The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Although Jiangdong was prosperous, with the fall of Jianye, all the grain stored in the official granaries was given to that bastard Guan Yu. In addition, the Wu army was fighting on all sides, and Eastern Wu was already in dire straits, barely able to survive.

In other words, even landlords have no surplus grain, so they naturally have to be careful with their spending and save wherever possible.

Moreover, Guan Xing would turn around and attack the Wu army once he got the grain. The more grain the Wu army received, the more they would be beaten. Under such circumstances, they would naturally try to renege on their promises.

"Uh……"

Guan Xing was surprised that Zhuge Ke was so worthless in the eyes of Eastern Wu. He was stunned for a moment before laughing and saying, "Okay, no problem."

Upon hearing this, Sun Shao was stunned. Was Guan Xing really that easy to talk to? He didn't seem like it.

Having no way of knowing Guan Xing's thoughts, he could only smile ingratiatingly and say, "General Guan is very generous."

Guan Xing laughed and said, "But I will tell Zhuge Ke this news. The person involved has the right to know."

"I wonder how Zhuge Ke would feel if he knew that he was just a freebie in the eyes of your Eastern Wu?"

"And his father, Zhuge Jin. I heard that Zhuge Jin has been appointed as the Prefect of Nan Commandery by your second uncle. If Prefect Zhuge knew that his eldest son was so worthless in your eyes, I wonder if he would have other ideas. After all, he has a younger brother who is a high-ranking official in Bashu. Don't you think so?"

Sun Shao's smile froze instantly. After struggling for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Then we'll offer 200,000 shi of grain per person, no bargaining. But you have to return the captured soldiers to us."

Guan Xing is right. It is indeed inappropriate to treat Zhuge Ke as a gift. After all, he is the eldest son of the Zhuge family. We cannot let a mere 200,000 shi of grain cause a rift between the Zhuge father and son.

Since that's the case, the only option left is to ask for other freebies, such as surrendered soldiers.

Guan Xing picked up the teapot and refilled his cup, then leaned back in his chair and shook his head, saying, "Surrendered soldiers don't participate in buying and selling. I am a general of the Han Dynasty, not a human trafficker. How could I do such a thing?"

"Besides, didn't I already give you a Captain Zhang Ming? One shouldn't be too greedy."

What is most valuable in the world today is neither food nor gold, but young and strong men who can fight and work.

Those surrendered soldiers are both a source of manpower and a source of labor. If we return them to you, who will mine coal and other minerals for me?

Sun Shao's expression changed slightly as he continued to plead, "General Guan, those surrendered soldiers are the pillars of their families. If we don't go back, how will their parents, wives, and children survive?"

"The King of Hanzhong is renowned throughout the land for his benevolence and righteousness. As his general, General Guan, can you truly bear to watch those surrendered soldiers be torn apart from their families, causing their parents to lose their sons, their wives to lose their husbands, and their children to lose their fathers?"

That's a bit like moral blackmail.

Guan Xing sneered, "Want them to reunite with their families? Fine, all of you from Eastern Wu will surrender. That way, we won't have to fight anymore, and all the surrendered soldiers can happily go home. Isn't that great?"

Sun Shao was speechless; there was no way to continue the conversation.

Guan Xing said, "Everything has to be done step by step. No one can get fat in one bite. So let's talk about something practical. The three generals are in Zhuji. When will you send some grain to bring them back?"

Seeing this, Sun Shao gave up any hope of redeeming the surrendered soldiers and went straight to the point: "The grain supplies are in Shanyin. They can be handed over at any time if the general is willing, but I would like to see General Zhang Cheng first."

Guan Xing decisively refused, saying, "There's no need. You can see each other anytime after the handover is complete. You're not a couple, so a few more days won't make a difference."

"Knowing that Brother Sun's heart is not here, I will not keep you any longer. Gan Xun, escort General Sun out of the city to fetch grain."

Sun Shao: "..."

Is it really necessary to be in such a hurry? At least let me have a meal.

Guan Xing said that he has to mine coal and other minerals, pick and process tea, allocate land for spring plowing, and even make paper and build schools. He has a lot of things to do, so he doesn't have time to waste with you.

After seeing Sun Shao off, Guan Xing immediately led his men up the mountain to pick tea, preparing to process a batch quickly so that Sun Shao, the free salesman, could deliver it back to Eastern Wu.

Although Zhuji is not far from Shanyin, transporting grain takes too much time, and Sun Shao only returned seven days after leaving.

Guan Xing did not allow him to enter the city, but instead met him outside the city, sending Zhou Xun out first to show his sincerity.

Of the three, Zhou Xun was the least valuable because his father was dead, and his Zhou family was not a local gentry. With the passing of Zhou Yu, the Zhou family's influence in Jiangdong was declining. Even if Sun Shao reneged on the deal at the last minute and left after receiving Zhou Xun, Guan Xing would not suffer any loss.

Sun Shao dared not play the double-crossing trick now, and immediately delivered the grain upon receiving Zhou Xun's order.

Guan Xing and others counted and stored the grain, and only after confirming that everything was correct were they able to release Zhuge Ke to exchange for the second batch of grain.

After changing tactics, they decided to have Sun Shao deliver the last batch of grain before releasing Zhang Cheng.

I've already shown my sincerity, so you should reciprocate in kind.

Because of a lack of trust between the two parties, both fearing that the other might cheat them during the transaction, the handover lasted a whole day, and it was already dark when Zhang Cheng left the city.

Zhang Cheng didn't leave empty-handed. Before he left, Guan Xing gave him a wheelbarrow and even thoughtfully helped him push it out of the city gate and across the moat.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they crossed the drawbridge, Guan Xing turned around and quickly returned to the city, closing the city gate and raising the drawbridge, leaving Zhang Cheng stranded on the moat.

Zhang Cheng froze on the spot, then, coming to his senses, began to hurl profanities at the city wall.

It's either help completely or not help at all; there's no reason to help someone only halfway.

Knowing that cursing was useless, Zhang Cheng had no choice but to push the cart forward alone. However, he was as if he were sick and could not push it steadily. He stumbled with every step and it took a lot of effort to push it out of the range of an arrow.

Seeing that Zhang Cheng had moved to a safe distance, Sun Shao hurriedly ran over to help. While pushing the cart, he noticed that Zhang Cheng's left arm was weak and asked in surprise, "General Zhang, what happened to your hand?"

Mentioning this, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but feel sorrow. That night, when the Han army attacked the camp, Guan Xing grabbed the shaft of his spear and threw him over his shoulder, thus twisting his left wrist.

It was originally just a minor sprain that wasn't serious. If it had been treated promptly, it wouldn't have had any impact. The problem is that it wasn't treated in time.

Not only that, but that damned Guan Xing even piled up a human pyramid on top of him, causing him secondary injury.

His left hand was essentially ruined. After treatment, Cheng Li said that he would never be able to lift heavy objects with his left hand again.

Seeing that he seemed to have something difficult to say, Sun Shao didn't press further. Instead, he changed the subject, asking, "What are these four boxes on the cart for?"

Zhang Cheng said with a wry smile, "It was tea sent by Guan Xing. Each of the four of us received a box."

Sun Shao said in surprise, "Sending so much, Guan Xingren is really kind."

Guan Xing did mention giving him tea during the negotiations that day, but Sun Shao thought it was just a casual remark, never expecting...

Zhang Cheng angrily cursed, "Good my ass! Ziyu, remember this: Guan Xing has all sorts of intentions, but he's never kind. Sending us tea is a clear sign of his malicious intent."

“We’ve been drinking tea recently, and after half a month we were surprised to find that we’ve become addicted to it. If we don’t drink tea for a day, our mouths have no taste. Now I can’t even drink cold water. I have to boil the water before I drink it.”

The big man had neither the habit of drinking tea nor boiling water, and he had no concept of bacteria or parasites. When he was thirsty, he would drink cold water directly.

But Guan Xing, that bastard, had some crazy idea. He always carried a teacup with him and drank only hot water. If there was no hot water, he would rather be thirsty than drink it. This caused Zhang Cheng to also develop the bad habit of drinking hot water.

Zhang Cheng grumbled, "So Guan Xing sent us tea because he wanted to get us into the habit of drinking tea, and then use the tea to charge exorbitant prices and extort us, since he has the tea-making recipe."

Sun Shao suddenly realized and said, "I see. Then let's not drink it and just throw away all these tea leaves."

Zhang Cheng quickly stopped him, saying, "No, it would be such a waste to throw away something so good."

"As for the formula, we'll find someone to study it when we get back. I don't believe that we can't make something that Guan Xing can make with so many people."