HCB Chapter 132 Clever Adam
Chapter 132 Clever Adam
"It looks like Laban is going to owe me another favor."
As soon as John returned to Franche-Comté, he received a letter from General Conseil. After reading it, he knew that Laban wanted to borrow Adam from him again.
Adam was returned to John by the king after the day of reviewing the Knights. Since there were no nobles of equal value captured by Yoda in Midland at present, the king could not say that he was useless, but that he was of little use, so it was better to give him to John in exchange for a favor.
Seeing Laban begging for mercy again, John certainly would not give it to him so readily. After all, he had captured this person with great effort, so how could he give it away for free? So John wrote to Laban, saying, "You can have the person, but give me the money."
John wrote to Laban asking for 10,000 gold coins, otherwise there would be no exchange of prisoners. After receiving the letter, Laban hurriedly discussed it with the generals.
"He really dares to ask for it. Doesn't he have an idea of how much ten thousand gold coins are?" General Henry shouted angrily. His territory was located in the western inland of Midland, and the main tax revenue was agricultural tax. Although he made a fortune by brewing wine because the local area was suitable for growing grapes, he could not come up with so much money as ten thousand gold coins unless he emptied his savings.
"I think it's quite suitable." General Conseil had a different idea, and then he said:
"After all, none of us can use 1000 gold coins to force the Yoda people to retreat from Rona without sacrificing a single soldier. I calculated that if we continue to fight on the front line, we will have to consume at least gold coins worth of supplies every day. I think this is a good deal for us."
"The key is where we get the money to give him now. The military expenditures are given to us after calculation. If we move, there will inevitably be vacancies and we will have to wait until next month to receive them. Besides, we still have to recruit mercenaries to consume the enemy." Henry was helpless at this time because of John's huge demand. He, who was called a "fox", was fooled around by a boy who had just reached adulthood.
"It seems we can only look for other generals to join us," Laban suggested.
So in the next meeting, General Henry talked about this matter and took the lead in paying one thousand gold coins. Other generals at all levels also scraped together some money in order to achieve results as soon as possible. Finally, when the money was collected, General Laban led the Knights of the White Horse all the way north to escort them to Franche-Comté.
"John, this is the money you mentioned. I brought it to you." After seeing John, General Laban immediately took him to see the boxes of gold coins.
"Someone, bring Adam to me!" John didn't waste any time and ordered his men to hand over Adam, who had been imprisoned for half a month, to Laban. After saying goodbye, the latter immediately led his men back to the southern camp.
Rhone Mountains
"Report! A letter from Midland."
A Yoda soldier opened the tent and handed a letter to Dougal. After reading it, Dougal immediately convened generals at all levels to discuss the negotiations for Adam's redemption.
"Mitlan wants us to withdraw from Rona County and pay 30,000 gold coins. Please take a look." Dougal put the letter on the table and said to the generals.
"If you ask me, how about we not redeem him?" said a Yoda general. Adam has now been labeled as stupid and incompetent in the minds of Yoda's generals. Thirty thousand gold coins can buy tens of thousands of pigs. Why should Yoda use the money to buy tens of thousands of pigs to buy a person who is more incompetent than a pig?
"Yeah, I think he's good with that place."
"I think we should secretly go to the Mitlan military camp and assassinate him, and then put the blame on the Mitlan people..."
"Don't be rude!" The Yoda general was reprimanded by Dougal before he could finish his words.
"The Adam family is one of the families that supports the Emperor's reforms, and is also one of the five most powerful nobles in the country. If he dies, it will be detrimental to the Emperor's long-term strategy, and it will also shake the other nobles who support the Emperor. So no matter how incompetent Adam is, he must come back safely."
“Even if he comes back, he can’t be allowed to go out at will.” The leader of the Ram Charge Knights reminded.
"Well, inform the Mitlan people to discuss the redemption of General Adam on the plain in front of Rona City the day after tomorrow morning."
The day after tomorrow morning, as trumpeters from both sides blew their horns at the same time, the negotiations on redeeming Adam officially began.
After both sides sat down in the tent, General Dougal from Yoda's side spoke first:
"Regarding the treaty for Adam's redemption, are the conditions on your side a bit harsh?"
General Henry said slowly:
"I think with General Adam's status, he is definitely worth 30,000 gold coins. Besides, Rona Territory is also the legal territory of Midland. It is a normal request to ask the illegally invading foreign troops to withdraw."
"Can we see General Adam? We need to know his current health condition and whether he has been abused. If it happens again, we will protest to Midland." Bosgod said on the side.
Laban, who was sitting opposite, looked at General Henry. After thinking for a while, General Henry signaled Laban to bring Adam over.
When Yoda's generals saw Adam again, they found that he had successfully lost weight. Although Adam had eaten like crazy after the Battle of Barden, the prisoner life of just half a month made Adam's previous weight gain go to waste. Even though John did not beat him this time, the minimum daily meal quota and walking back and forth with dozens of kilograms of shackles every day successfully made Adam lose weight.
"Prison life is a life-changer," Dougal said to General Henry after sighing:
"We need to talk alone, is that possible?"
General Henry wanted to refuse when he heard this, but when he thought that the person was in his hands and he was surrounded by heavy soldiers, he didn't care too much. He left the tent with everyone and waited outside the tent for them to finish their conversation.
After a while, the tent was opened and the group entered the tent to continue the meeting. Dougal, who had been brooding over the content of the treaty, seemed to have made a very difficult choice and reluctantly agreed:
"I accept your terms, but you need to give me a month to raise the money. During this period, you need to ensure that General Adam is safe and sound."
"Okay! Then it's a deal, let's sign the treaty." After hearing that the other party accepted all his conditions, General Henry immediately signed the treaty with the other party.
General Laban beside him felt something strange. He concluded that the Yoda people were plotting something, but he didn't know what the consequences would be, because it seemed that everything was in his favor at the moment.
After the signing of the treaty, the two forces had no more contact within a month. During this period, General Laban always stood on the city wall of Rona and used a telescope to look at the Yuda people in the opposite valley, but he did not find out what these Yuda people were doing or planning to do.
Time passed quickly, and it was time for the handover. A team of carriages came out of the Yoda pass, loaded with boxes of gold coins.
"Is it confirmed?" General Laban asked.
"Confirmed, each box is full of gold coins, the number is almost 30,000." said the official in charge of verification.
"That depends on whether the Yoda people will withdraw from Rona Territory." General Laban said as he looked at the busy Yoda people in the distance.
As the last of the Yoda troops withdrew, the entire western part of Rona became a no-man's land, and the scout in charge of reconnaissance told the news to General Henry.
"Order the soldiers to immediately occupy all defense facilities and continue to observe the movements of the Yoda people." As General Henry's orders were given, the soldiers entered the fortresses and passes that had been operated by the Yoda people for many years.
"you can go now."
After removing General Adam's shackles, General Laban gave him a horse. After thanking him, the latter rushed into the valley in a panic.
"Drive! Drive!"
Fortunately, Adam had lost weight, otherwise the horse he was riding might have died on the way. Fortunately, they finally got out from the other side of the valley.
After seeing Adam coming out of the valley, Dougal ordered the Yoda soldiers next to him: "Go!"
I saw several Yoda soldiers lighting the fuse with flint, and with a "crack", sparks followed the fuse into the tunnels.
In the fortress, the Midlan officer who was admiring the Yoda Fortress suddenly discovered a strange smell in the fortress.
"Why are the Yoda people so unhygienic? What's that smell?" the officer complained, pinching his nose.
"Sir, look, there is a tunnel!" A Midland soldier discovered a hidden tunnel while moving things, which aroused the officer's vigilance.
The officer led the soldiers into the tunnel with a torch in one hand.
"What the hell is this?" After entering the tunnel, the officer found piles of wooden barrels not far away. When he got closer, he saw the word "explosives" written on them.
"It's strange. The Yoda people moved out most of the things, so why did they leave these expensive explosives behind?" Just as the officer was thinking hard, a bright light suddenly came from the tunnel in the distance.
As the light got closer, the officer suddenly remembered something and quickly turned over the bottom of the explosives. Sure enough, he found a fuse connected to the fire on the opposite side.
"Run quickly! The Yoda people are cheating!" The officer shouted and dragged the soldiers out.
Under the puzzled gazes of other soldiers, the officer ran towards the entrance of the valley while shouting. When he led the soldiers out of the valley, there was a loud bang and explosions occurred inside all the fortresses. The remaining soldiers heard the explosion and before they could figure out what was happening, the rocks caused by the explosion fell from the valley and buried the soldiers who remained in the valley in the pile of boulders.
Adam, who was far away on the other side of the valley, heard the explosion and shouted at the top of his voice to the other side of the valley:
"Foolish Midlanders, this is the explosion retreat method that has been passed down for a long time in my Adam family. You Midlanders will be buried in the sea of fire..."
Before he could finish his words, a big hand grabbed his cloak and dragged him in front. Adam was about to curse who was the blind man who dared to interrupt him, but when he turned around, he saw Dougal's murderous eyes.
"If you act on your own again, especially if you hang around John's territory again, I will report your misdeeds to the Emperor, and you will just go back to your territory and farm."