Free Web NovelChapter 2327: Chapter 2302: Wants to Cut Ties
As for the things that were dismantled, Bai Shan said, "We have decided to send someone to the Wang City of Kucha to see if we can negotiate with the King of Kucha."
Bai Erlang lifted his head from his bowl, "Impossible, the King of Kucha is not a fool, why would he negotiate with us?"
Bai Shan said, "What if we say we’re surrendering?"
Manbao asked, "Will they believe it?"
"Why wouldn’t they? General Guo followed the State Duke and surrendered to Great Jin, serving as the magistrate of Beizhou, Zhaozhou, Jiangzhou, and Jingzhou, all with achievements. He also had merits following Hou Ji on the Western Expedition to Gaochang. If accumulating merits, he could have been conferred a marquis by now, right?" Bai Shan said, "But His Majesty has never granted our general a marquisate, so he has grievances in his heart. Why wouldn’t he want to surrender Xizhou?"
He said, "As long as the Chief Steward’s army remains in the Western Regions, with us separated from the Central Plains by the vast desert, all communication depends on official documents. As long as there is no movement in the army, even if we surrender, the court wouldn’t know, and even if they did, they would be powerless."
The friends’ mouths dropped open in astonishment.
Bai Shan spoke to them earnestly, "Moreover, it’s not impossible to persuade the Chief Steward to surrender. Although the Western Turks hold grudges against the Northern Turks, they are ultimately of one lineage, both being Turks. General Ashina is even a Turkic prince, who knows if he doesn’t have ambitions to restore his country? We can promise to persuade General Ashina and then give Tingzhou north of Xizhou to him to establish a country, restoring the Turkic Wang Ting..."
With a ’plop’, the meat on Liu Huan’s chopsticks fell into the bowl, and he stammered, "No, no way, if I commit treason, my grandfather would kill me."
The other friends turned to look at him, with expressions of indescribable complexity.
Liu Huan silently exchanged glances with them, finally realizing, "Is it fake?"
Manbao patted his chest and said, "Don’t scare me, even though being an imperial physician is a bit tiring, there are many official lands, and I still like being an official."
Bai Erlang said, "I am the future Prince Consort, how could I commit treason?"
Zhou Liru said, "Our whole family is in the capital and Qili Village, how could we commit treason?"
Bai Shan said to him, "Don’t let your imagination run wild." Then he turned to ask Manbao and Bai Erlang, "What do you think of my argument? Can it persuade the people in Wang City?"
"Five points."
Liu Huan thought while eating: It’s not just five points, it’s clearly ten! If not ten, it’s at least more than eight.
Bai Shan pondered, "These alone aren’t enough. How about we send gifts of gold and silverware and then casually ask for medicine? If there’s something urgent they want, they might believe us more."
Manbao asked, "What if they send someone to meet General Guo?"
That would indeed be troubling.
After thinking for a while, Bai Shan said, "If they really send someone to meet General Guo, then we’ve half succeeded. Our goal is to buy time, at least five days, well, one day has passed today, so delay for four more days."
Meanwhile, back at Wang City, the King of Kucha was also discussing with others about taking advantage of the victory to completely eliminate the remaining two thousand plus troops of Guo Xiao.
However, the Turks who came to help were unwilling. They were promised treasures and riches after capturing Wang City, but they received less than one-tenth of it, with only half of the promised grain and forage. How could they immediately charge into battle on the King of Kucha’s orders?
The King of Kucha was also angry. Many things from the palace had been robbed by that scoundrel Guo Xiao, and many things promised to the Turkic army were temporarily borrowed from the nobles in the city.
Indeed, borrowed.
After the King of Kucha fled, many officials and nobles in Wang City were left behind. They certainly wouldn’t risk their lives fighting against the Jin army. After weighing the situation and persuading by the Left Prime Minister, they surrendered together.
Being a surrender, General Ashina naturally didn’t plunder them, so after they offered some gold, silver, and jewels, everything carried on as usual. However, General Guo and his men looted the palace of the King of Kucha, taking all the good things.
The reason these people turned against Great Jin after just a few days is, firstly, because of their feelings for their former country. Although Kucha was a subordinate state of Great Jin, the destruction of their nation was still heartbreaking.
Secondly, with the country gone, they could no longer hold high official positions, and the former nobility was no longer as noble. So after the King of Kucha contacted them, they pondered briefly and turned against Great Jin.
But they didn’t expect that re-establishing Kucha would be so challenging, not to mention the pressure from above by the Western Turks, they also had to provide more gold, silver, and grain, cattle, and sheep.
Because this was what the great king had promised them. frёeωebɳovel.com
The great king’s possessions were mostly taken by the Jin people (though everyone suspected not entirely), so after the great king’s complaints, they painfully offered even more than what was bribed to General Ashina and General Guo before.
Heartache!
The heartache made it hard to breathe, and after discovering that the Western Turkic army wasn’t willing to fight after taking so much of their stuff, they were a bit angry.
The Western Turkic soldiers who came to support them were even angrier. It was the King of Kucha who proactively borrowed troops from them and borrowed warriors from two tribes before, who both suffered miserable defeats and the promised things weren’t given.
Now that they had reclaimed Wang City for them, and yet they still hadn’t fulfilled their promises.
They bled, were missing limbs, sacrificed, yet couldn’t even exchange for the promised cattle, sheep, grain, and treasures. Angry, very angry!
Thus a day passed amidst anger and heartache.
Bai Shan and his team had been busy all day and night, completely unaware of the situation in Wang City. After finishing their chat by the fire, everyone washed their faces and hands, then collapsed and slept soundly in the tent.
The next day, when Manbao woke up, he freshened up briefly and went to inspect the wounded, while Bai Shan went to find Junior General Meng and General Li to implement the plan discussed the day before.
General Li didn’t object, only worried, "Who can be sent as an envoy?"
Bai Shan regretted, "We should have brought Wei Xingren with us. They’re the most suitable for this kind of task."
However, someone could still be chosen from the army, "There should be clever clerks in the army? Let them be the envoys."
General Li said, "But they need to meet the general first. For such a big matter, they won’t do it unless the general speaks personally."
Their original plan was to keep even the clerks in the dark so that only when they themselves believed it would outsiders possibly believe it as well.
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "Let’s first take a look at General Guo’s supplies, then decide on personnel. If it doesn’t work, I’ll go personally."
Junior General Meng immediately said, "No, that’s too dangerous. The King of Kucha might be fearful of Great Jin now, but those Western Turks are reckless and without principles. What if they kill you?"
That was quite dangerous, and Bai Shan hesitated, "Then... will you go?"
Junior General Meng: ...Kind of wants to end the friendship.
