Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors-Chapter 516 - 269: I Want the Two Saints!_4

The Zhao Yi Army needed to slowly assimilate the vast north, to secure a stable source of soldiers and wealth for themselves, so within the next year or two, they would not continue their northern expeditions, but rather stabilize the rear.

But the Jin people did not know this. freewēbnoveℓ.com

In the eyes of the Jin, relying on the Qi Dynasty to stab the Zhao Yi Army in the back? That was basically hopeless.

Therefore, even without attacking the Qi Dynasty from the south, the Zhao Yi Army still had a very high likelihood of continuing their northern expeditions.

The Jin people were in great disarray behind the lines and urgently needed to go back and reorganize, so they needed to establish a peace treaty with the Zhao Yi Army and call for a truce between both parties.

After all, the Jin people could never have imagined that General Han Fuyue, as played by Zhao Haiping, had such grand ambitions to slowly digest the entire Northern Land and then use it as a foundation to annex the entire world.

It could only be said that in warfare, deception is king. Zhao Haiping clearly needed to rest and recuperate, yet he still made the Jin people believe he wanted to continue his northern expeditions, which was also a tactic of warfare.

Hearing this, the envoy from Jin grew even more submissive, "Of course, General Han. My court is willing to draft a document to use Hebei East Road, Da Ming Prefecture, He’nan Prefecture, He’zhong Prefecture, and the Yellow River as the boundary, promising non-aggression with the Zhao Yi Army."

The southern region mentioned by the Jin envoy was essentially the territory actually controlled by the bogus Chu regime.

In other words, the Jin’s meaning was that since you’ve already taken these lands of the bogus Chu, let’s just establish a peace treaty and you refrain from attacking further.

In the eyes of the Jin, this was indeed a concession, as it was a formal acknowledgment in written form recognizing the Zhao Yi Army’s claim to this region.

However, Zhao Haiping’s expression darkened, "Is this the sincerity of the Jin people?

"This region originally belonged to the Qi Dynasty, and my Zhao Yi Army has rightfully conquered it! What difference does it make whether you, the Jin people, have a peace treaty or not? Such a treaty is nothing but worthless paper!"

Seeing General Han Fuyue’s expression change, the Jin envoy panicked a bit and hastily said, "General Han, this matter can still be discussed further."

Zhao Haiping had already made up his mind and said, "It’s simple. Cede Zhen Ding Prefecture, Taiyuan Prefecture, Longde Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, and other places entirely to the Zhao Yi Army! Use Yan’s cloud as the boundary to restore the borders between the Qi and Jin during the Jingping era!"

The Jin envoy couldn’t help but grimace, "This... General Han..."

Zhao Haiping, with an icy face, said, "Go back and tell the Emperor of Jin Country, this is my only condition! If he does not agree, then tell him to be prepared for me to make a direct assault on Yellow Dragon Mansion!"

With that, Zhao Haiping directly sent the Jin envoy packing.

The large area he now demanded essentially encompassed the entire River East Road.

This region was not within the control of the bogus Chu regime but was governed by the Jin.

The reason was simple: the strategic location of this region was critical, including military strongholds like Taiyuan, which the Jin could not trust in the hands of the bogus Chu.

Obviously, Zhao Haiping would not be satisfied with just taking the old lands of the bogus Chu; peace negotiations are about making extravagant demands.

Whoever has the stronger military force speaks with greater confidence!

The party with military superiority can endlessly increase their demands. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a disservice to the soldiers who fought and bled on the front lines?

The Jin people understood this well, so in negotiating the peace treaty with the Qi Dynasty, they made extravagant demands and sky-high prices, even declaring that peace talks could only proceed after killing General Han Fuyue.

But now, it was the Jin’s turn to be on the receiving end of extortion.

And at this point, Zhao Haiping truly had a chance to reclaim these areas without shedding a drop of blood.

For River East was the region most resistant to the Rebel Army and the one most eager for General Han Fuyue to rescue them. Amidst intense resistance, the Jin’s rule over this region had long been precarious.

The Jin were already struggling to handle their rear; let alone this area.

Of course, the strategic importance of Taiyuan Prefecture was too great, for it was during the Jingping incident that, due to the barrier of the crucial fortress Taiyuan, the Jin soldiers were repelled on their first southern advance by the Western Army.

The Jin might not agree to cede Taiyuan.

But Zhao Haiping didn’t just have peace talks as his sole option. He could also put off securing the rear for now and continue the fight. At that point, it would be a matter of seeing who between the Zhao Yi Army and the Jin would last longer.

And Zhao Haiping was absolutely confident that it wouldn’t be him to fall first.

...

Another month had passed, and the Jin emissaries returned.

In this period, Zhao Haiping had not been idle, dispatching the elite of the Zhao Yi Army from the former Qi Dynasty capital of Da Liang, Da Ming Prefecture, and other locations, to attack Xiangzhou State, Xingzhou State, Hejian Prefecture, and the like.

They had achieved several victories, neither too small nor too large.

This strategy, known as "using war to prompt peace," put pressure on the Jin.

This time, the great victory did not even require the main force of the Zhao Yi Army, but relied on an auxiliary force of thirty to forty thousand men, combined with tens of thousands of Rebel Army soldiers from those regions, to achieve quite outstanding results.

Consequently, the Jin finally faced reality and abandoned any delusions they held.

When the Jin emissary came again, he made significant concessions. All territories south of Taiyuan were ceded to the Zhao Yi Army.

At this time, only a few territories, including Taiyuan Prefecture and Zhen Ding Prefecture, remained to be reclaimed to restore the Qi Dynasty’s largest extent.

In response to this outcome, although Zhao Haiping appeared very tough on the surface, he had actually achieved the anticipated result in his heart.

After all, the Jin were not the weak Qi Dynasty; to expect them to willingly give up Taiyuan City was almost impossible.

Taiyuan was a strong city, strategically important, and it had taken the Jin soldiers several months to conquer it in the past.

Neither the Jin nor the Zhao Yi Army had large siege engines.

So, the situation was ironically the reverse of what it was during Jingping: the Jin could not take strong cities, but won every field battle; the Zhao Yi Army was similarly victorious in every field engagement, but had difficulty taking cities like Taiyuan.

The Jin leadership, mainly military generals, realistically wouldn’t just give up Taiyuan City.

As for continuing the fight? It was unlikely for the Zhao Yi Army to take Taiyuan soon; at most, they might take the area surrounding Taiyuan. But this would not only take a long time, but also affect the army’s recuperation and growth.

Therefore, Zhao Haiping decided to stop while he was ahead.

Although he couldn’t gain Taiyuan in these peace talks, he had nearly managed to secure all the territories he had initially demanded.

The land actually controlled by the Zhao Yi Army, with the Huai River and Dasan Pass serving as the southern boundary and Taiyuan as the northern, effectively enclosed more than one-third of the original Qi Dynasty territory.

In a year or two, after digesting the Northern Land, once the Zhao Yi Army’s strength surged, they would reclaim Taiyuan, Zhen Ding Prefecture, and Yan together.

After all, weren’t treaties like this made to be broken?

Zhao Haiping’s face was grim as he finally nodded, "Hmph, you Jin folks sure know how to calculate, insisting on keeping such a vital stronghold as Taiyuan in your hands...

"Fine, I can forgo Taiyuan for the time being, but I want to add extra conditions."

The Jin emissary hastily said, "General Han, please speak."

Zhao Haiping looked at him coldly, "I want... the two emperors!"

At these words, the Jin emissary was taken aback.

The two emperors?

Wasn’t that referring to Emperor Qihui and Emperor Yingzong of Qi?

The emissary had not anticipated this request.

After all, in the Jin’s view, although General Han Fuyue had always been calling for "a march on the Yellow Dragon Mansion to welcome back the two emperors," this was merely a political slogan. Compared to actually recovering the territories of the Qi Dynasty, bringing back the two emperors was a lower priority.

Moreover, Emperor Gaozong of Qi, while publicly calling for the return of the two emperors, in reality, probably preferred them to die sooner in the Yellow Dragon Mansion.

But now, General Han had given up his stance on Taiyuan in favor of demanding the two emperors?

What use could he possibly have for these two foolish emperors?

The Jin emissary didn’t dare to ask further questions, he hastily excused himself to report back to the Jin Dynasty’s higher-ups.

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om