Chapter 281: Persuasion to Surrender

Pine nuts were piled high, and mountain berry juice was poured to the brim.

Le Luo Luo dismissed his attendants and spoke:

"Very well. You have seen Liu Cheng, so now you may speak: with whom shall we conduct this business?"

Le Luo Luo asked a question to which he already knew the answer.

"With whom else? Naturally, with our Great Qi."

Wang Yang picked at the pine nuts, his expression relaxed and his tone casual, giving the impression of old friends chatting; it did not feel like a negotiation at all.

Le Luo Luo's gaze grew wary. "Are you willing to lift the border restrictions?"

Wang Yang smiled, crushed the thin skin of a pine nut with his thumb, and tossed it into his mouth:

"How could that be possible? Have you ever seen the Han court lift border restrictions for any barbarian tribe?"

"Then you—"

Wang Yang picked up his wooden bowl. "But it would be different if you were to submit."

"Impossible!!!"

Le Luo Luo slammed his hand onto the wooden table with a bang, his face filled with rage!

Pine nuts rolled everywhere, and the pottery jar of mountain berry juice was knocked over, the fruit pulp gurgling out along the edge of the table and dripping onto the felt rug, staining it with dark blotches.

He had long guessed that the Han court would not easily open border trade and would surely demand something, but he had not expected the other party's ambition to be so vast!

Wang Yang remained calm, unhurriedly pulling back the hem of his robe to avoid getting juice on it. He still held the wooden bowl, took a slow sip, and then, under Le Luo Luo's nearly burning glare, placed the bowl back on the table and said indifferently:

"I haven't finished speaking yet; why are you in such a rush? Besides submission, you must also offer tribute, and only then can you request that the imperial court open the barbarian roads for trade—"

"Wang Yang, do you think that just because of your threats, we dare not fight, and will therefore let you treat us like fish on a chopping block? Do you think that just because you offer us a few benefits, we must kneel to accept them and then obey your every command?"

Le Luo Luo suddenly grew calm, but this calmness was more powerful than his previous rage. It was like a wolf that had suddenly stopped howling, instead crouching into the grass, slowly licking its fangs with the tip of its tongue, revealing only a pair of eyes glowing in the dark, locked tightly onto the prey's throat.

"Do you want us to gift you our homeland as your hunting ground, send our maidens to be your servants, and send our sons to be your slaves? I can tell you clearly: although we barbarians take the Dog God as our ancestor, even if our entire Wenyang tribe dies in battle, we will never be dogs for anyone. Never."

He looked at Wang Yang with such calmness, no longer with anger in his eyes, only coldness. The firelight inside the tent condensed into two clusters of ghostly flames in those wolf-like eyes, neither flickering nor dancing, like two branding irons that had been burned red and then suddenly cooled, sinking into the depths of his resolute and deathly still gaze.

Wang Yang brushed off his hands, knocking away the remaining pine nut skins from his fingers, his eyes carrying a hint of incomprehensible confusion and helplessness:

"I just don't understand—did you drink too much mountain berry juice and ruin your brain, or is your hearing blocked? When did I ever say I wanted your homeland? When did I ever say I wanted you to send maidens or slaves? Damn it, we're talking about a perfectly good business cooperation, and you insist on bringing up being dogs? It's clearly an exchange of interests—you provide goods, we provide money, just like buying and selling in a market. Where does the 'dog' part come in?"

"Asking you to submit is just for the sake of a title. We won't station troops, we won't appoint officials, we won't interfere in your tribal affairs, we won't levy taxes, we won't send you to forced labor, and we won't issue you orders. You remain the kings of your mountains, doing whatever you please. How is that being a dog? To be a dog, you either have to please your master or guard the house. If you insist on saying you're dogs, then let me ask you: is there any dog as relaxed as that?"

Wang Yang's words, both in diction and tone, were completely unceremonious, yet while rebuking Le Luo Luo, he also maintained the dignity of the Wenyang barbarians. Because he did not mention the hierarchy between the imperial court and the barbarian tribes, but instead used the analogy of buyer and seller to define the Han-barbarian relationship, it gave the impression that the Wenyang barbarians and Great Qi were in an equal dialogue. This both diluted Le Luo Luo's "tribal sense of humiliation" and choked him so he had no fire to vent. Moreover, Wang Yang's entire speech was about cooperation, having nothing to do with dogs; an outsider might even think it was someone else who called the Wenyang barbarians dogs, and he was the one defending them. Even if Le Luo Luo felt resentful, he could hardly force the other party to trample his own tribe into the dirt.

If Le Luo Luo's previous calmness carried the oppressive weight of mutual destruction, then Wang Yang's suddenly displayed "temper" and "rogue-like" attitude were like boiling water poured on snow, forcefully scattering the oppressive momentum Le Luo Luo had gathered.

And the rhythm and direction of the negotiation shifted quietly along with these rogue-like words, both on the level of discourse and on the psychological level.

Wang Yang's attitude had already caught Le Luo Luo off guard, and the "six non-interferences" he proposed were even more unexpected! This not only interrupted Le Luo Luo's pace but also left his originally resolute momentum with nowhere to land. It was as if a punch he had been charging up for a long time had not only missed but caused him to stumble.

However, Le Luo Luo did not panic; he immediately seized upon a point in Wang Yang's words to retort:

"Since it is an exchange of interests—we provide goods, you provide money, just like buying and selling in a market—then why must we submit? We could just do business directly. In a market, do buyers and sellers have to submit to one another before they can trade?"

"Buying and selling also depends on market conditions. Sometimes the conditions favor the buyer, sometimes the seller. If the buyer has the upper hand, the seller must lower prices to win the buyer; if the seller is dominant, the buyer must pay more to compete, or even look at the seller's face to get what they want. Thus, power has its strengths and weaknesses, and time has its ups and downs. A wise man observes the trend and acts, while a fool acts against the current. In the current market, you are in a weak position; you must admit this."

"If you could cooperate with other buyers, then there would be nothing to say; you wouldn't need to submit, just go ahead and do it. But right now, there is no one else, only us. Yes, if we don't import from you, our losses won't be small—especially for wealthy families, whose quality of life will drop a notch, and having nowhere to spend their money is quite regrettable. But we have lived this way for a long time, and besides, Great Qi has more than just your few patches of forest. But if you don't do business with us, this vast, treasure-like mountain forest will just rot in your hands. Then you would be like someone sitting on a pile of gold while continuing to live in poverty."

"Right now, we are the ones providing the money to buy your goods; we are bringing you wealth! In our lands, we call this a 'Gold Master'! A Gold Master is very precious! Don't look at me as a member of the Langya Wang clan; if someone else wanted to buy my goods and they were my only major customer, I would still have to hold them in high regard and politely offer a smiling face. Why? Because they are the ones bringing me money, and they could give it to anyone else! Oh, so because they are paying, they still have to invite a 'Grandfather' to be served? How cheap! You want to make money and also show off your power? You want all the benefits for yourself—how can there be such a good thing in this world???"

If Le Luo Luo hadn't known his own mountain forest was valuable, that would be one thing. But since he already knew, he couldn't just abandon it. The saying goes: fear of power makes one soft, and lack of desire makes one strong. Wang Yang used both the carrot and the stick, threatening with war on one hand and offering the sweetness of desire on the other. Le Luo Luo couldn't stay "strong," as this was a weakness of human nature that was truly hard to resist. So much so that even though he knew he shouldn't follow Wang Yang's line of thought, the other side's infectiousness was too strong. He had originally felt justified, but after being told this, it seemed as if he were the one being unreasonable, and for some reason, after hearing it, he even felt a bit ashamed!

Le Luo Luo suppressed his inexplicable "shame" and sneered:

"Our Wenyang tribe has lived here for generations, not asking for Han food or Han clothing. There has never been any talk of submission, and we have never starved or frozen to death. Becoming a vassal is absolutely impossible, and as for offering tribute, don't even think about it!"

"You really are stubborn. With these 'six non-interferences,' isn't so-called submission just a title? To put it plainly, it's just giving each other a way to save face. We let you make money, and you have to let us save face. Just like the pro-war faction says, if you kidnap people, the imperial court has to pay—doesn't the court need face? And this isn't just a matter of face; it's the old saying: if the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth. With the title of your submission, those in the court who shout about fighting can shut their mouths, the pro-war faction won't be able to find a reason to start a war, and we can naturally suppress the pro-war faction. This is the selfish motive of us pro-peace faction members, and I admit it."

"But then again, your Wenyang tribe gets the practical benefits, and we pro-peace faction members get the political achievements; this is a win-win situation. As for offering tribute, that's even less worth mentioning; it's just a convention of submission. I can guarantee you that the rewards the imperial court gives you will be far, far more than what you offer in tribute!"

"Because the imperial court wants to show the world—the court wants face, and since ancient times, face has always been the most expensive thing. So we must agree on this beforehand: you are not allowed to offer tribute too frequently; at most once every three years. Otherwise, if you offer tribute every few months, you won't have time to do business—it would be better to just lie down and count your money..."

Le Luo Luo was also convinced; hearing him say this, he immediately wanted to offer tribute...

However, he still put on an unmoved appearance: "What you say is too vague and distant. Even if it were true, I can't see the benefits right now. Even if I agreed, others would not agree."

When Wang Yang heard this, he knew this was holding out for a better price, and he smiled:

"Benefits can be small or large. Small benefits are often quick; large benefits are often slow. For example, if you want to buy a pear to quench your thirst, you pay on the spot in the market and get the pear immediately! This benefit is small, so it arrives quickly. But if you want to buy an entire pear orchard, you have to verify the boundaries, sign contracts, pay deposits, and pay taxes for the transfer. It's not something you can buy immediately; it will inevitably take some trouble. This benefit is very large, so it arrives slowly. Another example: watching singing and dancing—beautiful sounds enter the ears, beauties enter the eyes, and joy is born immediately. This is a small benefit and small joy. But if you recite the *Zhuangzi*, although you cannot enjoy it immediately, its great benefit and great joy will manifest later."

"This is because music pleases the ears, but the sound vanishes in a moment; classics labor the mind, but their use lasts a lifetime. Ordinary people are drowned in near-term benefits, seeing small gains and wanting immediate satisfaction; the wise observe the long term, knowing that huge benefits wait for the right time to be harvested. If you were an ordinary barbarian, I wouldn't even talk to you about treasures or getting rich. But you are the Shao Zouye, a leader, and you should naturally be far-sighted. Saying things like 'I can't see the benefits right now' is truly not a wise remark."

"Actually, brother, you have insight; you know that this business of submission is a sure win, and in your heart, you already agree. Why pretend? As for whether others agree, you go and persuade them. You are the Shao Zouye, and your words naturally carry weight. I believe in your ability."

Le Luo Luo felt surprised and impressed in his heart, but on the surface, he smiled dismissively: "Why should I help you persuade them?"

Wang Yang laughed heartily: "Because, first of all, you are not helping me, but your entire tribe. Secondly, if you want to get rid of the constraints of the Left and Right Haye, you naturally need my assistance."

Le Luo Luo's face suddenly paled! ===== CHAPTER 282 =====