Chapter 890: The Trade of War

Xuanxuan could only smile helplessly; he truly had not expected Chou to be able to haggle so tightly. Although the logic Chou spoke was correct, everything had a limit.

"Chou, what I mean is that our Xuanyuan Tribe can provide laborers beyond our normal range. Even if it affects the normal construction progress of our Xuanyuan Tribe, we can guarantee that your Huaxia will have more labor force.

We need to consume our idle labor force through trading with you to exchange for more food, but once it exceeds a limit, it is also disadvantageous to our Xuanyuan Tribe. I can sacrifice the interests of our Xuanyuan Tribe to serve as compensation for your Huaxia participating in the war. Regarding this, do you see that we have enough sincerity?"

Chou had already forced out Xuanyuan's bottom line. Since Xuanyuan had spoken this way, it meant that Huaxia could indeed double the number of hired laborers, especially male laborers. Last year it was three thousand, this year it would have to be no less than six thousand. A bit more, seven or eight thousand people, and it was thought that the Xuanyuan Tribe could also grit their teeth and provide them.

In this way, let alone the construction of Xiao Town, even opening another road for the Western Development Group would be no problem. With several thousand men, they only needed to do one thing, and the efficiency would naturally be beyond question.

Hiring some female laborers as supplementary labor, like last year, to do small and miscellaneous tasks, would inevitably boost Huaxia's development progress by a large margin. If this undertaking could succeed, Huaxia could fully send Soldiers out to participate in the war. Even providing Weapons to the Xuanyuan Tribe to fight in place of Soldiers, such a business was worth doing.

However, Chou still wanted to squeeze a bit more to see if Xuanyuan could offer more in terms of cost, so he pretended to be deep in thought before saying: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, what you say is indeed reasonable, but you also know what our Huaxia Soldiers are like, and you have witnessed the power of our Weapons with your own eyes.

Our Huaxia relies on those high-power Weapons and powerful Soldiers to protect our Huaxia, but correspondingly, the number of Soldiers is very small, I am afraid not even one-fourth of the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Even if Huaxia wanted to go to war, I am afraid that under such a return of interests, it would be very difficult to send too many Soldiers, unless the immediate, visible benefits could offset most of our Huaxia's risks, only then would we dare to go all the way at once.

Of course, in war, we all know it is impossible to only win and never lose. Since we want to obtain benefits through war, we must be prepared for the cost of failure.

However, our Huaxia does not necessarily have to participate, unless we can minimize the losses, only then can we disregard the losses and participate in the war."

Xuanyuan was truly smiling bitterly now. He had not expected Chou to be so tight-fisted; every benefit he brought out could be described by Chou as being beneficial to the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Helpless, he could only offer one last condition: "Chou, I can only give you one last promise now, but this is also based on damaging the interests of our Xuanyuan Tribe."

Upon hearing this, a flash of light appeared in the depths of Chou's eyes, but his face remained unchanged; he merely raised his hand and said: "Please speak, Tribal Chief Xuanyuan."

"Expand the trade volume. We can collect more Tea Leaves for you this year. Even if we don't go dig wild vegetables, we will pick more Tea Leaves for you. We will do our best to guarantee the medicinal materials and tree bark you want. The fruits of autumn will be the same, continuing until the war ends, not just this year."

Chou was truly satisfied this time, and there was a smile on his face. He hurriedly said: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, I believe our King will be satisfied with such a promise from you. I will definitely do my best to persuade our King."

Chou had agreed, and Xuanyuan felt that this matter was seventy or eighty percent settled. However, he now had to raise his own demands: "I have given enough sincerity, so what do you say? You must also bring out enough of a price to participate in this great war. A few dozen Soldiers are useless in such a war."

"Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, I cannot decide how to send troops or how many to send. You also know that in our Huaxia, things have always been divided very clearly. I can make decisions on trade matters, and there will be no changes in the end; even if I am punished, I can confirm the trade. But regarding the Soldiers, I have no authority.

However, rest assured, since you have paid such a great price, our Huaxia will certainly not do anything to harm our allies. Since participating in the war can yield benefits, we certainly want to grab a piece of meat in the war as well. Sending a few dozen Soldiers is no different from sending them to their deaths, and it won't help win the war. We will not do such a thing."

Chou finally gave a guarantee: "I cannot decide how many Soldiers, but what I can guarantee is that once we participate in the war, our Huaxia will not only be able to provide Soldiers but also provide food aid to your Xuanyuan Tribe, ensuring that your Xuanyuan Tribe will not suffer from food shortages due to the war."

This guarantee made by Chou also set Xuanyuan's mind at ease. Once the Xuanyuan Tribe participated in the war, the food that had just become sufficient would certainly have a gap. As long as Huaxia was willing to fill this gap, even if the Xuanyuan Tribe sent more people, it would be acceptable.

"Good, Chou, I will not make things difficult for you regarding the Soldiers. I have noted your words about guaranteeing food. If the cooperation can be reached, I will definitely demand that you fulfill this."

Sweat could not help but break out on Chou's forehead, but fortunately, he had enough confidence in Huaxia's food reserves. At worst, he could just cut the feed for the livestock; supplying food for another ten thousand people for a year was not a problem at all.

Xuanyuan was quite anxious, so he asked very straightforwardly: "Chou, when are you going back? If we wait for this batch of Tea Leaves, will it be a bit late? Why don't you send a few envoys to use our Boat to go back to Huaxia first and tell Baifeng about this, so we can come over and discuss it together sooner?

I will also send people to check on the situation of the Shennong Clan. Otherwise, if we wait any longer, the back-and-forth might cause us to miss the best time."

Chou glanced at the others and then said very straightforwardly: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, that is no problem. After I go back, I will immediately arrange for people to go to Huaxia; I only need to borrow two of your Xuanyuan Tribe's Boats."

Xuanyuan immediately agreed: "Good, no problem. But do we not need to send envoys over as well?"

Chou was thinking of sending the message via carrier pigeon halfway, while the people traveled back slowly. If people from the Xuanyuan Tribe followed, then he would really have to go back.

"That is not necessary. For such a matter, unless you go personally, it cannot be discussed. However, you have just returned and are busy with affairs, so just let us from Huaxia send people."

Xuanyuan did not feel anything was wrong; he just thought Chou was very thoughtful, so he accepted Chou's request and did not send any more envoys.