The most arrogant in history

The envoy Ayi Bo pondered for a while and said, "But what if the Emperor of the Han Dynasty goes back on his word?"

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I will first allocate a piece of land to you, and then build a new city for you. Then, you can move here. If you are still worried, I can send a prince over as a hostage."

"We don't need hostages, and we don't dare."

Aibo shook his head and asked, "Emperor of the Han Dynasty, where are you going to move us to?"

Ye Kun pointed at the map and said, "You can choose any place in Kyushu. Of course, I can't give you the big cities. I'll give you Chang'an City, but your 10,000 people won't be able to live there, right?"

Aibo looked at the map and was still hesitant.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I'm afraid you can't make the decision on this matter. You can go back and ask your queen."

Aibo turned around and said, "This time, I am the full representative of Her Majesty the Queen, so I can make the decision."

Ye Kun frowned, then suddenly smiled: "So you are the Queen of Loulan, I'm so sorry!"

Sang Buyi was surprised and also stared at Aibo, looking him closely.

Aibo chuckled: "If the Emperor of the Han Dynasty thinks I am the queen, that's fine, because the queen and I are as close as sisters."

"Among women, the one with this kind of spirit must be a king."

Ye Kun clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, you shouldn't have concealed your identity and come here. It's disrespectful to us. As long as you admit that you are the Queen of Loulan, I will definitely treat you with state etiquette."

The messenger stared at Ye Kun for a long while before saying, "The Emperor of the Han Dynasty is indeed amazing. He has guessed my identity. Well, I am the Queen of Loulan, my real name is Ayiman."

Ye Kun clasped his fists and saluted: "It is an honor for Her Majesty the Queen to visit us. Lord Sang, pass on the order to entertain the Queen of Loulan according to the state etiquette and not to neglect her."

Sang Buyi also clasped his fists and saluted: "Tonight, Queen, please move to the highest platform of the State Guest Building. We will arrange a state banquet for you."

Queen Ayiman smiled and said, "I heard that China has a Hongmen Banquet. This..."

"There will be no Hongmen Banquet tonight, please rest assured, Your Majesty."

Ye Kun smiled.

Ayiman nodded, clasped his fists and said goodbye: "Let me think about what the Emperor of the Han Dynasty said."

In fact, the Queen of Loulan also knew that they had no choice but to agree to the conditions proposed by Ye Kun.

If you don’t agree, your whole race and nation will be exterminated!

If you agree, you can also continue the Loulan bloodline.

Queen Ayiman had been far away in Loulan before and had no idea how powerful the Han Empire was. Now that she had come to Zhuo County in person, she was shocked by what she saw and heard.

She also knew how dangerous it was for her small country of Loulan to block the western gate of the Han Empire!

After Queen Ayiman left, Ye Kun asked Huang Ye to inform Jiang Yourong: "Inform the Queen that there will be a state banquet tonight. Ask the Queen to accompany me to attend."

Huang Ye nodded and went to notify them in person.

The State Guest House in Zhuo County is a high-end inn and also an international inn.

There are four floors above and below, and the style is Chinese.

The highest platform that Ye Kun mentioned is the top layer, which is used to entertain kings of other countries.

Such a high-level reception was considered to be giving enough face to the Queen of Loulan.

As night falls, the lights are on.

The highest platform is brightly lit and colorful.

Ye Kun and Jiang Yourong attended the event in their best attire.

Queen Ayiman also changed her dress. She wore a long skirt as thin as a cicada's wing, her hair was braided into small braids, and she wore a headband with a string of green jade beads. She looked very exotic, delicate, yet wild.

Mr. Sang Buzhi and his wife, and Mr. He Kangju and his wife attended the event together.

Ye Kun raised his glass and said with a smile: "Your Majesty the Queen has come from afar. Please forgive the poor hospitality of the Han Kingdom. A few glasses of wine are to welcome the Queen."

"Thank you, Emperor Han, for your hospitality." Ayiman also raised his glass.

After three rounds of drinks, I gradually relaxed.

Ye Kun asked about Loulan's customs and culture, and nodded, "Loulan is a pearl among the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions. We will preserve the Loulan culture and leave a beautiful history for future generations."

Ayiman smiled bitterly and said, "But the rise of the Han Empire was too fast, and it had a great impact on us in Loulan."

Ye Kun said: "I said that I can help you build a new city of Loulan."

Ayiman sighed: "If I build a new city, I don't want to go too far away from my hometown. But I can't find a suitable place near Loulan."

"To the east of Dunhuang, there is a large area suitable for human survival. It won't be a problem to build a new city for you."

"But after the relocation, we in Loulan will have no tax revenue. How can we survive?"

"I'll support you." Ye Kun blurted out, smiling:

"The grain and cattle and sheep of my Han Empire are more than enough to feed more than 10,000 of you. It is too easy. Moreover, I will give you land so that you can be self-reliant."

Queen Ayiman smiled:

"This world is constantly changing. Will the words of the Han emperor still work a hundred or a thousand years from now? If they don't work then, what will happen to us, the children of Loulan? There are so many Han people that they can destroy us at any time."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "We are a great country called China. We are a country of etiquette and we will never bully the weak..."

As soon as he said this, Ye Kun's face suddenly felt hot.

Don’t bully the weak. How did China become so vast?

Ayiman smiled bitterly: "Emperor of the Han Dynasty, please give me some time to think about it."

"no problem."

Ye Kun nodded and said to Sang Buyi, "From now on, we will exempt Loulan from paying tribute. Just give a small tribute every year as a token of your appreciation. I will also notify Zhao Biao's garrison and all the major merchant groups not to harass Loulan."

Ayiman stood up and saluted: "The Emperor of the Han Dynasty has taken such good care of us, the children of Loulan, we are grateful forever."

"You're welcome." Ye Kun returned the greeting with a fist, and then said to Huang Ye:

"Go and prepare some gifts, which will be sent from the Han Empire to Her Majesty the Queen of Loulan. Ten five-foot dressing mirrors; twenty sets of white porcelain tea sets and tableware; five hundred iron pots of various types; one hundred brass utensils; one thousand boxes of matches, one thousand toothbrushes, one thousand boxes of tooth powder... and three hundred taels of gold. The Queen can buy whatever she needs herself."

Huang Ye took out a small notebook and wrote them down one by one.

Ayiman felt embarrassed and thanked him again: "The Emperor of the Han Dynasty is so generous. Loulan, a small country, has no way to repay you."

"Family, you're welcome."

Ye Kun waved his hand and said, "Oh, Queen, I am going to promote the drinking water project in the Western Regions, and I need the strong cooperation of all the countries in the Western Regions. This will prosper the trade and benefit all the countries in the Western Regions. I hope you will support it."

Queen Ayiman was puzzled: "What is the Western Region Drinking Water Project?"

“It’s the Karez Project.”

Karez is one of the ancient miracle projects in China, as famous as the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.

The Western Regions are short of water, but have abundant groundwater.

The so-called karez is equivalent to digging rivers underground to extract groundwater for drinking and farming.

Ayiman smiled and said, "You mean the wells, right? We already have them, but the water supply is insufficient."

Karez, also known as well channel, has existed for hundreds of years, but it was not large enough.

"Yes, it is the wells and canals. The water supply is insufficient because the scale is not enough."

Ye Kun nodded: "I plan to send 100,000 people to expand the scale of the karez in the Western Regions and completely solve the water problem in the Western Regions. But in this way, my soldiers and craftsmen will have to be stationed in the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions. I need your understanding and support."

Ayiman frowned: "The total population of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions is estimated to be only a few hundred thousand. How can the Western Regions afford to support 100,000 people sent by the Han Dynasty?"