The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 302 Negotiation
Surileg seemed to hear celestial music.

He replied loudly, "Our family and the families of all the generals are willing to exchange all our family's wealth for a chance to live."

Gan Minglan: "Very good! Send someone to deliver a piece of silk to this filial son and have him register how much wealth his family and others who want to live have."

Not long after.

A piece of white silk cloth floated down from the top of the pit.

When you're on a military campaign, you don't have pen, ink, paper, or inkstone.

Bite your finger and use your blood as ink.

Surrage: "."

After studying Sinology for nearly ten years, I finally experienced the hardships of being a cultured person.

Half an hour later.

A piece of silk cloth with the amount of "ransom" written on it was delivered to Gan Minglan.

Densely packed, full of sincerity.

The ancient commander and others racked their brains to finally see the above content, and they were all astonished.

"My goodness! That old man's family is incredibly wealthy. The lives of the father and his two sons could fetch 10,000 gold coins, equivalent to 60,000 taels of silver, along with 30 camels, 300 fine horses, and 3,000 fat sheep! That adds up to nearly 100,000 taels!"

"Wow, there are quite a few rich people here! You guys think you're so rich, but compared to these people, you're nothing!"

"Get rich, get rich!"

"What are you yelling about? The compensation for the 30,000 fallen brothers will cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!"

"."

Gan Minglan shook her head: "Who would reveal their entire fortune at once? These ransoms are just a drop in the bucket for these families."

Everyone bowed their hands.

General Gan is still the one who should handle the negotiations!

She had just put on a mask at night and slaughtered the Hu people, but now, by changing her identity, she has made the Hu people completely unguarded.

If these people don't disclose their financial situation, we really wouldn't know how lucrative the other party's business is!

As a tool for communication between the two parties.

Another hour passed.

Su Rileg and the others heard the news brought by Captain Gan, who had a compassionate heart.

“You barbarians won’t learn your lesson until you’re faced with death. The General is furious. He said he will never agree to let you go back unless the ransom is ten times the amount on the list!”

Surrage exclaimed in surprise: "Ten times?"

"Yes, for example, you and your two sons need to pay 100,000 gold coins, 300 camels, 3,000 horses, and 30,000 fat sheep! The General is not a businessman, he has no patience to bargain with you! You only have two choices: agree or disagree."

"Agreed, we agree!" Those who wanted to live all refused to choose him.

Gan Minglan nodded:
"Congratulations on escaping death! However, your king seems to have forgotten that his younger brother and a group of nobles are still in Hami City. After all, you are all from the same country; if you're going to die, you'll die together, and naturally, you'll return together, right?"

"You're right! So when can we go back?"

"According to the rules of the underworld, how could kidnappers release their hostage before receiving the ransom? If you're going to be so clueless, I won't be your mouthpiece anymore."

"Please don't be angry! Captain, do you have any good suggestions?"

"Alright then, select three representatives from among you. These representatives will return to Shache and relay a message to your king, and then deliver the ransom we just discussed to Hami City within three months. The General has ordered: upon receiving all the ransom, the prisoners will be released immediately!"

"Your suggestion is excellent! Please allow us to discuss and select a representative."

Surileg, fluent in Chinese and of noble birth, was naturally one of the delegation members. When he and two other noblemen were dug out of the sand, they felt as if they had been transported to another world.

after that.

The three were invited to Captain Gan's tent.

I just entered the main tent.

The opponent struck with lightning speed.

They stuffed three round things into their mouths.

With a press and a pat, the round thing was swallowed.

"We Han people have an old saying: 'Be a petty person first, then a gentleman!' To prevent you from returning to the Khanate and never coming back, I can only offer you some good food! If you don't take the antidote within three months, you'd better pray for your own good fortune."

"what!"

The three men's expressions changed, and they tried to gag their throats with their fingers, but to no avail.

"My medicine melts in your mouth!"

"."

For the top nobles of the Kashgar Khanate, a ransom ten times the amount on the cloth would not affect their family's foundation.

It's really unnecessary to offend a miracle doctor who relays their message.

Seeing that the three had finally put aside their ulterior motives, Gan Minglan pointed to the ground and said, "Sit down!"

Sit on the floor.

That’s the condition!

Taking advantage of the fact that the three of them were sitting cross-legged on the ground and their expressions had softened slightly, she continued:

"Now, let's talk about the grain and fodder that you burned, which should have been our spoils of war!"

What the hell?
The provisions that belonged to their spoils of war?

What is there to talk about?

The other party clearly doesn't think so:
"As a defeated nation, the lives, property, supplies, weapons, and horses of you prisoners of war are all spoils of war, am I right?"

"You're right!"

"In that case, the grain and fodder enough to feed the 25th Army for a year should naturally belong to our army. The General is furious about your burning of the grain and fodder! This is disrespectful to the farmers' hard work. Wasting food is something that deserves to be struck by lightning in the eyes of us Han people!"

"You're right! We shouldn't waste food."

"So, shouldn't your king replenish our army with this grain? To punish your outrageous behavior, double the grain compensation isn't excessive, is it?"

"."

"According to historical records, the Western Han Dynasty of the Central Plains established the Protectorate of the Western Regions in Weilumu. Its main responsibilities were to guard the borders and secure the land, coordinate conflicts and disputes between the various states in the Western Regions, maintain social order in the Western Regions, and ensure the smooth flow of the Silk Road. Huozhou was a vassal state of the Western Han Dynasty! Now, it's not unreasonable to let our homeland and vassal state return to us, is it?"

Su Rileg and the others were covered in sweat and dared not utter a word.

Huozhou is not like Weilumu and the Seven Guards of Guanzhong. How could they dare to agree to cede territory to the Han people?
The other party seemed to have no objection to their silence and said lightly:
"Actually, the General is somewhat reluctant to withdraw his troops. The generals below him are arguing fiercely! They all want to make contributions and don't want to just guard the border! With their current morale and strength, it wouldn't take much effort to bring the entire Western Regions under their control!"

Suzhileg suddenly looked up, his face ashen:
"Thank you for your guidance, Captain! We will definitely convey your request to the Royal City when we return. Since it concerns the cession of territory, we need the Imperial Court to issue an edict."

However, as a member of the holy warriors, I am only expressing my own opinion: in the end, it is the ordinary people who suffer in war. We are willing to work towards the long-term peaceful coexistence of our two nations!

"Very well! The three of you, as peace envoys, shall now set off back to the capital! Each of you shall have four horses and enough food and water for half a month; this is our sincere contribution to peace!"

"Thank you, Captain!"

(End of this chapter)