Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1824 - 1312: Negotiation! Friend, We Have an Old Saying...

"Great Divine Spirit! Greedy Japanese Great Chief, why do you ask about the location of our tribes? Are you planning to bring your tribal warriors, call upon a large group of helpers, and come to seize our gold?!..."

The Kingdom Envoy, Lu Jiaohu, watched Kaozaki Yoshihiro closely with suspicion, his questioning ruthless. Kaozaki Yoshihiro's face flushed, and he cursed in his heart, "Shandan barbarian." He indeed felt covetous but did not expect these barbarians to speak so directly, unlike the subtle and tactful Japanese.

"Ahem! I was just, asking... with more gold, the main family can accomplish more... If there's enough gold, the best craftsman can be hired! Especially the shipwrights on the list, the best ones must be invited from Korea, which requires a lot of gold..."

"Ha! Japanese Great Chief, you can't deceive me! Your desire for gold is like that of a wildcat stealing fish, no matter how much you try to hide it!"

Lu Jiaohu sniffed, as if smelling the scent of greed. He shot Kaozaki Yoshihiro a disdainful glance. Then, before the latter could erupt in anger, he confidently patted his chest and responded smartly, seemingly proud but actually cunning.

"The Great Chief said, it's okay to tell you! Our tribe's location is straight north, a month's voyage from where we previously fought with you. Until the ends of the Far North Sea, that endless snowfield, where sleds slide, deer are herded, running and practicing archery, that's where our tribe is!"

"As for the gold mine, of course we have one, but you can't find its exact location; it's deep in the snowfield! And the gold our fleet carries is very little; the majority is in the northern tribes. As for the tribe's location, we migrate everywhere, you simply can't find us!... Haha! Even if you find us, you can't chase us down; you'll just be toyed to death by our sleds and arrows!"

This mix of truth and falsehood directly shifted the Kingdom Port's location from the northeast at the Kamchatka Peninsula to the north, pointing to the Evon Horse Division, Chukchi Tent Division, and Koryak Deer Division all nomadically traversing thousands of miles of snowfield.

"Ah! Sailing one month north to endless snowfield?! And the gold mine is deep within the snowfield?... How can it be so far away?!..."

Kaozaki Yoshihiro was dumbfounded for a moment, looking at the honest and confident Shandan barbarian, unable to hide his disappointment.

About the distant Far North Sea, and the endless snowfield across the sea, he vaguely heard. Especially years ago, when the main family collaborated with Uncle Mori no Kiyoshi to dispatch the "Ocean-Blocking Sea Ship," which ultimately went there, lost communication, and caused his father to age significantly... He initially wanted to ask whether they've seen the visiting main family's sea ship, but considering the vastness of the extreme north and the legendary sea spirit monsters, he sighed and shook his head.

"The distant Far North Sea is inherently perilous, it's difficult for small ships and customs ships to pass... And those nomadic barbarian tribes are each fiercer and more dangerous, just like these suddenly appearing Shandan tribes!"...

"Alas! Let's not even mention the dangerous snowfield; even the Northeastern Thousand Islands are out of reach for the main family. Even if calling upon the Ando Main House and Nanbu clan allies, they cannot support such distant sea supply routes! Sending dozens of people is just delivering captives to others..."

At this moment, hearing the Shandan Envoy's words, Kaozaki Yoshihiro finally abandoned the thought of forcibly taking. Yet, the burning desire for gold continued to blaze in his chest! After all, this was not just immense wealth, but also hope to restore his martial family's reputation, even a golden opportunity for the Kaozaki Family's rise!

"Hachiman Mahasattva! This is the Shandan Great Tribe with special gold! This is truly the Buddha's blessing, a fortune after surviving a catastrophe!"

"Of course, whether redeeming captives or trading, I must inform my father first, obtain his approval and support... Similarly, the main family must rely on Uncle Mori no Kiyoshi's Kyoto Boat Team to transform the exchanged gold into goods, livestock, and craftsmen, then barter them with the Shandan Great Tribe for more gold... thus repeatedly!"

In such a brief moment, Kaozaki Yoshihiro thought too much, and desired so much!

He wanted to ransom all captured samurai, wanted to exchange for the Shandan tribe's gold, wanted not only to wash away the disgrace of defeat but also to achieve merit. He wanted to inherit the Kaozaki Family Head position, wanted to lead the Kaozaki Family's rise, wanted to even break away from the Ando Main House, directly recognized by the General and acquire control over the Ezo land! And all these hopes depended on the Shandan Tribe's "specialty," depended on the "divine might" of gold!

"Buddha! This is the opportunity you gave me, I must firmly grip it as if holding onto the Buddha's connection, never to let go!"

In the following days, Kaozaki Yoshihiro showed great enthusiasm, warmly receiving the "Shandan Envoy." He was truly humble and sociable without even a hint of the "Kaozaki Family's Young Master's" pride, even sharing a pot of sake with the "Shandan Envoy" with smiling face.

"Come! Friends from the Shandan Tribe, taste our sake! In Japan, there's an old saying, 'After the rain, the ground will be solid!' We both had a battle, just like experiencing a heavy rain! And after the rain, the friendship between us, the connection between our clans will be as solid as the ground!"...

"Ah! It's warm and strong good wine! Japanese Great Chief, our tribe also has an old saying, 'With friends, one is as vast as a snowfield! Without friends, one is like losing a sled in the snow!'... Of course, the more friends the better! But if you truly want to be friends with the tribe, you should show sincerity like us, at least a partial sincerity!... Hic! When can you deliver what the Great Chief wants?..."

"Haha! It's almost ready, almost ready! Come, try our plum rice ball, and delicious pickled radish!…"

"No more! I can't eat anymore! The taste is too strong!…"

"Aha! Then have some more wine!…"

Under the hospitality of Kaozaki Yoshihiro, Lu Jiaotu indulged in feasting for three days. Until the morning of the fourth day, a Kaozaki scout hurriedly arrived from the south. He looked with confusion at the swaggering "Ezo people" in the large tent, then respectfully reported to the higher-ups.

"Young Master! I am the vanguard scout of the Hougai elder army forces! The Hougai elder sent me to convey: He has led twenty samurai of the main family, and two hundred peasant soldiers, and has reached the south side of Ezo Fuji, thirty miles away, a day's journey from the main family camp!"

"Ah! Father sent the Bi Stone Hall commander, the battle-hardened Hougai elder! Quickly! Come with me out of the camp to welcome them from the south!"

Upon hearing this, Kaozaki Yoshihiro quickly got up, his face full of solemnity and joy. Then, he looked at the "Shandan Envoy" Lu Jiaotu and smiled as he spoke.

"Friends of the Shandan Tribe! Come with me and see the military forces of the main family! This is only the first batch of two hundred peasant soldiers. If mobilized, the main family can withdraw a force of one thousand from the Twelve Halls' over ten thousand Japanese in the entire Japanese Land!"

The military force of two hundred Japanese peasant soldiers left a profound impression on Lu Jiaotu. Those scrawny peasant soldiers, donning simple cloaks, brandishing bamboo spears and iron spears, clad in bamboo and straw raincoats, could probably be easily scattered by a frontal assault by one hundred armored troops of the Kingdom!

However, these Japanese in the Ezo land, in the treacherous and harsh Ezo pioneering, had an unmistakable toughness on their faces. They obediently followed the orders of the samurai and could form simple formations. Once these Japanese peasant soldiers are mobilized and gathered, adding a few core samurai, they become quite a problem! At least, with the same numbers, the loosely organized tribal warriors of the Ainu Clans should not be able to defeat them unless the fierce Mountain Part or Deer Division from the North participated.

With a large number of peasant soldiers covering the flanks, forming a battlefield manpower advantage, the samurai formation of the Japanese can free up their hands, leisurely sitting in the central army. They can use the lives of the superior peasant soldiers to exhaust the stamina of the Kingdom's heavy armor, patiently waiting for the opportune moment to decisively strike the Kingdom's main armored force.

"Great Divine Spirit! When the peasant soldiers of the Japanese Clan finish farming and mobilize to gather, they are not something our tribes can easily bite off! It seems that the strongest time of these Japanese clans is indeed right after the October autumn harvest… As expected, the Great Chief is still wary of the Japanese not setting up camp on Maoshili Island…"

Seeing the supporting peasant soldiers of the Japanese rushing like schools of fish into the mountain campsite, Lu Jiaotu did not want to linger any longer and hurriedly returned north to report. Meanwhile, Kaozaki Yoshihiro and the supporting elder Hougai Masanobu had a solemn and lengthy discussion throughout the night.

The next day, Hougai Masanobu, looking grave, took a team of samurai, along with a gold talisman tucked in his bosom, urgently headed south to personally report to Takeda Nobuhiro at the Victory Mountain Manor.

In the next half month, from the northern Hanbin Faction villages to the camp under Ezo Fuji, and then to the southern Victory Mountain Manor, messengers traveled back and forth like birds in early summer.

It was not until the bright summer of August, enveloping the fields of Japanese Land, that the second group of northern Kaozaki military support, bringing quite a few of the main family's short pack horses, headed north into the mountains to "Beikou Shandan." Accompanying them were over a hundred young men and women conscripted from various halls, a small team of craftsmen recruited from Matsumae, and reportedly ample military supplies, including ironware, rice wine, poultry, and even two cattle…

By this time, news of the "Shandan invasion" from the Kaozaki clan had spread throughout the halls, creating panic across Japanese Land. The seriously ill Lord Nobuhiro personally attended to oversee the situation, meeting with the hall commanders to ease their concern. He also formally ordered the main family personnel to tightly blockade the northward roads and clearly promised:

"My eldest son, Kaozaki Yoshihiro, is personally overseeing the front lines in the north, fighting bloodily against the invading Shandan! Before his death, not a single Shandan tribe shall raid southward into Japanese Land!"

"The halls must continue their farming duties, and except for the conscripted personnel, this year's autumn harvest must not be delayed!"

With the legendary Lord Nobuhiro's appearance, all of Japanese Land swiftly stabilized. This is the power of prestige—the power to command trust and confidence in people's hearts! And under the belief and compliance of the Japanese people, the second batch of northern support troops finally reached the Kaozaki camp under Ezo Fuji.

Next, there was to be the first formal "transaction" between the "Shandan Tribe" and the Kaozaki clan. And the divine power of gold was finally about to release its golden light, altering the course of history among the various tribes of Northeast Asia…