Chapter 42: Ma Haiyan's Dilemma

  Ma Yun spoke eloquently, saying that Ma Qi was young and ignorant, and hoped that the Sichuan Army would show mercy and release him to avoid conflict and maintain a harmonious relationship between the two armies. Of course, his words also carried a hint of threat, implying that if the Qinghai Army were to engage in an all-out war with the Sichuan Army, the latter would not be easily defeated.

  Cai Yun smiled disdainfully and didn't say much. Since Chuanxi was so solemnly negotiating with the Qingma Army, Ma Qi was not going to be released that easily. It wasn't easy for Ma Yuntao to take Ma Qi away either.

  "Mr. Ma, you're wrong about this. You said it was the bandits who deceived Ma Qi, but according to our intelligence, it's actually Ma Qi who gathered the bandits and deliberately attacked our military station!" Wang Yuzhang spoke up.

  At this moment, Ma Yuntao's face didn't look good. Speaking nonsense with his eyes open, anyone could tell. But Wang Yuezhe pointed it out in person, which made him somewhat unable to get down from the stage. The two battalion commanders, Bai Meng and Ding Zhongming, sitting next to Ma Yuntao, also looked at Wang Yuezhe in surprise. They found it strange that Wang Yuezhe could speak without asking for permission.

  "Director Wang, let's not get hung up on this point. Who was right or wrong is no longer important now. What we want to know now is what the Sichuan Army needs to do in order to release our young master? As for the losses caused to the Sichuan Army this time, we can give you satisfactory compensation!" Ma Yun Tao changed the subject.

  "Our terms are simple: we have only one! As long as you agree, we will release Ma Qi immediately!" Cai Yun said.

  "Oh? What conditions? General Cai, please speak, as long as our Qing Ma Army can do it, we will definitely satisfy your side!" Ma Yuntao's spirit was lifted, and he immediately said. Last time, he returned without success, and he was severely scolded by Ma Haiyan. This time, if he didn't rescue Ma Qi back, he estimated that he would receive an even more severe punishment.

  "The Green Horse Army will be reorganized under the Western Sichuan Army, and from now on, it will accept the leadership of both the Western Sichuan Army and the government. Qinghai will be incorporated into Western Sichuan!" Cai Yun said word by word. His voice was not loud, but it had a strong magnetic pull. If he were to live in later generations, who knows how many infatuated girls he would enthrall.

  The room fell silent, and even the sound of a needle falling to the ground could be heard clearly. Ma Yuntao, Bai Meng and Ding Zhongming were even more shocked, their mouths wide open, staring at Cai Yun with a look of terror, as if they had seen something unbelievable.

  "What? What did you just say, General Cai?! You want to reorganize our Qingma Army and have us accept your leadership. How is that possible?" Ma Yuntao suddenly shouted out loud. He had originally thought that the Chuanxi Army would use this opportunity to extort something from the Qingma Army, such as demanding a batch of war horses. Although the Qingma Army's war horses were not as good as those of the Chuanxi Army in terms of endurance and charging power, they were still capable of transporting goods as packhorses. In the highlands, transportation was often inconvenient, and many times it relied on horseback transport. But Ma Yuntao only now realized that he had underestimated the appetite of the Chuanxi Army. Or rather, he hadn't expected the Chuanxi Army to be so arrogant.

  Bai Meng and Ding Zhongming were also shocked, then their faces filled with anger. As mid-to-high-level generals of the Qingma Army, they had been fighting against the Chuanxi Army for so many years, now the Chuanxi Army actually wanted to reorganize them, how could this be possible? If it weren't for considering that this was the Chuanxi Army's territory, they would have already burst into loud curses.

  "That's right, Mr. Ma! These are the conditions of our Western Sichuan Army!" Cai Yun said firmly.

  "General Cai, this is impossible. The Admiral will never agree to your terms. Why don't you change the terms? For example, some substantial terms, our Qing Ma Army can compensate you with 5,000 war horses as a ransom for the young master!" Ma Yuntao said. As for the other captives of the Qing Ma Army, they were not within his consideration, let them destroy themselves!

  Cai Yun shook his head and said, "Our conditions are just that, they won't change. After the reorganization, the leader of the Qing Ma Army will still be one of your own people. However, it's essential to guarantee obedience to our orders. You'd better report this condition to Ma Haiyan first!"

  "Alright, General Cai. I'll report to the Admiral immediately!" Ma Yuntao said helplessly. He knew that Ma Haiyan would absolutely not agree to such conditions. It was impossible for him to give up the foundation he had built with his lifelong efforts just because of one son. Besides, he had more than one son. Apart from Ma Qi's position, there was also his second son Ma Lin, and many other options available to him.

  "Alright, let's stop here for today!" Cai Yun said.

  Then, Ma Yuntao and others returned to the residence prepared for them by the Western Sichuan Army. In less than ten minutes, two carrier pigeons took off into the sky. The distance from Changdu to Xining was too far, if they rode horses, it would take several days, but with carrier pigeons, half a day was enough.

  Xining is a city on the edge of Qinghai Lake and also the largest city on the plateau. Now, Xining has nearly 10 million people living here. Most are Tibetan, Hui and Han people. Since Ma Bufang's army rose up in Hezhou, all of Qinghai became under the control of the Ma clique. The headquarters of Ma Haiyan, the leader of the Ma clique, is located in Xining.

  In the evening, the people of the Admiral's Mansion received Ma Yuntiao's flying letter. They did not dare to delay and immediately sent the news to Ma Haiyan's face.

  "How dare you! The Western Sichuan Army is outrageous! Wang Xiao, you old scoundrel, how dare you humiliate me like this!" Ma Haiyan's hair stood on end in extreme anger. They had not expected that the conditions of the Western Sichuan Army would be so outrageous, actually wanting to swallow up his army and territory. This was simply too preposterous!

  "Someone, call Mr. Zhou, Gu Yingchang and Second Master!" Ma Haiyan vented his anger before sitting back in his chair. At sixty-four years old, he was no longer as physically strong as young people. After venting this fire, he felt extremely tired.

  Soon, the three people Ma Haiyan was looking for arrived. Mr. Zhou's name is Zhou He, a middle-aged man in his 40s with long whiskers and a scholarly air. Gu Yingchang is called Gu Hongyun, also in his 40s, who is the captain of the first battalion of the Qingma Army and has been following Ma Haiyan for the longest time among all the generals, second only to Ma Haiyan in status within the Qingma Army. The Second Young Master was Ma Haiyan's second son, Ma Lin, who was not yet 18 years old but had already grown very tall and was now serving in the Qingma Army.

  Three people saw Ma Haiyan's messy study and his bright red face, they all guessed that there must be some bad news coming, which made Ma Haiyan extremely angry. As for the fact that Ma Qi was captured by the Western Sichuan Army, the three of them were very clear about it. It seems that the negotiation should have gone very badly. However, in Ma Lin's eyes, there was a flash of joy. If Ma Qi didn't come back, wouldn't he become the only heir to the Qingma Army? Now, he even had some hope that the Western Sichuan Army would never release Ma Qi.

  "What's going on, Admiral?" Zhou He asked. He was Ma Haiyan's first advisor and had a good relationship with Ma Haiyan.

  "The people of the Western Chu Army have proposed their conditions for releasing Ma Qi!" Ma Haiyan said coldly.

  "Oh? Sir, are their conditions too excessive? They're asking for the sky and settling for the ground, we can slowly negotiate with them!" Zhou He said.

  "Hum! Now the key is that the Western Sichuan Army doesn't even give us a chance to talk. They want to rob me of my foundation! Want me to exchange Qingma Jun and Qinghai for Ma Qi. Such conditions, I, Ma Haiyan, absolutely will not agree!" Ma Haiyan roared in anger, like a furious lion, although he was already old, but still full of majesty.

  Zhou He, Gu Hongyun and Ma Qi were also stunned, seemingly shocked by the appetite of the Sichuan army. However, at this time, they couldn't say much either. This matter wasn't something they could intervene in. On the other hand, Ma Lin was already overjoyed in his heart.

  PS: The second update is here, please collect it! The support of book friends is the motivation for Xiaoyu to write!