Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

"Even if we take a step back and assume that fraudulent claims have indeed occurred, our Great Xia will bear all the costs and return every penny of the money you deposited to you."

Hearing Bai Su say this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

If that's the case, then the Great Xia's paper money is indeed quite convenient.

After all, it would take at least seven or eight carriages to transport such a large sum of money, making trade back and forth too troublesome. With the Great Xia Treasure Notes, one only needs to carry them with them when arriving in the Central Plains.

It can then be exchanged for countless pieces of porcelain, tea, and silk.

If you don't want to buy it, you can exchange it for copper coins and take the gold coins back. It's really convenient.

As a princess of the Yuezhi Kingdom, Xiao Li had long been aligned with the Central Plains. She immediately stood up and said, "What you say is right, my lord. My Yuezhi Kingdom has long thought this way. Now that you have made a decision, my Yuezhi Kingdom will naturally be the first to respond."

Maodun glanced at Bai Su with interest in his emerald green eyes, and said with a slight parting of his red lips, "My Xiongnu are also willing to follow closely behind."

With two leaders in place, others who wanted to forge closer ties with the Great Xia naturally followed suit.

However, some clever people keenly sensed that something was amiss.

Yena looked at the thin banknote, her delicate eyebrows twitching slightly. This thing was convenient, but it was also dangerous.

After all, large sums of gold and silver were exchanged for mere pieces of paper. If they could trade with the Great Xia and buy goods, that would be fine.

If Xianyang were to order the disposal of these precious notes, wouldn't all the money they had exchanged for with countless amounts of gold and silver instantly become worthless scraps of paper?

After pondering for a long time, Yena tentatively asked, "What should I do if I don't want to exchange these Great Xia banknotes?"

Bai Su narrowed his eyes slightly, then smiled and said, "I have signed trade treaties with various nations to establish a free trade zone. If you do not wish to exchange for Great Xia Treasure Notes and join us, the transactions will be too cumbersome, and Great Xia will need to levy additional tariffs."

"For example, if a normal piece of porcelain costs 500 coins, you would have to buy it for 800 coins if you hadn't signed a treaty, which is more expensive than other countries in the alliance."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.

In particular, Yena, as the Parthian envoy, had her brows furrowed and her face turned pale.

Bai Su's meaning was simple: since you want my Central Plains goods, I only have two options for you.

Alternatively, you must take out some copper coins, gold, and silver to exchange for banknotes issued by the Great Xia Bank, and use these banknotes to purchase goods from the Central Plains for trade.

Alternatively, you can swallow your pride and bear the extra tariffs, paying prices in other countries instead.

Unless they turn around and leave, completely abandoning any plans for trade and giving up sugar, porcelain, tea, and other goods from the Central Plains.

Otherwise, there would be no third option for her.

Yena wanted to turn around and leave, but the thought only lingered in her mind for a moment before she suppressed it.

After all, with her discerning eye, she had already realized that porcelain, tea, and silk were essential commodities, and completely eliminating them was simply impossible.

Even if she grits her teeth and abandons trade with the Central Plains for the sake of her integrity, merchants from the Western Regions will still travel thousands of miles to Parthia to continue selling to their nobles and royalty at prices dozens or even hundreds of times higher.

She has no other choice but to buy it now.

At most, we should remain vigilant and avoid exchanging all the gold and silver in the country for the Great Xia's banknotes.

It's more convenient to exchange a small amount each time, though it's a bit of a hassle, at least it's safer.

She had absolutely no other choice.

These things are completely monopolized by the Central Plains; you can't buy them anywhere else except here.

Chapter 390 You Central Plains people really know how to have fun.

After a series of talks, Bai Su and the envoys of various countries signed trade treaties, which then facilitated trade with the Central Plains, as well as trade between the Western Regions and the grassland tribes.

They all used the paper money issued by Daxia Money Shop as the standard for trade.

After everything came to a close, the envoys took their leave.

Although most of the envoys expressed their willingness to abide by the trade alliance led by the Great Xia, such an important matter still needed to be reported back to the king.

In an instant, everyone left, and the bustling city of Xianyang seemed to become much quieter.

At the entrance of the post station.

Bai Su slowly approached the carriage, looked at it parked at the door, and couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, are you planning to leave?"

There stood a pretty young girl, dressed in a magnificent long dress with Yuezhi Kingdom teng patterns, and with exquisite gold ornaments on her forehead, which further accentuated her fair skin.

She had long eyelashes, arched eyebrows, a delicate nose, and thin, red lips that radiated an alluring glow. Her elegant face wore a pure smile.

It was Princess Xiao Li of the Yuezhi Kingdom.

Looking at the young man she had always admired, who had come to see her off in person, a blush rose on her fair face. She said softly, "Now that the tribute mission is over and most of the visiting envoys have left, it's time for me... to return to Yuezhi."

Bai Su couldn't help but feel a little regretful, saying, "Your Highness is leaving so soon. I thought you would stay in Xianyang for a few more days."

Xiao Li gently bit her red lips, her beautiful eyes fixed on Bai Su, and asked, "Does Your Excellency wish me to stay in Xianyang for a while longer?"

Bai Su was taken aback. He had only politely asked her to stay, but he hadn't expected Xiao Li to respond like that.

He looked into the girl's clear, sapphire-blue eyes, scratched his cheek, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Of course, with such a stunning beauty as Your Highness in Xianyang, the entire city of Xianyang would be honored."

Xiao Li smiled and said, "Of course I want to stay in Xianyang and enjoy tea and flowers with you, and see all the prosperity of Xianyang. But unfortunately, I have something to do and need to get back to Yuezhi as soon as possible."

Bai Su's brow twitched slightly, and she couldn't help but ask, "Could something have happened in the Yuezhi Kingdom?"

Logically speaking, with Meng Yi serving as the Protector-General of the Western Regions and leading an army of 50,000 to garrison the Western Regions, although the number of troops was small, their superior weaponry and valiant strength should have been more than enough to stabilize the situation in the Western Regions.

Could it be that there's some problem with the trade?

Xiao Li looked at Bai Su, who had a puzzled expression, and couldn't help but shake her head slightly.

She brushed a strand of hair between her brows with her fair hand, pondered for a moment, and then said, "My lord, you are overthinking it. There has been no trouble in the Yuezhi Kingdom. It is mainly because of Mother."

Bai Su was taken aback: "The Yuezhi Queen?"

Xiao Li nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I don't know what's wrong lately, but my mother has been feeling unwell. I'm a little worried, so I want to get back to China as soon as possible."

Bai Su was taken aback. She felt unwell. Could it be that she had caught a cold?

After pondering for a while, he said, "How about this, I'll have a caravan send some medicinal herbs over in a few days, and I'll send my regards to Her Majesty the Queen."

A blush crept onto Xiao Li's cheeks as she whispered, "Thank you, sir. I will come to Xianyang to visit you after I have taken good care of my mother. Please wait for me..."

After saying that, she tiptoed and gently touched Bai Su's cheek with her red lips.

Without giving Bai Su a chance to react, he quickly jumped into the carriage.

Bai Su snapped out of her daze, watched the carriage gradually disappear into the distance, touched the soft residue on her cheek, and couldn't help but smile.

White House.

As he pushed open the door to the side room, a charming woman's voice suddenly rang out.

"You're back..."

"Modu, you... what are you doing here?"

Bai Su was stunned for a moment, then looked up in surprise.

Maodun, dressed in a Hu-style skirt, sat upright at the table, one hand lazily supporting his chin, his emerald green eyes watching him with great interest, while his other hand held a wine cup, as if he had been waiting for him for a long time.

She looked at Bai Su, who was looking surprised, and couldn't help but smile: "We're already engaged. What's wrong with me sitting in my own man's room?"

Bai Su looked at the fierce-tempered wolf king of the grasslands in front of her and couldn't help but shake her head helplessly.

He walked over to him and sat down next to Maodun. As he poured himself a drink from the wine jug, he said, "You've come at the right time. I have something to discuss with you."

Maodun was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

Bai Su took a sip of wine and then said, "Do you remember when I interrupted the Western Expedition?"

Maodun put down his wine cup, seemingly lost in thought, and said, "Are you talking about attacking the Mauryan Dynasty? Are you already preparing to take action?"

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Su said, "Now that all the states have formed a stable alliance with our Great Xia, the time is ripe, but we lack a suitable reason."

"reason?"

Maodun was taken aback and looked at Bai Su with some confusion.

Bai Su explained, "In the Central Plains, military operations require a just cause. Only a suitable reason can convince the world and prevent the people from having any objections, so that it is appropriate to declare war."

Maodun was also a clever man, and he immediately grasped the key point in Bai Su's words.

She asked hesitantly, "You mean, you're preparing to create a pretext for war? But the Mauryan Dynasty isn't stupid; why would they offend Great Xia for no reason?"

After all, since trade with the Central Plains began, caravans from the Western Regions had also made contact with the Mauryan Empire, and they had been trading with each other for about a year and a half.

Although the Mauryan Dynasty was not very clear about the national strength and specific capabilities of the Great Xia.

However, it is clear that the Great Xia is a powerful and prosperous nation.

After Ashoka, the Mauryan dynasty declined day by day. The country was filled with numerous city-states, large and small, and was dominated by powerful kings. Its reign was short-lived yet glorious.

The monarch's control was limited to the capital area. His status was comparable to that of the Zhou emperor. He could only mediate the conflicts between the various city-states and did not have much actual control over them.

Under such circumstances, how could the monarch of the Mauryan Dynasty easily provoke the Great Xia, a powerful country in the east, and invite trouble?

Bai Su's lips curled slightly, a half-smile playing on her lips. "Whether their monarch wants to be enemies with Great Xia or not is not important. What is important is that we want a suitable pretext to declare war."

"For example... a caravan carrying a large amount of wealth was heading to Huashi City, the capital of the Mauryan Dynasty, to trade with them, but on the way, they accidentally spilled a large amount of silver and gold from the carriages all over the ground."

“The local city-states noticed us, which aroused their greed, leading to the killing of our delegation, the robbery of our caravan, and the humiliation of our envoys.”

"In this way, my Great Xia is a superior country, and has always been particular about treating people with courtesy. We have never easily engaged in war. However, the Peacock Dynasty has insulted my Great Xia too much. This is intolerable."

"Therefore, although our Great Xia loves peace and dislikes war, it has no choice but to decide to fight back in the face of such humiliation and dispatch troops to conquer the Mauryan Dynasty in the west."

"We don't care about the fact that our arable land is three times that of the Central Plains, that we can harvest grain three times a year, that our region is rich in cotton, and that we have countless spices. All we want is to reclaim the face that our Great Xia envoy has been humiliated with."

"As for why, despite launching a counterattack, we ended up attacking the enemy's capital, there was nothing we could do about it. Our army was out in the field and might not be familiar with the terrain. They might have accidentally gone too far in and by the time they realized what was happening, they found that the army had already reached the gates of the capital."

After Bai Su finished speaking, Maodun clapped his hands and looked at Bai Su with a look of amazement.

"I must say, you Central Plains people are really clever. You shamelessly covet other people's farmland, cotton, and grain, yet you speak so righteously."

"If I hadn't just heard you tell the whole plan, just looking at your indignant expression, I might have really thought that your Great Xia had suffered some great injustice."

Bai Su rubbed her nose, looked at the sunset in the distance, and sighed softly: "A country's strength will determine its diplomacy and how many fair conditions it can secure. A weak country... has no diplomacy."

Chapter 391 Now that you're here, don't leave.

Maodun took a sip of wine, her slender hand brushing aside a strand of hair between her brows, and glanced at Bai Su with her emerald eyes: "Have you decided who you will send as an envoy to the Mauryan Dynasty?"