On the city walls, Li Shimin desperately wanted to shout "pauper," but doing so would have lowered his prestige.
His lips twitched almost imperceptibly as he waved a hand at the Nu Niudan below.
"Your intentions, this Emperor has received!"
"Hearing from those below, your Kingdom of York does not seem particularly wealthy."
"Guards, present the King of York with ten thousand gold yuan as a return gift!"
Upon hearing this, Nu Niudan below was utterly stunned.
Holy shit!
This Eastern Emperor is so generous!
He actually returned ten times the amount!
But...
Why did I only get one thousand gold coins!
Despite a thousand regrets in his heart, he could only retreat into the ranks after offering his thanks.
Following him, another obscure minor king stepped forward.
"Respected, mysterious Eastern Emperor!"
"From the distant land of Burgundy, I, Raphia Majade, greet you!"
"Last spring, a merchant caravan from your esteemed country visited Burgundy."
"Since then, I have yearned day and night to visit the East and see what kind of ruler could make their people so prosperous."
"Now, I understand!"
"Please forgive Burgundy's poverty; I cannot bring you a worthy gift."
"But the people of Burgundy constantly dream of one day being as prosperous as your subjects."
"Therefore, my gift is the map of Burgundy, and the symbol of royal authority!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other minor kings around him widened their eyes.
What the hell?
They traveled all this way for a ceremony, only to offer their own kingdom as a gift?
Before they could recover, they saw Raphia Majade pull out a roll of parchment from his embrace, along with a crest, and hand them to the guards below.
Qin Shi Huang and the others on the city walls were even more shocked.
Damn it!
Voluntarily surrendering territory?
And such a good deal too?
Why had he never encountered such a situation?
Expanding territory without shedding a single drop of blood – this was something every emperor would dream of waking up to!
Li Shimin was also taken aback; he had never expected such a turn of events.
The Minister of Rites was equally bewildered. The gifts from these minor kings were all registered at the Ministry of Rites beforehand.
This Raphia Majade had registered his gift as five hundred gold coins, so why had he suddenly changed his mind?
It wasn't until the guard delivered the map and crest to the city walls that Li Shimin believed it was all true.
Looking at the map before him, he was momentarily unsure how to reciprocate the gift.
He had already given ten times the amount in gold yuan to the King of York; he couldn't possibly return ten times the territory to the King of Burgundy, could he?
After a few turns of his eyes, a smile appeared on his face, and he addressed the crowd below.
"I am surprised!"
"But what I tell you is, in the near future, you will be proud of your choice!"
After saying this, he paused for a moment, cleared his throat, and then shouted loudly.
"Issue my decree!"
"From this day forth, ten thousand gold yuan will be allocated annually to Burgundy as poverty relief funds!"
"The Kingdom of Burgundy will be designated as the Burgundy Prefecture of Great Tang, and Raphia Majade will be enfeoffed as the King of the Far West! The Ministry of Personnel will begin the process of identifying a suitable candidate to serve as prefect!"
Hoo!
Upon hearing this, Raphia Majade immediately knelt down on both knees.
He was truly stunned by these ten thousand gold yuan!
That was ten thousand gold coins!
And it would be allocated annually!
"This King thanks Great Tang..."
"Ah, no! This King thanks my Emperor for his great grace!"
After speaking, he kowtowed three times consecutively.
He rose and bowed.
He knelt and kowtowed three more times.
He rose again and bowed.
He continued to kowtow.
The full three bows and nine kowtows!
He heard this was the highest etiquette in the East...
Li Shimin smiled, a hearty laugh.
"Hahahaha, my esteemed minister, please rise quickly!"
"Guards, escort the King of the Far West up to observe the ceremony with me!"
Deng Dengjie turned and descended the city walls, personally going to welcome Raphia.
When Raphia Majade stepped onto the thick city bricks and reached the top of the walls, he was so overcome with emotion that he couldn't speak.
His eyes were bloodshot, and tears streamed uncontrollably.
A virgin from Burgundy could be bought for half a gold coin, and ten thousand gold coins a year...
He dared not even imagine it!
The two gift-givers received vastly different treatment.
The former received a tenfold return gift, while the latter received a return gift of unimaginable magnitude.
The remaining kings began to waver...
What should they do?
Should they present their gifts according to the original plan, or, like Raphia, offer their entire kingdoms to this Eastern Great Emperor?
As most of them hesitated, someone stepped forward first.
"Greetings, Eastern Emperor. I wish to follow the King of the Far West and offer my territory to Great Tang!"
As he spoke, he removed the ring from his finger and handed it to a guard.
Choice?
There was no need for it.
"Hahahaha!"
"Excellent! Excellent!"
"Guards, bestow a royal title!"
Li Shimin was too lazy to even think of titles and handed the task directly to the officials of the Ministry of Rites.
He soon praised himself for this action.
Following this minor king, about eighty percent of the remaining individuals made the same decision.
They offered their territories directly!
With so many titles to bestow, if he had to think of them all, he would probably lose quite a bit more hair.
I'm so smart...
Nice!
"I protest!"
Suddenly, a minor king from a certain country, who was supposed to present a gift, stepped forward and shouted loudly at Li Shimin on the city walls.
"Respected Eastern Emperor!"
"Please forgive my rudeness, but you must have had this plan from the very beginning!"
"You first sent out merchant caravans to buy our borderlands, and then shamelessly levied exorbitant tariffs. This is naked plunder!"
"Therefore, you must return those territories to us!"
"If you do as I say, I believe God will forgive your past mistakes!"
Li Shimin's face instantly darkened.
Damn it!
These guys are so poor they're wearing rags, why would I want their territories?
What would I do with those godforsaken places?
If it weren't for the fact that Great Tang had too much money and didn't know what to do with it, I wouldn't bother accepting the territories offered by those minor kings before!
"Guards, send this fellow back!"
"Also, return all the land purchased from them by the grassland tribes to them!"
He almost roared these two sentences.
Deng Dengjie, frightened, was about to go down and relay the order when Raphia Majade silently rushed out.
Upon reaching the city below, he immediately took off the white labor gloves he had bought from a长安 store, costing fifty cents a pair, and slapped them forcefully onto that person's face.
"I, representing myself, challenge you!"
"Come, like a man, duel!"
"You dare to insult the great Emperor, you must pay with blood!"