In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Heavy bags were unloaded from the vehicle, lined up in a row, and their drawstrings were untied.

Immediately, the scene erupted in uproar.

"Salt, it's fine salt!"

"What's this? This is cloth!"

"And pepper, we have that too!"

The shock grew louder and louder.

Salt was a valuable commodity in ancient times. The salt produced in the Tang Dynasty was called "fine salt" by foreigners. Although it could not compare to later salt, it was the salt with the fewest impurities and the best taste in the 7th century.

While salt and Businra can still be found, pepper is considered a royal delicacy.

Pepper from the Tang Dynasty was as precious as gold; that was no joke. Silla was only ever gifted pepper by the Tang Dynasty once, and at other times they couldn't even smell it.

Seeing the Silla kings and ministers looking at each other like country bumpkins visiting the Grand View Garden, Lee Won-chang chuckled.

"Your Majesty, I have brought with me over 13,000 bolts of cloth, 2,000 catties of salt, 20 catties of pepper, and three sections of pepper trees."

"Further behind were 100,000 shi of grain and 200 weaving carts."

"Consider these my welcoming gifts."

boom!

The top management of Silla was shaken.

100,000 shi of grain and fodder, so many supplies, is this a gift for our first meeting?

They all looked like they'd been possessed by a ghost. Even the Tang Dynasty court couldn't be this extravagant. Just how rich was this Far Eastern King who was making peace with the court?

Although he was given dozens of truckloads of good stuff last time, Kim Seung-man was not moved at all.

But this time, the sweet talk caught her off guard, and her heart started racing.

She instinctively felt it was a trap and wanted to politely decline, but then she thought, she had already lost, lost the ranch, and was supposed to listen to the other party anyway, so what was there to be afraid of?

She looked at Li Yuanchang, gradually becoming confused as to why he would do this, since he had already won.

"Thank you, King of the Far East!"

She bent down and bowed deeply.

"We thank Your Highness the King of Far East!" The Silla officials all bowed to express their respect.

This sweet talk quickly bridged the gap between strangers.

This was merely the first step for Li Yuanchang to secure the submission of the entire Silla kingdom.

Soon after, the grand procession entered the palace, and the banquet began.

Hundreds of people were toasting and drinking, creating a grand scene. During the banquet, a large number of beautiful Silla women danced gracefully, dazzling the audience.

Kunlun slaves were popular because they were strong and easy to command.

The popularity of maidservants in Silla was purely due to their good looks.

However, Li Yuanchang's gaze almost never fell on these Silla dancers; compared to Queen Jindeok, these women were clearly somewhat inferior.

During the banquet, Li Yuanchang introduced Qin Zun and a series of other people to the entire Silla, all of whom were now famous business owners from the Tang Dynasty.

The two sides directly discussed trade and commerce.

This was tantamount to lifting the blockade against Silla and granting it greater trade access, allowing Silla to sell or purchase whatever it needed to.

Thanks to Li Yuanchang's favor, Qin Zun and others all expressed their willingness to offer lower freight rates to the Silla region.

This is another great gift following the initial greeting.

"King of the Far East, I toast you."

"I apologize for my previous recklessness, and I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

After much hesitation, Queen Zhende finally lowered her proud head and apologized.

Upon hearing this, the entire banquet hall fell silent.

"Haha, no problem, no problem. From now on, our two departments are one family. What the Far East has, Silla also has."

Li Yuanchang gestured with his hand and drank the cup to the brim.

Whether it was due to the circumstances, a willingness to accept defeat, or perhaps an admiration for Li Yuanchang's magnanimity, Jin Shengman finally made a statement in front of everyone.

"Your Highness, from this day forward, Silla will follow Your Highness's lead."

"We follow the lead of the King of the Far East!" The Silla royal family and nobles all prostrated themselves and shouted.

Perhaps many people are only motivated by self-interest, but for Li Yuanchang right now, that's enough. The longer it goes on, the more the entire Silla will be loyal to and dependent on him.

Their distance of thousands of miles from Chang'an meant that they had to rely on Li Yuanchang to survive; this was determined by the terrain.

"No problem!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, come, drink this cup to the brim, then let the music play, then let the dance begin!"

"yes!!"

"..."

For a time, the banquet was filled with singing and dancing, and the atmosphere became noisy again.

This was an extremely successful political banquet and social event. The people brought by Li Yuanchang basically reached an agreement with the Silla government and came together.

No one mentioned the imperial court, but everyone tacitly understood that although Silla was still nominally a vassal state of the court, it was actually under the command of Yi Won-chang.

The next three days.

Li Yuanchang and Queen Zhende kept in touch and discussed various matters.

The two are a perfect example of people who are surprised by what they discover once they start talking about it.

Former enemies, but when they sit down and chat, they find they've hit it off immediately, like old friends over drinks.

Queen Zhende was a pragmatist. After submitting to the Tang Dynasty, she was eager to introduce the Far East model, just as she had wanted to introduce the Tang system in the past.

The entire Silla was essentially a miniature version of the Tang Dynasty, except that the Tang system was outdated, and it has been proven that Yi Won-chang's civil administration model was the most effective.

She was amazed by Li Yuanchang's methods of governing people's livelihood, agriculture, land, and taxation.

However, the effective governance policies that traditional forces could not implement within the Tang Dynasty due to the presence of five prominent families and seven powerful clans were highly recognized by Kim Seung-man.

This is one of the reasons why the two can get along so well.

In just a few days, the ice-breaking meeting quickly warmed up, and the two kings even began traveling together in the same car. Their relationship warmed up, and the speed at which they talked about everything surprised their subordinates.

"Your Highness, we are about twenty miles ahead. That vast plain is the largest pasture in Silla, which we call the Hanhe Plain." Kim Seung-man lifted the curtain.

Li Yuanchang's gaze was drawn to the horizon. It was too far away to see anything clearly, but he could vaguely make out the landscape through the clouds.

It was a plain, crisscrossed by freshwater lakes, forming a land with extremely fertile vegetation.

"Although it's still far, I can already sense it; this is simply a naturally perfect pasture bestowed by God!"

Kim Seung-man smiled and then sighed, "Silla has a limited population, seeds, farming tools, and so on. In many places, less than three out of ten crops survive, and people are starving to death every year."

"We are forced to rely on this auspicious land to farm and grow grain to support the country's food supply."

"Knowing it is a treasure land for grazing, I dare not use it. The livestock will eat grass and soil, but the people will not be able to get enough to eat. Therefore, I can only use it for farming instead of grazing."

"This was also a major reason why I refused the Far East King at that time."

Li Yuanchang nodded; this was indeed a pain point.

Silla was only so big, and there were few plains. If they were used for grazing, the people would starve. It was also impossible to divert water to other places for irrigation.