Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 109 Mutually Beneficial Trade
If there was the slightest disturbance on the grassland, the entire Wei Dynasty would tense up. This time, the grassland mutiny and the change of ownership of the royal court were earth-shaking changes, but before that, the entire Wei Dynasty's intelligence network had not heard of any news at all.

until……

"Eight hundred miles in an emergency! Report! The Xiongnu royal court has changed its master! Report! Yanmen has surrendered to the Wei Dynasty seventy miles north! Yanmen has surrendered to the Wei Dynasty seventy miles north!"

A group of fast horses galloped into Jinling City. The three flags behind them indicated that they were representing an urgent military report, which could not be delayed for a moment. On the streets where horses were not allowed to ride, a group of fast horses galloped through. All the officials and civilians around had to give way, no matter who they were. Even the retired old man of the first or second rank would be killed if he was not allowed to. After all, the military orders were the most important in the world.

This group of fast horses shouted all the way as they rushed into the palace. The central gate was even opened wide for him so that he could rush into the palace unimpeded.

The postman rushed into the main hall with a bunch of clanging things. It was the first time he saw the emperor and he didn't even bother to be surprised. He just knelt down and started to put things on the ground, panting so hard that he couldn't even speak a complete sentence.

"What are you standing there for? Give me some tea!" The emperor pointed at the dusty messenger and said, "You guys don't have sharp eyes. Hurry up and make sure it's warm, or you won't burn the child."

The old eunuch Tian En who was standing next to him hurried forward and ordered someone to hand the postman some warm tea. The postman raised his head and drank it all in one gulp. Only then did he feel better.

"Report! A message from Yanmen Pass!"

Then he placed all the things in the bag on the ground. There were human heads pickled in lime, the golden knife of the tribal leader, and some strange handicrafts. He lined them up in front. It looked quite scary.

Then the postman picked up a letter from the grassland royal court and handed it to the eunuch Tian En.

This is a peace document written in Chinese, in duplicate. It already has the seal of the new Chanyu, and there is a blank space next to it for the seal of the Emperor of Wei.

"Why are you so ridiculous~" Tian En muttered in a low voice: "This document is so sloppy. Let me ask you, who told you to hand in the document like this?"

"Yes... yes... it's Xia... the magistrate of Fuliang County. He said that everything should be kept simple and quick. The process is not important, what matters is the effect..."

"What a mess." Tian En sneered, then suddenly stretched out his tone and hummed: "What are you talking about? Who? What county magistrate?"

At this moment, Emperor Hongbao on the dragon throne became anxious. He stretched his neck and said, "Tian En, what are you mumbling about?"

"Your Majesty, there is a letter from the credential, but it is so simple that there is not even an envoy. And the postman said that it was given to him by a county magistrate."

"County magistrate?" Emperor Hong Bao was also full of questions, but he was also anxious at this moment, so he stretched out his hand and said, "Submit the documents first!"

After getting the document, although the form was simple, the content was not simple at all. The content on it made Emperor Hong Bao stunned. There were four key items:

First: an indefinite truce between the two countries.

Second, the two countries opened their markets.

Third, seventy miles of grassland were ceded to Wei.

Fourth, set up Liangyuan markets outside Yanmen Pass for Han and herdsmen trade.

Emperor Hongbao was stunned, this could be said to be a major benefit, not to mention the issue of trade, just recovering seventy miles of territory was already a huge matter, seventy miles didn't sound like a lot, but in the past few years one hundred thousand soldiers fought bloody battles but failed to advance an inch and were even driven back into the interior of the country, now people were giving up seventy miles voluntarily, how exciting was that?
This time, Emperor Hongbao became interested, so he asked: "Tell me quickly, what is going on?"

The postman immediately re-arranged the story of Xia Lin entering the grassland that he had been reviewing along the way, and then began to tell the Hongbao Emperor: "Until the county magistrate of Fuliang County of the Great Wei led the caravan out of Yanmen Pass, things became different. He only sold some southern specialties and some firewood and food, but somehow he aroused the covetousness of the lord of the south of the desert. That day, the tribe was surrounded by cavalry. During the dispute, County Magistrate Xia stepped forward to argue and was whipped. At this time, someone in the crowd shot an arrow, hitting the cavalry in the face..."

The series of things that Xia Lin did as a manager were so thrilling that not only the people involved, but even those who were listening to the story felt their hair stand on end. They couldn't help but applaud when they heard the exciting parts. And when they heard about the dangerous and difficult scenes when the besieged tribe sent troops and generals, it was even more terrifying and chilling.

When he heard that they had reached the royal court in more than thirty days, caught the old Chanyu off guard, and directly captured the original royal court, causing the remnants of the Wei Dynasty that had previously fought fiercely to flee westward in panic and also fought with the Western Regions countries along the way, Emperor Hongbao slapped his thigh in anger.

"It's so satisfying! So satisfying!" Emperor Hongbao took a deep breath and said three good words in a row: "Good, good, good! This county magistrate is a talented person. Tian En, what kind of reward should he be given? Why not let him come to the capital? With such talent and courage, it's really a waste of talent for a county magistrate."

"Your Majesty, I have heard of this man. He seems to be... Lord Teng's... um... prospective son-in-law." "Hmm? The son-in-law of the Ninth Prince? Oh~~ a family member, that won't do." Emperor Hongbao smacked his lips and said, "If he goes to the capital, he will be the son-in-law of the emperor, and it will be useless. Let's talk about this later. Go and summon all the civil and military officials to the palace and tell them that there is good news from the grassland and they should come quickly."

In fact, when the postman rushed into the city, all the civil and military officials probably already knew what was going on, and had already changed into court robes and were waiting there. However, the news really brought joy to some and sorrow to others.

It is said that every dynasty has its own ministers. Previously, many noble families were engaged in smuggling with the grassland. Smuggling was a business that brought huge profits. A bag of salt or a pound of iron transported there would bring back real gold and silver. The other party actually knew that they were selling at a high price, but if they didn't buy, they would have nothing to buy.

And now it seems that the new Chanyu is going to engage in mutually beneficial trade. This is a serious matter. Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. Naturally, the mouthpieces of these aristocratic families are unwilling to hand over these rights to the people, so they gathered in groups of three or two outside the palace, waiting for their boss, Gao Shilian, to come forward.

Soon Gao Shilian appeared in front of them. He was walking hurriedly with a gloomy face. No matter who tried to talk to him, he ignored them and just walked into the hall.

As soon as he entered, he knelt down in front of Emperor Hongbao and said, "Your Majesty, this is not allowed! Trade is not allowed!"

Although Hong Baodi was of average ability, he was not stupid. He knew clearly that this matter would inevitably encounter obstacles. After all, once the market was opened, it would be difficult for these compradors to do business.

But he had thought about it for a long time just now. If he let these people move away, he might not be able to sit on the throne of the emperor for much longer. So he decided to make up his mind this time and get this done no matter what. If nothing else, at least he could avoid the disaster of war, and his life would naturally be peaceful in the future. He could also free up his hands to draw his sword and cut off the roots of those aristocratic families.

But it would be impossible to force it, and there would be great resistance. So he was an emperor after all, and no matter how mediocre he was, he still had some skills, so he smiled and said, "My dear Gao, I know what you mean. You are worried that this barbarian will get the advantage and become stronger and come back to invade our territory."

"Your Majesty is wise. Long live the Emperor!"

Gao Shilian was really relieved, but the next moment he was relieved again. Emperor Hongbao said, "But now the new emperor of the barbarians has ascended the throne and has taken the initiative to make peace. If we don't show any support, it will give people something to talk about. Lord Gao, since they are willing to give us 70 li, then our Celestial Empire cannot take advantage of them. What do you think about the Great Wei giving them Yanmen Pass?"

As soon as the words fell, all the civil and military officials in the court knelt down and kowtowed in unison: "Your Majesty, you must not..."

Gao Shilian looked up at the emperor and found that he was smiling...

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, but as a minister, how could he speak nonsense? He could only prostrate himself like other ministers, not daring to move.

"Since we cannot trade and cannot cede the checkpoints, you really want to fight?" Emperor Hongbao's tone was full of curiosity and innocence: "Then tell me what to do?"

"I dare not..."

The tone and even the speed of the subordinates' speech were the same. They were all old and shrewd. How could they not understand that His Majesty was bullying them at this point? Wouldn't that be a waste of time? No matter what, he was still an emperor, and he had at least half of the military power in the world. It would be a big trouble to tear each other apart over such a small matter.

However, Emperor Hongbao did not continue to be aggressive: "How about this, let's give it a try. Just follow what is said in the imperial book. Let's open the market for two years first, and then withdraw it if it doesn't work. Give it a two-year break, so that Great Wei can recover its vitality. What do you think, my dear ministers?"

Of course they were not happy about it, but that was how things were. The emperor took a step back, so they couldn't take two steps forward. Everyone had to take a step back, so they could only accept it with a pinch of their nose.

"Your Majesty is wise, long live the emperor!"

The shouts of "Long live the emperor" were equivalent to their unanimous approval. Emperor Hongbao looked at Gao Shilian with a smile and said, "Lord Gao, the letter from the emperor said that the market will be located at Yanmen Pass. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, the border between the two countries is long. If we want to open a market, it is not good to have only one checkpoint. It would be better to open more checkpoints so that the people in the north can benefit."

Everyone knows what this means. If you only set up a market in Yanmen Pass where the Guo family is stationed, then other families won't even get a share of the profits. Now that the opening of markets is a foregone conclusion, you might as well open more.

Competing with the people for profit? What a joke! How can the people deserve profit?

But everyone was willing to take a step back, so Emperor Hongbao naturally agreed to open six trade checkpoints.

No matter what, everyone was happy. At this time, Emperor Hongbao said with a smile: "My dear ministers, do you know how this seventy-li land came about? Speaking of it, it is quite interesting."
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I was delayed by something today...it's a little late.

(End of this chapter)