Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 928 Negotiation
"So, brother, do you plan to agree or refuse?" asked Jumong.

"That depends on you!" Yuan Bao smiled: "After all, this matter is ultimately your business!"

"Our business?" Jumong frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You should have all seen that I am building a large-scale project in Jiaozhi City. After the rice harvest, the scale will be even larger. Ports, warehouses, arsenals, gunpowder factories, water mills, sawmills, docks and so on will all start construction. There are so many things to do that I definitely cannot spare the time to use troops against Linyi. So the Khmer King's request is actually your business!"

"Are you asking us to decide whether to form an alliance with the Khmer King to attack Linyi?" Jumong asked.

"That's right. After all, it's you who are going to fight the war, so naturally you should also make the decisions! This is fair, right?" Yuanbao said with a smile.

"We go fight?" Jumong looked at Yuanbao in confusion: "What about the outcome? If we win, the territory and spoils——"

"Of course you distribute it among yourselves!" Yuanbao said with a smile.

"You won't interfere?" Jumong asked.

"Of course I won't interfere. What right do I have to interfere with the prey you guys have killed?" Yuanbao said with a smile.

"But aren't you the governor of Jiaozhou and the Protectorate of Annan? Didn't your father ask you to open up the South China Sea?" Jumong asked carefully.

"What I am doing now is also to open up the South China Sea, right? After all, how can we open up the South China Sea without docks and arsenals?" Yuan Bao smiled and said, "As for letting you make a choice, it is because you are my brothers after all. Father asked you to come to Jiaozhou, not to be my subordinates, but to lead you to colonize the south. Everyone has his own foundation, otherwise I would not give you a ship or money. And from the time you have been in Jiaozhou, it seems that you can't stay in the county town with peace of mind!"

Jumong glanced at Yuanbao, as if he wanted to confirm whether the other party was telling the truth or lying. In the end, he decided to put it aside and turned to Suda: "Brother Suda, what do you think?"

"I am an outsider!" Suta said, "You all know that I will not stay in Jiaozhou for long. However, it is an opportunity to join forces with Cambodia to attack Linyi. Whether it will succeed or not depends on you. Please act after careful consideration!"

Zhu Meng nodded. After a moment's silence, he asked, "Brother Yuan Bao, if I agree, how many troops can I get?"

"We definitely cannot hand over the local soldiers of Jiaozhou to you!" Yuanbao said, "After all, this is a private war, and Jiaozhou has just put down the rebellion, and the people are in dire straits. If we recruit them, I'm afraid it will cause a lot of trouble!"

"Then we can rely on the more than 1,000 people we brought with us?" Jumong's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a mocking smile: "Killing the Linyi people will eliminate the external threat, and killing us will eliminate the internal threat. Brother, it's a good idea!"

"Jumong, you misunderstood me. How could I do such a thing?" Yuanbao laughed. "It's true that the government soldiers cannot be moved, but you can recruit soldiers! The troops who came to Jiaozhou with you are all elite and brave warriors. If you recruit a few thousand more and train them a little, you will become a strong army!"

"Recruit soldiers?" Jumong sneered, "Where's the money? Where's the armor and weapons? Can you give them to me?"

"Haha!" Yuan Bao laughed dryly. "It's not impossible, but you all know that my first priority in coming to Jiaozhou is to build it into a base for colonizing the South China Sea, and there are many places to spend money! Jiaozhou has just suppressed the rebellion, and the treasury is very empty. If you ask me to take out a lot of money and food at once, I can't do it. How about this! For the sake of brotherhood, after the rice harvest this time, I can give you 8,000 dan of rice, 10,000 pieces of ramie cloth, 2,000 strings of money, and there are 300 armors, 800 crossbows, and 30,000 arrows in the arsenal. How about it?"

"Is that all you're giving away to a beggar?" the one who spoke was Yaksha.

"It's not that I'm stingy, but I only have this much! If you don't believe me, you can go to the treasury to check!" Yuan Bao was not angry: "Besides, you didn't come south empty-handed, right? If you think it's too little, you can refuse it and go back to your own county!"

"No need!" Jumong stretched out his right hand: "A man of honor once he has spoken, cannot take back his words!"

Yuan Bao was stunned when he heard this, then he reached out and lightly high-fived Zhu Meng: "Okay, then it's settled!"

"Where is the messenger of the Khmer king? I want to meet him to discuss sending troops!" asked Jumong.

"In order to prevent the news from leaking out, I have placed him in a manor outside the city!" Yuan Bao said, "I will send someone to pick you up to meet him tomorrow!"

"Okay, it's settled then!" Jumong stood up and bowed to Yuanbao and Suta: "It's getting late, my two brothers, I'll take my leave now!"

Looking at his brothers leaving the house, Xuta sighed, "Yuanbao, you are going a little too far!"

"Where did I go wrong?" Yuan Bao laughed and said, "From the beginning to the end, this matter was all voluntary on the part of Jumong and his men. I neither lied to them nor forced them. After all, they felt that they were inferior to others in Jiaozhou and were eager to establish their own world. I couldn't just stop them, could I? As for the fact that the aid I gave them was indeed a little less, but I didn't have much myself! If they were willing to wait for three to five years, I could indeed give them more, but they didn't want to!"

"Forget it, brother, don't say these things to me!" Suta said, "Don't you have the intention to take this opportunity to drive Jumong and the others out? If you really don't, do you dare to swear in front of me?"

"Hehe!" Yuan Bao laughed dryly twice: "Who can tell what I'm thinking? Even if I really mean this, if Jumong and the others don't leave, can I still drive them out?"

"Forget it, I won't argue with you about this!" Suta shook his head: "In this case, I will stay a little longer!"

"What's wrong?" Yuan Bao asked, "Do you want to help them?"

"Well, no matter what, they are brothers. How can we just watch them collide head-on?" Suta sighed: "Although they have learned a lot, they are still a little green after all!"

“Xudao, you are just a pushover!” Yuan Bao shook his head: “Forget it, I’ll give you another 300 kilograms of medicine, take it with you!”————————————————————————————

As soon as everyone left the door, Yaksha couldn't help cursing, "Yuanbao is so vicious that he actually wants to use the Linyi people to consume our strength!"

"Just giving us this little thing, and letting us attack the Linyi Kingdom!" the pharmacist interjected.

"Forget it!" Jumong said as he climbed onto his horse, "What's the point of saying all this now? You have the energy to scold me, why don't you think more about how to recruit and train soldiers. After all, as long as we stay in Jiaozhou, we will be dependent on others."

"Yes, we are living under someone else's roof now, and that's why we have to endure Yuan Bao's bullying!"

"Yes, leave the recruitment and training to us. Jumong, you should focus on communicating with the envoy from the Khmer Kingdom. This time, we must conquer Linyi Kingdom and we won't have to worry about Yuanbao's face anymore!"

Everyone returned to their residence and just as they rested, they heard Suta outside. Jumong hurried out to greet them. After the two sides exchanged greetings, they sat down as host and guest. Suta did not beat around the bush and said directly: "I came here today for no other reason. Although you have all fought in battles, you have never seen the southern barbarians. If you are not careful, you will suffer. So I plan to stay in Jiaozhou for a while, and conquer Linyi together with you before returning!"

"Thank you, brother!" Jumong was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude. Suta waved his hand and said, "Brother, there is no need to understand so much. I will have someone send 300 kilograms of medicine tomorrow. You should take it and keep it well!"

"Thank you, brother!" Zhu Meng hurriedly bowed and thanked him, saying with a smile: "I came to Jiaozhou this time, and I am grateful for your care. I will remember your kindness in my heart!"

"Don't thank me for the gunpowder, it was Yuanbao who gave it to me!" Xu Tuo sighed, "What can I say about him? He does have many faults, but don't forget that no matter what, we are brothers connected by blood. Even if you conquer Linyi and have your own foundation in the future, there will still be other powerful enemies, and Jiaozhou will also be your backing!"

Hearing Suta's words, Jumong was slightly stunned, and nodded and said: "Brother, Jumong will remember what you said. If Yuanbao can be like you, how can we be like this?"

"Forget it!" Suta sighed, "Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Although Yuanbao has some problems, he is indeed good at management and construction, which you will know in the future. In addition, he also has his difficulties in Jiaozhou. After all, if you were to switch places with him, with eight or nine brothers leading their own troops, it would be difficult for you to do it, right?"

Zhu Meng thought for a long time and nodded: "I understand, don't worry, I will pay attention to this aspect!"

"That's good!" Suta nodded: "Be careful when you meet the Khmer envoy tomorrow, these southern barbarians are very cunning!"

"Well, I'll remember it!"

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"Ba Rong! This is the younger brother of the governor Langjun. He will be the commander of the war against Linyi!" Feng Sheng pointed to Jumong with his right hand and introduced him. Then he pointed to Ba Rong who stood up quickly and said, "This is the distinguished envoy of the King of Cambodia, Ba Rong!"

"I am overwhelmed to see you!" Ba Rong hurriedly saluted Jumong, and Jumong also bowed slightly. After the two sat down, Feng Sheng asked the maid to leave the room, and he also went out and closed the door. There were only two people left in the room, and for a moment the air almost froze.

"According to what you said, the Linyi people have borrowed troops from Heling! May I ask where this information came from and how many troops did Heling send?" Jumong asked.

"Young Master, I cannot tell you where the news came from!" Bayon showed a sly smile. "I can only say that Heling and our Cambodia are sworn enemies. The two countries have been fighting for years for the Mekong Delta, so we have spies in the upper echelons of Heling. As for the number of troops, the latest news I got before I set out is that King Heling sent 10,000 troops to Linyi."

"Ten thousand people?" Jumong suppressed his fear and convinced himself that numbers do not equal strength: "So, Cambodia wants to use our strength to contain its enemies?"

"That's right!" Bayon replied, "This is also beneficial to the Tang Dynasty, isn't it? If King Heling's plan succeeds, Linyi will become his vassal state, and Water Zhenla will also fall into his hands. At that time, Jiaozhou will also be threatened by him."

"That may not be the case!" Jumong sneered, "As far as I know, King Haling also paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty!"

"When he was weak, King Heling was indeed very submissive, but after he annexed Water Zhenla and Linyi, the situation was different. The surrounding small countries would submit to him, and he would become the most powerful king. Would he still be submissive to the Tang Dynasty at that time?" Bayon smiled and said, "Moreover, the capital of Heling is an important stronghold on the maritime trade route. The treasures preserved in the local temples are much more than those of Linyi. As far as I know, New Governor, your brother attaches great importance to maritime trade!"

Jumong now experienced firsthand the "cunning" that Sudaka had mentioned last night. He snorted coldly, "Then how many troops can you deploy?"

"The main force of the Khmer Empire is in Water Chenla, resisting King Horeng's army!" said Bayon.

"What?" Jumong laughed in anger. "In other words, your king wants me to deal with the reinforcements from Linyi and Heling alone? And he didn't send a single soldier? Isn't his plan too clever?"

"No, no, no!" Bayon said hurriedly, "How is that possible? Our king also has supporters in Linyi. Governor Lutuo Luo is on the side of our country. He has a large army. In addition, he controls a well-fortified port city and a large area of ​​land. If you send troops to join the war, you will not lack allies, guides and military supplies!"

After listening to Bayon's explanation for a long time, Jumong realized that among the several parties in the civil war in Linyi Kingdom, Jayavarman, the son of the previous king, had become the strongest one after gaining the support of King Haling, while Governor Luddala was the stronger one. He asked for help from the Khmer king and his stronghold was in Kutara (now Nha Trang, Vietnam) and its surrounding areas.

"That's not enough!" Jumong said coldly, "Jayavarman is a prince, and he has the support of King Haling's 10,000 troops, but you don't even send a single soldier, and you want us to send troops. How is that possible?"

Bayon slyly glanced at Jumong and pretended to be embarrassed: "But we really don't have any extra strength. After all, our country is fighting several enemies at the same time and can't spare more strength. Please forgive me for being frank. If you really don't want to send troops, then for the safety of our country, our king may have to cede some land to King Heling in exchange for peace. In this way, the entire Linyi Kingdom and part of Water Zhenla will belong to King Heling. At that time, the situation will be very bad!"

"Are you threatening me?" Jumong frowned.

(End of this chapter)