The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Jia Lian, of course, had no idea that his strict military discipline would inspire awe in Jin Shijia.

But that is indeed what he is committed to achieving.

No matter how brave an army is, it cannot maintain its fighting capacity for long without strict military discipline.

As for faith and such, it's too much of a luxury in this era.

For ordinary people, joining the army means getting enough to eat and receiving a military salary.

As for going to the battlefield, there needs to be motivation.

Otherwise, who would genuinely do something that could cost them their life?
Fortunately, Jia Lian's reputation in this regard has always been widely recognized.

That's why the soldiers were willing to believe in him and follow him.

This is called prestige.

The greatest achievement in establishing Jia Lian's prestige since he took command of the army was undoubtedly on the Liaodong battlefield.

In that battle, everyone knew that Jia Lian fulfilled all his pre-battle promises, ensuring that every soldier who followed him to the front received a generous reward.

It can be said that if Emperor Ningkang had not helped him suppress the criticism in the court last year, or even recovered the reward money he had already distributed, he would have been in serious trouble.

His prestige was never at the level it is today.

Of course, if that were the case, he wouldn't be the one who would suffer the most severe losses.

The fundamental reason why everyone was willing to obey Jia Lian's military orders was that they knew they could win battles, get promoted, and make money by following him.

After exchanging some trivial conversation with Jin Shijia, they suddenly heard the sound of drums and music all around them.

Then came the shouts and chants of something like those of eunuchs from the Daming Palace.

Although Jia Lian couldn't understand it, he could guess that the Queen was about to appear.

Sure enough, Jin Shijia immediately stood up, bowed, and put his hands down, displaying a very respectful posture.

Jia Lian didn't get up, but turned his head to look towards the back hall.

Sure enough, after more than a dozen neatly dressed maids emerged, a tall and beautiful woman with striking makeup and elegant figure, standing out from the crowd, slowly walked out from the back hall.

When she reached the throne.

Jin Shijia and the attendants in the hall immediately paid their respects with great ceremony.

The Queen of Joseon stood solemnly, raised her hand towards the crowd, and said something.

Finally, he looked at Jia Lian again, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and then surprisingly asked in Chinese, "Are you the Prince of Pingliao?"

Jia Lian was even more surprised. He hadn't expected that this Korean queen was not only young, but could also speak Chinese.

Although the tone was a bit strange, it was still understandable.

As for the harsh tone, Jia Lian could understand it.

It's not like they're translators. Being able to speak Chinese is already good enough. Are we supposed to expect them to use honorifics and function words?

He then rose, bowed, and replied, "King Pyeongryo greets Queen Joseon."

Perhaps it was Jia Lian's appearance that won the Queen's approval, or perhaps it was his polite demeanor that made the Queen feel favorably toward him.

In short, the queen, who had been keeping a straight face just moments before, suddenly smiled at him and then mumbled something incessantly.

Clearly aware that he didn't speak Chinese well, he switched back to Korean.

The female interpreter whispered something to Jia Lian, mostly welcoming and polite remarks.

Inviting them to sit down, the Queen of Joseon seemed much more forthright than Kim Se-jae, but after toasting Jia Lian with a cup of wine, she spoke frankly.

"Inviting the Prince of Pingliao here this time was truly out of necessity."

The amount of compensation offered by your country is far too large, exceeding what North Korea can afford to pay.

On behalf of all the people of Korea, I implore King Pyongryo to have mercy and offer us a condition that we can accept.

This would not only publicize the benevolence of the superior nation, but also solidify the good name of the King of Pingliao.

The entire Korean people will be deeply grateful to King Pyeongryo.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian feigned ignorance and asked Jin Shijia, "I wonder what the agreed-upon compensation was with my adjutant?"

Jin Shijia said with a stern face: "Your Excellency insists that 100 million taels of silver are needed to make up for the losses suffered by your army in this battle."

Jia Lian nodded and then asked, "Is ten million taels a lot?"

Forgive me for being ignorant of economics.

All I know is that the annual revenue of my Great Wei is roughly this amount (in fact, it is not).

Last year, I was ordered to lead an expedition against the Jurchens, and from that barren land of white mountains and black waters, I also seized valuables worth tens of millions of taels of silver (more than ten million).

Now, our Great Wei has mobilized a massive army of 100,000 men, 500 warships, and even sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers to help you repel the Japanese invaders.

It can be said that they helped you overcome the crisis of national annihilation.

Is it possible that such an expenditure is not worth a mere ten million taels of silver?

Looking at Jia Lian's slightly naive expression, both Jin Shijia and the Queen twitched.

And a mere ten million taels of silver.

Could this guy have really been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has no concept of money?
Jin Shijia quickly explained again that their Korea was far inferior to the Great Wei and was extremely poor.

Jia Lian, however, did not believe it: "No matter how poor you are, can you be poorer than those Jurchens who eat raw meat and drink blood?"
If they can still produce tens of millions of taels, how could your vast Joseon Kingdom, with a population dozens of times that of the Jurchens, not produce one hundred million taels?
Could it be that you're reluctant to give it away?

Jin Shijia quickly tried to explain.

But no matter how eloquent he was, what he said was nothing more than what he had said when negotiating with Xie Jing.

Jia Lian, however, acted like a spoiled brat who knew nothing about economics, and simply refused to believe him.

Jin Shijia's forehead was sweating as he explained, but he still couldn't convince Jia Lian.

Just then, the Queen of Joseon rose from her throne and gracefully walked towards Jia Lian.

Although it is July, the weather is still hot.

Although the clothing worn by the Queen of Joseon was elaborate, it was also light and thin.

As she drew closer, Jia Lian could not only clearly see the texture of her skin, but also smell the fragrance of pollen emanating from her.

Jia Lian subconsciously picked up his wine glass to cover up his rudeness.

The Queen of Joseon, however, appeared poised and elegant.

She stood in front of Jia Lian, stared at him for a moment, then smiled and tossed her hair, revealing her young and beautiful face.

“The King of Pingliao should know that even if he sold the entire Joseon Dynasty, he still wouldn’t be able to raise 100 million taels of silver.”

We beg the Prince of Pingliao to give us a way out.

The Queen's attitude was very sincere.

Jia Lian seemed moved and asked, "Then how much can you offer?"

"At most five million. And that will be settled in the form of grain, cloth, and other valuables."

Unlike the wealthy countries, our North Korea is not rich enough to calculate its annual income in silver.

In our country, silver is extremely precious and scarce; the annual revenue of the national treasury is less than 100,000 taels of silver.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian frowned.

But inwardly he scoffed.

He certainly knew that North Korea was not wealthy, and that their country had very low silver reserves.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have used grain to calculate annual revenue, making silver a currency exclusively for nobles.

However, even if it's less, it's still relative to countries like the Great Wei and Japan, which have very high silver reserves.

With a population of ten million, North Korea is by no means a tiny country.

Perhaps the North Korean treasury does not actually receive 100,000 taels of silver annually.

However, Jia Lian was quite certain that large amounts of gold and silver were hidden in the homes of these nobles and officials in Korea!
Otherwise, how would they support their extravagant lifestyle?
According to Jia Lian's estimate, before the war, the annual revenue of Joseon was about three million shi (a unit of dry measure).

In the Great Wei Dynasty, this was converted into silver, which meant an annual income of approximately two million taels.

This is why Jia Lian demanded 100 million taels of silver.

Because even if they sold them all, they still couldn't raise enough money.

However, on the surface, Jia Lian pretended to be somewhat angry: "Five million taels is impossible."

As you probably know, we have captured a lot of Japanese prisoners this time, and we plan to demand ransom from the Toyotomi family to make up for the expenses of our dynasty's large-scale military campaign.

For each Japanese slave, we are prepared to demand a ransom of 800 taels of silver from the Toyotomi family.

Ten thousand Japanese slaves would cost eight million taels of silver.

Now you only intend to pay us five million taels of silver as payment? This is an insult to my 100,000-strong army. Are my 100,000 sons of a superior nation less valuable than a mere 10,000 Japanese slaves?
Don't tell me I could never agree.

Even if I could agree, His Majesty would not agree, and the court would not agree.

My 100,000 men would never agree to this!

Give up on that idea.

Unless you're prepared to break your promise and abandon your connections after you've served your purpose!

Then prepare for the invasion of the mighty army.

Seeing that Jia Lian was angry and even mentioned war, Jin Shijia stood up anxiously.

But the queen remained unmoved.

She even smiled, put one hand on Jia Lian's shoulder, turned slightly, and leaned against the armrest of the armchair where Jia Lian was sitting.

Jia Lian's hand was already resting on the armrest.

Her actions nearly caused Jia Lian to sit on her buttocks with her arm.

Now that they're so close, Jia Lian can even feel the warmth emanating from the other person's buttocks with his hand.

Not to mention the delicate hand on his shoulder, pressed against his shoulder flesh through only a layer of robe.

Gentle, captivating.

Even Jia Lian couldn't help but tremble.

Given Jia Lian's cultivation level, it would have been impossible for him to be so easily aroused.

But at this moment, this situation has still occurred.

Jia Lian knew that, besides the fact that the queen was indeed beautiful,

Most importantly, it was because the other party, as the Queen of Joseon, behaved so intimately and improperly to him in public.

The Queen smiled faintly and said, "King Pingliao need not be angry."

We did not mean to betray you.

However, we simply cannot offer a reward that would satisfy the superior nation.

So I would like to ask King Pyeongryo, what is my value as Queen of Joseon in your eyes?

As they spoke, the Queen of Korea leaned even more towards Jia Lian.

Based on what she said... this is no longer flirting, but blatant seduction!

Upon seeing this, Jin Shijia's expression became uncertain.

There was anger, and there was also hesitation.

His anger stemmed from the fact that the Queen was not only the matriarch of the entire Joseon Dynasty, but also his beloved younger sister since childhood!
For the sake of the family's glory, to force her to submit to that tyrannical emperor was already an injustice to her.

Are we really supposed to just stand by and watch her lower herself like this and humiliate herself?

Although he was angry, he couldn't help but think about it.

My younger sister has always been intelligent and resourceful; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to bewitch that foolish emperor so easily after only a few years in the palace.

Now, even the Li family's empire is controlled by the brother and sister.

She acted this way without consulting me beforehand.

There must be a reason for it.

Let's not bother her for now.

Thinking of this, Jin Shijia waved to the male servants (eunuchs) in the hall and quietly left the hall.

Jia Lian was used to being a womanizer, so naturally he wouldn't be captured by the Queen of Joseon.

Seeing that Jin Shijia had retreated, they assumed this was a tactic they had prepared long ago.

He then met the Queen of Joseon's gaze with a slightly flirtatious look, even raising a hand to pinch her delicate chin, and laughed:

"The Queen was exceptionally beautiful, far surpassing ordinary beauties."

In my heart, it's worth at least 100,000 taels of silver.

"Hmph, only 100,000."

The Queen of Joseon turned her head away from Jia Lian's advances, let out a soft hum, and displayed her coquettishness.

Jia Lian chuckled: "Then how much does the Queen think it should be worth?"

Upon hearing this, the Queen of Korea immediately changed her expression from anger to joy, turned around, placed her hands on Jia Lian's shoulders, and smiled sweetly:

"Anyway, we can't offer that much reward. If the Prince of Pingliao doesn't mind, how about using me to cover the deficit of 95 million taels?"

Heaven knows what complex emotions the kneeling lady-in-waiting felt as she translated her queen's words.

Jia Lian stared at the truly beautiful foreign face before him and suddenly asked, "Why does the Queen make things so difficult for herself?"

"Ugh."

With a sigh, the Queen of Korea said, "I have no way to repay the kindness of the superior country in saving my country and my people."

Since the Joseon Kingdom cannot provide a reward that satisfies the superior nation, then as their queen, she should do her best to make up for the losses of the superior nation and King Pyongyang.

"So, Prince Pingliao, do you think I'm worth this price?"

The Queen of Joseon's hand, which was on Jia Lian's shoulder, slowly moved towards his back, and it looked like it was about to wrap around Jia Lian's neck.

"Ah."

Jia Lian chuckled, raised his hand to pull down the Queen of Korea's arm, and picked up his wine cup to drink.

The meaning is self-evident.

The Korean queen was not angry at being rejected. Instead, she took the opportunity to move her buttocks off the armrest and sit lightly on Jia Lian's leg, laughing and saying, "If the King of Pingliao thinks that my appearance is too shallow to be worth the money, that's fine too."

My country, North Korea, has plenty of beauties.

No matter who the Prince of Pingliao takes a fancy to, I can bring him to him.

Even tonight, the King of Pingliao doesn't need to go back; he can stay at the palace.

"I will summon all the beauties of the palace. Then, I will have them use their bare backs as paper for Prince Pingliao to practice calligraphy. What do you say?"

The Queen of Joseon gazed at the renowned Prince of Wei with a smile.

She first heard Jia Lian's name last year when he swept through the Jianzhou region and conquered it.

After all, the strength of the Wei army at that time not only shocked Korea, but also terrified the Korean king.

When Jia Lian led his troops to rescue Korea, he used a clever strategy and a strong army to land. In just two months, he wiped out the fierce and arrogant Japanese pirates one by one.

Its power and prestige inspired awe and admiration in every Korean subject.

But she's a little different.

Beautiful women are always incredibly confident.

Especially for a woman of noble birth like her, who could bewitch a monarch, she became even more confident.

She didn't really believe the rumors circulating in the streets.

How could a general who has won every battle be born handsome and dashing, surpassing all others?

Therefore, as early as the day Jia Lian entered the capital, she had already sent her personal maid to secretly observe Jia Lian's appearance.

Although the maid assured her that the rumors were true.

However, because she sensed Jia Lian's ambitions toward North Korea from some of his actions, she did not show herself to meet him.

Although she was confident, she still knew.

If Jia Lian saw her, it would be good if he didn't have any ill intentions.

If she harbors malicious intent, given the current situation in North Korea, she will likely not be able to escape the other party's grasp.

But for now, she can't hide, and she doesn't want to hide anymore.

The demand for 100 million taels of silver from the State of Wei is clearly extortion; they want to squeeze every last drop out of the State of Korea.

As the Queen of Joseon and the current head of state in Joseon, she must step forward.

It's not just about North Korea and the Kim family.

She enjoyed the feeling of turning the tide, especially when she could make someone like Jia Lian, who wielded immense power, completely obedient to her.

That would give her a great sense of accomplishment.

Perhaps it could be described as enjoying the thrill of ability and power. (End of Chapter)