"Good, good, good!"
"I agree!"
"I agree!"
Long Zhidu hurriedly agreed.
He understood perfectly well now: They could slap me dead with a single blow, yet they're still negotiating terms with me. I've come out way ahead!
"Release him!" He Pingsheng waved his hand, and Yu Si untied the ropes around Long Zhidu.
"Sit down!" He Pingsheng said mildly. "I can release you. Even releasing all your remaining elders would be no problem, but I have a few conditions!"
Long Zhidu breathed a sigh of relief and said respectfully, "Please, go ahead!"
As those words left his mouth, Long Zhidu almost doubted his own ears.
It had been far too long since he had spoken to anyone so humbly.
"First..." He Pingsheng raised one finger. "I can let the five of you go, but I cannot return the two elders I detained earlier. Those two must serve as my slaves!"
Long Zhidu said, "No problem!"
He was so delighted that he practically wanted to leap into the air.
What did that mean?
It meant all five of us could be released.
Wonderful!
"Second!" He Pingsheng continued. "Send every single Artifact Refiner in your Long Household to me, without leaving anyone out. From now on, they will serve only my He Family. Your Long Household can cease its shipbuilding operations!"
"Mm!" Long Zhidu nodded.
That was no problem for him either.
After all, Daoist Wave-Soothing, the man leading their shipbuilding efforts, had already become He Pingsheng's slave. The Long Household certainly could not continue its shipbuilding business!
"Third!" He Pingsheng said mildly. "Every year, your Long Household must pay tribute to our He Family, calculated as a proportion of the profits you earn from your businesses and from bleeding the lineages beneath you dry. I won't take much, only fifty percent