Diqin Designer

Chapter 556 The Borrowing of Troops is Successful, Cao Can Trains the Soldiers

Wang Ling and the others had anticipated that the Parthians would come up with such a military loan agreement and were mentally prepared for it.

If the Qin Dynasty were to lend troops to another country, it would carefully consider various factors and would not lend them casually.

After reading the agreement, Wang Ling exchanged a few words in hushed tones with Li Shiqi, Cao Can, and others.

Then, Wang Ling said, "We can accept your agreement as a whole and can implement it accordingly, but we have a few requests."

Ardaban said, "Please speak, messenger!"

Wang Ling said, "First, the soldiers and generals lent to us by your country must strictly cooperate with our military orders. If they violate them, we can punish them, and our punishment will not take into account the identity of the person who violates the military orders!"

If you manage to borrow soldiers but have no command over them, it's better not to borrow them at all. What use are more than 10,000 Parthian soldiers who are not under your command?

Ardaban said, "That's natural!"

Even if Wang Ling didn't bring this up himself, he would still instruct the soldiers to be lent to the Qin delegation to obey the Qin military orders.

Because they also wanted to see how the Qin people would use borrowed troops to defeat the Seleucids and break the Macedonian phalanx.

If the soldiers lent to the Qin state don't obey Qin's military orders, how can we expect to see anything?

Of course, although he would give instructions, if the Qin people couldn't command the borrowed troops, Ardaban wouldn't interfere.

They had already borrowed troops and instructed the soldiers to obey the Qin army's orders, but the Qin people themselves couldn't manage the borrowed troops. Who could they blame for that?

It's naturally the Qin people's fault for being incompetent!

If the people of Qin can't even handle this small matter, then their claim that Qin is very strong is questionable.

Wang Ling continued, "Secondly, we also need your country to provide sufficient food and military equipment."

After borrowing troops, we still need food and weapons. We can't let the soldiers go to fight the Seleucids on an empty stomach and with their bare hands, can we?

The Parthians' omission of provisions and military equipment in the agreement clearly indicated their intention to extract benefits from the Qin Dynasty. Rather than waiting for the Parthians to bring it up, the delegation should make it clear themselves.

Wang Ling continued, "Your Highness, rest assured, we will not lend you our services for nothing. We will provide your country with sufficient compensation. As a reward, your country can take 30% of the treasures in the Seleucid cities we conquer."

These words displeased some Parthian ministers sitting on Ardaban's side. The Qin people only wanted to give them 30%? It should at least be 50/50!
It was because they agreed to lend troops that the Qin people had soldiers to use. If they hadn't lent them troops, what would the Qin people have to fight the Seleucids with? With just their small force?

But Wang Ling's next words satisfied them again. He said, "Don't think it's too little. We will not take away the people in the city, nor will we take away the land of the Seleucids. If we conquer the Seleucid city, won't all these people and lands belong to you?"

That's true. Even if the Qin delegation borrowed their troops to conquer the Seleucid cities, the Qin people would still be unable to govern those cities.

Since the Qin delegation didn't have that many people and wouldn't stay long, if the Qin people conquered the Seleucid cities, those lands and people would ultimately benefit them.

Unless Qin sends someone, but Qin is far to the east, it is impossible for them to send officials.

Thinking about it this way, the Qin delegation only received 70%, which was actually a huge loss, since they couldn't get land and people.

Upon further reflection, the Qin delegation wasn't actually borrowing troops; rather, they were using Qin people as generals to help them fight the Seleucids and expand their territory.

What's even more ingenious is that the Qin people had to proactively pay them for the benefit of lending them troops.

All they gave in return was a loan of over 10,000 soldiers to the Qin people. But if the Qin people could truly defeat the Seleucids and capture their cities, the rewards would far exceed those 10,000 soldiers.

By borrowing troops, the Qin people successfully retaliated against the Seleucids and gained various benefits, making it a win-win situation. Perhaps only the Seleucids were unhappy, but whether the Seleucids were happy or not was unimportant.

The Parthian ministers' discontent vanished instantly; they were the ones who truly reaped the benefits.

Wang Ling continued, "The second reward is that we will give your country three hundred elite armors; the third reward is that in the future, when Great Qin sells goods to your country, it will offer a 10% discount."

Upon hearing about the second and third rewards, Aldaban thought to himself, "This is too little. Could you give me more fine armor and a bigger discount?"
But he couldn't bring himself to say it, because Wang Ling's words, "If we conquer the Seleucid cities, the people and land will not belong to you," had already shut him up.

Since the Qin people had already ceded such a large benefit, he was too embarrassed to ask them for more.

Aldaban could only keep his demands for more armor to himself.

The Qin envoy was truly cunning; he had anticipated this, which is why he mentioned the reward first, precisely to shut them up and make it difficult for them to speak.

Although he couldn't ask the Qin envoy for more fine armor, Ardaban still spoke up, "Envoy, could the reward be changed?"

Wang Ling asked, "How does the prince wish to make these changes?"

Ardaban said, "Could we exchange the three hundred sets of fine armor for sending more students to your country each year? A thousand students? What do you think, envoy?"

This Parthian prince was farsighted; he knew that sending more students to study in Qin was better than directly requesting three hundred sets of fine armor.

While the armor is excellent, wouldn't it be even better to send students abroad to learn the casting techniques of the Qin Dynasty so they can forge their own armor in the future?

One is "give a man a fish," and the other is "teach a man to fish."

When Ardaban proposed that instead of sending 300 sets of fine armor, he should send more students to study in Daqin, Wang Ling admired his foresight. However, it was impossible to agree to send an additional 1,000 Parthians to study in Daqin every year.

The current plan of the Qin Dynasty for international students is to allow students from various countries to come, but there is a limit on the number of students.

Judging from its influence on the various states, Qin should increase the number of students sent by each state to study abroad.

The more students study in Qin, the better Qin can cultivate pro-Qin individuals, who can then lead their countries in the direction Qin desires.

However, this door cannot be opened at present, because studying in Qin is a high-end program for the various states, and only the sons of high-ranking officials and nobles can study in Qin.

If the Qin Dynasty allowed each country to send a few hundred or even a thousand people to Xianyang to study every year, it would transform studying in the Qin Dynasty from a high-end activity to a common one.

Studying in the Qin Dynasty was no longer a rare or prestigious event; on the contrary, it influenced the kings and ministers of various states to send their sons to the Qin.

Just like in later generations, overseas returnees were once considered prestigious, but as more and more people study abroad and more news from overseas comes back to China, overseas returnees are no longer so prestigious, and many are even looked down upon. Things are always valued for their scarcity. If something can be easily obtained by many people, then people will feel that it is not precious and will not cherish it. It may even make those who consider themselves of high status feel that it is not worthy of them.

Furthermore, this opening has allowed various countries to send hundreds or even thousands of people to Daqin every year. Currently, there are dozens of countries and tribes sending people to Daqin to study.

There are thousands of international students from these countries and tribes combined.

These students often came from prominent backgrounds and brought their own servants, which increased the total number of people who came to Xianyang several times over.

The arrival of so many people will have an impact on many aspects of Xianyang.

The Qin Dynasty wanted to accept students from various states as a way to exert influence over them, but the number of students allowed to study abroad had to be limited.

Wang Ling shook his head and said, "A thousand people are too many; we can only add another hundred."

Ardaban didn't expect the royal tombs to agree to the demand for a thousand students. As the saying goes, "raise the price on the spot, then bargain on the spot," he proposed the number of a thousand in order to make it easier to negotiate with the royal tombs.

If Wang Ling readily agreed to send an additional thousand students to study in Da Qin each year, he would find it strange.

Ardaban asked, "How about eight hundred?"

Wang Ling shook his head again: "Two hundred, no more than that!"

Ardaban said, "Messenger, how about five hundred?"

Wang Ling said, "How about we use three hundred sets of fine armor? Compared to other countries, your country can send three hundred more students to Qin every year."

Although this number is still a lot, it is still within an acceptable range.

Ardaban knew that the Qin people would not agree to them sending a thousand students, so he stopped haggling with Wang Ling and said, "Then we will do as the envoy says!"

The two sides then discussed other issues related to the troop loan and finally reached an agreement that satisfied both sides.

The simplified Chinese version of the Qin Dynasty was handwritten by Wang Ling himself, and the Parthian version was handwritten by Ardaban himself. Two copies of each version were made.

After the documents were written, Wang Ling and Ardaban signed their names and left their fingerprints on the four agreements, thus completing the troop borrowing agreement.

More than ten days later, on the outskirts of Nisa, at a Parthian military camp, Cao Can, Guan Ying, and other generals of the delegation stood on a platform, looking at the soldiers below.

On the left side of the platform were the Qin army of the delegation, numbering only two hundred, while on the right side of the platform were more numerous, numbering over ten thousand.

More than 10,000 Parthian soldiers stood in dense rows, forming a stark contrast with the 200 Qin soldiers.

Despite their small number, the two hundred Qin soldiers showed no fear whatsoever. They stood calmly in formation, and every soldier stood straight and perfectly aligned, whether viewed from the front, back, left, or right.

This contrasts with the Parthian soldiers, who, despite their large numbers, were somewhat disorganized in formation.

Although they had never fought against the Qin army, the Parthian soldiers were convinced that the Qin soldiers must be very powerful just by seeing how neatly and orderly they stood.

Because they needed to form Macedonian phalanxes on the battlefield, they also trained in how to stand in formation, but they never stood as neatly and orderly as the Qin soldiers.

Cao Shen, Guan Ying, and others were observing the more than 10,000 Parthian soldiers, while the Parthian soldiers were also observing Cao Shen and his group.

They were already curious about the Qin people, and their curiosity only grew after learning that they were to be ruled by them.

I've heard that the people of Qin come from the far east, where everything is different from theirs—the language, the clothing, the food…

The Qin state was a very powerful country. It was invincible in the east, conquering many states and becoming the leader of many others.

According to some rumors, the Qin state may have been even stronger than Macedonia during Alexander the Great's time.

That's Macedonia. It seems like this place originally belonged to Macedonia, then became the Seleucid Empire, and later belonged to the current king.

No, no, I've heard from some older people that long ago, this place didn't belong to Macedonia, but to Persia. Later, Persia was destroyed by Alexander the Great's army, and then it belonged to Macedonia.

During the time of Alexander the Great, the Macedonians, under his leadership, were invincible, conquering many countries and expanding their territory to an immense extent, making them the strongest of the strong.

They have been at peace ever since, and they couldn't even defeat the Seleucids, the remnants of Macedonia after its split. It's truly unimaginable that the Qin state to the east might be stronger than Macedonia during Alexander's time.

The Parthian soldiers were not particularly opposed to the Qin people coming to lead and command them; on the contrary, they found it novel and intriguing. They were eager to know how the Qin people would govern and command them, and whether they could defeat the Seleucids under their leadership.

All of this was because, according to the information they received, the Qin state was very powerful!

Being ruled by a strong person is not a difficult thing to accept.

If it were people from a small country, they would have already started a riot. How dare the weak lead us?
Cao Can said, “You all should already know our origins, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t. I will tell you here. We are not from your country, but from the Great Qin in the east, which is thousands of miles away from here.”

"The purpose of us standing here today is to lead you all. From this day forward, we are your commanders and generals, and you are our soldiers."

“I know some people may be thinking that the people from Qin are going to lead us Parthians, and they may be resentful and doubt whether the people from Qin can lead us well.”

Cao Shen's words were relayed to the Parthian soldiers by a translator.

“It’s normal to have dissatisfaction and doubts. If I were you, I would do the same. But these emotions are not allowed on the battlefield. Now I’m giving you a chance to prove your dissatisfaction and doubts.”

Cao Can pointed to the two hundred Qin soldiers standing below the stage and said, "They are our soldiers. If anyone is dissatisfied, they can choose someone from among them to challenge you and prove that you are stronger than them. Then you will have the right to be dissatisfied and have doubts!"

This was precisely the purpose of Cao Shen, Guan Ying, and others bringing two hundred Qin soldiers to this place: to use the two hundred Qin soldiers to intimidate these Parthian soldiers and make them submit.

The Qin soldiers escorting the envoy were all elite Qin soldiers, and the selection criteria were extremely strict. They had to be loyal to Qin ideologically, be young and strong, and have experience in battlefield combat...

After the translator relayed Cao Can's words, the Parthian soldiers became restless. Many soldiers whispered among themselves and those around them, occasionally glancing at the Qin army's ranks in the delegation. They were clearly interested, but no one was the first to jump out and challenge them.

Seeing this, Cao Can said again, "No one dares to challenge them. Are they all cowards? If so, then get out of here! You can't defeat the Seleucids with a bunch of cowards!"

(End of this chapter)