The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

"condition?"

“Yes,” Miaozhen said with a smile, “My senior brother and junior sister are medical fanatics. They have been here for nearly half a year. I believe the royal court investigated them when they asked them to be translators and knew about their character and medical ethics, which is why they invited them.”

The eldest prince pondered and said, "Using the name of my royal court as a guarantor is not enough to just act as a translator, is it? There are quite a few nobles in my royal court who study Chinese culture and can speak Chinese."

Miaozhen: "Wang Ting went to great lengths to invite my senior brother and junior sister, not only to be translators, but also to learn more about Han culture, right? Only Han people understand Han people best. Now that Tielianguti belongs to Lingxi Jimi Prefecture, there will only be more and more exchanges between this place and the Central Plains in the future, and more Han people will come here. If Tielianguti wants to stand firm or go further, learning Han culture is essential."

The eldest prince remained silent for a moment before saying, "When we reach the Central Plains, we can spend money to invite Han people. As long as we pay enough, we can invite any scholar, no matter how talented."

Miaozhen: "If that's the case, why did the eldest prince go to such lengths to invite my senior brother and junior sister, even issuing an order to ban them from practicing medicine? You and I both know that their existence is of great benefit to the grasslands. As a prince of the royal court, how could you do something that greatly harms the interests of the herders just because of a moment of anger?"

The eldest prince remained silent.

Why did we have to invite Tao Yanbai and Miaohe?
Naturally, it's because I trust their character.

Moreover, they must have influence in the Central Plains, otherwise how could they have arrived here safely during the coldest time of the year and amidst bilateral conflict?

But their power must not be great, otherwise why would they come here during the coldest time of the year, and during a bilateral conflict?
He naturally wanted to keep such a family with some influence, but not much, who was capable and of high moral character.

Even without the matter of going to the Central Plains to offer birthday greetings, he still wanted to befriend the two men and find a way to make them work for him.

Why would he negotiate with and pay such a high price for good, controllable talent?
Miao Zhen smiled lightly and said, "My senior brother and junior sister are skilled in medicine and know people in the Imperial Hospital. They are close ministers of the emperor and the eldest prince. Unless you are confident that you can kill us in this city, are you sure you want to offend a friend of an imperial physician? That imperial physician can still speak for the emperor."

The eldest prince was startled and remained silent.

Not long after, the fat official respectfully saw the three of them off, and the eldest prince finally agreed to Miaozhen's conditions.

So, just as the royal court of this tribe was about to set off to present the birthday gift to the Grand Preceptor of the Ming Dynasty, a caravan appeared in their ranks, and Pan Yun changed his clothes and mingled among them.

Miaozhen, on the other hand, followed openly and honestly.

This caravan was organized by Zhao Shizhu, and it was basically composed of his adopted sons and daughters and the children and grandchildren of his friends.

They were a genuine caravan, heading to the Central Plains to purchase goods.

After all, they couldn't rely solely on the goods Pan Yun brought.

Things are different now. This area is also under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, making it much easier for them to travel to the Central Plains. It would be a huge loss if they didn't develop their caravan business.

In addition to their caravan, the royal court and other nobles of the tribe also prepared caravans to follow them.

In this way, one person led two, then two led three, and the group grew to a large size, eventually forming a delegation of one hundred people.

If this is true for one city, how many cities and tribes were there in the entire Oirat and Tatar empire?
When they were about to enter Hamiwei, the border official who came to make contact said, "The Teliangut delegation only has twenty slots; those who exceed that number will not be allowed to enter."

The third prince's face flushed red; he was very displeased.

Tao Yanbai then said to the Third Prince, "The rest of you can enter the country as merchants and just declare it normally."

The Third Prince said, "In previous years, the Oirats would send anywhere from three to five hundred to three or four thousand people to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. Why are they not allowing us to do so this year?"

Tao Yanbai said irritably, "First, in previous years, the Oirat delegations were composed of representatives from various tribes, but now the cities and tribes send their own delegations, so they cannot unite; second, the court has long been dissatisfied with the increasing number of Oirat delegations and has repeatedly ordered that no more delegations be allowed to enter the pass; third, why didn't the court agree? Doesn't the Third Prince have any idea?"

The third prince glared at him and asked, "What numbers do I have?"

Tao Yanbai: "After entering the pass, the expenses of the missions would be borne by the court. Each additional person would mean more accommodation, food, and transportation. Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty is known as a land of etiquette. Each mission would receive a reward upon departure. If there were no limit on the number of missions, some people could bring an entire tribe into the pass, do you believe it or not?"

The third prince angrily retorted, "I am not that kind of person."

“I know the Third Prince is not, so please let them enter the pass as merchants. Once they enter the pass, they can either do business on their own or continue to follow the Third Prince. They can bear their own expenses.”

The third prince narrowed his eyes: "This is too troublesome. Is there no other way?"

Tao Yanbai spread his hands and said, "I can't help it."

The Third Prince scoffed, "You can't do anything about it. I think you're just not putting your heart into it. Where's your junior sister? Tell her to come over."

Miaohe walked over.

Third Prince: "Not you, the other one."

Miaohe: "That won't do. The royal court only hired my senior brother and me, but not my senior sister."

Third Prince: "...Bring her here. If my elder brother won't hire her, I will!"

He looked at the two men with disdain: "You two are too dull. All you do along the way is treat the caravans and the herders of the tribes you pass through, and promote that smallpox vaccination method. You have no interest in doing anything for me."

Miaohe then argued with him in the Oirat language: "We're paid for translation, so tell me, did we translate for you?"

The third prince insisted on using Miaozhen.

Miao Zhen and Pan Yun quietly huddled together to look at the drawn map.

Once you enter Hamiwei, this map is complete.

Pan Yun did not always follow the caravan, nor did she draw more than one route.

As they traveled, Miaohe and Tao Yanbai discovered several routes from the delegation. Pan Yun quietly left to check them out one by one. Sure enough, the route chosen by the delegation was the best option, indicating that they were indeed in a hurry to get to the capital.

Hearing the arguing ahead, Pan Yun nodded slightly to Miao Zhen, who then went over.

Upon hearing the Third Prince's request, Miaozhen said, "Third Prince, our speed of travel may decrease after entering the pass, and it will be inconvenient to bring so many people. The Grand Preceptor's birthday is in July, and we need to reach the capital before June. As far as I know, the Khalkha royal court entered the pass three days ago, and many Oirat tribe delegations also entered the pass from Datong. That place is closer to the capital."

Upon hearing this, the third prince became anxious: "These caravan members are also skilled in riding and archery. I can have them ride with me at full speed."

Miaozhen: "Why not travel light and simply?"

Third Prince: "I need someone to protect me."

Miao Zhen said, "Even if you include all the caravan members, there are only a hundred people. Can they fight against the imperial army of a million within the pass?"

Miao Zhen smiled and said, "Third Prince, the Emperor invited you envoys here to celebrate the Grand Preceptor's birthday. He will only entertain you and will not put you in any danger. Compared to people like Tie Liangu Ti, the court officials are the ones who are most worried about your safety."

The third prince seemed to be deep in thought.

Miao Zhen approached him and asked in a low voice, "Third Prince, are you sure everyone in Tieliangguti wants you to return safely? Is the entire group really just yours and the First Prince's men?"

The third prince remained silent, but ultimately followed Miaozhen's advice and carefully selected nineteen people to accompany him through customs. These nineteen were all his and the eldest prince's confidants; even Miaohe and Tao Yanbai were excluded from the list.

Miaohe grumbled and cursed, but could only produce his travel permit and household registration and report his entry into the country himself.

Since the imperial court recovered the three tributary prefectures, the passes have relaxed their control over people and caravans coming from the grasslands.

People like Miaohe, who bring no goods or only a small amount of goods into the country, can usually enter the country directly after inspection.
For caravans carrying large quantities of goods, customs declaration and taxation are required.

However, in order to promote trade between the interior and exterior of the pass, the imperial court has granted a special permission to reduce import and export tariffs by five percent this year.

As the caravans followed, they entered the pass one after another. The Third Prince specially summoned them, allowing some to act on their own and selecting another group to accompany them. However, they had to pay for their own expenses, as the court only allocated twenty slots.

Miaohe crossed her arms and said, "I can tolerate you making me enter the country on my own, but you can't expect me to pay for the rest of the trip myself, can you? I'm the translator, you invited me here, it's not like I'm the one who went out of my way to come."

The next step is when Miao He and Tao Yanbai will be used extensively, and the Third Prince certainly cannot afford to fail at this time.

He patted his chest and said he would take full responsibility, and treated them like honored guests.

Miaohe forced herself to be happy.

When spring was in full bloom, she should have been studying smallpox on the grasslands, but because of the royal court, she lost several months of her time.

The third prince led those willing to follow him on a hasty march toward the capital.

Pan Yun and Miao Zhen continued to follow them under the guise of a caravan.

The further east you go, the more prosperous it becomes, especially Chang'an.

The third prince stared at the ruins of the old palace, his mouth agape in shock. He asked incredulously, "This...this is the imperial palace?"

“This is the old palace. The capital is further east,” Miaohe said, counting on her fingers. “At our current marching speed, it will take about six more days.”

"Is the imperial palace in the capital more magnificent than this old palace?"

“That’s for sure,” Miaohe said. “Putting everything else aside, the difference between the old and the new is obvious.”

The third prince stared at the old palace for a long time before snapping out of his daze.

When he looked away, he saw that the scene in the city was different from the previous cities he had passed through.

This place is truly bustling, with spacious and well-arranged buildings. Shops and stalls can be seen everywhere on the streets, and there are goods I've never seen before.

The third prince stared blankly.

Tao Yanbai had already communicated with the post station and returned, saying, "Third Prince, the official post station is ready. If we leave the city now, it will take three hours to reach the next post station. It is already past Shen Shi (3-5 PM), so it is not advisable to continue traveling. Let's rest here for the night."

The third prince nodded repeatedly: "Good, good."

The group stayed at the post station, where the official post station provided accommodation and meals for twenty people. The rest of the group had to pay for their own food and lodging.

The Third Prince brought a lot of money with him before he arrived, but he didn't care and generously made arrangements for Miaohe, Tao Yanbai, and Miaozhen.

As for Pan Yun, who was always covered in dust and wore a headscarf, she was not within his scope of attention.

Upon seeing such a prosperous city in the Central Plains for the first time, the Third Prince put down his luggage, called Miao Zhen and a few others, and together with his guards, they set off.

Miao He and Tao Yanbai served as translators, one on the left and one on the right of the third prince.

The third prince picked up something, and Miaohe glanced at it and said through the translator, "A hand warmer."

The third prince asked, puzzled, "What's it for?"

Miaohe took it, twisted it open, and showed him inside: "Put charcoal inside, it can warm your hands in winter."

The third prince touched it again and again, looked at it again and again, and exclaimed with delight: "What a wonderful thing!"

Miao helped him negotiate the price, and they quickly bought the hand warmer.

As he turned around, a young man on a bicycle passed by him. The man was dressed in neat clothes, and three burlap sacks were tied to the back of the bicycle. He was hunched over and pedaling the bicycle at a slow and steady pace.

The people around were already used to it, but the third prince chased after him for several steps, pointing at his figure which was almost completely hidden by the burlap sack and asking, "What is that? What is that?"

“A pedal-powered vehicle,” Miaohe said, “is a new type of vehicle that has emerged in the last two years. It can be propelled by two feet, is fast, saves effort, can transport goods, and is cheaper than horses, mules, donkeys, and oxen. It also does not need to be fed, so it is very popular.”

Miaohe even asked him, "Do you want to buy it?"

Third Prince: "Buy it!"

Miaohe then took him to buy a bicycle.

The third prince personally pushed the bicycle out, stepped over it, but couldn't pedal it at all.

Miaohe and Tao Yanbai both said there was nothing wrong with the bike, and the two of them even rode the bicycle around in front of him to prove that there was nothing wrong with it.

The third prince could only hand the carriage over to the guards in disappointment, planning to study it again when he had time after arriving in the capital.

He took a few steps forward and saw a long line of people ahead. Curious, he stepped forward and swaggered over the crowd to enter the store. However, someone standing outside the door grabbed him, shoved him backward, and said rudely, "Queue up! Cutting in line in broad daylight, have you no sense of propriety or shame?"

The third prince, unable to understand his words and angrily pulled along, turned to Miaohe and asked, "What did he say?"

Miaohe: "He said you cut in line shamelessly."

The third prince glared: "What do you mean by cutting in line? I wanted to know what this shop sells, not that I wanted to buy anything! Besides, when have I ever queued to buy anything? Do you think such a lowly commoner deserves to wait with me?"

The man who stopped him from cutting in line was a middle-aged man wearing cloth shoes and thin clothes with several patches sewn on. Seeing that he was talking in a language that could not be understood, he asked Miaohe, "Little girl, what is he talking about in his language?"

Miaohe: "He said you were a lowly person and didn't deserve to stand in line with him, and that he had never stood in line before."

"What?!" the middle-aged man roared in fury. "This is the relay station given to us by the Imperial Advisor. The Imperial Advisor said that the people should be the priority. No one who enters here can use money or power to bully others. Everyone must abide by the rules. Who does he think he is, daring to disobey the Imperial Advisor?!"

The third prince stared at Miaohe.

Miaohe: "He said, 'Who do you think you are?' Waaaaah..."

Tao Yanbai finally squeezed through the guards, covered Miaohe's mouth, and said to the Third Prince, "He said it was all a misunderstanding, and it'll be fine once it's cleared up..." (End of Chapter)