Ransom Captives, Each by Their Own Means

Throughout the first lunar month, the docks in Wu Commandery, Kuaiji, Jianye, and other regions were bustling with activity, as gold, silver, and other valuables were continuously transported to Chaisang.

After Sun Quan relocated the residents of E County, he set a price of three hundred million to exchange for prisoners with Lan Tian. The site for these transactions was shifted to the now-empty E County. Lan Tian did not fuss over Sun Quan's petty schemes, instead proceeding with the prisoner exchange as planned each day.

When Zhou Tai received the prisoners, he discovered that many of the soldiers were not actually troops under Lu Meng, but rather Cao Army soldiers who had surrendered to Guan Yu during the Flooding of the Seven Armies.

The condition of all the prisoners was poor, likely because Lan Tian had deliberately selected the weakest among them.

Seeing that the "goods did not match the description," Zhou Tai immediately sought out Sun Quan to report: "My Lord, Lan Tian is passing off Cao Army soldiers as Jiangdong troops. Should we demand an exchange?"

Sun Quan pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Hmph, he won't even trade back Yu Jin, let alone these common soldiers. Let it be. As long as they are able-bodied, Cao Cao's soldiers are not bad either."

"The Cao Army infantry and cavalry are fine, but our primary need is for naval forces," Zhou Tai continued to explain.

Sun Quan frowned without answering. Zhang Zhao suddenly interjected, "Youping, why must you dwell on this? Whether they are infantry, cavalry, or naval, do you intend to use Cao Cao's surrendered troops to attack Hefei? The Shanyue are constantly rebelling in various regions; it is most appropriate to deploy them to suppress the Shanyue."

"Uh..." Zhou Tai did not