Chapter 572: Unexpected Condition, Qiu Peng's Headache, Disturbance at Yanze Lake |
"Liang Hengzhang drafted the armistice agreement yesterday, proposing a total of five conditions:
First, return all Caiqiu prisoners of war, and open the sentry posts on both sides of Guangningshan for three days, allowing Caiqiu stragglers scattered in the south to pass through.
Second, withdraw from all the occupied territory in Evergreen Valley, with Xia troops retreating to the Bone-Erosion Path region. Henceforth, Great Xia and Caiqiu shall use the Bone-Erosion Path as their border, pledging non-aggression.
Third, both towns shall designate Qinghua and Jinyang as port cities. In the future, individuals from both towns holding passes may freely enter and exit these two places for trade and commerce.
Fourth, the lords of the two towns shall swear a blood oath and sign a covenant, vowing not to initiate warfare for the next thirty years. Any violation will result in death and destruction under the Five Elements Tribulation."
Inside the main tent at Guangningshan, Qiu Peng rattled off four of the five conditions proposed by Liang Hengzhang in one breath. When it came to the last one, he looked up at Xia Hong seated at the head of the tent, his expression awkward and seemingly hesitant to speak.
Coincidentally, Xia Hong at the head of the tent had his back turned to him, his mind completely absorbed in the full territorial map of Mo'ao Chuan and the southern foothills spread before him. Thus, he didn't see Qiu Peng's expression. After hearing the four conditions, Xia Hong spoke with a hint of amusement in his tone: "The exchange of prisoners and the return of territory were both expected. But actively requesting the establishment of trade ports and opening mutual markets... Cai Qianshan is planning to use economic warfare against us?"
Hearing this, a grave expression immediately appeared on Qiu Peng's face.
The concept of economic warfare had been introduced by Xia Hong back when Great Xia expanded into the Wuyuan region years ago. As the Department Head of the Camp Supply Department, Qiu Peng was probably the first person, besides Xia Chuan, to be exposed to this concept.
Explaining it fully is cumbersome, but it can be summarized in three sentences: Use manufactured goods to exchange for others' basic raw materials and silver. Over time, others will develop a dependency. Once that dependency forms, over an extended period, a severe wealth inequality will develop between the two sides.
For two camps with massive scale, once this wealth inequality fully solidifies, the outcome is quite obvious.
To give a simple example: If a pill for Lumberjack Realm and Digging Realm cultivation with the same effect costs 5 taels of silver in Caiqiu but only 1 tael in Great Xia, then the average cultivation level of the populations in the two towns would quickly diverge. The subsequent flow of population would become even more apparent.
Economic warfare is a war without visible smoke, but its cumulative effects on each camp over time are far more profound than conventional warfare. To some extent, it can even determine a camp's future.
Six years ago, when Great Xia marched east from the north bank of the Ying River, it was Qiu Peng himself who executed the economic warfare. He naturally understood this principle deeply.
Why was Great Xia able to plant so many clandestine operatives in the eight northern towns? How could they even turn someone like Li Yangtian, the Army Commander of Longgu Town? And how did they gain such intimate knowledge of the defenses and high-level relationships within the five major northern town cities?
All of this relied on immense financial support!
Qiu Peng took a slight breath and cupped his hands respectfully. "Lord Leader, rest assured. Since last year, Jiang Xinfan has been sending back information on the price situation in Chencang, including the entire Mo'ao Chuan, to Great Xia. I have long ordered the Camp Supply Department personnel to verify and study it. The productive capacity of the Four Feudatories is roughly on par with ours, not significantly higher. The core reason their prices are lower than ours is territory."
Vast territory means more areas available for gathering, hunting, and even exploration, leading to more abundant resources and naturally lower prices.
Xia Hong understood immediately upon hearing this and waited for Qiu Peng to continue.
After a moment of contemplation, Qiu Peng continued, "I have roughly calculated. After Great Xia unifies the southern foothills, although there will still be a gap in territorial area compared to the Four Feudatories, the resource zones within our borders won't be much worse than theirs. After opening trade, maintaining prices at a level similar to theirs won't be difficult.
The Craftsmen Department's imitation capabilities far surpass those of the Four Feudatories. Once trade opens, we can quickly replicate various materials obtained from Caiqiu, while Caiqiu won't find it so easy to catch up to us.
Finally, the Four Feudatories have another fatal flaw: the six-class household registration system. This system in Mo'ao Chuan has already become an unwieldy burden. This is evident from the fact that Chencang, which is currently trying hard to reform, is facing joint resistance from the upper echelons of the other three feudatories.
After trade and exchange begin, once Great Xia's current household registration system spreads, it will be a tremendous temptation for the lower-class commoners of the Four Feudatories. For us, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, I ultimately agreed to Liang Hengzhang's condition."
Hearing this, Xia Hong nodded. He understood the power of system buildings even better than Qiu Peng, so he grasped it immediately.
For humans in the Ice Abyss, the most important thing is cultivation resources, and what embodies productive capacity for cultivation resources is, of course, pills.
Putting everything else aside, just the Medicine Pavilion alone can basically ensure that, as long as they don't encounter a state with a dimensional advantage, Great Xia, among camps at the feudal town level, fears no opponent in terms of productive capacity alone.
"What about the other three conditions? You didn't agree to them exactly as proposed, did you?"
"Of course not!"
Qiu Peng smiled and cupped his hands. "Regarding the four conditions, I agreed to the covenant directly. I agreed to trade after careful consideration. As for the remaining two—returning the Evergreen Valley territory and exchanging prisoners—we negotiated for a long time..."
Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong captured Guangningshan on the night of the fifth day of the lunar month. Liang Hengzhang arrived on the daytime of the sixth. It was now the daytime of the seventh, so Qiu Peng's negotiations with Liang Hengzhang had taken a full day.
Of course, a full day wasn't spent solely discussing the five conditions; there were inevitably many details in between. Qiu Peng, reporting to his superior, naturally focused on the most important points, so Xia Hong wasn't surprised.
After Qiu Peng finished explaining the last two items one by one, Xia Hong also understood what he and Liang Hengzhang had been discussing throughout the previous day.
Great Xia would not cede an inch of territory. Henceforth, the border between Great Xia and Caiqiu would be Guangningshan. Caiqiu's trade port would be Qinghua City, while Great Xia's would be the newly built Guangning City.
All Caiqiu prisoners of war would be exchanged at a minimum price of 1,000 taels. Those with strength above 10 Zong: 2,000 taels. Above 20 Zong: 5,000 taels. Above 30 Zong: 12,000 taels. Above 40 Zong: 20,000 taels. All those above 50 Zong would be calculated at 50,000 taels each.
Hearing the first part, Xia Hong didn't say much. But upon hearing the prisoner exchange prices, even he couldn't help showing a flicker of surprise on his face and couldn't resist asking, "We have over 100,000 Caiqiu prisoners in our hands, right?"
Qiu Peng nodded emphatically, his expression excited. "As of now, the total is 114,592. I've already ordered Hou Bing to conduct an overnight inventory. Those at Warmth Realm below 10 Zong only account for about sixty percent, roughly 75,000 people. According to the price I negotiated with Liang Hengzhang, for Caiqiu to redeem this batch of prisoners, they would need to come up with 470 million taels of silver. The Camp Supply Department has made a small fortune!"
A small fortune? This was a huge windfall.
Xia Hong calculated in his mind for a moment, and even he couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement internally.
470 million taels of silver might not seem like much at first glance, considering that Great Xia has now annexed the five northern towns and unified the southern foothills. Setting other things aside, the silver in the treasuries of those five towns probably wouldn't be less than this amount for any single one.
But the accounting isn't that simple. The silver in the treasuries of the five towns represents over a century of accumulation. It's normal for Great Xia to reap such a huge harvest after swallowing five towns in one go.
Normally, there's only one channel for obtaining silver: mining it from silver mines. This presents two difficulties: first, silver mines are hard to find; second, mining silver ore is highly challenging. A Digging Realm Extremes cultivator can normally mine 100 jin per day, equivalent to 1,000 taels.
Xia Hong hadn't returned to Xia City for a long time. He remembered clearly that four years ago when he left, Great Xia had only discovered 19 silver mines within its territory. At that time, Great Xia's territory already spanned over 20,000 square kilometers. This alone shows that silver mines aren't easy to find.
The towns in the Mo'ao southern foothills have all existed for over a century. Their territorial expansion, limited by the environment, had long reached its limit. The number of silver mines each controlled wasn't large, and even if they had a few, the amount available for mining was already very limited.
The 470 million taels from Caiqiu is all shiny, ready silver. Leaving aside its intrinsic value, just the manpower and resources required to mine this amount of silver would be utterly staggering.
"470 million taels of ready silver, combined with the silver seized from the five town treasuries, should greatly alleviate the financial pressure brought by this round of rapid population expansion. Trade with Caiqiu is just the beginning. The other three feudatories will likely soon request trade and mutual markets with us. Isolating ourselves is not an option; interaction with them is unavoidable. We must ensure price stability and guard against their ulterior motives!"
Hearing Xia Hong's reminder, Qiu Peng immediately nodded emphatically. "Lord Leader, rest assured! I have already sent orders dispatching a large number of clandestine operatives to the Treasure Pavilions in the major cities of the Four Feudatories to gather price information. I have also written to notify Xia City, instructing Department Head Mu to prepare in advance to withstand the price impact from the Four Feudatories. With the resources of the entire southern foothills region as our foundation, I am confident in ensuring everything proceeds flawlessly!"
Hearing this resolute assurance, Xia Hong was completely put at ease. He nodded and asked, "Have the covenants been drafted?"
A covenant sworn with a blood oath by the lords of two towns, with violation resulting in death under the Five Elements Tribulation, carries strong binding force. At least at this stage, Xia Hong absolutely dared not violate it wantonly.
Qiu Peng shook his head. "The covenant is in duplicate and must be signed in person. We have preliminarily agreed to hold an alliance meeting in Guangning City on the fifteenth day of the third month this year."
Xia Hong raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze fixed on Qiu Peng.
Qiu Peng naturally understood what he was thinking. A glint flashed in his eyes as he said, "Although Cai Qianshan was saved by Li Gangfeng, his injuries are likely severe. The warfare in Linchu County is currently being directed by Commander-in-Chief Zhong Feihu. I suspect that by the third month, Cai Qianshan might not even be able to make an appearance."
At this critical juncture, Cai Qianshan's severe injury is no small negative impact for Caiqiu. If it truly is as Qiu Peng says, and Cai Qianshan cannot make a successful comeback by the third month, and with Wei Bo and Hecang not providing substantial support, Chencang's subsequent attacks will likely become even more fierce.
Having already decided to sign an armistice with Caiqiu, Xia Hong had no intention of breaking the agreement. But if Cai Qiu itself proved incompetent and the overall situation in Mo'ao Chuan shifted again, then it would be normal for Great Xia to make adjustments.
"Let's not overthink it for now. Caiqiu is currently in a state of panic and alarm. Information on Cai Qianshan's injury condition will be hard to obtain. An armistice is nothing but beneficial for us. Since Liang Hengzhang is confident enough to set the alliance meeting for the fifteenth of the third month, let's tentatively trust him. It's only a little over two months away anyway; we'll know by the fifteenth of the third month."
After saying this, Xia Hong suddenly thought of something and looked at Qiu Peng with curiosity. "Liang Hengzhang proposed five conditions in total. You only mentioned four just now. Why didn't you mention the last one?"
Hearing this, Qiu Peng's expression stiffened slightly, clearly becoming awkward again. Under Xia Hong's direct gaze, he finally spoke with a hesitant tone:
"Lord Leader, please forgive me. Liang Hengzhang proposed five conditions. The first four weren't particularly hardline; I basically negotiated on all of them. Only this last one... Liang Hengzhang's attitude was exceptionally firm. No matter what I said, he refused to budge. After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, I ultimately agreed."
Xia Hong's expression grew even more curious as he looked at Qiu Peng, waiting for him to continue.
"Caiqiu wants a Marriage Alliance!"
Hearing "Marriage Alliance," Xia Hong was momentarily stunned. His first thought went to his son Xia Yusheng and his nephew Xia Yuzong, but he quickly realized the two youngsters' ages weren't suitable.
Which meant the marriage alliance target was...
Xia Hong met Qiu Peng's gaze and instantly understood.
"Lord Leader, please forgive me. I truly argued on principle, but Liang Hengzhang was utterly unyielding. He said that although the Lord Leader lacks the formal title of Fang Bo, you already possess the substance of one. Having only one wife to this day is not in accordance with propriety.
Furthermore, Caiqiu and Great Xia are now close neighbors. A treaty and mutual alliance, enhanced by a marriage to add icing on the cake, will make the relationship between the two towns even more solid. The people of both towns can enjoy peace, for far more than just thirty years..."
Xia Hong remained silent upon hearing this. Marriage alliances were one of the common diplomatic tactics. Given Caiqiu's precarious situation, it wasn't strange at all for them to have such thoughts.
He wasn't some pedantic person either. The survival rate for males in the Ice Abyss was far lower than for females, making polygamy an inevitable reality. Back in the early days, having Xia Chuan marry both Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu sisters was precisely to set an example.
Since Caiqiu was determined to form a marriage alliance with Great Xia, he couldn't possibly brush aside their face. So, he had no real objection in his heart to Qiu Peng agreeing after arguing on principle.
It's just that...
Xia Hong looked at Qiu Peng with a peculiar expression. "It's fine that you agreed on my behalf, but what about Xuanling's side..."
At this moment, Qiu Peng's face was full of bitter smiles. He couldn't say a word, inwardly groaning in distress.
This time, he had really landed himself in trouble.
……………
South of the Blood Mire Plains, deep within Yanze Lake
The calm, unrippled lake surface was entirely covered in a bloody miasma as far as the eye could see. The Cold Light from the sky couldn't penetrate it. The stagnant miasma, the smooth water surface, the motionless trees standing on the northern and southern shores—it all resembled a completely still painting. Heaven and earth were utterly silent, as if time and space had completely ceased flowing here.
*Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...*
A whirlpool suddenly appeared at the center of the lake. Water swirled rapidly around it, faster and faster.
*Whoosh...*
A black wind suddenly blew over, slightly dispersing some of the bloody miasma. The black wind paused above the whirlpool, slowly coalescing into a burly figure.
"Madam, Chencang is close to conquering the entire territory of Linchu. Cai Qianshan is severely wounded and in critical condition. He is not in the Mufu. The Forbidden Master calculated that he is hiding in Wei Bo and has already taken Thousand Faces there."
*Ying...*
After the black wind's words fell, a soft moan first sounded from within the whirlpool, as if someone was waking from a dream. Then a pink light glowed, and an extremely seductive, charming female voice emanated from within the pink light.
"Notify the Forbidden Master to take control of Cai Qianshan. Let the warfare between Chencang and Caiqiu continue to escalate; the bigger the commotion, the better. Fu Wanhe has already taken the bait. Bi Lin is currently spreading plague in Hecang. It won't be long before the Patriarch fully revives."
"This subordinate obeys!"
The black wind, about to leave after speaking, suddenly thought of something else and continued asking, "Madam, Great Xia has gained considerably this time. The cauldron on Xia Hong's person is too bizarre; we cannot afford not to guard against it!"
The pink light seemed to freeze for a moment upon hearing this, its emotions clearly fluctuating somewhat. However, it said nothing, as if lost in thought.
Just then, from deep within the waters beneath the pink light on the lake, a surge of bloody tide suddenly surged outward.
As the bloody tide rose, the previously stagnant bloody miasma in the sky above the entire lake also began to churn rapidly. Heaven and earth instantly changed color.
The black wind, which had just been about to leave, saw the bloody tide from the lake bottom and immediately descended to the water surface. With a *plop*, it directly knelt down. Whether from fear or excitement, its body began to tremble violently.
The pink light beneath the lake also rapidly ascended, slowly coalescing into a pink skeleton. Interestingly, although it was clearly a skeleton, its posture and movements made it unmistakably female. Under the reflection of the bloody miasma, it even exuded a unique sense of beauty.
"That Xia Hong... you cannot deal with him. Don't bother. Pay no attention to Great Xia. Someone... will help us deal with him."
"This subordinate obeys!"
The voice from within the bloody tide was hoarse and muffled, becoming intermittent toward the end, appearing exceptionally weak. Yet, even so, the pink skeleton and the black wind were as silent as cicadas in winter, hurriedly prostrating themselves on the water surface, their postures humble to the extreme.