Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 264 This father and son duo are absolutely amazing! [Seeking monthly votes]

"What the hell? The Hetao region again?"

Yan Maoqing was taken aback upon hearing this.

Didn't he only go to Fengzhou Beach this time and break through Anda Wang's camp? How can there be any talk of recovering the Hetao region?
“Minister Yan, you…”

Zhu Yunyao also looked doubtful upon seeing this.

He didn't understand why Yan Maoqing reacted this way, as if he had no idea that Ji Nang had already agreed to move the royal camp and return the Hetao region.

This achievement is even greater than breaching Anda's royal camp and killing Anda and a host of Tatar leaders.

After all, the Hetao region is known for its beautiful water and lush grass, and there has been a folk saying since ancient times: "The Yellow River brings a hundred harms, but only enriches the Hetao region."

Regardless of the economic value of this place, the achievement of "recovering the lost territories" alone is enough to make Yan Maoqing one of the greatest heroes in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he should be honored with a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple!
For a while.

Yan Maoqing and Zhu Yunyao stared at each other, neither of them speaking, seemingly trying to find the answer in each other's eyes.

"Oops!"

At this moment, Guo Xun finally stepped forward, laughing heartily as he spoke.

"If you ask me, my Shouchang is good in every way, except that he is used to being humble and hiding his talents."

"It's also my fault for being so talkative. When Shouchang devised this ingenious plan of running two parallel lines, one overt and one covert, one civil and one military, he instructed me not to spread it around until it was accomplished and settled."

"I only received a reply from the envoy Ji Nang, but I couldn't help but announce the matter and immediately sent a report of victory to the capital, making it known to everyone."

"But Shouchang, you're no exception. The Prince of Dai isn't an outsider."

"This is another great thing that everyone should celebrate. Now that things have come to this, there's no need to hide it anymore, is there?"

"..."

Yan Maoqing squinted at Guo Xun, wondering if this old man had once again taken it upon himself to do something behind his back.
What kind of "ingenious scheme of running two parallel lines, one overt and one covert, one civil and one military"?
Where would such a thing happen?

This time, he clearly just wanted to teach Anda a profound lesson, to let him know that the Ming Dynasty was no longer as militarily powerful as before, and to achieve the strategic goal of stopping war with war!

How did two parallel lines come about, and how did the "double-layered" situation occur?
Most importantly, Guo Xun even said that he had sent out "good news"!
Good news is no ordinary memorial or letter.

That was a way of delivering messages where the messenger had to carry a small flag all the way, and at each post station or city they passed through, they had to shout loudly to spread the word...

"Wink!"

Although Guo Xun certainly didn't understand English, his wink at Yan Maoqing clearly made it so that Yan Maoqing could see those four letters next to his head.

So what exactly did this old man do while I was away?

Yan Maoqing felt a chill run down his spine and shivered involuntarily.

He felt a deep sense of betrayal and endless scheming, as if the whole world was working against him and didn't want him to have a moment's peace!

……

Upon being taken back to Guo Xun's residence, Yan Maoqing finally learned the whole story.

As expected, it was that treacherous minister Guo Xun who jumped out on his own, pushing himself further into the abyss!
This adoptive father, without even a word of warning, secretly sent several merchants willing to atone for their crimes to Ji Nang, the envoy of the Aoerdusi, immediately after learning of Anda's death.

Moreover, he used the same tactic he used when he demanded a bribe of 400,000 taels of silver from Anda last time.

Ji Nang was clearly not a Saint Seiya, and besides, it wasn't him who fell for the trap last time, but his younger brother Anda. So, Guo Xun actually managed to get it done.

The sincerity that Ji Nang has now conveyed is:
"First, return the Ming soldiers and civilians who were previously captured;"

"Second, behead the border general who previously betrayed the Ming Dynasty;"

"Third, move the royal court away from the Aordusi, return it to the Hetao region, and offer a hostage to the Ming Dynasty."

Ji Niang naturally had his own reasons for doing so:
"First, he wants to replace Anda in establishing a tributary trade relationship with the Ming Dynasty, hoping that the Ming Dynasty will give him Fengzhou Beach as a transit point connecting the mines of Langjuxu Mountain;"

"Secondly, during the period of tribute trade, Ji Nang will strictly restrain his subordinates from invading the border towns of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty shall not arbitrarily send troops to launch surprise attacks on Ji Nang's royal court;"

"Third, we secretly bribed Yan Maoqing with 100,000 taels of silver, hoping that he would use his influence in the court to help us make this happen."

After hearing all of this, Yan Maoqing was completely dumbfounded.

That's not his plan!
On his way back, he also excluded Ji Nang from the list of tribute recipients because Ji Nang was nearing the end of his life, and planned to submit a memorial to Zhu Houcong suggesting that he support the hostage that Anda had previously offered.

The key point is the word "suggestion".

He never intended to do it himself; instead, he wanted Zhu Houcong to take initiative and accomplish the task himself.

In this way, the credit should not be attributed to oneself, or rather, even if there is merit, it is the merit of devising strategies, not the primary merit.

Now, Guo Xun has betrayed him again, forcibly assigning him a "recovery of the country" achievement that is even more terrifying than "killing Anda".
He really couldn't understand what Guo Xun was doing.

Such a tremendous and unparalleled achievement—shouldn't someone like Guo Xun, who could compile his own history to claim credit for his ancestors, have kept it firmly in his arms?

True.

The smooth negotiations between Guo Xun and Ji Nang must have been largely due to the unprecedented might displayed by the Heroic Battalion in this battle.

From the conditions proposed by Ji Nang, it's clear that he's starting to worry whether the Ming Dynasty will send Yan Maoqing to launch another surprise attack on his royal court in Aordusi. After all, Aordusi isn't far from the Ming Dynasty's border towns.

Like Fengzhou Beach, it was a carefully chosen location for their encampment to facilitate trade and plundering in the south.

If the Ming army were to launch surprise attacks like the Hero Battalion from time to time, and were unable to defeat them head-on, they could advance smoothly into the royal camp in a square formation.

If Ji Nang dares to continue stationing his tent at Aoerdusi, he is standing under a crumbling wall, and he probably won't even be able to sleep peacefully at night.

Perhaps Ji Nang had learned about the battle situation in detail from the Tatar cavalry who fled from Fengzhou Beach, which is why he had no choice but to make such a decision.

Move the accounts!

The accounts must be transferred!

A royal court that cannot be defended, and a river bend that cannot be retained—these are like a hot potato.

It would be better to relocate them, return the Hetao region to the Ming Dynasty, and in exchange for an exclusive authorization to conduct tribute trade and coal trade with the Ming Dynasty.

To say that Jilang wasn't envious of Anda's mines and coal trade would be a complete lie...

The nomadic life of the Tatars was merely a forced one, as they depended on the weather for their livelihood and could only follow the grasslands.

If one could settle down, make a living from the mines, and not have to worry about natural disasters that come from time to time, and could ensure a good harvest regardless of drought, flood, rain or snow, who would want to be homeless?

But let's get back to the point.

Although the way things have developed is somewhat different from Yan Maoqing's plan, it doesn't seem unacceptable.

After all, if the war with Jilang involved coal trade, the Ming Dynasty wouldn't need to consider supporting Anda, the hostage prince.

Moreover, once Ji Nang consolidated the remaining forces of Anda, it would be equivalent to connecting the entire northern border region of the Ming Dynasty into one area, thus providing a buffer zone not only for Xuanfu and Datong, but also for Shaanxi and Gansu.

Within the Tatars, the situation remained one of rivalry between the young prince and Ji Nang, which was also advantageous to the Ming Dynasty.

This means that Ji Nang had to resist the forces of the little prince in the northern desert in order to protect his coal trade interests, and the Ming Dynasty didn't even need to send troops...

Also.

Since Ji Nang has also sent a hostage this time, there's no need to worry about the situation becoming unstable after his death.

After all, if Anda's hostage could be sent back and supported to become Khan, then Jilang's hostage could also be sent back and supported to become Khan; it's just the same thing in a different guise.

and so……

"Father, why did Ji Nang bribe me with 100,000 taels of silver? Shouldn't it be at least 400,000 taels, just like Anda?"

Despite his hatred for Guo Xun, Yan Maoqing couldn't help but ask this question.

"Didn't Anda give you 100,000 taels back then?"

Guo Xun laughed as if it were perfectly natural.
“Shouchang, you didn’t share the 100,000 taels with your godfather last time. This time, your godfather earned the 100,000 taels on his own merit.”

"Your godfather has already given you this unparalleled achievement, so you can't ask for this money again. Even if we are father and son, we should still be clear about money, shouldn't we?"

"..."

Yan Maoqing then remembered that Guo Xun only knew that he had solicited 100,000 taels of silver from Anda, but did not know that it was actually 400,000 taels.

loss!

What a big loss!

Guo Xun has betrayed them so cruelly again, and now they're even short of money!
Yan Maoqing was even more heartbroken.

He never expected that the boomerang would hit him back in the face like this.

I knew it all along, so I didn't hide it from Guo Xun. Otherwise, wouldn't I have been able to swindle 400,000 taels of silver from Ji Nang this time?
Even if the money doesn't end up in my own pocket, it would be good to get a little more money from the black market. I feel terrible for being shortchanged by 300,000 taels of silver for no reason!

I just don't know if Jixiang will agree to raise the price again if we ask them to do so now.

It's best not to do that, after all, raising prices at the last minute is very unethical, and the overall situation should be taken into consideration...

"Hiss... wait a minute."

Seeing Yan Maoqing's heartbroken expression, Guo Xun finally sensed something was wrong. His brows furrowed instantly, and he stared at Yan Maoqing with scrutiny.
"Shouchang, do you mean that the bribe Anda gave you last time was actually 400,000 taels, and not the 100,000 taels you told your godfather?"

"Yes! I remember now!"

"Back then, I noticed that you had a lot of carriages used to transport the silver, but I didn't pay much attention at the time. Now that I think about it carefully, it certainly shouldn't have been only 100,000 taels..."

"Shouchang, Shouchang, your godfather has treated you well, yet you dare to deceive him about such a big matter?"

"..."

Zhang Xian, a trusted servant standing to the side, looked at the father and son, feeling speechless with indescribable frustration.

A crow stands on the back of a black pig; no one should laugh at the black pig.

The Duke of Yi just doesn't have the same appetite as Yan Maoqing, but is he someone to be trifled with?
He clearly got 300,000 taels from Ji Nang this time, but now he claims to Yan Maoqing that he only has 100,000 taels... This father and son are simply outrageous!
(End of this chapter)