Before the Loulan envoy and princess arrived in the capital, Loulan had already sent them a lot of spices.
Having received the imperial decree, the imperial kitchen staff, knowing that the Loulan princess was coming today, specially added Loulan's unique spices to the dishes for the ministers to taste.
"Moreover, this clinic also uses a lot of spices and Chinese medicines, for treating illnesses and saving lives, and for promoting digestion, such as cinnamon, cardamom, and mugwort." Ouyang Yizhou took out a box containing Chinese medicine and presented it to Yun Beiye.
"In my opinion, the quality of these Chinese medicinal herbs is better from Loulan."
Yun Beiye glanced at the contents of the box, then asked Zhao Zhongquan to give the herbs to Yun Duoduo.
Yun Duoduo opened the box and saw the familiar medicines inside. [Sure enough, these Chinese herbs can only be found in Loulan.]
Astragalus, Cistanche, Licorice, Isatis root, and Honeysuckle are all specialties of Xinjiang.
She also recalled that in modern times, she had visited Xinjiang, where the fritillaria produced in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture was a precious Chinese medicinal herb that was on par with fritillaria cirrhosa and fritillaria thunbergii.
However, the box presented by the Loulan envoy did not contain the mother beetle.
“Your Majesty, we send camphor as tribute to Nanyang every year. If we could open a port, ordinary people would also be able to use this refreshing and invigorating substance. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?”
After the Loulan envoys finished speaking, they bowed and returned to their seats.
"Oh dear, things that were originally only for nobles can now be used by commoners. How does this reflect our status?"
An official with fair skin and a slightly plump figure sighed softly in dissatisfaction.
Yun Duoduo, who was sitting nearby, rolled her eyes at him when she heard this. It was really like that in ancient times. The class divisions were too strict, and there were always some high-ranking officials who thought they were very important.
"Yes, Loulan does indeed have a lot of good things."
The ministers began to discuss it again, seemingly thinking that opening the port was a good thing, so that they could buy these dried fruits and spices.
“Your Majesty, I believe that the tea on the table today, which is Taihu Biluochun, can be sold to Loulan,” Jin Jinzhi suggested.
"Lord Ouyang and Princess Guantao may also try some of our Nanyang tea and wine," Jin Jinzhi said, pointing to the blue-and-white porcelain teapot with intertwined floral patterns and the blue-green wine pot on the table.
Yun Duoduo nodded. As expected of Jinzhi's brother, he was able to figure out how to get some money from Loulan.
The Loulan envoy's words implied that he was thinking about how to transfer money from Nanyang to Loulan. Naturally, the ministers in Nanyang were also thinking about how to transfer money from Loulan to Nanyang. The most attractive thing for them was Nanyang's specialty tea.
The tea from our great Celestial Empire is truly exceptional.
“That’s right. Nanyang has many famous products. We can let the people of Loulan taste our tea and use our fine products,” Yao Shaoqing agreed.
"Your Majesty, the Second Prince just suggested that we first open Quanzhou, Yangzhou, and Liujiagang in Nanyang as trading ports, and for Loulan, we can open Bohai County and Taicang as trading ports."
"I wholeheartedly agree."
“Hmm, not bad, that’s a good idea. Quanzhou, Yangzhou, and Liujiagang are indeed quite suitable as open trading points. Ouyang Yizhou, what do you think?” Yun Beiye asked, looking at Ouyang Yizhou.
"Your Majesty, when I departed, the Emperor told me that he was willing to open Bohai Commandery and Taicang as trading posts to facilitate the exchange of goods," Ouyang Yizhou replied, bowing.
"Well, since the envoys from Loulan have said they will definitely purchase tea from Nanyang, let's keep this trading port open for now."
Yun Beiye looked at the envoy from Loulan, then turned to look at the prefect of Yangzhou.
"Prefect Zheng, since you're here, let's do it this way: allow Loulan merchants to freely travel to and from Yangzhou and conduct trade activities."
"Your subject obeys the decree." Prefect Zheng rose and bowed.
Wow, it seems the emperors of these two countries had already privately agreed to do this, and so quickly settled it in the main hall in front of all the civil and military officials.
[Shouldn't the prefect of Yangzhou be in Yangzhou? Why is he in the capital?]
Yun Duoduo couldn't quite understand it.
[Perhaps it's because it's the end of the year, and he's come to Beijing to report on his work.]
After discussing the opening of treaty ports, Yun Beiye's gaze fell upon Princess Guantao, who sat gracefully beside the Loulan envoy.
"Oh, by the way, Princess Guantao, since you've come here for a political marriage, take a look at the princes here. Do you have a favorite among them?" Yun Beiye asked Princess Guantao with a smile.
[So Princess Guantao came here for a political marriage; does that mean she'll have a sister-in-law?]
Yun Duoduo was a little excited. Her big eyes darted around, trying to see which of her royal brothers was interested in Princess Guantao.
"This is the eldest prince, Yun Yibo, and sitting over there is the second prince, Yun Yizhong," Yun Beiye introduced.
Yun Yibo lowered his head and held his forehead with his hand, seemingly not wanting to be seen.
"Yibo, greet Princess Guantao." Yun Beiye reminded her son, seeing how he was acting so awkwardly.
"Yes, Father."
"Princess Guantao, I am the eldest prince, Yun Yibo. Empress Zhaoyuan is my birth mother." After Yun Yibo finished speaking, he sat down without looking directly into Princess Guantao's eyes.
Looking at this scene, Yun Duoduo was so embarrassed that she could dig her toes out of her skin.
This is really embarrassing!
[A large-scale matchmaking event.]
"Next to the eldest brother is the second brother," Yun Beiye continued.
Yun Yizhong nodded politely to Princess Guantao.
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