Chapter 370: Being Tributed

The beacon tower rose high into the clouds; looking at it from afar made the Xiongnu envoy delegation's hearts tighten. Up close, they could see the plaque above the city gate: the three large characters of 'South Mountain Pass' were vigorous and powerful, the gate below tightly shut, its black doors studded with gold‑colored brass nails that, on the overcast morning, gave off a different kind of gloomy, lethal aura—as if fearsome beasts were locked behind the gate opposite.

The leader, Su Wan, took a deep breath before waving his hand to let the contingent continue forward.

Wasn't it a beast? Suddenly a beast rose up.

After stating their identities and checking their documents, they were quickly let into the pass.

The group marched mightily into South Mountain Pass, discovering that the barren land toward Jade Gate Pass had already been leveled into a straight road that seemed to stretch endlessly.

They didn't know how many troops were garrisoned at South Mountain Pass, but they could see the barracks adjoining the gate.

After passing the gate, the guards merely gestured for them to do as they pleased and then ignored them.

Among the delegation were Wusun envoys who had visited Great Jin many times before, yet this was the first time they received such cold treatment. Previously, regardless of whether there were wars or conflicts, Emperor Ningde had always been generous toward envoys.

Once again they strongly felt that this place… had changed hands!

Not mentioning what they felt, Tang Qian stood on the city wall watching the envoy delegation slowly move toward Jade Gate Pass, his eyes cold and stern.

"Looks like things are the same but people have changed—they must not realize that it's us old acquaintances guarding South Mountain Pass!"

He patted himself down, pulled out the newspaper he had read over and over, and said, "Go, deliver it to the delegation so they can prepare themselves—showing up empty‑handed won't do, but you can still head back now to get something."

The two commandants nearby scrambled to take on the task, almost coming to blows, but Tang Qian kicked each of them.

"Promising!"

"General, let me go—I'm good with words!" I'll go disgust those Western Regions people.

"Let me go; wearing armor on duty today gives me more intimidation—those Western Regions barbarians have never seen such fine armor!"

Tang Qian smirked, feeling the armor on himself, his expression instantly changing: "This armor looks great from any angle—I didn't expect His Highness to send us so much so quickly. All right, you go!"

The one wearing the armor and helmet trotted down to block the Western Regions people.

The Western Regions people took the newspaper, initially baffled, until they saw on the second page the news that they 'were being tributaried,' and they went dumbfounded.

Afterward, along the way, the populace of the large cities treated them unfavorably, mostly keeping their distance, but they learned what they needed to know.

Everyone in the Northern Border knew they were coming to pay tribute!

Fortunately they weren't empty‑handed either; before, when they went to Perpetual Peace they'd bring some prestige goods, often breaking even on the return trip and even making a profit.

The Great King knew their plan and had to laugh for a while.

He'll eat anything, but he can't stand losing out.

The Great King dragged four adorable miniature horses to Phoenix Market to sell for a day; two onlookers stopped to watch, but shook their heads at the price.

After the people left, the Great King himself sat there shaking his head, "What a waste of the braids I had you weave!"

Qiao Yi urged him to lower the price, but the Great King refused, declaring, "I won't make a loss‑making deal; I won't sell for less than eighty thousand taels. I only asked for the price of a blind box, while Mengmeng wants to sell for one hundred thousand taels in the mall!"

The dog‑headed military advisor offered another idea: "Try taking it out to sell; have you scholars ever seen such a rare variety?"

The Great King's eyes lit up; that made sense. We can't pin our hopes on a single tree, nor can we rely on the business of feudal lords, but there's still some demand among merchants and the scholar‑gentry.

In Youzhou City one could see more scholar‑gentry than before; nowadays, the capable clans of the four prefectures in the Northern Border all flock to Youzhou, because Youzhou is safe.

Crouching before the King of the Northern Border, with Youzhou City's walls blocking them, it's certainly safer than them building forts out south like the southerners do. Lately Youzhou's real estate has sold well, and the Grand Steward's suburban houses have sold many.

The Great King looked at these four lovable, fluffy specimens and thought he should aim for the children's market, since adults surely wouldn't be interested in such horses; he summoned the Internal Affairs Office.

Upon hearing the Great King's summons, the Internal Affairs Office staff's legs went weak; they hurried to ask what the ritual vessels should look like, learned it would take some time, and when they went to see the Great King, their legs simply wouldn't obey.

"Come measure their size and build a little carriage that can seat two youngsters based on their dimensions—I'll have use for it!"

Thank goodness, it's not about the ritual vessels!

The Internal Affairs Office had no objections to the Great King's whims; they accepted the task, went back elated, promised swift delivery, and noted that this little carriage was far easier to make than bronze ritual vessels.

When the carriage was ready, Xie Tu was again summoned by the Great King; he adeptly slung his sketch pad, tucked in his pencil, thinking the Great King wanted to take him out sketching again—these days the Great King hadn't stinted on such activities.

When he was led into the garden, the Great King was already waiting, seeing him and waving enthusiastically.

"Senior Brother Xie, hurry up!"

Xie Tu approached and realized today was a new sort of troublemaker.

The Great King sat cross‑legged on a flat patch of grass, with four little horses pulling a smaller carriage in front of him.

He glanced several times; it was truly pitiful.

Was this unweaned foal being made to pull the Great King's carriage?

Looking closer, he realized something was off—a newborn colt should be taller than this; this horse is rare!

He was finding it amusing when the Great King asked, "Senior Brother, isn't it cute?"

The senior brother nodded.

It is quite cute.

Besides being cute, those little horses also have tiny braids.

Then the Great King said, "At a family price, I'm transferring four hundred thousand to you, Senior Brother."

Xie Tu: ……

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Xie Tu sighed, "May I ask, Your Highness, what's the price for strangers again?"

Even if it's cute, you can't just say 400,000, right? Is 400,000 taels a commonly used quantity unit? 400,000 is enough for his family to eat for three years.

Great King chuckled, "Stranger, I blurt out eight hundred thousand just like that."

Xie Tu didn't have that spare cash, but after getting acquainted he dared to joke a couple of times with the Northern Border King, saying, "As a commoner I dare not presume to be a friend of Your Highness." Please forgive me.

Great King exclaimed in anguish, "I've already given you a discount, oh—if you don't buy it, go help me ask Mister!"

Xie Tu earnestly advised, "Your Highness, have you thought about widening the circle of friends a little? Not everything has to follow the proximity principle." He added, "Can't you take your eyes off the Xie family for a moment!"

Great King roared with laughter, "Fine, this time I'll spare all the relatives and friends. Senior brother, draw them a portrait, then print it in the newspaper to promote and find a suitable sucker!"

Xie Tu: ……

He's being waited for here!

Xie Tu found it hard to put into words, yet myriad complexities swirled within him.

He is none other than that little boy just over ten, playful and mischievous, who yesterday at the court session signed the Northern Border Heavy Punishment Order without hesitation.

His uncle returned home, astonished, saying that the eleven-year-old Northern Border King had already determined the direction of his vast fief.

In troubled times, heavy statutes; Confucian outward, Legalist inward.

After being compelled by the Great King to get used to a pencil, Xie Tu's drawings turned out quite good.

The Xie family's prodigy excels in both drawing technique and aesthetic sense; with that cat sketch as a reference, Xie Tu studied for a few days and could now draw something respectable on his own.

As he draws, the Great King launches into an endless exposition of his leek‑cutting scheme.

"In the next issue of the newspaper, I will promote the auction event."

He not only speaks but also asks, "Senior brother, do you know what an auction event is?"

Without waiting for Xie Tu's answer, the Great King self‑questioned and answered, "It's just a leek‑cutting gathering. I set a base price, and the highest bidder wins."

Xie Tu: ……

He seems to have figured out his role—about the same as a leek? Rather distinctive.

"Your Highness wants to establish a Youzhou auction grand meeting, to be held at the Futu Pavilion, turning it into an IP… Ah, you don't know what an IP is, it doesn't matter, it just means Your Highness will hold a few each year from now on. When will it open? At the end of the month

Wait until the Western Regions and the Xiongnu come, the news spreads, the nearby gentry also come, then with more people we'll open again. We need to give it some publicity time, so Senior Brother, draw carefully.".

Xie Tu: "……Yes."

Xie Tu kept drawing, while he kept chattering beside him, sometimes asking to make the drawing cuter, sometimes asking to add a reference object nearby so people could know the little horse's height. Your Highness's mouth never stopped interrupting, and though what he said made sense, Xie Tu had no choice but to follow his pointers and revise.

Once Xie Tu had a rough sketch, Your Highness left him alone, focusing on rubbing his bear on the grass.

After Xie Tu finished drawing the little horse, he turned to a new page; soon the person and bear rolled into a ball on the grass, rolling onto his drawing paper.

Your Highness ran back to see him finish the little horse, and just as he was drawing Your Highness and Weini, he immediately reminded Xie Tu, "Draw me slimmer! A graceful gentleman, like a jade tree in the wind."

Xie Tu glanced at him, "Your Highness, didn't you teach that sketches should be realistic?"

Your Highness: "……Don't learn from Xie Yuan!"

Xie Tu: ……

Your Highness was very tolerant of the conscripted laborers he'd caught; out of sight, out of mind, he himself went over and sat in the pony cart, saying, "Let Your Highness indulge a bit~"

Though this little horse looks small, it's already an adult, spiritually perceptive and obedient. Your Highness gave the reins a shake, and the four little horses pulled him across the grass. Soon, half the garden could hear Your Highness's laughter.

"Hahaha, this is fun! Big horses have their grandeur, little horses have their cuteness!" As the little horse walked, its little braids swayed, its chubby little butt wiggling, successfully winning Your Highness's affection.

Seeing that Your Highness's joy seemed genuine, Xie Tu couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, why not keep it to play with yourself?" Why sell it? He didn't believe Your Highness was short of that much money.

Upon hearing this, Your Highness declared solemnly, "I'm all grown up—how could I enjoy such a child's toy!"

Xie Tu: ……I can see you're having a blast!

Actually, if Your Highness wants to draw a horse blind box, he can't avoid this little horse; he'll have many more later, and what matters is driving up the price.

This week's newspaper reported that Youzhou would hold an auction at the end of the month, with the illustration being Your Highness's set of four Coco Bella items.

To make the auction's name known, Your Highness spared no expense.

Not only was Bai Yang thoroughly fleeced by him, but Qiao Yi didn't escape either.

Qiao Yi was urged to produce ahead of time two batches of Basic Spirit-Supplementing Pills with one-fifth potency; Your Highness renamed them Rejuvenation Pills, claiming they contained rare medicinal ingredients hard to find in the world, and that taking one could strengthen the body and improve physique, roughly making one five years younger.

Bai Yang's side just had some low‑tech items—for example, new fabric never sold in Youzhou, a sleek titanium‑steel thermos, a collector's‑grade beeswax jewelry set, and a giant crystal carving. The selection of these auction goods was deliberate; all of it was Your Highness's plan to hype them up and exploit the gentry and wealthy merchants.

Later they added some Youzhou specialties, such as fine‑quality koi, the black wind steed matching the Xuanjia cavalry's model, and the tribute horse, the Sukhata golden horse.

The newspaper's list ran on and on, making every reader who bought a copy drool uncontrollably. Everyone wanted something, and each person could find what they wanted on that list.

Five years younger—time is priceless!

The newspaper also said that customer information for successful bidders would be kept confidential, funds verified before entering a private booth, so buyers would have no worries.

Zhu Ti has plenty of tricks; holding an auction to exploit the leeks is a breeze.

As soon as the newspaper hit the stands, Youzhou city exploded again.

This time the press printed ten thousand copies, hurriedly scattering them southward, just in case there were outsider leeks!

Xie Yuan bought a copy, found one of his own signed essays, and a signed poem by Xie Tu about spring plowing.

Okay, steady performance.

Other articles on the same sheet had no signatures; he also saw Xu Zhi's piece, which used her newly adopted literary alias.

Xie Yuan had grown accustomed to it.

Good news: the banner at the stationery shop was finally taken down. Bad news: they were replaced by Your Highness's newspaper hang‑up.

After reading it through, Xie Yuan had no doubt the newspaper would sell. Even if the Great Jin banned it, it couldn't stop the curious public with connections; sometimes the more it's forbidden, the more people buy it.

He only had one puzzlement: Your Highness had long shouted about advertising the imperial examinations in the newspaper, yet they still hadn't appeared.

Xie Yuan didn't believe Your Highness had backed down; he only feared there was a new trick.

The next day he took the newspaper to ask the Great King, who was honest and pitiful, saying, "Sir, you truly have no idea how terrifying these great clans are! I am merely a child; I cannot withstand their intimidation. If they sent assassins, that would be fine, but I fear they will cause trouble among the populace."

Xie Yuan: ……You only found out about this today?

Look, the Great King voluntarily admitted he is a child; that is usually useful.

"So?" Xie Yuan waited for the Great King's continuation.

"You see, tomorrow is the grand military competition, and at month's end the Xiongnu and Xianbei will arrive. I intend, as a side note, to hold a small review, just to welcome the guests who have come from afar. The civil service examinations will be announced in the issue close to this time; sir, do you think that's alright?"

Quite the side note and offhand move.

Xie Yuan fell silent, then ran through the Great King's logic, "So, Your Highness, fearing you cannot withstand the intimidation of the aristocracy, you chose to strike first and intimidate them?"

The Great King nodded especially honestly, "…That's right, it can also be understood that way. As expected of Mr., you are truly perceptive!"

Xie Yuan: ……

"Then Your Highness, why didn't the newspaper mention the review at all?"

"The next issue. Sir, the newspaper also needs to be arranged with proper priorities; major news cannot be released too much at once, or the populace will be distracted. Besides, where would I get so much material to publish? Sir, you have recent works…, right?"

Xie Yuan hastily rose, returned the salute and bade farewell, while the Great King shouted from behind, "Sir, when you finish writing, hand it to your senior brother to deliver to me!"

Xie Yuan: ……