Chapter 159: Expressing Loyalty, Selling the Daming Gun

At this point, these people had no energy left for tea; one by one, they stared with wide eyes at Zhu Gaoxu, waiting for him to continue.

Seeing that he had sufficiently whetted their appetites, Zhu Gaoxu said unhurriedly: "Yesterday, this Prince was summoned to the palace by the Imperial Grandfather. The Imperial Grandfather told me that since our Great Ming has obtained this divine weapon, we should demonstrate the magnanimity of a great nation and share this divine weapon with all our friendly states."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the group of envoys stood up in unison and bowed: "Many thanks to the Emperor of Great Ming; we shall be eternally grateful to the superior nation of Great Ming."

Hearing this from the crowd, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said: "Don't be too happy just yet; this Prince has blocked this matter."

Hearing this from Zhu Gaoxu, the crowd was instantly stunned. Although they wished they could kill the meddlesome Zhu Gaoxu, they managed to keep their expressions unchanged on the surface.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "This Prince told the Imperial Grandfather that this matter requires us to first observe the conduct of each nation, test the loyalty of each nation, and only after that is determined will it be too late to discuss it further."

Hearing this from Zhu Gaoxu, the crowd breathed a sigh of relief one after another.

One envoy immediately stood up and said: "My Chenla has been loyal to the Great Ming Dynasty for generations; if there is a summons, we will surely be the first to respond!"

Seeing this, other envoys also stood up one after another to express their loyalty.

"My Beishan Kingdom is loyal to the one master of Great Ming, and this will never change in any matter!"

"My Nanshan Kingdom..."

"My Goryeo..."

Even Wang Ren put aside his resentment toward Zhu Gaoxu at this moment, fawning as he expressed his loyalty.

Zhu Gaoxu pressed his hands down to signal them to stop and said: "This Prince sees everyone's loyalty clearly, and I have already made a decision in my heart."

Hearing this from Zhu Gaoxu, everyone understood.

Zhu Gaoxu was making everyone take this opportunity to submit their letters of allegiance.

Wang Ren considered himself the one among these people who understood Zhu Gaoxu best.

He immediately stood up and said: "Your Highness, I agree to the matter from this morning; I will write a letter to my King to send back now."

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu smiled with satisfaction.

Wang Ren's words saved him quite a bit of trouble.

"Envoy Wang, there is no need for trouble. This Prince has already ordered someone to write the letter; you just need to sign it to explain the situation."

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu clapped his hands, and subsequently, a Brocade Guard walked in from outside the tent.

He held a sheet of letter paper in his hand and handed it to Wang Ren.

Seeing this, Wang Ren was shocked.

He immediately understood that Zhu Gaoxu had clearly had him cornered long ago.

From the moment they met this morning, the other party had already laid a trap.

It was likely that even if it weren't for his companion's affair, they would have jumped into it anyway.

At this moment, he could only lament the depth of Zhu Gaoxu's schemes; his companion had died unjustly!

But he had no way out now, and this Daming Gun was indeed a divine weapon he had to obtain.

The key was that even if he refused, other nations would not.

When the time came, if other nations had it and his Goryeo did not have this divine weapon, Goryeo would likely become a place where everyone could bully them.

Thinking of this, Wang Ren took the paper and brush in his hand and began to write without hesitation.

The envoys of other nations naturally thought much the same, and they all spoke of wanting to send letters back to their own countries.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and clapped his hands again, and then a group of Brocade Guards walked in with letter paper and brushes that already had the conditions written out.

Seeing this, everyone began to examine the conditions on the letter paper.

Except for the few nations like Zhongshan, the conditions for the other envoys were naturally not that simple.

Those with money provided money; those without money provided men.

In any case, it was basically taking the strengths of each nation.

But even so, looking at Wang Ren who had already signed the conditions early on, the envoys of several nations exchanged glances and all began to write.

After everyone had finished writing, Zhu Gaoxu then said: "Everyone's loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon; please have the contents of these letters delivered as soon as possible."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, everyone understood the meaning behind them.

They immediately dispatched a companion from each of their nations, instructing them to send people to deliver the letters back to their respective countries.

With the departure of some people, the fervor inside the large tent did not diminish in the slightest; instead, it rose to another level.

Zhu Gaoxu no longer played coy at this moment and continued: "Since everyone has taken the lead in expressing themselves, if this Prince does not show something, wouldn't that mean my Great Ming is untrustworthy?"

Hearing this from Zhu Gaoxu, everyone's hearts finally settled into their stomachs.

"We dare not, we dare not."

The group of envoys said they dared not, but in their hearts, they hoped Zhu Gaoxu would hurry up and continue.

Zhu Gaoxu naturally understood these people's thoughts; he raised the corner of his mouth and said: "This Great Ming, we intend to sell this Daming Gun to you all."

Sell?

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned; hadn't it been agreed just now that it would be a gift?

And Zhu Gaoxu, as if he had not seen these people's reactions, continued: "Calling it a sale is actually just to tell you all that things obtained for free are not cherished, and the Imperial Grandfather has handed the pricing power for this to this Prince."

Hearing this, everyone understood Zhu Gaoxu's meaning.

Now the pricing power was in Zhu Gaoxu's hands alone; whatever Zhu Gaoxu said, that was the price.

And the letters that had just been sent out clearly could not be retrieved now.

For one, it was impossible for Zhu Gaoxu to let them leave now.

For another, even if they caught up, it would be useless.

Did they really think Great Ming was easy to bully?

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