Chapter 1647: Securing Victory

Su Zixuan felt the warmth on her hand, and instantly a huge, restless heat rose from her heart, making her itch from the inside out—uncomfortable, yet strangely pleasant...

Wang Yan's words sounded right against her ear; she could even feel the stream of breath expelled as he spoke.

"You see, you tease me with your mouth, but when it comes to getting serious, your body goes stiff and you don't know what to do."

Wang Yan lifted Su Zixuan's chin. "Don't act tough when there's no need."

Su Zixuan struggled free from Wang Yan's embrace, her pretty face flushed crimson, though whether from shame or anger was unclear.

Acting as if unaffected, she forced herself to pour tea for Wang Yan. "Great Master has misunderstood this humble woman; this humble woman has only Great Master's best interests at heart. The assassination attempt was not my decision to make. All the promises I told you are genuine; had you agreed, none of this trouble would have arisen."

"So it still boils down to a lack of respect, doesn't it?" Wang Yan smiled cheerfully as he drank his tea. "Look how good things are now: after several thousand deaths and injuries, we can finally converse as equals, and you've been brought back to negotiate peace. Speak, then—what are your conditions?"

"What conditions do you desire, Great Master?"

"I've heard that in negotiations, whoever names the price first loses. It seems I am the victor now; why should I name the price first? You are the ones seeking peace; I could refuse, but you cannot."

This was the frustrating aspect of the Heavenly Kingdom: before the fighting truly began, they had indeed shown Wang Yan considerable respect—otherwise, they wouldn't have visited repeatedly to recruit him—yet they hadn't shown enough respect, or they wouldn't have casually decided to attack him.

How could they have expected Wang Yan to be so difficult to deal with? He hadn't even unleashed his full strength yet, and already they found themselves in a dilemma...

"How could a humble woman like me decide such matters? I am merely a messenger. The one who truly decides is Prince Ying."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "Tomorrow at the hour of Chen, when it is slightly cooler, I will have a chat with Prince Ying before the battle lines."

"Then Great Master must at least provide a proposal so I can brief His Highness."

"I never intended to fight this war from the start! After two months of turmoil, over two hundred of my brothers have died, several dozen are awaiting death, more than a hundred are disabled, and hundreds more suffer various other injuries. Now that the Heavenly Kingdom wishes to stop fighting, you must compensate for my casualties. You may discuss the details among yourselves."

"Understood. Then this humble woman will take her leave."

Su Zixuan acknowledged this, turned, and left the parade ground, her steps somewhat hurried.

Only after walking some distance did she cannot help but look back, catching Wang Yan's smiling gaze fixed upon her; she silently cursed under her breath and hurried away...

Early the next morning, on the road between Huoshan and Shucheng, both sides lined up their troops, though the atmosphere was tolerable. The Taiping Army had suffered significant casualties, but most were injured; if several thousand had truly died, peace talks would hardly have been feasible.

The main casualties occurred during the initial clash of main forces and when Zhao Erhu led a thousand troops to disrupt the enemy's logistics. Now, including Zhao Erhu's side, everyone had ceased hostilities, relaxing with a tacit understanding.

All that remained was to await the central decision of the Heavenly Kingdom...

Li Cheng looked at the young, vigorous Wang Yan and bowed sincerely with clasped hands. "Brother Wang, so young yet achieving today's grand situation, truly a hero emerges from youth."

"His Highness has overcome obstacle after obstacle, winning every battle; I am immensely impressed."

Li Cheng did not feel good about this, for the man who had won every battle was now begging for peace...

He shook his head with a bitter smile. "I have heard that Brother Wang treats his soldiers and the common people with great kindness; if not forced by necessity, I would not have wished to lead troops to attack Huoshan."

"The fighting is done; why say so much? Sit. Let us drink some of this year's unsold Guapian tea and discuss compensation for my brothers. Trouble Young Lady Su to serve."

"It is this humble woman's duty." Su Zixuan nodded slightly from the side and immediately began brewing tea.

"To be honest, I do not know how to appreciate tea, yet drinking this Guapian, I find it quite flavorful."

Hearing Li Cheng's words, Wang Yan laughed heartily. "His Highness is too polite. Speaking of these past few years, I have indeed lived well. The Tea Merchants' Guild has been quite sensible, sending me some Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui, and other Anhui famous teas annually, along with Xihu Mingqian Longjing, Biluochun, Xinyang Maojian, and the like, allowing me to taste many fine teas.

But do not laugh, Your Highness; I am a rough man. Despite drinking so much tea, I have never tasted any real flavor. For a mud-legged fellow like me, unfit for polite society, to sit at a table and drink tea is no easy feat."

"Then let us not drink tea at the table; let us drink wine instead."

"Your Highness, if one cannot understand tea, can one truly understand wine?"

Su Zixuan interjected, "Your Highness, Great Master Wang, neither of you has completed a single term at a private school; stop trading witty barbs. The sun is high, and soon the brothers will be suffering under the heat."

Li Cheng paused, then laughed. "Why does this 'Great Master Wang' sound more like a prince than I, the actual Prince?"

After some jesting, Li Cheng said, "We are all rough men, so let us skip the twists and turns. Brother Wang, the Heavenly Kingdom lacks many things, but not silver; what we have even more of are our brothers and sisters. Your brothers are injured, and my brothers are injured too, in even greater numbers. In your opinion, how should we calculate this?"

Li Cheng smiled broadly, opening his mouth to bargain without any logic.

Wang Yan glanced at him. "Your Highness is bullying us excessively. Clearly, you came to attack us. We told you plainly beforehand, but you wouldn't listen; you insisted on fighting. Now that you've suffered casualties and can no longer fight, you want to use your superior numbers to bully us? Where in the world is there such logic?"

"Brother Wang knows best: the world operates on exactly such logic. It is not that the Heavenly Kingdom cannot defeat your Huoshan, but that I, Li Cheng, leading over twenty thousand troops, cannot defeat Huoshan. Does Brother Wang think my Heavenly Kingdom's five hundred thousand strong army eats idle rice?

I know Huoshan has one year's grain storage, but what about after that year? Your Shunfeng Escort Agency spans all of Shenzhou, ranking as the number one escort agency in the world today; will you still do business? We need not even fight; if I simply blockade Huoshan and cut off transportation, I believe Huoshan will face a completely different situation."

"It seems my goodwill has been mistaken by your Heavenly Kingdom for weakness. Then blockade us; better yet, deploy several more tens of thousands of troops. Otherwise, not only will you fail to maintain the blockade, but your casualties will be substantial. Let us see who can outlast whom."

Wang Yan adopted an attitude of reckless defiance, looking ready to fight if provoked.

A Taiping Army blockade of Huoshan would indeed have a huge impact, but that presupposes the Taiping Army can actually enforce it. Clearly, if they truly possessed such capability, they wouldn't have waited until Zhao Erhu went to Anqing and fired guns before discovering the vulnerability.

Moreover, Wang Yan's troops possess truly high combat effectiveness. Especially after this battle, having gained experience, they can improve further and perform even better. Once Wang Yan decides against mere defense and instead leads his men into mobile warfare against them, losses will skyrocket...

This was Wang Yan's confidence.

Although Li Cheng's words were unpleasant, he himself clearly understood the power Wang Yan commanded; otherwise, he wouldn't have reported to his superiors that they should cease fighting.

"Negotiation requires give and take; Great Master cannot come straight out and flip the table. Drink tea, drink tea." Su Zixuan poured tea for Wang Yan, speaking up to ease tensions and mediate.

Wang Yan snorted. "Your Highness claims to be a rough man and says we should avoid twists and turns, yet all you emitted was a fart."

Li Cheng felt no embarrassment. As the saying goes, 'Whether there are dates or not, take a swipe at the tree'; what if Wang Yan's success was accidental and he lacked such a sharp mind, thus being fooled? Even if Wang Yan had a mind, but not enough, falling into his rhythm could still yield advantages. It cost nothing to just move one's lips.

He then said, "Fighting Brother Wang this time has truly opened my eyes. Not to mention other things, just these firearms are incredibly powerful, far surpassing those of the foreigners."

"They are not yet mature; this time, barrel explosions injured several dozen brothers." Wang Yan waved his hands repeatedly. "Do you know why foreigners are formidable? Because they produce firearms quickly and in large quantities. I have worked on this for several years and have only about three thousand rifles; I don't even have enough for myself, so stop dreaming about them."

"Ultimately, it comes down to money. If you produce over a thousand rifles a year, just allocate five hundred to us; name your price. I am bringing you wealth; what a wonderful opportunity!"

Wang Yan remained noncommittal. "Let us first discuss compensation and pensions for my fallen and injured brothers."

"One hundred taels for the dead, fifty taels for the disabled, and twenty taels for all others who can recover. This price is quite honest, Brother Wang; if you disagree, there is nothing to be done. To be frank, my own brothers die for nothing; there is no one left to distribute their pensions.

Furthermore, your Huoshan may maintain the status quo; we shall keep to our respective wells and rivers. However, those handling affairs below may inevitably make mistakes or cause incidents; those of us making decisions above must be aware. We both act for the good of the common people; if we fight, we merely benefit the Qing for nothing..."

Li Cheng spoke this string of words with great sincerity, then looked at Wang Yan. "I have finished speaking; your silence means no objection. Let us now discuss the firearms! How many can you provide?"

"How much can you offer?"

"Foreign firearms..."

Wang Yan waved his hand, refusing to listen. "Here is the honest price: one hundred taels of silver per rifle. Bullets cannot be produced externally; they must be bought from me, at one tael of silver for ten bullets. As for quantity, I cannot provide too many. I will sell you two hundred first; we can discuss more later when my production increases.

Ah, do not rush to bargain yet. I have also seen the firearms of the foreign devils. Let me put it this way: even if they dismantle my firearms, understand them completely, and mass-produce them, it will still take several years. This is an exclusive business; no matter how much I ask, it is not expensive. Being able to sell to you at all is a favor."

After a moment of silence, Li Cheng calculated in his heart, then finally nodded. "Then it is settled. Hurry and recall your brothers; stop seizing my grain."

"What I've seized cannot be returned to you. Hurry and hand over the silver; the firearms will be delivered to you next month."

"Congratulations, Master Wang, on establishing good relations with our Heavenly Kingdom; may our two families cooperate extensively in the future. I hear Master Wang is most skilled at business, so we shall surely make fortunes together. Come, Your Highness, Master Wang, let us toast with tea in place of wine..."

Su Zixuan raised her teacup with great Fengdan Fengdan Sihai, while Wang Yan and Li Cheng also smiled and raised their cups in a token gesture...

Although both sides reached an agreement, it was not recorded in any written document.

Such a thing would be useless even if put in writing; it mainly depends on whether both sides abide by it, and most importantly, whether one has the ability to force the other to comply.

It is like the Treaty of Nanking previously signed between the Qing Dynasty and the foreign devils, which ceded Hong Kong Island, opened five treaty ports, demanded an indemnity of over twenty million taels of silver, and so on; as the first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, history books state that its signing marked the beginning of China's descent into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society...

The root cause was that they had failed to defeat the foreign devils; had they been able to win, naturally they would not have honored the terms.

However, things were fine now; after fighting one battle, both sides proved to be reasonable people without so many troublesome issues, so Li Cheng withdrew his troops that very day, and apart from the necessary sentries and scouts, Wang Yan also recalled all his personnel from various locations.

Pang Qingyun had said that all is fair in war; this is warfare!

Even though Wang Yan had already established good relations with the Taiping Army, the necessary precautions remained essential. After all, treaties are not necessarily binding; once they discovered an opportunity here, they would surely strike to kill him with lightning speed before one could cover one's ears, saving him the trouble of being an eyesore, sticking like a nail in their territory.

Therefore, from now on, the defenses at all points in Huoshan County must never be relaxed. At the same time, too many forces could not be withdrawn from Huoshan County itself; considerable combat power must be maintained to protect their accumulated resources.

However, having gained experience from this incident, both the soldiers and the common people of Huoshan County now possessed such experience, making it unnecessary to rely on larger troop numbers to stabilize public sentiment.

Thus, Wang Yan simply decided to fully demonstrate his sincerity; the very next day, he had someone finalize a roster and openly departed Huoshan County, scattering his people outward to conduct affairs and earn money, continuing to strengthen their forces...

"Master Wang truly possesses remarkable courage; is it possible that on just the second day you have already dispersed your troops?" Su Zixuan's eyes widened greatly, showing more than a little disbelief. She could not understand how Wang Yan dared to do this; did he truly have such boldness?

"They have all stayed at home for so long; how much silver have they missed earning? Now that the fighting has stopped, should we not let them go out to earn silver? Rise and fall by the Heavenly Kingdom; with Shenzhou currently in chaos everywhere, the escort agency business is booming, and this silver simply must be earned."

Wang Yan glanced at the caravan not far away. "You folks are not bad either; you handed over the silver readily enough."

"Since everything was already agreed upon, naturally the sooner it is done, the sooner we can rest easy; the silver for purchasing the firearms has also been sent along, and next month when Master Wang arranges for someone to deliver them, they can be sent directly to Lu'an."

"Well said." Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "Is there anything else?"

"Master Wang is so heartless; does one need a specific matter to visit?"

"You have learned absolutely nothing; what is it this time, do you not plan to leave?"

Su Zixuan laughed coquettishly: "This humble woman knows that Master Wang is kind-hearted and was only bluffing... Ah~"

"Even a clay figure has a temper; your repeated provocation reveals your sinister intentions. I warned you long ago to beware of playing with fire and getting burned. Today I must make you understand what it means to be vigorous and potent; otherwise, you little woman will still think Laozi is all talk and no action, a fake master..."

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