When Yang Fan arrived near Xunqi's tent, he saw a few people being escorted out of the camp by the barbarian soldiers.
Yang Fan glanced at them and confirmed from their clothes that they were people sent by the Wen Tribe. He knew that the messengers had already left, so he was no longer in a hurry. He slowed down his pace and walked over slowly.
The curtains of the tent were raised high. When Yang Fan walked in, he saw Xunqi and Meng Zhe Zhu sitting behind a low table, discussing something in low voices. When they saw Yang Fan come in, the two of them hurriedly stood up and asked Yang Fan. They only relaxed when they learned that the imperial court's troops had already set up camp and were prepared to watch the battle between the four great tribes of Yao Province.
After Yang Fan finished explaining the situation of his mission, he asked, "I heard that Wen Hao and Yun Xuan sent messengers? What do they want to talk about? "
Xunqi said, "They sent people to negotiate peace. They said that Wen Hao and Yun Xuan are willing to compensate the Black and White Tribes with five hundred mountain goats and one hundred water buffaloes as compensation for their provocation and starting a war. At the same time, they will resign from their positions as the governor of Yao Province and are willing to form an alliance of brothers with the Black and White Tribes. "
Yang Fan raised an eyebrow and said with a mocking smile, "Other than the five hundred mountain goats and one hundred buffaloes, the rest are all empty promises. They have to resign from their positions whether they want to or not. Do they think they can continue working if they don't ask to resign? As for forming an alliance of brothers … Haha, is there anything else? What did they say about Huang Jingrong? "
Meng Zhe Zhu sneered. "They actually want to protect Huang Jingrong. After all, they were the ones who organized this together. It doesn't matter if they suffer a small loss now. As long as they can protect Huang Jingrong, it's like they have a knife hanging over our heads. No one knows when it will cut down."
Yang Fan smiled. "Since Chieftain Zhe Zhu has already seen through this, I presume that he will not agree to their demands?"
Xunqi said in a low voice, "That's right! We also put forward two demands. First, they have to be responsible for inviting the chieftains of Yao Province to publicly apologize to the Black and White Tribes! Second, Huang Jingrong must die! Otherwise, there was no room for discussion! Either they hand over Huang Jingrong's head, or they hand her over! "
Meng Zhe Zhu stroked his chin and muttered, "They definitely won't kill him. I'm worried that they won't even hand him over. If they defend the mountain and stubbornly delay us until the Imperial Court comes out to rescue us, relying on the principle of protecting the imperial envoy, regardless of whether this imperial envoy is guilty or not, whether he deserves to die or not, they can still obtain the Imperial Court's good graces. "
Yang Fan said, "Therefore, we can negotiate, but the momentum of attacking the mountain must not be slowed down because of this. Instead, it must be strengthened! We need to force them to give in before the imperial court intervenes! Chieftains, please send people to chase after their messengers. Tell them that the imperial court's reinforcements have already maintained a neutral stance. They no longer have any outside help. If they do not surrender, there is no other way! "
Kaori asked, "Are you certain that the imperial court will send people to mediate and not send more troops?"
Yang Fan said, "Is seventy percent sure enough?"
Kaori was still thinking about it when Meng Zhe Zhu slammed the table and stood up. "If there is a fifty percent chance, then it's worth it! I will go to the front of the mountain to supervise the battle. I just need to beat them until they feel pain! Beat them until they're blind and go to school (I won't admit defeat)! "
Meng Zhe Zhu said. Then, like a bull, he rushed out with loud footsteps.
… …
The sounds of battle in front of the mountain shook the heavens, causing the windows of Wen Hao's old residence to tremble.
Wen Hao was an official in Yao Province, but it was impossible for his tribe to change their original way of life just because he became an official. They still lived in their own strongholds, farming, herding, and fishing.
If things continued like this, after a few generations, Wen Hao's family would become a real official's family. They would lose the influence they had over the tribes under their command, and those headmen who had been managing the villages for the Wen family for several generations would become the new masters of the villages.
Feng Province's Governor Luo Shu Dao was such an example. But the Wen clan had only been the Governor of Yao Province for a little over twenty years. During this time, they had been abolished several times, so their roots were still in the mountains and in the strongholds. They had not lost control of their tribe yet.
This stronghold was the main stronghold of the Wen clan. It had a permanent population of three thousand people, but now, twenty to thirty thousand people had moved in. Because it was a relatively large stronghold, the terrain was not dangerous. It was impossible for a large tribe with thousands of people to live in a place that was too dangerous, because the living environment in such a place was too harsh.
Under normal circumstances, a stronghold with a large population would have a stronger ability to protect itself, so there was no need to choose such a dangerous place. It was not common to be surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers like this. No one would be prepared for danger in times of peace. In order to deal with this kind of large-scale war that only happened once every few hundred years, their entire clan would live in a remote place year after year, day after day.
However, this point had now become the biggest weakness of the stronghold. If the terrain was not dangerous enough, they would not be able to take advantage of the terrain to build a sturdy defense. The enemy could attack from all directions. The lush forest around the stronghold had become the enemy's best cover and materials that could be used to attack the stronghold at any time.
In such an environment, the warriors of the Black Barbarians and White Barbarians, who were used to fighting in the jungle, were like fish in water. There was no intense scene of the usual offensive and defensive battles, where people were like ants surrounding each other. Even if there was a direct battle, it was only the Wen clansmen who controlled the narrow valley and fought with the White Barbarians and Black Barbarians who attacked.
As for the barbarian soldiers in the forest who launched sneak attacks, it was enough to make the entire stronghold feel like an enemy, but there was almost no way to deal with them. Attacks from the outside were fine, but food and drink for thirty thousand people was a big problem. Which stronghold would store so much military rations?
Moreover, they had hurriedly fled back from the attack on the White River Stronghold. They had barely brought a few days' worth of rations with them. Now, they completely relied on the stronghold to provide them. There was no solution to the rations problem, and the morale of the army was extremely slack.
Previously, he had already retreated once at Yaozhou. Afterwards, he had borrowed the power of the court's reinforcements to fight his way back to Yaozhou. This time, he had attacked the White River Stronghold for a long time without success. In the end, he only heard that Yaozhou had fallen and that Xunqi had chased after him, so he fled back to his stronghold.
His power was originally inferior to the White Barbarians and also inferior to the Black Barbarians. This gave everyone a feeling that the Black and White Barbarians were undefeatable. The soldiers were trapped in the stronghold. They didn't know if the Black and White Barbarians had split up to attack the strongholds that belonged to them. The soldiers who had rushed over from the stronghold were worried about their families, so how could they fight in peace?
After a few days of fierce attacks, there had been a large number of casualties in the stronghold. Many people in the stronghold were related to him, so they often came over to cry for their sons, husbands, nephews, and second cousins. This caused Wenhao's heart to be in turmoil.
These problems aside, more importantly, the tens of thousands of soldiers in the stronghold were not all his soldiers. At least a third of them were Yun Xuan's men. Yun Xuan had been full of ambition at the beginning, and Wenhao had only made up his mind because he had been bewitched by Yun Xuan. Now, Yun Xuan was the first to feel regret. It was his idea to repeatedly urge Wenhao to send an envoy down the mountain to negotiate for peace.
"So annoying! So annoying! "
Wenhao sighed heavily and paced back and forth in the hall. His face was dark, and the servants had long been scared away by him. No one dared to look for trouble at this time.
"Governor Wen, our envoy has returned!"
The leaves of a fruit tree that was dotted with green oranges swayed as Yun Xuan rushed over.
The surroundings of the hall were filled with ornamental flowers and fruit trees. Yun Xuan had ignored the path and had actually come directly under the fruit tree. It was clear that he was in a hurry.
Wenhao raised his head and saw one of his trusted stewards that he had sent down the mountain hurriedly walk over from the gravel path.
… …
Ever since Huang Jingrong had arrived at the stronghold, he had lost his appetite for food and was not used to living. What pained him the most was that the treasures he had collected along the way and the delicate beauties had all been thrown away in Yao State City. He did not know which bastard had taken advantage of them.
Now that Wu Man and Bai Man had surrounded the stronghold and said that they wanted to take his life, Huang Jingrong was so scared that he could not sit still. He had heard early in the morning that Wenhao had sent people down the mountain to negotiate for peace, but there had been no reply. Huang Jingrong could not sit still and hurriedly came to find Wenhao to ask for news.
Wenhao did not mistreat him and still treated him as an honored guest when he arrived at the stronghold. He stayed in the back residence of Wenhao's home. After going around two small paths and passing through a thicket of fruit trees, he was about to reach the hall when he suddenly heard Wenhao's exasperated shout from behind the trees in front of him, "What? This is impossible! Absolutely impossible! "
Huang Jingrong hurriedly lightened his footsteps and quietly crept over. He stood behind a wall of trees and listened attentively. When he heard the contents of Wenhao and Yun Xuan's discussion, Huang Jingrong could not help but be frightened out of his wits.
Yang Fan, that scourge, had already stopped the reinforcements from the three provinces from helping the stronghold. Yang Fan, the Yao State Governor Zhang Jianzhi, and many other officials of the imperial court had already written to the imperial court to impeach him. Xun Qi and Meng Zhe Zhu had already sent messengers to Luoyang to apologize to the Son of Heaven and explain the reason for their rebellion. Xun Qi and Meng Zhe Zhu had already proposed the terms of the peace talks. They had to hand over Huang Jingrong's head, otherwise there would be no room for discussion.
Each and every incident was like a bolt of lightning striking Huang Jingrong's heart, striking him to the point that he lost his wits. He tightly grabbed onto a pillar in the hall like he was grabbing onto a life-saving straw. He stubbornly supported himself and did not allow his body to go limp. He placed his last shred of hope on Wenhao and Yun Xuan. However, the following conversation made him even more frightened.
"Impossible! How could I do this? Inviting all the chieftains of Yao State to publicly apologize to Xun Qi and Meng Zhe Zhu is fine. It would only be a loss of prestige. Since the plan to replace them has failed, we brothers in hardship cannot become the largest chieftains of Yao State and cannot become the military governor and provincial governor, there is no harm in lowering our heads.
However, how could we offer up Huang Jingrong's head? If we kill Huang Jingrong and hand over his head, we will be going back on our word and selling out our friends in order to survive! What we will lose is no longer face, but the hearts of the people! From now on, we can no longer hope for a tribe to be willing to ally with us. We will be alone in Yao State! "
Wenhao's face was ashen and twisted to a frightening degree. "Brother Yun, you are a smart person. Could it be that you cannot see how sinister Xun Qi's move is? If we do this, we will no longer have a place in Yao State! "
… …
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