"Your Highness, the Grand Prince..."
"Prime Minister, although the indemnity is large, it can only buy temporary peace. If you don't pay, we will have to go and get it ourselves. Do you know how much we took in the last war? We only sent a small force, but the various personnel and property we captured were a considerable number. Add to that the losses of your Tuyuhun people, and can't it be worth less than four million strings of cash?"
General Qin Qiong said in his heart, you kid are such a jerk, you didn't let the other person finish his words twice. But General Qin Qiong felt really comfortable, you Tuyuhun used to be so arrogant, but now you have met a tough guy, especially in real diplomatic negotiations, we will not back down at all, you must implement the terms I said, otherwise I will take it myself, and then you will lose more.
Prime Minister Midu was almost suffocating. He had a lot of things on his mind, and he just wanted to say them, but unfortunately, the other party didn't give him the chance. They could come up with four million strings of cash, but after this war, their lives were not easy, and they urgently needed money to appease the tribes. If they didn't have the money by then, many tribes would probably start to migrate...
But as Li Xiang said, if you don't agree, then we will definitely go to war again. By then, we will take away more than just 4 million strings of cash. If all the money from Li Xiang's last long battle was converted into money, it would probably be several 4 million strings of cash.
There was originally a third clause, which was the clause for building a new city, but Li Xiang added it to the first clause. We can build a new city anywhere on this 400-mile grassland, and it has nothing to do with you Tuyuhun, because from the moment the agreement was signed, these grasslands belonged to the Tang Dynasty. Do we still need your consent to build a new city on our own territory?
"This one is passed."
Li Xiang waited for about three minutes, but Prime Minister Mi Du did not make any statement. When Li Xiang said this, Prime Minister Mi Du's face became even uglier, like an old man who was dying. However, Prime Minister Mi Du could not say anything to refute. This was not a negotiation at all, it was purely blackmail, but the person being blackmailed had no choice.
"The third article is about taxes. In the past, Tuyuhun imposed heavy taxes on our Tang merchants, which caused great inconvenience to business. Therefore, from the date of the signing of the alliance, the taxes paid by our Tang merchants in Tuyuhun should be equal to those paid by Tuyuhun merchants."
This clause indeed meant that Tuyuhun didn't need to contribute money or land, but it also reduced their income a lot. If they followed what Li Xiang said, they would have to spend at least 1.5 million strings of cash every year, which would be a huge blow to Tuyuhun's finances.
Li Xiang was ready to see what the Prime Minister Midu would say next, but he did not expect that the Prime Minister Midu would look so hopeless and would not even think of refuting this suggestion. For the Prime Minister Midu, this suggestion was certainly fatal, but compared with the previous two, this one seemed a little easier.
"The fourth is a new proposal, which is consular jurisdiction. The Tang Dynasty will set up liaison offices in several major tribes within the Tuyuhun territory. If any Tang Dynasty personnel commit a crime within your territory, they should be handed over to our liaison offices for unified management."
Li Xiang introduced consular jurisdiction in the Tang Dynasty for the first time. When Li Xiang said this, others felt it didn't matter. After all, there was no concept of judicial sovereignty in this era. However, Prime Minister Mi Du was not an ordinary person. He realized the danger of this. If a Tang Dynasty person killed or set fire in their place, but the local government had no way to interrogate him, then if this continued for a long time, would the local government lose its authority?
"May I ask, Your Highness, what if your liaison office is shielding a criminal?"
When Prime Minister Mi Du asked this question, General Qin Qiong was also awakened. To be honest, General Qin Qiong did not understand what consular jurisdiction was. Although there were many explanatory clauses below, General Qin Qiong was too lazy to read them. After all, this was a common problem among military generals. They were unwilling to read these so-called texts. But after Prime Minister Mi Du said it, General Qin Qiong realized how important consular jurisdiction was.
"I don't deny that such a situation would occur. You also have a guild in our Chang'an City. You can have your guild protest, and we can both review the case and make sure we give you an explanation."
When Li Xiang said this, it was actually a bit of an excuse. Chang'an City was far away from Tuyuhun. If he protested everything, he would probably be dead by now.
"Then do we Tuyuhun people also have this power in the Tang Dynasty?"
Prime Minister Midu said anxiously.
"I'm afraid that's impossible, because that's the right of the victor. If Prime Minister Midu's army were to reach the gates of Chang'an someday, I'd be happy to hand over consular jurisdiction to you, but I doubt that day will ever come."
Li Xiang's words amused General Qin Qiong next to him. You kid really can talk nonsense. You never forget to tease others. But this feeling is really great.
"Then in our own land, our own people will respect you..."
Prime Minister Midu felt a little unbelievable.
"Prime Minister, you are also a well-read person. Is there any fairness between the victor and the vanquished?"
Li Xiang did not explain this problem, but raised another question. Prime Minister Midu was ashamed at the moment. If he had known this would happen, he would not have provoked the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine now, so he can only stay honestly.
"Article 5..."
Upon hearing that there was a fifth clause, Prime Minister Midu almost fainted. If you impose these clauses on Tuyuhun, even if Tuyuhun is not destroyed, it will probably not have complete rights in the future. However, under such circumstances, Prime Minister Midu did not even have the courage to resist.
Originally, he had thought Tuyuhun was capable of fighting, but since the Great Khan hadn't sent any letters, Prime Minister Midu understood the situation back home. He knew most of the tribes were opposed to war, and a deep fear welled up in his heart. If the Great Khan forced them to fight, Tuyuhun would probably be the first to collapse...
