Chapter 117: Negotiations Concluded

Zhang Hong followed Cole back to the banquet hall in a daze. Cole looked relaxed and returned to the crowd. Zhang Hong himself hid in the corner of the banquet hall, his hands propped on the table, covering his face, trying his best to calm down the chaotic thoughts.

The two teleportation props, he finally had to accept them and put them in the storage ring. Although Zhang Hong is not good at strategy, he is also very clear that the other party has already pinched his lifeline in his hands, and just now Cole said something wrong, in fact, it is just to let him cooperate obediently, after all, if he cooperates well, the possibility of success will be much greater, and the other party can get more benefits in the later stage. If the other party does not take into account his interests and uses force, he can only admit it.

Zhang Hong can be sure that once the matter of killing Hong Lifeng is confirmed, he will be finished. Even for all the reasons, he couldn't get the matter done. He may become the first Chinese to be sentenced in another world. Maybe he won't die, but he can't escape the prison sentence.

Even if no tangible evidence is found in the end, as long as he is suspected by everyone, he will become an untrustworthy person, and his political life will be overshadowed before it even begins.

He thought about it carefully, unless he sacrificed himself and jumped out to expose the conspiracy, he had to do what the other party asked. However, the word self-sacrifice never appeared in his dictionary. Even if he exposed all this, would it be good for him? Not at all. In this way, the choice he can make is obvious.

Cole was right, as long as you are prepared, no one will find out. As for the truth, it will become dead and unproven.

When the army came to attack, most of the dead were also the locals who joined the escort army and the soldiers of the kingdom who were already on duty in the Kuroki Pass, and such a loss was affordable, and it would not hurt the roots.

He, Zhang Hong, was just a bystander. He could even fight in a pretended way and save a few people with magic? Maybe he could get the Empire to cooperate and turn the tide against a pursuing army? He had every chance to be a hero again, which was a great asset. The more Zhang Hong thought about it, the more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Zhang Hong glanced at Xiao Chen, who was talking to Earl John, the two of them seemed to be talking with great interest for some reason, and Zhang Hong even heard them laugh together a few times. This made him feel very irritated. Xiao Chen and his concubine Luo Ling have always been one of the few people he hates the most, obviously they have been doing all kinds of risky stupid things, but they can come back safe and sound every time, not only their strength is rising, but their status in the committee is getting higher and higher.

The two men are also particularly adept at self-righteous looking at him from the moral high ground. has never had a good attitude towards him, and Zhang Hong is still angry about Luo Ling's disgusting attitude towards him in the first group meeting.

Maybe in the upcoming attack, it wouldn't be a bad thing to take Xiao Chen to die? It's a pity that Luo Ling is not there, but if Xiao Chen dies, she can't stand it, and it seems that it will be a good ending?

Thinking of this, Zhang Hong suddenly felt that his heart was beating faster, and there was an uncontrollable sense of restlessness all over his body, as if he was ...... Still a little excited about this?

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The conversation between Xiao Chen and Earl John at the dinner unexpectedly achieved some results, and he successfully shifted the focus of the negotiations from whether the Chinese could let the imperial army cross the border to another aspect: that is, whether the empire could withdraw its troops. On the second day, there was a lot of discussion between the two sides on this basis.

Xiao Chen threw out a rather convincing point that China, unlike the Iberian Kingdom, did not have a generational vendetta with the empire, nor did it peek into the territory of the empire. At present, with the military strength and ruling ability of the Chinese, it is already the limit to digest the territory from Heimu Pass in the north, to Greenwood City in the south, to Suero in the east, and to the Dwarf Valley in the west. It will take a lot of time to regain a large number of villages and towns in this territory, and to consolidate his rule.

Therefore, the empire did not have to guard against the Chinese in the same way that it did against the Iberian kingdom. Xiao Chen suggested that the two sides could sign a non-aggression pact, in which the Chinese side promised not to increase their troops at Heimu Pass, or send troops to attack the territory in the southwest of the empire, in exchange for the retreat of the empire, reducing the army in the large camp near Heimu Pass to about 5,000 men.

This would allow the Empire to deploy more than 30,000 troops on the Eastern Front on Fort Compass. This will directly change the current stalemate strategic situation on the Eastern Front, and if the Empire gives up the idea of invading the western part of the kingdom, it may achieve results in the eastern part of the kingdom.

On the other hand, if the two sides remain at a stalemate here, the daily consumption of supplies by more than 40,000 troops will be a huge burden. If the Empire does attack the city, the losses will be even more unpredictable. Not withdrawing troops would do more harm than good to the empire.

Even Earl John had to admit that Xiao Chen's statements were very reasonable.

Count John already had a deeper understanding of the strength of the Chinese in Heimu Pass, because in the afternoon of the next day, he and his entourage watched a pneumatic gun shooting exercise of the Heimu Pass Guard, although Shi Hao only arranged four 80mm pneumatic guns and eight mortars to participate in the exercise, and did not let him see the appearance of the 120mm pneumatic guns, but the four 80mm pneumatic guns still left a deep enough impression on him.

Sparks covered the area two kilometers in front of Kuroki Pass from far to near, while the mortars took into account the dead spots under the walls.

The power of this combination of modern weapons and magic has never appeared on the stage of this continent, which has left a very deep impression on Earl John. Shi Hao even allowed him to record some of the images with the video spar and bring them back to the emperor and ministers to see, so that they could have a clear and definite understanding of the true strength of the Chinese.

So on the third day, Count John gave up his intention to continue the negotiations, and said that he was ready to leave Heimu Pass and go back to explain the situation here to His Majesty the Emperor, and report to him the suggestions made by Xiao Chen.

When leaving Heimu Pass, Count John said to Xiao Chen: "Your Excellency Xiao Chen, I must admit that you are a very far-sighted and persuasive person. Regardless of the outcome of this negotiation, I would love to be your friend. His Majesty the Emperor Alfred will certainly be happy to communicate with people like you who have insight and opinions. Hope to see you next time in the Empire. ”

Xiao Chen made a mage salute and said, "Your Excellency, we expect to resolve disputes through dialogue rather than war. I hope you will be able to bring our intentions for peace to His Majesty Emperor Alfred. ”