Sheng He's smile froze halfway, feeling as if a breath was caught in his throat, unable to go up or down.
Sheng Shang, his head wrapped in gauze, had fully realized the reality of the situation; he knew very well that Gefeng would not help them for nothing.
His voice was muffled: "Then how many troops are you prepared to send? How much money and grain do you want?"
Dong Si didn't speak, merely holding up a single finger.
Sheng Shang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. A small place is just a small place, only greedy for petty gains.
On the surface, however, he put on a troubled expression. "Ten thousand shi of grain? That's too much. You must know that because of the drought this year, our Ze'a Commandery has had almost no harvest."
Dong Si shook his head. "It's two hundred thousand shi of grain."
Sheng Shang was speechless.
Two hundred thousand? Then why did you hold up just one finger?
His eyes suddenly widened. "Two hundred thousand?"
His heart skipped a beat, feeling ashamed of his earlier smugness. Sure enough, he had underestimated Gefeng.
Sheng He felt the veins on his forehead throbbing. "Don't you people of Gefeng be so greedy! Two hundred thousand shi? Do you even know how much two hundred thousand shi is?"
Dong Si smiled. "That's not all. Two hundred thousand shi of grain, two hundred thousand catties of salt, and fifty thousand pieces of gold."
"You!" Sheng Shang slammed the table, but ended up pulling his wound, baring his teeth in pain. "You... don't go too far."
Sheng He also glared at Dong Si with a cold and stern face. If they weren't in Gefeng's territory, he would have already resorted to force.
Dong Si wasn't angry either. "As far as I know, you took away almost seventy percent of the grain in all of Fengzhou back then. What is two hundred thousand shi to you?"
These noble families occupied almost ninety percent of the land in Fengzhou, so grain and various resources were basically under their control.
And these families had been ruthless back then, not leaving a single grain for the people of Fengzhou and the Northeast Army; they took everything away.
Ignoring their ugly expressions, Dong Si continued, "As for salt, your Ze'a Commandery has salt mines. Let alone two hundred thousand catties of salt, couldn't you provide as much as you want?"
"Fifty thousand gold is just a drop in the bucket for you. You know best about the accumulated wealth of your major families."
Sheng He almost spat blood. If it were normal times, two hundred thousand shi of grain could indeed be easily produced.
But with the drought this year and their territory greatly reduced, this year's harvest would inevitably be meager. Their food supply was also very tight now, and they all had to tighten their belts to survive.
Besides, how many people did Gefeng even have? How did they have the nerve to ask for two hundred thousand shi?
Sheng Shang also felt a surge of fury. "You are robbing us while the house is on fire!"
Dong Si secretly criticized them in his mind: Of course you have to rob while the house is on fire, otherwise how could you succeed?
The expression on his face, however, was very sincere. "Look at what you're saying. We in Gefeng are honest and law-abiding business people."
"Oh no, we are all honest commoners, not those wicked people who take advantage of others' misfortunes."
Hearing his words, the expressions of Sheng He and Sheng Shang turned even uglier. You call this honest? An honest person opens their mouth and asks for two hundred thousand shi?
And fifty thousand gold and two hundred thousand catties of salt? Do they really think their money and goods just blew in with the wind?
Sheng He tried hard to calm the frustration in his chest and changed the subject: "If we pay this price, how many troops can you send us?"
Dong Si shook his head. "We won't send troops."
Sheng He was taken aback. Before he could question him, Dong Si looked at him with profound meaning in his eyes and said, "Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao. When the time comes, we will choose a city to feign an attack on."
Sheng He gasped, already understanding Gefeng's strategy in his heart.
His eyes flickered. If executed properly, this method could tie down more of the Quzhao army than direct support.
After all, Gefeng was just a small city. At most, they only had a few thousand soldiers. How many could they actually deploy? In front of the one hundred thousand strong Quzhao army, they wouldn't make much of a splash.
Of course, since the Jinyang army was able to force back twenty thousand Quzhao troops before, they must be formidable at defending a city. If they could coordinate with Ze'a Commandery from the inside and outside, and if the strategy was sound, it would be enough to give the Quzhao army a hard time.
Most importantly, this would draw the Quzhao army's attention to the Jinyang army. In their anger, the Quzhao army might just send people to wipe out Gefeng first.
However, looking at it now, Gefeng's strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao seemed to be more effective.
Seeing that he understood, Dong Si stood up with a smile. "Think about it carefully. Cooperation, naturally, should be a win-win situation. If you feel it's inappropriate, you can pretend I never said anything."
Watching Dong Si's dashing figure as he left, Sheng He and Sheng Shang exchanged a glance, the anger in their eyes fading.
Since they were sent out to seek reinforcements, they were naturally not impulsive people; it was just a bargaining tactic.
But looking at it now, Gefeng indeed had capabilities, and of course, their asking price was truly not low.
Sheng He couldn't help but rub his forehead. Why did he feel like they had been led astray? It was supposed to be a rescue mission, yet it had been turned into a business transaction.
But thinking about it, where interests were involved, wasn't it exactly like doing business?
"What do you think? How successful do you think Gefeng's 'besiege Wei to rescue Zhao' strategy will be?" Sheng Shang asked.
Sheng He picked up his cup, took a sip of the now-cold water, and said slowly, "That naturally depends on which city Gefeng chooses to feign an attack on."
If this city was important enough, the Quzhao army would definitely send troops to support it, and the number of troops sent would not be small.
Sheng Shang asked, "You mean, we can still negotiate?"
"Of course." Sheng He nodded. "If they can really help us tie down the Quzhao army, we can launch a counterattack and retake Dongcheng County."
Sheng Shang was stunned. "Retake it?"
He thought their goal was just to defend Feng'an County and Yushui County. He hadn't expected Sheng He to have a bigger goal.
Dongcheng County was the most difficult county seat to attack in Ze'a Commandery, and it was also a vital transportation hub.
Back when Quzhao captured Dongcheng County, they went on to take two more counties in succession. They had no choice but to retreat and defend Feng'an County and Yushui County.
Now, under Quzhao's siege, these last two counties were on the verge of collapse, and they had nowhere left to retreat.
That was why the head of the family had sent the two of them to Gefeng for help, hoping to get reinforcements.
Sheng He let out a long breath. "That's right. If they can really help us retake Dongcheng County, then these supplies will be worth it."
These supplies looked like a lot, but in reality, only the grain was troublesome. After all, with the drought this year and only two counties left, their arable land was pitifully small. They were entirely relying on stored grain to hold out. Taking out two hundred thousand shi all at once would probably hurt them to the bone.
As for salt, they had salt mines, so two hundred thousand catties was indeed not much.
Fifty thousand gold was a large amount, but if divided among several noble families, it wouldn't amount to much.
Not long after Jiang Jin returned to the county office, Luo Qingci paced over. "My Lord, today Shuangjiang brought back refugees from three villages."
Jiang Jin looked up at her. "Is there a problem?"
Luo Qingci sighed. "I estimate that there will be more and more refugees affected by the drought. Are we going to accept all of them?"
Jiang Jin silently calculated the grain harvest in her mind.
Although most of the crops had not yet reached maturity, potatoes and wheat were gradually being harvested, so she had a rough idea of the yield in her heart.
"Accept them all. I estimate that there won't be many commoners left in Fengzhou anyway."
In April and May, when the spring was warm, they had taken in many refugees affected by the snow disaster, and the numbers had slowly decreased after that.
However, this month, the number of disaster victims began to increase again, most of them being commoners who could no longer survive due to the drought.
Luo Qingci considered her words and said, "My Lord, I am worried that there might be a plague among these fleeing commoners. If we bring them all into the city, what if..."
