After the great victory in the Battle of the Wellan Valley, the three main armies of the Metasequoia Corps immediately set off and rushed to the middle battlefield without taking any time to rest and catch their breath.
The coalition troops in the middle, led by Ali Kejiang, the leader of the Western Xinjiang Alliance, are already less than fifty miles away from Metasequoia City.
If it weren't for the fact that the previous battles had left His Highness the Loulan King with lingering fears, and at the same time he was still thinking of preserving the strength of the Loulan Army, he would have already begun to attack the city at this time.
Before Alike Jiang can figure out the current battlefield situation and launch his army to attack the almost empty city of Metasequoia, Li Jiangyao and the others must completely stop the middle army!
As for the Western Xinjiang Left Route Army commanded by Geerhan, it was temporarily handed over to the leader of Montenegro and his troops from the Wan Shenhua family. They used frequent harassment tactics to hold back the opponent, delaying the actions of the Left Route Army, and making the situation in Dabancheng unstable. As for being immediately plunged into crisis.
While Li Jiangyao and the main force of Metasequoia were advancing rapidly, a mysterious cavalry squad also quietly left the legion headquarters and rushed northwest without stopping.
The destination of this cavalry team is Lime Town, not far from the charioteer Wang Ting. Just a few days ago, a large group of Shule troops arrived in that place. According to Yuduoluo's intelligence, this unit is the royal guard of the Shule Kingdom. They escort King Tajik of Shule to the front line to coordinate and supervise the battle.
Originally, King Tajik of Shule only sent Prince Tani to join the crusade. But when he heard that the Turkic Marquis of Durham had formed a military supervision team and executed King Qule and a large number of Qule generals in the name of "violating military discipline", this old man from Western Xinjiang immediately couldn't sit still.
Tajik was worried that his reckless son would become the next fool to die in vain, so he had no choice but to come to coordinate in person. If the Turks deliberately create trouble with the Shule Army, his status and prestige in Western Xinjiang may make Prince Guni and the Marquis of Durham wary.
And the cavalry squad sent by the Metasequoia Corps headquarters was directed at Shule King Tajik. Their trip had only one purpose - to discuss a big business deal with the old Tajik.
The cavalry team is headed by four people: Xie Tanzhi, the chief secretary of the Metasequoia Military Mansion of the Zhenjiang Army, Shi Yudola, the director of the military government intelligence department, the Persian beauty Efentiya and her family's chief steward Duke. Following Li Jiangyao's order, the four went to negotiate with King Shule to discuss the return of Tani and 40,000 prisoners of war.
At this time, the news that the Right Army was completely wiped out by the Shengtang Town Xinjiang Army in the Weilan Valley had already spread throughout the entire Western Xinjiang Alliance.
Compared with the shock of the Turks and other countries in Western Xinjiang, King Tajik of Shule had more complex emotions: shock, confusion, worry, doubt, heart-wrenching, sadness, regret...etc., etc., it can be said to be a mixed bag of emotions. Chen, it’s hard to say enough.
However, the biggest feeling in Tajikistan at this time is undoubtedly the word "fear".
The reason is simple - Prince Tani leads more than half of Shule Kingdom's main force.
Now, all that precious power was lost in the Weilan Valley, which suddenly caused a huge loss in Shule Kingdom's strength. In today's period of great conflict in Western Xinjiang, this is tantamount to a suicidal misstep.
Tajik even had a vague feeling that the kings of Western Xinjiang such as Alikjan and Geerhan began to cast unkind glances at him.
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Just when the old king of Tajik felt panicked because of the defeat of the right army, the guards suddenly reported that the envoy of Li Jiangyao, commander of the Zhenjiang Army, came to visit.
Tajik was very surprised by this, but he did not dare to neglect it. After some careful arrangements, representatives from both sides who were in hostile positions met quietly in a temporary secret room.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the special envoy of the Zhenjiang Army opened his mouth, he revealed a piece of news that surprised Tajik: Prince Tani and the 40,000-strong army are currently safe and sound!
Those Shule countrymen were not massacred by the Xinjiang Army in the Weilan Valley as outside rumors said. On the contrary, Tani and the others were all alive and kicking, waiting to go home to find their mother.
Tajik learned that his son and subordinates were still alive, and his hanging heart finally calmed down a little. But when he thought about it, another doubt couldn't help but arise: What was Li Jiangyao up to?
He cleared his throat and pretended to be calm and asked: "Your envoy is here this time. What advice do you have?"
Faced with this question from Tajikistan, the person who came forward to answer was neither the mature and prudent Xie Tanzhi nor the free and handsome Yudala, but the delicate little girl Efentia.
I saw Efentia showing a charming smile and gently replied: "Your Highness, we come to see you this time because we want to discuss business with your country."
Tajik felt a little strange, not sure why a little girl spoke on behalf of the Xinjiang Army. He had never received a Persian business delegation before, and naturally he did not know Eventia. However, since the other party had such an arrangement, there must be something special about this beautiful girl.
Tajik rolled his eyes and responded cautiously: "You actually have the nerve to discuss business with us? You and I had an agreement before that we should maintain peace and restraint. But now? My son and subordinates have become I have taken your prisoner! How can I still trust your integrity?"
Xie Tanzhi was worried that Efentia would be suppressed by Tajik's momentum, and was about to retort on her behalf. Unexpectedly, Efentiya smiled slightly and replied calmly: "Your Highness, what you said is really funny. . Where were Prince Tani and the Shule army captured? Was it within the territory of your Shule Kingdom? No. They ran to the territory of our Zhenjiang Army with their horses and swords, and they came to enjoy the mountains and rivers. ?"
Tajik was speechless after being retorted by Efentia, and was feeling embarrassed when Efentia continued: "Fortunately, both of us have already had a verbal agreement, and my family has always been famous for keeping promises. This will give His Highness Tani a glimmer of hope when he is at the end of his rope. If it had been anyone else, his body would have been completely cold. This is enough to prove that you will not suffer any losses when doing business with us."
Efentiya's words that were both soft and hard made the old Tajik's eyes roll wildly. If you think about it carefully, what she said does make some sense. If it had been anyone else trapped in the Weilan Valley, they would have been completely wiped out by Li Jiangyao's Metasequoia Army.
Thinking of this, Tajik's tone couldn't help but soften a little: "Okay, since we still have friendship, then please release my son and the captured Shule soldiers as soon as possible. The agreement between us will also continue efficient."
After hearing this, Xie Tanzhi and Yuduoluo, who were standing behind, couldn't help but look at each other. Neither of them expected that Tajik would be so thick-skinned. It was clear that their country, Shule, was the party that was in the wrong because it violated the agreement, but they still showed such a pretentious attitude. A condescending attitude.
Efentia was not angry at all, and still said with a smile: "Your Highness, your method of asking for high prices and paying back the money is really clever. However, I also have a question to ask Your Highness."
"Don't take it seriously," Tajik said with a sinking face, "If you have anything to say, just say it."
Efentia turned to look at Xie Tanzhi and others, and said with a smile: "The question I want to ask His Highness is, if we just throw away our hands and leave now, will His Highness keep us?"
Xie Tanzhi and Yudala are both human beings. After hearing what Efentiya said, they immediately cooperated perfectly.
"In my opinion, with His Highness the King's attitude, the two sides really have nothing to talk about anymore. It's better to go back as soon as possible."
"That's right. Didn't Mr. Li say before coming here that Shule is so powerful that he doesn't care about tens of thousands of soldiers and horses? It's up to us to handle it ourselves."
Efentia smiled and shook her head: "Hey, you can't say that. After all, that's more than 40,000 lives. We can't all starve to death like you planned before. I think it's better to sell them The best choice is to become a slave in Persia or other countries in the Western Continent. What do you think, Your Highness?"
"Sell...to Persia? The Western Continent?" Tajik's eyes widened in disbelief: "You...can't really be so ruthless, right?"
"Why not?" Eventia's beautiful face showed a kind of innocence unique to a girl. She asked Tajik puzzledly: "You don't even care about them, why should we bother to take care of them? Is it a waste of food to keep them? ?”
Tajik felt that he was quite old, and it was really unreasonable for him to be teased around by a little girl. However, it was a pity that the situation was not as good as it was. He could only swallow his anger and coughed awkwardly: "Ahem, I never said that I didn't care about the safety of Shule soldiers. Since you are not willing to let people go easily, then Please talk about your conditions."
"Our conditions are very simple. Two hundred silver coins for a soldier, two hundred thousand silver coins for a general, and two million silver coins for Prince Tani, plus their food and accommodation expenses in recent days, as well as the expenses caused by invading our territory. Compensation for various losses, a total of 20 million silver coins. Pay the money with one hand, and pay the people with the other."
Efentia's small mouth crackled and reported a series of numbers, and she looked like a shrewd and experienced profiteer. Xie Tanzhi and Yuduoluo looked at each other and looked at each other in confusion: The price Efentia just quoted was twice what Mr. Li Jiangyao had set before!
King Tajik of Shule was also shocked when he heard this. He jumped up from his seat more than three feet high and shouted: "Twenty million silver coins?! Are you kidding me? Even if we emptied our country of Shule, we wouldn't be able to get such money." There are so many!”
Facing the slightly gloomy old king, the sweet smile on Efentia's face was gradually replaced by a certain coldness: "Your Majesty, whether you can make it or not, it's not me who controls the territory. It is an issue that the military needs to consider. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether to make this deal or not. We will only give your country one day to consider it. This time tomorrow is the deadline for His Highness to respond. "
After saying that, she gave a brief salute, then led Xie Tanzhi, Yudala and Duke, turned around and left gracefully.
