Chapter 157: The Deal

"No. Don't fight anymore, don't fight anymore, we surrender." After a quarter of an hour, white flags were suddenly raised on the city walls, and several short Woguo men walked down the city walls holding white flags.

The besieging side below the city was clearly stunned.

They surrendered just like that? They had expected to expend some effort, but they hadn't expected these Japanese pirates to be so fragile. However, since the other side was willing to surrender, these low-ranking soldiers were naturally happy to see it.

To them, the longer the battle lasted, the greater the probability of dying in action.

Otomo Yoshimune, who was following along to watch the battle, was displeased. With Kuchu Mountain City surrendering so quickly, how was he supposed to exhaust the samurai of the Qiuyue Family? He glanced at Li Rusong and Zhang Yunxiu, stepped forward, and said respectfully, "Two respected sirs, the people of the Qiuyue Family have always been untrustworthy; you must not be deceived by their sweet words."

"And does your family always see things through to the end?" Li Rusong asked him with a smile.

"Hai, our Otomo Family has always been the most trustworthy family; we would never betray our friends." Otomo Yoshimune did not catch the sarcasm in Li Rusong's words; he nodded and replied stiffly.

"Hahaha, Mr. Otomo, but I cannot risk my brothers' lives just to help you eliminate your rivals," Li Rusong laughed twice and immediately sent someone to prepare for the talks.

Otomo Yoshimune lowered his head, his face flushing red and purple, and just as he was about to say more, Li Rusong had already taken Zhang Yunxiu to move the command post forward.

The main army did not enter the city that day, but instead camped outside the city walls.

After a night of rest, early the next morning, just as the morning sun pierced through the clouds, the negotiation team from the Qiuyue Family arrived at the gate of Li Rusong's camp.

Looking at the towering camp bathed in sunlight, the leader felt his own figure shrink.

Were they fighting against such an army? That kind of Cannon, that kind of sharp firearm.

These things were all things they did not have.

If they had these things, unifying Kyushu Island and dominating the entire island would likely be just around the corner.

Just as he was thinking this, the camp gate slowly opened, and a group of tall Ming people was led out from inside.

The group looked at each other, and the leader of the Japanese pirates stepped forward quickly and took out his credentials: "Ore wa, Murakami Kogoro desu, a retainer of the Qiuyue Family."

The officer in charge did not understand, but seeing the credentials, he let him in.

Immediately after, he led Murakami Kogoro and his party to a spacious shed, where a dark long table was set up under the shed, surrounded by chairs on both sides.

The officer in charge said "Wait" to the few of them and then hurried away.

Murakami Kogoro nodded to his attendants, pulled out a chair, and sat down neatly.

It was still early, but the early-rising Ming Army had already begun training; for a time, the shouting was deafening, piercing his eardrums like a drum.

Inside the military camp, mighty soldiers could be seen everywhere, holding weapons and walking proudly by.

Murakami Kogoro and his party clicked their tongues in secret, thinking to themselves: It is fortunate that we made peace with these Ming people early; otherwise, if we had really fought to the end, the samurai of the Qiuyue Family would have had to bleed their last drop of blood.

In their eyes, the Great Ming people were not the true enemy.

The "neighbors," the Otomo Clan and the Ryuzoji Clan, were.

Just as Murakami Kogoro and his party were waiting in the gap, Zhang Yunxiu and Li Rusong sat opposite each other in the main military tent.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhang Yunxiu spoke first: "General Li, winning consecutive battles these past few days, General Li's contribution is undeniable."

"However, the General should know that what we have touched upon so far is only a small part of the Japanese islands."

"Director Zhang, rest assured. Warfare is a major matter of the state; I, Li, dare not be careless." Li Rusong smiled, signaling for Zhang Yunxiu to be at ease.

Zhang Yunxiu nodded slightly and took the opportunity to introduce the situation in Woguo to Li Rusong: "Hmm, the most powerful in Woguo is Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Kinai Region, followed by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Kanto region, and then Mori Terumoto of the Mori Clan..."

The samurai under these daimyo were only stronger, not weaker, than the three heroes of Kyushu Island.

If one were to talk about threats, the highest belongs to that monkey, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

He holds the title of Kampaku—equivalent to the Senior Grand Secretary of Great Ming.

Next is the hegemon located in the San'in and Sanyo regions, Mori Terumoto.

This place is not far from Kyushu Island, and the Iwami Ginzan is located in Shimane Prefecture within the Mori Clan's San'in fief. Li Rusong had heard this name more than once, so he asked curiously: "Mori Terumoto? Is he the owner of that Silver Mountain?"

"Yes." Zhang Yunxiu nodded and added, "After the Mori Clan took control of Iwami Ginzan, the silver mined each year amounts to 800,000 taels. If we can take this Silver Mountain, it would be a great deed of immeasurable merit."

According to records, after the Mori Clan Head, Mori Motonari, took control of Iwami Ginzan, he adopted the "Blowing Ash Method" to mine the Silver Mountain.

The annual mining volume is between forty and fifty tons.

Relying on a large amount of silver, the Mori Clan controls a massive navy and a group of samurai.

If one adds Kobayakawa Takakage and Kikkawa Motoharu from the "Two Rivers of Mori," the Mori Clan really has the confidence to go toe-to-toe with Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Upon hearing that the Silver Mountain was so wealthy, Li Rusong's eyes instantly turned red, and he wished he could immediately send men to take the Silver Mountain.

Zhang Yunxiu had the same thought, but looking at the current situation, he feared they would not be able to achieve total success this time.

The two became more and more excited as they talked, already planning how to spend the money.

It was as if the money were already in their hands.

First, build fifty Cannons, then build fifty large ships, first go to Malacca to take Malacca, then go to North America to conquer the Indians... "General, those few Woguo people have been waiting for a long time; is it time to send someone to negotiate with them?" Suddenly, an untimely voice came from outside.

Li Rusong wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and said impatiently: "Fine, tell them to negotiate; at least 400,000 taels of silver, otherwise no deal!"

The two sides sat at the negotiation table in order.

Chinese representative: Li Kui (Commander of Li Rusong's personal guards). Woguo representative: Murakami Kogoro (retainer of the Qiuyue Family).

Negotiation content: Regarding the post-war ceasefire and the compensation from the Qiuyue Family.

Once seated, Li Kui leaned back, casually lifted his legs and placed them on the table, and said brazenly: "Our General said, 400,000 taels of silver; not a cent less."

The interpreter immediately translated the words.

Upon hearing this, Murakami Kogoro nodded immediately, smiled, and reached out his hand: "400,000, sir!"

Li Kui was stunned and slowly looked at the interpreter. The interpreter scratched his head with an awkward smile and translated: "Brother Kui, these damn Woguo people are really rich. You said 400,000 taels, and they agreed to it."

"Agreed?!" Li Kui was shocked, instantly took his legs off the long table, and looked at the interpreter again to confirm: "You damn well didn't hear wrong, did you? These Woguo people really agreed to 400,000 silver directly?"

"Really, really!" The interpreter patted his chest to guarantee.

At this, Li Kui and his entourage began to feel embarrassed.

As the saying goes, one asks for a sky-high price and the other settles on the ground; he had thought this would be an evenly matched confrontation.

And the result? He called out a price, and they finalized it immediately.

In an instant, a sense of frustration arose in Li Kui's heart. He straightened his body, put on a straight face, and said: "Since they have agreed, then tell them to send the money quickly, and we guarantee not to harass them."

The translator hurriedly translated everything.

Murakami Kogoro bowed and said with a serious expression, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, once we return, we will certainly prepare the silver and send it to you as soon as possible!"

After the amount and the delivery date were finalized, the negotiation was considered a complete success.

Half an hour later, when Li Kui brought the contract before Li Rusong, Li Rusong was full of astonishment and asked him, "It's done?"

"It's done!" Li Kui nodded and replied.

"This damn Dwarf Island is truly wealthy; to be able to scrape together so much silver from a single city, it seems we asked for too little." Li Rusong looked at the negotiation document, scratched his head, and gave a self-deprecating smile.

"How about we call them back and add a bit more?" Li Kui tentatively asked.

"That won't be necessary; we are, after all, decent people, and there's no need to go through the trouble for these peanuts." Li Rusong waved his hand and casually placed the negotiation document on the small table to his right.

He then picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and instructed, "Order the brothers to hurry and rest; I have a premonition that things won't always go this smoothly for us."

(End of this chapter)