"Isn't mobilizing people from our cities simply to draw our blood? This is more shameless and despicable than demanding war compensation. We absolutely do not agree to such terms."
These city lords and mayors rejected all the terms proposed by Gavin, except for the retreat and protection of their property. This was a necessary payment. Without this, there would be no money. Negotiation is possible.
The Palace Archmage waited until their mouths were dry from arguing and the discussion was much quieter, and then he said: "I am just conveying the other party's request. Sir, why don't you discuss it and come up with appropriate conditions so that I can convey it to the other party? .”
After another round of negotiations among the city lords, Siegel, the mayor of Ximen City, finally concluded: “As long as they sincerely leave this place, we have no objection to the first and third clauses they proposed.
But the second point is that we cannot agree with his opinion on the ownership of Ivanso. This is our Dragon Coast's own matter. Even if our Dragon Coast does not arrange manpower, at least it is the free opinion of the citizens of Ivanso. It is not controlled by him. As for whether to launch a war, it is also our dragon coast's free right, and he should not interfere.
Article 4, we can only agree with half of it. We can ensure that their normal caravans and the entire road are not destroyed. This is also beneficial to us after all. However, we cannot recognize the ownership of the Giant Plains. We can only guarantee not to take the initiative to attack. Blood Gap City, once those hobgoblins take half a step out of the Giant Plains, we have the right to use troops against them.
Article 5: We have no way to agree that citizens are the foundation of a city. If we allow them to win over our citizens, it will be tantamount to digging their own graves. The most we can allow them is to use the citizens who have previously surrendered to them and Ivanso to be willing to follow them. The citizens who left were taken away, and they were not allowed to recruit another immigrant in Dragon Bay.
Article 6: The asking price is too ridiculous. We can raise up to one million to give them as their commission for wiping out the Necromancer Ivanso. "
Naturally, the Palace Archmage cannot run from both sides. Instead, after the two parties have reached the basic intention of negotiating, he brings the two parties together and lets them engage in a verbal war for their own benefit. He only serves as the final witness.
Both sides resorted to all means to do this, telling facts and reasoning, coercion and inducements. In any case, they refused to give in to their own interests, especially the attitude of the conquerors' army. They always showed that if you are not sincere, we will rely on you. If you can't leave in Ivansuo, if you have the ability, you can defeat them yourself and directly make the heads of the Dragon Coast coalition lose their temper.
If they had this ability, they would never argue with Gavin here, they would have done so long ago.
It is easy to gather 50,000 troops, but it is difficult to turn them into combatable troops. It is even harder to turn them into a strong army that can attack cities and forts. It is especially difficult to face an army that has won two wars.
In order to demonstrate their own strength, the army of conquerors would often pull out their extraordinary battle groups for training.
The Treant Corps is powerful and heavy, and every one of them is a mobile siege machine.
The Goliath Corps is invincible in land warfare, and no army can resist their jump attack tactics.
The Hobgoblin Giant Corps, they don't need to do anything at all, they just need to stand there, their terrifying size can destroy the will of resistance of most ordinary soldiers.
The believers of Tempus led by Erdan rode white mares and kept wandering around Ivanso. The deep meaning they represented made countless people scared, and they simply could not muster the courage to fight against the conqueror's army. .
This kind of negotiation is never determined by who can speak eloquently, but by who has the advantage of force.
Those who have the advantage in force press forward step by step, while those who have the disadvantage naturally retreat step by step.
In the end, the focus of competition between the two sides lies in two aspects, one is population and the other is money.
"In order to prove our sincerity, we will take a step back. We will not go directly to your city to recruit immigrants. All your cities will gather 10,000 immigrants for us. Is this okay?" Gavin said in a way that I would lose a lot. He said to the mayors and city lords on the Dragon Coast in a worried tone.
"This is not immigration, this is shameless robbery. How is this different from those slave traders who buy and sell people?"
"We absolutely do not agree to this outrageous request."
"We will never give in on this matter."
The city lords and mayors of the cities on the Dragon Coast denounced with righteous indignation.
"Since you think this is the buying and selling of people, then let the city go and let us recruit ourselves. Then we will each rely on our own abilities to see whether your policies can make those citizens stay? Or are they attracted by my policies to follow me? Let’s go?” Gavin sneered, “Why didn’t you reply? Isn’t it because you don’t dare? In this matter, you have an advantage over me. As long as you are not too bad to your own citizens, as long as you can survive If this goes on, no one will leave their homeland. Ten thousand immigrants is my bottom line. If you can’t even do this, don’t act out of common sense. Believe me, I can do it by then. Take more immigrants out of your cities.”
Gavin's confident look made these city lords and mayors tremble from the bottom of their hearts.
In the past few days, they had fully experienced how difficult it was for him to fight with the army of conquerors he led, especially when he said that he did not follow common sense.
Every time he moves in a direction that is beyond their expectations, catching them off guard.
When they were in a stalemate over the ownership of the Giant Plains, Gavin didn't waste any time and directly showed them the real projection of the Blood Gap City hobgoblins eradicating dissident tribes in the Giant Plains.
Those tens of thousands of goblin cannon fodder, thousands of hobgoblins, hundreds of hobgoblin giants.
Simply silence them collectively.
Now it is not a question of whether they recognize Blood Gorge City, they should pray that Blood Gorge City does not cross the Giant Plains to attack them.
With such a terrifying force squatting around the Giant Plains, the monster tribes above have no chance to develop and grow, let alone threaten them.
Moreover, this incident also told them that sending away the conqueror's army would not be the end of the world. There would be many opportunities for intrigue between them and this young opponent in the future.
It’s the Dwarf Statue City of Kobolds, it’s the Blood Gap City of the Great Goblin, and now he has installed his own human forces in Ivanso. No matter how you look at it, he is ready to play with the Dragon Coast.
Rather than letting him wander around the Dragon Coast, it would be better to accept the death toll and collect the old, weak, sick, disabled, impoverished, and criminals on death row in various cities and package them for him.
In the end, Ximen City Mayor Siegel said: "Ten thousand immigrants is ten thousand immigrants, but there is a prerequisite. You will accept whatever immigrants we give you. You are not allowed to be picky."
"Yes, but there is a premise. They are alive and of their own free will. If their hands and feet were cut off, or they were blinded or deafened before they were brought here, then don't blame me for turning your back on them. I will compensate you ten for the fake ones. "Gavin blocked the possibility of the other party's evil intentions in advance.
Never underestimate the evil of these people. In order to create problems for themselves, they will do any evil thing.
He could even imagine what the next ten thousand immigrants they would send him would be like.
But for Gavin, the important thing is not these 10,000 immigrants, but the entangled connection with the Dragon Coast.
If these ten thousand immigration issues can be dealt with properly by oneself, and if they are later spread to the Dragon Coast, more people from the Dragon Coast will definitely be attracted to actively immigrate to their territory.
Compared to Tethyr, the Dragon Coast is much closer to the valley. It can be reached within a few days by walking across Dragon Lake and along the trade road.
The bigger the problems these stupid dragon coast city lords and mayors pose for themselves, the greater the rewards will be once they are successfully solved.
As long as the governance model of Dragon Coast City does not change, he will definitely eat the population here, and it will only take time to slowly digest it.
"Deal." This time, Siegel no longer hesitated. He just wanted to get rid of these murderous gods quickly. With so many troops gathered here, they were eating each other, plus the mercenary commission, it was an astronomical figure every day. , some small towns can no longer support themselves and are sneaking away. Soon, their numerical advantage will no longer be there.
"The pension is eight million. We not only accept various currencies and materials, but also fixed industries in various cities. Those abandoned industries can also be discounted. This is our lowest limit." Gavin added the last one. Conditions have also been reduced.
"Aren't you afraid of overeating?" Siegel couldn't help grinding his teeth and said viciously.
This time he did not get too entangled in this matter. For a city, eight million is an astronomical figure that cannot be raised. However, for many cities and forces on the Dragon Coast, as long as they are distributed according to the scale of their forces, Even these big cities are only allocated six to seven hundred thousand. As a big trading city, it is only a matter of business tax for a few months, so it is not difficult to collect.
What I couldn't accept before was mainly because this thing was disgusting. The conqueror's army was completely victorious in attacking Ivanso. At most, they spent hundreds of thousands of resurrection fees. All the benefits were taken by them. Turning around, they still have to start from They extract a lot of money and material from them. Is there any justice in this world?
But as the Sembian envoy came secretly and shared the latest plan to deal with the conqueror's army, they decided to bite their noses and eat this bitter pill. They were ready to make the other party spit out everything they ate in the goblin wilderness. .
The overall layout of the Goblin Frontier is very similar to that of the Giants' Plains, sandwiched between two large mountains.
But the former is far more dangerous and complex than the latter.
The terrain of the Giants Plain is relatively simple. Except for the two mountain ranges, it is a flat plain. The main thing that is special here is the enormity of the animals and plants. The exits on both sides are hundreds of kilometers away.
The goblin border wilderness is different. The middle area is relatively narrow, especially the Sunset Mountains and Stormhorn Mountains at the southern end. There is a large overlapping mosaic. The largest entrance and exit of the Wilderness Path Bridge is under the absolute control of Boscu.
If they use the passage here to get in, it will be difficult to get out.
As for the interior of Goblin Border Wasteland, apart from the River Border Wasteland running through it, nearly half of the area is occupied by the Distant Sea Swamp and Thun Swamp, and there is muddy land everywhere.
The conqueror's army's previous method of building roads worked well on the plains, but not there.
Now they can all imagine the embarrassing situation that the other party was in after entering the goblin border wilderness, and then gathering and inciting the local monster tribes to harass and attack them. Even if they were not defeated, they would not be able to maintain their integrity. The integrity of the army, and the vast cargo of wealth they carried, was both a drag and a source of disaster to them.
"Whether we eat or not is our business, the mayor doesn't need to worry about it." Gavin responded with a smile, "The longer this matter is delayed, the worse it will be for you. If it is delayed for another month and a half, , your military expenditure is more than this amount.
"The amount is too big, we need time to prepare." Siegel said through gritted teeth.
"I can give you ten days to deliver all your belongings to Ivanso within ten days. We will leave here on time and enter the goblin wilderness via Bosku. What do you think?" Gavin also knew what the other party was saying. is the truth.
Mayor Ximen whispered to the city lords and mayors of other cities, and finally said: "Five days, we only need five days. After five days, when the goods arrive, you will hand over all the things in Ivanso to the Avengers." Resistance troops, then all leave and are not allowed to return. If you violate the oath, you will be abandoned by both humans and gods, and the whole world will punish you."
If it weren't for the time it took to assemble supplies and personnel, they wouldn't have wanted the conqueror's army to stay on the Dragon Coast for even these five days.
"Five days will be five days. As long as you abide by the contract, we will never breach the contract." Gavin vowed.
He only guaranteed that this army of conquerors would not come back, but he did not guarantee that he would not use other means to influence, control, and infiltrate this place.
All the cities on the Dragon Coast are now united because there is a powerful dragon like the Conqueror Army pressing down here. When they leave this place, this place will definitely return to the scattered appearance of before. At that time, they will There's an opportunity.
After the two parties reached a mutual intention, the contract was signed under the witness of the Archmage of the Kingdom of Cormyr, Vongeldahast.
After sending away the leaders of the Dragon Coast coalition forces, Fengdahast said with a serious expression: "What do you mean, little friend, after leaving the Dragon Coast, are you planning to go to the Goblin Frontier? We have just received Sambia here. There are two pieces of information from the Merchant Council, one of which is directly related to you, and the other is indirectly related."
"Oh? What information?" A look of interest appeared on Gavin's face, and he had already guessed everything.
The conflict between Valley and Sambia is irreconcilable. If one party grows stronger, it will inevitably erode the other party's vested interests.
If their army of conquerors makes such a big noise on the Dragon Coast, the Sambian Merchant Council will definitely take action.
After many calculations, the Goblin Border Wasteland is their only chance to take action. Once they miss this place, they will have no other place to rely on to severely damage the conqueror's army. And the Kingdom of Cormyr is between the two places, so Sambia is impossible. The only way to send a large number of mercenaries there is to use the local monster forces to encircle them.
And after they passed by, conflicts with the monster tribe were inevitable. It was nothing more than the difference between organized and unorganized.
"They are preparing to collude with the Dark Fortress of the Zhentarim, and are preparing to mobilize the monster tribes in the Goblin Borderlands to snipe you." Vongeldahast replied.
"Although we have already guessed this matter, we still have to thank the Archmage for his kind reminder, but we have no choice. There is only this way to go. We will be cautious." Gavin said with a confident smile, "They If you want to eat us, you must be prepared to have your teeth knocked out. On the contrary, after we have successfully passed through the goblin wilderness, we need to take a road through the rocky land, and this matter requires your consent."
"I can't make any promises to you on this matter. You need to go to Susar in person to meet His Majesty the King." Although the Kingdom of Cormyr has made a plan, Vongerdahast will not make any promises because this is not a simple matter. personal friendship, but involves the entanglement of interests between forces.
"This is a matter of course." Gavin didn't expect to get the pass so easily.
To be honest, the development of things to this point has completely overturned his original plan.
In other words, it has been broken three or four times, and the plan is constantly revised, revised, and revised.
According to his original plan, he planned to spend a year developing the rocky land and assisting in the development of the valley. At the end of this year, he would follow King Asan to Cesk to gain experience, earn some money along the way, and organize manpower to completely clean up the rocky land next year. , and naturally became the baron with the largest territory in the Kingdom of Cormyr.
Who would have thought that, moving east and west, his momentum of development in the valley would be so rapid that as long as he brought back the army of conquerors, it would be inevitable to fully catch up with the Yandi side.
At that time, there will be a relatively embarrassing situation. He is likely to be the lord of one or even several sub-valleys on the other side of the valley, but he has a territory in the Kingdom of Cormyr.
This will also be a question he needs to discuss when he meets King Asan - if he has really recovered Yandi, can he still be granted the title of Baron of Yandi?
Although it is not common in Faerûn for one person to serve as lord or lord of several countries, it does not mean that it is completely unheard of.
He already holds many positions, including the Lord of Battle Valley and the Baron of Tethyr. At that time, he will only be adding a Baron of Cormyr. Well, he is also the co-lord of Blood Gap City and Dwarf Statue City. This is already considered A little king now.
"What is the other indirect news related to us?" Gavin asked curiously.
There is no way to guess. The espionage organization is what he lacks the most, especially when it comes to penetrating a complete country like Sambia, or an established kingdom like the Kingdom of Cormyr has the advantage.
(End of chapter)
