Chapter 349: The Ambitious One

The Great King went to Home Garden to set up a stall, and upon seeing Bai Yang, couldn't help complaining again about all the enemies around him.

"Baili Jin can consider himself fortunate; the surrounding hostile states, I, the king, have blocked them solidly for him! If he were a bit broader-minded and less ambitious, he'd probably wake up laughing every day in the Hall of Containing Splendor."

Bai Yang thought, and indeed it was true.

If this boss could tolerate the Great King, he could just lie flat.

Compared to those fierce nomadic tribes of the north, the southerners are much easier to deal with; from what the Great King previously revealed, we know that even Great Jin now faces no sea pirates harassing the borders.

The Great King counted on his fingers, saying, "Among the Western Regions, only the small states are honest; they usually govern themselves, follow the crowd when something happens, and when besieging Yumen Pass they all band together—hardly any are missing, at least someone shows up, because they dare not offend the Xiongnu."

Then there's the Xiongnu, a major threat—no need to elaborate.

Further east are the three Xianbei tribes, all of whom have a blood‑deep grudge against this king! The southern expeditionary force didn't lose a single man—some were buried in pits, the rest are now mining in Youzhou, digging and digging!

For now, the only places not yet reduced to bloody ruin are Goguryeo and Fuyu in the northeast……

Bai Ge was anxious, saying, "We can't let them off either—they're not good people… ah, no, they're practically family to us, good brothers from the northeast!"

Bai Yang was even more anxious than the Great King; he wanted the Great King to do everything that even Qin Shi Huang hadn't done.

He grabbed the Great King's paw and said, "You gotta show some spirit—promise me you'll unify the land if you get the chance, so we don't end up after two thousand years with dog‑brained heads!"

The Great King hoisted his little bundle and strained to pull his paw away, shouting, "No way! Fuyu is a hundred times colder than Youzhou—I don't know how poor we'd get! No, no!" All just deadweights, deadweights!

That guy ran off without looking back, leaving Bai Yang sighing behind, "The kid's too little, he hasn't got much ambition."

Actually, that's not the case.

The Great King's ambition was shaking up the whole street at Phoenix Market.

"Three hundred thousand."

Beside him, Qiao Yi spat out a mouthful of water. "... Sorry, it's a bit hot."

No, the Great King used to dare ask only for five‑figure sums.

"How much?" the black‑haired youth opposite obviously found it hard to believe.

The Great King calmly looked back and said, "Three hundred thousand in treasure. This is a royal ritual vessel, not one that's been used before, but a genuine royal vessel that has been used to offer sacrifices to Heaven."

Look at the patterns on this cauldron—gathering the finest craftsmen from all under heaven, they spent many years forging it; it's made of pure copper, a fine piece.

You know, to obtain something royal, it's usually a burial good unearthed from the earth, but this one hasn't been buried—if you buy it and place it at home to ward off evil, isn't it better than digging one up from the ground?

"It's been passed down for three hundred years in the imperial household!" The Great King wasn't bluffing—he had just used this very item to offer sacrifices to Heaven on the first day of the lunar new year, quite genuinely.

The youth bent over to examine the cauldron's patterns closely, and since the transaction had to go through Home Garden, he believed the Great King wouldn't spout nonsense.

He was captivated; the craftsmanship was indeed excellent.

Royal, evil‑warding—quite fragrant.

He stood upright, kept his composure, and countered, "One hundred fifty thousand!"

The Great King was delighted, but he struggled to hold back.

This cauldron isn't even his father's—it's a brand‑new one. The copper came from his own mine; the labor was supplied by the Internal Affairs Bureau.

It's basically worth nothing.

The Great King felt like setting off firecrackers, but with a reluctant face he countered, "I'll keep it simple—two hundred eighty thousand! It can't be any lower. These items are tightly controlled, they hardly ever leak out—you know what I mean! Losing a bunch of people over this would be disastrous; selling this little amount of treasure just won't cut it. Two hundred eighty thousand, and I'll throw in a piece of tribute lacquer ink."

He picked up a piece of ink from behind and handed it to the sucker; the sucker took a look and saw exquisite dragon‑carved engravings on it.

"Too expensive—I won't say one fifty, you don't say two eighty; let's split the difference at two hundred thousand—I'll take it!"

The Great King flicked his fingers, "... Is the midpoint of one fifty and two eighty really twenty? Are you trying to fool me because I look young, trying to cheat a child?"

The youth felt a bit embarrassed; haggling is haggling, but he hadn't expected this kid to be so strict—truly taking the average of the two numbers.

Just as he was about to speak up and add something, he heard the Great King say, "The midpoint is clearly twenty‑three! I'll sell it to you for twenty‑three thousand."

The buyer: "……Do you even know how to count?"

The Great King nodded cutely, "Of course!"

The buyer: "It's clearly two hundred ten thousand……"

The Great King looked doubtful, "Are you trying to cheat a child? Well, well, well—I'll give you another piece of ink then."

His brother Qiao stepped in immediately to smooth things over, "This customer, he's just a kid bad at math—don't hold it against him. This ink of his is also tribute goods and quite valuable; two pieces could sell for ten thousand."

The youth resignedly said, "Fine, I'll buy it."

After the money and goods were cleared, the Great King strode back with a steps that showed no regard for kin.

Qiao Yi came over to fan the Great King and asked, "May I ask, Great King, how are you going to spend all this money? Can you even spend it all?"

The Great King instantly slumped, "Sure, just in the army alone I have a deficit of fifty million taels. Nowadays, whenever a bird flies over the Northern Border Prince's residence, I feel like tearing off one of its legs!" Let the Western Regions folks wait!

Qiao Yi: ……

The kid's gone crazy.

He immediately changed the subject: "……You sold the heavenly offering ritual vessel just like that—won't the people in the palace come looking for it? After all, it's a major ritual vessel; there ought to be a record."

The Great King: "……They ought to be used to it by now!"

Qiao Yi: ……