Qian Ping did not say what he came for until he left. The eunuch had just come to report that the letter from the palace had already been sent to Chang'an, so Qian Ping had nothing to worry about. It was estimated that Prince Zhennan would soon receive the report from the insider in the palace, and then Prince Zhennan would come to visit.
As expected, it was almost the same as Qian Ping expected. On the afternoon of the next day, the young eunuch came to report to Qian Ping that the Prince of Zhennan had entered the city from the military camp outside the city and was now outside the palace to hold talks with Qian Ping.
"Where is the messenger now? He can't be stopped by this guy outside, right?"
After hearing the report from his men, Qian Ping frowned and said that the Prince of Zhennan still had many spies along the way. If the letter could not be delivered, there would probably be a falling out between the two sides.
"Please rest assured, eunuch. We have a total of four groups of people going out to deliver the letter. The Prince of Zhennan should have stopped one of them. The rest are now very far away from the royal city."
Hearing his subordinate's answer, Qian Ping put on his signature smile again. He had originally thought of not going out to meet him. Weren't you awesome last night? You thought you had everything under control. I tried to guide the topic again and again, but in the end, you just ignored me.
However, Qian Ping is a person who considers the overall situation. He should go out now to see what the King of Zhennan thinks. If he doesn't go out, the other party may change his mind, and it will be difficult to predict the direction of things at that time.
"Master General is really calculating. He had a romantic affair with me last night, and today he has already arrested that idiot. This behavior is really too shameful, isn't it? It damages the prestige of your Tang Dynasty."
The Prince of Zhennan was indeed very angry. His men intercepted one of the letters, and he threw the letter on the table, as if he was accusing someone. Qian Ping was stunned. He didn't expect that the people of Nanzhao were so brave. He originally thought that they were a bunch of gentle little lambs, but now it seems that when their real interests are violated, these people will still stand up and resist.
"I didn't hear clearly what Your Highness said just now. Could you please explain it more clearly?"
Qian Ping snorted coldly, "You think just because you're loud, I'm afraid of you? Don't you see what the situation is like now? Although you still have tens of thousands of troops under your command, I'm afraid you know better than us how much combat effectiveness these people have compared to our Tang army."
After hearing Qian Ping's words, although the Prince of Zhennan became even more angry, he also regained some rationality. He thought that the current situation could not be taken too far. If it was, the Tang army outside was not here to enjoy the scenery. They might attack you at any time...
"I was a bit reckless just now. I beg for forgiveness, Lord General, but this is indeed not a very good thing. Lord General made it very clear yesterday that this is to allow our Liming people to live a peaceful life, but what does this mean? The Tang army is only here to preside over the battle, not to occupy our Nanzhao, right?"
Prince Zhennan wanted to control his emotions, but sometimes he couldn't control them. For example, at this moment, Prince Zhennan had already seen clearly that the Tang Dynasty had great ambitions, so great that it wanted to occupy the entire Nanzhao, and it definitely didn't want to gain any benefits from Nanzhao.
"Your Highness, what are you saying? Our Great Tang is rich as the seas. Let me tell you something you don't want to hear. Is the land of Nanzhao more fertile than the Central Plains? Can your Nanzhao's tax revenue be equivalent to that of several prefectures and counties in our Great Tang? Your Highness is overestimating Nanzhao by saying we want to occupy you."
Qian Ping had a very clear understanding of human nature. If we were to try to persuade him kindly at this moment, he might really think that we were guilty. But at this moment, Qian Ping had a look of contempt, which was consistent with the look of many people in the Tang Dynasty. So the King of Zhennan felt a little calmer.
What they said is true. There are only a few hundred thousand people in your entire Nanzhao. Although your land is relatively fertile, there is a huge difference compared to the Central Plains.
Besides, Nanzhao cannot compare with it in terms of taxation, so why would the Tang Dynasty travel thousands of miles to occupy your place? After figuring this out, the King of Zhennan felt a little relieved, but he still remained vigilant. The four great chieftains in the north were even poorer, but they were also occupied by the Tang Dynasty, weren't they?
Think about the Xueyantuo further north, and your Tang Dynasty...
"Your Excellency is right. I was wrong just now, but the existing army is already capable of maintaining public order, and my troops are also very cooperative. I plan to evacuate the Royal City soon and hand over the entire defense of the Royal City to the Tang Army..."
The Prince of Zhennan had also invested heavily. To prevent a conflict between his troops and the Tang army, he planned to withdraw his men. "Don't you Tang people want to profit?" he asked. "Then I will give you the entire royal city. It's already in such a state. According to his men's calculations, restoring Wangcheng to its former glory would cost at least several million guan. This wouldn't be much for the Tang, but it would be a huge sum for the Nanzhao Kingdom, a sum they simply couldn't afford."
"Your Highness, what are you talking about? We have no control over your defenses here. We are only temporarily maintaining law and order. As for your army withdrawing from the royal city, I don't think it's necessary. You should continue to station troops according to the current situation. The marginal areas where both sides are stationed should be separated."
Although Qian Ping was not a military man, he was also aware of what Qin Huaiyu had said before. The army of the King of Zhennan was divided into those inside and outside the city, which was more advantageous to us. If all of them were to withdraw, they would become an iron fist. If it really came to the last step, it would be of no benefit to us.
Now that the troops are divided into two groups, the combat strength is also divided into two. This is acceptable for the Tang army. Moreover, the King of Zhennan does not really want to abandon the royal city. What's more, it was just a test.
"You are right, eunuch. Those are just minor matters. Please tell the court that things are still peaceful here and there is no need to send more troops..."
While expressing his loyalty, the Prince of Zhennan hoped that the Tang army would delay entering Nanzhao so that he would have some time to prepare. If they came right away, he would not have enough people under his command.
