"On the territory of my survival brigade, it's not your turn to scream. So what about the prince? He is just a prisoner of war. You should thank us for sparing his life." Gao Heng said angrily.
Zheng Wei is the prime minister, and he is used to being pampered in daily life, which means he is inferior to others in front of Lord Zheng. In fact, in the court, he is inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people. Who dares to talk to him like this, but Gao Heng doesn't care so much, and the defeated army How can the general speak bravely? Even if Lord Zheng comes in person, he cannot act wildly on his own territory.
Zheng Wei was stunned, maybe he didn't expect that such a little person dared to talk to him like this, and he was about to get angry. The attendants around him winked, and saw that the hands of Lu Tao and other generals had touched the handle of the knife. Only then did Zheng Wei realize that what Gao Heng said was right. This was other people's territory. Although he was the prime minister, his decrees would not work well in this place.
Who is Zheng Wei? His attitude has changed very quickly. A good man will not suffer the immediate consequences. There is no benefit in arguing with this guy here.
Zheng Wei paused and said: "General Gao, although the prince was captured by you, he is Annan's heir after all. What you do is not in line with the law. Besides, if the prince is intact, our negotiations will be more pleasant. Do you agree?"
Gao Heng waved his hand, indicating that Zheng Zuo should be taken down first. Zheng Wei was about to stand up, and then sat down again after thinking about it. Since he was already negotiating with Gao Heng, the prince could only suffer some grievances now. As long as he was on his side The progress is fast and the prince should be saved soon.
Gao Heng said: "Okay, I don't want to keep you here for dinner. Let's decide quickly. Anyway, the subject of the negotiation is very simple, which is what Zheng Zuo can get in exchange for you. You first tell me what the Annan court has. What kind of sincerity?"
Zheng Wei rolled his eyes. He knew very well that whoever spoke first at the negotiation table would lose the opportunity. It would be better to listen to what the other party wanted before making a judgment. "Haha, General Gao, you are the one who captured the person, and you will naturally set the price. As long as it is not excessive, we will definitely do it for you if we as a court can do it. What do you think? Now that the truth has come, of course it is based on I come here as the king’s envoy, Lord, I can still show my true face.”
Gao Heng shook his head and said: "There is nothing too exaggerated. It just depends on what position Zheng Zuo has in your hearts. I said I want gold and silver. Can you agree? Annan is a small country, but it is divided into two. , and how much food can you give us? If you are sincere as you said, then just tell us directly how wide the scope of your authorization can be. If you are not willing to talk about it, we will not talk about it. We, the ten thousand people, I will try to find a way to survive. As for Zheng Zuo, just stay here with us, I am not in a hurry."
"This." Zheng Wei gritted his teeth. This guy was really incompetent. He had to force himself to speak first. It was absolutely impossible to give up on Zheng Zuo. He had gone all the way in vain. He didn't know what would happen to Lord Zheng. The fury of thunder.
Zheng Wei said: "One hundred thousand taels, one hundred thousand taels of silver plus ten thousand shi of grain, what do you think?"
"Humph, are you sending beggars? Each person will be given ten taels of silver and one stone of food. If you do this, let's stop talking." Gao Heng shook his head.
"Three hundred thousand taels, thirty thousand shi of grain, General Gao, this is already our very sincere price. Don't be too exaggerated." Zheng Wei warned.
Gao Heng looked calm, curled his lips, and just shook his head.
"Forty!" Zheng Wei increased the pressure again.
Gao Heng yawned, obviously still dissatisfied with the price.
Zheng Wei was also in a dilemma. The Zheng family had been fighting for years, and there was not much money in the treasury. Most of it was used as military expenses. In fact, Lord Zheng told Zheng Wei before leaving that the maximum amount was five hundred thousand taels of silver. amount. This is already the limit for Annan. You know, the Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue is only 20 million taels. Annan's size is only less than one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty. It is already very good to collect two million taels a year. The court needs money everywhere, including military expenses. It only accounts for half of it. Even if Master Zheng takes out his private treasury, the five hundred thousand taels will still empty out the family's wealth. In order to save his son, he also risked his life.
"Fifty, five hundred thousand taels, fifty thousand shi of food!" Zheng Wei gritted his teeth and said, if the other party opened his mouth again, he would be in trouble.
"Haha." Gao Heng slowly picked up the cup and took a sip of water, still shaking his head.
Zheng Wei's forehead was sweating, and the two followers looked at each other. This was probably the prime minister's limit. Unexpectedly, the other party was still not satisfied at all. These mud-legged people, if not bragging, they probably don't even have five hundred thousand taels of silver. I have never seen it before, so how dare I reject it outright? Money can make all the difference. Is he really not interested in five hundred thousand taels? What's more, there are still 50,000 shi of food, which is enough for them to live for more than half a year.
Zheng Wei couldn't sit still, "I wonder what General Gao means?"
"Master Prime Minister, I have a question for you to ask," Gao Heng said.
"Say it!" Zheng Wei said angrily.
"How much does a cheap slave cost in Annan?" Gao Heng asked.
"Huh?" Zheng Wei was stunned. He obviously didn't expect Gao Heng to ask this question. Zheng Wei thought for a while and said: "What kind of things do slaves look like, such as rough servants, servants, etc. They only have three to five taels of silver."
This price is actually similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. Countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty all pride themselves on learning Chinese culture. For example, the Japanese state calls the Tang Dynasty in the Japanese state, and Goryeo calls the Ming Dynasty in Goryeo. This is not only for learning about culture, but also for All aspects of political and economic life are imitated, such as the price of food, the price of slaves, etc., all aspects are moving closer to the Ming Dynasty.
It can be said that the price Zheng Wei mentioned was not a lie. In the Ming Dynasty, this was pretty much how a wealthy family would buy servants.
Gao Heng nodded and said: "The Prime Minister is right, so as you just said, with five hundred thousand taels of silver, how many slaves can I buy?"
Zheng Wei was almost stunned by Gao Heng. This guy still had the heart to think about him at the negotiation table. He rolled his eyes and said: "It goes without saying that although I am old, I am still not confused. According to the price, the minimum is one hundred thousand slaves."
Gao Heng slapped the table and said: "Okay! What the prime minister said is that I agree to your conditions, five hundred thousand taels of silver and fifty thousand shi of grain."
Is this it? Zheng Wei was taken aback by Gao Heng's sudden statement. Gao Heng really didn't follow common sense. He always refused at the beginning, but now that he has shouted out the price, he has done it. Although five hundred thousand taels was enough to make the Annan court feel pain for a long time, in exchange for Zheng Zuo, no matter what, his mission was completed, and he could deal with Lord Zheng when he returned.
Zheng Wei stood up and said: "Thank you General Gao for your understanding of justice. In this case, why don't we draw up an agreement and sign it. Although we know the truth, the two armies are at war. This thing is no different from a piece of waste paper. You can tear it up at any time. , but I still choose to believe you, after all, this is not a personal agreement, but an agreement between the forces representing the Annan court and General Gao."
Zheng Wei added: "Please give us some time, General Gao. After I return, I will report to the king and transport the money and food from Shenglong Mansion in the shortest possible time. It is estimated that it will take a month. Within this month, we will still have enough money." General, please be kind to the prince. We will deliver the goods outside the city in a month. If the prince is intact, our delivery will be fine. If the prince is injured, then don’t blame us for falling out."
Zheng Wei was about to signal his entourage to get paper and pen, but Gao Heng interrupted: "Wait!"
Zheng Wei frowned, thinking that this guy was going to regret it, but what credibility could a bunch of idiots have? "Why, does the general have any other requests?"
"I have no other requirements, sir, but you may not understand what I mean." Gao Heng said loudly.
"Huh? Five hundred thousand taels of silver and fifty thousand shi of grain. Is there anything wrong with this?" Zheng Wei asked confused.
"Have you forgotten the question I asked you just now?" Gao Heng reminded.
"General Gao is talking about one hundred thousand slaves. Haha, this is just a joke. You can't just ask me to buy you one hundred thousand slaves." Zheng Wei said.
Gao Heng shook his head, "That's exactly what I meant."
"You! General Gao, please respect yourself. I am here to negotiate, not to listen to your jokes. No matter how poor I am from Annan, the court cannot choose 100,000 people to give to you. You want to use these 100,000 Do you want to expand your army and prepare for war to deal with the Annan court? Stop dreaming. The Annan people still have this consciousness. Let the Annan people attack the Annan court. It is a wishful thinking." Zheng Wei slammed the water glass on the table.
"Haha, sir, it seems you still don't understand. First of all, I can't ask for so many people. We estimated that it would be good to have 30,000 or 40,000 people. In addition, I don't want the rest of the money. I will convert it all. Food. The price of food in the Ming Dynasty has increased. That is because of the war. If calculated according to normal conditions, it is about one stone and one tael of silver. I want you to have an extra hundred thousand stones of food, but I don’t want you to have a penny of silver. Human The price, I'll give you ten taels of silver, double the price. Is there anything else you're dissatisfied with in such a business?" Gao Heng said.
Zheng Wei was confused as to what kind of medicine was sold in Gao Heng's gourd. He sneered: "Even so, it is still impossible for you to ask the court to sell tens of thousands of Annan people to you. Money and food can be provided, but people cannot."
"This general doesn't want Annan people." Gao Heng shook his head.
"Huh? Don't you want to be an Annan?" Zheng Wei suddenly realized something when he was wondering, "You shouldn't be?"
"Yes, sir, you are really smart. It's just as you think. Why does my survival brigade exist? It's not because you Annan bullied people too much. But what I, Gao Heng, can do is not only this. I have rescued 10,000 people here." , there are tens of thousands of Chinese in Annan who are imprisoned by you in various places. I want all these compatriots to be saved. You send them all to me, men, women, old and young, one by one."
Gao Heng pointed at Zheng Wei and said: "As far as I know, there are at least 50,000 Chinese expatriates in Annan, of all ethnic groups. After your torture, I estimate that there are still 40,000 left. You must give these 40,000 I'll send them all, I don't care how you collect them, if there's one missing, I'll make a mark on Zheng Zuo, don't you want a healthy heir, the decision is yours, not mine."
Zheng Wei was trembling all over. Gao Heng really gave him a huge problem. It was said to be a problem because it was almost unsolvable and had two sides. As the prime minister, he quickly calculated the joints in his mind.
In terms of the terms of the negotiation, the court made a profit. The original promise of 500,000 taels of silver and 50,000 shi of grain was actually equivalent to 550,000 taels of silver. If people were really bought and sold, there would be 40,000 untouchables, men, women, and children, and the price would be less than five taels. Even if it were four taels, it would only be 160,000 taels of silver. Adding in 150,000 shi of grain, 300,000 taels would be enough to get the job done. Done, almost half the money was saved.
Moreover, these overseas Chinese were also a burden to the imperial court. They were recruited as coolies by the imperial court. Unless they were all killed, they would still have to provide some amount of food. Not only that, but there are also garrison troops to guard them at all times. They are dissatisfied with the Annan court and risk triggering riots. Letting them go now is even more of a destabilizing factor. Gao Heng is willing to get these people away, which actually reduces the burden on the Annan court.
But on the other hand, there are huge risks in this matter. Population is the most precious wealth. Zheng Wei would rather give him money than population. The escape of 10,000 people from the county will capsize the Annan army in the gutter. If four people Give him 50,000 people, but he doesn't know how many people he can drum up. Wouldn't it be a huge threat to the Annan court? But people also saw through this, and they didn't want any money, so what should they do?
Zheng Wei looked Gao Heng up and down. The more he looked, the more he felt that this guy was not simple. He might have underestimated him. From this point of view, it was probably not a coincidence that Zheng Zuo was captured. This man was very capable.
Zheng Wei is like an ant on a hot pot now. If he agrees to this condition, Zheng Zuo will definitely be saved, but the future responsibility will be on him. If he doesn't agree, his coming this time will mean that he has no effect at all. He is just passing the microphone and going back to bring Gao Heng's wishes to Lord Zheng. Then is there any need for him, the prime minister, to come? Just get a messenger.
Zheng Wei opened his mouth and was about to speak, but Gao Heng said: "Prime Minister, I agree with one condition, and my generals also mean the same."
Cheng Zilong, Lu Tao and others immediately nodded and said: "Not bad."
"Look, in this case, we don't need to talk anymore. I have made the biggest concession, which is equivalent to you only paying three hundred thousand taels of silver. You should also be somewhat sincere. What I want is not you Annan people. I just want Expatriates. If you give it to me, everyone will have no problem. Of course, you don’t have to give it. Zheng Zuo will never go back. If we start the war again, you can just send people to attack. I think that by then, the Ruan family will be very happy. I'm happy to see this scene." Gao Heng said.
