Zhao Ran looked at Sima Zhifu. Sima Zhifu gradually felt a heavy pressure. This was a kind of scrutiny from a superior. Sima Zhifu felt a little angry. He raised his head and tried to look directly at Zhao Ran.
But his gaze moved downwards involuntarily, from the other person's eyes all the way down to his neck, unable to look at each other openly and honestly.
Just as he was gradually feeling flustered, Zhao Ran suddenly asked: "Have the pirates sent people to contact your family?"
Sima Zhifu subconsciously replied: "Yes, they have put forward new conditions, and I hope we will consider them carefully."
"Why didn't you ask Cockcrow Guan to mention it? Why didn't you mention it to the joint meeting? Instead, you asked your Sima family?"
For a moment, Sima Zhifu felt that he was almost suffocating. He suppressed the panic in his heart and explained: "Our family has been doing maritime trade all year round and has dealings with some island owners. Of course, we have no dealings now. We have never had any dealings since we were preparing to go to war."
Yes, I swear to Tao Zun! They came here on their own, and they were afraid that you might not agree, so I asked my family to moderate it on their behalf."
Zhao Ran stared straight at Sima Zhifu. He stared at Sima Zhifu and quickly added: "Everything I said is true!"
After a moment of silence, Zhao Ran nodded slowly: "As one of the three mountains, Maoshan should take the initiative to share the known maritime situation with the joint meeting... Go back to the secretarial department to find Suchuan Medicine, and bring you and
Write down the situation of maritime trade."
Sima Zhifu wanted to say "Why", but at this moment he couldn't muster the courage to refuse, so he replied numbly: "Yes."
Only then did Zhao Ran get to the point: "Tell me, what conditions does the other party propose?"
Sima Zhifu said: "The first request they originally made was to exempt all members of the Island Owners Alliance from sea trade license management fees and increase the management fees for the remaining islands. They backed down on this one and agreed to hand over the management fees. This is
It’s a major concession, my family thinks we can negotiate it!”
Zhao Ran asked: "That's it?"
Sima Zhifu was stunned and said anxiously: "Isn't this enough? They just won a big victory in the East China Sea! After winning the battle, they also made concessions, which is enough to prove their sincerity!"
Zhao Ran asked: "What about building a pavilion? What about banning maritime trade between Guangdong and Guangxi? What about purchasing battle armor and talisman weapons? What about granting?"
Sima Zhifu shook his head: "Abbot Zhao, we are the defeated party and cannot defeat them at sea! And now that there are no ships, they can invade the coastal provinces at any time. In order to reduce losses, I think this condition can be negotiated
.”
Zhao Ran said: "If there is no ship, we will build one. Once we have built it, we will fight."
"You will still lose!"
"If you lose, then build the ship and continue fighting."
"you......"
"Go back and reply to them. None of the conditions proposed are allowed. Unless they surrender themselves to surrender, the joint meeting may give them a lighter sentence."
At this time, Sima Zhifu was angry. He felt that Zhao Ran was extremely stubborn and unreasonable, so he said: "Unless we invite all the true masters out and go to the sea to fight in person, have you ever thought that the true masters can last for many years?"
Are you running around on the sea? The sea is vast and people retreat into the deep sea. Where do you go to find them? Furthermore, true masters are all ready to join the Tao. They must try to avoid being entangled in karma and kill people personally. If you can kill one, you can still
Kill ten? Kill a hundred? Kill a thousand? If you accidentally capsize a boat, it means dozens or hundreds of lives..."
Zhao Ran interrupted him: "The existence of the joint meeting is to avoid this situation from happening. Regarding this, I hope Maoshan will not interfere with the determination of the joint meeting. Unless the True Master Hall makes a decision, then we must strictly abide by it."
Sima Zhifu left Jimingguan with deep disappointment. Before leaving, he also wrote an introduction to the Maoshan Sima family's maritime trade situation in accordance with the other party's request.
Returning to Yuanfu Wanning Pavilion, he reported the meeting to Sima Tianshi. Sima Tianshi was furious: "Not only is he stubborn, but he is also arrogant! We clearly have the East China Sea at our fingertips, but we have to waste people and money and engage in military warfare! Okay, just watch him continue.
He only knows how to do things after hitting the wall and breaking his head and bleeding!"
Sima Zhifu said: "Why don't my grandfather just go to the Zhenshi Hall to make a suggestion? We can't let him drag the entire Ming Dynasty into a meaningless war."
Sima Tianshi shook his head: "Everyone agreed that day to hand over the power of disposal to these young people. The proposal is inappropriate at this time and the time has not come yet. Please wait. If you reply to the other party, just say that the joint meeting does not agree."
Sima Zhifu fed back the news. Taoist Wutong, who was hiding at the edge of the Sea of Demonic Hell, summoned all the shopkeepers to discuss the matter. After talking about the matter, he sneered: "We won the battle and took the initiative to lower our demands, but they still didn't agree. What a shame.
I won’t shed tears until I see the coffin.”
At that moment, one of the island owners shouted a slogan: "Fight to Yingtian! Capture Zhao Zhiran alive!"
Many young and passionate island owners also shouted: "Fight Yingtian! Capture Zhao Zhiran alive!"
Only those mature and prudent people did not follow the nonsense and knew that this was just a slogan to boost morale. Let alone attack Yingtian, everyone did not even dare to enter the Yangtze River estuary. What could they do to attack Yingtian? Even if they robbed the coastal state capital
, you must also come out quietly, move quickly, and get away with one strike, otherwise you will be blocked by the door, which means you will die but not live.
Wutong Taoist waved his hand to stop the anger of the island owners: "In that case, don't blame me for being unjust. Instead of attacking Huai'an this time, we will attack Yangzhou directly! Hit them in the heart and see if it hurts or not!"
When they heard that Yangzhou was going to be attacked, the island owners were excited and gearing up, all vying to go.
Wutong Taoist said again: "There are two places in Yangzhou, one is Chuegang and the other is Liujiazhuang. Anyone who wants to go should report to Feiren and we will be selected tomorrow."
This is an old rule. Everyone knows what it means. Someone asked: "Where is Chief Chen? Didn't you report it to Chief Chen before?"
Wutong Taoist replied: "Mianzhu has returned to Ling'ao Island."
The person who asked the question wanted to investigate in detail, but was stopped by the island owner next to him, indicating not to ask any more questions, and then said angrily: "It's really unlucky, the person has been replaced again, and I have to get money again..."
In mid-June, the Yangzhou Prefecture reported urgently that two seaside towns, Juegang and Liujiazhuang, had been plundered by pirates. Fortunately, there was advance warning and there were no casualties, but the damage to property was serious.
The pirates acted very quickly. They robbed and ran away. When the Chaotian Palace emergency team arrived with the Infinite Rosette and Yunmai Lily, a day had passed. The two flying magic weapons had been circling the nearby waters for a long time but no trace of the enemy ship was found.
.
When he received the battle report, Zhao Ran was speaking at the mobilization ceremony for the opening of the third captain's monk training class. The news was about to be circulated to all the students: "Everyone, two more debts have been added to our blood debt. Please remember this.