Molested Zulong at the beginning

The woman is none other than the current Yueshi Queen.

The girl named Xiao Li saw the woman in front of her with a smile on her fair and pretty face: "Master..."

Queen Yueshi touched the girl's head, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face: "How is the situation in the city today?"

Xiao Li smiled and said: "The city is still as lively as ever, and now our Yuezhi has become the most prosperous place in the entire Western Region, attracting the envy of countless people."

"Since the opening of trade, the Yue Clan has become more and more prosperous, and the tax revenue has also increased every year. If things go on like this, it won't take a few years to buy half of the Great Xia."

As she said that, a look of excitement appeared on her little face.

Back then, when she went to Xianyang to pay tribute, she was shocked when she saw the majestic city in the Central Plains. Now the Yuezhi Kingdom has also built various magnificent palaces, stone statues that have attracted countless people's amazement, and various Fine costumes.

Indeed, it is not much worse than the original Xianyang.

But Queen Yuezhi didn't look happy after hearing her speech.

Xiao Li was stunned for a moment, and asked with some doubts: "Master, what's the matter, could it be that there is a tax problem?"

Queen Yuezhi shook her head slightly: "There is no problem with taxation, it is still as much as before."

Xiao Li was puzzled now: "Then why is your mother so preoccupied?"

Queen Yuezhi's slender eyebrows were slightly frowned, and after pondering for a long time, she said: "Recently, there have been some droughts in the northern part of Yuezhi Kingdom, and food relief is urgently needed."

"In the past, caravans from the Central Plains would transport grain and livestock at this time, but now it's been several days late, and there is no movement. I feel a little uneasy for a while."

Xiao Li tentatively said, "Could it be that it's raining on the road, which delayed some trips?"

Queen Yuezhi shook her head slightly: "I don't know, I hope I think too much."

Now the Yuezhi Kingdom, from the nobles to the common people, have abandoned agriculture and started business, to grow spices and grapes with higher prices, earning ten times the huge profits, and then go to the Central Plains to buy low-priced grain, livestock.

Relying on this way of trade, the Yuezhi Kingdom earned a lot of money. The nobles built magnificent mansions, often in order to compete for some commodities from the Central Plains, such as folding fans, incense, and some playthings of the magic sound treasure box.

They threw a lot of money without hesitation, and the price they paid left countless small countries in the Western Regions stunned.

The merchants of the Yuezhi Kingdom did not give up too much, and they all took pride in wearing clothes made of silk and satin from the Central Plains, showing their extravagance.

This seems to be prosperous on the surface, but it requires a premise, that is, the price of grain in the Central Plains is always so low, even if it is shipped over thousands of miles, the price is not enough to be one-tenth of the price of their spices.

Relying on purchasing food from the Central Plains to maintain daily needs.

Once there is any accident in the food, it may cause problems for the entire Yuezhi country.

Most of the people in Yuezhi Kingdom have given up farming and mulberry, and the food in the warehouse is less than a few months. They have money but not enough food. If it were the past, she would not think too much about it.

But now that the spring planting season has been missed, and the grain from the Central Plains has not arrived, all these coincidences made Queen Yuezhi feel an inexplicable uneasiness in her heart.

Just when Xiao Li was about to comfort his mother, a messenger dressed in sweat ran in quickly, and said anxiously: "It's not good, something happened."

Queen Yuezhi was taken aback for a moment, and asked suspiciously: "What happened, so flustered?"

The envoy wiped the sweat from his head, calmed his breath, and said anxiously: "There have been changes in the caravans in the Central Plains, and they have stopped transporting grain and livestock to the Yuezhi Kingdom, and they... have cut off their trade with us. "

"Wh...what!!!"

Xiao Li stared blankly, with a dull look on his face.

Chapter 160 Three Bribes

Xiao Li was stunned for a moment, and he came back to his senses after a long time, and said in surprise: "This... Is there some misunderstanding? Why did Xianyang suddenly cut off the trade with us?"

The envoy shook his head and said in a low voice: "I don't know the details. It seems that there was a flood in the Central Plains some time ago, which consumed a lot of food for disaster relief. In order to prevent accidents, the sale of food and livestock is prohibited for a short time. .”

"How...how could this be the case."

Xiao Li opened his mouth wide in a daze, a dull look appeared on his face.

After one or two years of trade, the entire Yuezhi Kingdom was devastated, and the grain reserves in the granary were not much.

Coupled with the recent drought in the northern area, a large amount of food is needed for disaster relief, and they are completely counting on the food in the Central Plains to stabilize the situation.

If at this time the Central Plains completely cut off the trade with the Yuezhi Kingdom.

That Yuezhi Kingdom is going to be in big trouble.

After all, the season of farming and mulberry has been completely missed right now, and even if he regrets wanting to replant the land, it is too late.

A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on Queen Yuezhi's forehead, and said in a hasty tone, "Is it feasible for us to pay a high price to find those caravans from the Central Plains to buy food?"

As long as she could buy enough food, let alone three times, five times the price, even ten times the price would not be unacceptable to her.

After all, if the money is gone, it can be earned again, and the food will not last for a year or a half, but it will not grow.

Just get through the year first.

Next year, even if she faces the dissatisfaction of the nobles, she will reduce the scale of spices and grapes to grow food to prevent such a situation from happening again.

The envoy shook his head with a wry smile: "Your Majesty has said all the good things, but whether it is Meng Tian, ​​​​the guardian of the Northern Court, or the caravan from the Central Plains, they all cut off our food supply, saying... that is the city of Xianyang. His Majesty the Emperor, specially issued a decree, and all checkpoints are strictly guarded."

"No one can violate it, otherwise it will be... a serious crime of confiscating one's home and exile."

"So not to mention the court officials in the Central Plains, even those profit-seeking businessmen, there are few who dare to risk the crime of ransacking their homes to bring a grain of grain to our Yuezhi."

"Although we still have some food and livestock in our country, they can't last for three months at all, and they won't last for next year at all."

When Queen Yuezhi heard this, she felt dizzy and staggered. Fortunately, she was holding a golden scepter in her hand, otherwise she would have fallen down.

There was a tinge of paleness on her beautiful face, and she murmured: "It's over, it's over, the Yuezhi Kingdom is over."

Seeing the pained expression on his mother's face, Xiao Li felt uncomfortable for a while.

She managed to pull herself together, and comforted her, "Mother, don't worry, things will definitely turn around, why don't we use the money to go to the Western Regions to buy food."

Queen Yueshi looked at her innocent daughter and smiled wryly: "There is no turning point, our Yueshi is located in the Western Regions, and the friendship with the surrounding neighbors is not good, especially Loulan, Wusun, they The two countries are quite prestigious in the Western Regions, and they have always wanted to be the boss of the Western Regions and order the surrounding countries."

"They see that our Yue Clan is getting stronger and stronger, and they already have scruples in their hearts. They have always regarded it as a serious problem, for fear that we will enter the Western Regions and threaten their status."

"Now that we see food shortages and civil strife in our country, it would be nice if they didn't take the opportunity to come over and attack my city. How can they provide food to help us survive the crisis."

"Besides... even they are unable to provide food rations for millions of people for a whole year or two."

As her voice fell, the entire hall fell into a dead silence.

Obviously, there is only one country that can help the Yuezhi today, and that is Daxia, a powerful country in the Central Plains.

And the countries in the Western Regions will only make things worse. In the future, foreign aggression and internal strife will cause the Yuezhi state to be in danger of subjugation.

However, His Majesty the Emperor in Xianyang City specially issued a ban for the situation in the Central Plains, so who can make her change her mind.

Queen Yuezhi bit her red lips tightly with her silver teeth, and asked: "We will send a division to Xianyang, bringing a large amount of spices and jewels as a tribute gift, can the first emperor change his mind?"

The envoy shook his head: "I'm afraid it won't work. During my contacts with the Central Plains caravan, I heard a lot about the First Emperor of the Central Plains. This man has a long-term vision and great ambitions."

"Even if she unified the six kingdoms and sat on the vast land of the Central Plains, she never slacked off. She not only reviewed hundreds of catties of memorials every day, but also took control of the government affairs. .”

"It's as if she was born for the empire, a mountain that makes people feel a great sense of oppression. Such an emperor simply gives some gold, silver, and silk, which are precious and precious, and can't shake his will at all."

After hearing the envoy's evaluation, Queen Yuezhi felt a burst of despair. Facing such an emperor who had no weaknesses at all, how could she change her mind.

Xiao Lihao bit her cherry lips tightly, and after thinking for a while, suddenly a handsome figure in white clothes appeared in her mind.

Her eyes lit up immediately: "My lord, I may have a way to make Emperor Shihuang change his mind."

Queen Yuezhi looked stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "What can you do?"

The messenger on the side also had doubts on his face.

After all, facing such an invulnerable empress, as a small Yuezhi kingdom, how could they have the ability to influence the national policy formulated by the Great Xia court.

A look of hope appeared on Xiao Li's face, and he said, "Master, have you ever heard of Bai Su?"

Queen Yuezhi asked suspiciously: "Bai Su? Who is he?"

Xiao Li explained with a smile: "This person is known as the most talented person in the Central Plains. He worshiped Shaoliang in Xianyang and made all kinds of amazing things. The paper, wine, and books are all from his hands. He has the deep trust of Emperor Shihuang." .”

Queen Yueshi seemed to understand something: "You mean, this person named Bai Su can change the policies of the First Emperor?"

Xiao Li nodded obediently, and said: "This person has a good status in Xianyang. Whether it is Meng Tian, ​​​​the guardian of Beiting, or Wang Jian, the general, he is quite praised. He has a good position in the court. Little influence."

"If we can bribe him and ask him to help us with admonishment to the first emperor, he will certainly be able to change the first emperor's mind."

Queen Yuezhi seemed like a person who was about to drown, she grabbed the last straw, and said hastily: "Okay, this person is the key to saving our Yuezhi country, jewelry, or beautiful jade, no matter what price you pay, you must sleep." Take this man."

Xiao Li looked at the solemn mother, and nodded obediently: "I...I see, I will go to Xianyang in the name of diplomatic relations...to meet Mr. Bai."

Chapter 160 Four, Eating Hot Pot and Singing, Got Caught

Xianyang City.

Shaofu.

Bai Su was sitting in front of the desk, watching the recent report on the trading house, his brows were slightly frowned.

Under Xiao He's governance, everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

Caravans from all over the country are also coming in an endless stream. The most sold goods in the Central Plains are wine, silk, rice paper and other things.

Other things are sold less, which is normal when you think about it.

For example, lacquerware and musical instruments in the Central Plains are only bought by a few nobles from foreign countries, and ordinary people have little demand for these things.

Therefore, after a period of development of trade, the growth rate has gradually slowed down. In other people's eyes, this trade has almost reached a bottleneck.

But in Bai Su's view, this is not enough.

The reason for this is simply because the Central Plains lacks a hard currency that is popular outside the customs like silk and wine.

Before you know it, it's already late at night.

Ding!

The crisp sound brought Bai Su back to his senses, and he saw a turntable emitting a golden halo appearing in front of him.

Apparently, it's finally time for the lottery again.

Bai Su looked at the turntable in front of him, and couldn't help but took a deep breath. During the lottery draw a few months ago, all the prizes were drawn were the complete works of Jin Ping Mei, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and these things were of no great use at all.

Hope to get something good this time.

Under his gaze, the turntable stopped slowly, and a crisp reminder sounded in his mind.

Get the Blue and White Porcelain Firing Craft!

Bai Su looked at the reward in front of him, his eyes lit up immediately.

This time it was really a burst of character, and finally a good thing came.

The next day.

He got up early and went directly to the Ministry of Industry in Shaofu.

Before entering the door, I heard Liu Ji's voice from inside: "My daughter is sad, married a man is a tortoise, my daughter is sad, a big horse monkey is born in the embroidery house, my daughter is happy, the flowers and candles in the bridal chamber are languid, and my daughter is happy." Le, poke a stick into it..."

"Your Excellency is really talented." Someone inside complimented.

Liu Ji said very proudly: "That's... I've been with Daliangzao for so long anyway, as the saying goes, those who are close to vermilion are those who are red and those who are close to ink are black, so my lord has a little bit of ink."

When Bai Su heard that Liu Ji was ruining his reputation in private, the corners of his mouth twitched, and without much hesitation, he opened the door and walked in.

"Who, you actually created the Ministry of Industry privately, let me see that... the brilliant and powerful talent, my... why are you here, my lord?"

Liu Ji looked up and saw that it was Bai Su, his face suddenly froze.

And the little official at the side, seeing that the person who came was Daliang Zao, was so frightened that the chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground.

Bai Su glanced at the steaming hot pot next to him, and looked at her with a half-smile, "Eating hot pot and singing songs, you are really lucky."

"Hey, didn't I prepare this for you, young master, come here, young master, and I will toast you right now."

A charming smile appeared on Liu Ji's fair and pretty face.

Seeing her cheeky look, Bai Su couldn't help being a little amused: "Forget it, I don't have the heart to talk to you today, I'm looking for you for business."

"Business? Young Master, you have finally made up your mind. Okay, I will serve Young Master right now."

Liu Jida's peach blossom eyes froze for a moment, then he nodded in a sudden realization, and started to untie his belt directly in front of the little official beside him, as if he was about to take off his clothes.

"Snapped!"

"It hurts!!!" Liu Ji covered his head, his big peach eyes were full of tears, and looked at Bai Su aggrieved.

Bai Su withdrew his hand from hitting her on the head, a little bit dumbfounded and said: "Don't mess around, I have something important to do here this time."