Tiger Owl

Chapter 293 Ceasefire Steps
Jia Xu was clearly stunned, but he quickly recovered. He wasn't surprised; he had had the same thought before, but he didn't dare to say it outright. He had only subtly reminded his lord that Gan Ning deserved to be won over more deeply, but he didn't receive a response from his lord, so he didn't dare to bring it up again. Now that the Prime Minister had brought it up again, he really didn't know how to answer, so Jia Xu could only remain silent.

Cao Cao didn't seem to need his answer. He pondered for a moment and said, "Go to Chaisang and probe him to see if there is any possibility of a marriage alliance between the two sides."

Jia Xu immediately realized what was happening. He hesitated for a moment and whispered a reminder: "Prime Minister, Gan Ning already has a wife at home."

"Of course I know!"

Cao Cao coldly replied, "He doesn't have to divorce his wife. He can make my daughter his principal wife, and his current wife can be relegated to a secondary position. How can the daughter of Qiao Rui be above my daughter?"

Helpless, Jia Xu could only bow and say, "This humble servant obeys!"

After a pause, Cao Cao continued, "There's news that Liu Bei's special envoy has arrived in Chaisang. While you're at it, find out what his intentions are."

"I understand the humble position!"

Jia Xu withdrew, and Cao Cao sighed softly. He had been having a headache these past two days. He had carefully studied the map and terrain and discovered that Danyang County and Yuzhang County were separated by many mountains and there was no official road connecting them. The only way to travel between the two places was by the Yangtze River.

It was this feeling of powerlessness in attacking that made Cao Cao consider giving up, and this thought gave rise to the idea of ​​a marriage alliance.

The Yangtze River was filled with warships of the Western Chu, which tightly controlled the river. Although civilian ships were allowed to navigate normally, large-scale civilian ship voyages were not permitted; at most, only two or three ships could sail together.

The eastern section of the Yangtze River was under the command of Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu chose Qiupu County, west of Danyang County, as the home port for the fleet. Qiupu County was surrounded by mountains and isolated from the surrounding area, and could only be reached by waterway.

Qiupu County is not far from Ruxukou, and Zhou Yu's navy actually kept an eye on Ruxukou.

As soon as Jia Xu's passenger ship left Ruxukou, it was intercepted by the Western Chu army's sentry ships. Jia Xu did not hide it and took the initiative to admit that he was Cao Cao's special envoy and went to Chaisang on a mission.

When Zhou Yu heard that it was Jia Xu who was on a mission, he sent a ship to escort Jia Xu to Chaisang, and at the same time sent a message by pigeon to notify Chaisang.

Gan Ning and Liu Bei have reached a preliminary alliance, becoming wartime allies for one year.
Then came various cooperation plans, cooperating within the framework of the alliance. The first step was to upgrade each other's intelligence stations into liaison offices, with both sides promising not to probe each other's military secrets and tacitly allowing open intelligence gathering.

Secondly, there is free trade, but many details are still under negotiation, such as the unification of commercial taxes, the list of prohibited items, and customs searches. There are significant differences between the two sides on these details.

Liu Bei's commercial tax was one-fifth, while Gan Ning's was one-tenth, a difference of 100%. For example, Gan Ning's side had no outposts during peacetime, while Liu Bei's side always had many outposts. The two sides had to sit down and negotiate.

That morning, Jia Xu's boat arrived in Chaisang, where his deputy strategist Pang Tong greeted him at the dock.

After the boat docked, Jia Xu went ashore, exchanged a few pleasantries with Pang Tong who came to greet him, and the two boarded a carriage to head to the prestigious inn in the city.

It was still early, so Pang Tong and Jia Xu chatted for a while before Pang Tong got up to take his leave.

Before long, Pang Tong rushed to Gan Ning's official residence, and Lu Su also arrived.

"Greetings, Marquis of Chu!"

Gan Ning put down his pen and asked with a smile, "Have you spoken with Jia Xu?"

Pang Tong nodded. "Jia Xu came to us for only one thing: Cao Cao wants to form a marriage alliance with the Marquis of Chu!"

"A marriage alliance?" Gan Ning was taken aback. "That's right, Cao Cao wants to marry his daughter to the Marquis of Chu, and wants to become his son-in-law."

Gan Ning and Lu Su quickly exchanged a glance, their eyes working in unison, both realizing that Cao Cao wanted to cease hostilities.

Gan Ning sneered, "He thinks he can just stop the war now that he's lost his warships? He's not wrong, but does the world have such a good thing? He can start a war whenever he wants and stop whenever he wants. What does he take us for?"

Lu Su was quite serious, unlike Gan Ning's emotional outburst. He pondered for a moment and said, "Cao Cao wants to withdraw his troops, but he can't let go of his pride. So, the marriage alliance has become a way to back down. Lord Chu, if Cao Cao really withdraws, we can not only retake the two counties north of the Yangtze River, but also launch an attack on the southern county."

Lu Su never considered what the marriage alliance would mean for Gan Ning, since it wasn't a marriage alliance with him anyway. He viewed marriage alliances as nothing more than buying a vegetable at the market.

Gan Ning sighed, "But there's no need for a marriage alliance; the two sides can talk it out."

Lu Su then began to understand Gan Ning's meaning. He did not want to form a marriage alliance with Cao Cao. He cautiously asked, "How about I go and have a proper talk with Jia Xu again?"

Gan Ning shook his head. "No need. I'll meet with him tomorrow morning and talk to him personally!"

Jia Xu was not in the VIP hotel. He was strolling around the city with a few attendants. This was also his mission: to understand the current situation in Chaisang. Jia Xu was a top strategist, and he knew where to find the information he needed from the details.

For example, the supply of alcohol in restaurants was controlled during wartime, and it was generally no longer allowed to brew alcohol from grain. Also, the condition of able-bodied men on the streets was affected; if the army was recruiting soldiers on a large scale, then you would not see any able-bodied men on the streets.

For example, the condition of people's houses, whether chickens are raised in the yard, whether cured meat is hung out, whether rice cakes are dried, etc., can all reveal the extent of exploitation of the people during the war.

But the most direct and effective way is to look at the grain price. Jia Xu found a very small and ordinary grain shop, 'Zhao's Grain Shop'.

Jia Xu stepped inside. The grain shop was small, with a dozen baskets filled with various grains, including wheat, rice, millet, beans, etc., mainly rice.

Jia Xu looked around and saw no other guests, only a middle-aged man sleeping on the table.

Jia Xu coughed loudly, immediately waking the shopkeeper. He looked up at Jia Xu, quickly forced a smile, and scurried over, "Would you like to buy rice, sir?"

Why aren't these priced?

Jia Xu didn't come to buy rice; he just came to check the prices, but none of the baskets had prices marked.

The shopkeeper slapped his forehead. "Look at my idiot! I adjusted the prices and forgot to put them up!"

He hurriedly ran back, took out more than a dozen wooden plaques from the drawer, checked them one by one to make sure they were accurate, and put them into the basket.

Jia Xu took a closer look at the price of the rice basket, rubbed his eyes, and was immediately stunned.

Thirty coins per dou of rice? That's impossible! The price of rice in Yecheng is one hundred and twenty coins per dou, and the price of rice in Hefei has risen to two hundred coins per dou due to the war. The price of rice in Dantu County is also one hundred coins per dou. How come it's only thirty coins per dou in Chaisang?

"Shopkeeper, is this price correct?" Jia Xu asked, his voice trembling slightly, pointing to the price on the rice basket.

"That's right. It was 35 coins per dou a couple of days ago, but today it's dropped to 30 coins per dou. Sigh! If it drops any lower, I'll lose money."

(End of this chapter)