Chapter 180: Developing Business in the Northern Frontier
Tuoya’s visit this time was to invite the three of them to the Royal Court to attend Batel’s enthronement ceremony. She presented an offer that was impossible to refuse.
For Gu Changxiao, it was to find evidence of the Left Wise King colluding with the Empress, and Batel not only had to write an Imperial Letter to accuse Prince Yu, but also send an Envoy to Chang’an.
The Envoy’s arrival in Chang’an was twofold: firstly, to negotiate peace talks with Great Xia, and secondly, to publicly expose the Empress and the Left Wise King’s collusion. Prince Yu could not kill a national envoy.
The outcome was either to grudgingly accept the complete ruin of their reputation, or to sever ties with the Empress and push their own mother forward to take the blame.
If the Emperor still had the energy, he would definitely seize the opportunity to weaken the interests of the Empress’s faction and the gentry. If Prince Yu gained complete control, other gentry would undoubtedly unite against him.
In short, once the Northern Frontier Envoy arrived in Chang’an, they wouldn’t need to do anything; just announcing the truth would cause chaos in Chang’an for quite some time.
Princess Tuoya invited Gu Changxiao to the Royal Court so that he could personally draft the Envoy’s mission. This was essentially the Northern Frontier handing him a knife, and without him even showing his face, this knife could overturn Prince Yu’s faction.
Prince Yu must be regretting it immensely. Why did he let Gu Changxiao go to the Northern Frontier? Not only did it lead to the downfall of his partner, the Left Wise King, but it also greatly boosted Gu Changxiao’s reputation and forged a good relationship with the King of the Northern Frontier.
Haha, it’s truly a case of losing both the wife and the soldiers. Prince Yu must be furious when he receives the news.
Jinsui quietly told Gu Changxiao, “It was absolutely the right decision to keep Eunuch Zhou! Let him lead the Envoy back to Chang’an. We won’t have to show our faces, and we can make Prince Yu’s head ache immensely.
Let’s see if their mother and son will fall out over this, or if they are willing to sacrifice for each other.”
It’s a pity the time isn’t right. If only Gu Changxiao had a little more time, and the border city had a little more time. If Gu Changxiao had fifty thousand personal troops, he could use this opportunity to fight his way back to Chang’an.
We can’t rush. The meat is already in the pot and won’t run away. Let the situation in Chang’an become even more chaotic. Let our border city become even stronger, with the entire Yandi as our backing, it will be much easier for Gu Changxiao to return to Chang’an.
At this point, it is completely impossible for Gu Changxiao to be a border prince in the border city. He and Prince Yu are in a situation of irreconcilable conflict; they can no longer naively believe that they can survive by staying far away.
Either Gu Changxiao fights his way back to Chang’an, or Prince Yu dispatches troops to destroy Gu Changxiao. These are the only two paths forward.
Jinsui certainly does not want a civil war in the border city, so she will do her best to help the border city become stronger. With a strong army and abundant provisions, they can resist Prince Yu.
“Although Lord Li has left General Han in charge of affairs in the city, he cannot make the decision on this major matter. It requires you to personally discuss it with Batel,” Tuoya said earnestly.
Gu Changxiao pondered for a moment and agreed.
Then there was Yan Jiu. Batel said that during the enthronement ceremony, he would introduce Yan Jiu to the Northern Frontier powerful people in public, and from then on, the Yan Clan’s merchant caravans would receive preferential treatment from the various tribes when they came to the Northern Frontier.
Yan Jiu also could not refuse. The Yan Clan wanted to fully open up the Northern Frontier market, and dealing with the powerful people was unavoidable. Moreover, Miss Yan was still at the Royal Court, so Yan Jiu would definitely take her back to Yandi.
Jinsui smiled and said, “Then I don’t need to go. Princess, please help me send a gift to the King.”
Tuoya quickly replied, “Miss Ji absolutely must go! Batel has already chosen a location for your Taoist Temple. He will announce at the enthronement ceremony that he is granting you a Sanqing Taoist Temple, and you need to inspect it beforehand.
Furthermore, you need to explain to the craftsmen what your Sanqing Taoist Temple will look like, so it doesn’t resemble our Northern Frontier Divine Palace.”
Then Princess Tuoya played with the glazed glass jewelry, “If Miss Ji wants to sell these jewelry, Batel’s enthronement ceremony is the best opportunity.”
Now Jinsui had no reason to refuse. She also wanted to visit the Royal Court and see what the Northern Frontier powerful people ate and wore, so that she could tailor products for them in the future.
We also need to guard against them preventing the bottom-level herdsmen from raising rabbits in advance, and then instigating them to plant cash crops.
It would be great if the Taoist Temple could be built. We could openly have our own people in the Northern Frontier as spies.
The more Jinsui thought about it, the more excited she became. Some plans needed to be laid early. If we plan ten years in advance, and if there is a nationwide war between the Northern Frontier and Great Xia in the future, these details will play a crucial role.
“Then I will definitely attend the enthronement ceremony to congratulate the King! Has the date for the enthronement ceremony been decided?”
“It’s in three days, chosen by the Great Shaman. The sooner the better, the Royal Court needs to stabilize as soon as possible.”
A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. The Northern Frontier has been established for many years. Although their initial order was learned from the Han Chinese, they now have their own characteristics.
Thus, it was agreed. In three days, Princess Tuoya would send someone to escort the Han Envoy and his party to the Royal Court to attend the enthronement ceremony of the King of the Northern Frontier.
Princess Tuoya was very satisfied with this hot pot, especially with the fresh vegetables and fruits. In the winter of the Northern Frontier, even royal family members could not enjoy fresh green vegetables and fruits every day.
The fruits stored in the cellar were limited to a few types such as dried persimmons, frozen pears, and nai fruit.
This gave Jinsui a new idea. After seeing Princess Tuoya off, she used napping as an excuse to be alone in her felt tent.
Meanwhile, Gu Changxiao and Yan Jiu were also discussing the matter of entering the Royal Court in three days in a rare moment of calm. Although Batel and Tuoya were showing goodwill, they were still in enemy territory, and there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be any incidents.
Both of them felt that they should leave someone outside the Royal Court to provide support, and also prepare warhorses for a quick escape. Jinsui gave the fish oil firearms she had hidden to Hei Hu, leaving Hei Hu outside to provide support.
The plan was simple: if there was any trouble at the Royal Court, Hei Hu would lead his men to detonate! Create chaos, rescue their people, and then flee with all their might towards Yandi.
Of course, this was the worst-case scenario. The two of them were discussing how to make the situation as favorable to their side as possible.
Jinsui participated in the discussion for a while, offered her opinions, and then returned to her felt tent to sleep.
She wasn’t truly sleeping. Besides inventorying the glazed glass artifacts in her space and selling them all off during this opportunity, she also bottled some fish oil for Hei Hu.
She also hastily baked some dehydrated vegetables, similar to the seasonings in instant noodles, which could be made into a bowl of soup with just hot water.
She also made some sugar water canned goods, such as candied tomatoes, oranges, and apples. As for the national canned good, yellow peaches, she didn’t have them in her space and could only make them when she returned to Yandi.
Given how much the Northern Frontier lacked vegetables and fruits, these two items would definitely sell at a high price. The Northern Frontier people’s diet mostly consisted of milk and meat. The grains they grew themselves were only oats and wheat, with low yields.
Almost the entire population lacked vitamins. Therefore, even during periods of animosity with Great Xia, they would not kill tea merchants, because if they didn’t drink tea for a long time, their bodies would feel very uncomfortable.
So don’t think that dehydrated vegetables and fruit preserves are worthless, not comparable to luxury businesses like glazed glass and perfume, but the Northern Frontier market is huge!
Furthermore, exporting fruits and vegetables could drive the economy of the people of Yandi, allowing them to reclaim more wasteland for cultivation, and not fear low prices harming farmers.
Then there was sugar. The people of the Northern Frontier loved sugar as much as their lives. It could be said that everyone’s love for sugar and oil was innate.
Even in Great Xia, the price of white sugar was equivalent to gold, with the saying “one tael of rock sugar, one tael of gold.”
Jinsui did not obtain the raw materials for cane sugar when she was in Yandi, and the ships from the Yan family going to Lingnan were also few. Lingnan was still a malarial region, and sugar could not be transported out.
She made beet sugar and starch sugar. The raw materials were beetroots, wheat, and potatoes. The best raw material for starch sugar was corn, which had a high yield of sugar and oil. Unfortunately, she had not found corn in her space yet.
After a busy half-day and night, she finally fell into a deep sleep as dawn approached. But the results were fruitful. The dehydrated vegetables and fruit preserves could be served to each Northern Frontier powerful person attending the ceremony.
Sugar and tea would be given as gifts, one small packet per person. The main attractions were perfume and glazed glass artifacts, which were limited in quantity, with the highest bidder getting them. It didn’t matter if they didn’t have enough gold and silver; they could exchange for gemstones, cattle, sheep, and leather.
We can exchange a set of glazed glass jewelry for a set of gold-inlaid ruby jewelry from Princess Tuoya. The price for exchanging with Northern Frontier powerful people naturally cannot be low!
Haha, after the exchange, I, a female Taoist nun who serves the gods, will, in the name of Taoism of the Three Pure Ones, provide benefits to the common people of the Northern Frontier. Even if the Taoist Temple isn’t built after the location is chosen, it’s fine.
First, we’ll put up a sign. All commoners who come to offer congratulations will receive a small packet of sugar and tea, and like dispensing porridge, we’ll dispense dehydrated vegetable soup and milk tea.
Hehe, we’ll make big money from the powerful people and give a small portion to win the hearts of the people. I’m not forcing you to change your beliefs; as long as you don’t reject the Taoist Temple, it’s fine.
Our Taoism of the Three Pure Ones does not involve the Northern Frontier’s court affairs, nor do we compete with your Divine Palace for believers. We will only do good deeds, absolutely obey the King of the Northern Frontier and the Eldest Princess, only dispense medicine to those who are sick and seek it, and provide porridge to the hungry.
We will also donate provisions during natural disasters, which is more beneficial to the people than some religions giving out eggs in later generations. In this way, in three to five years, the Taoist Temple will surely be able to establish a foothold in the Royal Court.
It’s just that I, this Taoist nun, am not professional! I can provide material things, but when it comes to preaching, I only know how to recite the Tao Te Ching.
Should I bring Grandpa, at his age, to the Northern Frontier Royal Court to be a Taoist priest? Then we’ll preach some simple doctrines, such as loving family, being friendly to others, and reducing killing…
Yes, it’s very important to reduce the killing nature of the Northern Frontier people.
Jinsui felt that this trip to the Northern Frontier was absolutely the right decision. Initially, she came to the Northern Frontier with the idea of bringing back the lives of the Black Feather Camp brothers. At the same time, she also intended to repay Gu Changxiao’s favor completely and sever all ties.
But currently, the debt of gratitude is the hardest to repay. Repaying it back and forth means either you owe me, or I owe you; it’s impossible to clear.
Now it has become working two jobs plus starting my own business. The economy of the border city, Yan Jiu’s sea trade, and I also need to accumulate some wealth.
The incident of leaving the border city made her realize how important it was to have her own people. The Black Feather Camp soldiers belonged to Gu Changxiao, and she couldn’t take them.
We need to cultivate our own confidantes. Raising people is the most expensive, so businesses must be done. Yan Jiu has obtained the trade rights for the Northern Frontier. We just need to hitch a ride and do a few businesses, and we can make a lot of money.
Especially, we need to prepare for the destruction of the “little days.” Money is never enough. When you have a thousand taels, you want to do something that requires two thousand taels. When you have ten thousand taels, you want to do something that requires a hundred thousand taels.
Even in her sleep, Jinsui’s mind was racing like a horse. There were too many things to do. It seemed that she would have to wait a few more years to live a life where she could sleep until she woke up naturally.
She slept until dawn, and Hei Hu called her from outside the door for breakfast. Gu Changxiao and Yan Jiu were not there. Yan Jiu had gone to meet the Yan family merchants in the Northern Frontier.
Batel was settling accounts after the autumn harvest, and so was Yan Jiu. Previously, a shopkeeper had sold his whereabouts to Tuoya, and also to the Left Wise King. Now that the matter was over, these disloyal individuals must be apprehended.
This was the Yan family’s internal affair, so Jinsui naturally could not participate. She now regretted not cultivating her own staff earlier, otherwise, she could have started her business in the Northern Frontier sooner.
Even Grandpa, using the Central Plains Hodgepodge, had cultivated a few loyal refugees.
As for her, after working in the border city for so long, she had been working for Gu Changxiao all along.
Looking at Hei Hu, if she proposed that Hei Hu work for her, Hei Hu would definitely agree without a second thought.
But this would be a disservice to him. Hei Hu was about to be promoted and return to marry Miss Bai. Why would he give up being a military general to be your bodyguard!
When we return to the border city, we’ll recruit a group of refugees and train them. Nowadays, there are many poor people. Just providing two meals and a monthly salary of one tael of silver, and countless people will be scrambling to work for you.
Breakfast consisted of porridge and pancakes, as well as Northern Frontier specialties like beef jerky, salted milk tea, and cheese. Jinsui found the cheese quite good. In the future, she could exchange dehydrated vegetables for cheese and sell it in Chang’an and Jiangnan, where the price could be multiplied dozens of times.
At this moment, she noticed Hao Duojin and several Black Feather Camp soldiers winking at each other, nudging each other. Jinsui chuckled:
“Do you have something to tell me? Feel free to speak. We were always straightforward in the border city!”
Hao Duojin and the others were a bit embarrassed. When we were in the border city, you were Lord Li, and we fought side by side, killing like cutting melons.
Now you’ve become Miss Ji, looking so delicate and weak. Of course, we can’t speak to you in the same way as before.
Jinsui put down her teacup and smiled, “Speak! What is it?”
Her attitude encouraged them, and they all asked in a rush, “Leader Ji, is the Prince going to leave some people in the Northern Frontier?”
Jinsui smiled and asked, “Do you want to stay, or not?”
Everyone shook their heads together, like a row of rattle drums, and pleaded, “We don’t want to stay. Leader Ji, can you ask the Prince not to leave the Black Feather Camp brothers in the Northern Frontier.”
Hei Hu whispered, “I want to go home and marry my wife, I can’t stay.”
Jinsui chuckled. She rested her chin on her hand and pondered. Gu Changxiao would definitely leave someone behind, and they would also need to supervise the construction of the Taoist Temple for her!
Since the Black Feather Camp brothers didn’t want to stay, her eyes flickered, and she thought of a suitable candidate. Of course, it would be our Master Liu Yun. He is now a honored guest of Princess Tuoya, so leaving him in the Northern Frontier is the most suitable.
But Jinsui thought about Gu Changxiao’s recent attitude towards her. To be honest, this feeling made her feel embarrassed. It made her feel awkward to discuss serious matters with Gu Changxiao alone now.
Really, love and romance are the most annoying things. It’s a time to strive hard for a career, yet they have to say things that distract.
She looked at the Black Feather Camp brothers, “I think you should tell the Prince your thoughts yourselves. The Prince won’t force you. It’s not good for me to relay the message.”
Hao Duojin said with a troubled expression, “Leader Ji, can’t you continue to wear men’s clothing and be our leader in the Black Feather Camp?”
The others actually expressed their agreement, “Exactly, Leader Ji, you can be a Military Strategist or a Captain! We feel at ease when you are in the Black Feather Camp.”
In 2025, I hope my darlings will continue to support Suisui. May my darlings have everything they wish for! May wealth roll in!
