Fei Lak's Audience Hall - Shanggu

[Phailak]

The guards looked at the older man and frowned when they saw he was holding a piece of parchment.

"Lord Fei Lak is expecting you, though Master Feng insist that each visitor submit to a quick search."

The guards waited for consent though they did not seem to expect anything other.

[Ashikaga]

The two mounted warriors nodded, Lu threw down his spear first. He was then followed by Jin Tuan. Lu Anguo remained mounted and looked down on them, "Well, are you going to let me in? Thats all we have. I also want a proper stable for our horses."

[Phailak]

The guard nodded and whistled for an attendant for the horses. He fingered another guard.

"Someone will be here shortly for the horses, when you are ready, follow that man there."

Assuming he followed, he was brought to the double doors of the audience hall where Liang Feng greeted them and let them pass. On some make shift ceremonial chair sat a man starting his thirties, a stack of reports to his left, a noble looking warrior to his right. He rose when the two men entered.

"Welcome Lu Anquo. I am Fei Lak and I am happy you replied to my letter so quickly. The man next to you is Liang Feng, he is in charge of the security of the administration. Next to me is Ma Dieu, the man that opened my eyes to your talent. Would you like some refreshments or simply get down to business straight away?"

His papers forgotten, the Prefect of Shanggu gave his full attention to the man.

[Ashikaga]

The formalities and ceremonial decor did not impress Lu, he had seen enough of it in the Qin palaces and ceremonies. What did impress him was the offer for some refreshments. Lu looked to the lord, "Yes, I will take your finest wine. The man next to me is Jiu Tuan, he would also like some of your wine."


Feeling satisfied that he would soon have some nice wine, Lu continued, "I trust you have some sort of offer in mind?"

[Xushou]

A small camp had sprung up overnight atop a small hill rising to the southwest of Shanggu, along the main route of travel between Yan and Changshan provinces. With the rising of the sun, nearly a hundred cooking fires were alight in the camp. The men were ill at ease, and twice the usual amount of guards had been posted around the camp for added security. Overhead the largest tent in the camp flew a dark banner bearing the Xiong family crest, though the owner of the banner had left with the first light to enter the city of Shanggu.

At the head of a small entourage including his trusted subordinate Shan San, Xiong Xushou silently inspected the city as his carriage drew him closer and closer to the city's center and the hall of lord Fei Lak. It was a rare moment for that dark carriage's curtains to be fully open, but its occupant for the most part ignored the people passing on the streets around him. Though he was enjoying the sightseeing during his brief trip through Shanggu, Xiong Xushou had come to Yan for business and not pleasure.

Finally, the carriage arrived, and the entourage of ten soldiers quickly caught up to surround the carriage and its occupant. Shan San was waiting by the door when Xushou climbed down and into the light of the morning. Quietly and quickly, he gave instructions to his men before marching up to the guards posted outside the government complex.

Xiong Xushou's eyes passed over the guards with a small measure of distaste, flanked by only two of the soldiers from his entourage. He did not bow or salute these men, as he was clearly superior to them - in his own mind at least - and carried himself in a manner that displayed that opinion quite openly. Without deigning to make eye contact with any of the men there, the chief of Quzhou stated in a clear voice:

"I am Xiong Xushou, master of the village of Quzhou in the province of Changshan," the young man began. "At the request of General Ma Dieu, I have come to speak with Prefect Fei Lak."

[Phailak]

The formalities and ceremonial decor did not impress Lu, he had seen enough of it in the Qin palaces and ceremonies. What did impress him was the offer for some refreshments. Lu looked to the lord, "Yes, I will take your finest wine. The man next to me is Jiu Tuan, he would also like some of your wine."


Feeling satisfied that he would soon have some nice wine, Lu continued, "I trust you have some sort of offer in mind?"

Lak motionned to a servant near the door. Another made preparations for them to sit and drink. Ma Dieu joined them, as the Prefect wasted no time moving onto business once both his guests had had at least a bit of wine.

"Dieu tells me he has an enormous amount of respect for you, though I believe he does not know you personally. I will be honest with you Master Lu, though we have managed to accomplish much, we are far from our goals. The men that have forged this Coalition of Yan with me, we are younger and lack some veteran experience as well as organizing a military with more than 10 000 men. That's where you come in."

Lak paused and considered.

"I can't put you above my established officers, that would be unfair to them though I am sure they would understand. I can however, promise you to be at the same level as the highest paid military officer in the kingdom for the rest of your career. Right now this means 50 gold per month of salary for you and your follower. You would get the rank of Lieutenant General as of next month. I also plan of acquiring the rank of Marquis soon enough since Ji will soon officially be under my control, then you would be amongst the top for the position of Marshall."

The Prefect realized he was monopolizing the conversation.

"Where I am flexible is on a signing bonus. Now if this is all too pompus for you, then we can also negotiate mercenary work you can do for us if your men are ready for such."

Lak smiled, waiting for an answer.

[Mardagg]

When master Xiong Xushou finish is request a soldier whas sent to Ma Dieu: he was hoping his guess will come, we would have come in Changsha to invite him personnaly in Shanggu but he was severly injured. By the time Ma Dieu arrive the soldier had time to do a search and ask the guest to leave their weapon behind.

Ma Dieu knew right away it was the men he was looking for, just by his prestance you can see that he is a man of influence.

''I am very honnor master Xiong Xushou of Quzhou to meet you in person, my name is lord Ma Dieu , I have spoken of you to lord Fei Lak: he is waiting for you as we speak. Is there anything you what to ask or that I could do for you before we meet Prefect Fei Lak?''

[Xushou]

Xiong Xushou did not carry a weapon, though several small knives were confiscated from his men in addition to their Pi spears. During the search, neither man would stray more than an arm's length from their lord, and both gave cold stares to the guards of Shanggu who were carrying out the search. When all was said and done, they were met by Ma Dieu. Whereas before, Xiong Xushou's men had trailed him, then they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder in front of their lord, who watched Ma Dieu carefully from behind them.

"If Prefect Fei awaits, General Ma, then to keep him waiting would be disgraceful," Xushou replied calmly. His gaze went past Ma Dieu, eyes narrowing as he tried to see further into the complex. "If you would lead me to him, then we shall see what business we may have together."

[Ashikaga]

Lu considered the offer, 50 gold per month? That was virtually worthless. It would take him years to gather enough money to purchase anything of value. The possibility of a position as a marshal was tempting though. Lu considered this offer while sipping his wine, Jiu remained silent, he had already spoken to Lu about his feelings on the topic. Lu did not like the idea of giving up his new found freedom, allowing Jiu to be commanded by another, and giving up his personal army. "You are correct, I am a veteran officer with a great many years of experience. During my Qin years I was known for my ability to whip an army into shape and also as a field commander. I have found many young officers know how to lead men, and how to use their blades but they lack sound judgment. A man in charge of a field army must have sound judgment so he knows how not to throw his men carelessly into the field. A commander with proper judgment can spare a great many lives."

Lu looked furtively at Ma Dieu, he was not lying. An officer lacking judgment spelled doom for a great many soldiers. "I am willing to offer my services to you as an officer on the premise I will be treated as an equal amongst your top officers, providing the rank you are granting me. Perhaps we could negotiate a bonus also that you spoke of."

Before he continued along those lines, Lu broke track a little, "I am no idealist, I do not believe that some single man can save the world. I however am a seasoned military man, and providing you are a decent lord who pays well, you will have my undivided loyalty."

[Phailak]

Lu considered the offer, 50 gold per month? That was virtually worthless. It would take him years to gather enough money to purchase anything of value. The possibility of a position as a marshal was tempting though. Lu considered this offer while sipping his wine, Jiu remained silent, he had already spoken to Lu about his feelings on the topic. Lu did not like the idea of giving up his new found freedom, allowing Jiu to be commanded by another, and giving up his personal army. "You are correct, I am a veteran officer with a great many years of experience. During my Qin years I was known for my ability to whip an army into shape and also as a field commander. I have found many young officers know how to lead men, and how to use their blades but they lack sound judgment. A man in charge of a field army must have sound judgment so he knows how not to throw his men carelessly into the field. A commander with proper judgment can spare a great many lives."

Lu looked furtively at Ma Dieu, he was not lying. An officer lacking judgment spelled doom for a great many soldiers. "I am willing to offer my services to you as an officer on the premise I will be treated as an equal amongst your top officers, providing the rank you are granting me. Perhaps we could negotiate a bonus also that you spoke of."

Before he continued along those lines, Lu broke track a little, "I am no idealist, I do not believe that some single man can save the world. I however am a seasoned military man, and providing you are a decent lord who pays well, you will have my undivided loyalty."

Lak nodded while sipping at his wine.

"Of course, that is understood, I would never fault a man who finds a better opportunity elsewhere. The 50 gold is a starting point as I said, but by putting you as an equal to my other men at all times, it guarantees your salary will rise with the rise of the kingdom, I just can't afford to bleed the coffers dry for my men before we are established. As for the bonus, I offer you 50 gold since that is what I just paid my officers this month, this basically puts you on the same starting point at every level financially. This means next month in September, I will give you your 50 gold plus another 50 gold, your reputation has at least bought you that much. Like I said, if my plans work out, we will have a second city next month and will be able to afford bumps in salary."

The Prefect gave a quick look to his guest's companion.

"To you speak for you both, your man's talents are not to be ignored, he would be assigned to you when the need was there, but we could use him for a variety of other jobs too. He would get the standard rate of 50 gold per month, it will be up to him to prove himself for the rest."

Lak looked at the man with a smile, hoping to seal the deal.

Xiong Xushou did not carry a weapon, though several small knives were confiscated from his men in addition to their Pi spears. During the search, neither man would stray more than an arm's length from their lord, and both gave cold stares to the guards of Shanggu who were carrying out the search. When all was said and done, they were met by Ma Dieu. Whereas before, Xiong Xushou's men had trailed him, then they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder in front of their lord, who watched Ma Dieu carefully from behind them.

"If Prefect Fei awaits, General Ma, then to keep him waiting would be disgraceful," Xushou replied calmly. His gaze went past Ma Dieu, eyes narrowing as he tried to see further into the complex. "If you would lead me to him, then we shall see what business we may have together."

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.