"Alright, that's the only way!"
Upon hearing Sakhozi's suggestion, the Parthian king finally nodded in agreement.
In fact, he was not unaware of what those noble officials in the country had done, but he also needed their support to maintain his rule.
Now that the country is in peril and on the verge of collapse, there's really no need to protect their interests anymore.
Thinking of this, the Parthian king then looked at Marcus Aurelius: "Could these reparations be offset by other goods or slaves?"
“Yes!” Marcus Aurelius immediately agreed.
"That's good!" King Parthia breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then let's move on to the third condition!"
Marcus Aurelius paused, then continued, "The Xilin Pass, Linma Pass, and all the land and cities within a hundred li of the border shall be ceded to us!"
"this……"
Upon hearing the other party's demand to cede territory, the Parthian king hesitated.
He understood deeply that if those places were ceded to Rome, the heartland of Parthia would be completely exposed to the Roman army.
Now that the southern part of Parthia has been given to the Han Dynasty, and the western part to Rome, the entire country will become a piece of fish to be slaughtered at will.
Seeing the Parthian king's hesitant expression, Marcus Aurelius said coldly, "This condition is not for discussion, but for your notification. You have no room to refuse. Even if our army occupies those places and doesn't leave, do you have the resources to take them back?"
"I……"
Upon hearing this, the Parthian king was speechless for a moment, unsure of what to say.
Chu Qian, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "I have a suggestion, I wonder if you two would be willing to listen?"
"Please speak, Chu envoy!" King Parthia hurriedly said.
Marcus Aurelius nodded and looked at Chu Qian.
Chu Qian first looked at Marcus Aurelius, "I would like to ask Your Majesty a question first!"
"May I ask, Envoy of Chu?"
Chu Qian smiled and asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, if Rome were to seize these territories, how many troops would you plan to station there? And how would you govern an exclave a thousand miles away? How much would it cost each year?"
"this……"
Upon hearing Chu Qian's question, Marcus Aurelius was slightly taken aback and didn't know what to say, because he had only thought about the threat these passes posed to Rome, but had never considered how to arrange things in the future.
"Let me tell you!"
Seeing Marcus Aurelius deep in thought, Chu Qian said at the opportune moment, "These passes were once guarded by 400,000 troops stationed in Parthia."
If Your Majesty were to station troops here, you would need at least 200,000, right?
Because of its location on the border, the surrounding land and cities are destined not to have many people living there. To govern such a region would not only not bring any benefits, but would also require a large investment of manpower and resources.
These two items alone require Rome to invest at least two million gold coins annually, and this supply is continuous.
"Is such a huge investment worthwhile, just to defend against Anxi, which no longer possesses any offensive capabilities?"
"Well..."
Upon hearing Chu Qian's words, Marcus Aurelius hesitated.
Rome is not at peace these days either, as Germanic, Slavic, and Gaulish barbarians constantly threaten the northern part of Rome.
The northern defenses alone cost millions of gold coins every year, putting enormous pressure on Rome's finances.
If Rome were to allocate over two million gold coins annually to garrison these Parthian locations, its finances might collapse at any time.
By then, his reign as Roman emperor would probably be coming to an end.
"Then what do you think, Envoy Chu?" Marcus Aurelius asked with a puzzled look.
Chu Qian smiled and said, "I suggest that we demolish all these passes and designate the surrounding land as a public area, so that neither Rome nor Parthia should station troops here."
After all, a business cooperation agreement has already been signed, and removing these obstacles will facilitate mutual exchanges!
Upon hearing this, Marcus Aurelius pondered for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.
In his eyes, as long as the threat of these passes could be eliminated, Chu Qian's method could be considered a win-win situation.
As for the Parthian king, he had even less reason to refuse.
Anyway, he didn't have the extra energy to send people to guard those places anymore. It didn't matter whether they were demolished or not, and he wouldn't have to bear the infamy of ceding land.
As for what the future holds, King Parthia no longer has time to consider it.
Seeing that both sides had agreed to his proposal, Chu Qian smiled to himself.
His main purpose in making this proposal was to prevent Rome from becoming too powerful.
After all, once Rome occupied these passes on the Parthian border, the Romans could launch an attack on Parthia at any time and slowly erode it.
This is clearly not in the interests of the Han Dynasty.
Moreover, Chu Qian was thinking even further ahead. Once the Han Dynasty had the ability to expand to this area in the coming decades, it would inevitably stand on the opposite side of Rome.
These passes occupied by Rome would become obstacles to the future expansion of the Han Dynasty, so it would be best to dismantle them.
Subsequently, under Chu Qian's guidance, Rome and Parthia discussed matters such as the slave trade, commodity exchange, and cultural exchange.
Including the previous three clauses, there are a total of fifteen clauses. All of them are in favor of Rome and also have many benefits for the Han Dynasty, but they are not so friendly to Parthia.
Of course, no one cares about the feeling of rest.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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