Chapter 205: Acting as Leader Ji at the Yan Clan
Jin Sui covered half her face and nodded repeatedly, “Satisfied, satisfied! Hurry inside! The crowd of onlookers is growing, and it’ll be troublesome if someone mistakes you for the bride.”
Yan Shiyi was still smug, “Leave the next polo match to me too!”
Now he said he wanted to go to heaven, and Jin Sui agreed. She just wanted to disappear on the spot and stop being gawked at by the common people.
Yan Jiu, how do you tolerate your younger brother doing such embarrassing things!
Only Grandpa Ling was happiest, still waving to the common people, “When the Sanqing Temple is completed in May, everyone must come and see Li Da Wu Qiong City!”
Even more embarrassing, wasn’t it? Grandpa, how did you manage to shout out that city’s name so loudly!
Jin Sui nudged Gu Changxiao with her elbow, “Hurry inside! What are you and Yan Jiu doing?”
Yan Jiu: …
“Please come in.”
The Yan Residence had prepared a luncheon, and quite a few people were invited. It was said that initially, the Yan family head had only invited family members to introduce them to Jin Sui for future business dealings.
Later, it was heard that Prince Li had also arrived, so officials and gentry family heads came to greet him. Then, someone spread the word that the original Fake Prince Li had also arrived!
Now, all the young masters and ladies from the gentry families became curious. The real and fake Prince Li appearing at the same time! What a rare opportunity, they had to see it.
Many of them didn’t know that the Fake Prince Li was Miss Ji. Anyway, Yan Shiyi somehow spread the news, and as soon as this group entered the city, they became like pandas being gawked at.
In the end, Jin Sui didn’t show up for the luncheon, hiding in Miss Yan’s room, too embarrassed to be seen.
So embarrassing! I thought that after changing back into women’s clothes, this minor account, Fake Prince Li, would be completely gone. I didn’t expect the minor account to be exposed, and more and more people would know.
How am I supposed to maintain Miss Ji’s persona? I should maintain some mystery.
She whispered to Miss Yan, “I won’t see these guests. Take me to see the embroiderers. I’ll teach them the wool textile skills so I can return to the border city sooner.”
Miss Yan looked confused, “Sui Sui, you’ve never been afraid of crowds. Why don’t you want to see guests today?”
Jin Sui chuckled, “Is that the same? In the future, I’ll be Prince Li, in the Northern Frontier I’ll be Female Immortal Ji, and now I’m the Academy Dean. If they discover the Dean was the Fake Prince Li who used to chop people, they’ll be shocked.”
Miss Yan shook her head, “They’ll only think Sui Sui is amazing!”
“That’s because you like me, so you think that way. People who don’t like me will see me as a monster! Your Second Brother is like that!”
Miss Yan laughed, “Alright, if Sui Sui doesn’t want to see them, she won’t. It’s their honor if she does.”
Uh, Miss Yan has become Sui Sui’s fan!
The embroiderers quickly arrived, Hei Hu brought in the spinning machines, and Steward Yan delivered a pile of wool and rabbit wool. Jin Sui demonstrated every step and patiently explained to the embroiderers.
Miss Yan brought lunch for her to eat together. It was said that dozens of tables were set up in the front yard, all for people to see Prince Li.
However, some people wanted to see the Fake Prince Li even more, but they were all stopped by the Yan Clan bodyguards.
Jin Sui asked Miss Yan, “If I walk out like this, will they recognize me as the Fake Prince Li?”
Miss Yan shook her head, “They won’t! Even my Second Brother didn’t recognize me at first.”
Jin Sui was relieved, “That’s good! From now on, I’m just Dean Ji, the Fake Prince Li has nothing to do with me!”
Yan Jiu probably didn’t expect Gu Changxiao’s arrival in Yanzhou City to cause such a stir. It was said that many gentry family heads had also come from other prefectures.
Jin Sui quickly told Han Xing, “Tell Lord Cheng to prepare the border city banquet even more grandly. The number of attendees will only be more than expected, not less.”
It wasn’t until evening that Gu Changxiao came to find her. Jin Sui asked first, “Has Chang’an fallen into chaos?”
Gu Changxiao smiled, “Sui Sui’s calculations are amazing!”
Jin Sui sneered, “I just guessed it from Li Heng’s fence-sitting attitude, and from the Yanzhou officials and gentry. As long as Chang’an was peaceful, they would have kept their distance from you.”
They were all people who wouldn’t act without seeing a profit. If Chang’an was peaceful and Prince Yu’s position was stable, these people wouldn’t have shown favor to Gu Changxiao. Even if they wanted to participate in Northern Frontier trade, they would have only shown favor to the Yan family.
In the hearts of many gentry families, they had a relationship with the Imperial Court, but it wasn’t a close one. No matter who became emperor, it wouldn’t affect them.
Yan Jiu had thought the same way before, until Jin Sui pointed out to him: did he want Yanzhou City to always be in a state of guarding against Tartars, and Yanzhou City could only close its gates and not dare to resist?
It was also Jin Sui who, by having the border soldiers burn a border city and a Tartar army, made Yan Jiu realize that only by resisting and making the Tartars fear them could they achieve true peace.
His vision broadened, and only then was he willing to join forces with Gu Changxiao. However, this alliance was not deep enough to tie them together. It could only be said that he was willing to help Gu Changxiao establish a foothold in Yandi, but he didn’t gamble the entire Yan family’s future.
“The gentry families showing you favor now is probably for the customs duties, right? This is absolutely not to be conceded. We rely on commercial tax to support our soldiers and our people!
We are just starting now, and we must establish a good system. We cannot change the rules on a whim, nor can it be too chaotic.
As long as our goods enter the Northern Frontier and then go out to the Western Regions, we will earn even more customs duties. And the maritime customs duties in the future.
Gu Changxiao, do you know? If trade can truly flourish worldwide, the money earned will be enough for you to accomplish something that emperors throughout history have wanted to do but have never succeeded at.”
Gu Changxiao’s eyes narrowed. Although he was not an emperor, he also had ambitions. “Sui Sui, tell me, what is it?”
Jin Sui uttered three words: “No agricultural tax!”
In her previous life, the agricultural tax was abolished in 2006. Generations of farmers had waited for thousands of years to usher in such a prosperous era.
If Gu Changxiao could achieve this in this era, if he ascended the throne, he would surely be an emperor for all time!
Gu Changxiao’s breathing quickened. This was a scene he had never imagined. He looked at Jin Sui with gratitude and reverence. Sui Sui always surprised him.
She could always see the truth in the details. Just by observing the gentry families paying their respects, she deduced that they were seeking customs duties, and then thought of reforming agriculture through commercial tax.
To achieve true harmony between heaven and earth, a prosperous era, and no agricultural tax!
“I know there are many shortcomings in the summer tax. Sui Sui, don’t worry. I won’t neglect this area. I can’t manage other places, but I can reform the customs duties in the border cities.”
Jin Sui nodded, “Take it step by step. Don’t be too strict at the beginning, so as not to provoke the gentry families to unite against you.
Perfect it step by step. First, let them witness the vastness of the extraterritorial market, and then reform the commercial tax. At that time, even if some people object, more people will choose to submit for their immediate interests.”
When Jin Sui advised others, she could always logically explain why “haste makes waste.”
But when it came to herself, she wished she could finish everything in one go.
She divided the embroiderers into two shifts, starting a day-and-night work schedule. She taught one group during the day and another at night, reducing her own sleep time to fragmented naps, just like in the Northern Frontier. She slept for two hours at night and made up for one hour during the day.
When she was sleepy, she would go into the space to drink strong coffee and wash her face with cold water.
When encountering problems, she still had to find time to enter the space to check information. Craftsmen were on standby to improve the spinning machines.
When Jin Sui entered her work mode, she was a bit terrifying. To be honest, before entering the city, Yan Jiu had thought a lot about what he would say to Miss Ji.
There were official matters, concerning Northern Frontier trade and sea merchants, and personal matters. He wanted to invite Miss Ji to enjoy the scenery and drink tea, and he wanted to take the opportunity to express his unspoken affection.
But after Jin Sui moved into the Yan Residence, Yan Jiu realized that even having a private conversation with her about official matters was a luxury, let alone personal matters.
Every time Miss Ji met him in the study, she brought a lot of information, including blueprints for wool spinning machines and Northern Frontier routes. She had meticulously mapped out which tribes were friendly and could trade, and which tribes were extremely hostile to Xia people.
If this information were sold to other gentry families, even for Ten Thousand Taels of silver, there would be plenty of people willing to pay.
But Miss Ji charged nothing and gave him all the information, only making one request: that the Yan family take the lead in responding when Prince Li reformed the commercial tax.
Actually, even if she hadn’t said it, Yan Jiu would have responded. He needed a comprehensive commercial tax to stabilize the market, as many people would try to exploit loopholes, which would disrupt the market and lose the trust of the Northern Frontier people.
This would make the newly established trade difficult. Comprehensive laws were both a restraint and a protection.
He looked at the Northern Frontier Trade Proposal that Jin Sui had painstakingly written and asked a very foolish question, “Miss Ji, for whom are you working so hard?”
He regretted it as soon as he asked, and gave a self-deprecating smile. Could it be for you, Yan Jiu? Of course, it was for Prince Li.
Unexpectedly, Jin Sui’s answer surprised him:
“I’m not working myself to death. I just inquired more along the way under the name of Female Immortal Ji. My brain is still quite good, and I’m good at summarizing. I still owe you a favor, and I have no other gift to give you, so I’ll give you this.
As for who it’s for? It’s really not for any one person. If I say it’s for the border city people, for the Yanzhou people, would that be too exaggerated? Do you believe it?”
Yan Jiu looked at her with deep eyes and softly uttered two words: “I believe.”
Jin Sui smiled, “Yan Jiulang, you truly are my intimate friend! If Shiyi were here, he would definitely mock me, ‘Who do you think you are? Caring about the common people, what do they have to do with you?'”
Yan Jiu shook his head, “No, Shiyi wouldn’t say that either. We see everything you’ve done for the border city.”
“Don’t worry, as long as Your Highness drafts the new commercial tax law, the Yan family will be the first to respond. Northern Frontier trade concerns the livelihood of thousands of people, and I will never let it fall into chaos.”
Every time he heard the name ‘Yan Jiulang’ from her mouth, Yan Jiu felt as if his heart had been lightly brushed by a feather, trembling and tingling.
He really wanted to change the topic and chat about something else, but for some reason, at these moments, he would recall the scene of Gu Changxiao crawling towards the Divine Palace step by step in the dark.
Perhaps from that moment on, he had lost.
Sometimes, when they discussed navigation charts, Jin Sui redrew one, larger and more precise, marking all the islands she knew.
When the table wasn’t big enough, they spread it on the carpet. The two of them would point at the routes with long sticks wrapped in soft cloth. Jin Sui would casually share knowledge about navigation, which Yan Jiu found immensely beneficial every time he heard it.
He felt it wasn’t enough for him to just listen, so he specifically called several managers who went out to sea. Gu Changxiao and Yan Shiyi would also come to listen. At this time every day, Miss Ji would become ‘Teacher Ji’.
She was truly like a teacher. Including Yan Jiu and Gu Changxiao, they all became a group of students with strong thirst for knowledge.
Through discussions with the navigation managers, Jin Sui also learned more about the islands in this era. Gu Changxiao, however, was more interested in the information they brought about the customs and conditions of the southern coastal regions.
Especially in Minzhou, where pirates often appeared along the coast and there were many miasmas causing plagues to break out annually. Therefore, the people there were extremely superstitious. Some unorthodox and evil cults that the Imperial Court had destroyed were secretly worshipped by the people.
One day, upon hearing Jin Sui mention monsoon currents, one of the managers sighed, “Every year in Minnan, during the tide season, they hold a Dragon King Festival, either sacrificing a Dragon King bride or sacrificing young boys and girls.
If they knew this was just due to the monsoon and not because the sacrifices were effective, what would they think?”
Jin Sui was shocked, “Human sacrifice?”
She looked at Gu Changxiao. Did the Imperial Court know about this? Did the Emperor care about this? The Imperial Court was still engaged in internal strife, and the common people lived in dire straits. In the Northern Frontier, there were Han people who were Han slaves, their lives less valuable than sheep.
In the south, there were rampant pirates and human sacrifices. The anger in the bones and blood of the children of the Flower Planting Family roared. Ling Jin Sui, since you have come to this world, you must do something, change something.
The topic became heavy. Yan Jiu naturally couldn’t chat about romantic matters with Miss Ji anymore. He even felt that Miss Ji was indeed like the immortal depicted by the Northern Frontier people. In her heart, love and romance were far less important than the great cause of the nation.
She was an unparalleled woman of talent, someone to be respected and admired from the bottom of one’s heart. It felt like mentioning romantic matters to her was a form of blasphemy.
Thus, Jin Sui stayed at the Yan Residence for nine days, lost three catties, and her dark circles deepened by three degrees.
She taught a group of embroiderers how to spin wool and successfully produced wool fabric and thicker wool yarn. She taught two knitting methods: needle knitting and crochet.
She taught some of the Yan family’s sea-faring managers some navigation knowledge. They didn’t even know that eating bean sprouts could prevent scurvy. Their voyages were always short, and as soon as they ran out of fresh fruits and vegetables for replenishment, they would turn back.
As for the routes that didn’t go to Nanyang, Jin Sui just mentioned that they could plant vegetables on the ship and bring more mung beans to sprout.
Everyone looked at each other and simultaneously raised their hands, wishing they could slap themselves! Yes, how could they have forgotten about bean sprouts? Other vegetables might be hard to get, but weren’t mung beans plentiful?
One of the managers regretted it immensely, “Actually, two years ago, one of our ships carried a lot of mung beans. At that time, someone said that eating bean sprouts every few days made them feel very comfortable. I actually didn’t take it seriously!”
He was filled with remorse. If he had taken it seriously and reported it at the time, it would have been a great achievement!
With the problem of vitamin deficiency during long voyages solved, coupled with the navigation charts provided by Jin Sui, they were full of confidence. They would set sail in the spring, and this time they would surely be able to sail even farther!
At first, Gu Changxiao was always wary of Jin Sui and Yan Jiu meeting alone. Later, he realized his narrow-mindedness. Even if he didn’t trust Yan Jiu, he should trust Sui Sui.
Yan Jiu couldn’t snatch Sui Sui away!
Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Wishing all my dear readers a Happy New Year’s Eve and a joyous reunion with your families in advance!
