Snatching food from a tiger's jaws

Fang Weiyan glanced at the memorial.

Seeing that everything was progressing smoothly, he nodded in satisfaction.

Then he asked if there was anything else.

After the ministers had almost finished submitting their memorials, the Ministry of Rites, being very sensible, stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, envoys from various countries arrived in the capital yesterday, requesting an audience..."

"Announce."

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan immediately said something.

Upon hearing this, the minister immediately responded, and then a guard turned and went to relay the message.

A moment later, a group of envoys dressed in fine silks and satins stepped into the hall.

The envoys all bowed at this moment.

Fang Weiyan glanced at the envoys below; there were envoys from five different countries.

I reckon all the envoys from the vicinity of the Jiang Kingdom have arrived.

"Get up, all of you."

Fang Weiyan looked at the envoys and immediately waved his hand, signaling them to stand up.

Upon hearing this, the envoys all stood up and then cautiously looked up.

Looking at Fang Weiyan above, a strange light flickered in his eyes.

Is the person above us now the newly crowned Emperor?

The other party appeared to be of extraordinary bearing, but they had already observed the strength of the nation upon their arrival.

I reckon the opponent's strength shouldn't be that great.

The envoys muttered to themselves for a moment, then secretly suppressed their thoughts.

"Your Majesty, the envoy of the Great Zhou Kingdom, having heard that the Emperor of the Jiang Kingdom has been bestowed the title of Human Sovereign, has come to offer our congratulations. We present ten chests of precious pearls, a piece of cold jade, five chests of the South Sea pearls, a glass Buddha statue, a cartload of spices, and fifty beautiful women."

"This foreign subject, an envoy from the Great Liang Kingdom, congratulates His Human Sovereign. We present this gift: one hundred bolts of Merfolk Gauze, ten pairs of fire coral, a cartload of top-grade jade hearts, ten thousand-year-old ginseng roots, and one hundred beautiful women."

"Your Excellency..."

The envoys below began to read aloud the congratulatory gifts they had brought to the Jiang Kingdom.

Fang Weiyan was completely confused, having no idea what the other party was sending.

The Jiang Kingdom's treasury is also too empty, not at all like what a dynasty should be.

Therefore, Fang Weiyan had no idea what the other party had sent.

However, judging from the fact that the gift was sent by a country that had gone through great lengths, it shouldn't be too bad.

Putting everything else aside, Fang Weiyan had seen the Merfolk Gauze once before.

This one thing alone is worth a fortune.

Although he wasn't quite sure what the other party had given him, Fang Weiyan was still very happy.

After the other party finished reading, Fang Weiyan glanced at the Ministry of Rites official standing to the side.

Upon seeing this, the officials from the Ministry of Rites immediately understood and stepped forward to begin reading.

"In recognition of the congratulations from ministers of various nations, His Majesty the Emperor of our dynasty hereby bestows upon us the following gifts: one hundred boxes each of bath gel, one hundred boxes each of soap, one box each of perfume, one hundred glass beads, and fifty firearms..."

The minister of the Ministry of Rites read out the rewards bestowed upon them by the Jiang Kingdom.

The visiting envoys were stunned when they heard the names being read aloud.

They looked at each other, both seeing the confusion on each other's faces.

What is shower gel?

What is soap?

A glass bead? This must be a valuable item.

Firearms? What are these things used for?

The foreign officials were immediately stunned when they heard the name being read out.

At that moment, they had no idea what the other person was saying.

This dynasty, located in a remote area, seems to be somewhat unusual.

Why does this thing they're presenting sound so deceptive, given its famous name?

A moment later, the minister of the Ministry of Rites finally finished reading out the names. The officials were puzzled, but these items would be delivered to their residences on the way back.

So, if they want to see what exactly the other party has bestowed upon them, they'll have to take a closer look after the gift arrives.

Looking at the expressions on the faces of the officials below, Fang Weiyan knew that these guys hadn't understood what he had sent out at all.

That's normal, though. If these guys understood what he was giving them, Fang Weiyan would be quite surprised.

Now that the gift-giving is over, it's time to get down to business.

Sure enough, after the list was read aloud, the foreign officials of the Great Zhou were the first to stand up and begin to express their requests.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was still quite close to the Great Liang.

They are neighbors, separated by some mountains, where many demons reside, including some powerful monsters like the Corpse King.

Because of these factors, the Jiang Kingdom was effectively cut off from contact with other dynasties.

Now that the Jiang Kingdom has produced Human Sovereign, the mountain demons, who were originally regarded as an isolating barrier, are starting to feel uneasy.

In fact, the current dynasties have also begun to covet these territories.

The envoy from the Great Zhou hoped that the Jiang Kingdom could pacify these mountains and plains so that the Great Zhou's territory could expand, thus allowing the Great Zhou and the Jiang Kingdom to border each other.

In return, the Great Zhou would send a certain amount of ore and money to the Jiang Kingdom every year thereafter.

After the envoy from the Great Zhou finished speaking, it was the turn of the envoy from the Great Liang, followed by the envoy from the Jin Kingdom.

One by one, the envoys stepped forward, hoping that the Jiang Kingdom could quell the demons in these areas.

Their goal, according to them, is to expand their own territory.

Another reason is that these areas have abundant resources within their mountains and plains.

If they could seize this territory, the benefits to their dynasty would be countless.

Previously, we couldn't target these places mainly because there were too many demons there.

Their dynasty did not Human Sovereign to suppress evil. If it were to expand to these areas, the towns that were built would be infested with demons, and the people would become food for the people.

If Fang Weiyan were to take action, given Fang Weiyan strength as the Human Sovereign, a single imperial edict would be enough to suppress those demons so completely that they couldn't even raise their heads.

In this way, these places were easily acquired.

These foreign officials spoke very clearly, but Fang Weiyan frowned slightly after hearing their words.

For some reason, he had a feeling that these guys weren't telling the truth.

It's not that they weren't telling the truth, but rather that there were many things they didn't say.

Thinking of this, Fang Weiyan fell into deep thought.

"We beg Your Majesty's mercy. Our dynasty has yet to produce a Human Sovereign. If Your Majesty could expand our territory, our emperor would gladly contribute a salary to this cause every year."

The implication of these words is that they are willing to become a vassal state of the Jiang Kingdom.

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan's eyes narrowed slightly.

He hadn't even made a move yet, and the other side was already willing to agree to become a vassal state?

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

The unexpected windfall immediately alerted Fang Weiyan.

After a moment's thought, Fang Weiyan said in a deep voice, "Regarding this matter, I need to discuss it thoroughly with the other ministers. I cannot give you an answer at the moment."

Fang Weiyan didn't care much about vassal states.

But he could tell that these guys seemed quite willing.

Under these circumstances, Fang Weiyan naturally did not want to agree easily.

He himself has the ability to improve the national strength of the Jiang Kingdom, and now that someone wants to curry favor with him, he naturally has to be cautious.

To prevent these guys from trying to take something from him.

Moreover, Fang Weiyan is not yet fully aware of the relationships and circumstances between other dynasties.

What if they take these guys as vassal states, and those vassal states end up making countless enemies abroad? Surely Fang Weiyan can't just send troops to help them fight a war later, can he?

When the foreign officials saw that Fang Weiyan indicated he needed to consider it, their expressions changed slightly.

From their probing words, they could roughly tell that the Jiang Kingdom was indeed quite out of touch with other countries.

Therefore, he didn't offer a particularly sharp rebuttal to his earlier remarks about vassal states.

From this point of view, it can be concluded that the other dynasty is not entirely clear about the relationship between the Human Sovereign and other dynasties.

If this were outside, who wouldn't know about the relationships between these dynasties?

If there are other dynasties surrounding the Human Sovereign Dynasty, then those dynasties will automatically become its vassal states.

Unless Human Sovereign emerges from it.

Otherwise, this vassal state wouldn't be able to escape.

This has almost become the unspoken rule.

That's why, after learning that Human Sovereign had appeared in their neighboring country, several countries of the Great Zhou specially sent envoys to offer their congratulations.

In addition, they wanted to see if they could take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits from the Human Sovereign.

Putting everything else aside, the Human Sovereign's strength is still extremely powerful.

If the other party were willing to help, their dynasty could easily expand its territory.

This could significantly boost their national strength.

An expanded territory and increased resources, either one, can quickly enhance their national strength.

Their original plan was to use this as a bargaining chip to make their dynasty a vassal state of the other party.

If the other party knew the rules, they would say something like, "You were originally a vassal state of the Jiang Kingdom."

However, since the other party didn't mention it, they probably didn't know about this rule.

This seems to give them a lot more room to maneuver.

However, Fang Weiyan needed to discuss it with them before he could agree to such a thing.

This didn't surprise or worry them.

Fang Weiyan doesn't know these rules, how could the other ministers possibly know them?

If they knew that their dynasty would become a vassal state of the other side, they would probably be excited and readily agree.

"Besides this, is there anything else?"

Fang Weiyan changed the subject.

He keenly sensed that the other party seemed to be setting a trap or something.

However, this trap brought a slight smile to Fang Weiyan's face.

The conditions offered by the other party were actually not enough of a lure for Fang Weiyan.

In his view, it wouldn't matter if he didn't have these vassal states.

Anyway, the Jiang Kingdom has developed and is developing well, that's all that matters.

"Furthermore, our king wishes to establish trade relations with the Jiang Kingdom!"

Fang Weiyan did not immediately agree to the matter, so the other officials brought up another matter.

That is trade.

Opening trade with the Human Sovereign Dynasty would be extremely beneficial to them.

If they could make their currency circulate within the Human Sovereign Dynasty, it would indirectly increase their chances of their king ascending Mount Kunxu.

In addition, the dynasties ruled by Human Sovereign generally have no shortage of good things.

Once trade is established, they can make money.

In addition, they can resort to some underhanded tactics to see if they can leech off the other side's dynasty.

These are methods that many small countries particularly like to use.

Nowadays, they can do it all with ease.

Fang Weiyan, having just become the Human Sovereign, is not entirely clear about the situation and may not even be able to see through some of the tricks they are using.

Fang Weiyan didn't try to guess what the other person was thinking at the moment, but upon hearing the word "trade," his heart stirred.

Fang Weiyan was definitely in favor of trade.

The Ministry of Rites just bestowed those gifts upon them, precisely to pave the way for trade.

Once these things are sent into the other party's dynasty, they will quickly spread the word.

When that time comes, you can sell these things and make a lot of money.

People now have another source of income.

As the people become wealthier, the nation's strength naturally increases as well.

With more money, people will likely have more children.

I am in complete agreement with trade, but seeing that it was the other party who brought it up first...

This caused Fang Weiyan to frown slightly again.

Are these guys up to something again?

If Fang Weiyan Fang Weiyan brought this up, he wouldn't have had such concerns.

But since the other party brought it up, Fang Weiyan had to think about it more carefully.

I wondered if the other person had set up some kind of trap, waiting for me to crawl into it.

"If trade were to resume, it would be a good thing for us."

Fang Weiyan thought for a moment, then said something.

The foreign official was delighted upon hearing this; would the other party agree to this matter so soon?

But Fang Weiyan's next words caught them somewhat off guard. "However, this matter still requires careful discussion between me and my ministers."

Seeing that Fang Weiyan did not agree immediately, the envoys were speechless.

If such words were uttered in other dynasties, they would probably have been agreed to long ago.

Why is Fang Weiyan on the other side so cautious?

However, since the other party was the Human Sovereign, and they were merely foreign envoys, they felt somewhat helpless but dared not say anything more.

Whatever Fang Weiyan says goes.

At this moment, the Jin Kingdom envoy also stepped forward and began to change the subject.

This time, his goal was to change slightly, for example, to examine the personality of the emperor before him and whether he had a strong desire for expansion.

If they had it, they would be snatching food from a tiger's mouth.