Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

"nice one?"

When Inugami Oda heard those three words, his face, which was pressed against the bluestone slab, instantly turned bright red.

A burst of extremely ecstatic, even somewhat morbidly greedy light erupted from his small, beady eyes.

The Crown Prince of Tang actually agreed!

This legendary demon king, who was extremely tyrannical and would flatten cities with lightning at the slightest provocation, was actually moved by his own extremely humble and shameless "playing the grandson" technique!

Sure enough, the people of the Central Plains love this kind of vain flattery! As long as our Great He Kingdom acts humble enough, they will give us their most advanced technology like a gift to a beggar!

"Your humble servant... Your humble servant, on behalf of the millions of people of the Yamato Kingdom, kowtows in gratitude to His Highness the Crown Prince for his divine grace!"

Inugami Oden was so excited that he trembled all over and kowtowed three times on the ground with great force.

"Alright, stop with that disgusting behavior of yours."

Li Chengqian looked away with extreme disgust, as if glancing at this short, stout man would dirty his eyes.

He turned his head and looked at the Persian and Arab envoys sitting to his left, who had spent 100,000 strings of cash to buy first-class seats.

Although these people were extremely respectful, their eyes still retained a degree of decorum and shrewdness befitting envoys of a major power.

"I've called you here today for no other reason than..."

Li Chengqian clapped his hands, and Wu Meiniang, who was standing next to him, immediately took out a stack of extremely thick documents printed on the finest Xuan paper and distributed them to each of the envoys present with great skill.

"This is the 'Treaty of Comprehensive Trade and Friendly Relations of the Great Tang Dynasty' that I had drafted overnight."

Li Chengqian picked up his wine glass, speaking in an extremely casual tone, as if he were announcing what to have for breakfast the next day.

"Take a look, everyone."

"If you have no objections, just put your fingerprint and signature on it. Then we'll be one family, and the doors of the Tang Dynasty's business will be completely open to you."

When the Persian envoys heard that the Tang Dynasty had taken the initiative to propose a trade treaty, their eyes lit up with excitement.

They traveled a long way not only to seek refuge, but more importantly, to obtain the trade privileges for silk and porcelain from the Tang Dynasty.

however.

They eagerly opened the treaty, which still smelled of ink.

I only read the first one.

The Persian merchants, who had just been all smiles, instantly turned as ugly as if they had swallowed a dead fly.

"This...this...Your Highness! You must be joking?!"

An envoy from the Abbasid Caliphate named Abu pointed at the text of the treaty in utter shock, his hands trembling violently.

"What does it mean... all exported goods from the Great Tang Dynasty are exempt from all forms of tariffs?"

Abu swallowed a mouthful of extremely dry saliva, his voice filled with unbelievable despair.

"Yet goods from our various countries are transported to the Tang Dynasty, but we have to pay an 'import protection tax' as high as 40%?!"

"That's not all!"

Another Persian envoy angrily took over the conversation, pointing to an even more outrageous clause below.

"Your Highness! This document states that the Tang Dynasty intends to establish 'exclusive trading ports' in our major ports and cities."

"Merchants of the Tang Dynasty, conducting business in these ports, are not subject to our national laws. Even if they commit capital crimes such as murder or arson, they can only be tried by the Tang Dynasty's Protectorate or garrison troops?!"

"This is called 'extraterritoriality'? This is simply... this is simply a robbery treaty!"

The Persian envoy was so angry he was trembling.

This is hardly a business deal involving signing treaties.

This is clearly a unilateral deprivation of their country's tariff autonomy and judicial sovereignty; it is blatant economic colonialism!

"presumptuous!"

Xu Xiao, who had been standing behind Li Chengqian like an iron tower, suddenly took a step forward.

A terrifyingly fierce killing intent suddenly erupted from his cloudy old eyes, and his withered hand naturally pressed down on the hilt of the knife.

The palpable killing intent terrified the envoys, who instantly shut their mouths and staggered back two steps, their faces pale.

"A robber's treaty?"

Li Chengqian stopped Xu Xiao, who was about to draw his sword.

He slowly stood up and looked down at the West Asian envoys who were still trying to make a last-ditch effort.

"It seems that you have some very serious misunderstandings about my goodwill."

Li Chengqian spoke extremely slowly and coldly, as if every word carried a chill that could freeze one's soul.

"The silk and porcelain of the Tang Dynasty, as well as those down jackets that can keep you from freezing to death in winter, are treasures that are unique in the world."

"My willingness to sell to you is an immense favor!"

"As for tariffs? Your scrap metal and wool are less than garbage in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty! The fact that I collect 40% tax from you is just to spare the counting fees for the Tang Dynasty's customs officials!"

At this point, a fierce and extremely violent glint flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes.

"As for extraterritoriality?"

"I was a chosen one in the Tang Dynasty, but now that I'm in your wretched place, am I supposed to be judged by your barbaric judges who can't even read properly?"

"joke!"

Li Chengqian slammed his hand on the table, causing the extremely expensive Persian glass cups to rattle loudly.

"I'm putting my words here today."

"In this Tang Dynasty, in this world! My rules are the only rules!"

"If you want to do business, then you have to follow my rules!"

The Persian and Abbasid envoys were completely stunned by Li Chengqian's extremely domineering and unreasonable remarks.

But Abu gritted his teeth, still extremely unwilling, and tried to make a final struggle.

"Your Highness! This is too domineering! What if we don't agree to sign this treaty? Does the Tang Dynasty think it can force us to buy and sell?"

"disagree?"

Li Chengqian smiled in an extremely eerie way.

He didn't waste any more words, but instead snapped his fingers very casually.

"Old Mo, show these guests an extremely beautiful fireworks display."

The voice just fell.

Suddenly, a very heavy rumble of wheel hubs came from the large square outside the Honglu Temple.

A red-coated cannon from the Evolutionary Army, already discarded by the Divine Machine Battalion and covered in scratches, was pushed forward by several extremely strong soldiers.

The dark muzzle of the cannon was aimed precisely at the extremely luxurious Taihu stone rockery in the courtyard of the Honglu Temple, which cost tens of thousands of strings of cash to build.

"This...this is the legendary heavenly lightning?!"

All the envoys were instantly terrified and scrambled to hide deeper into the hall.

"boom--!!!"

A deafeningly violent explosion.

The extremely sturdy Taihu stone rockery was instantly reduced to a sky full of rubble and dust by the terrifying kinetic energy of the gunpowder!

The violent shockwave even overturned several Persian followers who were standing relatively close.

The entire Honglu Temple compound instantly fell into an eerily silent, deathly stillness.

All the envoys covered their ears in extreme terror, staring intently at the ruins that had been razed to the ground, feeling their very souls tremble.

"Now, does anyone still have objections to this treaty?"

Li Chengqian elegantly blew away the dust that had settled on his sleeve, his tone still extremely lazy and casual.

No one dared to speak.

Even Abu, who had been shouting the loudest just moments before, was now kneeling on the ground in utter despair, his whole body trembling like a sieve.

Faced with this extremely terrifying military deterrence.

Sovereignty, tariffs, dignity—all of these are utterly ridiculous illusions!

"If you have no objections, then sign and put your fingerprint on it as soon as possible."

Li Chengqian looked at the group of envoys who were completely terrified and nodded with great satisfaction.

"but."

Just as the envoys were about to pick up their brushes and sign the document in a deeply humiliating manner.

Li Chengqian suddenly reached out and pressed down on the treaty, and very slowly threw out the last, and most fatal, additional condition.

"I forgot to mention something earlier."

"Since we will all be very close trading partners of the Tang Dynasty from now on..."

"In order to facilitate settlement, we need to standardize weights and measures and unify the currency."

Li Chengqian looked at this group of people, his eyes flashing with an extremely cunning and cold capitalist light.

"From today onwards, those extremely low-quality gold and silver coins in your hands are nothing but scrap metal in the Tang Dynasty."

"In the future, I want to buy anything from Datang, or Datang can buy anything from you."

"This is the only acceptable settlement currency."

Li Chengqian took out a brand-new Tang Dynasty Kaiyuan Tongbao coin from his sleeve, which shone brightly in the sunlight, and casually tossed it onto the table.