Others also saw Qin Shangzhi and that woman with noble bearing protected by guards eating the same meals they did, which was quite surprising. Men from wealthy or noble families probably couldn’t get used to such communal meals, yet that young lady came from a prestigious family but showed no disdain whatsoever, appearing to be someone who could endure hardship.
Some people already suspected this might be their Great Zhou’s sovereign, but then thought, how could His Majesty possibly come here in person?
An emperor should be sitting in the golden hall receiving the court officials’ obeisance, and even when going out, should be followed by all the court officials – that’s how it was always portrayed in the opera books.
After eating with these common people and soldiers, Bai Qingyan dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief, glanced at the soldiers and commoners eating in the temporary shelter, and said to Qin Shangzhi: “Add more meat to everyone’s meals. How can they do physical labor without eating meat? If there’s not enough money, just ask the Ministry of Revenue for more.”
Qin Shangzhi nodded: “Alright!”
Just as Qin Shangzhi finished speaking, Xie Yuchang rushed into the food shelter holding a report, breathing heavily as he handed the message tube to Bai Qingyan: “Your Majesty, urgent report from Dengzhou!”
Bai Qingyan took the message tube, opened it, and poured out the letter…
Xie Yuchang steadied his heavy breathing slightly and relayed according to what the messenger had said: “At the border between Xiliang and the Rong barbarians, the Dengzhou army clashed with the Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army. Our side suffered thirty-six casualties total, their side suffered thirteen casualties total, and one elephant was blinded by arrows from the Dengzhou light cavalry.”
Qin Shangzhi’s palm tightened, then he looked toward Bai Qingyan, who was carefully reading the urgent report with her expression suddenly turning grave: “Your Majesty…”
Uncle said in the letter that this time was a deliberate provocation by the Tianfeng Kingdom, but less than half an hour after the incident, Tianfeng’s Akxie sent his deputy general to the Great Zhou military camp to apologize. Not only did they bring the head of that war elephant, they also brought the heads of more than twenty soldiers who had brought the war elephant to provoke at the border, including those thirteen who had died.
Not only that, the Tianfeng Kingdom also sent lavish gifts and twenty war horses, requesting forgiveness, and even said… they could bear the pension funds for the Great Zhou soldiers who died, and the wounded and disabled could all receive compensation at ten times the Great Zhou national pension rate.
The Tianfeng Kingdom’s attitude left Great Zhou with no grounds to pursue the matter further. Moreover, this was the Great Zhou’s first encounter with Tianfeng’s elephant army. Even cavalry was helpless before the elephants, and soldiers facing such colossal beasts, no matter how brave, were at a loss. Furthermore, if they truly reached the battlefield and the elephants charged at full speed, their eyes would be difficult to hit with arrows.
Bai Qingyan’s hand holding the letter tightened, and her mind suddenly became clear.
She rolled up the letter Uncle had sent and lit it with the candle flame on the black lacquered square table.
Qin Shangzhi watched the flickering firelight that made Bai Qingyan’s cold eyes appear alternately bright and dim, his palm clenching as he also lowered his eyes in contemplation. It would take time for news to travel from Dengzhou to here, and the multi-nation alliance was proposed by both the Tianfeng Kingdom and Xiliang. How could the Tianfeng generals not know this? Why would they do such a thing at this critical juncture of the multi-nation alliance?
Bai Qingyan watched the paper that was almost completely burned, her eyes filled with coldness. To be able to act so decisively in less than half an hour, cleanly severing the head of the war elephant that the Tianfeng Kingdom took such pride in, unhesitatingly presenting the heads of their soldiers along with lavish gifts and twenty war horses, handling everything so efficiently without the slightest hesitation – if this hadn’t been prepared in advance, she absolutely wouldn’t believe it.
She understood… the Tianfeng Kingdom was making a move to test Great Zhou.
The multi-nation alliance was proposed by the Tianfeng Kingdom, so taking action to test at this time, pushing this incident off as accidental friction between both sides, then lowering their stance to present lavish gifts, the war elephant, and the heads of Tianfeng soldiers, while also offering to pay pension funds – even if Great Zhou was internally furious, it really wouldn’t escalate to actual fighting, and it could demonstrate their sincere desire for alliance.
The Tianfeng Kingdom handled this so efficiently, it seemed… they had probably used this method to test other nations’ strength before, to formulate conquest strategies.
Uncle also mentioned in his letter that the Tianfeng Kingdom had recently been purchasing grain and fodder at high prices near Great Zhou’s borders. Many grain merchants, because Bai Qingqi had blockaded Qiushan Pass and prohibited grain from leaving Qiushan Pass, instead took detours through Rong barbarian territory to trade with the Tianfeng Kingdom. The Tianfeng Kingdom offered extremely high prices, completely purchasing grain regardless of cost.
Merchants pursuing profit was normal.
Presumably… there were also grain merchants delivering grain to the Yan Kingdom, and then from Yan Kingdom, which had not yet closed its trade routes to Xiliang, sending the grain to Xiliang to sell at high prices.
“Where is the person Uncle sent to deliver the message?” Bai Qingyan asked.
“The person collapsed after delivering the urgent report. Physician Hong has already gone to examine him!” Xie Yuchang said.
“Qing Zhu, select a few people and immediately head to Dengzhou. Tell Uncle… don’t prevent grain merchants from selling grain. Gather the grain merchants and tell them that if they want to profit, they need to limit the daily quantity of grain sold to the Tianfeng Kingdom, and any grain sold to the Tianfeng Kingdom should increase daily at twenty times the current price that Tianfeng is paying for grain…”
“Yes!” Shen Qingzhu accepted the order and was about to select Bai Family guards to depart…
“Miss Shen, wait!” Xie Yuchang looked at Bai Qingyan with considerable surprise, “Your Majesty, you mean every day… increase by twenty times the previous day’s price?”
“Correct! Have Uncle tell the grain merchants exactly this – only if they begin limiting the grain supply to the Tianfeng Kingdom, and the less they give to Tianfeng… the more room there is for price increases! Merchants pursue profit… they’ll understand what I mean!”
The Tianfeng Kingdom came from beyond the snowy mountains, and their domestic land suffered from severe desertification. Although grain production could maintain domestic operations and they might have grain reserves, they couldn’t withstand the consumption of Tianfeng’s distant expeditions. Moreover, the cost of transporting grain overseas was extremely high. The Tianfeng Kingdom could only obtain it from Xiliang, or purchase it from Great Zhou and Yan Kingdom merchants…
But whether Xiliang had grain, these merchants surely already knew clearly, otherwise they wouldn’t bypass Qiushan Pass to transport grain to Xiliang. Scarcity increases value – only when there’s less… is there reason for prices to rise. The merchants were all shrewd!
“Miss Shen will accompany Your Majesty, I’ll go select people to deliver the message!” After bowing to Bai Qingyan, Xie Yuchang quickly departed.
Bai Qingyan rose and, accompanied by Qin Shangzhi, walked along the river embankment for a stretch. After giving Qin Shangzhi instructions about the canal construction, she was helped into the carriage by Shen Qingzhu and Chun Tao.
Watching Bai Qingyan’s appearance, more slender than before despite her pregnancy, Qin Shangzhi clenched his fists at his sides and stepped forward to say to her: “On this journey to Pingyang City, Your Majesty need not worry. After the Tianfeng Kingdom tested us at the Rong barbarian border and then lowered their stance to offer compensation, it seems that what the Tianfeng Kingdom most wants now is to use this opportunity to establish a firm foothold, form alliances with Great Zhou and Great Yan to establish diplomatic relations, then proceed with step-by-step encroachment. For now, they won’t dare act recklessly!”
After finishing these words, Qin Shangzhi felt that with Bai Qingyan’s wisdom, she probably already understood everything clearly in her heart, so he pressed his lips together and gave Bai Qingyan a deep bow: “Your Majesty, take care!”