Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 291 The Art of Negotiation
There are three convenient landing places along the coast of Liaodong: Andongjin in Lelang County, Dajin in Liaodong County, and Liaokou at the mouth of the Liaohe River between Liaoxi and Liaodong, which is the Yingkou in later generations.
Among the three places, Xiangping is closest to Yingkou, and its terrain is the flattest. It is basically like walking on the Liaodong Plain, which is very convenient.
It is the most difficult to get from Andongjin to Xiangping because of the obstruction of the remnants of Changbai Mountain, or the mountains of Liaodong Peninsula. Although the altitude is generally not high and it should be considered a hilly area to be precise, but... don't even think about large-scale marches.
Unless you are like Lu Meng, who gambled with the white-clothed soldiers and light blades, not only can the number of people not be too large, but the defenders only need to station hundreds of troops and set up camps at key locations to block the white-clothed soldiers who only have short blades!
As for Tajin...
The difficulty of going north to Xiangping is between the two. It is not as "impossible" as going through the hilly area, nor as smooth as Liaokou.
During the modern Shima-Mao War, the island nation used its ancestral art of "war without declaration" to directly cross the Yalu River, but it was unable to expand the results of the war from Andong, so it could only turn around and use its navy to attack Port Arthur.
However, the geographical advantage of Lushunkou is the best among the military ports in the Far East. Even the old and incompetent Mao country, which was one of the great powers, dragged the island country to death in Lushunkou when the time and people were not right. In the end, the island country landed from Dalian, which is behind Lushun, and attacked from multiple sides. It took several months and suffered casualties several times that of Mao country before it was taken down. Moreover, this part of the island country’s army did not even catch up with the Battle of Liaoyang...
It can be seen that Dajin and Andongjin were both difficult to attack and difficult to walk through, and this was in modern times!
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the entire Liaodong Peninsula was like a "fortified city with cleared fields" buff all year round.
In modern times, if you wanted to cross the mountains of the Liaodong Peninsula, it would be "difficult to walk" no matter how hard you tried, because at least there were some mountain cities inside. But now... not only is the vegetation more lush and the swamp environment still preserved, but once you enter the mountains, don't even think about seeing a living person, and there are no supplies.
Of course, Andongjin, Dajin and Liaokou are different now than they were in modern times - they are more like fishing villages than ports.
Even so, Gan Ning chose Dajin, which is located in the southernmost part of Liaodong, the only place that does not freeze in winter, and is surrounded by mountains on three sides...
Gan Ning asked for Andongjin first yesterday, just to give Gongsun Du psychological preparation. If Gongsun Du could even agree to Dajin, then... Gan Ning would choose to add Liaokou, "I want them all."
If Gongsun Du refused, Gan Ning would turn his face away on the spot, and would even go so far as to confront Gongsun Du in Dajin.
This is exactly Gan Ning’s art of negotiation – it doesn’t matter whether you are eloquent or not, the important thing is to “get ahead of the other party”. As long as the other party doesn’t get angry, it means that your offer is too low!
We can definitely not defeat them, but we are not impossible to win.
Landing and fighting with Gongsun clan in Liaodong would be a waste of time, but gaining some advantage in Dajin would not be a difficult task.
Only by preparing for the worst can you reap the greatest rewards - I, Gan Ning, will not suffer any loss.
How could Gongsun Du understand such a profound art of negotiation, so... while he was angry, he actually dispelled his doubts about Liang Mao - on the contrary, if Gan Ning were to negotiate today based on the "bottom price" he had said in front of Liang Mao before, Gongsun Du would have let Liang Mao "die accidentally" first.
Although this was also a blow to his prestige, Liang Mao's survival would be of greater benefit to the Gongsun family, but... Gongsun Du could tolerate Liang Mao who was not on the same side as himself, but could not tolerate Liang Mao who was on the same side as the other princes.
"General Gan, you are joking. You don't have to worry about how to transport the traded goods from the port back to Xiangping!" Gongsun Du said dissatisfiedly.
Gan Ning looked at Gongsun Du carefully and felt that he was just dissatisfied but not yet "falling out", so he continued: "It's not just you, Brother Gongsun! When the port is built in the future, if the Goguryeo and Buyeo people also come to trade, then the cost will be important... As long as it can be developed, Brother Gongsun's annual transaction tax can be used to purchase a lot of weapons and armor.
I think it would be better if you give Liaokou and Dajin to me. Not only can I help you build two ports, but also given the terrain of Liaokou, our navy can first go to Dajin to unload the goods, and then change the large ships to small ships and use sand ships to transport the goods to Liaokou. Liaokou and Xiangping are only one day's ride by fast horse. Isn't it wonderful?"
Sand ships are flat-bottomed boats. The water in Liaokou is shallow, and with current technology, it is difficult to build a port that can accommodate large ships without major construction.
Gongsun Du saw that Gan Ning seemed to not understand what people were saying, so how could he dare to covet Liaokou?
Although there are no big cities there now, but... you also know that it only takes one day to travel from Liaokou to Xiangping by fast horse? Do you want me to use Xiangping as your warehouse?
"Enough! Although I respect the general, it doesn't mean I can let you tease me... Commander Gan thinks our Liaodong's sword is not sharp?" Gongsun Du slammed the table and said.
At the same time, the sound of swords being drawn and shouting could be heard from outside...
Apparently, it was because of the commotion in the hall that Gan Ning's personal soldiers and Gongsun Du's guards outside came into confrontation.
Gan Ning was finally satisfied - his change of attitude meant that the price was about right!
The next step is to be more hostile than the other party...
Just when the atmosphere in the tent was getting cold, Gan Ning stood up and kicked over the table in front of him and said, "It seems that Governor Gongsun doesn't want to talk anymore? Well! Should we practice here, or should we set up a battle formation? Let me see if Liaodong's sword is worthy of Governor Gongsun's courage!"
As Gan Ning spoke, he had already shown the military token hanging on his waist. The other generals in the tent also stood up nervously and grasped the military tokens, and the staff members hid back one after another...
Although the mental strength is strong enough to form a certain degree of defense in close combat, but... even if he is a first-rate strategist, he can usually only block stray arrows, but cannot withstand the real swords and guns of the generals!
Liang Mao wanted to vomit blood right now - is this guy mentally retarded? I've already told him about Gongsun Du's attitude, why is he still...
He was not sad about Gan Ning's death, after all, they had no friendship. However, Liang Mao had originally hoped that the General's Mansion would help him get rid of the Gongsun family!
However, just when Liang Mao wanted to step forward and mediate between the two sides, he suddenly remembered what Gan Ning had said to him last night.
Today, just see how fierce he is, and more importantly... if you are afraid, just hide behind, and it would be best if Gongsun Du sees him hiding, and you must never stand up to stop him from being "fierce".
So Liang Mao hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and retreated with the other scholars...
Gongsun Du, who was already old, was so angry that his lips were shaking. He was about to give the order to kill Gan Ning. Gan Ning had already made preparations to break out of the encirclement. At the same time, he looked at Gongsun Du with a sarcastic expression, as if to say: If you don't dare to give the order, you are a coward!
But at this moment, Gongsun Du instinctively glanced at Liang Mao and found that he had no intention of making peace at all.
For a moment, I hesitated...
Surround and kill Gan Ning here?
I don’t know , but if I do succeed, what benefits will it bring to me?
The old guy Liang Mao was watching the fun there...
Well, he should really hope that I would fall out with the General’s Mansion, right?
If the General's Mansion really takes action in Liaodong, whether it is harassing the coastal areas or starting to "burn the house" from the Chaohai Peninsula, it will have an impact on Liaodong. How can they resist Yuan Shao then? Moreover... by then, these people will definitely have plenty of opportunities to surrender to the General's Mansion!
Similar to Liang Mao's situation, there were also quite a few staff members "kidnapped" by Gongsun Du, most of whom were famous scholars who fled to Liaodong to avoid disaster.
At the beginning, Bing Yuan and Guan Ning were able to stay out of trouble only by pretending to be friendly with Gongsun Du, but they were almost under house arrest. When Taishi Ci came to pick them up, they also found an opportunity to quietly leave Liaodong.
[If we are at odds with the General's Mansion now, will Kang'er be able to stabilize the situation when I am gone? ] Gongsun Du thought and looked at Gongsun Kang.
Gongsun Kang on the side couldn't wait to put on armor, but Gongsun Du's mouth twitched and he gradually calmed down. He said in a cold voice: "If Commander Gan has this attitude, please go back!" Although it was a harsh word, there was clearly room for easing the tension in his words.
"Father! This guy is so rude. If we kill him, no one will be able to say anything..." Gongsun Kang said anxiously.
"Shut up!" Gongsun Du stopped his son from undermining his authority.
"Hahaha, kill me? Tsk tsk, what do you mean? Why are you so impatient, little brother Gongsun?" Gan Ning suddenly laughed.
As he spoke, he seemed not to notice that Gongsun Du had already grasped the short knife he carried with him. He approached with his bare hands, hooked his arm around Gongsun Du's neck and said, "Brother Gongsun, don't you want to try out whether the Liaodong knife is sharp enough? Don't worry, we in the General's Mansion do business without cheating anyone. Let Brother Gongsun see for ourselves."
It was obvious that the two sides were about to go to war, but to Gan Ning, it seemed as if the General's Mansion was just showing off its "products".
Gan Ning was also very bold. At this moment, the distance between the two was less than a fist. Even though Gan Ning's martial arts was much stronger than Gongsun Du's, he dared to ignore Gongsun Du's sword. This was not only because of his "high skill" but also because of his courage...
Gongsun Du narrowed his eyes and pulled out the hilt of the knife a little, but finally let it go and said, "Yes, I have heard that the soldiers in the general's mansion are strong and sharp, but I have to see it with my own eyes."
After Gongsun Du said this, although Gongsun Kang was indignant, he still took the lead and sat down, but he kept staring at Gan Ning.
As for what they "heard", it is absolutely nonsense. The General's Mansion is well-equipped with military equipment. Perhaps the Central Plains would know about it, but it would not spread to Liaodong so quickly!
At the same time, the atmosphere in the room also eased a little...
Gan Ning acted as if nothing had happened. He called his personal soldiers and brought back five hundred Han Dynasty ring-handled swords, as well as iron sand bamboo for testing the swords.
Click, click, click - after some experiments, they found that the curled Han sword was definitely better than the standard Han swords supervised by the court before the Han Dynasty was in such chaos. It could be considered a sharp weapon when used in grassroots troops. Moreover, this was just one sword chosen at random. Gan Ning vowed that the 500 swords in front of him and the more than 4,000 swords on the ship were all so sharp and tough!
"This is the sword we are going to sell to Brother Gongsun. As for the lamellar armor and so on, you should be able to see with your discerning eyes that no corners were cut... In addition, since Brother Gongsun is so righteous, I can make the decision and give him one hundred more 'Jian'an Four Army Swords' which are not for sale and are also elite weapons in our General's Mansion." Gan Ning said to Gongsun Du, who was looking at the result in deep thought, and the other Liaodong generals with shining eyes.
Gongsun Du's face darkened when he heard this. He was about to interrupt, "I'm not being righteous, don't talk nonsense." However, when he heard that Gan Ning was going to give him "elite weapons from the General's Mansion," he couldn't help but become curious and said, "The Four Jian'an Army Swords? That's a weird name... Not for sale? Even the General's Mansion is so stingy. I'd like to see how much better they are than these Han swords."
