Governing the country, enriching the people, an unparalleled imperial tutor

After passing Anguo, the road begins to veer southwest. The terrain on both sides gradually transitions from hills to plains, with fields stretching out in patches, and rows of cotton fields and grapevines extending along the road.

Xiaolan spread out a map in the passenger seat and looked at it for a while: "We should be in the territory of Shi Kingdom ahead. Shi Kingdom is larger than An Kingdom and Sogdiana, and its land is more fertile."

Aygul sat by the back window, holding the half-whittled wooden stick in her hand. She stopped whittling and looked out at the receding fields. She said, "The king of Shi Kingdom was named Ashina. He had dealings with my father. When he was young, he ran caravans on the grasslands and saw a lot of the world."

She didn't turn around, and her tone remained unchanged. "He knows his stuff; he's not easily persuaded. You have to let him see something truly frightening before he'll sit down and have a proper talk." Lin Yanzhou didn't reply, maintaining a steady pace in the car.

On both sides of the road, people were working in the fields, some bending over, others packing freshly picked grapes into baskets. As the dark gray iron vehicle passed by, some people straightened up to glance at it, then bent down again to continue working, not daring to watch the strange metal vehicle drive past the fields.

The city of Shi was larger than the previous cities. The walls were also thicker than those of the previous cities, with a layer of light-colored mortar on the surface and stone reinforcement at the edges.

The city gate was wider than any of the cities we had passed before. On either side of the gate stood a thick stone pillar, its surface engraved with rows of patterns that resembled the intricate intertwining of some kind of vine. Inside the gate, there were no checkpoints, only two people dressed in light-colored robes sitting there, heads bowed, writing something in a ledger.

When the iron car stopped in front of them, one of them looked up and glanced at it, his fear evident in his eyes, unsure of what to say.

Not long after, a man in a dark gray robe came out of the city and addressed Lin Yanzhou in Mandarin. His tone was not loud, but his speech was slightly fast, as if he were conveying a prepared welcome message to the king: "The king heard that a guest from afar has come from the east and is waiting in the palace." Lin Yanzhou turned off the torch and followed the man into the stone-paved road inside the city gate.

The shops on both sides of the road were more densely packed than in the cities we had passed through before. Behind the counters, people were arranging cloth, placing newly fired pottery on the shelves, and arranging cut fruits on the counters, their movements skilled and fluid. No one was shouting their wares, nor was anyone stopping their work to look at the passersby.

The main hall was larger than Anguo's hall, with dark-colored floor tiles and two bronze lampstands standing against the wall, the firelight maintaining a warm brightness throughout the space.

The king sat on the throne, wearing a dark robe with a wide leather belt around his waist, from which hung several old bronze ornaments. He looked to be around fifty years old, with a slightly tanned face and more defined cheekbones and jawline than the other leaders he had seen before.

He saw Lin Yanzhou come in but didn't get up. He gestured to the seat to the side and said, "Sit."

Lin Yanzhou sat down to the side. The king turned his head and said something to the attendant, who brought over a bronze tray with a teapot and two cups on it. The king poured himself a cup of tea and pushed it towards him: "This is tea from the Kingdom of Shi. Please try it."

Lin Yanzhou picked it up and took a sip. It had a faint, refreshing fruity aroma, but the aftertaste was rather short-lived.

He put down his cup: "The tea from Shiguo is quite good."

The king also picked up his cup of tea, took a sip, and put the cup down: "I heard that you came all the way from the east and conquered many city-states. The Northern Di, Loulan, Kucha, Khotan, Shule, Dayuan, Kangju, Anguo, Sogdiana. Your route is very clear: take the soft ones first, then tackle the hard ones."

As expected, the information spread quickly. Lin Yanzhou neither denied nor responded. Ayiguli walked in from the doorway and stood half a step behind him.

Her gaze passed over Lin Yanzhou's shoulder and landed in the direction of the king, saying something in the local language. Lin Yanzhou didn't understand her exact words, but he could sense that the rhythm of her words was slower than usual, indicating that she was speaking very carefully. Lin Yanzhou immediately activated his mind-reading ability: the two were exchanging information about Ayiguli telling him about her country's plight and Lin Yanzhou's prowess.

The king paused, placing the teacup on the table. He asked a question, his tone neither fast nor slow. Aygul replied, his voice even more composed than before, completing the formal launch and docking process in his own way.

After listening, the king remained silent for a moment, then picked up his teacup again, took a sip, and put it down. He turned his gaze to Lin Yanzhou, his voice slightly lower than before: "You may leave. Did you bring the letter of surrender?"

Lin Yanzhou took out the letter of surrender from his robes and handed it over. The king took it, glanced at it, took a copper seal from his waist, pressed it against the paper, and then flipped the letter back over: "It's signed. Of the things you brought, keep one sample each of the tea and silk, and one porcelain bowl as well. As for the handover, just send someone to coordinate later. The official road of Shi Kingdom will be connected to the official road of Xuan Shuo."

He stood up, walked to the wall, placed the white porcelain bowl on the empty spot on the upper shelf of the wooden shelf, then turned around, sat down again, and said, "You've traveled for so long, rest for a night before you continue."

That evening, Lin Yanzhou sat on a stone bench in the courtyard of the guest room, flipping through a map on his phone. Ayiguli came out of the house and stood beside him, not holding a wooden stick, her gaze fixed on the direction outside the courtyard wall: "When I told King Shi about you, he lowered his head to drink tea, his eyes not moving, but I saw his hand holding the bowl begin to steadily press down on the rim of the teacup, until the edge of the teacup was completely embedded in the indentation of his fingertips before he let go. I also told him that you kept this kind of weapon."

That's why he asked if you brought the letter of surrender: not to confirm you brought it, but to confirm he had provided a way for you to back down gracefully." Her tone remained unchanged as she said this, "With this gun, the rest of the journey will be faster and faster."

Lin Yanzhou locked his phone and put it in his pocket: "So, how long is the road ahead?"

Aygul replied helplessly, "It depends on how strong your desires are," and turned to go back into the house.

The surrender documents he had already collected were layered on top of each other in the cloth bag, each page stamped with an inscription that read "Surrender to Xuan Shuo".

Inside a monitoring room on the moon, two bizarre ideologies communicate using consciousness.

"This unified approach has reduced casualties and the number of human deaths."

"I wonder what will happen if we let him continue like this? Will things get out of control?"

"Damn it, do these inferior humans also possess such intelligence?"

"This would alter their normal history. Should we create a new, dimensional copy of his actions?"

"We'll see. We'll summon him again in a while and do another test."