activa-t Chapter 502 The weasel pays New Year greetings to the chicken
Chapter 502 The weasel pays New Year greetings to the chicken
Although they came to visit and the Jin State had stronger military force than them, to them, they were all royal relatives and were more equal to each other.
Gu Jianchu thought it would be awkward to refuse again, so he had no choice but to say, "This is the princess's kind gesture, so I will accept it."
She accepted not only the Fu Guangjin, but also the gold locket given by Su Tang.
[Why does it feel like a weasel is paying New Year's greetings to a chicken with ulterior motives?]
Gu Jianchu couldn't help but use the system to investigate the purpose of their visit to Jin State.
[It's really like a weasel paying New Year's greetings to a chicken. It has no good intentions. ]
Hearing the Queen's words, Xie Ci'an's eyes narrowed immediately, and the wine cup in his hand kept tightening. If he used a little force, the wine cup would break. In order to prevent the other party from noticing anything, Xie Ci'an did not dare to continue to use force. He just glanced at them quietly, and soon retracted his gaze to Gu Jianchu.
He wanted to see what good intentions the Yelan Kingdom had.
[This isn't a good intention, and it's probably going to come back to the King of the Southwest.]
Ever since the evil deeds of the King of Southwest were exposed, the King of Southwest and his family have been investigated and punished, and now there is no more King of Southwest.
However, he remembered that when the evil deeds of the King of Southwest were exposed, the Queen had mentioned that the King of Southwest had some dealings with the Yelan Kingdom, but she did not know how deep their dealings were. Later, he sent people to Lingnan and the Yelan Kingdom to investigate, but the Yelan Kingdom's defenses were too strict, and the spies he sent to the Yelan Kingdom did not find anything useful. If they got too close, their identities would likely be exposed, so they did not dare to do anything that would expose their identities.
As for Lingnan, the King of Southwest naturally had secret dealings with the Yelan Kingdom, so not many people knew about this.
Later, he asked people to keep an eye on the movements in Lingnan and Yelan Kingdom. Seeing that there was no movement, he gave up and regarded them as some insignificant matters.
The reason the King of the Southwest interacted with the Yelan Kingdom was naturally to leverage Yelan's military power to do something on the border, so the Emperor could appoint him to increase the garrison. This would allow him to openly recruit troops and consolidate his power in Lingnan, ultimately becoming the overlord of Lingnan and a true local tyrant.
After all, Lingnan is truly far from the capital. It's truly a distant realm, and the Emperor has only recently ascended the throne. Even if his reach is immense, it wouldn't be possible to reach there in a moment. As for this brother, the late Emperor placed his full trust in him. Furthermore, the late Emperor enjoyed alchemy, and being old, he simply didn't want to be involved in such matters. He completely trusted Lingnan with the King of the Southwest. It was this confidence that allowed the King of the Southwest to completely become a local tyrant in Lingnan, wreaking havoc on the people with impunity.
The Yelan Kingdom benefited from edible salt and other food products. Although a small nation, it was also very wealthy, with a strong population. Its only drawback was a shortage of edible salt, groceries, and rock sugar. They had to spend a fortune every year to purchase these from other countries, but even that wasn't guaranteed. Later, after partnering with the King of the Southwest, he provided them with edible salt, rock sugar, and other items at low prices. Yelan needed to send troops to harass the border, but harassment wasn't war, so for Yelan, it was perfectly acceptable.
[The individuals who contacted the King of Southwest were Su Tang's grandfather and uncle. However, these two were only superficially connected to the King of Southwest. In reality, Su Tang was the mastermind behind the scenes. After all, at the time, his grandfather and uncle's families had lost their military power. If it weren't for Su Tang's manipulation, they wouldn't have had the troops to harass the border.]
What they hadn't anticipated was the Southwest King's self-inflicted downfall so quickly. Consequently, no one was selling them salt. Su Tang considered many options, even contacting neighboring kingdoms to try to source salt elsewhere. However, their salt supply was also in short supply, making it impossible to sell to Yelan. Later, Su Tang heard that Gu Jianbai had been sent to take over the Southwest King's affairs, so he sent someone to contact him. However, Gu Jianbai was preoccupied with his duties at the time and didn't take the matter seriously. He soon forgot about it.
Su Tang had been troubled by this matter since he hadn't been able to contact Gu Jianbai. It was also a crucial time for the Second Prince and the Crown Prince to compete for the throne. Su Tang clearly understood how crucial the current situation was. Whoever could obtain salt, sugar, and rock sugar would win the hearts of the people. The Second Prince had also been deeply researching these matters recently. If they were slow to act, he might preempt them.
While the Second Prince was contacting the neighboring small kingdoms, Su Tang was thinking about coming to Jin to try his luck. It would be best if they could reach a trade agreement, as this would not only solve the domestic salt problem but also help the Crown Prince win the hearts of the people.
I have to say, Su Tang is indeed clever. If she were a man, the Second Prince and the Crown Prince wouldn't be in trouble now, and Yelan Kingdom wouldn't be facing political instability. She knows how to seek help, and she turned directly to the great powers. While increasing her leverage from the neighboring small nations could still buy salt, it wasn't a long-term solution. Salt shortages would still arise over time. However, by contacting Jin, even if the problem couldn't be solved once and for all, the salt problem would be eliminated for a short period of time, perhaps even for decades.
Hearing this, Xie Ci'an felt relieved a little. Knowing the purpose of their visit and not knowing the purpose of their visit were two different things.
As for the issue of salt, he would not hold on to it as long as the conditions were met.
How to tell the emperor about this matter is a troublesome matter. Even the Imperial City Bureau has not investigated it, but she said it so openly. The emperor will inevitably be suspicious of her.
Gu Jianchu thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason.
Anyway, we already know that the Yelan Kingdom poses no threat, so it should be fine even if we don't tell the emperor.
Just as she was thinking this, Xie Ci'an suddenly grabbed her hand and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, Ah Chu. The Imperial City Bureau has already found out the reason why the Yelan Kingdom came here. They are here for trade."
Xie Ci'an really didn't want to see Gu Jianchu worrying about this matter, so he simply pushed the matter onto the Imperial City Bureau. It was not surprising that the Imperial City Bureau was able to find out.
"Edible salt?" Gu Jianchu pretended to have suddenly thought of it and looked at Xie Ci'an with a questioning tone.
Xie Ci'an raised his hand and squeezed the back of Gu Jianchu's soft hand on the table, nodding gently. "That's right. Yelan Kingdom has always been short of edible salt because of it. Previously, the King of the Southwest took advantage of his position and secretly traded smuggled salt with them. Now that the King of the Southwest has been arrested, they have no buyers, so naturally they are anxious."