Chapter 171: Mobilizing For Negotiations
Gan Ning had been back from Lujiang Commandery for a few days. He was also patiently waiting for Zhang Zhao’s arrival. The sky had already reached dusk, and Gan Ning sent his personal guard back home with a message that he would return late.
Gan Ning received news from Strategist Lu that Zhang Zhao had already arrived and was currently in detailed talks with Strategist Lu at the guest house. Gan Ning was now waiting for news from Strategist Lu.
At this moment, the guard reported from below the hall, “Strategist Lu has arrived!”
“Quickly let him in!”
Strategist Lu soon entered the official residence, bowed in salute, and Gan Ning waved his hand. “No need for formalities. Tell me about the initial talks with Zhang Zhao.”
“General, Zhang Zhao is indeed here to request our troops to march out. He then took the initiative to propose that if we need to attack Lujiang Commandery, they would not mind.”
Gan Ning sneered, “I could attack Danyang Commandery instead, but I’m afraid they would mind that more. Continue. What conditions did they offer?”
“They will give us certain compensation in grain or salt, but he did not mention specific quantities. It is estimated that he will bring it up only after meeting the general in person.”
Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, “No need for salt. We want some practical things. Does the strategist have any suggestions?”
Strategist Lu thought for a moment and said, “Sixty percent of the world’s tung oil is produced in Jiangdong. It was easy to purchase before, but since tung oil can be used to make fire oil, Jiangdong has implemented restrictions, and we can no longer buy it.”
“Isn’t our tung oil production also quite large?”
“Although the production is large, it is less than half of Jiangdong’s output. We cannot use it freely. There will be calculations during attacks, especially for thrown fire oil bombs, which consume too much fire oil. Such calculations will affect the war results.”
Gan Ning nodded. “I understand. Continue. What is Jiangdong’s current situation?”
“General, according to what Zhang Zhao said, Jiangdong’s current situation is not good, just like the intelligence we received before. Jiangdong and Sun Ben fought a battle in Jiangcheng County, resulting in defeat. It is said the reason was that supplies from the Yangtze River could not reach them, leading to an imminent grain shortage. The Jiangdong Army had no choice but to withdraw. This failure greatly affected morale, so Sun Quan had no choice but to seek aid from us!”
Gan Ning thought for a moment and said, “Unless absolutely necessary, Sun Quan would never set aside his dignity to seek aid from us. I estimate they lack troop strength and have no chance of victory against Sun Ben.”
Strategist Lu nodded. “That must be it!”
Gan Ning laughed. “Tomorrow, let’s have a good talk with Zhang Zhao about the price!”
The next morning, Gan Ning received Zhang Zhao and his entourage at the general’s mansion.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, both sides came to the meeting hall in Gan Ning’s official residence. They sat down on both sides of the long table, and several guards came in to serve tea.
Zhang Zhao smiled and said, “Presumably, Strategist Lu already reported our initial talks to the general yesterday. Strategist Lu said many important matters still need to be discussed personally with the general. Today, we will take up half a day of the general’s time.”
Gan Ning smiled faintly. “Strategist Zhang is too polite. Cooperation with Jiangdong is a major matter; nothing is more important than it.”
At this point, Gan Ning gave Strategist Lu a look. Strategist Lu took out a plan drafted overnight and handed it to Zhang Zhao. “The Jiangdong Army hopes for our troops to assist. We have two plans for marching out. Please review them, Strategist Zhang.”
Zhang Zhao quickly took it and examined it carefully. Indeed, there were two plans. Plan A was to march out to Danyang Commandery and join the Jiangdong Army in attacking Sun Ben from east and west. This plan had already been rejected by Sun Quan in advance.
Plan B was an indirect march out: the Yuzhang Army would march to Jiujiang Commandery, using the besiege Wei to rescue Zhao strategy to force Sun Ben to withdraw from Danyang Commandery. But Zhang Zhao read it several times, and the plan never mentioned Lujiang Commandery. Feeling puzzled, Zhang Zhao asked, “Why does this Plan B not mention attacking Lujiang Commandery?”
Gan Ning said indifferently, “We are now discussing how to resolve the Danyang Commandery crisis, but attacking Lujiang Commandery will not affect Sun Ben and is useless for resolving the Danyang Commandery crisis, so there is no need to mention it in the plan.”
Zhang Zhao did not immediately grasp Gan Ning’s meaning. He hesitated and asked, “So your army does not plan to attack Lujiang Commandery?”
Gan Ning smiled faintly. “Of course we will attack it. Without capturing Lujiang Commandery, how can we attack Jiujiang Commandery? It is just not important, so we did not mention it.”
Zhang Zhao suddenly understood. The other side meant that attacking Lujiang Commandery had nothing to do with Jiangdong.
Zhang Zhao had originally planned to use allowing the Yuzhang Army to attack Lujiang Commandery as a negotiation condition, but the other side did not recognize this condition at all. Half of Lujiang Commandery was in Sun Ben’s hands and had nothing to do with Jiangdong. Moreover, they had already terminated the alliance treaty and were no longer bound by its terms.
Zhang Zhao was still a bit unwilling. He smiled again and said, “Lujiang Commandery is a major matter. Let us talk about it separately! I guarantee it will not affect your army’s compensation for marching out.”
Gan Ning laughed. “Does that mean Strategist Zhang is prepared to choose Plan B?”
“Exactly!”
“Shouldn’t you consult with the Marquis of Wu first?”
Gan Ning smiled politely. “We can provide a carrier pigeon message!”
“Thank you for the general’s kind offer, but no need. Our own plan is also Plan B.”
“Then both sides are of the same mind?”
“Exactly! Exactly!” Both laughed together.
………..
The specific negotiations were still handled by Strategist Lu and Zhang Zhao. Gan Ning just sat to the side with a smile, occasionally nodding to Strategist Lu to indicate agreement.
“Lujiang Commandery is the root cause of our alliance treaty breaking…”
As soon as Zhang Zhao spoke, Gan Ning, who had been silent, smiled and interrupted him. “Strategist Zhang must have misremembered! The root cause of our alliance treaty breaking was not Lujiang Commandery, but Huang Zu, right?”
“Huang Zu was just the surface. Lujiang Commandery is the true root. General Gan, let us be frank and treat each other with sincerity.”
Gan Ning shook his head. “That is because Strategist Zhang does not know the fundamental reason I let Huang Zu return home. If he knew, he would not think it was just a facade.”
“I see. Please explain in detail.”
Gan Ning pondered for a moment and smiled. “It is simple why I did not kill Huang Zu: because Huang Zu can solve the salt source for me, so Yuzhang Commandery no longer faces the threat of Jiangdong choking us.”
The smile on Zhang Zhao’s face became a bit dry. He had originally planned to negotiate by lifting the salt ban, but the other side had already solved the salt source.
Of course, Zhang Zhao did not doubt that the other side was pretending to deceive him. Salt, as an essential item, would make anyone lacking it unable to hold their head high. It seemed real.
Zhang Zhao gave a dry laugh. “I’m afraid I will have to borrow your side’s carrier pigeon today!”
Both sides settled the major principles for marching out. Gan Ning then returned to the official residence. The specific details of the march out and compensation would be continued by Strategist Lu with Zhang Zhao, but not today—tomorrow instead.
However, after Gan Ning revealed the true reason for not killing Huang Zu, Zhang Zhao never mentioned the Lujiang Commandery matter again. He was a smart man. The other side marching out to Lujiang Commandery was inevitable. Using Lujiang Commandery as a bargaining chip would at best bring self-humiliation and at worst destroy these negotiations. If the negotiations failed and Gan Ning refused to march out, he could not bear the consequences.
