NCCnovel Chapter 371
Chapter 371
After hearing Xu Heming's words, Zhu Jingchen also pondered for a moment. What Xu Heming said was not without reason.As long as they did not pay their tribute to the Qinling Kingdom on time, the people of Qinling would surely send envoys to their Lannuo Kingdom to demand those tribute goods. After all, what they were asking for this time was no small sum.
Five hundred thousand taels was something their national treasury could afford right now.
However, those fifty shi of grain were not a small amount.
The Lannuo Kingdom had not had an easy time during the first half of the year either. The floods in the south were only managed thanks to Li Zhiwei's dowry, which saved the commoners from starvation and freezing.
If they really sent someone to the Qinling Kingdom, an ordinary official wouldn't be able to negotiate well. But if they sent a truly capable minister, there was a risk: what if the Qinling Kingdom harbored murderous intent? He would lose a beloved general or minister, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
On the other hand, if the Qinling Kingdom sent someone over, even though the Lannuo Kingdom was not as powerful as Qinling, it was still their own territory. If anything happened, they wouldn't be caught helpless and far from aid. Thinking of this...
Zhu Jingchen slowed his speech and said, "Prince An's words make sense. In that case, we will wait for the people of the Qinling Kingdom to come to our door. However, before that, we must prepare our countermeasures."
"But, Your Majesty, if we wait for the people of Qinling to come to us, will they not open their mouths like lions and demand an even higher price on the spot?" Grand Preceptor Cheng said with a troubled expression.
In his view, the people of Qinling merely wanted money. If they waited for them to arrive and it ended up increasing their burden rather than lightening it, wouldn't the loss outweigh the gain?
Rather than that, it would be better for them to go out and negotiate with the other party, which would also show their sincerity toward the friendship between the two nations.
"I believe that the Qinling Kingdom will not think we are sincere just because we go to them. It is simply that our national strength is inferior to theirs. Will doing this anger them and give them an excuse to launch an attack on our Lannuo Kingdom?" Grand Tutor Wei sighed as he spoke.
"The journey from Qinling to here is not short, so they shouldn't be able to arrive anytime soon. Besides, we haven't received any news from the border about envoys from Qinling. We still have time." Xu Heming thought to himself that they could have people forge a batch of weapons from their iron mines first. Moreover, the Lannuo Kingdom had a larger territory and a larger population than the Qinling Kingdom.
"Beloved Subject Xu, I will leave this matter to you. Later, we should also discuss who we should send to deal with the people from the Qinling Kingdom," Zhu Jingchen waved his hand and said to Xu Heming.
Xu Heming raised no objections to this. After all, he was currently following up on the matters regarding those mines, so it was only natural for him to oversee the forging of weapons as well.
"Your Majesty, I believe this is fundamentally a duty for the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial. Why not let Lord Ye and Lord Yu host the people from the Qinling Kingdom together?" Grand Tutor Wei suggested after some thought.
"This humble subject is willing to share Your Majesty's burdens," Ye Qingyan hurriedly stepped forward and said.
After all, this was the job of the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial. Even if he wanted to shirk it, he couldn't. Furthermore, compared to the previous idea of going to the Qinling Kingdom, having the envoys come to their territory was already an excellent outcome.
"Your Majesty, I believe that having only Lord Ye and Lord Yu might not be enough to suppress those people with their wolfish ambitions," Grand Preceptor Cheng said with a frown. After all, those people were coming here specifically to demand things.
Although Ye Qingyan and Yu Guinian were capable, the envoys sent by the Qinling Kingdom would certainly not be simple.
Grand Preceptor Cheng felt that they still needed to send someone whose words carried more weight.
However, the current Emperor's princes were still quite young and unsuitable for receiving foreign envoys.
Otherwise, a prince would have been the most appropriate candidate.
"Beloved Subject Xu?" Zhu Jingchen looked at Xu Heming with a smile.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject is already responsible for many things. Such an important matter should rightfully be handed over to the more capable ministers in the court." Xu Heming rolled his eyes internally, thinking to himself, surely the Emperor didn't want him to do this too?
He was already keeping an eye on the mines for him, and now the Emperor wanted him to be in charge of receiving the envoys?
Did the Emperor think he possessed the divine power of having three heads and six arms?
Otherwise, how could he possibly manage to do so many things?
Besides, if he was truly that busy, where would he find the time to nurture his romance with Li Zhiwei?
And how would he make his presence known in front of Li Tianyou?
Without a second thought, Xu Heming refused.
Zhu Jingchen hadn't expected Xu Heming to refuse him.
His hand just happened to flip to the memorial from the Directorate of Astronomy regarding the selection of a wedding date for Xu Heming.
Zhu Jingchen looked at Xu Heming with a half-smile, thinking, if you work hard for me, I will pick an earlier date for you.
Seeing Zhu Jingchen smiling at him like that, Xu Heming couldn't help but feel there were ill intentions behind it.
"If Prince An steps forward, it would be quite fitting." Grand Preceptor Cheng looked at Xu Heming, feeling that since Xu Heming had been to the battlefield and had even defeated the Qinling Kingdom's Great General Luo Zhan, he was suitable.
It could be said that another reason the Qinling Kingdom did not dare to invade Lannuo was precisely because of Xu Heming.
The people of the Qinling Kingdom were also afraid of Xu Heming.
However, neither Grand Tutor Wei nor Grand Preceptor Cheng knew that the reason Xu Heming and the Emperor wanted to stand tough against the Qinling Kingdom was because they now had enough capital to do so.
"Your Majesty, I believe that with His Highness Prince An's assistance, the envoys from the Qinling Kingdom will certainly not dare to be too arrogant this time," Ye Qingyan quickly chimed in.
"Prince An, you see, everyone feels that you should be the one to step forward in this matter," Zhu Jingchen said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, I truly am—" Xu Heming still wanted to refuse.
"Beloved Subject Xu, when the time comes, you only need to show your face during the negotiations between the two nations. The Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial will handle everything else together; you won't need to worry about it," Zhu Jingchen said, looking at Xu Heming with unquestionable authority.
Left with no choice, Xu Heming knew he couldn't get out of this either.
"This subject obeys the decree!" Xu Heming could only reluctantly take on the task.
In his heart, however, he felt a bit bitter. If he was kept this busy, when would he ever be able to marry his wife and bring her home?
Upon receiving Li Zhiwei's reply, Wen Xiu prepared a gift for each member of the Li family.
"Miss, is it really alright to give Madam Li this incense?" Her maid, Qiuyue, knew her young lady had excellent skills, but giving incense... wouldn't an uninformed recipient think her young lady's gift was too meager?
"I heard that the Madam of the Li family has poor health. This incense was specially blended by me according to her symptoms," Wen Xiu simply stated the fact. In her heart, she thought that if the Li family despised her gift for being too light, there would be no need for the two families to interact in the future.
However, she did not explain these thoughts to Qiuyue.
After all, this was merely her own personal stance.