Diqin Designer

Chapter 219 Establishing Diplomatic Relations with the Xiongnu

On the second day, in the palace of the Xiongnu royal court where the banquet was held yesterday, Touman and the Xiongnu leaders formally received the Qin envoys led by Jiaoli and Chen Ping.

As the chief envoy, Jiao Li stood at the front of the delegation, holding the banner and saying, "Jiao Li from Qin is sent to your country by the order of the Emperor of Great Qin. I am here to see the Chanyu!"

"Your Majesty the Emperor has great power over the four seas and reigns supreme throughout the universe. You are called the Emperor in response to the will of the people. This is unprecedented in history. Your Majesty is grateful for the goodwill of the Chanyu in sending an envoy to congratulate you, and has specially sent us as envoys to return the gift to the Chanyu."

"Today, I will return fifty rolls of brocade, five hundred rolls of silk, ten thousand catties of salt, three hundred sets of thirteen spices, ten thousand pieces of honeycomb coal, two hundred stoves, and three hundred pieces of glassware..."

Hearing Jiao Li's words, Touman and the other leaders were almost bursting into smiles on their faces. The Emperor Qin actually returned so many gifts. He was worthy of being the Emperor of the Great Qin. He was generous and the things he returned sounded like good things.

It’s a pity that there were no beauties from the Qin Dynasty. They did send hundreds of beautiful Xiongnu women over. It would have been better if the Qin Emperor could send back some beautiful women from the south.

But they only dared to think about it in their minds but did not dare to say it out loud. The reason why the Emperor of Qin did not give the beauty in return was probably because he was influenced by what Master Li Nian said: "No compensation, no cession of territory, no marriage alliance."

If they asked the Qin Emperor in front of the Qin envoy why he didn't give us some beauties in return, what difference would that make him insult the Qin Emperor in person? Even Touman wouldn't dare to say he could bear the consequences.

In fact, although the gifts that Qin Shihuang gave back to the Huns seemed to be a lot, they were actually not as valuable as the gifts given by the Huns.

Moreover, these gifts were specially prepared in order to make the Xiongnu high-level officials headed by Touman feel the goodness and pleasure of the things of the Qin Dynasty, so that they would want to use the things of the Qin Dynasty in the future and no longer want to use the things of the Xiongnu.

The things produced by the Xiongnu themselves are all junk; only the things from the Qin Dynasty are worthy of their noble status.

When various gifts were carried into the hall, Touman and the other leaders smiled even more brightly, especially the 300 pieces of colored glassware, which instantly attracted all their attention.

There is no way. The visual effect created by the three hundred pieces of glassware placed together is amazing. Moreover, these utensils are of different colors and shapes. Some are plates, some are cups, some are bowls, and some are lamps. Each one looks exquisite and elegant, and it is obvious that they are something that only the noble can enjoy.

As the highest rulers of the Xiongnu, Touman and other leaders had seen many good things, such as gold and jade, but they were still attracted.

Seeing that Touman and the others were staring at the glassware, Jiao Li said, "This is colored glass, made by Master Li Nian. Even in the Emperor's possession, there aren't many."

Hearing this, the smiles on Touman and others' faces became even brighter, and their gazes towards the glassware became even more curious: The Emperor of Qin is a good man, and he is worthy of being treated well. He is willing to give them precious things that he himself does not have much of.

After returning the gift, the second stage began. Jiao Li took a document from Chen Ping that looked like a memorial from a later dynasty and said to Tou Man, "Chanyu, this is a credential, used to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. Master Li Nian said that if the two countries formally establish diplomatic relations, they need to exchange credential letters, and the emperors or Chanyu of both sides will write their names and leave fingerprints on it."

"Today, Jiao Li, a Qin citizen, is delivering the letter from the Great Qin Kingdom to the Chanyu, representing the Great Qin's willingness to make friends with the Xiongnu, become friendly neighbors in harmony, help each other, and stand together among the nations of the world!"

After hearing Jiao Li's words, two words came to mind for Touman and the other leaders: professional and formal!
Is this Qin?
Although he had never really fought against the Qin people, he had already felt Qin's momentum. No wonder Qin was able to destroy the six kingdoms and unify the southern world. This can be seen from this incident.

Compared with Qin, the Huns were far worse. They were a mess, and neither formal nor professional in any aspect. How could they possibly compete with Qin?
The smile on Touman's face disappeared, and he looked serious and solemn. He asked, "May I ask the envoy, we Huns have no diplomatic letters. How should we communicate with each other?" He felt that he was doing something big, something very solemn and serious. It was not a casual agreement to establish diplomatic relations with a certain country or sign any treaty. This establishment of diplomatic relations was different from the past and needed to be taken seriously.

Jiao Li said: "The Chanyu can first read the letter from the Great Qin State, and then use the material to make a letter from the Xiongnu State."

Touman nodded and said, "Why don't you show it to me!"

Immediately, a waiter came over and tried to take the letter from Jiaoli. Touman scolded him, "Fool! How can you take such a precious thing with your hands? Bring it to me on a golden plate!"

Jiao Li was speechless, because he and Chen Ping both received the items with their hands, but he also knew that Touman was not disliked by them, but by the Hun servants in the royal court.

Soon, the waiter came to Jiao Li holding a golden plate. He bent down and raised the golden plate respectfully above his head. Jiao Li unfolded the letter of credence and placed it on the golden plate.

Touman took the letter from the golden plate held up by the waiter and looked at it carefully. He found a problem: the words on it knew him, but he did not recognize them.

However, he did not want to recognize the words on it, but to see what the official letter looked like and what format it was in, and then ask the Huns' craftsmen to make a copy.

But Touman discovered another problem. The material of the letter seemed very special. It was neither gold nor jade, stone nor wood. Instead, it was very similar to the strange thing called "paper" brought back by the delegation. The Huns could not make it with paper at all and could only use other things instead.

At the end of the letter, there are a few very unique characters and a seal, which must have been left by the Qin Emperor.

After reading the entire book carefully, Touman sighed in his heart at the professionalism and strength of Qin. Only a strong country would pay attention to these details, and details can demonstrate its strength.

Touman asked Jiaoli, "Emissary, can you temporarily give me this letter? I want my Xiongnu craftsmen to use it to make a Xiongnu letter."

Jiao Li said: "Although it is against the rules, considering the situation of the Xiongnu, and the letter of credence is about to be delivered to the Chanyu, it can be allowed."

What rules? The rules were set for them by Li Nian. Although there were rules for diplomatic missions in the past, why would they care about these?
When Li Nian was explaining diplomatic etiquette to them, Jiao Li and others were still wondering why these rules were set and what their uses were. Now it seems that the young master was indeed far-sighted. Just by using this set of procedures, he made the Huns feel the power of the Qin Dynasty.

Being polite and well-mannered does not mean being timid. Instead, it means being confident in your own strength. This is why you are polite to others. Because you don’t have to deliberately show off your strength, but you are showing it off all the time.

After getting Jiao Li's reply, Touman said, "Thank you, envoy!" He put away the letter of credence, put it back on the golden plate, and officially entered the third and most important stage.

Jiao Li said: "Master Li Nian said that the Xiongnu are also Chinese and are brothers with our Great Qin. We should establish diplomatic relations. Your Majesty the Emperor agrees with this. Since we are brothers, we should help each other."

(End of this chapter)