Chapter 443 Entering the Palace
The negotiation process was a tug-of-war. The main persons in charge on both sides were Yu Zhining and Liu Daohe, who were responsible for bargaining, negotiating details and exchange procedures.

Because Liu Xuanji admired the young man Dou Shi, he would invite him to watch martial arts fights every day, and even occasionally asked Dou Shi for his opinion when handling official business.

Dou Shi accepted this courtesy calmly and did not show off because of the camp issue. Instead, he gave Liu Xuanji some suggestions that made his eyes light up.

During this period, Dou Shi also knew something about the situation in Beiyan.

On this day, Liu Xuanji was still watching the fight on the top of the city wall. Dou Shi was summoned to accompany him. However, when he came, he saw a tall warrior following Liu Xuanji, and his face looked familiar.

Liu Xuanji did not keep the secret and introduced directly: "This is my Great Yan's General of the Eastern Expedition and the Governor of Qingzhou, Lord Yang."

Dou Shi realized that this was Yang Kan after hearing this, and then bowed to indicate that the Hongnong Yang family and the Fufeng Dou family were old friends because they were both from Guanzhong.

Yang Kan also nodded as a return gesture.

Liu Xuanji continued, "We have almost finished what we have discussed in the past few days. However, I have a favor to ask of you. I hope you can help me."

Dou Shi said: "If the King of Han has anything to tell me, please tell me. If it is within my power and responsibility, as long as it does not harm the state, I will never shirk it."

Liu Xuanji said, "When the Tang Dynasty attacked Qingzhou, General Yang fled north to return to the court, but his family stayed in your Tang Kingdom. In the Battle of Baigou, General Yang almost captured your King Qi alive. I heard that your King Qi was furious after returning and wanted to kill General Yang's family, but was later dissuaded. Your King Qi is so generous, can you release General Yang's family? If your Tang Kingdom has any requests, you can also make them."

Dou Shi paused after hearing this, and then said, "Before we set out, the king told us that if the king of Han wants to exchange for General Yang's family, he needs to release the officials of our Tang Dynasty who were trapped by your army in the Battle of Baigou. One person can be exchanged for one person. I wonder what the king of Han thinks?"

"Okay, let's do this!"

Liu Xuanji clapped his hands immediately and said that there were probably hundreds of Tang army generals and officials captured in the war, which emptied half of Li Yuan's court. Some of these people might play a very important role in the next war, while some of them were completely a burden and would be a waste of time to support them.

But it cannot be killed with one blow, because even if it looks like a burden now, there is no telling when it may be of use.

In particular, some people still have considerable influence in Guanzhong.

Liu Xuanji's move was naturally to win Yang Kan's heart, and Yang Kan was indeed grateful.

In Northern Yan, Yang Kan and Wei Xiaoju, two generals from Guanzhong aristocratic families, were previously out of tune with a group of generals from borderland warriors. Although both were generals, they actually commanded very few troops. Wei Xiaoju was previously responsible for the defense of Huguan, with only 3,000 men under his command. Even when he later commanded the attack on Zixiaguan, the 10,000 men under his command were all Liu Xuanji's confidants, and it was actually difficult to command them. Yang Kan only had a thousand or so of his own.

But in the Battle of Baigou, the two men also made a pledge of their allegiance.

Yang Kan led the team to first break the Tang army's formation, seized the Tang emperor's ceremonial guards, captured a number of high-ranking officials, and almost killed Qi Wang Li Yuanhui, the great enemy of Northern Yan, with a single spear.

You have to know that Yang Kan's family is still in Li Yuanhui's hands, but he dared to do this without any compromise. How can you not trust him?

Wei Xiaoju even directly flooded tens of thousands of defeated Tang Dynasty soldiers and captured tens of thousands of them, leaving no way out for himself.

After Liu Xuanji, the three people who made the greatest contributions in this battle were Wei Xiaoju, Yang Kan and Su Dingbian who fought head-on.

Although the rewards have not been given yet, everyone understands what is going on. Liu Xuanji, who has been promoted to Grand Tutor and Chief Minister, will be awarded the Nine Gifts next.

At the same time, the Kingdom of Han was given more cities and was waiting for the final procedures.

Liu Xuanji was actually sending a signal, that is, our regime is not entirely composed of people from Hebei, and people from Guanzhong can also be given important positions.

After leaving Yecheng, Yu Zhining and Dou Shi returned to Luoyang via Hanoi.

The river bridge has been renovated, but the two were very worried when crossing the bridge because the river water looked very shallow. As a result, the river bridge would basically be useless in winter, and the Yan army might have more than one river bridge to attack.

After entering Luoyang City, the two came to the Xingtai, which was the Shangshu Province of the previous dynasty. After entering the office, they saw several colleagues, Li Qinglian, Li Baishi, Dugu Ying and others discussing things in the hall, but they did not see the King of Qi.

Upon asking, I learned that the King of Qi was now in the palace and had moved his family to the palace next to Li Yuan's, calling it Changchun Hall.

The reason why it is not called a palace is to avoid overstepping one's authority.

The very act of living in the palace was, in fact, an act of usurpation.

But the entire Luoyang is now Li Yuanhui's territory, and he left the most core place, Taiji Palace, to Li Yuan. Some people even think that Li Yuanhui is very restrained.

What if you call yourself Gong? What if you live in Taiji Hall?

Yu Zhining and Dou Shi had no choice but to go through the imperial city. Li Baishi happened to have some official business to consult with, so they went together.

Li Baishi also learned about the specific situation from the two along the way.

The general conditions were that the Tang Dynasty would use 200,000 dan of grain in exchange for 45,000 captives. In addition, Yang Kan's family would be exchanged for a dozen civil officials and military generals. Li Yuanhui would decide who would be exchanged.

After hearing this, Li Baishi also sighed: "The food in Luoyang is barely enough, there is not much left. It looks like we have to use the food stored in Luluokou Warehouse and Huiluo Warehouse."

After entering Changchun Hall, the eunuch led them to the study. Li Yuanhui was writing something and was a little surprised to see the visitors. However, he let Li Baishi finish his story first, and then asked him about Yu Zhining and Dou Shi's experiences in the Northern Yan, as well as the results of the negotiations.

Li Yuanhui was basically not interested in the exchange. After asking briefly, he no longer worried about the gains and losses of the negotiations. Instead, he was very interested in Liu Xuanji's selection of warriors.

Isn't this a striker selection?
This is not new. The vanguard's fighting style can be found in Sun Tzu's Art of War. As an important assault force on the battlefield, it can often play a big role and even determine the outcome of the war.

Coincidentally, Li Yuanhui has recently been preparing to launch a vanguard selection system, which means that each army must select a team of elite soldiers, equip them with the best weapons and armor, to serve as the spearhead at critical moments.

But one man against a hundred, why does this story sound so familiar?
Dou Shi finally mentioned that Liu Xuanji wanted to exchange prisoners. Li Yuanhui didn't say anything after listening to it. He didn't plan to take action against Yang Kan's family in the first place. There was no point in locking them up if he didn't kill them. It would be better to exchange them for a few capable people than to support the women and children of the Yang family in vain.

When Li Yuanhui heard Yu Zhining say that Dou Shi asked Liu Xuanji whether the one hundred people from Yan and Zhao were brave, he clapped his hands in approval.

"Hahaha, use their spear to defeat their shield. Great, Jiulang is really good at speaking."

Finally, after Yu Zhining talked about how Liu Xuanji had declined three times and had been conferred the title of Grand Tutor and Chief of the Hundred Ministers, Li Si's expression began to become serious.

"Liu Xuanji is trying to usurp the throne. I wonder if Murong Ju can have some backbone."

There is no alternative but to pin your hopes on problems within your opponent.

It is just like Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan: "When there is a change in the world, order a general to lead the army of Jingzhou to attack Wanluo, and a general to lead the army of Yizhou to attack Qinchuan."

Because even if Liu Bei's group controlled Jing and Yi and protected their rocky mountains and rivers, it was still far less powerful than Cao Wei.

Therefore, we can only wait for changes in the world.

But now that Li Yuanhui has occupied the Central Plains, from a strategic point of view, his situation is a bit like Cao Cao's versus Yuan Shao.

Especially now, the elite troops in Guanzhong have been wiped out, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty has been greatly damaged, and the momentum of the Northern Yan is strong. The first thing Luoyang should consider is not even how to defeat the Northern Yan, but to defend the Central Plains and Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)