Chapter 1222: A Last Resort

Imperial City.

Emperor Wen had already received Yun Zheng's reply.

However, Emperor Wen was in no hurry to give Danqu a reply and deliberately left Danqu alone.

Before this, they had not guessed that Suzan and Chinpu might just be acting.

But Yun Zheng's letter made him keenly aware that Yun Zheng's guess was very likely to be true.

Since Xiqu wants to gain benefits from them, he must also find a way to gain more benefits from Xiqu.

Aren't they supposed to pay tribute?

The amount of tribute must be as much as possible!

Of course, you can't ask for too much.

It has to be within Xiqu's tolerance range, to avoid the negotiation falling through.

The biggest problem now is that if Xiqu thinks they have been fooled, they will not actually give Xiqu any benefits.

To be honest, this is quite difficult.

Even though Emperor Wen stayed in his palace all day long thinking hard, he could not think of a way to have the best of both worlds.

"How about we use the plan of the rebellious son Lao Liu?"

Emperor Wen thought silently, then took out the letter sent back by Yun Zheng and read it.

Use the potatoes to benefit Xiqu.

Anyway, this thing won't be kept hidden forever.

Once ground potatoes are fully promoted in Daqian, wouldn’t it be easy for Xiqu to get some?

It is equivalent to sending sweet potatoes to Daqian’s future territory in advance!

Emperor Wen pondered silently, still feeling somewhat reluctant.

The third brother had originally tried to get sweet potatoes, but was cheated out of millions of dan of grain by that rebellious son!

Now, he must be unhappy about giving the potatoes to Xiqu so easily.

Or, should we let Xiqu get more benefits?

"I have met His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Just then, the eunuch's voice came from the door.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wen immediately stuffed the letter in his hand under the mattress and lowered his head to think.

Soon, Yun Li walked into the bedroom and said, "Your Highness, I greet you, Father."

Emperor Wen was stunned for a moment, and when he "came to his senses", he waved to Yun Li again, "Come and sit down!"

"Yes!"

Yun Li came to sit next to Emperor Wen's couch and asked with concern, "Is Father feeling better today?"

"much better."

Emperor Wen smiled, "The weather is getting warmer, and I feel much more comfortable."

"Great! I will go to the temple to burn incense and fulfill my wish."

Yun Li was very happy.

He wasn't acting, he was genuinely happy.

Emperor Wen was sick all the time, and he was very nervous!

He still hoped that Emperor Wen could hold on for at least another two or three years.

"No wonder I feel better now. It turns out you went to the temple to pray for me."

Emperor Wen gently patted Yun Li's hand, "Are you here specially to visit me, or do you have something important to tell me?"

"Both."

Yun Li replied: "I just received news that my sixth brother has sent troops to attack the Li Dynasty."

"Really?"

Emperor Wen sat up in surprise, "Didn't this rebellious son cheat the court of money and supplies before?"

“Probably not.” Yun Li’s face was full of smiles. “Even if he wanted to cheat money and supplies before, the news that he wanted to attack the Li Dynasty has become a hot topic. He is riding a tiger and it is difficult to back down. He has no choice but to fight!”

Yun Zheng's attack on the Li Dynasty is definitely a good thing for Yun Li.

No matter whether that bastard wins or loses, he should not have the energy to cause trouble for me before the autumn harvest!

He can live a peaceful life for some time.

Of course, it would be even better if the bastard suffered heavy losses.

"Yeah!"

Emperor Wen let out a long breath and asked again: "How many troops did he send?"

"That's not clear."

Yun Li shook his head and said, "I just heard that they claim to have an army of 100,000. I don't know the exact number, but according to reliable information, he mobilized at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops. The elite troops of Shuobei should have been taken away."

The large-scale mobilization of the Northern Army would certainly not be hidden from his spies in Shuobei.

But his eyes were unable to obtain any more detailed information.

"The Yong Dynasty fought several times to conquer the Le Dynasty and sent hundreds of thousands of troops. How dare he attack the Le Dynasty with such a small force?" Emperor Wen snorted, "This rebellious son is really arrogant!"

Yun Li laughed, "After all, he is recognized as the best general in the world!"

"Forget it, don't mention this rebellious son."

Emperor Wen waved his hand, as if he didn't want to talk about Yun Zheng, and then asked Yun Li: "How did you talk with the Xiqu delegation?"

Yun Li shook his head, feeling a little worried. "The discussion didn't go very smoothly..."

It is inevitable that Xiqu will surrender!

But how much tribute to pay is still under discussion.

Xiqu was not a fool. It was impossible that Daqian would not give Xiqu any benefits. Xiqu would then pay tribute to Daqian with all its might and become the scapegoat.

Danqu secretly wanted Daqian to send troops to help Qinpu kill Suzan and regain the royal power.

The Xiqu delegation wanted to obtain the forging method of patterned steel from Daqian, and also requested Daqian to select a princess to marry Qinpu in order to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

They hoped that Xiqu's tribute would be mainly in the form of war horses, and as for the quantity, the more the better.

It has been several days, and the two sides still have not reached an agreement.

Yun Li was too lazy to negotiate in person now, so he ordered Xu Shifu and Xiao Wanchou to talk to Xiqu.

"So what do you think?"

Emperor Wen asked.

Yun Li: "What I want to say is that the forging method of patterned steel must not be handed over to Xiqu, and marriage should also be impossible! The court can sell tea, silk, cloth, medicinal materials, spices, etc. to Xiqu at a low price."

"Also, if we really can't come to an agreement, we can sell some weapons made of patterned steel to Xiqu, as long as we don't let them master the method of forging patterned steel!"

"In this way, the imperial court has strangled Xiqu by the neck..."

Listening to Yun Li's words, Emperor Wen couldn't help but lower his brows in thought.

After a moment, Emperor Wen shook his head and said, "The imperial army still has many weapons forged with patterned steel that have not been used. If we give the weapons to Xiqu, what will happen to the imperial army? What do you think the generals at all levels in the army will think?"

"Don't we have war horses for them?" Yun Li replied, "We can speed up the forging of weapons, but it will take time to make war horses!"

"It's hard to say." Emperor Wen frowned and asked, "How many war horses do you think Xiqu can pay tribute to us?"

Yun Li thought about it and said with embarrassment: “That… is true.”

Is it possible that Xiqu offered a large number of tribute horses to Daqian?

Of course not!

Being able to pay tribute of 500 war horses every year is already the best we can do!

Emperor Wen pondered, "What I'm thinking about is whether there are other things that can replace weapons, things that we have but Xiqu doesn't have, but are in short supply, such as..."

"Potato?"

Yun Li blurted out before Emperor Wen finished speaking.

"Yes, I was thinking of potatoes, too."

Emperor Wen nodded and smiled.

"Father is still wise!"

Yun Li flattered him but laughed secretly in his heart.

Both he and Xu Shifu thought of sweet potatoes.

Because he was afraid that Emperor Wen would not agree, he deliberately proposed to give weapons to Xiqu.

Unexpectedly, before he could lead the way to sweet potatoes, Emperor Wen brought it up.

"There is no such thing as wise or unwise. We all do things out of necessity."

Emperor Wen shook his head and smiled, "Then give Xiqudi potatoes. The specific amount will be determined based on the number of war horses they pay tribute to us!"

"Yes!"

Yun Li agreed, "I have something else that I would like to trouble you with..."