Chapter 739: Conditions

"Sincerity? Yes, yes, I have it." The King of Gaoli froze for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and hurriedly said, "The head of the Gaoli Right State Councilor Li Wancheng is right outside the palace. He has always been close to the Northern Di, and it was under his instigation that I have repeatedly committed acts of disrespect. I hope Your Highness will investigate clearly!"

Yin Boming added, "It was indeed Li Wancheng who advocated seeking aid from the Northern Di this time. This Li Wancheng is truly a lackey of the Northern Di."

Hearing this, a cold sneer hung on the corner of Zhao Xu's mouth.

He could not care less about the life or death of this Gaoli Right State Councilor.

Over these years, Gaoli had betrayed the Great Song, willingly acting as a hunting dog for the Northern Di, and even participating in the Ningjindusizhizhan, slaughtering the people of the Great Song.

They had also built warships for the Northern Di to attack Yanzhou from the south.

He had been keeping a record of these debts, one by one.

This time, he was using the Eastern Land Alliance's invasion of Gaoli to bring Gaoli into his own sphere of influence for the sake of the Great Song's interests, certainly not out of kindness.

If it were not to support a puppet government in Gaoli after the war, he would never have met with the King of Gaoli.

Nor would he care about this Left State Councilor of Gaoli.

Furthermore, they were not his only option.

If it were not for the trouble, he could completely depose the King of Gaoli after driving out the Eastern Land Alliance and support a Goryeo Crown Prince to inherit the throne.

Therefore, if the two could not satisfy his interest requirements.

Then they could go back to where they came from!

He would let Chai Wu capture a Goryeo Crown Prince to the Great Song, and after Gaoli perished, it would not be too late for him to take action.

Thinking of this, he said to the King of Gaoli and Yin Boming, "You know that this is not what I want. If you have no sincerity at all, then please return. It will not be too late for me to take action once the Eastern Land Alliance reaches the Dongjiang."

This Dongjiang was the name for the Yalu River in this region.

The King of Gaoli trembled in his heart, his legs suddenly went weak, and his mouth stuttered, unable to speak for a moment.

Seeing this, Yin Boming was secretly delighted.

He was very happy to see the King of Gaoli make a fool of himself in front of Yan Wang.

In this way, he could take the opportunity to show Yan Wang that he was qualified to be a pawn for the Great Song in Gaoli.

Thus, when he returned to Gaoli in the future, with the support of the Great Song, even the King of Gaoli would have to look at his expression, just like Li Wancheng did under the support of the Northern Di.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, we in Gaoli owe the Great Song too much. We should immediately sign a contract, pay tribute every year from now on, become a vassal state of the Great Song again, and we should return all the occupied Great Song territory to the Great Song."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly; the area occupied by Gaoli was the contemporary Liaodong Peninsula, which was where Liaoning was located.

Ancheng was Lushun, and Ancheng Port was Lushun Port.

However, this was something Gaoli should have returned to the Great Song in the first place.

Even if they did not return it, he would take it by force.

After all, this was equivalent to them stealing his things and then returning them; it could not be counted as a concession of interests.

So he continued to remain silent, waiting for Yin Boming's next words.

"This..." after Yin Boming finished speaking,

seeing that there was not a trace of pleasure on Yan Wang's face, he felt anxious.

It was very clear that the conditions he proposed were not enough to move Yan Wang.

After thinking for a moment, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he continued, "After the Eastern Earth Allied Forces retreat, we in Gaoli are willing to engage in trade with the Great Song without collecting a single cent of commercial tax."

Yan Wang had not hesitated to send a fleet to force Gaoli to open trade, so he must value commerce highly; thus, he decided to give it a try.

Zhao Xu shook his head, still dissatisfied; perhaps it was the limitation of this era.

The monarchs and ministers of Gaoli could not conceive of some unequal conditions that only became popular in modern times.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "I will not keep you in suspense. In addition to the conditions you just mentioned, I require your Gaoli to abolish the Gaoli script and order the Gaoli people to relearn the written language of my Great Song."

Because they had defected to the Northern Di, Gaoli had mixed the Great Song's script with the Northern Di's script and created some of their own, forming the current Gaoli script.

This was a manifestation of wanting to separate from the Great Song cultural sphere and completely sever ties with the Great Song.

According to contemporary experience, once these small countries around the Great Song did this, they would inevitably make opposing the Great Song the foundation of their nation-building in the future.

The current Gaoli already had this phenomenon.

Moreover, because their culture had too many traditions copied from the Great Song, they would inevitably try their best to deny Central Plains culture, and while stealing it for their own use, they would also forcibly occupy the origins of these cultures.

Therefore, he wanted to nip this tendency in the bud.

Identification with a civilization does not depend on how vast its territory is, but on its cultural identity.

Compared to a vassal state in terms of territory, he would rather Gaoli take the Great Song as its suzerain state in terms of culture.

In this way, the Gaoli people would believe from the bottom of their hearts that Gaoli was merely a part of the Central Plains civilization.

They would yearn for Central Plains culture from their hearts, and although born in Gaoli, they would consider themselves Great Song people.

The King of Gaoli and Yin Boming were both stunned; they did not expect Yan Wang to propose this condition.

But for them, this was easy to achieve.

Since they were a vassal state of the Great Song, learning the Great Song's written language was only natural.

Just as Yin Boming was about to speak, the King of Gaoli snatched the words, saying, "This humble king agrees to this matter."

He had come to his senses; he could not let Yin Boming steal his limelight.

Zhao Xu revealed a faint smile, and he added, "This is only one of them. During the Ningjindusizhizhan back then, your Koryo Army burned, killed, and looted, and later repeatedly attacked Great Song fishermen and built warships to assist the Northern Di in attacking Yanzhou. For all these things, you must compensate for the losses of my Great Song: fifty million taels of silver."

"Fifty million taels!" The King of Gaoli's heart felt as if it were being pinched, and he was so nervous he panicked.

Gaoli's annual tax surplus was no more than two million taels; it would take twenty years to pay off.

"What, shouldn't your Gaoli compensate? Besides, you have occupied my Great Song territory for so many years. For over a hundred years, the taxes paid by the people in these territories have all fallen into your Gaoli's pockets."

"We should compensate, we certainly should," Yin Boming seized the opportunity to speak, and then he said to the King of Gaoli, "Your Majesty, if you do not agree, there will naturally be others who will agree for you. You had better think it over."

The King of Gaoli woke up with a start; now was not the time for him to be picky, he had no choice.

Now it was Yan Wang giving him a chance; if he did not agree, Yan Wang could simply change to a different King of Gaoli.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly said, "This humble king agrees, this humble king agrees to everything."

If he drives away the Eastern Earth Allied Forces, he will still be the King of Gaoli.

Otherwise, he will be nothing at all.

Rather than suffering himself, it is better to let the commoners of Gaoli suffer a little.

"Hahaha..." At this moment, Zhao Xu burst into laughter.

In fact, he was also testing the King of Gaoli.

If the King of Gaoli would rather die than submit and refused these humiliating terms, he could not keep him alive.

Since one is keeping a concubine, why not keep one who is fawning, obedient, and at one's beck and call?

"Since that is the case, sign this contract, and my Great Song will soon dispatch troops to Gaoli to expel the Eastern Earth Allied Forces." Zhao Xu handed a prepared contract to Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng took it and delivered it before the King of Gaoli.

The ministers and officials below the steps were all stunned.

They had originally thought that the King of Gaoli coming here this time was merely to submit to the Great Song.

They did not expect Yan Wang to fleece Gaoli so ruthlessly.

However, it was truly gratifying!

Whether it was old officials like Yang Feng, or people like Liu Fu and Chang Wei, they all wore smug expressions throughout the process.

When the King of Gaoli signed the contract in his own hand, they all smiled knowingly.

On the Dragon Throne.

Zhao Heng smiled and nodded.

Immediately, his gaze lingered for a moment on Zhao Xu's profile.

Fleeing to Yanzhou was likely the only correct choice he had made in his entire life.

Otherwise, how could he have witnessed such a day where the King of Gaoli was so servile and submissive?

At this moment, he truly felt the glory that the Late Emperors had felt when the Great Song was at its peak.