PFC Chapter 094 is here!
Chapter 094 is here!
By the time Yang He's letter arrived in Shenmu, more than half a month had passed since the first negotiation.
Upon receiving Yang He's letter and reading its contents, Qiao Daonan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When he reported the situation to Yang He, he was filled with anxiety.
He was afraid that if Yang He found out about Zhou Lun's exorbitant demands, Yang He would refuse to appease him and even, in a fit of rage, demand that Shenmu cooperate in war to resolve the issue through military means.
If this is the outcome, he couldn't guarantee whether Gao Yingxiang could be wiped out, but he was certain that his own life would be in danger.
Even if Yang He mobilized troops, how many men would he have for Shenmu? Gao Yingxiang had a full 20,000 troops! If you add the civilians and able-bodied men in the territory he occupied, the number would be even more frightening.
Since sending the letter, Qiao Daonan had spent every day in anxiety. Now that Yang He had finally replied, and seeing that Yang He had basically agreed to the other party's demands, Qiao Daonan's heart was finally at ease. Overjoyed, he immediately sent someone to contact Zhou Lun to propose a second meeting.
Zhou Lun was slightly surprised when he received the news. He had originally calculated that it would take at least a month for a reply, and the three conditions he had proposed were, frankly, exorbitant. However, he did not expect that Yang He would make a decision in just over half a month, even sooner than he anticipated. Now that the reply had arrived, the negotiations would naturally continue.
Just like last time, Zhou Lun waited in the town and met Qiao Daonan, who had come again.
After Qiao Daonan told Zhou Lun about Yang He's reply, Zhou Lun remained silent for a moment, sitting there deep in thought.
"Brother Zhou, Lord Yang has shown the utmost sincerity. He has basically agreed to all your requests. Although there have been slight adjustments to the provisions and some other conditions, it's already quite remarkable..."
As he spoke, Qiao Daonan lowered his voice and said to Zhou Lun, "Brother, let me be honest with you, we can't go too far with this haggling. Let's just agree to a reasonable price. Lord Yang is no ordinary man; he has deep roots in the court. If we give Lord Yang face today, this favor will be invaluable if we serve together in the future, won't it?"
Suddenly, something was shoved into Zhou Lun's hand. Looking down, he saw that Qiao Daonan had placed a small box in his palm. The box wasn't big, and he didn't know what was inside, but anything Qiao Daonan could produce at this moment was definitely not ordinary.
"I'll have to trouble you to speak to Chief Gao, brother. This is just a small token of my gratitude."
"this……"
Zhou Lun frowned slightly, but his heart was filled with joy.
He hadn't expected Yang He to agree to all his conditions, but Yang He's response was unexpected. Even though the conditions had changed, the sincerity he showed was truly remarkable.
Given Qiao Daonan's attitude, Zhou Lun knew that the guy was eager for this to succeed. After all, Shenmu was right under Gao Yingxiang's nose, and if the negotiations broke down, Gao Yingxiang would send troops to Shenmu, and Qiao Daonan wouldn't be able to hold it at all.
However, Zhou Lun did not reply immediately. He pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, "This matter needs to be reported to Chief Gao for his decision. Since you've put it this way, sir, considering our past friendship, I'll do my best to persuade him. But, Lord Qiao, convincing Chief Gao isn't so easy. Governor Yang said he'd provide some rations first, right? What do you think about that…?"
"No problem...no problem..."
Qiao Daonan smiled broadly and readily agreed. Inwardly, however, he cursed Zhou Lun, calling him a greedy bastard. Demanding provisions before even finalizing the deal—how could he do that?
But he had no choice. Yang He had already said in his letter that he was caught in the middle and was feeling terrible. If this matter couldn't be resolved, he would be the first to suffer. For his own sake, Qiao Daonan couldn't refuse no matter what, so he could only grit his teeth and think of a solution first.
Five days later, Zhou Lun, carrying some money and provisions provided by Qiao Daonan, returned to Fugu after a long journey. He went straight to the county government office and met Gao Yingxiang.
"Hahaha!" Gao Yingxiang laughed heartily after hearing Zhou Lun's story. He hadn't expected that Zhou Lun's trip would lead to such a successful negotiation and bring back so many tangible benefits.
"Although the money and provisions are a bit less, freebies are always good. Moreover, after the pacification is completed, that old rascal Yang He will continue to allocate funds, which will solve a major problem." Zhou Lun picked up his tea, took a sip, and said with a smile.
Gao Yingxiang wholeheartedly agreed, believing that money and grain were valuable commodities in this world.
The rebel army's daily consumption was considerable, and Gao Yingxiang was extremely anxious as he watched the grain reserves dwindle day by day.
A man who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present. They had long been worried about the food problem. Although Yang He's offer could not completely solve the problem, the supply from him greatly reduced the rebel army's food burden. Not to mention, there was also silver.
With silver, one could either appease subordinates or purchase grain from merchants. Zhou Lun was right; who wouldn't be happy with free benefits? Gao Yingxiang felt the same way.
Moreover, Gao Yingxiang had already discussed with Zhou Lun that the pacification was just a pretext to extract as much benefit as possible from Yang He, while also using this opportunity to develop and consolidate his territory in Fugu.
Gao Yingxiang was a man of great talent and ambition, and he knew that rebellion was no easy feat. Without a reliable territory or sufficient resources, relying solely on plunder for survival, and moving from place to place, would not last long.
As for Yang He's attempt to win over the enemy, it was essentially a temporary cooperation between the two sides, and the foundation of this cooperation was very weak.
Even if Gao Yingxiang accepted the offer of amnesty, he was still someone who "obeyed orders but not official pronouncements."
If Yang He couldn't provide the funds or supplies, or if there were any outstanding wages, Gao Yingxiang could easily turn on him. Yang He wanted to use this method to keep Gao Yingxiang in check, while Gao Yingxiang also wanted to use this method to extract benefits from Yang He. They appeared to be cooperating, but in reality, each harbored their own agenda.
This was probably understood not only by Gao Yingxiang and Zhou Lun, but also by Yang He, who was in charge of the pacification efforts. However, neither side would actively expose this underlying tension; in other words, both were playing a game of pretense.
Immediately, Gao Yingxiang and Zhou Lun discussed the next steps: how to make a good show of things and how to extract more benefits from Yang He through this incident. This was the most important thing.
Just as Gao Yingxiang and Zhou Lun were plotting about the matter of pacification, Hong Chengchou finally welcomed the surging rebel army in Hancheng, thousands of miles away.
Upon arriving in Hancheng, Hong Chengchou directly requisitioned the money and grain that had been circulating in the Hancheng County treasury and was originally intended for Tongguan. He used these funds to boost morale in the city and rearranged the city's defenses.
With a large amount of silver distributed, coupled with three full meals a day and occasional meat dishes, the morale of the Hancheng army, which had been in a state of panic, quickly stabilized.
With real silver in hand, plus the new battle robes they wore and brand-new weapons in their hands, all the soldiers were free of their previous worries. Their morale was high, and they were all willing to follow Hong Chengchou to defend Hancheng.
Not only that, the next day Hong Chengchou also had Fang Yongzhong invite all the wealthy households and merchants in Hancheng to a meeting to explain the situation, state the advantages and disadvantages, and half-plead and half-threaten them to contribute their family wealth to support the government troops.
Through a series of means, a considerable amount of money and grain were obtained. With these resources, Hong Chengchou conscripted the people of Hancheng to assist in building city defenses. In addition, he recruited several hundred able-bodied men, temporarily reorganized and trained them, and distributed them with weapons to supplement the insufficient troop strength.
In less than half a month, Hancheng underwent a dramatic transformation. Not only were the city's defenses much stronger than before, but the garrison strength also increased from the initial few hundred men to nearly two thousand. Even if the newly formed young and strong men were not yet fully capable and it was unclear how useful they would be on the battlefield, having more men not only helped stabilize morale but also provided auxiliary support.
It is truly remarkable that Hong Chengchou was able to accomplish this in such a short time.
On this day, Hong Chengchou was handling affairs at the county government office when suddenly a messenger from Baihu Liangjun came to report that smoke and dust were rising in the distance north of the city, which seemed to indicate that bandits were coming.
Upon hearing the news, Hong Chengchou hurriedly had someone help him put on his armor. After dressing properly, he rushed out of the county government office and headed straight for the north of the city.
"My lord!" As soon as they reached the top of the city wall, Liang Jun stepped forward to pay his respects.
"Where are the rebels?" Hong Chengchou asked directly.
"The scouts I sent out have just returned with a report that the enemy army is about ten miles away and will arrive at the city walls in no more than half an hour."
How many people are there?
"There are approximately several thousand men. The rebel army is too powerful, and our scouts dare not approach. I do not know how many follow-up they will number," Liang Jun said truthfully.
"Have all the people from outside the city been brought in?"
"Reporting to your Excellency, they have all entered the city. It's fortunate you made preparations beforehand; otherwise, we wouldn't have had time to prepare in such a sudden situation. All the city gates are now tightly closed, awaiting your orders!"
"Well done." Hong Chengchou nodded, and just as he was about to say something, County Magistrate Fang Yongzhong hurriedly came over.
"The enemy is here? Where is the enemy? How many are there?" Fang Yongzhong asked anxiously as he ran up to the city wall, panting and looking terrified.
"What's the panic!" Hong Chengchou glared at him fiercely. The enemy army hadn't even arrived yet, and the magistrate of Hancheng County was already this flustered?
It's fortunate that I'm here. If I hadn't come, with Fang Yongzhong's character, how could we have defended Hancheng?
He immediately pointed outside the city: "The rebel army won't arrive for another half an hour. Fang Yongzhong!"
"Your...your humble servant is here."
"Go! Take some men and block all the city gates tightly for me to prevent the enemy's weapons from breaching the gates. After you've done that, come see me as soon as possible."
"Yes...yes...this humble official obeys..." Fang Yongzhong hurriedly replied, then turned and ran down the city wall in a panic. He almost tripped and fell at the foot of the city wall in his haste, but fortunately, the yamen runner beside him caught him in time.