Chapter 109: Delivering the Ransom
After Richard came back, he immediately told Sophia and William about the experience of this operation.
The Harland family has three hereditary barons, and they can quickly make this matter a big deal at the noble meeting by signing a joint letter.
Howard is still in their hands. If they continue to investigate through this line, they are not afraid that Jerram will deny his account.
But in this way, the Harland family offended Prince Felix and was passively involved in the prince's struggle for the throne, which was not a good thing for future development.
But being attacked by men hired by Jerram, the Harland family couldn't bear this tone.
Besides, people from the Sixth Squadron died in this battle. Even if he tried to offend the nobles of the royal capital, Richard would still kill Jerram.
After discussing with Sophia and William, the Harland family unified their opinions.
Just the night before Richard was about to go to the royal capital to complain, the middleman Jerram was looking for came to Fort William.
This person is Richard's old commander Sharp.
Jerram felt uneasy. He knew that he had been caught by Richard. If he did not deal with this problem, his life would be threatened. So, he decided to find Sharp as a middleman to negotiate with Richard.
He hoped to control the matter and confine it to the province of Gedda.
Sharp is Richard's old commander.
Although the United Territory of Sharp and Raphael is under the management of the Gascoyne Province, Sharp has been an official in the northern border for many years. He has very rich network resources and has met Jerram of the Geda Province several times. .
After Jerram came to the door, Sharp learned about the matter. After thinking for a while, he agreed to help him talk to Richard and promised to control the negotiation between the three of them and not let anyone else know about it. existence of things.
Later, Sharp came to Harland's territory.
Sharp, like Richard, has a military style and doesn't like to hide his words. He speaks very directly.
"I came here this time to act as an intermediary at the request of your senior provincial official Jerram. He is very sorry about your attack. But he hopes that this matter can be controlled within the province. What do you have If you want, you can talk to him."
"How to talk, where to talk?"
"Richard, now that you have grasped Jerram's handle, you have gained the advantage.
How to talk?
What conditions are proposed?
Where to talk? It depends on your opinion."
In interactions between nobles, interests always come first.
After thinking deeply, Richard felt that negotiation was the best way to deal with the matter. Even if I hate Jerram in my heart, I still have to negotiate when it's time to negotiate.
After all, although the two sides had a grudge, no important figure in the Harland family died at the hands of Jerram.
Not to the point where hatred cannot be resolved. Both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, which have deep feuds like the sea, can negotiate, let alone this small hatred.
Now that Richard has grasped Jerram's handle, as long as he seizes the opportunity, he can get more benefits from Jerram and speed up the development of his territory.
The venue for the negotiations was Vicksburg.
After being attacked by Jerram's men, Richard paid great attention to his own safety, and the negotiation must be held in the Harland family's own castle.
Jerram did not come to negotiate in person; the Horan family was represented by his butler Savile.
"Baron Richard, as long as you can get Howard back, you can negotiate any conditions?" "
What about the ransom price of 30,000 gold coins?" "We can negotiate. We will pay the ransom after Howard is free." "
Hire mercenaries to attack. Noble, I am very pessimistic about Jerram's character. It is impossible for me to release him first. You must pay the money first." Paying the money first
means that you must believe in Richard's character. Thirty thousand gold coins are very important to the baron territory. It's a very large sum of money.
The barony in the south, because of its relatively small territory, has an annual income of less than 10,000 gold coins.
Although the barons in the northern region have large territories, they have few people and are often poorer.
If Richard does not engage in additional income such as steelmaking and brewing and relies on growing grain, even if he reclaims all the paddy fields in the territory and has tens of thousands of territorial residents busy for a year, after deducting rations, the income from selling grain will only be a few thousand gold coins.
Thousands of gold coins still need to be raised to raise an army, to socialize with other nobles, and to integrate into the noble circle.
Books need to be collected, tutors need to be hired, and the administrators of the territory need to be paid.
I have been so busy for a year that I can’t save much money at all.
Even if the treatment of soldiers in the territory is raised to the same level as that of the main army for 30,000 gold coins, the soldiers of seven squadrons can still be fed for two years.
There is no mutual trust between the two parties now, and Savile dare not agree to pay money first.
In the end, it was Baron Sharp who vouched for Richard and allowed Savile to step down.
After being guaranteed by Baron Sharp and agreeing to pay the money first, Savile also wanted to bargain with Richard to lower the price.
One afternoon, Richard didn't say a word and put on a bad face. No matter how much Savile spits, he won't let go.
At the end of the meeting, Richard sneered and said: "Mr. Saville, go and tell Jerram that thirty thousand gold coins cannot be less than a penny. If it weren't for the face of Mr. Sharp, I would definitely ask Jerram this time." M looks good.
Didn't you also arrange for a master to hide in the dark? You can try to get this person to take action? You have to
understand that you are not the only one who uses dark methods to assassinate everyone.
This is You can take it as a threat from me. If this matter is not resolved, I will not only sue the noble council, but I will also use any rules to solve the problem." After hearing what
Richard said, Savile was suddenly shocked. Savile was sent to Jerram by the Holland family to assist Jerram. Of course he was very smart, and he immediately obtained hidden information from Richard's voice.
"Richard knows that Simon is hiding in secret. There are only two possibilities. The first is that Simon has a spy arranged by Richard, and the second is that Richard's mental power exceeds 20 points and he has awakened his talent for danger perception.
Harlan The De family is just a small noble and has no foundation in the royal capital. It is impossible to know that Simon exists. It seems that Richard's mental power has exceeded twenty points and he has been promoted to a mid-level professional. He is still so young and offended. This kind of person may not be a good thing for the Huo Lan family in the long run."
Richard's words were so strong that it immediately made it difficult to continue the negotiation.
Savile continued to pester for two or three days, and saw that Richard was impatient and had already shown his unwillingness to negotiate.
Jerram was caught by Richard and was naturally at a disadvantage in the negotiations. Savile knew this very well, so the only one who gave in in the end was the Holland family.
At the end of the negotiation, both parties reached a verbal agreement.
Jerram compensated Harland's territory with 30,000 gold coins, and Richard released Howard and no longer pursued the matter.
(End of chapter)