"Great lord, do you really intend to engage in a direct confrontation with the Han army?"

Qian Lai walked to Ma Yi's side, looked at Ma Yi who was still furious, and couldn't help but ask.

"Hmph~ What should I do then? Where am I supposed to get them a billion dollars worth of assets?"

Ma Yi snorted angrily. As a wealthy man in the Shaodang tribe, he could easily come up with a billion coins. After all, that was the only income his entire Shaodang tribe earned in a year.

In addition, he had just fought a battle with Shao He's side. Although he won, he also suffered considerable losses. Now, he only has about 4 billion in assets at his disposal, which is the result of his years of accumulation. Naturally, he is reluctant to give up a quarter of it all at once.

"But now, the most powerful people in the entire Shaodang tribe can mobilize and gather no more than 40,000 men. Would it be unwise to start a war with the Han army at this time?"

Ma Yi's fleshy face twitched, and he said angrily, "So what? Are you really going to give them a billion coins?"

"Sir, why don't you take a look at this first?"

Qian Lai shook his head helplessly, then took out a slip of paper and handed it to Ma Yi.

"kindness?"

Ma Yi took the note with a puzzled look, and after just a quick glance, he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Is this real? Even Duan Jiong, that butcher, is here?"

Upon learning that Duan Jiong had led an army of 10,000 men toward him, Ma Yi felt a surge of fear.

Qian Lai nodded and said in a deep voice, "This was sent by our young master. It is absolutely true. Including Zhang Qiao's troops, the Han army has a total of 15,000 men, and most of them are veterans who participated in the Battle of Fengyi Mountain!"

"What??"

Ma Yi was immediately alarmed. Back then, the Western Qiang Dianmu father and son had gathered 30,000 of their most elite cavalry, but they were all defeated head-on by Duan Jiong's 10,000 troops. He did not think that his rabble would be a match for Duan Jiong and the Liangzhou soldiers.

"Then what should we do? We can't really give them a billion in assets, can we? If we do, how will our Shaodang tribe develop?"

Ma Yi finally calmed down and then frowned as he looked at Qian Lai to ask for a solution.

Qian Lai was sent to Ma Yi's side as a confidant of Dian Xian to be in charge of their communication. He was always intelligent and resourceful, so Ma Yi valued him highly and always wanted to recruit him.

Qian Lai pondered for a moment, then said, "The money and goods must be compensated. Duan Jiong dared to secretly kill 20,000 prisoners behind the back of the Emperor of Han, which shows that he is not the kind of person who cares about the rules. He might even dare to secretly attack the tribe of Dahao again behind the back of the Emperor."

"this....."

Qian Lai's words convinced Ma Yi completely. From their perspective and their understanding of Duan Jiong, Duan Jiong was a pure person who simply wanted to destroy the Qiang people.

Duan Jiong never had a good impression of either the Western Qiang or the Eastern Qiang, and always wanted to kill them as soon as possible.

This slave escape provided Duan Jiong with a perfect excuse to send troops, a reason to eliminate future troubles. Even if the court reprimanded him, it would at most offset his merits and demerits, and Duan Jiong would not suffer any losses.

Thinking of this, Ma Yi sat there blankly, his expression constantly changing. He was an ambitious man. Ever since defeating the Shaohe tribe, he had begun to fantasize about punching the Western Qiang, trampling the Hu and Shi, and finally establishing his own country.

But this ambition had only just taken its first step when it was ruthlessly trampled by Duan Jiong, leaving him truly resentful.

Seeing Ma Yi's constantly changing expression and his hesitation and struggle, Qian Lai couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Such a hesitant person, who doesn't know how to make a choice, still dares to oppose the Han Dynasty. He is really overestimating himself!

Qian Lai then chuckled, "It's just a little money. As long as the powerful man gives up these things, he can make Duan Jiong retreat, and the powerful man can gain a few years of peace to expand and develop!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yi's eyes widened. "You make it sound so easy! A whole billion coins! That's enough for me to equip an elite cavalry force of five thousand men, no less than the Liangzhou army's cavalry!"

Even though he valued Qian Lai highly, he felt somewhat annoyed by Qian Lai's indifferent attitude.

Qian Lai smiled. "Great sir, have you forgotten about Bei Gong Boyu and the others from Jincheng?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yi paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "That's right! They've been in Jincheng for so many years, and their wealth is more than my entire tribe."

"Yes, yes, yes!! We should ask them for it. They want to use us, so we should use them too!"

Thinking of this, Ma Yi felt much better. He then got up, stroked his chin, and began to think about how to get more money from Bei Gong Boyu and the others.

As he pondered, Ma Yi's expression began to change. He then looked at Qian Lai and asked in a low voice:

"Even if they have money, we still need a reason, right?"

In their view, the Han army was demanding the loot from the slaves; we hadn't suffered any losses!

Qian Lai chuckled, "Then why don't we just fight a battle with the Han army?"

"What did you say??"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yi was so startled that he sat down again, raising his head to stare blankly at Qian Lai.

You were the one who stopped me just now, and now you're the one I'm going to beat up? Are you treating me like a monkey?

He almost blurted out "Ma Mai Pi," but then he remembered that it was his father's name and he couldn't mention it carelessly.

Then Ma Yi's expression darkened, and he looked at Qian Lai with some displeasure. "You just said that it is not advisable to fight the Han army, but now you say you want to fight. Do you know that once a war starts, it will not be up to us to back down!"

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