Ang Lee was in a good mood after accepting the large number of valuable gifts from Altik. These gifts were all for him and didn't need to be handed over to the national treasury. Who wouldn't be happy to receive so much personal wealth all at once? Although Ang Lee didn't lack money, he didn't hate it either. Wealth was just a worldly possession, so of course, the more the merrier.
Since he had accepted someone else's money, he naturally had to do something for them. Ang Lee was a very moral person and wouldn't accept someone else's money for no reason. He had to give them corresponding benefits to make them happy.
"Tell me! What does your city lord need this official's help? "
Ang Lee gently put down a gemstone in his hand and quietly looked at Altik's subordinate.
"Our city lord doesn't dare to ask for too much. He only hopes that Assistant Minister Li can persuade Ziyad to withdraw his troops and return to Khorasan. This will be beneficial to everyone."
Altik's subordinate said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Your city lord is very pragmatic! This request is indeed not excessive. Fighting back and forth won't benefit anyone. However, Ziyad is only a general under Mansur's command, and Mansur's orders are to break into Maia City. It won't be difficult to persuade Ziyad, but it will be difficult to make him disobey Mansur's orders. This official will have to pay a great price! We also need the support of the imperial court. "
After saying this, he put on a worried look.
Altik's subordinate was also very smart. He quickly said, "Our city lord said that he won't make things difficult for Assistant Minister Li. What do we need to do to make things easier for Assistant Minister Li?"
After saying this, he looked like he was humbly asking for advice.
Ang Lee pretended to ponder and said, "Although the Tang Dynasty is rich and powerful, there are also times when we need help. The strength and wealth of the Tang Dynasty can't be achieved without the help of other countries. The Tang Dynasty needs to make friends with other countries and also needs them to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty in many aspects. As long as they cooperate with the Tang Dynasty and prosper together, they will be friends of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the imperial court will certainly support our friends. I've already written down the specific requirements. Take it back and let your city lord have a look!"
After saying this, he handed a large pile of papers to Altik's subordinate.
Seeing that there were so many pieces of paper, Artek's subordinates were scared out of their wits. There were too many requests, but since Li An had already made his stance clear, he couldn't say anything else. He could only respectfully agree and take the papers back to Maia City.
Ang Lee did make a lot of requirements, but these requirements included a lot of details and explanations. The actual requirements were not too many. They were all conditions that Altik could accept. Moreover, the beneficiary of many of these conditions was Altik. Agreeing to them would bring great benefits to Altik.
Looking at Altik's subordinate leaving with a worried look, Ang Lee showed a smile. How could he not be happy that he could achieve his goal?
What made Ang Lee even happier was that as soon as Altik's subordinate left, Ziyad's confidant brought a large group of people to deliver gifts. Looking at the carriages full of boxes, he knew that they must be gifts.
As soon as Altik's subordinate walked out of the Tang Army's camp, he saw Ziyad's subordinate coming to deliver gifts. Moreover, judging from the scale of the gifts, the number of gifts was far more than his. This made him very uneasy. He quickly sped up to his horse and rode back to the city, leaving many of his subordinates behind.
Ziyad's subordinate was slightly stunned when he saw Altik's subordinate leaving after delivering the gifts. Judging from the number of carriages the other party brought, the number of gifts was less than his. However, he didn't know what the gifts were. Sometimes, the more gifts there were, the more valuable they were.
"Assistant Minister Li, Ziyad's subordinate is here with dozens of carriages full of gifts."
The subordinate said.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Let him in!"
After meeting, Ang Lee appreciated the gifts sent by Ziyad's subordinate with great satisfaction. He was very satisfied with Ziyad because these gifts were really too precious. He didn't know where Ziyad had robbed them from.
"Seiyad is really this official's friend! I have received so many gifts, so I naturally have to return the favor. Come on, bring the gifts. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
His subordinate quickly brought two binoculars, one with an 8x magnification and the other with a 20x magnification, as a return gift to Ziyad. Although this thing was very cheap, it was still a very precious product because only Ang Lee could make it.
Because the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty strictly controlled the high-power binoculars, most of the high-power binoculars produced by Ang Lee were sold to the imperial court. Only the low-power binoculars with 3x magnification and 5x magnification could enter the civilian market. Moreover, they were only sold in the Tang Dynasty for a short time and had not appeared in Arabia for the time being. However, Ang Lee himself could carry a small number of high-power binoculars. Therefore, he could give them as gifts to important people. After all, Ang Lee didn't carry many binoculars and wouldn't let the potential enemies of the Tang Dynasty have them on a large scale.
"Come on, I'll teach you how to use it. You should try it like this."
Because there were not many technical requirements to use this thing, it was easy to teach. As for how to maintain it, it was also very simple. He only needed to give them a maintenance manual and let them take it back and read it slowly.
"Thank you, Assistant Minister Li. I have learned it. The general will definitely like it."
Ziyad's subordinate said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "It's just a small gift to show my respect. By the way, here is the instruction manual. Take it back with you. Also, you told your general about the prophecy I told you last time, right? How did he react? "
"Well … the general didn't say anything, but he seems to trust Assistant Minister Li very much."
Ziyad's subordinate said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "I know your general still has concerns in his heart. Go back and tell your general that if he doesn't make a decision, he will suffer. Don't wait until the knife is on his neck to regret."
"Yes, I will convey Assistant Minister Li's message."
Ziyad's subordinate said.
"By the way, here is a set of materials. Take it back with you! Both sides have suffered losses in the battle. Advise your general to retreat as soon as possible! Also, you should be running out of food and provisions! If you don't retreat as soon as possible, I'm afraid a large group of soldiers will starve to death. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Ziyad's subordinate was slightly surprised. He nodded and said, "Assistant Minister Li is indeed resourceful. You even know this. Yes, we are running out of food and provisions. We will definitely retreat as soon as possible. We won't make things difficult for Assistant Minister Li. However, we don't even have enough food and provisions to go back. We need to gather food and provisions nearby before we can go back."
"I know you are running out of food and provisions. Just buy from Altik directly. As long as the price is reasonable, it will be fine."
He said hastily.
"This … we are mortal enemies with Altik. How can they sell us food and provisions?"
Ziyad's subordinate said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Nothing is impossible. At the beginning, Altik wanted this official to send troops to destroy you. This official didn't agree, so he didn't mention this matter again. Therefore, as long as this official mediates, there won't be any problems. As long as you retreat as soon as possible, Altik will sell you some food. What's there to lose? This official will help you settle it. After all, we are friends. "
"Many thanks, Assistant Minister Li. Our general will be very happy to know. I will leave this matter to you, Assistant Minister Li. This one will take his leave."
Ziyad's subordinate hurriedly left to report the situation.
Ang Lee was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth after obtaining a large amount of treasures all at once. These treasures could be said to have been extorted from him. However, Ang Lee had such strength that he had no choice but to accept it.
After Altik's subordinate returned to Maia City, he hurriedly went to see Altik with a large number of documents given to him by Ang Lee and reported the situation in detail.
"Assistant Minister Li actually gave us so many conditions. This is too much!"
Looking at the thick pile of documents, Altik felt a headache coming on. He was very unhappy and felt that Ang Lee was not being a friend. He actually gave him so many conditions. It would take a long time just to go through these documents, not to mention the rest.
"What? You saw Ziyad's subordinate give Assistant Minister Li gifts? There were dozens of carriages full of gifts, much more than what we gave him?"
Altik frowned and asked.
The subordinate replied, "Yes, Governor. I saw it with my own eyes. Ziyad was very generous. The gifts he gave were much more than what we gave him."
Altik fell into deep thought and whispered to himself, "Could it be that we gave Assistant Minister Li too few gifts and made Assistant Minister Li unhappy? Is that why he gave us so many conditions? Alas! We should have given him more gifts. "
"Governor, shouldn't we first take a look at Assistant Minister Li's conditions and see what they are?"
The subordinate asked.
Altik nodded and picked up the documents to read. Moreover, he was still frowning as he read.
"The Tang dynasty wants to build a grand canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to facilitate the passage of ships. However, the manpower for the construction of the canal is insufficient, so they need our help. Send more laborers to do the work. The wages will definitely be good, and the living conditions will be good."
After reading the first condition, Altik felt that it was not a big deal and would not cause any loss to his interests. Wasn't it just the Tang dynasty spending money to hire laborers? This was also a condition.
"The Tang dynasty needs countless resources to build canals and bridges. The Tang dynasty has the priority to mine the iron ore and other resources in our territory, but they will pay all kinds of taxes in full to help us increase the employment of our people."
After reading the second condition, Altik was stunned again. These were also conditions? He felt strange.
"In order to facilitate the travel of our people and merchants, the Tang dynasty will help us build railways and bridges. The operating income can offset the construction cost. After the cost is collected, the railways and bridges will be handed over to us and become our property."
After reading the third condition, Altik handed it to his subordinate and asked him to continue reading.
After receiving the order, the subordinate read the conditions put forward by Ang Lee one by one. Almost all the conditions were reasonable, and none of them violated Altik's core interests. Many of the conditions were even very beneficial to Altik.
"My Lord, Assistant Minister Li has put forward a lot of conditions, but almost all of them are a win-win situation. We can totally agree."
"That's right, that's right. If we want to develop quickly, we can't do without the help of the Tang dynasty. If the Tang dynasty can help us pave roads and build bridges, in the future, our merchants will be able to carry goods faster and make more money faster."
"The most important thing is that we don't need to spend money. This is the most reasonable condition. Let the Tang dynasty make some money! Only a win-win situation can last. "
All the subordinates supported Ang Lee's conditions. They felt that although Ang Lee put forward a lot of conditions, they were also very reasonable and could be completely agreed.
Altik was also very happy and said, "You are right. The conditions put forward by Assistant Minister Li are very reasonable. We can totally agree to all of them. Since you have no objections, it's settled! We can agree to the Tang dynasty now. "
"My Lord, Assistant Minister Li has sent someone here."
A subordinate said.
Altik hurriedly said, "Invite him in. No, no, no, I'll go greet him in person."
After that, he ran to greet the person sent by Ang Lee.
"My Lord, our Assistant Minister Li has persuaded Ziyad to withdraw his troops as soon as possible and stop being your enemy. However, Ziyad has proposed to buy some food to appease his soldiers. He hopes that you can sell some food to Ziyad as soon as possible."
Ang Lee's subordinate said.
"Ziyad wants to buy our food? Did I hear that right?"
Altik couldn't believe it. They were enemies. How could they do business with their enemies? Moreover, they had just gone through a very fierce attack and defense battle. There was a very strong hatred between the two sides. It was definitely unacceptable for them to put down their hatred and talk about business now.
All the subordinates also looked at the person sent by Ang Lee. They couldn't believe it.
"The soldiers are extremely hostile to Ziyad. If they know that we are selling food to Ziyad, they will make a scene in the city."
"If these soldiers make a scene, the consequences will be unimaginable. Isn't it inappropriate?"
Several subordinates objected.
"Our Assistant Minister Li said that if you want Ziyad to withdraw his troops as soon as possible, you have to sell them some food. Don't worry, you just need to give us the food. We will give it to Ziyad and supervise their withdrawal. Then, we will give you the money that Ziyad used to buy the food. In this way, your people won't need to contact Ziyad's people. Even the soldiers in the city won't know about it. So, how can anyone make a scene? Unless you deliberately leak the secret. "
Ang Lee's subordinate said and gave a very reasonable explanation.
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