You have truly caused me great suffering!

In Zhong Lingxi's courtyard, the banquet was still going on, and everyone was enjoying the performance of the palace dancers.

Maode looked at Li Qingzhao who had returned, and asked her to sit next to him, snuggling close to her affectionately.

I didn't smell anything strange; instead, it smelled a bit like ink.

"Why have you been gone so long?"

Li Qingzhao smoothed her hair and said, "I made several rubbings."

Mao Demei rolled her eyes, not believing it at all, but still stood very close to her.

She actually relied on this friend a little, because there were very few people she could truly confide in.

The 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.

With the New Year approaching, envoys from Goryeo arrived in Taiyuan early.

Because the land route was impassable, they split into two groups after landing in Dengzhou.

It was the smaller team that went to Bianliang.

The mission brought with it a great deal of wealth.

Although Goryeo had a tradition of serving the greater good and had always respected the Song Dynasty, that was only a superficial phenomenon.

The upper echelons of Goryeo held the Song Dynasty in great contempt.

In their view, the Jurchens, who had once been suppressed by them, were able to easily invade the capital region of the Song Dynasty.

But the Prince of Dai was different.

This person is very likely to be the next founding emperor of the Central Plains, and his martial virtue is quite abundant, so we must express our submission in advance.

After arriving in Taiyuan, the Goryeo delegation waited in the city for three days.

When they were finally allowed to visit Chen Shao, it was already evening and dusk.

Chen Shao hosted a banquet for officials who came from Xiping Prefecture. Xu Jin and Yang Cheng were both present, which could be seen as a farewell banquet for Yang Cheng to start building the canal after the spring.

Because Xiping Prefecture is far away, these officials can only come a few times a year. This time, they chose to travel in winter, making the journey even more arduous.

Although Chen Shao told them not to come again, he was actually quite happy, after all, they were his old subordinates.

Xu Jin said with a smile that even in the dead of winter, caravans still travel and trade.

The enormous profits kept this trade route going, and even under harsh conditions, people were still pursuing profits.

All they had to do was blend into the caravan and ride in one of the wagons.

Chen Shao was even more satisfied, as the founding members of the Dingnan Army were generally quite hardworking.

Given Xu Jin's status and position, he could have arrived in a grand manner, riding in a comfortable carriage, but he did not.

Don't worry about whether he was pandering to Chen Shao's frugality.

Chen Shao always judged people by their actions, not their intentions; as long as you did good deeds, that was enough.

"Your Majesty, why did you allow the Goryeo envoy to arrive at this time?"

Xu Jin, holding a glass of wine, asked.

Chen Shao smiled and said, "I am just a prince of Dai. The Goryeo envoys found me to be acting improperly, so they asked them to come tonight."

“My willingness to see him was a hint, and seeing him tonight was another. It was all to tell him that I do have ambitions for further advancement, but I don’t want to make it public right now. Koreans have always been good at reading people, and they will understand my thoughts.”

Xu Jin and Yang Cheng exchanged a glance and laughed. Today's banquet was full of their own people, including Yang Cheng, who were all their old subordinates from the time when You and Yan prefectures were located.

Chen Shao then spoke freely, without any taboos.

Chen Shao's house was built by people from Hedong. Unlike the small bridges, flowing water, and winding corridors of Jiangnan, this house is built like a mansion in the north, emphasizing a spacious and grand style.

The tall lintel, the straight corridor, and the row of windmilled bronze lanterns hanging every five steps from the gate all the way to the central hall illuminated the courtyard as if it were daytime.

They don't usually light them, but today they were lit, just to show the Goryeo envoy.

When the Goryeo envoys entered, they were indeed impressed by the grandeur of the buildings. Although they were willing to spend money, they could never build such magnificent and elegant structures.

The person leading the group was named Yin Yanyi, the Imperial Censor of Goryeo. After arriving at the main hall, he bowed to Chen Shao.

"Please take a seat."

After taking his seat, Yoon Yeon-yi first spoke at length about how the Goryeo king and his ministers had long admired the King of Dai, in a manner that was neither humble nor arrogant, but rather poised and graceful.

These powerful Goryeo families all spoke authentic Bianjing dialect, and you couldn't hear any accent at all.

The other members of the delegation sat behind him.

A guard handed Chen Shao a list of gifts, which Chen Shao glanced at and then casually put aside.

Yin Yanyi was slightly surprised to see this. Last time, the Prince of Dai cared a lot about the gifts, but this time he didn't care. Could it be that he thought they were too few or not to his liking?
"Dr. Yin, you've been working so hard. Someone, bring Dr. Yin some tea."

Yin Yanyi stood up to express his gratitude, then accepted the teacup with both hands and said with a smile, "Since our last meeting, Your Majesty's demeanor is still as dignified as ever, which makes us very happy."

Chen Shao laughed and said, "How can I not feel heartened by Doctor Yin's concern for me? This year I sent people to your country by sea to deliver porcelain, silk, cloth, Buddhist scriptures, and poems, and brought back minerals and medicinal herbs. Everyone can take what they need. This is very good, and we should continue to do so in the future."

Yin Yanyi's visit this time was actually largely for this very reason.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shao brought it up first.

The King of Dai's caravan was indeed impressive; their giant ships, the Shenzhou, astonished the entire Goryeo kingdom. However, they sailed too far, reaching the vicinity of Kyushu in Japan and engaging in direct trade with the Japanese.

You should know that in the past, goods from the Song Dynasty would first go to Goryeo, and then Goryeo would act as middlemen to sell them to Japan at high prices.

Moreover, Goryeo itself was rich in gold, silver, copper, and sulfur, and most of the trade between Japan and the Song Dynasty involved exporting these kinds of goods to the Song Dynasty.

The two are in competition.

If the Dai King's caravans can consistently obtain even cheaper goods from Japan, it could potentially harm Goryeo's interests.

He came thinking he would appease Chen Shao, then send him pearls, ginseng, and beautiful women, and instruct him to order the ships to begin loading and unloading upon reaching Goryeo, and not to continue sailing towards Japan.

Before he could even speak, the Prince of Dai made the first suggestion, which startled him.

Did the Prince of Dai already know about the benefits involved?
He was a soldier by trade; how could he possibly know these things?

Chen Shao drank another cup of wine, in high spirits, and said with a smile, "I've heard that although the overseas country of Dongying is small, it has many gold and silver mines, which is exactly what I need."

Xu Jin nodded and said, "That's right."

Although Chen Shao did not specifically observe the expression on the Goryeo envoy's face, he could guess some of it.

Xiao Ting's letter had already clearly explained the vested interests involved to herself, which is why the Goryeo people kept making excuses and refused to agree to build a trading transit station for caravans near Gyeonggi Bay, the capital of Goryeo.

The fear was that they would directly transfer their goods from here to Japan, depriving Korea of ​​a source of income.

After all, sailing from Korea to Japan was much simpler, allowing for a quick round trip.

Chen Shao did not want to use his power to intimidate others for the time being. It would be best to make them back down on their own initiative and give him the benefits.

Of course, this is definitely not easy, because no one will readily give up the fat that's already in their mouth.

Both Japan and Korea have many gold, silver and copper mines, but to be honest, Japan was easier to control than Korea at that time.

Because in Japan, society is more divided and the forces are more complex, making it easier to win over and divide people, and then control them.

With just a few people intervening, they would have no need to worry about the consequences of not producing anything, given the inexhaustible gold and silver mines. They could extract gold and silver from the mountains and exchange them for fine silk, expensive porcelain, and food from the Central Plains. Who would want to toil in the fields with their faces to the soil and their backs to the sky?

Once we control the grain trade, we'll essentially control this island nation.

Although Goryeo also had internal strife, it was deeply influenced by the Central Plains civilization, and its court always maintained extremely high prestige.

Moreover, these Koreans had a better understanding of the Central Plains and were more cunning.

Both sides briefly probed before immediately stopping the topic, especially Yin Yanyi, who was already preparing to discuss it with the various families after returning home.

He glanced at the Prince of Dai again, still harboring some doubts.

Then he thought of an even more serious question: Could it be that the Prince of Dai was truly the chosen one?
The emperors of the Central Plains have ultimately been mythologized, especially the founding emperors.

Yin Yanyi chatted with Chen Shao for a long time before getting up, and Chen Shao served tea to see the guest off.

He did not act arrogantly because Goryeo was weak. No matter what you want to achieve, arrogance is a wall.

The first thing to do before doing anything else is to tear down this wall.

After the Goryeo envoys left, Chen Shao laughed and said, "These Goryeo people are really shrewd. They want to monopolize business with Japan and make a killing on both sides."

Gao Yan, a civil official who came with Xu Jin from Xiping Prefecture, said, "The Goryeo people have always been obedient. If the King of Dai issues a direct order, they will obey even if they are unwilling."

Chen Shao chuckled. This was a misunderstanding that scholars from the Central Plains had about others; it was a case of standing on high ground and being self-righteous.

Koreans are submissive?
Those were all superficial projects. After the founding of Goryeo, they successively submitted to the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, Northern Song, Khitan, and Jin dynasties. Each time, it was done very promptly and smoothly, which shows their shrewdness.

This time, they came to establish a relationship with us very early on, which shows that Goryeo is always concerned about the situation in the Central Plains and is making changes accordingly.

To achieve this is already quite an achievement, and it can be said to surpass other vassal states today.

Chen Shao knew very well that if he underestimated other people's wisdom and became blindly arrogant, he would suffer a loss without even realizing it sooner or later.

Many times, the rulers and ministers of the Central Plains were fawned over by the Goryeo people, as if they were on cloud nine. They felt that the Goryeo people were extremely obedient and trusted them completely. As a result, they silently suffered losses in their interactions and allowed Goryeo to bleed them dry.

They will still be very good at this, not only now, but even a thousand years from now.

It's a skill passed down through generations.

After the Goryeo envoys left, Chen Shao immediately changed the subject, because these people didn't know much about things overseas.

He then spoke with his confidants about the situation in the Northwest, especially the fortified villages.

The Northwest is a major pastoral region, supplying the Central Plains with horses, beef, and mutton. Since Chen Shao destroyed the Xia dynasty and established caravans, many things in the Central Plains have quietly changed.

For example, the Song Dynasty used to be extremely short of horses, but now it is not so short. The influx of horses has led to a more prosperous business.
Lamb used to be very expensive, but now it's become a good quality product at a reasonable price.

Meanwhile, the influx of grain, silk, porcelain, and tea from the Central Plains into the Northwest drove down the prices of these goods.

Even when there was a temporary truce with the Western Xia and trade was permitted, only a small area was designated, and the situation was unstable.

Now that trade routes are smooth and goods are readily available on both sides, people's quality of life is improving.

The end of the century-long war between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty, and the peace in the Western Regions, brought benefits far beyond what appeared to be simple; these were long-lasting and profound blessings.

With Chen Shao's conquest of Qinghai and the opening of the second Silk Road, trade routes in the Western Regions are now safer and more stable than ever before.

The restoration, and even surpassing, of the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty has only been a matter of the last few years. (End of Chapter)