We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The gift-giving ceremony should have begun during the banquet when everyone was in the best spirits.

But after Lu Dongzan's disturbance, the banquet became a cold one.

Li Che now proposed that the kings offer gifts to ease the atmosphere, which was exactly what Emperor Qing wanted.

So, the eunuchs outside the palace began to move various tributes into the palace.

The tribute started with the youngest Prince Tan and ended with the oldest Prince Qin, excluding the crown prince.

Prince Tan was young, and the gifts he presented were all selected by officials of his fiefdom, and overall there was nothing new about them.

Even so, the ministers still praised Prince Tan for his benevolence and filial piety, and Emperor Qing also gave him some encouragement in a friendly manner.

The same thing happened to the later King of Shu, King of Qi, and King of Zhou.

Only the gift from the King of Shu was a little different. After all, Shu was a land of abundance, rich and biodiverse.

The most representative of these are Shu brocade and Shu embroidery.

Li Che had also heard of these two treasures. In his time and space, these two treasures were the main financial source supporting Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's six northern expeditions!

The Prime Minister himself said: "Today, the people are poor and the country is weak. The only resource to defeat the enemy is brocade."

Li Che looked at the high-quality Shu brocade presented by the King of Shu, and felt a little envious in his heart. This thing could make a lot of money.

Feng State is now also vigorously developing the textile industry, and the reel spinning machine is about to be developed.

The reel spinning machine was more advanced than the Jenny machine. It did not require manpower and relied purely on water power for energy.

The fabrics produced in Feng State may not be comparable to Shu brocade in quality.

After all, Shu is rich in biological resources and has the main raw materials needed for Shu brocade, such as mulberry silk, plant dyes, etc.

But with the spinning machine, the cloth produced in Fengguo may be able to occupy most of the market in Daqing in the future with its price advantage.

While Li Che was daydreaming, the civil officials opposite him were also busy.

No one really cared what gifts the vassal kings gave to His Majesty. Instead, they were all upset about the sudden attack by the Tibetan envoy.

The new Minister of Rites is surnamed Sun. He is not a member of the prince's party, but he is close to the prince.

Sun Jinxing's face was gloomy at this time. He whispered to Qin Huizhi at the next table, "How did you communicate with those barbarians? Why did you suddenly attack Prince Feng?"

"Your Majesty just gave me instructions yesterday, and today such a mess has happened. Your Majesty will definitely think that our Ministry of Rites is not doing its job well!"

Qin Huizhi was beaten up yesterday and hasn't recovered yet. His face is still swollen.

Hearing Sun Jinxing's words, he sneered: "Sir, you can't settle accounts like this."

"Your Majesty ordered us to invite envoys from all countries. All of them have come, without exception."

"As for what they said and did after they came here, what does that have to do with my Ministry of Rites?"

Seeing that Sun Jinxing remained silent, his face still full of worry, Qin Huizhi continued:

"Besides, you and I are both the prince's men. The Tibetan envoy's rebellion today is damaging the prestige of the prince."

"Since King Feng has given the envoys a guarantee, he will inevitably pay a heavy price. Harming the enemy is beneficial to ourselves, so this time we won't lose anything."

Sun Jinxing glanced at Qin Huizhi, his eyes showing some dissatisfaction: "So... is this matter really related to you?"

Qin Huizhi smiled but said nothing.

Sun Jinxing thought to himself that something was wrong. He didn't deny it, which meant he acquiesced. It must be a trick Qin Huizhi secretly gave to those barbarians.

However, Qin Huizhi is a member of the prince's party and is not afraid of offending King Feng, but he is not!

Emperor Qing's mind is unpredictable and he is very wary of his officials. He will never allow any one party to completely control the discourse power of a department.

The former Minister of Rites was a member of the Jin Wang Party. Among the two Vice Ministers of Rites, Qin Huizhi was a member of the Prince's Party, and Feng Ji was a self-proclaimed member of the Feng Wang Party.

Since there were factions within the Ministry of Rites, they could not work together, and Emperor Qing could rest easy.

Since Li Che returned to Beijing, the Ministry of Rites has been in turmoil.

The former Minister of Rites was angered by him and became ill, Feng Ji was brought down by him, and Qin Huizhi was beaten by him... This gave him the opportunity to take office.

Now there is Qin Huizhi, a member of the prince's party, in the Ministry of Rites. If I also pledge allegiance to the prince, the balance of power will be broken, and Your Majesty will not agree.

Therefore, he could never completely stand on the side of the prince.

Qin Huizhi didn't notice Sun Jinxing's words and continued talking to himself:

"Your Majesty attaches great importance to this grand ceremony. Now that trouble has occurred due to Prince Feng's actions, he must pay the price."

Sun Jinxing did not respond, but silently looked at Li Che opposite him.

At this moment, Li Che was chatting and laughing with the King of Yan on the side, and from time to time he would tease the King of Qin on the other side, which made the King of Qin so angry that his face turned red.

Seeing Li Che's calm and composed appearance, Sun Jinxing couldn't help but daydream.

Prince Feng...is there really no backup plan?

Would a man like him bow to a mere barbarian envoy?

Just then, the King of Shu's tribute ended and it was Li Che's turn.

Huang Jin had already walked to the front with the gift list, looked at Li Che with a strange look, and then sang loudly in congratulations:

"I, the King of Feng, Li Che, have been devoted to my filial piety and have presented this tribute to the Heavenly Family to show my loyalty.

Today there are:

The solid ice in the bitter winter contains treasures from the sea, and three chariots come to offer fresh scales!

The fertile soil of Bauhinia nurtures good crops, and the soy milk is as smooth as jade, which is also the three chariots that offer tribute to the heaven!

The nectar and fine liquor are served to the country, and the fine wine will intoxicate the emperor! "

As Li Che stood up, he felt funny in his heart.

There are still many educated people in the court. It was clearly three carts of seafood, three carts of soy products, and one cart of white wine, but they still praised it to bits.

Huang Jin paused and continued reading:

"Capture the barbarians and present them to the emperor as a token of your loyalty to the country! The beautiful Korean dance captivates the whole city, and their colorful costumes and feathered robes sway the capital!"

As soon as these two sentences came out, the whole room was in an uproar.

Li Che was already standing in the hall at this moment, with countless questioning eyes directed at him.

"Ridiculous!" An old minister pinched his beard tremblingly.

The reason why the Daqing civil officials were in an uproar was because of the so-called "Goryeo Wonderful Dance".

Everyone knows that you, King Feng, are a good fighter. You have made the countries outside the Great Wall cry for their parents. Goryeo may have also offered you many beauties because of this.

You can enjoy these beauties in Fengguo in private, and no one can say anything to you.

But you actually presented a beautiful woman to His Majesty as a son. Isn't this against moral principles?!

The envoys' reaction was anger, as the word "barbarian" undoubtedly touched their sensitive muscles.

Those who were able to go on a diplomatic mission to Daqing naturally knew the Xia language and the meaning of the two words "barbarians".

In the eyes of Daqing people, everyone except themselves is a barbarian!

You, Li Che, presented the captured barbarian captives to Emperor Qing in front of us. If this isn't a provocation, what is?!

Only Li Che stood calmly in the hall, with a warm smile on his face.

What a bunch of civil servants, why are they making trouble for no reason?

Offering to the barbarians, and performing the colorful dance...it sounds like two gifts.

Is there a possibility that these two gifts are actually from the same person?