Chapter 385: Chapter 207: Agonizing Wait
Translator: 549690339
“Brother Yang, that’s the attitude for discussing matters.”
Looking at Yang Jing’s slightly lowered head, a smile finally appeared on Lu Yuan’s face. He said with satisfaction, “Brother Yang, rest assured. If the court can truly meet our demands, then not to mention letting Zhou’s army cross the river.
Our three families can dispatch troops and help the court repel Zhou’s army, even to help retake Xichuan County without any problem.
In this way, doesn’t the court also gain an extra piece of territory, which can be used to reward the meritorious officials?”
Seeing Yang Jing yielding, Lu Yuan also changed his previous tough attitude and started tempting with gentleness.
If Xichuan County can be captured, the court will regain control of nine counties.
By then, with these three families taking three counties, the court will still have six counties left.
Whether these six territories are still given half a county to Guanhai Villa and White Phoenix Temple, or one county to each of them, it will be the court’s matter.
But no matter which choice the court makes, the core four counties of Guangling, Linhai, Yuzhang, and Jianan can always be preserved.
With these four core territories, the court’s basic foundation remains. In ten or twenty years, it can easily raise an army of fifty to sixty thousand.
With such a large army, as long as the situation changes, there is still a chance for the court to recover the relinquished territories.
This gives the court a hope to rise again, leaving behind enough temptation.
As for whether this temptation can come true, it depends on who has the better skills in the end.
At this moment, Lu Yuan just wanted to secure the three territories in his hands first.
To seize the immediate benefits.
Sure enough, hearing Lu Yuan’s words, Yang Jing’s expression looked a lot better. Although it was still unpleasant, it was not as lifeless as before.
He took a few deep breaths, slightly calming his emotions, and then said, “I will convey your demands to the court truthfully. Whether they can agree to it depends on the discussions among the officials in the court. An answer can only be given after they finish discussing.
This will require time.
So before giving an answer… ”
Yang Jing stopped here, looked at Lu Yuan, and said earnestly, “The uprisings of the Nanhai Sect and Nine River Sword Sect, as well as your plan to open up the Yangtze River, must not be carried out.”
The Martial Proclamation Marquis was really afraid that what Lu Yuan just said would become reality.
If that were the case, even if there were real negotiations, it would be a devastating blow and loss for the court that would be difficult to reverse.
Thus, this must not happen.
At this point, Yang Jing had no choice but to repeatedly urge.
Lu Yuan nodded and said, “Of course, we can understand the difficulties of the court. However, there must be a deadline for negotiation. We cannot wait indefinitely.
Let’s wait for a month.
From Dongting County, along the Yangtze River all the way south, it takes ten days to reach Jinling City. It will be a bit slower on the way back, but fifteen days should be enough.
We give the court five days to discuss, and in these five days, the officials and the emperor can discuss and make a decision, right?”
Both sides have now broken the façade, and if they continue to be aggressive, they will have to resort to war.
Most importantly, Lu Yuan has already revealed his hidden cards.
So in order to prevent the court from reacting in time, he had to shorten the time for both sides to negotiate and prepare.
A month’s time is just enough for the news to reach the court, but not enough for the other party to make countermeasures. This is a safe time both sides can accept.
Going beyond this time frame, the court will have preparations in place, and it won’t be so easy for Lu Yuan to instigate an uprising.
Within this time frame, the court will not have time to make arrangements, so even if they are alert, the uprising here will still be effective.
Yang Jing knew this too, but he also understood that this should be the bottom line for the other party, and there wouldn’t be room for negotiation.
So, in the end, he could only say with a difficult expression, “Fine. There will be a response within a month.”
Hearing these words, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, “Since that’s the case, let’s settle on this. Brother Yang, we have prepared a feast in the camp, specially for the envoy. Come, let’s have a drink together since the matter is settled!”
As he said this, Lu Yuan tried to pull Yang Jing.
However, the Martial Proclamation Marquis directly side-stepped and said with a bow, “No need. I have other urgent matters to attend to. The timeGeneral has given is also pressing, so I won’t be attending this feast. I will take my leave now.”
Yang Jing bowed his hands, then turned around and left directly.
Seeing this, the other two vice envoys hurriedly followed him.
Lu Yuan watched this scene, just smiled, and then stepped forward to send the guests out of the camp.
He accompanied Yang Jing all the way out of the barracks, and then returned to the camp. On the way back, he said to his disciple Zhou Qing who came up to him, “Disperse the prepared troops in the camp. This negotiation went smoothly, and there is no need for bloodshed.”
“Yes.” Zhou Qing obeyed immediately and went on his way.
Lu Yuan was prepared for both a feast and an execution during this meeting with the envoy.
It was all for the sake of being able to strike hard if things didn’t work out.
Luckily, now that the matter had been settled, these arrangements proved unnecessary, and a bloody disaster was averted.
While Zhou Qing went to disperse the troops, Lu Yuan turned to Yan Wangqiu and others nearby, “Now that the matter is settled, since the envoy refuses to join our celebrations, let us enjoy the music and dance ourselves. Don’t waste the well-prepared feast; use it as a semi-victory celebration.”
“Very good!”
Yan Wangqiu and the others laughed happily when they heard the words, agreeing.
Just a moment ago, the meeting was full of heated exchanges and invisible sword play, and now, their side had emerged victorious. It was indeed worth celebrating.