Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

Of course, he had carefully considered all of these gifts.

As a man from the Central Plains, although he had a good impression of the Yuezhi princess, he would not give away the technology of iron smelting, bows and crossbows, and other important national weapons of the Central Plains to another person because of momentary selfish desires.

After all, the Tang Dynasty had made the same mistake once in history, so it naturally wouldn't repeat it a second time.

The gifts Bai Su gave her were mostly books about Central Plains pavilions, architecture, sculptures, clothing, medicine, and herbs—things beneficial to people's livelihoods. However, there was not a single gift related to military technology.

Give these things to her.

Firstly, it would allow her to return to the Yuezhi Kingdom, improve the local people's livelihood, enhance her reputation, and establish connections with the Central Plains.

Secondly, if you want to conquer a country, you should start with its culture. Once the culture of the Central Plains has gradually spread to the Yuezhi Kingdom, there will be less resistance when Zhengjie forcibly annexes the Yuezhi Kingdom and divides it into prefectures.

Xiao Li had no idea about any of this. When she saw that Bai Su had given her hundreds of volumes of precious books, she was filled with joy and excitement.

She immediately stood on tiptoe and, to Bai Su's surprise, kissed him on the cheek.

"My lord, Xiao Li is gone."

She murmured something to herself, then lifted the curtain and stepped into the carriage. With the driver cracking the whip, the carriage gradually drove off into the distance.

Bai Su touched her cheek, feeling the soft touch from just now, and couldn't help but smile: "What a passionate and unrestrained grassland woman."

Xiao Li sat in the carriage, stroking the scrolls of bamboo slips as if they were precious treasures.

Recalling Bai Su's surprised expression just now, a faint smile couldn't help but appear on her face.

.................................................. .....

......................................................

As Bai Su walked back to the mansion, she recalled Xiao Li's overjoyed expression and couldn't help but mutter to herself.

The value of this book is even more exaggerated than I expected.

In some ways, these books are more useful than money.

After all, money can only buy off greedy people, but if someone can casually pull out a hundred or eighty books and slam them on the table, even kings and generals would find it difficult to remain calm.

It seems it's time to reduce the cost of books and attract more talented people to the Central Plains.

This was partly for Bai Su's own convenience in writing, since the efficiency of carving bamboo slips was really too low; even after a whole day of work, he could only carve a dozen or so scrolls.

On the other hand, this was naturally for his grand goal of marrying Zheng Jie.

He wanted to achieve the same level of accomplishments as Zheng Jie, complete the imperial examinations, build many private schools throughout the land, encourage learned scholars to emulate the sage Confucius, recruit three thousand disciples, and teach the people to read and write.

The first thing to do is to reduce the cost of books and increase their production. Otherwise, relying solely on one person to carve a dozen or so bamboo slips a day will make it difficult to achieve this basic goal, even after several decades.

Fortunately, perhaps thanks to the Yuezhi princess yesterday, he finally had a stroke of good luck.

I was given a formula for an improved papermaking technique through the system.

Now is the time to make paper.

"Where did you go? Why are you so late?"

Just then, a girl's voice, filled with dissatisfaction, came from afar.

Bai Su looked up and saw a shapely girl in a green dress standing in front of the door, her heterochromatic eyes glaring at him fiercely.

Who else could it be but Hu Yu?

Bai Su was taken aback for a moment, then said, "The Yuezhi delegation left, and as an official of the court, I went to see them off."

Hu Su looked at Bai Su with suspicious eyes: "When you saw her off, she didn't lay a hand on you, did she?"

Bai Su said with a serious expression, "I guarantee that she absolutely did not lay a hand on me."

After all, the Yuezhi princess only spoke to him verbally; it shouldn't be considered that she used any physical force.

Hu Su couldn't detect a trace of guilt in Bai Su's eyes, and only then did she reveal a barbaric smile.

She smiled brightly and said, "That's good. It wasn't a wasted trip. My mother specially asked me to bring you a box of pastries. I heard they're called 'One-Bite Pastries,' and they're from a very famous pastry shop in Xianyang."

Bai Su's eyelids twitched. "Yikousu" (一口酥) - why does this name sound so unlucky?

Chapter Seventy-Six: Her Highness the Princess's Reward

Hu Yu placed the box on the table and asked in confusion, "This pastry called 'One-Bite Crisp' is something I specially brought from my mother. Why do you have such a strange expression? Don't you like it?"

Bai Su shook her head: "It's nothing, I'm just not very hungry right now."

When he heard that the pastry his sister had brought was called "One-Bite Pastry," he broke out in a cold sweat. Could it be that the box was empty and his sister wanted him to put something in it?

Fortunately, when Hu Yu opened the box, he found that it contained only some delicate pastries, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that Zhengjie simply had Hu Yi deliver a box of pastries without any other intention.

Hu Yu blinked his heterochromatic eyes, then said, "Since you're not hungry, let's eat later. I brought you good news and bad news when I came over today. Which do you want to hear first?"

Bai Su was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Let's hear the good news first."

With a grin, Hu Yi said, "My mother has promoted you to the rank of Lang because of your great achievements."

"So fast?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Su couldn't help but show a hint of surprise on her face.

According to the system of the Great Xia Dynasty, this official position is not high. He only has the qualification to participate in the discussion of state affairs in the court. Although he has no real power, it is a special benefit.

That means you can follow the political leader and assist in handling government affairs, with more opportunities to perform and a position where it is relatively easy to stand out.

The last person to be appointed as a courtier to serve His Majesty was the current Prime Minister of the Great Xia Dynasty, Li Si.

It seems that Zhengjie wants to keep her by her side and focus on cultivating her.

After pondering for a while, Bai Su asked, "What's the bad news?"

Upon hearing Bai Su's question, Hu Yi's previous cheerful demeanor vanished, replaced by a pout like a sullen young wife. She pouted and said, "My mother doesn't agree to betroth me to you."

"After all, your current official position is too low. You have a title but no real power. Who knows when you'll be able to climb to a high position and become an important minister in the court? I really don't know why Mother gave you such a low official position..."

She had a lot of complaints about her mother's arrangements. She had clearly said that she liked Bai Su and wanted to marry him. For the sake of her daughter's happy future, why not just give Bai Su a high-ranking official position?

How long will she have to wait for such a trivial official position?

Upon hearing this, Bai Su felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. The Great Xia Dynasty was founded on military merit, and achievements were paramount. He had only recently arrived in Xianyang, and now he was suddenly appointed to a high position. How could he possibly gain the respect of the people?

Instead of appointing him directly as county magistrate, Zhengjie kept him by her side in a relatively low-ranking position, clearly intending to cultivate him properly.

Bai Su smiled and gently ruffled Hu Yi's soft hair: "Don't worry, I will definitely marry you in the future."

Hu Yu's fair face flushed slightly as she suppressed her shyness: "Then you'd better hurry up and find a way to make a contribution. Mother's birthday banquet is just around the corner."

"Fu Su has already gained the support of a group of Confucian scholars, and now, with the support of his retainers, he has begun to collect maps of the six states and integrate them."

"I'm going to draw a landscape map that includes the nine provinces and thirty-six counties, and present it to Mother at her birthday banquet. You must seize this opportunity to perform well and absolutely not lose to her."

Upon hearing this, Bai Su was both amused and exasperated: "Fu Su has connections all over the world. There's Meng Tian at the Great Wall in the border regions and famous Confucian scholars in the Central Plains. How could I possibly beat her in drawing a map of mountains and rivers with such precision?"

After all, with the changes over thousands of years and the shifts in river courses, the maps of later generations are vastly different from those of today. The Yunmeng Marsh, which was once famous in the Chu Kingdom, has long since disappeared.

It is impossible to draw a map of later generations to make do with a substitute.

Hu Yi puffed out his cheeks: "I don't care, you have to find a way to help me beat her."

Bai Su said helplessly, "You're making things difficult for me."

Hu Yi also knew that his request was a bit too willful.

She pondered for a while, as if she had thought of something. A blush rose on her fair face, and she whispered, "Then...then I can give you a reward for your support."

Bai Su was taken aback: "What reward?"

Before she could react, Hu Yi gently tiptoed, stroked his cheeks with both hands, and lightly touched his lips.

Immediately, as if electrocuted, she quickly separated, her face turning red: "Alright, here's the reward, you have to help me beat her."

"You...you're not giving me a chance to refuse at all."

Bai Su touched her lips, feeling the lingering softness, glanced at Hu Yi in front of her, who looked like a shy, adorable wife, and said helplessly, "Very well, since Your Highness values ​​me so much, how could I disappoint you?"

Hu Yi, disregarding his embarrassment, asked with surprise, "You really have a way to beat Fu Su?"

"Of course, I never lie during the day."

Bai Su pondered for a moment and said, "Didn't Fu Su intend to present His Majesty with a map of the Nine Provinces? Then I will place the books of the Nine Provinces in my palm as a gift to His Majesty."

Hu Yu frowned, her delicate eyebrows furrowing. "This... how is this possible?"

After all, these books are the lifeblood of nobles; they wouldn't easily hand them over no matter how much money they were offered.

Back then, my mother commanded a million troops to conquer the six kingdoms and seized all their books in Xianyang, but she only obtained a portion of the royal collection.

There are also a large number of books in the hands of nobles and various schools of thought in different regions. It is simply impossible to collect all the books in the nine provinces of the world.

Bai Su smiled slightly: "The reason why books from the Central Plains are so valuable is mainly because they are so rare, difficult to copy, and too costly."

"If I reduce the price of a book to a few coins, it wouldn't be impossible to copy all the books in the world and collect them all in the Xianyang Palace."

Hu Yu blinked: "But how can the cost possibly be reduced?"

She thought about it and realized that whether she used silk, bamboo slips, wooden boards, or sheepskin to write, the price would not be cheap.

Bai Su lightly rolled up her sleeves, picked up a brush and wrote down the materials: "Just follow my orders and send someone to buy these things. I have a wonderful use for them."

After saying that, he handed over a prescription that he had written down.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Bet with Hu Hai

What are you trying to do?

Hu Yu blinked his heterochromatic eyes, a hint of curiosity appearing on his face.

The list in her hand contained nothing complicated; it consisted mainly of clay, straw, reeds, bamboo, and the like.

These things are readily available and easy to find, but she was a little puzzled as to what Bai Su wanted them for.

Bai Su smiled and said, "Naturally, it's a gift for His Majesty."

Hu Su's eyes widened, and she gave Bai Su a strange look: "Are you serious about giving Mother these common weeds as a gift?"

When other ministers presented gifts to their mother, they all gathered rare and precious treasures from all over the world, such as golden pearls, several feet of red coral, and rare luminous pearls.