Tiger Owl

Chapter 305 Exorbitant Prices
Chen Qun pondered for a moment and said, "If your side insists on taking back Lujiang County, which the Prime Minister gave me, I need to ask the Prime Minister for instructions. However, I already know your side's claims regarding the border. What about the benefits? Could you tell me first, and I will report to the Prime Minister at the same time."

Lu Su's expression remained serious. "The interests are population and food. Due to your invasion, Jiangxia County and Lujiang County have lost a large number of people. We request that you relocate 200,000 households from the Central Plains to Lujiang and Jiangxia County to replenish their populations."

Even though Chen Qun was calm, he was shocked by the other party's exorbitant demands. The deputy envoy Mao Jie said urgently, "The population of Jiangxia County and Lujiang County has been relocated to Jiangnan by you. They were not killed or abducted by us. Demanding compensation for the population is both unreasonable and absurd."

By this time, Chen Qun had calmed down. He wanted to hear the other party's full price, but whether he agreed or not was another matter. He needed to figure out the other party's intentions first.

He waved to Mao Jie, signaling him to calm down, and then said to Lu Su, "I know the population requirements, but what about food?"

Lu Su coldly said, "Due to your invasion, a large amount of land in Lujiang County and Jiangxia County was left barren for a year, resulting in a loss of more than 500,000 shi of grain. In addition, we spent 200,000 shi of grain to resettle the refugees. Then, the reclamation of the barren land will cost a lot of money and grain. We may not even be able to grow grain that year. There are also losses in mines and losses from your looting of the government treasury. All the losses are equivalent to 300,000 shi of grain. In other words, you need to compensate us with one million shi of grain."

Chen Qun and his deputies exchanged bewildered glances. One million shi of grain—this wasn't just an exorbitant price; it was downright blatant exaggeration.

Two prefectures north of the Yangtze River, 200,000 households of immigrants, and one million shi of grain—is this all Gan Ning is asking for?

Chen Qun took a deep breath. "Besides the land, population, and food that Military Advisor Lu proposed, are there any other conditions?"

"There is one more condition: please send Wu Guotai from Jiangdong to Chaisang. This is the sincerity we want to see. If you want a second round of negotiations, please send Wu Guotai to Chaisang first. Only then can we continue the second round of negotiations. As long as she is not there, the negotiations will not start again."

After saying this, Lu Su stood up and left without looking back, accompanied by his two deputies.

Chen Qun and the other two were left standing in the council hall for a long time. Wang Lang said in a low voice, "In my opinion, the other side has no sincerity at all. They don't want to stop the war at all. They are just asking for exorbitant prices to force us to give up the negotiations."

Mao Jie also said, "That's true. First of all, 200,000 households wouldn't be enough to satisfy them. If each household has five people, then it would require a million people!"

Chen Qun sighed, "Let's go back and report to the Prime Minister first!"

Wang Lang suddenly said, "Why don't we wait a little longer? Let's wait two more days."

"Wait for what?" Chen Qun asked, puzzled.

"Regarding the marriage alliance, we await Gan Ning's clear stance."

Chen Qun suddenly realized, and nodded, "Then let's wait two more days!"

Inside the official residence, Gan Ning listened to Lu Su's report. Of course, he had no sincerity whatsoever in the negotiations. He only wanted to use this negotiation to bring Old Madam Wu from Yecheng to Chaisang as a wedding gift for Sun Shangxiang.

However, Gan Ning was in a bit of a predicament. Cao Cao had brought up the matter of marriage again. Although he had given up his principal wife, he really did not want to take Cao Cao's daughter as a concubine. He had always been very averse to such marriage alliances.

"Lord Chu, we still need to give them an answer," Lu Su said calmly.

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and then said, "I would like to ask the strategist, what benefits would there be in marrying Cao Cao's daughter?"

"Profit is reputation. Marrying Cao Cao's daughter means that Cao Cao has publicly acknowledged you, and if Cao Cao acknowledges you, the major clans will follow suit and acknowledge you as well."

Gan Ning sneered, "Do I need the recognition of all the powerful families in the world? If they don't recognize me when I seize the world, I can just find another group of powerful families."

Lu Su was speechless for a moment, and Gan Ning also felt that he had gone a bit too far. He took two steps with his hands behind his back and said again, "If we are to form a marriage alliance with Cao Cao, it would be better to form a direct marriage alliance with the royal family!"

Lu Su smiled bitterly, "A royal daughter must be the principal wife!" "That's true. Those old fogies in the royal family are indeed not as pragmatic as Cao Cao. Cao Cao was actually willing to let his daughter be a concubine. He would do anything to achieve his goal. He truly deserves to be called a cunning and ruthless hero."

Lu Su said with some disdain, "Only Cao Cao would do something like using his own daughter as a political tool."

Gan Ning thought for a moment and then said, "Reply to Chen Qun, if both sides reach a ceasefire agreement, this marriage alliance could be a nice bonus."

In the evening, Gan Ning returned to his residence. After the family finished dinner, Da Qiao brought her son to his study. The little guy was over a year old, with a robust and chubby face. He could already call out "Mama" and "Papa" and had begun to toddle.

Gan Ning squatted down about ten feet away, clapped his hands and laughed, "Baby, come to Daddy!"

Da Qiao released the child, who grinned and wobbled toward Gan Ning, then threw himself into his arms.

Gan Ning laughed heartily, picked up his son high and spun him around, making his son giggle.

Gan Ning played with his son for a while, and Da Qiao clapped her hands and laughed, "Baby, come with Mom! We won't keep Dad any longer."

Just as Da Qiao was about to leave with her son in her arms, Gan Ning hesitated for a moment and said, "A Zhu, please hand the child over to the wet nurse before you come back. I have something to say to you."

Da Qiao nodded, picked up her son and left. A short while later, she came back in with a cup of hot tea, handed the cup to her husband, and gazed at him tenderly.

Gan Ning took the teacup, took a sip of tea, and pondered for a moment before saying, "We started negotiating with Cao Cao's envoy again today. Cao Cao has once again proposed a marriage alliance, but this time he has compromised and is no longer pursuing the position of principal wife."

Da Qiao had fully understood her husband's intentions. He would never depose her and establish a new wife. Her insecure heart gradually calmed down, and she was no longer afraid of the arranged marriage.

Da Qiao thought for a moment and said, "Does my husband mean that Cao Cao's daughter might enter our family?"

"It's only a possibility. It depends on the outcome of the ceasefire negotiations. If the negotiations break down, then the marriage alliance will not happen. I'm just giving you a heads-up so you're aware of the situation."

"I understand!"

Da Qiao then asked with a smile, "Cao Cao has many daughters. If a marriage alliance were to take place, which one would it be?"

Gan Ning shook his head. "I don't know, but Jia Xu mentioned it last time. It's very likely that she's the one who was supposed to marry Sun Quan but didn't end up doing so."

“It’s Seventh Sister Cao Ya!” Da Qiao blurted out.

Gan Ning was stunned. "How...how did you know?"

Da Qiao laughed and said, "I guessed that you would eventually marry Cao Cao, so two months ago when the head steward was reporting on the business's accounts, I asked him to inquire about Cao Cao's daughter. A few days ago, the head steward just told me the results of his investigation."

Gan Ning was surprised by Da Qiao's thoughtfulness, so he asked with a smile, "What have you found out?"

"This Cao Ya was born to Cao Cao's Lady Huan. She was the seventh among her siblings and was called the Seventh Sister. In fact, she was the third daughter. It is said that she was beautiful and virtuous. She was only sixteen years old and Cao Cao's only eligible daughter at present."

Gan Ning smiled and said to his wife, "The marriage alliance with Cao Cao is just icing on the cake after the ceasefire negotiations have been reached. Whether the negotiations can be reached is still unknown, so it is too early to talk about this marriage alliance now."

(End of this chapter)