Chapter 24

Li Chengqian waved his hand angrily: "Get out!"

Lin Nanqi's expression was broken, and he walked out of the inner room with trembling steps.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he was finished.

After coming out, someone hugged him by the thigh. Lin Nanqi looked down and saw the little prince holding him, looking at him eagerly: "I want to hear a story."

After being driven out just now, the little prince waited for Lin Nanjie to come out.

Lin Nanjie made up a conventional story about taking an exam with a dazed look on his face, and the little prince was very disappointed after hearing it.

It's quite ordinary, why did father cover his eyes?

Wang Dehai saw Lin Nanjie go in happily and come out depressed. He couldn't help wondering, "What happened?"

Lin Nanjie grabbed Wang Dehai's sleeve as if he had seen a life-saving straw and said, "I have something to ask you, father-in-law."

Wang Dehai had just received a gift from Lin Nan, and said with a cheerful face, "You ask."

Lin Nanqi was embarrassed again: "Did anyone offend the emperor by giving...giving gifts?"

Wang Dehai was surprised: "What did you give me?"

Lin Nanqi's eyes dodged and he whispered in her ear.

Wang Dehai's face turned pale and then red, and he pointed at Lin Nanjie for a long time without being able to say anything: "You, you, you kid!"

I thought he was on top of things just now, but he ended up doing something like this.

Wang Dehai said with a hint of regret: "You, just wish yourself the best. The emperor is merciful and has not made a judgment on you on the spot. Your life is safe."

If it had happened during the time of the late emperor, he would have probably been beaten to death on the spot.

Wang Dehai came to his senses and grabbed Lin Nanqi and asked, "What did the emperor say?"

Lin Nanjie was in low spirits: "The bonus has been deducted."

Wang Dehai: “Oh.”

The reward money is gone? Wang Dehai stared at Lin Nanjie fiercely, looking him up and down several times.

Lin Nanqi was puzzled: "What's the matter?"

Wang Dehai changed his expression and said, "Don't take it too seriously. After all, the punishment has been given. The emperor won't be too embarrassed."

"The Korean envoys will come to pay us an audience soon. We are very busy. Please come with me and help us."

Although Lin Nanjie was still nervous, he quickly agreed.

The preparations progressed rapidly, and in the blink of an eye it was the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month. The Goryeo delegation had set out two months ago and had already arrived at the capital of Daqi.

The delegation marched from the gate of the capital to the posthouse in the capital, attracting countless people to stop and watch. It is said that the delegation sent more than 200 people, including all kinds of strange people, and even the prince and princess of Goryeo came. It is said that the Goryeo princess has a stunning appearance, and the people want to see her true face.

After a short rest at the posthouse, the delegation went to the palace for a formal audience with the emperor. They first had a formal audience in the court, and then stayed in the palace to attend the dinner.

A grand welcoming dinner was prepared in the palace. Lin Nanjie had been busy these days helping with the preparations for the dinner. Now everything was ready, the banquet had been set, and everything was in place, only waiting for the Goryeo envoy to arrive.

News came from the palace gate that the delegation had already entered the Meridian Gate. Li Chenghuan changed into solemn court robes and sat on the dragon throne in the main hall.

Soon, the Goryeo envoys entered the hall in a mighty procession.

The Goryeo prince Fu Zhao, who was in the lead, led the envoys behind him to pay tribute to Li Chenghuan. Fu Zhao was tall and mighty, dressed in gorgeous clothes, and bowed slightly to Li Chenghuan.

"We pay our respects to the King of Daqi."

Li Chengqian stood up and raised his hand: "The envoys have come from afar, there is no need for formalities, please take a seat."

Fu Zhao led the envoys to take their seats and raised his glass to toast: "Due to the unrest in the country, I have not been able to see you in the past few years. I have come here specially this time. I hope Your Majesty will understand."

Li Chenghuan raised his cup from a distance and said: "The civil war in Goryeo has been quelled. It is a blessing for the people. I am very pleased."

Civil and military officials raised their glasses together to celebrate the friendly relations between the two countries.

Prince Fu Zhao of Goryeo was a man of great eloquence. He spoke eloquently about the scenery of Daqi that he had seen along the way. At the end, he did not forget to flatter Li Chenghuan: "Daqi has a vast territory, and your Majesty governs the country well. We really admire you."

"Although I am far away in Goryeo, I have heard that Your Majesty leads the court, and the ministers are both civil and military, and they govern well. This makes my father very jealous, and he specially sent me here to see the demeanor of Daqi."

After hearing what Fu Zhao said, the ministers below all showed an expression of honor.

It would be fine if our own people just praised them normally, but who would have thought that their reputation would spread to the bordering countries?

After a few drinks, I couldn't help feeling a little dizzy.

Xue Yunlai, the Minister of the Imperial Household, stroked his well-kept beard and said, "It is all thanks to the wisdom of the Emperor that we are able to have the opportunity to serve the country."

Lin Nanjie looked at the harmonious atmosphere in the court and couldn't help but secretly give a thumbs up.

[Wow! You are really good at flattering. If I knew this, would I be scolded by the dog emperor every other day?]

[My hundred taels of silver! ]

Li Chengqian heard Lin Nanjie's inner voice and curled the corners of his lips slightly.

Li Chenghuan felt a little bit traumatized by Lin Nanjie's attempt to please him. After all, he was still haunted by the incident with the theater box.

[But this Goryeo envoy...] Lin Nanjie muttered to himself and quickly flipped through the plot.

[Oh my! Goryeo really loves to pay homage to Daqi! ]

[During the twenty years of the previous emperor's reign, he actually made diplomatic missions to Daqi 128 times! That's an average of six times a year! Did he love diplomatic missions that much?]

[Aren't envoys on their way to missions all year round?]

Li Chengqian and the envoy raised their glasses, and when they heard Lin Nanqi's heartbeat, they smiled slightly.

Daqi was a powerful country, and it had an absolute dominant position in terms of economy, military and culture. It was understandable that the surrounding small countries admired it. It was not uncommon for a country like Goryeo, which admired it so much, to visit it more than once a year.

All in all, we can afford it.

Fu Zhao stood up again and said, "We admire the customs and etiquette of Daqi. This time, we have specially brought some precious products from Goryeo. I hope Your Majesty will accept them."

Li Chengqian perked up: "Oh? Lift it up and let me see."

The tributes were brought up in batches, and Fu Zhao introduced them to Li Chenghuan one by one.

"Your Majesty, I have brought you some rare treasures from Goryeo."

"There are otter skins, silk, rush mats, and various dyed linen cloths. In addition, there is also the newly developed Korean paper and the extremely precious Korean ginseng."

"This Goryeo paper is made using a special technique. The ink is semi-permeated, giving it a special flavor."

The envoy took a piece of paper and showed it to the ministers. When they saw it, they were amazed. This Goryeo paper was as white as silk and tough and not easy to be damaged. If it was used to write poems or paint, it could be preserved for a long time.

A minister who was passionate about calligraphy and painting couldn't let it go.

Yu Jiandu Yu Shi Bozhang was also a young man who loved calligraphy and painting. He touched the paper and asked tentatively, "I have never seen this Goryeo paper before. Is there a papermaking formula?"

Fu Zhao showed a proud look on his face: "Thank you for your love, but this papermaking technique is unique to Goryeo and cannot be passed on to others."

Bai Zhang regretted and stopped the project.

Fu Zhao picked up another scroll and said, "Your Majesty, please take a look. This is the Lanxi Bi Tan written on Korean paper. This is also a treasure presented this time."

The ministers were all shocked. One minister who loved writing was delighted and said, "Lanxi Notes is a travelogue written by Monk Chensu. He traveled all over the country and spent all his energy to write Lanxi Notes. But this travelogue was only circulated in Goryeo, and not all of it was circulated in Daqi."

Fu Zhao looked proud: "That's right, Lanxi Bitan is hard to come by, it's a national treasure of Goryeo!"

Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction: "Prince is thoughtful."

Fu Zhao smiled broadly: "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. This time, my father specially ordered us to bring the most precious things from Goryeo to show our respect to Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian said: "Okay, I will reward you generously!"

Lin Nanjie, who had been watching silently, was thinking: [Korean paper, Korean ginseng? Otter skin, linen? Even cattail mat silk can be mixed into the tribute? ]

[Can this be called a precious treasure? ]

[Every year they bring these broken things as tribute, and then take away several carts of gold, silver and jewelry from Daqi.]

【And this "Lanxi Bi Tan" is originally a Daqi, right?】

[Is Daqi a victim of some kind? ]

Li Chengqian was about to say that he would give several carts of gold, silver, jewels, night-shining pearls, gemstones, etc. as a reward: ???

What's broken???

Lin Nanjie's heart gradually became filled with indignation: [Korean paper evolved from Chinese papermaking technology, and although the paper itself is expensive, it is too thin to be used as a tribute, right?]

[Not to mention that the Goryeo delegation set out two months in advance, bringing a large amount of Goryeo paper from the country, and traveled at a very fast speed from the border to the capital, trading along the way. During the trade, they also suppressed Daqi's papermaking and drove up prices, making Goryeo paper more expensive than gold in the capital now! ]

[Not only that, they will also lie that Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Xu" was written on Goryeo paper, and Goryeo paper is the best in the world! ]

【Waaaaaah! Damn it!】

Li Chenghuan was surprised and angry. He actually said that "Preface to the Lanting Collection" was written on Goryeo paper?

The Preface to the Lanting Poems was written more than a thousand years ago.

How dare these Koreans!

Thinking of all the gold and silver treasures he had given to Goryeo before, Li Chengqian suddenly felt heartbroken. The pile of junk that had been put into the national treasury had not been used until now, but instead, real gold and silver were given out in cartloads.

Li Chengqian felt like the words "sucker" were written clearly on his forehead.

Fu Zhao was waiting for the emperor's reward. As he was waiting, the emperor suddenly stopped and looked at the Korean paper thoughtfully, as if he was thinking about something.

Fu Zhao straightened his chest, a proud look on his face.

Goryeo paper is a type of paper that even Daqi cannot produce. Just now, an official from Daqi wanted the recipe, and I think the emperor must have been shocked.

He was full of confidence. It was said that the current emperor of Daqi was much stricter than the previous emperor, but this time he impressed him with Goryeo paper, so he thought that he would be rewarded with more treasures this time.

Li Chenghuan looked at Fu Zhao's smug expression and smiled: "This time the prince has brought such a treasure, which is really valuable. Please allow me and the ministers to discuss it carefully. The Goryeo envoys have come all the way here, and they have been exhausted by the journey. There will be singing, dancing and delicious food next, so why not enjoy it together."

Fu Zhao was even more delighted after hearing this, and immediately said, "It just so happens that we have brought warriors from Goryeo with us, so why not have a duel with the warriors from Daqi to cheer you up."