Fei Lak's Audience Hall - Shanggu

[osiris]

Jiang Bao could only shrug and said "So this man, there are rumours that he leads a huge army, and that his numbers are second to none. How will you hope to stop him. He has taken 2 of your towns and appears to siege your city too. What would you do?"

Jing laughed, "One city is worth 5 towns easy. His huge army is very incompetent and often ends up losing engagements where they actually have to fight."

[jiangbao]

Jiang Bao smiled and replied "And so it appears to be so. Tell me general, what are your future plans after your forces subdude this Li Lang and his horde of soldiers?"

[Xushou]

Lak waited in his hall, discussing matters with his nephew Kang. When the doors opened and Feng admitted General Ma and their guests, he motionned for Kang to wait. After proper introductions were made, Lak smiled.

"Chief Xiong, I am honored that you would grace this hall with your presence. May I offer you and your men some refreshments?"

The hall seemed to already be prepared to welcome a small concession of men, but Lak knew that not everyone wished such formalities so his smile indicated there would be no offense in a refusal.

Xiong Xushou entered the audience hall, led by General Ma Dieu. His men still walked before him, meeting everyone they passed with cold stares and silence. When the three had been presented before Fei Lak, the two guards each paced to the side and knelt, allowing a wide berth for their master to walk through. The young chief positioned himself just ahead of them as he made a very slight bow to the Prefect.

"That will not be necessary, lord Prefect," Xushou replied as he straightened. "I do not wish to be a burden upon your time any more than I suspect you wish to be a burden upon mine. As such, we shall discuss our business openly, if that is your wish."

[Phailak]

Fei Lak bowed deeply.

"Agreed. General Ma here seems to believe that our destinies are intertwined. I am not sure how much you know of what is transpiring in Yan, so let me simply brief you on my take on things. We have established a solid base in Shanggu with a strong army, well equiped and well trained. A great man, Kung Xian, that is also part of the coalition has seized Ji and is preparing to hand over its reign to a man of my choosing under our forces. Our main ennemy, a young charismatic man named Li Lang has ammassed an impressive amount of men under his banner but has yet to taste victory and seems ready for peace. Since General Ma here likes to think ahead, he has assumed that my ambitions lie beyond Yan and has started to study where our forces will go next to establish our dogma."

Lak rose, starting to pace as he continued his speech.

"I do hope you will not think me presumptuous by making these claims, I am simply stating what we believe our course of action will be. Perhaps we have earned that right, after mere months of organization, we have managed to capture two cities and won many battles. Yet, there have been many foolish mistakes and I would learn from them. With Li Lang, huge amounts of ressources on both sides were wasted. With Shanggu, we had to slay thousands of soldiers to claim right to the city."

The Prefect stopped, sharing a look of concern with Ma Dieu.

"I am not so naive to think war can be avoided, not when I know the ambitions me and the others strive to attain. Still, I believe it is my duty to find the easiest path for my men and my people. So all this would bring me to your province of Changshan. There are two ways into Yan from a military standpoint, from your province and Jibei. Today, with you here, we wish to know what options we have in Changshan. If we are to expand outside of Yan, we will need a foothold, something I believe your influence can provide. I am quite sure you are capable of accomplishing a great many deeds all by yourself, perhaps even usurp one of the cities there and establish a strong force. Yet you must fear your surroundings no? Wu Chen to the south, armies of free men roaming the province, other ambitious Lords looking for opportunity. Our forces will spill out of Yan soon, we were wondering Chief Xiong if you would help us guide our strength and ease our expansion."

Lak took a deep breath but did not seem ready to relinquish just yet.

"In truth Chief Xiong, it comes down to your own ambitions. If you wish to be your own Lord and Master, an independant force in the land, no amount of facts or proposals will move you to our side. If, however, you are perhaps simply looking to administer a city, perhaps have a small army at your disposal, a high rank, then we can surely come to an agreement, yes? I do not wish to impose my will on you, I am simply trying to find out if perhaps there is an opportunity for us to work together. There it is, as business like as I can put into words."

Lak held his hand out as if he had just declared his most inner thoughts and was exposed to his guest, his smile however did not seem so revealing.

[Ashikaga]

Lu Anguo nodded as the man spoke understanding all that was said to him. He still did not like to idea of giving up his freedom that easily when he could make a great deal more doing mercenary work. His ambitions to be great and honored amongst lords have long since past, as he grew more pessimistic over the years. He had to consider all possibilities.

Lu took a deep breath in great thought, "My lord, what mercenary work do you have in store. Perhaps I may still function as a commander for you, just less formally. I have come to enjoy my freedom over the years and I fear that Jiu and I may be separated and kept apart based on the needs of the kingdom. He has served me well through the years and I would not wish to see him cast into some back role. He is an excellent commander himself, I would entrust him with supporting an entire army. I will consider all you say and make a final decision based on that."

[Xushou]

Lak held his hand out as if he had just declared his most inner thoughts and was exposed to his guest, his smile however did not seem so revealing.

Xiong Xushou stood still for a long moment after the prefect's lengthy speech ended. His expression was a mask of calm, betraying little emotion and less reaction from the prospect of war in his homeland. At last, he made a slight bow to the prefect, carefully speaking his reply, "Lord Prefect, I am but a humble man. Can you say with confidence that any man you have met does not have the ambition to advance his standing in the world? I cannot, and I am certainly not such a man. Any who claim to be are likely liars."

"You wish to invite me here to avoid conflict in Changshan," Xushou expounded on his understanding of the situation, "which is a noble goal, lord Fei. Though by the news I gather, loss of life is rampant in Yan. So, to lessen the bloodshed seen elsewhere, you seek to call those with power in those provinces to aid you in the transition you seek."

"As you yourself suspect, my ambitions are not to remain the lord of a small village only. However, I humbly question your approach, lord Prefect," the young chief went on, with an emphasis on Fei Lak's title. A cool smile appeared on Xiong Xushou's lips to accompany the very slight shake of his head. "You would offer things perfectly within my abilities to claim without calling you my master, unless you mean to name yourself King of Yan. Such a bold claim, though, would likely draw the ire of many others who claim such mighty titles for themselves."

"You say, my lord, that you do not wish to impose your will upon me," Xushou sighed, "but what assurance would I have of that if I declined your offer? If you mean to pacify the land under your name, then you claim to be a king in all but title."

[Mardagg]

Master Xiong Xushou, you probably already know that the Khan of the Xiongnu tribe Toumen is dead and that is elder son Modun Shanyu (Modu) decide to make of the tribe an Empire they are making plans as we speak of invading the northen province, and Wu Chen in the south is raising a vast army capable of invading Yan, Changshan and Dai all together. If we all stand alone, tell me master Xiong Xushou what chance do we have? Fei Lak is not the kind of men that force men to bend to is will: we fight for him because we belive in him, we all work togetter with are best skills for the greather good. For know we belive that if we unite we would have a better chance of standing against the threat that surround all of us. Will you stay behind a tin wall to look at the storm coming(Xiongnu Empire or Wu Chen) or you will help us stoping it? We are going to need a magistrate to administrate in ChangShan: you have the heritage of five generations of wealthy families, your influence is well known in the province, Shan San have the ability of protecting you as a chief of the city garnison, you could leave us whit the military business and we could leave you with the civil affairs unite under the same banner!

Ma Dieu finish his speech he then look to Fei Lak to see if he had anything to say/add

[osiris]

Jiang Bao smiled and replied "And so it appears to be so. Tell me general, what are your future plans after your forces subdude this Li Lang and his horde of soldiers?"

Jing smiled and said, "Simple. We unite the rest of the land, and make a more stable, secure, and prosperous land then ever before. I believe Fei Lak is the only lord who can make this land move forward."

[jiangbao]

Jiang Bao raised his eyebrowns and said "So you think Fei Lak would do welll as the overlord. What about the 2 Qin princes, do they not count at all?"

He was slightly surprised when the general announcded about his lord's intentions to sieze power so soon.

[Phailak]

Lu Anguo nodded as the man spoke understanding all that was said to him. He still did not like to idea of giving up his freedom that easily when he could make a great deal more doing mercenary work. His ambitions to be great and honored amongst lords have long since past, as he grew more pessimistic over the years. He had to consider all possibilities.

Lu took a deep breath in great thought, "My lord, what mercenary work do you have in store. Perhaps I may still function as a commander for you, just less formally. I have come to enjoy my freedom over the years and I fear that Jiu and I may be separated and kept apart based on the needs of the kingdom. He has served me well through the years and I would not wish to see him cast into some back role. He is an excellent commander himself, I would entrust him with supporting an entire army. I will consider all you say and make a final decision based on that."

Lak seemed disappointed but nodded.

"I understand such needs for freedom and respect it. Seeing as you have only a small force for now, the only work I can offer is in Yan, gathering the villages in my name. I believe this would stop your army from growing, but I'd pay you 50 gold for each that you claim. You should not have a hard time, a simple visit should be enough. Once that is completed, we will probably show interest in another location which would find a lot more work for your force. Another option is not to move your army and start building and training it soon, not sure how well equipped they will be but once you participate in a battle with us you'll get your share of the spoils. This for now is all I can offer unless my reportson your army are wrong. Of course, I would much prefer having you as a commander... what would you say if my offer was for a certain time only, to be revised afterwards? Let us say 6 months?"

The Prefect waited to see if any of his suggestions were negociable, Dieu was insisted on securing this man's talents.

Lak held his hand out as if he had just declared his most inner thoughts and was exposed to his guest, his smile however did not seem so revealing.

Xiong Xushou stood still for a long moment after the prefect's lengthy speech ended. His expression was a mask of calm, betraying little emotion and less reaction from the prospect of war in his homeland. At last, he made a slight bow to the prefect, carefully speaking his reply, "Lord Prefect, I am but a humble man. Can you say with confidence that any man you have met does not have the ambition to advance his standing in the world? I cannot, and I am certainly not such a man. Any who claim to be are likely liars."

"You wish to invite me here to avoid conflict in Changshan," Xushou expounded on his understanding of the situation, "which is a noble goal, lord Fei. Though by the news I gather, loss of life is rampant in Yan. So, to lessen the bloodshed seen elsewhere, you seek to call those with power in those provinces to aid you in the transition you seek."

"As you yourself suspect, my ambitions are not to remain the lord of a small village only. However, I humbly question your approach, lord Prefect," the young chief went on, with an emphasis on Fei Lak's title. A cool smile appeared on Xiong Xushou's lips to accompany the very slight shake of his head. "You would offer things perfectly within my abilities to claim without calling you my master, unless you mean to name yourself King of Yan. Such a bold claim, though, would likely draw the ire of many others who claim such mighty titles for themselves."

"You say, my lord, that you do not wish to impose your will upon me," Xushou sighed, "but what assurance would I have of that if I declined your offer? If you mean to pacify the land under your name, then you claim to be a king in all but title."

Lak was nodding to the man's words, but in no means was he agreeing with them.

"I understand your doubts and your hesitation. I have invited you here to simply state my intentions are beyond Yan. My ambitions are far greater than normal men and I have the means to attain them. I am not so foolish as to think I can plow may way through the land, stating what I may and all would cow in fear of my awe. I also understand that I will make a great deal of ennemies by doing so, but I will also attract a great deal of allies. Can you deny that as a village Chief and even town magistrate it is difficult to secure officers or even just the respect of the local men leading the cities and armies? I was in such a position myself mere months ago. All that has changed but we still have a reputation to build, it will not be given tome, I will have to take it. Yet, I must try and identify those I believe can help me grow for all the commanders in the world will not create the backbone needed for such an endevour as I seek to undertake. I will worry about titles and what people think of me when it is time for that. Look to the land, everyone is carving themselves little kingdoms left and right, you know as well as I do this cannot last, the chaos from it will destroy us all. So some will join under one banner, others will fall and yet others will emerge as a standing force. I plan to be amongst the strongest in the north, that is our objective right now. I will not sit in Yan while some other man satisfies his ambitions. Like I have said, all my words are for naught if you have already decided for yourself that you have the same ambitions and perhaps if it is so, we will soon be speaking in terms of alliances or wars, but if you are so inclined to simply rule in a smaller manner, my offer stands. You join what we call the coalition and you have an established army at your back, ready to defend you should the need arise and eventually move past your city as we conquer our next target."

Fei Lak stood in sort of a trance for a few seconds.

"As General Ma has mentionned, your influence and family ties in your province are great indeed, I believe you have no need of us to grow in power, you could probably have a city soon enough. Actually, there must be a reason why you have not acted as of yet but that is not of my concern. My question remains what shall you do once you acquire such power for you cannot stand alone forever. Either you will join someone at that point, using your power as a negociation tool or you will be attacked and will either have to expand in order to protect what you have acquired or you will be destroyed. I am not making these scenarios up, the past few months have revealed a flood of such events. We right now, are offering you the power of negociation even before you acquire such power. I am not here to dictate what you should do, I offer you the chance to tell me what is fair. I will have no less respect for you should you choose to decline us and wait to see how things turn out for you and probably for us. Just take the time to realize this month you could be a cornerstone of our expansion, next month everything can change."

Lak clasped his hands behind his back as the fiery passion departed from his eyes, you could sense he had a tremendous amount of respect for his guest and was sincere in his words. He would try this approach and see from there.