SFS Chapter 289: If you don’t have gold or silver, you can use women as compensation
Chapter 289: If you don’t have gold or silver, you can use women as compensation
Fengchang and King Kang suddenly felt that their trip this time was a mistake.
It seemed that the other party had no intention of digging up their imperial tombs at all.
Feng Chang asked cautiously,
"Your Highness, Prince Nan, isn't Prince Lanling leading his army south to rob our imperial tombs?"
"Of course not. We, Great Yan, are a righteous army. How could we possibly do such a thing? Your Kun Kingdom's late emperor was also a late emperor. How could we disturb the mausoleum of our ancestors?"
"I see, I see. Then we are relieved."
Fengchang finally felt relieved.
Ma Ling continued,
"If you won't let the Yan army dig up your imperial tomb, then you should tell me its location. I will send troops to protect it so that Lanling King's army won't be unaware that it is your imperial tomb and will be harmed by the flames of war."
"I see. I understand then. However, we will not need to trouble the Yan army for protection. We still have several thousand soldiers and horses, which are more than enough to protect the imperial mausoleum."
"That's exactly the problem."
The Southern King sighed,
“Prince Lanling has led his troops to attack Dingcheng. What if his scouts discover that there are still several thousand soldiers there? Prince Lanling thinks it is your military stronghold and attacks it again, using artillery fire?
"A few thousand soldiers and horses are a small matter, but if your imperial mausoleum is bombarded, that's a big deal."
"Ah? Well... okay then."
Feng Chang looked around on the map, then pointed to a point in the south-east direction and said,
"It's probably right here, on a hill, covering a large area. It's filled with antique jade, gold, silver, and many ancient buildings. The Yan army must protect it well."
"rest assured."
Ma Ling nodded and said to the two generals in the tent,
"You two, immediately lead the 20,000-man Pingnan Army and go there. You must protect the Kun Kingdom's imperial mausoleum. Protect it fiercely."
The two generals immediately understood and nodded repeatedly. One of the generals said,
"Your Highness, we are worried that thieves may try to dig up the imperial mausoleum. Can we go to the Divine Machine Camp and ask for some divine thunder for protection?"
"Yes, take this king's order."
"As ordered!"
The two generals went out immediately.
After they left, Ma Ling smiled slightly and pointed at the chair and said,
"Please take a seat, envoys. Let us discuss the peace talks."
"Good good."
Prince Kang and Feng Chang sat down, their eyes filled with clear stupidity.
The Southern King said,
"You can negotiate peace. This time we are sending troops mainly to avenge the Kun army's attack on our Great Yan.
In that battle, our army lost a lot of troops, military pay, food, and civilians. These losses must be compensated.
We have now reached Shengjing, Kun State. A great deal of food and military supplies have been consumed, and a great deal of soldiers have been sacrificed along the way. You are required to compensate for these expenses."
"It should be."
Feng Chang nodded repeatedly.
"In addition, there is the obligation to cede territory and pledge vassalage. Kun Nation must pledge vassalage to Great Yan and become a vassal state. In diplomatic correspondence between Emperor Kun and Great Yan, the emperor must address the emperor as his subject."
"Ah? This... Your Highness, this is such a big matter that I cannot make the decision. I have to go back and discuss it with Her Majesty and the ministers."
"Okay, negotiations are supposed to be discussed."
Ma Ling seemed to be very easy to talk to.
"Just now they were paying tribute, now we are ceding land. All eighteen counties north of Shengjing in Kun State must be ceded to our Yan State."
The young King Kang stood up instantly and said,
"Ah? Eighteen counties? That's half of our Da Kun's territory. Doesn't this mean our Shengjing is right at the doorstep of your Yan State?"
"Oh? If you disagree, it doesn't matter. We've already taken these places. It's not up to you to decide whether you agree or not.
If that doesn't work, we can still fight. Our artillery has a very long range and can directly hit your palace from outside the city."
"Um... let's continue discussing this."
King Kang sat down angrily.
The Southern King continued,
"The other thing is compensation. Let's settle it openly. Last time, your Kun Nation invaded our Great Yan, resulting in 700,000 civilian casualties and 300,000 casualties among the Yan army.
Based on the calculation of twenty taels of silver for one life, Kun Kingdom needs to compensate us with twenty million taels of silver.
Then there was the last pension and military expenses and food expenditures, totaling 10 million taels of silver.
This time we sent troops to Kun State, and the expenses along the way were huge. The military expenses, food, and pensions cost a total of 30 million taels of silver.
In addition, your Kun Kingdom needs to pay a one-time tribute of 100 million taels of gold and silver to our Yan Kingdom in order to negotiate peace and submit to our rule.
All these items added up to a total of 160 million taels of silver.
From now on, you will need to pay 50 million taels of silver to Dayan every year. Of course, that will come later. This time, just pay the 160 million taels of silver as compensation."
When Prince Nan said this, Prince Kang and Prince Fengchang opened their eyes wide and their mouths open, and they were stunned for a long time.
This is too much!
Feng Chang said cautiously,
“Your Highness, Prince Nan, this… our Kun Kingdom cannot afford such a large amount of money.
The annual tax revenue of Kun State is only 80 million taels of silver in a good year. If it encounters a year of famine, it will be at most 50 million taels.
And there are all kinds of expenses, military expenses, official salaries, disaster relief, river repairs...
Every year, the expenditure alone is fifty or sixty million taels. Sometimes I can save a little, but sometimes I can't even make ends meet."
The Southern King snorted coldly.
"Everyone knows that your Kun Kingdom is vast, rich, and wealthy. Your Kun Kingdom dominates the north, and is number one in terms of both financial resources and national strength.
You can't save much every year, so just assume you can save 10 million taels a year. The Kun Kingdom has been established for more than 200 years and is one of the earliest vassal states of Daxia.
For more than two hundred years, at ten million a year, your treasury must have at least two billion taels of silver now.
This prince only wants a little over 100 million taels. This small amount of money is nothing more than a drop in the bucket for your Kun Nation."
Feng Chang was so anxious that he was sweating profusely and said,
"Your Highness, Prince Nan, this... this isn't how you calculate it. No one would leave money in the treasury unspent. Over the years, the income and expenditure have basically been balanced.
The previous two emperors were wise rulers and had accumulated some wealth.
But now...our emperor is a bit too indulgent, and there isn't much money left in the treasury."
In front of King Kang and the people of Yan, Feng Chang couldn't say that Emperor Kun was arrogant, extravagant and wasteful, so he had to reluctantly say that he was greedy for pleasure. Anyway, everyone understood.
They were in trouble, but the King of the South had no intention of giving in and was even considerate enough to give them advice.
"If you don't have money, you can use people as collateral. A prince can be used as collateral for 100 taels of silver, an official can be used as collateral for 10 taels, and a commoner can be used as collateral for 1 tael. As long as they are young and strong and can mine,
In addition, young women were also very valuable. An ordinary civilian woman was worth ten taels, the daughters and concubines of princes and nobles were worth one hundred taels, and princesses and concubines were worth one thousand taels.
The Queen is worth a hundred thousand taels."