With the answer, Andrew set out on the way back. On the afternoon of the day he left, another group of people entered the city of Kiev Lus.
Slis and Andrew had the same feeling. The order here was too good. There was no feeling of being invaded at all. It was even better than before. The whole city was in good order.
Slis felt a chill on his back. If it took a while, the civilians here would be completely accustomed to the other party's rule.
At that time, let alone negotiations, even if they were attacked, the people here might not listen to anyone.
"Stop, please show your ID." A city guard came over and stopped the team.
Slis ordered the guards to hand in their ID.
"We are the negotiation team of the Baiting Empire, and we hope to meet the Eastern Commander." The guard showed his ID.
"Please wait, we will report to the adults immediately." The city guard smiled apologetically and asked them to wait outside the city gate. Another city guard immediately went in to report.
In less than a quarter of a magic hour, the city guard came out.
"Please." Make a gesture of invitation.
Slis was actually very surprised. The two countries were obviously incompatible, but the attitude of the city defense soldiers obviously did not regard them as enemies, and they seemed to not care at all.
Slis now really felt that the opponent was a very powerful opponent, not only strong in military, but also quite outstanding in personnel.
He felt that the other party might have calculated that he was coming, so he had been waiting here. Slis felt a little scared. This negotiation would not be simple.
Slis and his party went directly to the city lord's mansion and asked to meet Cage. Unexpectedly, the first person to receive them was Nasi, the city lord of Kiev Rus.
"Please, Prime Minister."
Slis now had an illusion. Was Nasi considered a member of the Reis Empire or the Baiting Empire? From his face, there was no trace of depression.
"Naxi, you have surrendered to the Reis Empire now."
"Of course not, it's just that the Prince of the Reis Empire appointed me to temporarily exercise power as the city lord, and still recognized my identity as the Baiting Empire." Naxi hurriedly explained,
He felt that Cage and his men might also withdraw their troops. Although he had no choice but to surrender, after they withdrew their troops, he was still a member of the Baiting Empire, and he could only sit in this position.
Slis did not continue to dwell on this issue, and followed Naxi's guidance to the meeting hall of the City Lord's Mansion.
"Welcome, Prime Minister Slis."
Cage greeted their arrival with a smile, which surprised Slis very much. This prince was very young and quite handsome, and his smile made people feel particularly friendly.
"Hello, Prince." Slis performed a noble etiquette.
"I wonder what Lord Slis came here for this time?"
Slis felt very funny in his heart. He knew it but still teased them, "Your Highness, you are joking. We are here to pray for your Highness to stop the war."
Slis also knew that he had to lower his posture at this time, otherwise it would be troublesome.
"Oh, that's it! You should talk to our king. I can't decide these things." Cage's words were watertight.
No matter how anxious Slis was, he couldn't just trust him so easily. "
We think it's better to meet His Royal Highness first. We hope His Royal Highness will withdraw his troops. I wonder if His Royal Highness can make it convenient?" Slis directly and frankly stated his purpose.
"We live well here and want to stay for a few more days. Even if I want to leave, my subordinates don't want to. The people are scattered and it's hard to lead the team!" Cage pretended to be unable to make a decision.
Slis almost vomited blood. Everyone knows that you have the final say in the entire East. Who can stop you if you want to leave? "I wonder what conditions your Highness needs to withdraw the troops?"
"I haven't been eating well or sleeping well for a while. The last time you invaded us, many soldiers were killed and injured. The compensation is too high. The recent expenses for the food and necessities of tens of thousands of people are also not small."
"Your Highness, just tell me what conditions you need to withdraw the troops." Slis couldn't stand his complaints, fearing that the money would be spent more and more in the end.
Seeing that he had almost achieved his goal, Cage said seriously that the other party should be very anxious. "There are several things that must be done. First, apologize to our country, submit a letter of credence, and admit the invasion of our country;
Second, open the border to allow merchants from both sides to trade freely;
Third, do not attack our country within ten years; Fourth, pay 300 million gold coins as compensation for the war."
Slis almost had a cerebral hemorrhage when he heard this. The first condition was necessary, and he had already made preparations for it.
The second condition was just to change the previous secret smuggling suggestion into an open one.
The third one was just an additional condition. It would be strange if they didn't fight if they were strong. In the end, who would take a piece of paper to heart?
Fourth, the price was too high and could not be accepted at all. It should be negotiable.
"Bullshit, how can there be such a large compensation." A duke in the negotiation team was extremely dissatisfied with this number and shouted immediately.
Slis almost slapped him twice. Now they were in a weak position. If the other party didn't want to talk, it would not be a matter of money.
"Your Highness, don't listen to his nonsense. This is something you can consider."
Slis said hurriedly, and at the same time, he glared at the duke, asking him to be honest.
"It seems that your country has not made a plan yet. Everyone, go back and rest first! Prime Minister Slis, there will be a dinner party in the evening. Everyone is welcome to attend. I will send someone to notify you. Send you out."
As soon as Cage waved his hand, the guards came up. Seeing that he could not continue the discussion, Slis had to give up.
It's all the fault of this duke. He doesn't understand the priorities at all. Doesn't he understand that Cage has the final say in the entire eastern region of the Reis Empire?
Slis, who returned to the post station, scolded him fiercely, and at the same time explained their intentions of this negotiation in detail to everyone. He was really afraid that this group of people would do something that could not be exchanged, and the loss would be great.
The evening dinner made Slis eager to end the negotiations immediately. He could feel that the longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for them.
Cage did not show up at night. Those who came were people with some status in the city. Although these people respected him, they did not seem to care much. There were only two reasons to explain it.
First, they did not think that the Baiting Empire could take back the city.
Second, they did not care about the Baiting Empire.
There were also two reasons for their absence. One was that they acquiesced to the other party's rule and believed that the other party was more beneficial to them than the rule of the Baiting Empire. The second was that they had already turned to the Reis Empire.
No matter which situation it was, it was disadvantageous for them. If it dragged on for a little longer, all the subjects would adapt to the other party's rule.
At that time, these people at the bottom would not want to return, which must be what the Reis Empire wanted to see.
In the evening, Slis urgently asked to see Cage for negotiations.
"Your Highness, your price is too high, 300 million gold coins! The Empire can't afford it at all. If you insist on asking for so much, it will be like pushing our country into the fire pit, and we can only fight you to the death.
You know, even 100 million gold coins will make the people curse." Slis begged. As the prime minister of the Empire, when has he ever been so humble.
"Then what do you say?" Cage looked at him with a smile. Cage, who had the upper hand, didn't care at all now.
"We will give you 100 million gold coins privately, and we hope you will return our soldiers."
"No, they have eaten a lot of my food and live comfortably. This amount of money is not much, 20 million gold coins,
and another 20 million gold coins as pensions for our fallen soldiers."
"Your Highness, no, we still have to pay compensation to your country, and we can't take out this money anyway. You see, we pay half, 20 million gold coins, and we really can't take out more."
"Okay, the king's seal of your country must be stamped on the soldier redemption document we wrote." Cage thought about it, and it was about the same.
"Of course, of course. I hope your Highness can return our soldiers as soon as possible." Slis was relieved. This time he saved 30 million gold coins, which was a pretty good result.