Chapter 2323 Negotiated
The official agreed and was about to speak again when a minor official came running in and said, "Your Majesty, General Bali is here..."
Before he could finish his words, the Western Turkic general strode in and said with a laugh, "I heard that your distinguished guests have arrived. Won't your Majesty let us meet them?"
There was a flicker of displeasure in the eyes of the King of Kucha, but a smile rose on his face and he said, "General Bali is here, please take a seat."
General Bali took his seat directly.
When Bai Shan and his companions came in with two large boxes, they saw a person sitting under the throne. Bai Shan paused and then saluted the throne.
The King of Kucha was very curious about the severity of General Guo's injuries, so he asked Zhou Man.
Manbao didn't dare to speak too harshly, otherwise he would think that General Guo was going to die and would directly send troops to attack the camp. He also didn't dare to speak too lightly, what if he didn't believe it and suspected them and directly detained them?
So Manbao dropped his book bag all over the floor, making sure he didn't understand, and finally told him the consequences, "...If you can't get treatment in time, even if you recover now, it will still affect your lifespan."
The King of Kucha hadn't understood the previous words, but he understood this sentence. He perked up and asked, "What medicine does Guo Xiao want?"
Manbao then handed over the medicine list he had written early in the morning. It was full of good herbs for replenishing blood and qi, with ginseng being the first one.
There was only one box of this thing in the palace of the King of Kucha, and he had to send people to buy it with merchants from the Central Plains for a large sum of money. When the King of Kucha fled, he forgot many things in the warehouse, but he did not forget this box of ginseng. Of course, he could not give it to Guo Xiao.
However, the King of Kucha would not say anything. He could only say that many medicinal herbs were not available in the palace. After all, the palace had been looted. However, he would mention it to his ministers to see where they could be found in the city so that he could buy them for them.
Bai Shan took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, it is already a kindness that you are willing to allow us to buy the herbs. How dare we let Your Majesty spend more money?"
The King of Kucha couldn't help but look at the two boxes.
Bai Shan immediately said that they were not going to use the gold and silver to buy it, or even the spoils of war, as General Guo still had some savings.
The smile on King Kucha's face finally seemed more genuine.
Then the topic got to the point. The King of Kucha asked when they would enter the city to surrender. Bai Shan said that he would buy medicine and give it to General Guo to take, and when he was able to mount his horse, he would lead the surrendered troops in.
Bai Shan also mentioned the issue of General Guo’s future treatment.
Bali, who had been sitting silently by the side, suddenly sneered and said, "A defeated general, the king is already doing a great favor by accepting his surrender. How dare he ask for an official position?"
Bai Shan looked at King Kucha with an embarrassed expression.
The King of Kucha said to Bali with a smile, "General Bali, Guo Xiao is quite capable. If he is willing to surrender, we can still get a general position in Kucha."
"Does Your Majesty trust them so much? The Han people are always cunning. This might just be a delaying tactic," Bali said to the King of Kucha in Turkic. "In my opinion, it would be better to lead the army and defeat them directly. When the surrendered soldiers become prisoners, wouldn't they be more obedient to Your Majesty?"
Bai Shan and Man Bao understood without Erge's translation. They frowned slightly, but did not try to hide their understanding. They quickly said to the King of Kucha in their not very fluent Turkic: "Please keep your promise, Your Majesty."
Then he said to Bali, "General, although our General Guo is injured, he is resourceful and has powerful generals under his command. We have three thousand soldiers. I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to attack our camp directly, right?"
Bai Shan retorted, "Otherwise, why did the king and the general wait for so many days instead of pursuing the victory the day after our general was injured?"
This really hit the sore spot for the King of Kucha. Why didn't they press on? It was because Bali felt the money wasn't there yet, so no matter how many times he asked, the other side turned a deaf ear and made various excuses to decline.
Now that he knew that Guo Xiao had a large amount of gold, silver and treasures, he wanted to go and rob him again. But if he went, how would he get any share of those things?
You should know that most of the spoils in Guo Xiao's hands were looted from the royal palace.
How could it be possible for Bali to take away the things from the Kucha Palace?
Therefore, the King of Kucha became more determined to accept Guo Xiao's surrender. He quickly appeased Bai Shan and Bali, saying that Guo Xiao was also obeying the emperor of the Central Plains, and the war between them had nothing to do with Guo Xiao himself, so the past grudges were wiped out and everyone would be friends in the future.
Bali's cheek twitched, but he finally held his anger, reluctantly exchanged a few words with the King of Kucha, and then left.
The King of Kucha looked at the time and found it was getting late, so he invited Bai Shan and the others to stay for dinner. They would stay in the post station outside the palace tonight. The next day, they could get the necessary medicinal herbs and leave the city to discuss surrender with Guo Xiao.
At that time, the royal city will send an envoy to discuss the specific matters with Guo Xiao.
How could the King of Kucha dare to allow Guo Xiao, who claimed to have 3,000 soldiers, to enter the city directly? Naturally, all the soldiers had to lay down their weapons and take off their armor before they could enter the city to accept the surrender.
Bai Shan agreed with a smile, and then left the palace with Manbao.
The official sent to receive them took them to the post station and tactfully said that Kucha was not the Central Plains and the medicinal materials were not complete. Some of the medicinal materials they were looking for might not be found.
Manbao expressed his understanding and said that he would be satisfied as long as he could buy half of General Guo.
The two sides reached a consensus and everyone was very happy. The official said that he would personally bring people and medicinal materials to meet them tomorrow.
After everyone left, Bai Shan signaled Daji to close the door, and then said to Jin Kuian: "They still don't trust us, and obviously don't intend to let us contact other people."
Jin Kuian asked, "What should we do then?"
Erge asked, "Master Bai, do you have any other way to contact the people in the city?"
Bai Shan said: "I will do my best, you don't have to worry, just follow my instructions tomorrow."
Jin Kuian always felt that they were young boys who were unreliable, but Erge seemed to trust them very much. Bai Shan told them not to ask any questions, and sure enough, he stopped asking questions and stayed in the post station to eat and drink, waiting for the next day.
Bai Shan and Man Bao looked at each other and said nothing.
As dusk approached, Bai Shan and Man Bao tried to leave the post station for a stroll, but were stopped. The official guarding them said, "The city has just been through a war and is still in chaos. You two adults are obviously from the Central Plains, unlike us. If you go out on the street, I'm afraid something bad will happen. For your safety, it's best not to go out."
Bai Shan lamented, "I wanted to take this opportunity to buy some things, but since it's not convenient, I can only wait until later to explore Kucha City."
The group was confined in the post station, and Manbao kept asking Keke to pay attention to the situation in the camp.
But because the distance is a bit far, although it is still within Koko's scanning range, many detailed things cannot be known in time.
It stared at the open space and the entrance of the camp, and when it saw two horses running in quickly and being caught by someone, it followed them.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
