizhou to Your Highness, but how can Yangzhou be ceded?”
“The grudges between me and the Prince of Wei are many, and cannot be explained in a few words. Now, these are the conditions for a truce. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to take it personally.”
Xiao Qi and Zheng Hao exchanged glances. At this point, Zheng Hao said, “Since Your Highness is so aggressive, it seems we, Wei, Zhao, Yan, and Liang, will have to contend with Your Highness.”
Negotiations were inherently a form of argument, relying on words on the surface and strength beneath.
Mutual intimidation was also a form of negotiation. Now, Xiao Qi and Zheng Hao clearly wanted to use this tactic.
“You two, don’t drag Yan’s territory into this. The Prince of Wei has thirteen prefectures under his command. Ceding four prefectures as compensation is reasonable and logical. Besides, Wei’s territory is prosperous, and five million taels is a small sum, isn’t it?” Cui Zhang waved his hands repeatedly.
Wang Xi also smiled under Xiao Ming’s gaze, “Your Highness, I said nothing.”
Xiao Qi’s and Zheng Hao’s faces immediately looked awkward. This alliance had completely failed.
“So, the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Liang are preparing to go to war with me?” Xiao Ming said with a smile, “Then I can only accept the challenge!”