Chapter Twenty-Four: Reasoning

  He Lanxiong was taken out of the room with three others and after eating, they were no longer tied up. He Lanxiong also gave up his idea of escaping as the horses were now in the hands of the other party and there was a high wall somewhere, escaping would only bring shame to himself. Now, he just thought about how to get the other party to release him, as for other things, he didn't dare to hope for more.

  Gao Yuan politely placed a wooden stool in front of him and invited He Lanxiong to sit down.

  "You said earlier that I'm a reasonable person, but actually I don't really talk reason, however since you've given me a high hat, I'd be willing to give you an opportunity to talk some sense." Gaoyuan smiled and said.

  He Lanxiong stared at Gao Yuan's smiling face, who had just been locked in the house. However, he saw clearly what was happening outside. Watching Gao Yuan deal with a group of soldiers, He Lanxiong felt a mix of emotions. When he heard Gao Yuan speak, he waved his hand and said, "No need to explain further, you've already made it very clear."

  "Oh, when did I ever reason with you?" Gaoyuan said strangely.

  "You've already told me with your fists that in our Xiongnu tribe, whoever has the bigger and harder fist gets to say what's right. I lost, so naturally your reasoning is correct. Take the horse, and if you have any other conditions, just name them - as long as we can leave, it's fine."

  He Lanxiong said frankly: "I won't hide it from you either - I'm a noble of the He Lan branch of the Xiongnu, my name is He Lanxiong. This is my younger sister He Lanyan, and these are my two guards. Although our He Lan branch is a small tribe, we can still afford to pay ransom."

  Gao Yuan coughed a few times, and He Lanxiong's words made him feel somewhat embarrassed. However, he had ulterior motives for bringing He Lanxiong back. The State of Yan was facing a huge threat from the Donghu, and Fufeng County was located on the front line. At that time, the Xiongnu were still relatively weak and were also being bullied by the Donghu. If they could establish a relationship with the Xiongnu, it might be useful in the future. He Lanxiong's martial skills were not bad, and he was even a minor noble from a Xiongnu tribe, which made him even more valuable. Although his tribe was small, it still had some power, and at the very least, it was stronger than Gao Yuan's own hundred-man battalion.

  "You can't say that!" Gao Yuan said sternly: "That's the logic of you Xiongnu people, so it's said that you are barbarians. We Great Yan people are a country of etiquette, and I, Gao Yuan, am a gentleman, so generally we first use our mouths to reason, if our mouths can't get through, then we use our fists to reason."

  He Lanxiong didn't know what the other person was getting at and couldn't think of a response for the moment. He Lanyan snorted on the side, "What a country that values etiquette! Earlier when I saw you extorting money from that Ho Dashi, I didn't feel like you were a decent person at all. Hypocrite!"

  Gaoyuan smiled and said: "How do you not know that I've never reasoned with this person? Let me tell you, this guy is just a piece of cow dung. I once used my mouth to reason with him, so now it's usually with fists."

  He Lan Yan thought for a moment, "That's right, that what's-his-name Huo young master isn't a good person either, always staring at me with lustful eyes."

  Gao Yuan clapped his hands and said, "See, you also said that he is not a good person, so I hit him. Isn't that a heroic act of upholding justice? Whether or not you are good people, I don't know yet. Of course, we can first discuss the matter with our mouths. So, what you said about me being hypocritical is wrong, isn't it?"

  "Right!" He Lan Yan unconsciously echoed Gao Yuan's words, and as soon as she spoke, she realized it wasn't right. But once the words were out, they couldn't be taken back. Instantly, her face turned bright red. "You rascal!"

  Gao Yuan burst out laughing and looked at He Lan Xiong, spreading his hands out in a gesture of helplessness.

  "Gao Bingcao, what do you want us to do?" asked He Tianxiong.

  "Did you hit my subordinate?"

  "Yes, but they provoked me first, I didn't provoke them." He Tianxiong said.

  "Never mind that for now, I'm a person who sticks up for myself, whoever hits my people, I hit back first and talk later, if I win then we can discuss the reason, now I've won so I can talk to you about it, do you admit defeat?" Gaoyuan said with a smile.

  "Convinced, of course convinced!" What else can He Tianxiong say besides being convinced?

  "Alright, my subordinates went to beat you up for no reason, it was their fault. As their superior, I apologize to you." Gaoyuan's words took He Tianxiong by surprise, and before he could react, Gaoyuan had already stood up and bowed deeply to him.

  "It's too kind of you!" He Tianxiong hastily stood up, waving his hands repeatedly.

  "I've apologized already, you hit my subordinate, I hit back, so now we're even, aren't we?" Gao Yuan smiled and said.

  "It's all even! It's all even!"

  "But!" Gaoyuan changed the subject, "Your subordinates are now lively and unhurt, my subordinates are bruised and battered, you also saw that we are very poor, to treat their injuries, it will cost a lot of money."

  "I'll pay for it!" He Lanxiong interrupted, but as soon as he spoke, he knew that this guy was going to play another trick on him.

  "Look at you, you don't look like you have a lot of money either." Gaoyuan said with a smile, "I have more than ten brothers who were injured, I'm afraid the medical expenses will be over ten guan, and looking at you, it doesn't seem like you're carrying that much money on you either."

  "I'll give you my horse as compensation for the medical expenses, how about that?" said He Lanxiong.

  "Alright, Brother He is indeed generous, but you have six horses here, I think having one to compensate would be enough. Sun Xiao, you're the victim, go pick a horse, this is Brother He's compensation for you." Gao Yuan waved his hand.

  "Great!" Sun Xiao excitedly ran over, circled around several horses, picked the best one, and led it away. Sun Xiao had a good eye, and the horse he chose was precisely He Lanxiong's, making He Lanxiong's heart bleed with regret, but he could do nothing about it.

  "Alright, this time it's really clear." Gaoyuan clapped his hands. "I said, He Xiong, you're a noble after all. Your Helan Department may be small, but it shouldn't have to resort to having you sell horses in person, should it?"

  He Lanxiong didn't know what the other person was getting at, so he thought for a moment before responding: "That's true, but I've come for two reasons. Firstly, I've never been to Da Yan before, and I wanted to take a look around. Secondly, General Cao, winter is approaching, and our tribe doesn't have enough food, so I came ahead of time to see if I can buy some grain from Fufeng to bring back. If it's possible, I'll make several more trips. Who would have thought that as soon as I arrived, my eyes would be opened wide?" He Lanxiong said with a bitter smile.

  Gao Yuan burst out laughing, "How come there's not enough food?"

  "It was originally enough, but this year our Xiongnu several big departments united to attack Zhao Guo, suffered a great defeat, they lost the battle, in Zhao Guo did not loot anything, only to come to extort us these small tribes, our grain was forcibly taken away by them, our He Lan department also borders with Dong Hu, and has to pay tribute to them, so the tribe's grain is not enough to eat, if we don't buy grain before winter arrives, this year the tribe will definitely starve to death."

  It seems that He Lan is also a hen-pecked husband, but it's just what I wanted. Gao Yuan secretly felt pleased and said, "So that's the case. Does Brother He still plan on buying grain now?"

  "After today's commotion, who would still dare to sell me grain?" He Lanxiong shook his head and said, "Not mentioning others, just that what's-his-name, Huo Young Master, will definitely not let me off easy. If I'm not mistaken, he's no ordinary person either?" He Lanxiong thought to himself, You've swindled him out of 100 taels, he can't do anything to you, but he'll surely take it out on me instead.

  Gaoyuan burst out laughing: "That guy is the son of our Fufeng County Postal Inspector, no need to take him seriously. Brother He, if you want to buy grain, you can find me, right? You sell your horse to me and then you'll have money. Then I'll act on your behalf to buy grain for you. How about that?"

  "That's great!" He Lanxiong was overjoyed and immediately stood up, blurting out the words. But he quickly calmed down, "What do you want me to pay in return for your help?"

  "Don't speak as if I must take advantage of you!" Gaoyuan smiled and said: "I think He brother is a hero, I want to be friends with you."

  He Lanxiong looked at him with half-belief and half-doubt, his heart actually having some disbelief.

  "However!" Gao Yuan indeed started to turn around again. "Brother He, you've also seen the state I'm in here, I'm really poor, will you sell me your horse at a discount?"

  He Lan Xiong thought to himself, this guy is completely talking nonsense, glancing at the remaining copper coins on the table, where did you become poor? However, as long as he's willing to buy, that's good enough, originally had already planned to lose everything, being able to recover some of the capital is not bad either, if can even get grain back, then it's a harvest.

  "He Lanxiong asked tentatively, 'I wonder how much General Cao is willing to pay for a horse?'"

  "That's naturally the seller setting a price and the buyer paying on the spot." Gaoyuan smiled and said, but at this time he had already changed into another merchant's appearance.

  "Laughing on the surface but a tiger at heart!" He Lan Yan hid behind her brother's voice and muttered softly.

  He Lanxiong was stunned for a while before saying, "Commander Gao is indeed a connoisseur. These few horses are all top-notch warhorses. I'll give you a honest price - each one can't be less than 20 taels."

  "Twenty guan and five more, that's one hundred guan altogether! Not bad, a fair price, genuine deal, Cao Tiancheng, bring the money!" Gaoyuan clapped his hands loudly and shouted.

  Seeing Gao Yuan being so refreshing, He Lan Xiong was stunned for a moment. Originally, he was still prepared to chop Gao Yuan with a knife and had also made preparations for a big bloodshed. Unexpectedly, the other party didn't even think about it and just admitted defeat. For a while, he didn't know what to say.

  Before he could react, Gaoyuan continued: "Our Fufeng grain is five cents per catty, one guan is one thousand cents, which is two hundred catties of grain. One hundred guans are twenty thousand catties of grain. How can Brother He transport so much grain back?"

  He Lanxiong blinked his eyes, this time he was just here to explore the road, and he didn't prepare any tools for transporting so much grain, when he heard it, he suddenly became a bit stunned.

  "It seems you really didn't think of it, a truly inexperienced young noble master!" Gaoyuan laughed and said: "I'll do good deeds to the end, Zhang Yi, take Ge brother and several others to buy grain, lest they be cheated by unscrupulous merchants. Then hire some carts and horses for them, and send them over. Tell the merchant that they are my friends, if he dares not to put his heart into it, I'll make him unable to stay in Fufeng City."

  "Great!" Zhang Yile said excitedly.