Facing Chu Xiao'ang's urging, Qin Siyang stayed unhurried, "Commander Chu, you've put a condition on the table. Even if I have to decide right now, I should at least understand it first, right?"
Chu Xiao'ang said, "If you want to understand, ask Principal Zhao next to you. Before you agree to or reject my condition, you cannot leave this room, and you cannot make any phone calls to tell outsiders about this."
Seeing this, Qin Siyang put away the phone he had just taken out.
He had originally wanted to consult Li Tianming, but that was clearly impossible now.
Things succeed when kept secret, fail when spoken.
The condition Chu Xiao'ang had laid out came with a certain risk for him as well.
If Qin Siyang accepted, that meant their interests were tied together, and there would be no chance of him telling anyone he didn't trust.
If Qin Siyang refused, then he would have to learn to keep his mouth shut and pretend none of this had ever happened.
But the two of them were still sitting at the negotiating table. Who Qin Siyang told and what he said was something Chu Xiao'ang could not control.
That was why he couldn't let anyone outside this room know.
As for the people inside the room, they were either Chu Xiao'ang's trusted juniors or Zhao Longfei's trusted juniors, plus Qin Siyang who was here for a deal. Nothing should go wrong.
Qin Siyang asked, "A brigade's structure is six to seven thousand people?"
"Not that many, only three thousand."
"Only three thousand?"
"After the apocalypse, the United Government carried out military reforms. A division was set at ten thousand people, a regiment at one thousand, and a company-level unit at one hundred. And the ratio between army, division, brigade, regiment, company, and platoon was one to three. That is, one army has three divisions, one division has three brigades, and so on."
"Subtracting the direct regiment of a division, a brigade-level structure is three thousand people."
Zhao Longfei said from the side, "Actually, three thousand is quite a lot. This is a sequence brigade, after all. Every soldier can be a sequence ability user."
"Principal Zhao," Chu Xiao'ang cut off Zhao Longfei's attempt to persuade Qin Siyang, "I have to make this clear first. This brigade structure is for Qin Siyang, not for the Zhao family."
"If the Zhao family inserts people into this sequence brigade in any form, I will immediately take back the structure."
Hearing this, Zhao Longfei glared coldly at Chu Xiao'ang.
Chu Xiao'ang's expression didn't change, "Principal Zhao, you can't blame me for this. We army commanders already agreed long ago that military combat structures must not be transferred in any form to any merchants' chambers, church, university, or similar forces. If I break this rule, they won't let me off either."
Zhao Longfei looked helpless, "Commander Chu, what you're saying isn't quite right. Blocking the three main chambers of commerce is fine, but our Zhao Commerce Guild was just founded. How could we have that kind of influence? Cut us some slack."
Chu Xiao'ang slowly shook his head, "Principal Zhao, you just called me humorous, but now you're the one telling jokes. Your Zhao family has always been nicknamed the Seventh Legion. No one knows how many agents you've planted in the black market. So I absolutely cannot open this hole."
"The structure given to Qin Siyang is for him to arrange. The Zhao family absolutely must not interfere."
Hearing this, Zhao Longfei grumbled unhappily, then leaned back in his chair and stopped speaking.
Since this structure wasn't connected to the Zhao family, everything would be up to Qin Siyang.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Siyang asked again, "Then how is this structure transferred to me? By promoting me as a brigade commander in the Chu Legion?"
"That definitely won't work. You have no real ties to my Chu Legion. You haven't earned military merit, and you haven't served in any other corps. How could you be directly promoted to brigade commander?"
"Then what should be done?"
"This brigade structure will be placed under my son, Chu Baxing. He will be the nominal commander of the 13th Sequence Brigade. Internal matters will all be handled by you. External matters will all be handled by him."
Hearing this, Qin Siyang's cheek twitched twice. He didn't know whether he was angry or amused, "Commander Chu, are you playing with me? I handle the internal work, he handles the external. After I've done all the work, he kicks me aside and leads a sequence brigade back to your Chu Legion, leaving me having worked for nothing?"
"I said the structure is yours. I won't go back on my word. As for Baxing being the acting commander, that can't be helped. You cannot be promoted to commander directly."
"Not go back on your word?", Qin Siyang let out several contemptuous cold snorts, "Commander Chu, this isn't my first time dealing with the military. I know your ways well enough."
"You military people are basically people like Principal Zhao wearing uniforms. And you still have the nerve to talk about keeping promises?"
"Hm?"
Zhao Longfei glared at Qin Siyang.
"You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting! Am I that unprincipled and untrustworthy? Say one more wrong word and get out!"
Chu Xiao'ang looked at Qin Siyang, "Then tell me, what would make this acceptable for you?"
"I need to confirm first. Commander Chu, you've decided to give me this structure. You absolutely won't take it back. Everything will be under my control, correct?"
"As long as you don't let Principal Zhao and other forces interfere, I can agree to that."
"Good. Since you said this right here, then I'll state my request."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Qin Siyang's mouth, making Chu Xiao'ang's brows tighten slightly. He had no idea what trick this kid was pulling now.
"I remember that the late Deputy Commander of the Chu Legion, Huo Sancai, had two sons. Let one of them serve as the public-facing commander of the 13th Sequence Brigade."
"No," Before Qin Siyang even finished his request, Chu Baxing immediately rejected it, "Qin Siyang, don't push your luck!"
"Why not? Didn't Commander Chu say I could name whatever conditions I wanted?"
"You little...", Chu Baxing was about to keep talking when Chu Xiao'ang stopped him.
Smiling a little, with a sigh, Chu Xiao'ang said, "Qin Siyang, you really are sly. Do you think I'd care about face and force myself to agree to this?"
"Petty cleverness."
"I'll tell you outright. Huo Sancai tried to replace me. He attempted a coup, failed, and was killed by me and Chief of Staff Zheng."
"I didn't kill his two sons for certain reasons and left them alive until now."
His bold confession of something that had never been made public made Qin Siyang's brows furrow.
Chu Xiao'ang continued, "I chopped off Huo Sancai's head with my own hands. And you want one of his sons to come out and be your acting brigade commander? Do you think that's possible?"
"I'm here to make a deal, not to raise a tiger that might bite me later. Pick someone else. Of course, the person you nominate must at least be qualified to serve as a brigade commander."
While Qin Siyang fell silent, Zhao Longfei suddenly let out a laugh.
That laugh made Qin Siyang feel inexplicably steady, and made Chu Xiao'ang feel inexplicably uneasy.
Supporting himself on the table, with a hint of teasing in his eyes, Zhao Longfei looked at Chu Xiao'ang, "Little Qin reminded me of something."
"I remember Deputy Commander Huo also had a nephew with a bit of a slow brain, didn't he?"
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