Battle Royale of the Sinners 416 Cao Cao's Bargain

While Tong was enjoying his peaceful period of domestic improvement policies, Cao Cao and Sun Fang's forces had trouble with their internal management.

Sun Fang completed the tasks that Zhou Yu had assigned to him. Currently, he was protecting Guangling Commandery from Cao Cao, who had occupied Shouchun and Lujiang.

Guangling located north of the Yangtze River and north of Jianye Commandery, which served as a foothold toward the central plain. As long as the Sun Clan had this region under their control, they could use this area as a pivot to strike Xiapi, Langye, or Shouchun.

However, their newly conquered regions had not fully supported the Sun Clan's management since the emperor did not give them the authority. As a result, all locals viewed Sun Fang and Sun Ce as rebels.

Zhou Yu predicted this, so he sent Zhang Hong and Zhang Shao to appease the locals. As for himself and Sun Ce, they would begin their campaign to seize Yuzheng, Chaisang, and Jianan Commandery. Once these regions were under Sun Ce's control, they would blackmail Tong for an official title later, which would solve the trust issue.

After the unification, they would require at least three to five years to develop these territories, just like what Tong had done. While they were at it, Zhou Yu would reevaluate their future action against Tong, depending on the emperor's stance.

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April 14th, 192 AD.

Sun Fang collected enough lifespans and bought the cultivation technique for Sun Ce.

Now, Sun Ce also gained his alternate world's memory. He recalled the experience of his fight in Jiangdong and his death.

Sun Ce looked at Zhou Yu with a smile, "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Zhou Yu chuckled, "Damn right, I did. Let's do it again."

"We're in trouble in this world, though. We have stronger foes and that Sun Fang is not supposed to be one of us."

"We'll get rid of him once he serves his purpose. For now, let's get stronger. I already have two wings, and I'll get them to four this year."

"Say, what about Zhang Tong? Should we surrender to him?"

"Depends. We have to develop our military strength ASAP, or Cao Cao will kill us before that happens."

"Okay. By the way, which year that Qiao Xuan will bring them to us? Do you remember?"

"Probably in three years or so. They should still be around 14-15 this year. What? The first thing you want after you get your memory back is your wife?"

"Hahaha! I just miss them. I feel bad, you know. I died without leaving a descendant."

Zhou Yu had a wry smile on his face. He missed his wife, Xiao Qiao. Sun Ce also wanted to reunite with his lover, Da Qiao.

"Pfft, you just want someone to hug at night."

"Hahahaha! That's right!"

Zhou Yu sighed, "Forget those silly thoughts for now. Focus on our tasks. We have only one and a half till the deadline with Zhang Tong. Do you want to lose your father again?"

"…"

Sun Ce's face turned solemn. He returned to his men, preparing his troops.

Two days later, he and Zhou Yu mobilized out of Jianye with 10,000 men. Their next goal was Yuzheng.

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Meanwhile, Cao Cao gathered his forces in Shouchun.

Cao Cao deemed Guangling Commandery as a threat toward his kingdom. Without any ceremony or political accusation, he planned to attack Sun Fang Army right away.

Since Sun Ce and Sun Fang did not have a position in the court, Cao Cao could claim that these people were rebels after he killed them.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao also suffered what Tong had experienced, the maintenance issues. His taxes and provision were not enough to upkeep his army, subordinates, and his expanded territories.

The public order under Cao Cao's control was poor. As he did not have the backup food or gold to recruit more militias or train new garrison forces, Cao Cao had to stop his expansion, adjusting the new regions into his system and developing their domestic finance and agriculture.

Although peace temporary returned to the southeast area of the country, civilians in the regions migrated to Liu Biao's territory. The people were not stupid enough to ignore the troop movements between borders. Furthermore, merchants had loud mouths, which spread an exaggerated rumor about Cao Cao and Sun Fang's armies.

In the end, more than half of Guangling and Shouchun's population moved to other regions.

Chain-reaction occurred afterward. Without population, Cao Cao and Sun Fang could not get their harvest taxes or household taxes, which sabotaged their finance and supplies. Both forces had to disband some of their men to lower their maintenance cost, which created more unemployed people. Some of the jobless men turned themselves into thieves or bandits later, which reduced the public order. As the public order became almost non-existence, more people migrated to other provinces.

This never-ending circle was the headache that Cao Cao and Sun Fang faced.

Zhou Yu managed to stop this trend by using the connection with Zhang Hong and Zhang Shao to contact the local nobles and gangsters, but Cao Cao had another idea.

Cao Cao turned to Tong, so he could borrow his gold and supplies to develop his territories.

April 15th, 192 AD.

Cao Cao visited Ye City himself, so he could negotiate the terms with Tong.

Seeing this warlord again, Tong gave him a mocking smirk, "Need a hand, Mengde?"

Cao Cao decided to be frank, "Your majesty, I need to borrow your gold and provision. Can you help this servant?"

All officials in the throne room got mad. Since their master-servant relationship was just a façade, they had no obligation to help Cao Cao.

Moreover, Cao Cao was still occupying Xu Province, where Tong had bestowed to Sun Jian.

And lastly, Cao Cao once crowned Diaochan as a false empress. From every officials' perspective, Cao Cao was an untrustworthy rebel.

Sun Jian and his subordinates were attending the meeting in the throne room as well when they heard that Cao Cao had sought an audience. They wanted to see what this cunning fox was trying to do.

"Nothing is free in this world. You may use the word [Borrow], but we know that you won't be able to return to borrowed funds. What's the collateral?" Tong snorted.

Cao Cao paused and pondered. He frowned in silence for two minutes.

"How much will you give me if I give you Luoyang?"

All officers murmured. They understood that Cao Cao was selling one of his commanderies.

"If you're selling a commandery, I want Jibei and Puyang."

"Jibei and Puyang are developed territories. I'll sell it for a million gold coins and 500,000 tons of food."

"Isn't that kind of overprice? From my reports, Jibei and Puyang produce about 100,000 gold of household tax and 100,000 tons of harvest tax a year, not including the maintenance upkeep. I would have to wait ten years before I get back what I have invested. Heck, I can always send a decree to make you give up those commanderies. Why should I pay you?"

Tong abused his authority and threatened Cao Cao, which caused the latter to click his tongue in anger.

Yet, Cao Cao regained his composure and bargained, "How much can you give me for Jibei?"

"300,000 gold and 300,000 tons of provision."

"…"

Cao Cao did not want to accept it right away as the price was not fair. Still, he had to since Tong could always ask him to give his cities away for free.

The only reason that stopped Tong from sending the decree to Cao Cao was the political backlash. Had he done so, the news would be leaked by spies and his men. Civilians around the country would have assumed that Cao Cao was no longer Tong's vessel, and a war between the two would be coming soon.

This would damage the public order and his development in border regions, such as Pingyuan, Ganling, Beihai, and Henei.

Before Tong could go against Cao Cao in public, he had to finish developing these regions first. Then, he could snowball against Cao Cao Army without being hindered by his kingdom's internal affair.

Cao Cao was aware of Tong's weaknesses, but he could not exploit it. His forces, too, were not ready to clash against a giant like Tong's half-million-man army.

To defeat Tong, Cao Cao needed more territories and talented personal.

Unfortunately, he had to sacrifice one for his growth.

"Deal."

Cao Cao accepted the unfavorable terms.

Tong smiled. He scored another commandery without shedding a drop of blood, which was ideal for his unification conquest.

Still, he wanted to exploit Cao Cao right now as he was in his weakest state.

"I doubt that 300,000 gold and provision is enough to attack Sun Fang. Do you have anything else to sell? I'll give you a better price. For example, Puyang produces the same value of taxes and harvest, but I'll give you 400,000 gold and 400,000 tons of food for it."

Listened to Tong's bait, Cao Cao was on the verge of snapping and punch Tong in the face.

He slowly exhaled, glaring at the emperor, "No. But I have something else to sell. Do you buy information?"

Tong leaned back on his throne, not interested in information trade. Since he had many intelligence agents, he would eventually get all info on the land.

"Depends. What kind of information?"

Cao Cao gulped as he took risks telling Tong this information. In reality, Cao Cao wanted to keep it a secret.

"Imperial Seal."

Two words silenced the hall.

The seal had been lost for years, which worried many Han loyalists. The intelligence agents reported that it was with Yuan Shu, but Tong could not take it since he had to create another war front, which was unfavorable to Tong.

Had he done so, Cao Cao would have acquired an opening. This cunning fox would have attacked his cities and found more weaknesses that Tong had.

Not all legions had elites! There were some newbies and trainees among them. Furthermore, not everyone was outfitted with steel gears since blacksmiths could not produce many knight armors and weapons within a short period. Some of them were still using bronze or iron gears.

These were the weakness that Tong concealed from all intelligence agencies. Until they were ready, they had to hide and train. But that was another story.

Now that Yuan Shu's forces were destroyed, they were looking for the seal's whereabouts.

Tong clicked his tongue. Although the Imperial Seal was insignificant to him, to others like Lu Zhi and Sima Fang, it represented the emperor's authority.

As the current emperor of the Han Dynasty, Tong needed that seal.

"How much?"

Cao Cao grinned, "I want Jibei back."

"In other words, you want 300,000 gold and 300,000 food for the Imperial Seal's whereabouts?"

"Your majesty is wise."

"…"

Tong rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No deal."

All officers and Cao Cao were surprised, "You don't want to seal back?"

"A piece of jade doesn't worth more than the lives of my soldiers! I won't shed single blood for that stupid seal!"

Military commanders in the throne room shed tears of gratitude while Xun Yu and Lu Zhi nodded in approval. Had Tong and Cao Cao fought for Jibei, there would have been at least 100,000 casualties.

"You are an unpredictable emperor, your majesty."

"I believe I'm the opposite. I value my men over objects."

"Very well, I have nothing else to bargain. I'll concede with selling Jibei."

"Too bad. I want Puyang, too."

"That's unfortunate."

Cao Cao and Tong smiled at each other, but none of them hide their killing intent. Although Tong's warrior aura was more superior to Cao Cao's aura, the latter's mental strength was strong enough to withstand a four-winged demon's aura suppression.

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Cao Ang visited Cao Cao after the meeting. They spent a day chatting, telling stories about their lives.

Cao Cao was happy that Tong did not mistreat his son. Still, a sign of brainwashing could be noticed in Cao Ang's speech.

His eldest son praised Ye's government system, which was free from private armies and the influence of all noble clans. All authority came from the perspective departments, which balanced the power between officials. Civilians got richer as Tong created more jobs for them. Idle farmers had something to do, including women.

Still, there was some dissatisfaction. Tong did not allow nobles to acquire lands for some reason. Te Langpu wanted Tong to sell properties to nobles and civilians, but Tong was against it since it might breed corruption and embezzlement. Until they unified the country, no one should possess any land.

Cao Cao took notes and left with caravans the day after, carrying boxes of gold. Wagons with provision also followed after them. However, Cao Ang remained in the city since he was still serving Tong as a hostage.

Cao Cao texted his men in his clan chat to evict from Jibei. Also, they had to take every soldier, gold, and supplies from the region, not leaving anything for Tong.

Tong also texted Zhao Yun to move from Pingyuan to Jibei with their legion. Also, he sent the new guys, Huang Wan and Hua Xin, to fill the vacant governor roles.

Hua Xin was transferred to Shangdang while Huang Wan was sent to replace Zhao Yun's role as a governor in Pingyuan.

Now, all commanderies under Tong's rule had a governor.

Chapter end