Following Liu Chengyou's edict, the Han army stopped attacking the Tang army as scheduled, and the Tang army along the Yangtze River, which had been struggling to support the defense, finally took a breath. More than a month after the beginning of spring, the war in Jiangbei ceased for the first time.
On the Jinling side, Li Deming hurriedly brought back the peace letter. He probably also knew the weight of the peace letter. Li Deming entered the palace immediately and presented himself to the Lord of Tang Dynasty. Li Jing didn't look too excited about these three things.
After all, all the fourteen states in Jiangbei can be dedicated, and the others are nothing. However, Li Jing felt very unhappy and said with some sadness: "Is it just me who started the imperial career?"
"Your Majesty!" Li Deming couldn't help but said with relief: "There are only two days in the sky. If you want to proclaim yourself a vassal to the Han, how can you call him a vassal? It is a last resort to lower your title. This is an extraordinary move. When the peace agreement between the two countries is reached, the Han army will withdraw north. After the foreign troubles have been eliminated, Your Majesty can still use the emperor's Luan rituals."
"So, aren't you deceiving yourself?" Li Jing laughed at herself.
Li Deming felt a little embarrassed and continued to lie: "In ancient times, Gou Jian, the king of Yue, endured humiliation and heavy burdens for twenty years before he was able to take revenge and destroy Wu. I think that the Han emperor was young and vigorous, and he was very happy with his achievements. He must have been arrogant and uncontrollable when he won this victory. Sooner or later, you will bring disaster on yourself and bring chaos to your country. Your Majesty just needs to swallow your shame and work hard to govern, and one day you will be able to restore the country!"
"That's all. I hope the late emperor can forgive me, an unfilial minister!" Li Jing sighed.
After staring at the contents of the book and reviewing it again, Li Jing asked again: "Is the annual tribute fund too much? Can it be reduced?"
Hearing this, Li Deming thought to himself, if there is less, how can the Northern Han Dynasty explain it to them? Without thinking, Li Deming carefully replied: "Your Majesty, the greed in the Northern Han Dynasty is far beyond imagination. I am already a minister, and I have argued hard to get the amount I just negotiated!"
"Hey..." Li Jing sighed silently: "Let me think about it again!"
Seeing this, Li Deming just reminded him in a low voice: "Your Majesty, when we first proposed this proposal, the Han army had already suspended the attack. If it is delayed for too long, after the Han army has rested and reorganized, it will be even more difficult to stop them. I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to stop them. When I was returning to the south, I accidentally heard that the Han Emperor had ordered that all the Han naval forces north of the Huai River be transferred south to enter the river..."
After hearing what Li Deming said, Li Jing's expression really changed.
After resigning from the palace, Li Deming worked non-stop and began to connect with the government and the public in Jinling, visiting his relatives, friends, colleagues, disciples, and various peace negotiators, hoping to unite and promote the conclusion of the peace agreement.
Li Deming was not stupid. He knew that this proposal would inevitably cause another turmoil in the Southern Tang Dynasty. He alone would be weak and vulnerable to the humiliation of Li Zhenggu and other men.
Not surprisingly, when the specific content of the peace treaty spread, there was another fierce storm. The Jinling court and opposition parties were basically divided into two factions in response to this peace agreement. They refuted, abused, and attacked each other, making the Southern Tang court a chaotic atmosphere.
However, compared to before, the objections this time were to the specific content of the peace treaty. Most people felt that the Northern Han Dynasty was too greedy. Even if Huainan is lost and it is inevitable to divide the river and rule it, becoming a vassal will only lose face, but the benefits of annual tribute are too heavy.
Based on the current situation of the Southern Tang Dynasty, after Sun Bing lost half of Huainan and had to bear such a large annual tribute every year, it would be an extremely heavy financial burden for the Southern Tang Dynasty.
However, in the midst of this turmoil, Li Jing completely strengthened his intention to negotiate peace. I just sent Li Deming across the river to meet the Han Emperor to supplement some details.
In this regard, Liu Chengyou has nothing to do, just have a good discussion.
The Southern Tang Dynasty proposed that the captured Tang army officers and soldiers and common people hoped that the Han army could release them. How could Liu Chengyou easily agree to this? Before and after, nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians were captured by the Han army in Huainan Prefecture, which was 100,000 young men. How could Liu Chengyou not know the importance of population, especially young people who can go to the battlefield, which is a precious asset.
After careful consideration, Liu Chengyou agreed to release the prisoners of Jiangnan origin. However, among the prisoners, thousands of Tang army generals had surrendered to the Han and had been included in the Han army's combat order. The parents, wives and children of those soldiers had to be sent by the Southern Tang Dynasty. Arrive in Huainan.
Li Jing learned that there was no need to stop him and agreed. He also proposed to Liu Chengyou that he should pay 200,000 shi of Huaiyan salt every year. You must know that the salt supply in the Southern Tang Dynasty basically came from Huainan. In this regard, Liu Chengyou had no intention of setting up obstacles, as long as he could trade goods of equal value.
Later, the two parties agreed on the number of troops stationed along the river after the war was stopped. These were all negotiable.
In this way, after nearly five days of back and forth communication between the two parties, a peace treaty was finally reached.
On February 12, the fifth year of Emperor Qianyou's reign in the Northern Han Dynasty, Li Jing, the leader of the Tang Dynasty, led the harem, clan and ministers to accuse the ancestral temple and cried out for the "Han-Tang Peace Treaty".
Afterwards, Prime Minister Feng Yansi and others went north to present the final peace treaty to the Han Emperor. With Liu Chengyou's approval, the agreement between the two parties was officially concluded. That night, Liu Chengyou held an imperial banquet to entertain Feng Yansi and other Tang officials.
During the dinner, Liu Chengyou looked at Feng Yansi in a different light and had a kind attitude. Generally speaking, Feng Yansi played a big role in the Northern Han Dynasty's conquest of Huaihe River, and he was considered a "hero".
However, under the strange and playful gaze of the Han Emperor, Feng Yansi felt uncomfortable and responded with a smile. Eating good wine is like drinking bitter water. His face is heavy and sad.
In the Southern Tang Dynasty, Feng Yansi seemed more like a traitorous official who wielded power, but he was not as traitorous as Li Deming. Although he agreed to the peace agreement, when the Southern Tang Dynasty actually signed such a peace treaty that was harmful to the country and the people, and extremely humiliating, he still couldn't help but feel sad.
After the news reached Jinling, there was an outpouring of grief among the government and the public. No matter what the attitude was before, when the peace agreement was reached, there was more or less a sense of sadness and humiliation in my heart.
As for Li Jing, the leader of the Tang Dynasty, he immediately fell ill and was almost unable to govern. He once again appointed the emperor's younger brother Li Jingsui to supervise the country, and asked the civil and military assistants to handle the aftermath of the peace negotiations with the Northern Han Dynasty.
Within the territory of Hezhou, on the other side of Dangtu, in the Liangshan Military Village, in the cold spring breeze, the flags with the characters "Tang" and "Lin" were fluttering. Around the military stronghold, there are still many traces of offensive and defensive battles.
In the stronghold, more than three thousand Tang soldiers packed up their food and military armor, and in a solemn atmosphere, boarded the ship and prepared to evacuate to Dangtu on the south bank.
Outside the stronghold, more than two thousand Han troops stationed in the stronghold and took over the stronghold's defense in an orderly manner. Zhang Yongde came in person, just because this stronghold was the enemy stationed by Tang general Lin Renzhao. Zhang Yongde was still very interested in this Southern Tang general who had added a number of defeats to his resume.
Climbing up the stronghold tower and looking up at the Tang army heading south of the Yangtze River, Zhang Yongde couldn't help but sigh: "Lin Renzhao can be considered a general. This Liangshan stronghold was built so firmly by him that our army attacked for three days." , can't get down, which shows his ability. It's a pity that he has talent but doesn't have the right time and doesn't meet his master, how can he not be defeated!"
On the Tang Army's warship that was gradually moving away, Lin Renzhao stood on the back side, also looking at Liangshan Village in the distance. There were many figures in the distance. Looking at the Chinese flag raised high and fluttering in the wind, Lin Renzhao laughed a few times. .
There was obvious ridicule in the laughter: "The soldiers fought bloody battles, and the enemy could not defeat them. The imperial court gave up Jiang's defense with a single imperial edict..."
Situations similar to Liangshan Village happened many times in the areas along the Yangtze River. On the north bank of the Yangtze River, there were dozens of large and small cities and forts. The Tang army all withdrew and retreated to the south bank, completely abandoning the north of the Yangtze River and handing it over to the Han army. Then, except for a few city walls, most of the northern defense barriers were destroyed.
Of course, the attitude of most Tang soldiers was quite fortunate. Among the Tang troops who were garrisoning along the coast, they had basically been frightened by the Han troops during this period. It was not bad to end the war "honestly" and return to the south of the Yangtze River.
It's not that there are people who are as angry and grievances as Lin Renzhao, but they are only a minority among the Tang army. It can be said that in less than half a year of attack and defense, the Northern Han army had broken the backbone of the Southern Tang army.
