The atmosphere was a little nervous for a while, and everyone stopped talking for a while. Finally, Du Yan said: "Forty years ago, the envoy of this dynasty has made it clear that silver and silk are used to help the Queen Mother's expenses. Times change, and it is impossible to give this money again. If the northern country wants to make a new oath, it cannot be mentioned again. Otherwise, there will be no peace in the border in the future."

Liu Liufu glanced at everyone and understood that this was the consensus of the Song Dynasty prime minister and had no room for negotiation. However, after agreeing, he could not explain it when he went back, so he had to say, "If you discuss this matter later, you can always come up with the best of both worlds."

Xu Ping said: "I have told you that you can buy horses with silver and silk. Every year, 300,000 silver and silk remain unchanged. You can sell horses at market price. The Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun were originally Han land, and now owned by the Northern Dynasties. Although it is not the matter of this dynasty, restoring the homeland is the righteousness of the world, and the court and the country are suspended. The two countries are in peace, but this dynasty has lost its righteousness and the people sigh. If you give you silver and silk for free, how can the court face the people of the world? If you want to be harmonious, just make it clear and don't think of ill-righteous wealth!"

As soon as these words were said, not only Liu Liufu was stunned, but also the other ministers were stunned.

The sixteen states in front of the mountain, the Song Dynasty was determined to restore the country, and the Khitan knew it well. However, in formal exchanges, unless the Song Dynasty decided to fight the Northern Expedition, the matter would not be mentioned. Territorial disputes are the most likely to cause disputes. When the two countries discussed peace again, Xu Ping made this matter clear and made the peace talks unable to continue at once.

After a long silence, Liu Liufu said: "Your Duke, Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, my country is obtained from Emperor Gaozu of Jin, and this matter is very clear."

"Shi Jingtang collects 300,000 pieces of silk in the Northern Dynasties every year. You have repeatedly asked for 300,000 pieces of silver and silk every year. Is this dynasty the dynasty the Later Jin Dynasty? Is the emperor the son emperor? The scholar, let me explain it clearly. I will mention this matter again, and there will be no peace in Heshuo!"

Shi Jingtang borrowed troops from the Khitan, and not only ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, but also promised to pay 300,000 pieces of silk per year. The 300,000 pieces of silver and silk per year actually continued from here. Forty years have passed, many court officials said that Cao was sent to the Khitan to negotiate peace. Emperor Zhenzong stretched out three fingers, thinking that it could be 3 million. Finally, he was overjoyed to talk about 300,000. This was just a cover-up for the sake of face. In fact, the Khitan continued the 300,000 pieces of silk per year from the Later Jin Dynasty. It was too embarrassing to continue the annual monies of Shi Jingtang of the Song Dynasty, and he made up some stories. Now that his strength has changed, Xu Ping made up the words clearly. When he mentioned the 300,000 silver and silk per year, it was the Khitan who regarded the Song Dynasty as the child emperor, so he had to fight to the end.

The time is not right, and the Sixteen Prefectures can be ignored for the time being. If the Khitan is struggling with 300,000 silver silk, then he can only fight and the oath cannot be established again. This is the bottom line that the monarch and minister of the Song Dynasty have discussed, but Xu Ping directly told Liu Liufu and no longer made any excuses. Now he is competing for national strength to make peace agreements. Any statement is meaningless, and he will cut off the Khitan's luck mentality.

Liu Liufu knew that there was no room for recovery for this matter and said nothing for a moment. After a while, he smiled bitterly: "My husband, even if you don't allow this matter, you don't need to be so straightforward. Having said that, I returned to the court and reported it, but I didn't know how to speak."

Xu Ping said slowly, "The Master said, hide his grievances and befriend him. Zuo Qiu Ming was ashamed of him, and Qiu was also ashamed of him. Youyun Sixteen Prefectures are there. The people in the world want to restore their hometowns. Everyone knows this. For the people's plan, they do not want to start a war. Therefore, the two countries want to swear to make a peace agreement. In order to negotiate peace, they avoid talking about the grievances of the world. This is to hide resentment. Are we ashamed of hiding grievances!"

Liu Liufu opened his mouth and didn't say anything after all, sitting there with embarrassment. Du Yan and the priests were silent. After a while, the priests came back to their senses. The reason was that the Song Dynasty had the upper hand in military affairs was now, so of course it was impossible to spend money to buy peace. The recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, which was not mentioned before, made it clear this time that it was to occupy the righteousness and let the Khitan understand that the two countries made great sacrifices to discuss peace. Putting the territorial disputes between the two countries aside for the time being, the Song Dynasty wanted to disappoint its people. Losing the people's hearts was a huge political concession. If the Khitan proposed other conditions, there was no need to negotiate peace.

Morality is very important during negotiations. Taking advantage of the righteous side will have certain psychological advantages. If moral concessions are made, it will be impossible to give in economic and military. Xu Ping completely blocked the Khitan's path to obtaining economic benefits through peace talks.

Compared with the Khitan, the Song Dynasty had economic advantages, and this advantage would be expanded through equal trade. The Khitan could not leave the Song Dynasty's silk and other goods, and the silk textile industry in the Shanqianzhou states was still very backward and could not meet domestic demand. On the contrary, the Khitan did not have the necessary materials for the Song Dynasty, especially the destruction of the Dangxiang and recapturing the Hexi region. Trade was optional for the Song Dynasty.

Xu Ping has been reminding Liu Liufu that it is the Khitan who is asking for peace talks in the Song Dynasty. If he has not changed his mind yet, then go back and think it through before talking. When the military system reform is underway, the Song Dynasty is indeed not ready for the Northern Expedition, but it is more than enough to attack and defend. Not discussing peace talks is nothing more than cutting off trade and confronting each other in the border areas. The Song Dynasty is ready.

When the conditions are right, Xu Ping doesn't mind re-making the oath. Maintain border peace and conduct bilateral trade at the same time, the two countries will once again enter a stage of stable development. The economic gap between the two countries will grow bigger and bigger. Sooner or later, trade will make it unsustainable in the Khitan country, and they still have to tear up the oath. At that time, the war will come naturally.

Liu Liufu was silent for a long time and bowed and said, "What my husband said is also reasonable. If you hide your grudges and befriend others, the master is not ashamed of me. Why should we do this? However, your country openly declares that you are interested in Yanyun, and people are uneasy. What's going on? I want to go back and report it."

Xu Ping nodded, with a smile on his face: "This is human nature. Such a big thing is hard to decide in one word. Well, this is how official business is. Wait for the scholar to return north and get the decree to discuss it again. The scholar comes south and you have to work hard on the way. You don't have to rush to leave. Stay in Daming Mansion for a few days and let us wait for the friendship of the landlords."

Du Yan breathed a sigh and said to Liu Liufu: "My husband is right, so the bachelor does not need to leave in a hurry. Daming Mansion is not as good as Kaifeng City, and there is no need to talk about false rituals. We take turns to talk about scriptures and papers, wouldn't it be beautiful?"

Liu Liufu didn't want to leave in a hurry. The Khitan was really anxious to make an oath, and he gathered hundreds of thousands of troops at any time. If he continued to do this, the Khitan would not be able to hold on in two or three years. The Song Dynasty meant that Liu Liufu sent someone to send a letter back, and the Khitan decided on the solution, and it was nothing more than sending another envoy. Liu Liufu was the jinshi and was proficient in poetry and prose, and there were too few people who could sit together in the Khitan to discuss literature. After a trip to the Song Dynasty, so many literary masters gathered together, it was a rare opportunity.

Fu Bi, who was accompanying him, said: "Beijing Yan Liushou, said that he wanted to have a banquet for a bachelor's degree in two days. In this kind of affection, the bachelor's degree should not refuse. It would be better to stay in Daming Mansion for a few days, waiting for the news in China?"

Liu Liufu followed the situation and said, "It's natural to do this, it's just annoying you."

Xu Ping said: "I often hear people say that the bachelor is a top scholar in the north. If you have this opportunity, you should exchange and discuss, so how can you disturb me? The business of the court is not as busy as the capital. Recently, the weather has cooled down and it happens to be close to the bachelor."

Du Yan and others also helped to ask Liu Liufu to stay for the time being and wait for news from the Khitan country.

As one of the four major families in Yan, Liu Liufu's loyalty to the Khitan is naturally undoubtedly true. However, he was a Han Chinese and a scholar after all. He had no hostility towards the Song Dynasty in his heart and truly regarded it as a brotherly country. Especially in the Khitan, he was hard to find like-minded people who talked about literature. When he arrived in the Song Dynasty, he sat with many literary masters, which seemed to him a rare opportunity. Now in Daming Mansion, there are a few literary masters who he regarded as idols, and he really wanted to meet them.
Chapter completed!