Chapter 153: A Light Gift with Heavy Sentiment?

Zhu Gaoxu also felt that he had, more or less, stopped treating Li Hao like a person.

If he were to order Li Hao around for such trivial matters again, Li Hao would likely get worked up with him.

Li Xingshan, however, did not have so many issues; after seeing Zhu Gaoxu's signal, he nodded and then walked toward the envoys of various countries to collect their gift lists.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu spoke so modestly, and given that such a custom did indeed exist, the other envoys complied.

They immediately and obediently handed over the gift lists they had prepared long ago.

Among these people, only two had dark complexions.

They were none other than Wang Ren and his companion.

They knew exactly what kind of person Zhu Gaoxu was.

This was purely him telling lies with his eyes wide open.

The key was that he didn't even blush, speaking in such a high-sounding manner.

Of course, although they hated Zhu Gaoxu so much that their teeth itched, their lives were currently held in Zhu Gaoxu's hands.

They could only watch helplessly as Zhu Gaoxu put on a show in front of everyone.

Soon, Li Xingshan collected all the gift lists and handed them into Zhu Gaoxu's hands.

After taking the gift lists, Zhu Gaoxu did not rush to look at them; he first ordered someone to bring him a cup of tea, and only then did he begin to read them in a leisurely manner.

He felt more and more that having a cup of tea while putting on a show yielded even better results.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the gift lists sent by the various countries, nodding from time to time.

When he saw the plum blossom borneol and other borneol incense offered by Brunei, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile and nod.

Borneol incense has significant uses; it can be used in medicine, and it also has applications in industry.

The key was that in later generations of China, borneol incense was excellent and a protected plant, so seeing it now, Zhu Gaoxu immediately set his sights on it.

He then smiled at the Brunei envoy and said, "Brunei has been very thoughtful. Please, take a seat."

Ever since Zhu Gaoxu brought the group of envoys in, he had not let these people sit down.

He himself, on the other hand, had sat down directly in the main seat in a carefree manner.

Therefore, because these envoys had not received permission from Zhu Gaoxu to sit, they were all standing.

At this moment, hearing Zhu Gaoxu invite the Brunei envoy to sit, the others finally realized that they were still standing.

But since Zhu Gaoxu had already spoken to grant a seat, even if these people wanted to sit down now, they could not do so without Zhu Gaoxu's word.

The Brunei envoy was clearly stunned after hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words.

Seeing that the few of them didn't move, Zhu Gaoxu even pointed to the stools beside the Mahjong table.

One Mahjong table had four stools, and his large tent had seven or eight Mahjong tables, totaling nearly thirty stools; they could sit wherever they liked.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the gifts had to satisfy him.

The other envoys were a bit confused for a moment when they saw the Brunei envoy suddenly being granted a seat, not knowing the reason.

After all, Zhu Gaoxu had just said the words "a light gift with heavy sentiment," and the group did not immediately think of the gift lists.

If one were to say who among ordinary people could understand this maneuver of Zhu Gaoxu's, there were only four.

One was Li Hao, one was Li Xingshan, and the last were Wang Ren and his companion.

They knew all too well what Zhu Gaoxu was thinking at this moment.

There must be something good on Brunei's gift list that had caught Zhu Gaoxu's eye.

But at this moment, Zhu Gaoxu didn't care whether they could understand his intentions.

He still had more to say.

After the three envoys from Brunei were seated, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, "I hear your country is rich in borneol incense; I am quite fond of this item."

Upon hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxu, the Brunei envoy immediately understood his meaning, then stood up, bowed, and said, "Since Your Highness likes it, I happen to have brought some with me this time; I will present them to Your Highness after I return."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head with a smile and said, "I would like to grow some in my garden; I wonder if you, Envoy, would be willing to gift me some?"

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's request, the Brunei envoy hesitated slightly.

However, when he saw Zhu Gaoxu's slightly displeased face, he immediately nodded and said, "I will have them sent to Your Highness later."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu finally revealed a smile again, then nodded, gestured for the Brunei envoy to sit, and continued reading the gift lists.

When he saw Beishan, Zhongshan, Nanshan, and Ryukyu, Zhu Gaoxu frowned.

These few countries had quite a history; they would later belong to the "small days" (Japan).

But now, Zhu Gaoxu would not let those future events happen.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't even look at their gift lists and placed them at the very back, which made the envoys of those countries panic.

They did not know what Zhu Gaoxu meant.

But Zhu Gaoxu had no intention of explaining at all and continued to look at the gift list in his hand.

When he saw the gift list from Chenla, Zhu Gaoxu paused again.

"I hear your country has a tree called the palm sugar tree; its flavor is fragrant and leaves a sweet aftertaste, and it is the premier item for sugar production."

The envoy was startled to hear Zhu Gaoxu's words, not knowing why Zhu Gaoxu was so well-informed.

However, the envoy did not hide anything and stepped forward to reply, "Yes, Your Highness, and the brown sugar written on the gift list this time is indeed made from this tree."

Hearing the envoy's words, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "Then could I plant some in my courtyard?"

The group of envoys and the two Lis were all a bit bewildered.

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to plant borneol incense one moment and palm sugar trees the next; what exactly did he want to do?

Those who knew would know you are a Prince of Great Ming; those who didn't would think you were planning to open a botanical garden at home.

But Zhu Gaoxu couldn't be bothered to explain to them, and was currently looking at the Chenla envoy, waiting for the other party's answer.