The Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Bright Moon of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 565 Bargaining [Subscription*Monthly Ticket Request]

"He's anxious, he's anxious, see?"

Knowing that Guo Kai was coming, Yan Yan smiled and joked with the officers.

All the soldiers in the Imperial Guards were speechless at the emperor's bad habits.

What else could they do.

You should pamper your own monarch.

"Greetings, Lord Bing!" Guo Kai knew the difficulty of this journey, so he had no choice but to accept it.

As for other thoughts, he didn't dare to have them.

"How dare you! The person in front of you is His Majesty the Northern Emperor, who is recognized by the historians!" Without Yan Yan saying a word, Mo Ya stepped forward and scolded him.

“???” Guo Kai was numb.

Beidi!
Well, that is what historians privately agree on, although it has not been made public.

Yan Yan looked at Guo Kai with amusement, then turned his head to look at Mo Ya. This guy has also learned bad things.

"Prime Minister Guo Kai of Zhao pays his respects to His Majesty the Northern Emperor." The situation was stronger than the man, so Guo Kai took advantage of the situation.

Anyway, calling him Beidi won’t make you lose any weight.

"Well, remember, Prime Minister Zhao acknowledges the position of Emperor Gubei!" Yan Yan turned and said to the attendant.

“???” Guo Kai was completely stunned.

We have no grudges in the past or present, why are you trying to harm me like this?

He is the prime minister of Zhao State and represents Zhao State.

Once this matter gets out, it means that the State of Zhao recognizes Bingjun as emperor.

When he returned to Handan, King Zhao and his court officials would scold him to death.

Those princes who are unwilling to recognize the throne of the Northern Emperor will also curse him to death.

There is a difference between publicly acknowledging something and privately tacitly agreeing to it.

"It seems that Handan has made its choice?" Yan Yan asked Guo Kai with a smile.

Guo Kai remained silent, thinking about how to conduct this negotiation.

The lowest bottom line given to him by Handan was to give up the area north of Hongshang Pass, but he must take back Hongshang Pass and bring back the army.

What is the difference between Zhao State without Hongshangsai and Bingzhou’s back garden?
Even without the army of more than 100,000, it would still be a piece of fat meat on Qin's lips.

Therefore, Handan had to compromise.

Qin said it would not send troops for three years. Did Zhao dare to believe it?
It's a truth that street thugs all know: attack while you're weak.

In order to bring back the army, Handan even gave up Dai County, the second city of Zhao State.

Anyway, they had never been able to collect taxes from Dai County.

"Handan must take back Hongshang Pass and bring back the army!" Guo Kai still spoke.

Although direct support would put the city at a disadvantage in the negotiations, Bingzhou already had the upper hand, so it made no difference.

"Cease land? Pay compensation?" Yan Yan asked with a smile.

"Cease land and pay compensation!" Guo Kai nodded.

"Okay!" Yan Yan nodded.

"Bingzhou will be returned to Zhao Guohong's Upper Pass in exchange for Yanmen Pass!"

"Zhao will compensate Bingzhou for all the expenses incurred in this war, and will also compensate for the losses incurred in post-war reconstruction!"

Guo Kai was stunned for a moment and looked at Yan Yan. It seemed that Bingzhou did not intend to continue occupying Dai County.

In other words, Bingzhou is not interested in the two major horse farms in the entire northern part of Zhao State, north of Hongshang Sai and south of Yanmen Pass.

"The Northern Emperor only wants Yanmen Pass?" Guo Kai asked again in disbelief.

"Just Yanmen Pass!" Yan Yan nodded.

It's not that Bingzhou is not interested in the two major horse farms, but it really has no interest in them. The Central Plains lacks war horses because there are not enough horse farms and the terrain is not suitable, but the grassland is a huge natural horse farm.

In addition, Bingzhou occupied the Western Regions and established the General of the Central Army to Protect the Western Regions. It had fine horses provided by Wusun and Dayuan as horse breeds, and it really looked down on the war horses bred by the State of Zhao.

The most important thing is that Bingzhou does not have enough population and energy to manage the northern part of Zhao State.

Dai County and Handan have been in conflict for so many years that Dai County has not been able to surrender, let alone Bingzhou!

"So, Li Mu actually guessed Bingzhou's true intention from the very beginning!" Guo Kai suddenly reacted.

Li Mu's proposal in the court was not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but a decision made after analyzing the national conditions of Bingzhou.

It’s a pity that no one in Handan believed him or was willing to speak up for him.

If Handan had agreed to Li Mu's suggestion at the beginning, perhaps Li Mu would not have to leave, and this battle would not have happened.

Without this war, Zhao would not have suffered disunity between its ruler and his subjects, nor would it have lost face among the princes.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing.

"Then, can Handan send an envoy to Yanmen Pass to summon us?" Guo Kai continued to ask.

The most urgent task now is to prevent Zhao Cong's ambition from growing.

Otherwise, even if Bingzhou was willing to negotiate, Handan might not be able to control Zhao Cong.

"Of course you can. Bingzhou has never stopped envoys from Handan from going to Yanmen Pass to announce orders." Yan Yan said with a smile.

Guo Kai was upset and said, you didn't stop people from going to Handan, but you also didn't allow the news from Yanmen Pass to be transmitted back.

"So, how much compensation does Zhao need to pay for Bingzhou's losses this time?" Guo Kai finally asked about the war compensation needed.

"Twenty-two million!" Yan Yan asked for a huge sum.

The currency of this era is still very strong, and it is not as bad as the Yao Qing Dynasty where it is always measured in 100 million.

According to the grain price of Zhao State, at the time of the Hengshan Plan, the grain price of Zhao State was 15 Zhao coins/stone. Because of the world's first trade war, the grain price of Zhao State rose to 50 Zhao coins/stone. Although it fell back after King Wuling of Zhao, it still remained at 20-25 Zhao coins/stone.

If converted into grain and fodder, it means that this time, Zhao State will have to pay Bingzhou 88 to 110 million shi of grain and fodder as compensation.

The annual salary of a Nine Ministers is only 1,200 dan.

The annual tax revenue of the entire Zhao State might not reach 10 million.

"Impossible!" As the prime minister of Zhao State, Guo Kai knew very well how much tax Zhao State collected. Zhao State simply could not come up with so much money.

"It doesn't require Zhao to take it out all at once!" Yan Yan said with a smile.

"Zhao can settle the debt in ten years."

Guo Kaixin's thoughts raced. Before he became the prime minister, he was a farmer in charge of taxation.

It was also clear how much tax Zhao paid in a year. Even if it was paid off in ten years, Zhao had to pay at least half of the tax to Bingzhou each year.

There was no way that Zhao State would agree to this.

Although Zhao could still use other things to compensate, it was still too much.

"It seems that the other party is not very smart. They don't even know how to bargain?" Mo Ya and others looked at Guo Kai and other envoys from Zhao State in surprise.

They could all see that the Lord was asking for an exorbitant price.

But isn’t negotiation all about asking for a high price and paying back the money on the spot?
The envoy from Zhao State didn't even think of bargaining!

Yan Yan was also a little confused. He had asked for a sky-high price and never thought that Zhao State could offer so much.

"Bingzhou is in great need of copper, iron and other minerals, right?" Guo Kai thought for a long time.

Because the Mohists discovered the role of iron ore, the entire China began to transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, and the price of iron ore soared. It went from being a stone that no one even looked at on the roadside to a strategic war reserve material that was prohibited from being sold outside.

Hearing Guo Kai's words, Yan Yan was stunned.

He never thought that Zhao would use iron ore to pay off debts. This is a strategic material.

Since the Iron Age, iron ore has become the top strategic war resource. Even before Yan Yan came to this world, steel has always been the most important strategic reserve.

(End of this chapter)