Chapter 263
After leaving the items behind, Yan Shujin left with her people, seemingly unconcerned whether the mountain people believed her or not.
Only after returning to the post station did Bai Yan breathe a slight sigh of relief, no longer as constantly on guard as when he went out. He had been thinking that if those people were not thinking clearly and were to harm the princess, he would risk his life to escort Yan Shujin away. In fact, several times, he was worried that the three chieftains would become enraged, but he never expected that the more assertive the princess was, the weaker they became.
If it weren't for the fact that some of the forgeries had passed through Bai Yan's hands, Bai Yan would have believed Princess Yongfu's words just by listening to them. In particular, Princess Yongfu's attitude was so confident and she didn't seem guilty at all. Even though she held fake evidence, which wasn't particularly crucial, she still gave people a sense of being very confident.
However, when Bai Yan thought of Princess Yongfu using the prince consort as an analogy, he couldn't help but laugh. Although he felt that this was somewhat unfair to the prince consort, he had to admit that, judging from appearance alone, the princess's words were very convincing.
Han Jing didn't care. Thinking of the expressions on the faces of Chief Mu and the others, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "I wonder if they'll believe it."
Yan Shujin changed her clothes and was drinking the red date and pigeon soup that Cheng Zhi had asked the kitchen to stew for her. Upon hearing this, she said, "As long as there is no other evidence, they can only believe this. The most important thing is... if it is really the remnants of the previous dynasty who did these things, as I suspect, and they find that the situation in Nanzhong has exceeded their control, they will take the initiative to contact Chief Mu."
Since so much trouble has been caused, the purpose is naturally to win over or put the mountain man on the opposite side of the court. If it weren't for Yan Shujin's move, the conflict between the mountain man and the court officials in Nanzhong would have intensified, and then these remnants of the previous dynasty would have appeared, taking the opportunity to win over the mountain man, and perhaps even occupying Nanzhong City.
Moreover, the situation in the south is such that no one could resolve it peacefully. If the court were to send troops against me, the remnants of the previous dynasty would probably be even happier. At that point, I would have no choice but to cooperate with them.
But who would have thought that it was Yan Shujin who came, and one who didn't care about any of that. He swiftly and decisively eliminated the inactive officials and those who were loyal to the previous dynasty in the city. This not only solved the problems in Nanzhong City but also subdued the mountain people, thus securing a meeting opportunity.
Most importantly, Yan Shujin doesn't care about saving face at all, and her methods aren't exactly ethical; she only cares about being effective. She throws around all sorts of true and false evidence and lies that come out of thin air. Those mountain people need to think more about the whole thing.
From the moment Yan Shujin arrived in Nanzhong, things here were no longer within the prediction and control of the remnants of the previous dynasty. They now had no idea what Yan Shujin had discussed with those mountain tribe chiefs, and they could only grit their teeth and deal with everything on their own.
As long as they are unwilling to give up this opportunity, they will need to risk meeting those mountain people and instigating them to seek revenge against the imperial court, especially since there are not many soldiers in Nanzhong City, and Yan Shujin did not bring too many people with him.
Moreover, there aren't many opportunities left for the remnants of the previous dynasty. If they give up this chance, there might not be another one.
Yan Shujin's real purpose in making these arrangements was this: if those remnants of the previous dynasty were unwilling to take the risk, Yan Shujin could use some means to coax those mountain people back, and then subtly deal with the mountain people's affairs.
If those remnants of the previous dynasty were to risk going to the hermit, Yan Shujin could take this opportunity to wipe them all out first, and then decide whether to use a combination of kindness and force or something else based on the hermit's attitude towards the remnants of the previous dynasty.
Only then did Han Jing and Bai Yan realize Yan Shujin's purpose.
Cheng Zhi brought over some snacks. She personally cooked a poria cocos cake for Yan Shujin, as if she had never worried about whether Yan Shujin would encounter any danger. She had great confidence in Yan Shujin.
Not only did Cheng Zhi come over, but Pang Bin also returned.
Yu Xing poured the tea.
After everyone sat down, Han Jing gave a brief account of what had happened that day.
Pang Bin said, "I checked the environment in Nanzhong and there is a high possibility of mineral deposits. In addition, it would be best to open up trade routes. The proximity to the southwest is also an advantage."
However, this would likely require a significant initial investment.
“Back then, Fuzhou had a port ahead of it, but Nanzhong doesn’t. We can’t just produce dried fruit and the like.” Pang Bin really didn’t have a good solution in the short term. “There’s another matter that the princess needs to consider. What kind of future does the princess hope Nanzhong will become?”
The implication is that if they intend to handle the matter once it's over and hand it back to the imperial court, they naturally won't spend more money and manpower to make Nanzhong prosperous, since it's not their territory. On the contrary... then they will firmly grasp Nanzhong in their hands.
Yan Shujin lowered her eyes slightly and said, "If the meat is fed to your mouth, are you going to spit it out?"
Pang Bin understood and said, "Then 60% of the people in Nanzhong are mountain people, and half of the remaining 40% are also related to mountain people. As long as we control the mountain people, we will control Nanzhong."
Yan Shujin looked at Pang Bin.
Pang Bin had been thinking about this all the way, and now that he had the right information, he naturally spoke eloquently: "First, we must let the mountain people taste the benefits; second, we must make them distinguish whether it is the imperial court or the princess who can bring them benefits; and finally, we must tie the mountain people's interests to the princess."
In that case, even if the imperial court wanted someone to "interfere" in the affairs of the south, the first to disagree would probably be these mountain people. They need to know that they can only become rich by obeying the princess.
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