Zhuge Guanqi filled Hu Xiaotian's wine cup and asked with a smile, "So you aren't going to agree, my lord?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "If I refuse, they have another move ready. Great Kang is suffering badly from the famine, and the terms they've offered are extremely tempting."
Zhuge Guanqi asked, "Do you think His Majesty will agree, my lord?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "His Majesty has also sent an envoy here, asking me for a hundred thousand shi of grain."
Zhuge Guanqi said, "His Majesty does not hold the initiative. Eastern Liang Commandery and the Eastern Luo Granary are now under your control, my lord, as are the provisions. Even if His Majesty agrees to hand the lands north of the river over to Great Yong, he will still need your consent."
Hu Xiaotian said, "If I refuse, I'll be openly defying an imperial decree. His Majesty will then have a perfectly legitimate reason to move against me."
Zhuge Guanqi said, "If you give away those two cities, my lord, where will you and your soldiers go, including the troops you've just recruited?"
Hu Xiaotian fell silent. He held only three cities. If he lost the lands north of the river, his only option would be to retreat to Wu Xing. Zhuge Guanqi was asking a question whose answer he already knew.
Zhuge Guanqi said, "Whatever happens, your strength won't be diminished by much, my lord! If you command seventy thousand elite troops with ample provisions, I'm afraid it will be Great Kang's emperor who ought to start worrying."
Hu Xiaotian nodded. That made perfect sense. No one could help worrying about a disobedient fellow commanding seventy thousand troops on his borders. Yet Long Xuan'en seemed to have little choice. If the famine within Great Kang did not improve, even greater