Southern guerrilla warfare: I led the Red Seventh Army Corps to amassed a million troops.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Fang Zhimin turned his head to look at Zhou Zeyuan beside him with some concern, but his peripheral vision caught Yu Qiubai looking over as well.

Their eyes met, and Yu Qiubai nodded slightly.

Fang Zhimin felt relieved and breathed a long sigh of relief.

As expected, Zhou Zeyuan quickly gathered his thoughts and immediately spoke:

"Minister Chen, please calm down. We can make a statement first: the prisoners returned to your army are all professional officers of the National Revolutionary Army."

"Our army adheres to the consistent policy of treating prisoners of war well, and I can guarantee here that their physical and mental health is not a problem."

"Their military skills as professional officers are still up to par, and they are ready to return to the battlefield at any time. Can you provide a similar guarantee?"

Upon hearing this, others might have been unfazed, but Dai Yunong's face instantly turned ashen.

He knew all too well the torture and abuse that underground party members and political prisoners in the penitentiary and prison had suffered.

It was a scene of real carnage, the cruelty of which was appalling.

If we really want to "seriously investigate" this according to Zhou Zeyuan's logic...

Trading a group of wounded soldiers with missing limbs and mental impairments for a group of healthy, well-trained professional soldiers is an unfair deal no matter how you look at it!

However, the principal originally had the idea of ​​taking advantage of the situation, but who knew that the commander-in-chief on the other side, who was clearly a soldier leading troops into battle, was a hundred times more shrewd than the most cunning diplomat!

The Nationalist soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment, speechless.

Zhou Zeyuan pressed his advantage: "If you find this difficult, we can make the negotiations more detailed. We can have a one-on-one exchange between your healthy professional officers and our healthy party cadres. But I must emphasize that this is limited to cadres only."

The pro-democracy activists who were invited to attend were there to watch the spectacle, and seeing this, they didn't mind making things worse and started making sarcastic remarks.

Mr. Zhou, who just started quitting smoking today, is clearly experiencing withdrawal symptoms and is quite irritable. He's the most impulsive one speaking:

"Commander Zhou, your negotiation is clearly unfair. Where did the Nationalist army get four thousand of your party cadres? If they were really capable of wiping out all the cadres so easily, wouldn't you have been wiped out long ago?"

Chen Lifu couldn't help but glare at Mr. Zhou.

The principal already had a strong aversion to these left-wing individuals.

At this moment, his murderous intent towards this person reached its peak.

I've made up my mind that once Mr. Zhou goes back, I must find an opportunity to get rid of him, no matter what.

He suppressed his frustration and spoke again, "This is something we didn't consider carefully, but we shouldn't be exchanging one for ten. I think following the previous plan, exchanging one for three is more appropriate."

Zhou Zeyuan smiled and said, "Minister Chen, I haven't finished speaking yet! In addition to the reasons mentioned above, there is another very important factor that must be taken into account."

"Those are our underground party members, whose greatest role is to operate covertly. But once they are captured by your side and their information is exposed, their effectiveness will be greatly reduced."

"Your officers, once redeemed, can be immediately reinstated into the army and put to use. We, on the other hand, have redeemed some intelligence personnel, but they cannot re-enter a state of infiltration to fulfill their intelligence value. What benefit does this bring us?"

Zhou Zeyuan spread his hands, looking as if he was thinking of you: "Therefore, I believe that exchanging one person for ten is in your best interest."

For some reason, everyone present felt that his words were logically sound and made a lot of sense.

But upon closer examination, something felt off, and I instinctively felt that it was just sophistry and a way to fool people.

Kuomintang officials, in particular, felt extremely awkward, as if they had swallowed a fly!

It can only be said that no matter how powerful Zhou Zeyuan's deception skills are, they cannot change a person's most basic judgment.

"Commander Zhou, how about this, let's each take a step back." Chen Lifu was clearly at his breaking point. "One man for five, that's our bottom line."

"If you continue to push your luck and act aggressively, it may damage your reputation for benevolence and righteousness."

"From our perspective, reaching a deal with such a disproportionate ratio would damage the prestige of our central government. In the end, a win-win situation would turn into a lose-lose situation, which is something neither of us wants to see."

Chen Lifu spoke with such sincerity that it seemed he was genuinely concerned for the Red Army.

But Zhou Zeyuan wasn't buying it.

This kind of rhetoric, while not entirely outdated in the negotiation skills of my previous life, was basically a common, widely used technique.

With his smile unchanged, he said, "How could that be? I think 1:10 is the true win-win situation."

"As far as your side is concerned, since the principal took charge of the central government, he has acted domineeringly and has often acted rudely towards local forces, patriotic groups, and ordinary people, which has long been criticized."

Zhou Zeyuan spoke with fervor and righteous indignation: "By making concessions at the negotiating table, we can demonstrate to the outside world the government's broad-mindedness in making sacrifices for peace, and show its magnanimity."

"As for the reputation of our army... alas, compared to the great cause of peace across the nation, it is insignificant, utterly insignificant!"

These words were an utter humiliation of the Kuomintang.

Zhang Chong finally couldn't hold back any longer. Suppressing his anger, he slammed his fist on the table: "Commander-in-Chief Zhou is indeed Commander-in-Chief Zhou! Today I've truly witnessed what a 'Southeast Jia Wenhe' really is!"

"My Minister Chen has traveled a long and arduous journey here, repeatedly backing down and making concessions for the sake of peace. Yet your side refuses to budge an inch. Where is the slightest sincerity in your negotiations?!"

The moment the name "Jia Wenhe" was uttered, the atmosphere in the room immediately became solemn.

Jia Xu, also known as Jia Wenhe, was a notorious strategist with an infamous reputation.

Those newspapers can just criticize it and that's it. These days, the media industry naturally has its own shields. Even someone as powerful as the principal only dares to use assassination.

If ordinary people use it as gossip during their leisure time, then nobody cares.

But this doesn't mean that the nickname can be said directly in public.

These days, people are very careful about how they address others. Calling someone by their given name is considered disrespectful, and according to etiquette, one must use their courtesy name.

Only elders with whom one has an extremely close relationship can address a younger person by their name in a condescending manner.

To call someone by a nickname in public is an extreme insult, especially such a vicious one.

To say it directly to the person involved is tantamount to pointing at a monk and cursing a bald monk.

Everyone assumed that even if Commander Zhou was magnanimous, he would still lose his temper on the spot, especially since this man was clearly not a magnanimous person.