Double penetration: This Three Kingdoms has dragon energy

Chapter 158 The Mi family gives away their daughter
It sounds unbelievable that the Mi family of Donghai could occupy seven counties in Donghai Prefecture, but it is actually quite normal.

In fact, this was already the result of a battle between Ji Qiu's army and the Mi family.

Prior to this, the Mi family of Donghai occupied all nine county towns of Donghai Prefecture!
The true masters of Donghai County have never been the aristocratic families, but the powerful clans.

Before the Mi family, even Wang Lang, who was once famous throughout the land, had to lower his proud head!

However, Ji Qiu didn't care much about the Mi family.

So what if we occupy seven county towns?
So what if we occupy half of Donghai County?

One and a half of the two counties of Langya and Donghai have already fallen into Ji Qiu's hands.

Would he still care about the remaining half of the county?

If the Mi family overestimates their abilities and dares to defy the might of Heaven, then let them turn to ashes!

However, the Mi family was clearly not the kind of people who would not know what was good for them, so they sent Ji Qiu a letter of surrender.

Taishan Commandery, the governor's office.

Jia Xu, holding the letter of surrender sent by the Mi family, began to read it aloud with measured intonation:

"Your Excellency's prestige and virtue are renowned, your righteousness is widely known, and you are as majestic as a tiger crouching and as powerful as a dragon, admired by all under heaven."

The Mi family, a prominent merchant family, has been the leading force in the region for generations, possessing immense wealth and a long-standing tradition of loyalty and righteousness.

However, at this time of great change, after careful consideration of the situation and the course of Heaven, and knowing that the Mandate of Heaven is in my hands, I dare to write this letter to express my sincere wishes and submit my humble submission.

Now, we command a million mighty soldiers, their armor gleaming in the sun, their banners obscuring the sky, and wherever they pass, they are routed. We deeply fear the calamity of their armies, and we are also mindful of the suffering and loss of lives, which is not our true intention.

We respectfully offer the cities of the seven towns to your command.

These seven towns, with their fertile plains stretching for thousands of miles, abundant granaries, bustling commerce, well-trained troops, and ample provisions, can serve as the foundation for a general's hegemonic ambitions.

Furthermore, the entire clan contributed billions in grain and money, piling up like mountains of gold and flowing like a river, enough to fund the army for ten years, helping the general sweep across the land and conquer all corners of the world.

We have no other desires but to enjoy the privileges of the fifth rank, to ensure the peace and tranquility of our clan, and to protect the people of our hometown.

A family had a daughter who was born virtuous and intelligent. She received early family education, was skilled in etiquette and needlework, and possessed both beauty and virtue.

If the general does not reject me, I am willing to take you as my wife, so that the Mi family may be able to rely on our kinship and serve you faithfully forever.

In this way, the general will gain a beautiful woman to assist him in his marriage, and will also gain resources to strengthen his army. We will also gain protection to survive. It is a win-win situation and a story that will be remembered for generations to come.

If you grant our request, we will immediately open the city gates and surrender, and prepare food and drink to welcome your army.

Only the general can decide.

The entire Mi family bowed their heads a hundred times in reverence.

"Hehe, the Mi family certainly has guts. They're willing to gamble their entire fortune on this opportunity! What do you gentlemen think of this?" Ji Qiu chuckled after hearing the letter.

There are two transactions in the letter of surrender from the Mi family.

Firstly, there are seven county towns and five levels of treatment.

This is considered a fairly normal transaction.

According to the announcement previously released by Ji Qiu's forces, anyone who voluntarily surrenders a city will be treated as a level three to five person, depending on the circumstances.

The content of the five-level treatment includes:

1. All family property, except for land and people, can be preserved.

2. All family members will receive normal citizen treatment.

3. The governor's office purchased their people and land at market price.

The fifth-level treatment was the highest treatment given to the people of the new territory when Ji Qiu accepted them.

Generally speaking, this treatment is not given to forces that are not particularly important.

However, considering the crucial location of the Mi family, these seven cities are situated precisely on the dividing line between the forces of Ji Qiu and Tao Qian.

After nearly a month of adjustments, Tao Qian's forces are almost ready to reorganize their army.

Therefore, in order to complete the strategic plan of taking over the entire territory of Langya and Donghai counties before Tao Qian's forces could reorganize their army, it wouldn't be unreasonable to give the Mi family a fifth-level treatment.

Secondly, the Mi family was willing to offer 10 billion yuan as a dowry in exchange for Ji Qiu taking a daughter of the Mi family as his wife!
This is a rather rare transaction.

A sum of 10 billion is no small amount. Even a large and powerful family like the Mi family, whose overall strength is comparable to that of a mid-sized family outside the city, would probably find it difficult to come up with such a sum.

The fact that the Mi family was able to raise 10 billion yuan probably includes the money and grain given to them when Ji Qiu redeemed their people and land.

In other words, the Mi family not only refused Ji Qiu's money, but also took out all their assets, just so that their daughter could become Ji Qiu's wife!
This is truly an astronomical dowry!

Guo Jia chuckled and said, "The Mi family comes from a merchant family. Merchants have always been fond of gambling, and their greatest skill is winning big with small bets!"
Therefore, the Mi family's move may seem unbelievable, but if you consider it from a merchant's perspective, it's not surprising at all.

As for whether to agree to the Mi family's conditions, from the perspective of internal stability, I believe it is acceptable.

In this way, our army will not only be able to smoothly take over the seven county towns of the Mi family, but also smoothly relocate the people of these seven towns.

Furthermore, the Mi family is quite accomplished in business; winning them over will greatly benefit our lord's future business plans!

"From a military perspective, I also believe that we should agree to the Mi family's conditions."

Almost a month has passed since our army defeated the 100,000-strong army in Xuzhou.

After a brief period of chaos, Tao Qian's forces are almost back in order to reorganize.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will launch a counterattack against our army.

Although the seven county towns of the Mi family are not large in scale, their locations are quite crucial.

It's right on the dividing line between our forces and Tao Qian's.

If we control these seven counties, we can build the Donghai defense line based on the thirteen cities of Donghai Commandery, keeping Tao Qian's forces out of Donghai Commandery.

"If Tao Qian controls these seven counties, then our army will only be able to station heavy troops in the remaining six counties of Donghai Commandery and engage in a protracted war with Tao Qian," Xi Zhong said.

Zhuge Gui said, "From the perspective of internal affairs, I also believe that we should agree to the Mi family's request."

A sum of tens of billions is no small amount.

Although we have a lot of income, we spend even more.

Especially in the last six months, our army has expanded its territory too quickly. Every time it occupies a new territory, it has to carry out the work of relocating the people, which makes our army's expenditures far higher than those of other warlords.

Therefore, the current finances are already stretched thin, with income failing to cover expenditures.

If we could obtain these billions, it would greatly alleviate our financial pressure.

The advisors all expressed their opinions and agreed with the matter.

In fact, this matter doesn't need any analysis; it's clear that politically and militarily, it's entirely beneficial to Ji Qiu.

Because the Mi family's purpose was no longer political or military.

They're betting their entire fortune on a future!
What they're after is Ji Qiu's position as the legal wife!

Ji Qiu's position as the principal wife has always been coveted by many people.

Even when he was still in Taishan County, many prominent families in the city wanted to arrange a marriage between him and his family.

After he sent troops to Qingzhou, many minor aristocratic families from outside the city came to propose marriage.

After occupying Beihai Kingdom and Jinan Prefecture, even powerful aristocratic families outside the city who could influence an entire province came to join the fray. Only after Ji Qiu defeated Tao Qian's army of 100,000 did the matter finally calm down somewhat.

This does not mean that Ji Qiu's position as the principal wife was worthless at this point.

On the contrary, his position as the principal wife became more valuable at this time, but many people felt they were not good enough for her and gave up.

Don't underestimate Ji Qiu's previous victory over Tao Qian's 100,000-strong army; in fact, it was of great significance.

First of all, this signifies that Ji Qiu has officially risen from a second-rate feudal lord to a first-rate feudal lord.

What constitutes a first-rate feudal lord?
He was ranked alongside Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Gongsun Zan, Liu Biao, Liu Yan, Dong Zhuo, and others!
That means they truly possess the potential to dominate the world and create a new dynasty!

Secondly, after this battle, Ji Qiu completely stabilized the internal situation and the external environment, and a new political and economic group was formally formed.

There is no immediate threat of extinction.

He has passed the rise phase and entered a period of stability.

In this situation, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his position as the principal wife was the most noble position in the world.

Because as long as she becomes his legal wife and bears his children, she can rightfully inherit his legacy in the future.

But at this time, how could ordinary noble families possibly be worthy of his attention?
If she were to become his principal wife, she would at least have to be the daughter of a feudal lord of equal rank to him!
However, the Mi family, as expected of a powerful clan that rose to prominence through commerce, was willing to gamble their entire fortune on a future.

They knew that even if they offered billions of dollars, they would not be able to secure the position of the principal wife.

Therefore, he settled for second best and only sought the position of a lady.

The status of a lady was roughly equivalent to that of a concubine in the later Ming and Qing dynasties.

The children they gave birth to were all illegitimate sons.

But who says a son born out of wedlock can't inherit the family business, and who says a wife can't become the legal wife?

Especially given that Ji Qiu currently has neither a legal wife nor a legitimate son.

If the Mi family woman can give birth to an heir first, the chances of overtaking others are very high!
"Hehe, since all of you gentlemen agree, I naturally have no reason to refuse, so I will grant the Mi family's request!" Ji Qiu said with a light laugh.

For him, there was simply no reason to refuse.

After all, a wife is different from a principal wife. Just as scholar-officials in the Ming and Qing dynasties could have countless concubines, feudal lords at this time could also have countless wives.

With just the position of a wife, one could obtain seven county towns and billions of dollars—it was practically a risk-free and highly profitable deal.

However, this incident stirred up some other emotions in Ji Qiu's heart.

In fact, he already has three women in the world of Dragon Qi Three Kingdoms.

Ren Hongchang, Zhang Ning, and Cai Zhenji.

These three women were either his maids, his subordinates, or his female officials.

In his career development, these three women each provided him with considerable assistance.

But he has never made proper arrangements for them.

This is because he has always maintained a somewhat detached attitude towards the world of Dragon Kingdom.

Speaking of which, I should mention something else.

Over the past two years, he has had multiple sexual relations with the three women.

However, no one has conceived yet.

This is not because any of them have health problems, but because Ji Qiu is very careful about taking protective measures.

I always use a condom before we have sex!

The reason Ji Qiu did this was because he always planned to return to the modern world if he couldn't make it in the Dragon Kingdom.

The more I learned about Dragon Kingdom, the more unsafe I felt this place was.

What Three Venerables and Two Saints, what Heavenly Demons and Monsters? Heaven knows when the Nine Provinces Barrier will break, and the demons and monsters outside will invade.

Having a child under these circumstances is really irresponsible!
Moreover, if he really has a child, that will be his biggest weakness. What if someone uses the child to threaten him in the future?
"But perhaps I should really consider this matter in the future," Ji Qiu thought to himself.

Firstly, for a faction, the lack of a successor for its lord is a major problem.

Although Ji Qiu is still relatively young, he must at least prove that he has the ability to find a successor in order to continue to unite people's hearts.

Secondly, even if he had offspring, he would still have a way out.

After acquiring the Qiankun Bag, he was able to transport living beings between the two worlds.

So if things really get really dangerous, he can take the children and retreat to the real world.

I didn't do it before because I thought it was too much trouble.

But now that there's a need, we can't be afraid of the trouble!

"Besides the letter of surrender from the Mi family, the Wang family of Donglai has also sent a letter of surrender. I wonder what instructions our lord has?" Just after discussing the Mi family's letter of surrender, Jia Xu took out another letter of surrender from his pocket and said.

Ji Qiu was slightly taken aback, then a mocking look appeared on his face as he said, "The surrender letter from the Donglai Wang clan? Have they finally figured things out? What does the surrender letter say?"

The Wang family of Donglai was the first mid-level aristocratic family outside Qingzhou City to extend an olive branch to Ji Qiu.

As early as when Ji Qiu had just taken over Qi County and Le'an County, he sent envoys to contact Ji Qiu.

At the time, they implied that as long as Ji Qiu captured Beihai County, they would surrender Donglai.

But later, after learning about Ji Qiu's harsh treatment of the powerful families under his rule, he regretted it.

After capturing Beihai County in the late autumn, he remained ambivalent and refused to surrender.

Now, Ji Qiu has defeated Tao Qian and captured Langya County and Donghai County.

They had completely lost hope before finally sending the letter of surrender.

Jia Xu chuckled and said, "If they want to surrender Donglai County, I hope my lord can grant them a fourth-level treatment."

"They do have some self-awareness, they didn't dare ask me for level five treatment! But level four won't do either! Tell them level three treatment, if they agree, we'll lower it, if they don't, they can wait for me to call them!" Ji Qiu sneered.

The first two conditions for Level 4 treatment remain unchanged from those for Level 5 treatment.

The only change is that the third clause, which stipulated purchasing people and land at market price, has been changed to purchasing people and land at half price.

The third-tier treatment, on the other hand, directly translates to free purchase of people and land!

As for Ji Qiu, if the Donglai royal family surrendered directly after the Beihai Kingdom was occupied, as they had promised, he would not hesitate to give them the fifth-level treatment.

Consider it a case of spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones.

However, since they broke their promise, they must be punished.

Otherwise, wouldn't everyone end up looking the same?

They were given a third-level treatment because they didn't cooperate in sending troops when Tao Qian attacked.

Otherwise, Ji Qiu even considered giving them Level 2 or Level 1 treatment directly.

They will surely regret it for the rest of their lives!

(End of this chapter)