Chapter 536 [First Update] 536

What Liu Che said was right. Liu Tan made this earthworm jelly in order to get Liu Che to return to Chang'an earlier. He felt that Liu Che was really obsessed with making food for him recently. He would postpone any new food. What would happen if this continued?

But he always felt that Liu Che had his own ideas, and he didn't know why he stayed here.

When Liu Tan was leaving, he happened to meet Liu Ju who was walking towards him. Liu Ju looked at him and asked, "What are you doing outside in such hot weather?"

Liu Tan said angrily, "What else could it be? Isn't it just worrying about this and that?"

Liu Ju was surprised. "Why are you so angry? Who has upset our King of the Northern Territory again? Tell me, brother."

Liu Tan asked, "Are you going to see the Emperor?"

Liu Ju nodded: "Yes, there is new news from Chang'an."

Liu Tan pulled him to a shady spot and asked, "Father, you've already returned, but why aren't you in such a hurry to go back?"

Liu Ju immediately understood what his brother was so upset about and couldn't help but laugh, "Is that why you're upset? Don't worry, Father will make all the arrangements."

Liu Tan glanced at him suspiciously: "Really not for food?"

Liu Ju was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He felt that if his father stayed any longer, his image would be in jeopardy.

He thought for a moment and said, "There's nothing I can't tell you. Actually, my father is..."

"Stop, stop." Liu Tan waved his hand quickly, then turned and was about to leave: "Don't say this to me, tell someone else. I'm going to find the Jiaozhi envoy!"

Liu Ju grabbed Liu Tan and said helplessly, "Look, if I don't tell you, you get anxious and angry, and if I tell you, you won't listen. It's really getting harder and harder to comfort you."

Liu Tan had a look of being struck by lightning: Who told you to coax me?

Liu Ju helped him straighten his clothes and said, "Alright, didn't you say you wanted to find the King of Jiaozhi? Go ahead. Oh, and be gentle with him. Don't scare him to death. It will be troublesome to replace him with another king later."

Liu Tan looked at him expressionlessly: "I'm not going to kill anyone."

However, Liu Ju reminded him, and he turned around and asked someone to make a small piece of firecracker and took that thing to meet the King of Jiaozhi.

The King of Jiaozhi was drinking a tranquilizing medicine when his attendant whispered, "Your Majesty, the Han people are not sincere. Why don't we return to the palace?"

The King of Jiaozhi's face was gloomy. "Why go back? If you really go back, do you think His Royal Highness the King of the North won't be able to find you?"

Of course, what he was actually thinking was: Why go back? It's cool here!

As we all know, due to its geographical location, Jiaozhi Kingdom never knew what ice was. Even the royal palace used water for cooling. However, this place is the hottest part of the year, and people would rather stay in the water. No matter how good the water is at cooling, it is not as good as the ice basin in the house.

If the Han people had not come this time, he would not have known that there was such a good thing as ice in the world.

Especially those iced drinks and chilled fruits, which are much better than using well water to cool down.

Unfortunately, the King of Jiaozhi sent countless people to inquire but still could not figure out how this thing was made. It was as if these Han people had created it out of thin air.

In the end, I found out that the method of making ice was developed by the King of the North.

What the Han officials said was the truth, but it caused a deep misunderstanding on the side of Jiaozhi - they mistakenly believed that ice was created by the King of the North, and they developed a deep fear of His Majesty the King of the North.

Thinking of the bombed Xuwen Port and looking at the ability of this ship to melt water into ice, the King of Jiaozhi never believed the remnants of the Qilan Kingdom who said that the King of the North was a god descended from heaven.

The higher the position one holds, the more cautious they are towards immortals and gods. It’s not that they don’t believe in them, but they have seen a lot and ordinary tricks cannot fool them.

It’s just that Liu Tan’s methods have gone beyond the word “ordinary”. If he doesn’t explain, he can become a charlatan wherever he goes.

The King of Jiaozhi even really thought that this person must be a god who had descended to the earth. He even wondered if the Han Dynasty was really lucky and had the help of the gods?

In fact, most of the beliefs of Jiaozhi Kingdom are related to water, which is basically influenced by the geographical location. However, Liu Tan has a "magic" that is related to water.

The King of Jiaozhi was quite shaken. If they could get this immortal to teach them the technique of turning water into ice, it would not be impossible for Jiaozhi to become a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.

After all, the conditions offered by the Han Dynasty were very favorable. In the final analysis, they just wanted to take over the control of the port, and let Jiaozhi Kingdom have free rein in other places.

But how to control it still needs to be discussed.

While the King of Jiaozhi was thinking about this, he saw an attendant running over and saying, "Your Majesty, the King of the North is here to visit."

The King of Jiaozhi's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he wished he could just lie down and let the King of the North go back quickly. Although he had already made up his mind to surrender, he was still afraid of the King of the North. What if the other party was unhappy and blew him up into the sky because of a disagreement?

However, the place where he lived now was built with bamboo for the purpose of keeping it cool and ventilated, and it was not very soundproof, so the voice of the servant coming in and talking could be perfectly transmitted to the outside.

For the first time, the King of Jiaozhi regretted not listening to his servants and returning to the palace quickly. After all, the palace was his own territory.

Now this place... although it is still the territory of Jiaozhi Kingdom, the problem is that it has been firmly controlled by the Han Dynasty.

The King of Jiaozhi could only say tremblingly: "Then...then please ask His Royal Highness the King of the North to come over."

Liu Tan also brought people with him. One was Miao Rui who was holding firecrackers, and the other was the interpreter he brought with him.

The King of Jiaozhi also had an interpreter who was proficient in Chinese, but Liu Tan could not completely trust the other party's interpreter, so it was necessary to bring one with him.

After Liu Tan came in, he saluted the King of Jiaozhi politely. He saluted according to the etiquette of greeting between peers. Although the King of Jiaozhi was older than him, their status was equal. In such a position, age is sometimes not important.

At most, they are familiar with each other or have a good relationship, and the younger one will give way and be more polite, but there is no need to do so when facing the King of Jiaozhi. What Liu Tan has to do is to use his power to overwhelm others.

In fact, he didn't need to use his power to intimidate others. When the King of Jiaozhi saw the firecracker in Miao Rui's hand behind him, his nerves tensed up. He even asked cautiously, "I wonder what brings you here, His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory?"

Oh, of course this statement is the result of a general translation, so it fits the context of the Han Dynasty so well.

Liu Tan smiled slightly and said, "I was being naughty earlier and made some fun things to show my father. I didn't expect that I would actually scare the king. I'm here to apologize."

As soon as he said this, the interpreter who was with him immediately brought him a plate of gold.

The King of Jiaozhi's eyes lit up when he saw the gold.

There is no one in this world who doesn't like gold, especially since Jiaozhi's gold production is not large.

It’s not that there are no gold mines here, but their technology is not up to the task, so they can’t find or dig them out. They rely on gold mines that appear on the surface, so there is very little gold.

It's not just gold, the same is true for other minerals as well. Therefore, the Jiaozhi Kingdom still relies more on barter, and the currency used is still made of shells. For them, shells are much easier to obtain than metal mines.

The King of Jiaozhi reluctantly withdrew his gaze from the gold and said with a reserved smile, "What do you mean, Your Highness? I am just suffering from the hot weather. It has nothing to do with Your Highness."

Although gold is good, the King of Jiaozhi did not dare to take it from Liu Tan. What if this gold was the result of an immortal turning stone into gold?

He brought a bunch of stones, but in the end he got nothing out of it. Why bother?

Liu Tan had no idea that the King of Jiaozhi had even imagined turning stone into gold. Seeing the King of Jiaozhi decline, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to be polite. I'm here to apologize, to explain, and... let's talk later. This is what I just had burned. Although it makes a loud noise, as long as you stay away from it, you won't be hurt. Please don't worry. The Han and Jiaozhi have been friends for generations. How could I harm you? Besides, I made this for my father to see. Would I harm my own father?"

The King of Jiaozhi immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He glanced at the firecrackers presented to him and then looked away, as if he was afraid that if he looked at them any longer, they would explode. He quickly had the two trays taken away and said, "Your Highness, you are joking. I really can't stand for long because of the hot weather. It really has nothing to do with this."

Liu Tan leaned forward and asked, "Is it really okay?"

The King of Jiaozhi said firmly: "It really doesn't matter."

As he spoke, tears welled up in his heart, and now he really regretted it.

The Prince of Qi who had come to negotiate with him before was truly kind. Why hadn't he cherished the time he had with the Prince of Qi? As a result, the Prince of Qi was pissed off and left, leading to this devilish person.

The King of Jiaozhi knew very well that although the other party said he came to apologize, he might actually have a threat in his heart. He said he came to ask three questions, the first two of which were related to the bamboo object, and they were the least important. The most important one should be the third one.

The third thing should be the issue of whether Jiaozhi should become a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.

The King of Jiaozhi had some escapist intentions. He found that Jiaozhi might not be able to defeat the Han Dynasty, but he did not want to become a vassal state of others. So he once dreamed that it would be great if he could find a way to turn water into ice without having to submit to the Han Dynasty. If that didn't work, he could just buy it.

Precisely because of such unrealistic hopes, he appeared somewhat weak when facing Liu Tan because he was avoiding him.

However, how could Liu Tan give him a chance to escape?

So he said directly: "Since it has nothing to do with firecrackers, then... why don't we talk about the third thing."

The King of Jiaozhi couldn't help but straighten his back. He didn't know why he felt so nervous about facing a formidable enemy, as the person in front of him was clearly a junior.

Liu Tan seemed oblivious to his wary expression. He smiled faintly and said, "Perhaps Your Majesty doesn't know what a Jimi Commandery is? I've come here today to explain it to you."