"Are you leaving tonight, or will you rest here for a few days?"
Only after the smoke and dust dispersed did Zhang Ruyin turn to look at Xu Fengnian.
"Our fleet is still docked on the Wei River. Once we sell these carriages, it will be time to go back!"
Hearing Zhang Ruyin's question, Xu Fengnian replied with a smile.
"You are so young, yet you have accomplished such a great feat. It seems your future is limitless. How about this, you leave all these carriages to me. As for the price, just tell them to pay you the full amount!"
Looking at Xu Fengnian's excessively young face, Zhang Ruyin casually offered a favor.
"That would be wonderful, thank you, Daoist Zhang!"
Although these items were valuable, selling hundreds of carriages together in this unfamiliar city of Taiyuan would certainly not fetch a good price.
Hearing that Zhang Ruyin was willing to take them all at once, both father and son were overjoyed.
After settling the accounts for the carriages and money, they bid farewell to Zhang Ruyin again and headed straight for Mingzhou with their men.
Seven days after they left Taiyuan, the Jurchen envoys arrived at Tong Guan's camp again.
"Grand Chancellor Tong, we have prepared everything for Yan Jing. Have you prepared the items to be handed over on your side?"
As soon as Tong Guan sat down, Yang Tianshou, the envoy selected by Wanyan Sheng and Liu Yanzong, exchanged a glance with Salu Mu. Yang Tianshou then spoke.
"We have naturally prepared our items long ago. As long as you keep your promise, we can hand over the supplies at any time!"
Compared to the Jurchens, Tong Guan was clearly more anxious.
His position was still precarious. The sooner this merit was secured, the more at ease he would feel.
With the achievement of recovering Yan Yun, even if it was just buying back a few cities, it would be enough to silence all criticism in the world.
"Since that is the case, why don't the Grand Chancellor present the list for us to review?"
Hearing Tong Guan's words, Yang Tianshou immediately said with a smile.
"Someone, bring the list in!"
Hearing this, Tong Guan's heart rejoiced, and he immediately ordered a thick ledger to be brought in.
"The first part is the general account, and the latter part is the quantity of goods on each carriage. If you don't believe me, you can inspect them yourselves!"
Since these items were not his, Tong Guan felt no heartache.
"Grand Chancellor, is something missing from your list?"
As soon as Yang Tianshou scanned the outline of the list, he suddenly spoke again.
"What do you mean by that? The quantities on this list are as stipulated in the state pact between the two countries. Are you trying to go back on your word?"
After hearing Yang Tianshou's words, Tong Guan's face immediately turned grim.
Although he was eager to claim this merit, it didn't mean he was foolish!
The items on this list had almost cost him his life, and it had been difficult enough to gather them.
If the Jurchens were to make even more demands now, this matter would drag on indefinitely!
"Grand Chancellor, have you forgotten this?"
As soon as Tong Guan finished speaking, Yang Tianshou took out another letter from his embrace and placed it directly in front of Tong Guan.
"What is this?"
After opening the envelope and reading its contents, Tong Guan's expression turned ugly, as if something had been forced into his mouth while he was eating...
This letter was the one he had written to Wanyan Sheng earlier!
At that time, in order to get the Jurchens to send troops, he had privately written a letter promising 300,000 shi of grain, asking the Jurchens to help the Song army capture Yan Jing!
"The alliance between the two countries has long been established, and it should be followed. Are you trying to bargain now by bringing this out?"
"Bargaining? Grand Chancellor Tong, your words are quite meaningless! Please look carefully, this bears your official seal, and these are the conditions you agreed to. It was precisely because we saw this that we sent troops to help you recover Yan Jing! His Majesty has always believed that this agreement of ours was an additional understanding outside of the alliance!"
Since he held the cards, Yang Tianshou was not in a hurry at all, and his words were extremely forceful.
"You!"
Seeing his smug expression, Tong Guan's face darkened to the extreme.
This scoundrel clearly didn't take him seriously at all!
An annual tribute of 200,000 taels of silver, 300,000 bolts of silk, Yan Jing's taxes of one million guan annually, a one-time reward for Xi Jing of 200,000 guan in copper coins, 300,000 shi of grain, 2,000 baskets of green alum, and the handover of all surrendered Liao officials. In return, the Jurchens would return Yan Jing, Yi Zhou, Tan Zhou, Shun Zhou, Jing Zhou, and Ji Zhou. However, all the civilians in Yan Jing would belong to the Jurchens!
These terms were already extremely humiliating. If he had to come up with another 300,000 shi of grain at this moment, the civil officials who had finally been appeased in the court would surely start clamoring for his head again!
Before, with Cai Jing, he might have been able to mediate. Now that Cai Jing was gone, among the people in charge in the court, whether it was Fan Zhengguo, Zhong Shidao, Wang Xiang, or Yu Shen, none of them seemed like people who could help him!
Although the Hebei army had not yet withdrawn, the problem was that obtaining so much grain without the permission of those civil officials was simply a pipe dream!
"What do you mean? Grand Chancellor, are you trying to renege on the debt? If that's the case, then I think we have nothing more to discuss. My Emperor instructed me before coming that the army is short of food and is waiting for the Grand Chancellor's grain to alleviate the emergency!"
Seeing Tong Guan's enraged expression, Yang Tianshou became even more smug.
"This amount of grain is too large. I cannot gather so much grain for you now. I need to report to His Majesty!"
Gritting his teeth, Tong Guan said again.
"Alright, let's set this matter aside for now. Shouldn't we discuss another matter? We had an agreement that you would hand over all the Liao officials who defected to the Song Dynasty according to the agreement!"
"Isn't the list already above? What else do you want?"
Seeing the smirk on Yang Tianshou's lips, Tong Guan's expression grew even more unpleasant.
"Grand Chancellor, your words lack sincerity. Do you think we are blind? Why is Guo Yaoshi's name not on this list?"
"Who did you say?"
Hearing this, Tong Guan slammed the table and stood up.
Guo Yaoshi was the most capable fighter by his side. How could he possibly hand over such a person?
"Grand Chancellor, the ink on the alliance treaty is not yet dry. What? Are you going to tear up the treaty?"
"You!"