Chapter 673 Good intentions

Xu Dexun was reminded by Lu Fang and immediately realized his incompetence and bowed quickly and said, "The foreign ministers are afraid of the incompetence today. I beg the king for forgiveness! Today, my king sent the foreign ministers to come here for peace talks!"

"Peace talk?" Lu Fang showed a disdainful smile on his face and asked, "It is a good thing for Mr. Ma to have peace talks. A certain family is not a militant man. I just don't know what conditions did Mr. Xu come here to ced the prefectures and counties? Or provide wealth? Let's talk about it!" As soon as he finished speaking, the generals and generals of the Wu army on both sides let out a burst of laughter.

How could Xu Dexun not hear the sarcasm in Lu Fang's words? However, the situation is stronger than others now, so he had to grit his teeth and hold it hard and smiled: "The king is joking. Before leaving, my king once said that as long as the Wu army is willing to quit, Yue, Heng and Chen are already under the control of your army, they will all be ceded. Our country is also willing to pay tribute to the lower country every year, and only the leader of the upper country is to follow!"

"Oh!" Lu Fang couldn't help but feel a little moved when he heard this. According to Xu Dexun, Ma Yin offered the conditions that all the prefectures and counties occupied by the Wu army are owned by the Lu Fang. There are 24 states in the entire territory of the Chu State, among which the three states occupied by the Wu army are Yue, Heng and Chen states. Although in terms of area, only a small part of the three states occupied by the Wu army, in terms of economic population, these three states are the fertile land of the Chu State and are located at the gateway, far from the comparison of those prefectures and counties in the southwest. As long as the Wu army can occupy these three states, the remaining territory is just the time.

Ma Yin is really sincere in taking this condition. Chen Yun, who was standing by, saw Lu Fang's thoughts, quickly stretched out his legs and kicked the other party under several cases, indicating with his eyes. Lu Fang immediately reacted and sneered: "Mr. Xu is really joking. Those prefectures and counties were obtained by our soldiers from a hundred battles. They were originally the items in my Wu Kingdom. Now that our army is at the city of Tanzhou, Ma Gong said that he would ced the three states to me. Wouldn't it be that we ceded our own things to ourselves? How could this be the case in the world? Do you think I, Lu Fang, is a fool?"

Xu Dexun argued strongly: "The king is not saying this! Although the army has won consecutive battles, many casualties were killed or injured. My General General Lu Shizhou is leading the army to come. There are still tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the city to clean up the embers. At that time, the internal and external forces are united, and the strength of the king may not be able to protect the victory. As the saying goes, "The war is fierce, the battle is in trouble, and the outcome is unknown." The king abandons the common people and takes risks to seek luck. Isn't it a wise move?"

"Mr. Xu is indeed unpredictable in his argument. Even I am a little moved when I hear this!" Lu Fang laughed, and suddenly his meaning changed: "But I have received a press conference from the army a few days ago. Zhong Jizhou has defeated the enemy in front of you. The Governor Lu, who you said, is now a prisoner under our army. Where can I have an internal and external alliance? What else do you have to say now?" Speaking of this, Lu Fang said to Chen Yun beside him: "Mr. Chen, please show me the letter from Jizhou to Mr. Xu, so that he would not think that a family was cheating him!"

Xu Dexun took the silk book handed over by Chen Yun with his trembling hands. At this time, everything around him seemed to have disappeared, leaving only the silk book in front of him. His ears could no longer hear the laughter of Wu Jun generals on both sides, and his eyes stared blankly at every word on the silk book. Strangely, he recognized every word, but he saw the meaning expressed. Xu Dexun closed his eyes suddenly, and he only felt two lines of tears flowing down his cheeks, wetting the beard under his chin.

Suddenly, Xu Dexun opened his eyes suddenly and said in a deep voice: "How should the king do to be willing to negotiate?"

Seeing Xu Dexun recovering from the heavy blow so quickly, a look of admiration appeared in Lu Fang's eyes. He subconsciously sat upright and leaned against his upper body on the Kuaishou, and replied in a very solemn tone: "If you want to have a peace talk, you have to agree to the three conditions of a certain family!"

"Please say it, lord!"

"First, the State of Chu must immediately pay one million guan, six hundred thousand stones of grain, and four hundred thousand pieces of cloth! Then, it will pay 200,000 guan and 100,000 guan every year!"

Xu Dexun's face suddenly turned pale. Lu Fang was about to scrape the land in Hunan, but he did not refute. He thought for a while and replied: "There is no problem with tribute. I can agree here. It's just that one million guan in the reward money is very difficult. Chu has lacked copper coins. In recent years, there have been continuous wars and tea merchants have disappeared. The taxes are insufficient. Can you pay 500,000 guan first? The remaining time is left. When the tea tax comes, can you make up for it?"

"It's okay, a family has its own proposal, so that you can afford this price. As long as Mr. Xu agrees to this number first!" Lu Fang smiled, his face full of a perfect smile. Xu Dexun saw it and couldn't help feeling a chill in his heart. However, the situation was like this. No matter how harsh the conditions were, he could only agree to the Wu army's retreat, and then he had a future. Thinking of this, Xu Dexun took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Since that's the case, a family agreed to the first condition. Please tell me the second one!"

"Okay, the second condition of a certain family is that your party must cede Yue, Lang, Li, Chen, Tan, Heng, Chen, and Yong Bazhou!"

"What!" When Xu Dexun heard this, he didn't care about his gains and losses. Huo stood up and said sternly: "The king is so angry. If you cut off these eight states, what's left of me? What's the matter with my great Chu?" Speaking of this, Xu Dexun shook his sleeves and was about to leave. In fact, no wonder he was like this. The seven states that Lu Fang wanted to cede were later Changsha, which was the center of the Three Hunan Provinces. Yue, Chen and Heng were the rich land of Chu. The other states were either important border defense areas or transportation hubs. Once these eight states were cut off by Wu, Chu would be in a fence and rest in the desperate situation of others.

However, Lu Fang was not moved by the other party's rude behavior at all, and said with a smile: "If Mr. Xu wants to leave, I won't stop him. Come and see him off!"

Xu Dexun stopped hearing this. The anger just now had passed. He suppressed the anger in his chest and turned around and said, "King, you cut off the Eighth State in one breath and left nothing for us. This is not a peace talk, right?" At this time, Xu Dexun's words were similar to those just now, but his tone became weaker.

"Oh?" Lu Fang smiled and said, "Did Mr. Xu think that the conditions that a certain family has just opened are too much?"

Xu Dexun did not answer Lu Fang's question, so he simply made a promise. Lu Fang smiled and said, "I don't think so,

I thought this condition was both reasonable and concise, but Mr. Xu had not yet understood the profound meaning of a certain family for a while!"

Xu Dexun was so angry that he heard this, but he did not dare to have anger. He had to answer angrily: "The foreign minister is stupid, I hope the king will solve the problem!"

"A certain family remembers that when Mr. Xu just proposed the peace talks, your country is willing to pay tribute to the country under the Great Wu and will only follow the leader of the Great Wu, right?"

"good!"

"Okay, among the eight states that I, Lu, want to cede, are only separated from Jingnan by a river. You also know that after our army pacified Hunan, we will march northward to advance Jingzhou. The first step is to attack Jiangling. These four states must be taken! Since your side only follows my horse, it will not hinder the great cause of a certain family to manage Jingxiang!"

Xu Dexun suppressed the anger in his heart and replied loudly: "Okay, it's fine for these four states, but what about the remaining four states? These four states are not adjacent to Jingnan? It's not a hindrance to the king's great cause, right?"

Lu Fang waved his hand and smiled, "Don't worry, it's true that Yong, Tan, Heng, and Chen do not have a border with Jingnan, but once I go north, Jiangxi will inevitably be empty. Tan, Heng, Chen is the barrier of Jiangxi. If a family is not in their hands, they always feel afraid that someone will cause trouble behind their backs. They feel cold in their hearts. Since your side is willing to go to the country for my Great Wu, it must not make a family feel cold in their hearts, right?"

When Xu Dexun heard this, he understood what Lu Fang said: Since he would launch a large-scale invasion in the north next time, he would not leave any hidden dangers behind him. If he refused to cede these three states, he would be afraid that he would uproot the hidden danger first, and naturally the peace talks would not be reached. Thinking of this, Xu Dexun looked up and said, "Since that's the case, the foreign ministers would be brave enough to make a decision and ceded these seven states to Dawu. The king can say the third condition!"

"No!" Lu Fang shook his head and said, "It's Eight Prefectures, and there's one Yongzhou." His tone was very firm, and there was no room for negotiation.

"Yongzhou? But it is the hinterland of our country. It is neither close to Jingzhou nor Jiangxi. What is the king going to cede this state?"

Lu Fang shook his head and said, "It seems that Mr. Xu still doesn't understand this hard work. Well, today while the generals are here, I made this statement clear, and let Mr. Xu understand that it is not me, Lu Fang, is it insatiable. Mr. Xu, I remember that King Chu is already quite old, right?"

"Not bad! Look at what does this have to do with Yongzhou?"

"Don't be anxious, please listen to Lu's explanation slowly!" Lu Fang was very patient and slowly said this grand statement: "To say that you are not afraid of taboos, life and death are impermanent in this chaotic world. The King of Chu may die one day. He said today that he would like to go to the Kingdom of Great Wu, but the people who succeeded him may not be willing. At that time, the two countries' wars broke out, which harmed the people. If Yongzhou was in the hands of Great Wu, it would be different. Yongzhou was located in the hinterland of Hunan, and the two rivers of Xiaoxiang merged with this. I hope that the Hunan prefectures will only last for a few days. If we appointed a general and led three thousand elite troops to station here, your lord would not do that stupid thing in view of the interests of the two countries. If the two countries did not launch wars, the Ma family would naturally enjoy the long-term country. After a thousand years of reign, Xu thought what the king said just now was reasonable?"

"This, this?" Xu Dexun couldn't help but speak in his speech and couldn't speak for a moment. Lu Fang meant that Yongzhou, which was located in the hinterland of Hunan and was conveniently transported, was the base for his own surveillance army. Once a rebellion occurred in Chu State, he could immediately use this place as a combat base, mobilizing a large army to fight, and respond with elite troops inside. He quickly put out the rebellion. By ceding Yongzhou, he could destroy the last hope of revenge in the heart of the King of Chu, and forcing the other party to be a vassal of Lu Fang honestly, and the country would naturally last. However, although Lu Fang's words sounded reasonable, they were a little wishful thinking.

"I also know that Mr. Xu feels a little uncomfortable now, but during the Warring States Period, all the six countries have far better than Wei. However, the Wei Kingdom was not destroyed until the second lifetime. The country has been enjoying a long life, and the six countries have been better than him. 'Although the teeth are strong, they cannot be long, and the water is soft, and the stubborn stones can be worn.', some truths will be understood in a few years!"
Chapter completed!