Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 288 282. Negotiation
Feng Xi had already returned to the camp, holding a bird's-eye view map of Jianye in his hand. This was a hand-drawn map of Jianye City that he had drawn after integrating several pieces of intelligence. On it were chess pieces that he had used in previous war games to represent the stages of control of the Han and Wu armies.

"General, General Bao Feng is back and said that an envoy from Soochow wants to see you."

The guard at the door spoke softly, bringing Feng Xi back to reality from the map in front of him.

"The envoy from Dongwu? Let him in."

Feng Xi's eyelids sank, and his eyebrows curved. It was impossible for Sun Quan not to see that he was here to kill him, and it was impossible for Sun Quan to beg for mercy. If he wanted to beg for mercy, he would not be able to become emperor.

"Could it be..."

Feng Xi thought of the situation he had tried so hard to avoid, and his heart sank.

"General, this old gentleman is the envoy of the Wu army."

Not long after, Bao Feng pushed open the tent and let in an old man with white hair and beard.

"Go and rest for a while while I talk to Envoy Wu."

Feng Xi knew that Bao Feng had fought hard, so he asked him to take a rest while he himself wanted to see what tricks Sun Quan was going to play.

Feng Xi took a look at the envoy in front of him. He had white hair and looked like an old man. He knew that Sun Quan would not allow an ordinary unknown person to come. He must be a person of status, so the person who met this condition was obvious.

"Are you Zhang Zhao Zibu, who has the same name as Zhou Gongjin and is known as the one who always asks Zhang Zhao for help when he has internal affairs?"

Feng Xi was quite polite, which made Zhang Zhao feel very comfortable. Zhang Zhao was also observing Feng Xi, and seeing that Feng Xi was so young, he thought that he would be rude to him because of his youth, but he didn't expect that he would be so polite to him.

"Grand Commander, you are too kind. Zhao Tian is an old man who has only walked half a step into the ground. How can he be as famous as Zhou Gongjin?"

The two of them praised each other's business a little, and Feng Xi did not intend to delay any further, so he brought the topic back to the main topic.

"I wonder if your Emperor Wu has anything else to say since Lord Zibu has come to serve as a lobbyist?"

Feng Xi's words were full of hidden meanings. He tacitly acknowledged Sun Quan's status as emperor, but in fact he had no intention of letting things go. Sun Quan is already the emperor, and if I catch him, I won't just put him under house arrest.

"Grand Commander, my Majesty knows that Prime Minister Zhuge and my Grand Commander are brothers. He cannot bear to see brothers killing each other, so he specially ordered me to come here. I hope that you can consider it for the time being and make peace with our Great Wu to fight against Cao Wei together."

What Zhang Zhao said seemed a bit nonsensical. At this point, how could Feng Xi just say he didn't want to fight? However, this was just an exorbitant request, giving both sides room for bargaining, so Zhang Zhao didn't take it seriously.

"Mr. Zibu, you are joking. When the Emperor of Wu ordered Lü Meng to attack Jingzhou and murder Marquis Guan the year before last, he was full of vigor and enthusiasm. How could he not consider fighting against Cao Wei together? Now my Han army's revenge division has arrived at Jianye City and will conquer Jianye in a few days. How can the Emperor of Wu still have the face to talk about reconciliation?"

Feng Xi smiled contemptuously and pointed out various key points, expressing his disdain for Sun Quan's face-saving statement.

"No one is perfect. Your Majesty was deceived by Cao Wei's sophistry. Now you have come to your senses and know that Cao Wei has usurped the Han Dynasty. The whole world should fight against it. I am willing to assist the Han Dynasty to fight against the traitors who usurped the Han Dynasty."

Zhang Zhao was also a veteran in the officialdom. How could he be suppressed by Feng Xi's words? He was also laughing. "Heh, Mr. Zibu, your Wu Emperor, Sun Quan, the King of Wu in Wei, did not repent and know that he was wrong. He just knew that he was going to die soon. Even if we take a step back, as long as my Han army continues to attack, how long can Jianye City hold out? How many hours? How many days? Why should I negotiate peace with you, Jiangdong?"

Feng Xi took a sip of tea. Now the Han was strong and the Wu was weak. How could he fail to kill the snake and instead suffer from its harm?
"Grand Commander, when I came here this time, Zhuge Ziyu was already supervising the battle at the west gate wall, escorted by General Bu Zhi Bu Zishan."

Zhang Zhao also took a sip of the hot water that was brought to him earlier, and spoke leisurely.

"Is Lord Zibu threatening me? Not to mention that Zhuge Ziyu is only the brother of Prime Minister Zhuge, even if he is the son of Prime Minister Zhuge, so what? Are all the soldiers in Jingzhou who were killed by Jiangdong fatherless and brotherless? Does young General Guan Xing have no father or brother?"

Feng Xi slammed the teacup on the table, with a bit of anger on his face and murderous intent in his eyes, just looking at Zhang Zhao.

But who is Zhang Zhao? Such threats cannot scare him.

"I dare not, I just tell the truth. Since Ziyu is the Grand Commander, we are just afraid that Ziyu and Jianye City will live and die together."

"Mr. Zibu, there is no need to play dumb with me. Just tell me what your Wu Emperor has sent you to say. At worst, we can just continue the war. Swords have no eyes on the battlefield. Even if something unexpected happens, the Prime Minister will not blame me. Ziyu's eldest son Zhuge Ke is now in Chengdu listening to his uncle's teachings."

Feng Xi waved his hands, too lazy to continue playing guessing games with Zhang Zhao. His meaning was very clear. Zhuge Jin was not enough to be used as a bargaining chip. Zhuge Ke was in their hands. Even if Zhuge Jin died, they would have successors. Don't try to use Zhuge Jin as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

"No problem. His Majesty hopes that the Han army will withdraw from Jianye City and temporarily cease fire. Of course, the cities previously occupied by the Han army can be governed by your army."

Zhang Zhao saw that Feng Xi seemed a little annoyed, so he also put forward conditions. It was called trusteeship, but in fact it was to cede territory in exchange for peace, and let Dongwu continue to survive within the actual control area.

"Impossible. It is you, the Wu, who need to survive now, not the Han."

Feng Xi refused without hesitation. He would never agree to a Zhuge Jin to come to Dongwu to annoy him. Who knows what Jiangdong will do when the Northern Expedition comes?

"Don't worry, Grand Commander. My Majesty is not a cruel person. He knows that Ziyu and Kongming have been separated for decades. So if the Grand Commander agrees to this condition, His Majesty will not bear to see them kill each other. He will allow Ziyu to bring his family back to Xichuan to meet Kongming."

Zhang Zhao was neither hurried nor slow, and he squeezed out some more conditions like squeezing toothpaste.

What does this mean? Actually, it is very simple. It means to release Zhuge Jin so that Dongwu can no longer use him as a hostage.

"Should we send Zhuge Ziyu to Xichuan immediately?"

Feng Xi thought about it for a moment and his expression seemed to relax.

"I can't say for sure. After all, Ziyu is involved in too many things in Jiangdong. It may take several months to sort it out."

Feng Xi then understood that in fact, Zhuge Jin was used as a hostage in exchange for a few months or even a year of breathing time.

But the problem is, Feng Xi doesn't believe it. Today, Sun Quan can blatantly take Zhuge Jin's family as hostages. How stupid does Feng Xi have to be to believe that Sun Quan will release them in a few months? Sun Quan will probably continue to use them as human shields to force Ji Han to be cautious.

(End of this chapter)