You probably can't find "the best deal" if you were to use troop on Taiwan. Because to use troop and not to use troop, that is a dilemma.
If China have to use troop to recover Taiwan, the Chinese are doing it because diplomatic measure failed, which mean Taiwanese are willing to fight for its independence or whatever (Most def not fighting for status quo) which mean in this case, there will be 2 wars. One for conventional invasion, and the other for Taiwan insurgency. Both will bleed Chinese military heavily. Especially the latter case
However, the only way China can expect a Taiwan Takeover without an insurgency would be when Taiwanese willing to be defeated militarily and not pursuit one. But then it comes back to the original dilemma, if Taiwanese resist and China have to use force, it meant the Taiwanese are not willing to let go of their identity, which mean if they are willing to do it after the military defeated, you would not have to use force in the first place, they would just merge with China via political mean anyway. Otherwise, any other case that follow would see China expecting an insurgency in Taiwan after they have defeated the Taiwanese Military in a set piece.