After the great victory in the Battle of the Veran Valley, the three main armies of the Metasequoia Army did not care about rest and respite, and immediately marched to the middle of the battlefield.

The coalition army led by Alikjiang, the leader of the Western Frontier Alliance, was already less than fifty miles away from Metasequoia City.

If it weren't for the previous battles that made His Royal Highness the King of Loulan feel uneasy, and at the same time, he was still planning to preserve the strength of the Loulan army, I am afraid that he would have already begun to attack the city at this time.

Before Alekjiang figured out the current battlefield situation and waved his army to attack the almost empty city of Metasequoia, Li Jiangyao and the others must completely stop the middle route army!

As for the Left Route Army in Western Xinjiang commanded by Gelhan, it was temporarily handed over to the leader of Montenegro and his troops of the Ten Thousand Shenhua Family, using the tactics of frequent raids to drag the other side, delay the movement of the Left Route Army, and prevent the situation in Daban City from immediately falling into crisis.

Just as Li Jiangyao and Metasequoia's main force were marching rapidly, a mysterious cavalry squad quietly left the legion headquarters at the same time and rushed to the northwest without stopping.

The destination of this cavalry squad was the town of Lime, not far from the court of the chariot master. Just a few days ago, a group of Shule troops of considerable size had just arrived in that place. According to Yudra's intelligence, this force was the royal guard of the Shule Kingdom, and they escorted the Tajik king, the king of Shule, to the front line to coordinate and supervise the war.

Originally, the Tajik king of Shule only sent the prince Tani to participate in the crusade. However, when he heard that the Turkic Marquis of Durham had formed a team of warlords and executed the king of Qule and a large number of generals of the Qule Kingdom in the name of "violating military discipline", this veteran of Western Xinjiang could not sit still.

Tajik feared that his reckless son would become the next fool to die in vain, so he had to come and coordinate it himself. In case the Turks deliberately sought the stubble of the Shule army, with his prestige in the western frontier, he might be able to make Prince Gune and the Marquis of Durham skeptical.

And the cavalry squad sent by the headquarters of the Metasequoia Army was also aimed at Tajikistan, the king of Shule. They had only one purpose on their trip - to make a big deal with Old Tajikistan.

The cavalry squad was led by four people: Xie Tanzhi, the chief secretary of the Metasequoia Military Mansion of the Zhenjiang Army, Shi Yudra, the director of the military intelligence department, the little Persian beauty Effantia, and the chief manager of her family, Duke. On Li Jiangyao's orders, the four went to negotiate with King Shule to negotiate the return of Tani and 40,000 prisoners of war.

At this time, the news that the Right Route Army was completely annihilated by the Xinjiang army of Shengtang Town in the Weilan River Valley had already spread throughout the entire Western Xinjiang Alliance.

Compared with the stunned and shocked Turkic and western frontier states, the Tajik king of Shule had more complex emotions: shock, incomprehension, worry, doubt, worry, sadness, and remorse...... And so on, it can be said that it is a mixture of flavors, and it is difficult to describe it in one word.

However, Tajikistan's biggest feeling at this time is the word "fear".

The reason is very simple - Prince Tani is led by more than half of the main force of the Shule Kingdom.

Now, all that precious force has collapsed in the valley of the Weilan River, and the strength of the Shule Kingdom has been greatly reduced at once. In today's period of great contention in Western Xinjiang, it is tantamount to a suicidal mistake.

Tajikistan even vaguely felt that the kings of Western Xinjiang, such as Alikjiang and Gelhan, began to cast ill-intentioned glances at him.

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Just when the old king Tajikistan was panicking because of the defeat of the right army, the guards suddenly reported: The envoy of Li Jiangyao, the commander of the Zhenjiang army, came to visit.

Tajikistan was very surprised by this, but he did not dare to slack off. After some careful arrangement, the representatives of the two sides in hostile positions met quietly in the makeshift secret room.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the envoy of the Zhenjiang Army spoke, he said a news that surprised Tajikistan: Prince Tani and the 40,000 army are currently safe and sound!

Those Shule Guolangs were not slaughtered by the Zhenjiang army in the Weilan River Valley, as rumors have been rumored. On the contrary, Tani and the others are all alive and kicking at this time, waiting to go home to find their mother.

Tajik learned that his son and his men were still alive, and his hanging heart finally calmed down a little. However, when he thought about it, another doubt couldn't help but arise spontaneously: What the hell is Li Jiangyao doing?

He cleared his throat and asked calmly, "I don't know what advice your envoy has come here this time?" ”

Faced with Tajikistan's question, it was neither the old and serious Xie Tanzhi nor the free and handsome Jade Dhara, but the delicate little girl Effantia.

I saw that Effantia showed a charming smile and replied softly: "Your Highness, we have come to see you this time to discuss business with your country. ”

Tajik felt a little strange and wondered why it was a little girl who spoke on behalf of the Zhenjiang army. He had never received a Persian merchant delegation before, and naturally he did not know Effentia, but since the other party had such an arrangement, there must be something special about this beautiful girl.

Tajik rolled his eyes and cautiously responded: "You are still embarrassed to talk to us about business?" There has been an agreement between you and me that we should maintain peace and restraint with each other. But now? My son and his subordinates have become your prisoners! How can I trust your integrity? ”

Xie Tanzhi was worried that Effantiya would be suppressed by Tajik momentum, and was about to open his mouth to refute for her, but he didn't expect Effentia to smile slightly and replied unhurriedly: "Your Highness, what you said is really funny." Where exactly were Prince Tani and the army of Shule captured? Is it in the territory of your kingdom of Shule? No. They jumped their horses and ran to the territory of our Zhenjiang Army, did they come to enjoy the mountains and rivers? ”

Tajik was a little speechless by Effantia, and was embarrassed to himself, only to hear Effantia continue: "Fortunately, we have already had a verbal agreement, and my family has always been known for his credit, which will leave him a glimmer of life when His Highness Tani is exhausted." If it had been someone else, the corpse would have been cold a long time ago. This is enough to prove that doing business with us will not suffer losses. ”

Effantia's soft and hard words made the old Tajik's eyes roll. If you think about it, there is indeed some truth in her words. If someone else had been trapped in the Weilan River Valley, I am afraid that they would have been completely wiped out by Li Jiangyao's Metasequoia Army.

Thinking of this, Tajik's tone couldn't help but soften a little: "Okay, since everyone still has friendship, then please release my son and the captured Shule soldiers as soon as possible." The agreement between us will continue to be valid. ”

Xie Tanzhi and Yudra, who were standing in the back, couldn't help but look at each other after hearing this, neither of them expected that Tajikistan's face was so thick-skinned, it was obvious that they had violated the agreement in Shule and were the party that was at the loss, but they put on a condescending posture.

Effantia was not angry at all, and still said with a smile: "Your Highness, your method of asking for a sky-high price and paying back the money on the ground is really clever. However, I also have a question for Your Highness. ”

"Don't dare to ask for advice," Tajik's face sank: "If you have anything to say, just say it directly." ”

Effentia turned her head to look at Xie Tanzhi and the others, and said with a smile: "The question I want to ask Your Highness is, if we leave now, I don't know if Your Highness will keep it?" ”

Xie Tanzhi and Yudra are both human spirits, and when they heard Effantia say this, they immediately sent a perfect match.

"In my opinion, with His Royal Highness's attitude, the two sides really have nothing to talk about, so it's better to go back as soon as possible."

"That's it, didn't Master Li say before I came, Shule is powerful, and he doesn't care about the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses here, or we can deal with it ourselves."

Effentia smiled and shook her head, "Well, you can't say that. Anyway, that's more than 40,000 lives, and you can't starve to death like you planned before. I think it would be best to sell them into slavery in Persia or other countries in the Western Continent. What do you say, Your Highness? ”

"Sell...... Sold to Persia? Western Continent? Tajik's eyes widened in disbelief: "You guys...... It can't really be that bad, right? ”

"Why not?" Effantia's beautiful face revealed a kind of innocence peculiar to a girl, and she asked Tajik in confusion: "Even you don't care about them, why should we bother to take care of them?" Is it a waste of food to keep for nothing? ”

Tajikistan feels that he is a lot older, and it is really unreasonable to be played around by a little girl. However, it is a pity that the situation is not as good as others, and he can only swallow his anger and cough awkwardly: "Ahem, this king has never said that he doesn't care about the safety of the Shule soldiers." Since you don't want to let him go easily, please talk about your conditions. ”

"Our conditions are simple. Two hundred silver coins for a soldier, two hundred thousand silver coins for a general, and two million silver coins for the prince of Tani, plus their food and lodging expenses in recent days, and compensation for all kinds of losses caused by the invasion of our borders, a total of twenty million silver coins. Pay the money with one hand, and hand over the person. ”

Effentia's small mouth crackled and she reported a series of numbers, and she looked like a shrewd and sophisticated profiteer. Xie Tanzhi and Yudra looked at each other as they listened: The price that Effantia quoted just now is twice the price that Master Li Jiangyao set before!

Tajik, the king of Shule, was also taken aback when he heard this, and he jumped up more than three feet from his seat and shouted, "Twenty million silver coins?!" Are you kidding? Even if we hollow out the Shule Kingdom, we won't be able to make up so much! ”

Facing the slightly gaffe of the old king, the originally sweet smile on Effantia's face was gradually replaced by a certain coldness: "Your Royal Highness, whether you can make it up or can't make it is not a matter for my Zhenjiang army to consider. Whether or not to make this deal is up to you. We will only give your country one day to consider, and this time tomorrow is the deadline for His Highness to reply. ”

With that, she gave a slight salute, and then led Xie Tanzhi, Yudra, and Duke, turned around and left.