After Richard came back, he immediately told Sophia and William about the experience of this operation.
The Harland family has three hereditary barons, and they can quickly make this matter a big deal at the noble meeting by signing a joint letter.
Howard is still in their hands. If they continue to investigate through this line, they are not afraid that Jerram will refuse to admit his guilt.
But in this way, the Harland family offended Prince Felix and was passively involved in the prince's struggle for the throne, which is not a good thing for future development.
But being attacked by men hired by Jerram, the Harland family couldn't stand it.
Besides, people from the Sixth Squadron died in this battle. Even if he tried to offend the nobles of the royal capital, Richard would still kill Jerram.
After discussing with Sophia and William, the Harland family unified their opinions.
Just the night before Richard was about to go to the royal capital to file a complaint, the middleman Jerram had found came to Fort William.
This person is none other than Sharp, Richard's old commander.
Jerram felt uneasy. He knew that he had been caught by Richard, and if he did not deal with this problem, his life would be threatened. So, he decided to find Sharp as a middleman to negotiate with Richard.
He hoped to control this matter and confine it to the province of Geda.
Sharp is Richard's old commander.
Although the Sharp-Phael United Territory is under the management of the Gascoigne Province, Sharp has been an official in the northern border for many years, and he has very rich network resources. He has also met Jerram of the Gedda Province several times.
After Jerram came to the door, Sharp learned about the matter. After thinking for a while, he agreed to help him talk to Richard and promised to control the negotiation between the three of them and not let anyone else know about it.
the existence of things.
Later, Sharp came to Harland's territory.
Sharp, like Richard, has a military style and doesn't like to hide his words and speaks very directly.
"I came here this time to act as an intermediary at the request of your provincial official Jerram. He is very sorry about your attack. But he hopes that this matter can be controlled within the province. What do you have
If you want, you can talk to him."
"How to talk and where to talk?"
"Richard, now that you have grasped Jerram's hand, you have gained an advantage.
How to talk?
What conditions are proposed?
Where to negotiate? It all depends on your opinion."
Interactions between nobles have always put interests first.
After thinking deeply, Richard felt that negotiation was the best way to deal with it. Even if he hated Jerram in his heart, he still had to negotiate when it was time to negotiate.
After all, despite the enmity between the two sides, no important figures in the Haaland family died at the hands of Jerram.
It's not to the point where hatred cannot be resolved. Even the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, who have deep hatred like the sea, can negotiate, let alone this small hatred.
Now that Richard has grasped Jerram's handle, as long as he seizes the opportunity, he can get more benefits from Jerram and speed up the development of his territory.
The venue for the negotiations was Vicksburg.
After being attacked by Jerram's men, Richard paid great attention to his own safety, and the negotiation must be held in the Harland family's own castle.
Jerram did not come to negotiate in person; the Holland family was represented by his butler Savile.
"Baron Richard, as long as you can bring Howard back, you can negotiate any conditions?"
"How about the redemption price of thirty thousand gold coins?"
"We can negotiate. After Howard is freed, we will pay the ransom."
"Hiring mercenaries to attack nobles, I am very pessimistic about Jerram's character. It is impossible for me to let him go first. You must pay first."
Paying the money first means that you must believe in Richard's character. Thirty thousand gold coins is a very large amount of money for the barony.
The barony in the south, because of its relatively small territory, has an annual income of less than 10,000 gold coins.
Although the barons in the northern region have a large territory, they have few people, and they are often poorer.
If Richard does not engage in additional income such as steelmaking and brewing and relies on growing grain, even if he reclaims all the paddy fields in the territory and has tens of thousands of territorial residents busy for a year, after deducting rations, the income from selling grain will only be a few thousand gold coins.
Thousands of gold coins still require raising an army, socializing with other nobles, and integrating into the aristocratic circle.
Books need to be collected, tutors need to be hired, and salaries need to be paid to the administrators of the territory.
I've been so busy for a year that I can't save much money at all.
With 30,000 gold coins, even if the treatment of soldiers in the territory is raised to the same level as that of the main army, the soldiers of seven squadrons can still be fed for two years.
There is no mutual trust between the two parties now, and Savile dare not agree to pay money first.
In the end, it was Baron Sharp who vouched for Richard and allowed Savile to step down.
After being guaranteed by Baron Sharp and agreeing to pay the money in advance, Savile also wanted to bargain with Richard to lower the price.
One afternoon, Richard didn't say a word and put on a bad face. Even though Savile was spitting, he wouldn't let go.
At the end of the meeting, Richard sneered and said: "Mr. Saville, go and tell Jerram that thirty thousand gold coins cannot be less than a penny. If it weren't for the face of Mr. Sharp, I would definitely ask Jerram this time."
Mum looks good.
Didn't you also arrange for a master to hide in the dark? You can try to get this person to take action?
You have to understand that you, the Holland family, are not the only ones who use dark methods to assassinate everyone.
You can take this sentence as my threat. If this matter is not resolved, I will not only sue the noble council, but I will also use any rules to solve the problem."
After hearing what Richard said, Savile was immediately shocked. Savile was of course very smart to be sent by the Holland family to assist Jerram, and he immediately obtained hidden information from Richard's voice.
"Richard knows that Simon is hiding in secret. There are only two possibilities. The first is that Simon has a spy arranged by Richard, and the second is that Richard's mental power exceeds 20 points and he has awakened his talent for danger perception.
The Harland family is just a small noble, with no foundation in the royal capital, so it is impossible to know that Simon exists. It seems that Richard's mental power has exceeded twenty points and he has been promoted to a mid-level professional. He is still so young,
Offending such a person may not be a good thing for the Holland family in the long run."
Richard's words were so harsh that it immediately made it difficult to continue the negotiation.
Savile continued to pester for two or three days, and saw that Richard was impatient and had already shown his unwillingness to negotiate.
Jerram was caught by Richard and was naturally at a disadvantage in the negotiations. Savile knew this very well, so the only one who gave in in the end was the Holland family.
At the end of the negotiation, both parties reached a verbal agreement.
Jerram compensated Harland's territory with 30,000 gold coins, and Richard released Howard and no longer pursued the matter.