Artik fell into deep thought, he was thinking about his minimum requirements, and at the same time, he was also thinking about what he needed to exchange for after making these demands, and what exchange would not touch his fundamental interests, if he really ceded the peninsula to the Tang Dynasty, he would lose the land where he could stand, that was absolutely unacceptable, a little ceding a little smaller land could be considered, as for other conditions, as long as he could accept it, he did not hesitate to sacrifice some interests.

The key problem is that he can't figure out Datang's requirements and Ang Lee's quid pro quo, and he is naturally very clear about his own minimum requirements.

Artik's minimum requirement is to let Ziyad withdraw his troops, and it is best to reconcile with the Mansur regime, and the two sides will no longer fight, which coincides with the goal of the Tang Dynasty, so he feels that Li An will definitely agree to this request, and there will be no problems.

But if Datang wants to help persuade Qi Yade to withdraw from the army, he must give some benefits, which is also what Li An meant, he doesn't know what Li An wants most this time, whether it is a piece of territory, a lot of money, or something else.

Figuring out Datang's requirements, that is, Ang Lee's requirements, is crucial for Artik, and this must be asked by Ang Lee in person, otherwise, he will never guess what Ang Lee wants.

"Everyone, I don't think we can have too many requirements, let Qiyad withdraw and return to Khorasan, it is our minimum requirement, this is the most difficult problem at the moment, the loss of Qiyad's army this time is not small, as long as we return to Khorasan, we can recover within three or five years, and we will have enough time to perfect our strength, we are not afraid that Qiyad will attack again."

Artik spoke.

"What the city lord said is that as long as Qi Yade retreats, anything can be said, this request is very reasonable, and they must not embarrass Datang, they will definitely let Qi Yade withdraw his troops."

"Datang does not want Arab reunification, and is on our side in his heart, so if we make this reasonable request, they will definitely agree to it, and they will not embarrass us too much."

"City Lord, we should tell Li Shilang what we mean as soon as possible, and ask what Datang needs, and we should prepare as soon as possible."

"Yes, yes, we should have prepared earlier and got in touch with Datang as soon as possible."

The subordinates nodded their heads in approval, feeling that as long as Qi Yad's soldiers and horses returned to Khorasan, everything would be easy, and this request would definitely be approved by Datang.

Soon, Artik sent a capable subordinate to the Tang Army's tent to negotiate with Li An on terms, and his own heart was much more settled.

In the direction of Qi Yade's camp, Qi Yad was listening to the report of his subordinates, and when he heard that Li An had no intention of starting a war with him, his heart suddenly relaxed a lot, and he exhaled a big sigh, but after he knew that Li An had the intention of blackmailing, he was a little angry.

How can a boss not restrain his subordinates, Ang Lee This is a very obvious blackmail, a blackmail carried out with strong military force.

However, as long as Ang Lee's request is not too excessive, he won't care too much, isn't it just giving money, he has also robbed a lot of wealth along the way, there is really a lot of gold, silver and jewelry, and there is nothing wrong with taking out some of it and giving it to Ang Lee, as long as it is not the core interest, he can accept it.

But he never expected that Ang Lee would actually provoke his relationship with Mansour, and besides, he also said that he had a nose and eyes, and took out a prophecy to scare people.

Ordinary people don't believe in any prophecies, but Ziyad believes it a little in his heart, because he thinks that what Li Ang said is very reasonable, what kind of person Mansur is, he knows better than anyone else in his heart, this ruthless guy has killed a lot of people, in case he wants to be unfavorable to himself, then there is nothing unusual.

This is a great headache for Ziyad, if he really makes an agreement with Li An and leads the army back to Khorasan, then Mansur must be very angry, in case he kills himself on this ground, it is really possible, and Ziyad certainly does not want to die in the hands of Mansour.

The surest way to protect himself may be to support the army and stand on his own, but it is also risky to do so, if he turns his heart to Mansour, he may be killed by his subordinates and lead to another tragedy, so it is also risky to support the army and stand on his own, which makes Ziyad fall into a dilemma.

Fortunately, Ziyad also has a very trusted boss, that is, Abu ***, and the boss's opinion is very important, so he must consult with Abu ***.

The henchman is an old subordinate who has followed Qi Yade for many years, and he is also a friend of life and death, so this matter will not be leaked out, and Qi Yade has also explained many times, so that the henchman cannot talk nonsense.

After sending his henchmen back, Ziyad went to the big tent of Abu ***, because the injury was not light, Abu *** slept in bed half of the time every day, and spent most of the rest of the time in the house, rarely going out for activities, after all, he was relatively old, and he looked very haggard after being injured, and he really didn't have the strength to go out to play, and all the affairs in the army were handed over to Ziyad to be responsible, and he didn't bother to ask.

"Qi Yade, I heard that the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses have arrived, what is going on, they are here to interfere with us?"

Although Abu *** only asked about military affairs, he would definitely not be able to hide such a big matter from him, and he learned about it after the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses had just arrived.

"Sort of! The Tang Dynasty doesn't want Arab unity, you know that, so they don't want us to break the city. ”

Ziyad spoke.

"Of course I know this, I heard that the Tang army came with ironclad cars, and they were invulnerable, so they couldn't fight at all."

Abu *** asked.

"Yes, general, although the number of the Tang army is small, but the ironclad vehicles are something we can't fight, if we really fight, the soldiers will really suffer heavy losses."

Ziyad said truthfully.

Abu *** nodded and said: "Our strength is far inferior to the Tang Army, almost all the tribes in the east of Khorasan have defected to the Tang Dynasty, an elite army of Anxi Protectorate has been stationed in the east of Khorasan, only a few hundred miles away from our royal city, the threat to us is too great, but we have no way, there is really no way!" ”

Qi Yade opened his mouth and said: "General, the threat from Datang is nothing to us, and the threat from the country is our biggest threat!" It is not the Tang Dynasty that can kill us, but the caliph we respect. ”

After speaking, he looked nervously to the left and right, for fear of being heard by the people in the camp.

Abu *** was also taken aback, and hurriedly looked in the direction of the tent vigilantly, and said in a low voice: "Ziyad, this can't be said nonsense, if it reaches the ears of the caliph, we will be really troublesome." ”

Qi Yade also lowered his voice and said: "General, this is not what I said, even outsiders can see our situation clearly. ”

"Outsiders, who said that?"

Abu asked nervously.

Of course, Qi Yade will not hide it, and said: "General, it is Li Shilang of the Tang Dynasty, he has seen that our caliph has no tolerance for people, and sooner or later he will kill us, he said that this is his prophecy, let us watch it." ”

Hearing this, Abu *** fell into deep thought, and only spoke for a long time before he spoke: "Ziyad, what do you think in your own heart, you might as well talk about it." ”

Ziyad said: "General, the last general just can't make up his mind in his heart, so he came to discuss with you, we should be considered a defeat now, and return to Khorasan in such a gloomy manner, will the caliph really forgive us?" How can we help ourselves? ”

"You're trying to do the opposite!"

Abu said calmly.

Qi Yad said excitedly: "General, do we really have any other way to go?" If we don't resist, we can only be fish and meat on the board, to be slaughtered! ”

Abu *** thought for a while, nodded and said: "The caliph's changes are indeed quite big, but you also know his methods, he can put 100,000 soldiers and horses into our hands with confidence, is it really unprepared, among our subordinates, how many are united with us, and how many are sworn allegiance to the caliphate, as well as our families, basically all of them are in the royal city, under the control of the caliphate, if we rebel for our own lives, first of all, our family will not be saved, if we lose our family, What is the meaning of our lives. ”

Obviously, Abu *** is old and has no greater ambitions, all he thinks about is how to spend his old age in peace, and no longer think about rebellion, because the danger factor is too great, and, first of all, they will lose their families, which is unacceptable to Abu ***.

Of course, Ziyad is also very reluctant to lose his family, after all, people work hard to live, sometimes it is for their own family, if the family is all gone, then what is the meaning of living, this is the reason why Ziyad has never made up his mind, now listening to Abu *** say this, he is also shaken, dare not resist Mansour, but if he obediently goes back, will he be able to keep his family? Could it be that he and his family were killed together?

In Qi Yade's heart, Li An from the Tang Dynasty is a god-like existence, if it weren't for this person, the Tang Empire would not be so powerful to such a terrifying level, and such a powerful person, of course, what he said is the golden rule, therefore, Li An gave such a prediction, Qi Yade felt that this must be true, it could not be fake, so his heart was even more nervous.

"What the general said is that if our families are gone, there is really no point in our lives, but after we go back, will we be able to keep our families? There is also this Li Shilang, who is a god-like existence in Datang, if it were not for him, Datang would not have today's results, what he said, the prophecy he gave, I am afraid it will not be false. ”

Ziyad said nervously.

"Okay, I'm going to think about it, by the way, how many people know about it?"

Abu *** asked vigilantly.

Ziyad replied: "In addition to the two of us, there are also my life and death henchmen, there are only three people. ”

"That's good, this matter must not be leaked out, not the slightest leak, and since Datang wants to extort money, then give them some, and the most important thing is to stabilize them."

Abu *** spoke.

Qi Yade nodded and said, "Don't worry! General, I know what to do, so I'll send someone to give gifts to Datang, and besides, this matter will definitely not leak out. ”

After saying that, he went to prepare, while Abu *** fell into deep thought.

Of course, Ziyad was not the only one who gave gifts, Artik sent his henchmen to see Ang Lee, naturally he was embarrassed to be empty-handed, and he also brought gifts, and it was still a gift that made Ang Lee very eye-catching.

"Li Shilang, these are all a piece of our city lord's heart, to thank you for your help to us all the time, we will not forget your good, we must accept it."

Artik's subordinates gave them a kind gift.

Li An raised his eyes and looked at it, there were really a lot of gifts, there were pearls and gemstones, gold and silver, and coral stones and other good things, these things can be worth a lot of money, but because the economy of Arabia is not very developed, these things are not very expensive.

After all, many things must be sought after in order to reflect their value, for example, coral is just an ornamental thing, as long as someone is sought after, it is a good thing of great value, but if no one is sought after, it is worthless.

For example, when many people were chasing after walnuts, the price soared, and the high was outrageous, and when everyone no longer paid attention, the price plummeted, and even one-tenth of the previous price could not be reached.

There are many, many things, and the price will be very high when everyone is sought after, and the price will be very worthless when no one cares.

Gold ornament jewelry in troubled times, it is said that jewelry is an ornament, only in the prosperous times will be very valuable, and in troubled times, jewelry is not wanted at all, and gold because it is a hard currency, so, in troubled times, it is very popular.

The current situation in the Arab world should be regarded as a troubled era, so in addition to gold and silver, the rest are really not very expensive, but if these coral stones are transported to Datang, the price is completely different, and it is possible to increase the price tenfold, after all, Datang's current economic development is very rapid, and the demand for various luxury goods is very huge, and the price is naturally rising, which is simply soaring.

"Yes, it's all good! Your city lord is really a good friend, this friend, this official really didn't make a friend in vain! Hahaha! I took it all. ”

Li An waved his hand and asked his subordinates to put away all these rare treasures, which were given to him by Artik, and he didn't accept them for nothing, anyway, Artik, an old businessman, had money, and he didn't pit anyone.