Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

This blatant war blackmail made Yu Qian's eyes widen in fury.

"presumptuous!"

Yu Qian slammed his gavel and stood up abruptly.

"Our Great Ming Dynasty possesses the wealth of the four seas and commands a million armored soldiers. You, a mere small nation, not only fail to appreciate the Emperor's grace but also dare to speak threateningly! Do you truly believe the swords in the hands of my nine border soldiers are ineffective?!"

Arubao laughed loudly, looking at Yu Qian with disdain.

"A million armored soldiers? When the Yongle Emperor was alive, we treated him with respect. Now that he's dead, your new emperor can't even ride a horse and can only hide in the Forbidden City drinking poison."

"What can those old, weak, sick, and disabled people on the border use to stop the Oirat's scimitars!"

"You," Yu Qian trembled with anger, about to explode.

"Click, click."

A series of soft, gentle footsteps came from the long corridor outside the hall.

Immediately afterwards, a minor official respectfully lifted the curtain.

Gu Yannian was dressed in a bright red robe, his hands tucked into the wide sleeves.

With steady, measured steps, I entered the main hall.

Upon seeing Gu Yannian arrive, Yu Qian suppressed his anger and bowed respectfully.

"Minister Gu."

Arubao glanced at Gu Yannian sideways.

Seeing his handsome face, he didn't look like a military general.

He scoffed softly, without even moving his body.

Gu Yannian was not annoyed and went straight to the head seat to sit down.

He casually placed the sandalwood abacus on the table.

"This must be General Arubao, the chief envoy of the Oirat Mongols."

Gu Yannian picked up the fresh tea that the maid had just served and gently stirred the surface of the water with the lid.

"Just now outside the gate, I overheard the general talking about the strength and power of the Oirat cavalry. I am quite curious about it."

Arubao proudly raised his head: "How about it?"

Gu Yannian took a sip of tea and looked at Arubao with a deep gaze.

"Last winter, Arughtai of the Tatar tribe led 30,000 elite cavalry and launched a surprise attack on your Oirat Kobdo pasture while the snow was falling. In that battle, your Oirat not only lost 8,000 warriors, but even the most beloved concubine of the leader of the Tuohuan tribe was taken away by Arughtai."

"What? In the past six months, you've not only recovered your strength, but you also have the energy to head south and knock on the gates?"

The moment these words were spoken, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Arubao's arrogant expression suddenly froze, as if he had swallowed a fly.

The four Oirat warriors behind him changed their expressions drastically, and their hands unconsciously tightened their grip on the hilts of their swords.

This humiliating defeat is a top secret within the Oirat government.

Tuohuan kept the news tightly under wraps in order to maintain a powerful image in the eyes of the outside world.

They simply couldn't understand how this frail official living in the capital of the Ming Dynasty could know so much about the conflict on the grasslands thousands of miles away!

Gu Yannian's extraordinary intelligence and memory allowed him to perfectly piece together the true situation on the grassland from the snippets of information sent from various border towns and the fragmented reports from border merchants.

"You...you're talking nonsense!"

Arubao forced himself to remain calm and roared.

"Our Oirat army is invincible! That old dog Arughtai will have his head chopped off by our leader and used as a drinking bowl sooner or later!"

Gu Yannian did not argue with him.

He simply flicked the abacus beads lightly with his slender fingers.

"Crackling sound."

The crisp sound of the abacus seemed particularly jarring in the quiet hall.

"This spring drought has reduced the pasture growth on the grasslands to less than half of what it was in previous years. Large numbers of cattle and sheep have frozen and starved to death. Your Tuohuan leader sent you to the Ming Dynasty to ask for rewards, so you must have really reached the point of starvation."

Gu Yannian spoke calmly, yet every word was like a knife, each one drawing blood.

The Oirat delegation's bluster and pretense were completely stripped away.

He leaned forward slightly, looking at Arubao, whose forehead was covered in sweat.

"Holding a terrible hand, yet trying to bluff your way to victory at the Ming Dynasty's gambling table. General, do you really think the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty is a charitable institution?"

Yu Qian, listening from the side, was thrilled and secretly felt a surge of excitement.

Minister Gu's few words, spoken so casually, were a hundred times more effective than his thunderous roar just now.

It directly shattered the backbone of the barbarians!

Arubao deflated like a punctured balloon, his once straight back collapsing.

He knew that once his cards were out in the open, his blackmail scheme would be over.

But he was a seasoned veteran of the battlefield, and he devised a plan to save face.

"My lord, since you know that the Oirat are currently weak, you should provide us with food and money!"

Arubao gritted his teeth, revealing a fierce expression.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If our Oirat were to be swallowed up by Arughtai on the grasslands, and the Tatars were to unify the desert, the nine border regions of the Ming Dynasty would never have peace!"

"You Han people understand this principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold' better than we do!"

These words do offer some insight, and they were one of the reasons why Zhu Gaochi had previously been concerned.

The Ming Dynasty needed the Oirat Mongols to restrain the Tatars.

Gu Yannian nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with this explanation.

"The general is absolutely right. The Ming Dynasty certainly does not want to see Arughtai's family become too powerful."

Gu Yannian leaned back in his chair.

"Therefore, the Ming Dynasty is willing to show mercy and give you a way out."

Arubao's eyes lit up, thinking that his extortion attempt had failed, but his feigned poverty had worked.

"On behalf of the Great Ming Dynasty, I propose a new policy."

Gu Yannian picked up his teacup.

"Starting next month, the Ming Dynasty will open horse markets in the three towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty will provide the finest tea bricks, refined salt, cloth, and winter grain, while you Oirats will need to exchange them for fine horses, cattle, sheep, and furs from the grasslands."

Arubao was stunned: "Exchange? Not a reward?"

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Gu Yannian's smile turned cold.

"A bushel of fine grain can be exchanged for a top-quality fox pelt, and three catties of top-quality tea bricks can be exchanged for a fine horse that can charge into battle."

"Prices are clearly marked, and there will be no deception of the young or old. If you are short of food, bring your best warhorses to the city of Xuanfu for delivery."

"I guarantee that not a single grain of grain supplied to you by the Ministry of Revenue will be moldy."

"This is outrageous!"

Arubao flew into a rage and stood up abruptly, like an enraged black bear.

"Our warhorses are the lifeblood of the Oirat people! You think you can trade them for some tea made from tree leaves and rags? Dream on!"

He drew his curved sword from his waist, the gleaming blade tracing an arc in the air.

He slammed his fist down on the rosewood coffee table in front of him.

He dared not actually kill Ming Dynasty officials.

However, using force to intimidate this weak scholar and force him to back down is a common tactic of barbarians.

Yu Qian was shocked and was about to call for the guards outside the door.

Facing the whistling curved blade falling down, Gu Yannian didn't even blink.

His right hand remained casually resting on the desk.

Just as the blade was about inches from the coffee table, Gu Yannian casually tapped the rosewood tabletop with his index finger.

"Yes."

A faint, muffled thud.

The power instantly converged at the fingertips, transforming into a terrifying shockwave.

The energy was precisely transmitted along the grain of the solid wood to the point where the scimitar would strike.

"when!"

The curved knife struck the wooden table, but it did not split the coffee table in two as Arubao had expected.

On the contrary, it was the curved sword, forged from a hundred layers of refined steel, that made its first contact with the wooden table.

It was as if it had struck an unshakeable, colossal mountain of black iron.

An overwhelming force of recoil surged up the hilt of the sword.

Arubao felt a heat in his tiger's mouth.

Immediately afterwards, a crisp sound of bones breaking could be heard.

He screamed in agony as the scimitar flew out of his hand.

It was stuck upside down on the crossbeam of the main hall, making a buzzing sound.

He clutched his bleeding right hand and staggered back several steps.

She stared in horror at the perfectly intact sandalwood desk, then looked at Gu Yannian, who sat upright behind it, his clothes not even fluttering.

When the four Oirat warriors saw their commander wounded, they instinctively reached for their swords.

"Wait!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Arubao ordered his men to stop.

He was a military general, and his perception of power far surpassed that of ordinary people.

He clearly felt the exchange just now.

The civil official in the red robe before him possessed a terrifying power that made his very soul tremble.

That was definitely not a weak scholar!

If he encountered such a person on the grassland, his only option would be to turn his horse and flee for his life.