Chapter 889: The Stakes Are Not Enough

Xuanyuan dismissed his own people, and after a brief moment of thought, he had someone go to invite Chou, telling them that Chou could bring along those among their people who held a certain degree of decision-making power, as he needed to discuss a major matter with them.

Upon hearing the invitation, Chou was also baffled, but thinking that Xuanyuan doing this naturally had his reasons, and that it might truly be some major event, he called upon the leaders of each team; no matter what Xuanyuan wanted to say, there would be someone to respond.

Xuanyuan was also somewhat surprised when he waited for the six people from Huaxia to arrive; he had thought at most two or three would come, but it didn't matter that more people had come, as they would be easier to deliberate with.

After everyone was seated, Xuanyuan got straight to the point and said to Chou: "Chou, I have received news here that the Shennong Clan is currently in great internal chaos, with their tribes attacking one another, and the Shennong Clan's own strength is now very weak; they have a tribal alliance that has now come to request the help of our Xuanyuan Tribe.

I think this is a very good opportunity that can allow our Xuanyuan Tribe to achieve better development, but the Shennong Clan is, after all, the Shennong Clan; even if they are in chaos, they must surely possess sufficient foundation and accumulation, and they will not be so easily conquered.

We also do not have the idea of wanting to conquer the entire Shennong Clan; as long as we can conquer a portion, there will be sufficient benefits to be had.

It is just that we are not yet certain what the situation is with that tribal alliance that came to seek our help, and we need to go see it for ourselves to know, but during this period, the strength of the Shennong Clan will certainly be greatly weakened.

Conquering the Shennong Clan is a matter with sufficiently large benefits; if you of Huaxia can join in, then our two tribes can jointly obtain greater benefits at a smaller cost, and if you are willing to go all out, even without that tribal alliance, conquering the Shennong Clan is not impossible."

Xuanyuan stopped after saying this, and Chou had completely understood Xuanyuan's meaning, but still confirmed again: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan's meaning is to invite us, Huaxia, to go together to conquer the Shennong Clan, right?"

Xuanyuan nodded affirmatively and immediately gave his own conditions: "If Huaxia needs the conquered territory and feels it can be managed, then it shall be divided among you; if you feel it is not easy to manage, then our Xuanyuan Tribe can use our territory near Huaxia to trade for it, taking grain or taking people to trade, that is also fine.

The captured Slaves and population will be divided according to the degree of our efforts, ensuring that your Huaxia will not suffer any losses, how about that?"

Although Chou could not make decisions for Baifeng, this was now considered a negotiation stage, and he had every reason and ability to strive for more benefits for Huaxia before presenting them to Baifeng to see if Baifeng would agree.

So he said: "If it is only like this, it seems we in Huaxia do not have a very strong reason to go; not to mention that the Shennong Clan's territory is so far away, and we would have to travel such a long distance to conquer it, the expenditure is not ordinary, and the benefits that can be obtained are actually not as much as one might think.

To our west, Huaxia has even more vast territories where no large tribes exist, and we can completely expand to the west; I believe Tribal Chief Xuanyuan has already learned from your own tribesmen that we in Huaxia are already starting to build cities in even further places.

I can even tell Tribal Chief Xuanyuan that we have more places suitable for building cities, and there are also many savage tribes in those places; for us in Huaxia, wanting to conquer them is very simple, and we can obtain land and population much more easily, it just takes some time.

By comparison, going to the Shennong Clan clearly offers too few benefits, and the risks are too high; if these are the only conditions, I think our King will not agree."

Xuanyuan had long since anticipated that this would be the answer, but negotiation is about slowly increasing the stakes, and he would not take out all his bargaining chips at once.

And now, Xuanyuan gave his second bargaining chip: "Huaxia is at least currently very short of manpower, right? It is not so easy for Huaxia to find enough people to build your cities, and you yourselves do not have that many people to spare, otherwise you would not have come to hire the people of our Xuanyuan Tribe.

However, our Xuanyuan Tribe can hire out more Laborers to you every year to help build your Huaxia, using several times the number of people to trade for your Soldiers to participate in the battle, and besides, your Soldiers are so well-equipped with Weapons; facing enemies holding Stone Axes and Stone Knives, would they be afraid? Even if the opponents hold Copper Axes, you would still have the full ability to contend with them, right?

Therefore, participating in this battle will not cause your Soldiers to suffer too many losses, right? Moreover, our Xuanyuan Tribe will only send out more Soldiers, and with that tribal alliance, Huaxia will mostly be providing the advantage of Weapons and will not need to dispatch too many Soldiers.

How about it? Using more Laborers to trade for the support of your Soldiers and Weapons, plus the war spoils obtained, you in Huaxia can also receive a normal share; this is a very worthwhile matter, right?"

After hearing this, Chou was indeed somewhat tempted, but he felt he could still get more benefits, and Xuanyuan had not said how many Laborers could be hired this time, or what the ratio of men to women would be.

"Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, you also know that only our King can make decisions on such matters, but since our King is not here, I must strive for enough benefits from you for our Huaxia to move our King and move everyone in our Huaxia.

We in Huaxia have always disliked war; if one can develop in peace, who would want to send their own men or their own fathers to the battlefield to hack and kill each other with Knives and axes, right?

And you said you would let us hire more Laborers to build Huaxia, but how much is this 'more'? Looking at the situation last year, hiring so many Laborers only had benefits and no harm for the Xuanyuan Tribe, right?

We in Huaxia not only supported your idle labor force for your Xuanyuan Tribe, but also gave you so much extra grain; since you want to fight the Shennong Clan, you naturally need more grain to ensure the lives of your Soldiers.

If the Soldiers do not go hunting or farming, where will the grain come from? Trading more Laborers with us in Huaxia is also a good thing for you, it is also beneficial to you; even if we in Huaxia do not participate in the war against the Shennong Clan, you still have the need to expand trade, right?"