Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

Qin Ming has many years of experience in negotiating with officials of the Daqian court.

The mentality of this group of people who came to negotiate was to squeeze the soft persimmon and run away when they encountered the tough one.

As long as they can report back, their focus is not on solving the problem.

"That's fine."

Seeing that Qin Ming looked confident, the King of Loulan immediately nodded and had him sent to his residence to rest for a few hours.

In the evening, several envoys from the Ministry of Rites all arrived at the palace of the King of Loulan to attend the dinner.

They still look arrogant.

After Daqian won a great victory, the attitude of this group of people changed significantly compared to the last time they came.

After entering the hall, the King of Loulan, who was sitting at the front, stood up and said to everyone:

"Everyone has come from afar. As the host, Loulan has prepared some wine and treats you with courtesy. Please don't be polite and take a seat."

Among all the envoys from Daqian, the one with the highest official position is named Zhuang Shigong, who is currently the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and concurrently serves as the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue.

Glancing at the food and wine in front of him, Zhuang Shigong said calmly without even raising his eyelids:

"The King of Loulan is really embarrassed by hosting such a banquet."

“I wonder when the conditions we agreed on earlier can be implemented?”

As soon as they arrived in the Western Regions, they made an important request.

In exchange for no longer being able to contact Qin Ming, Daqian could trade with the countries in the Western Regions based on abundant supplies.

But none of the rulers of the Western Regions agreed.

Later, some rulers of small countries even returned to their own territories and hid away, not wanting to see them.

As for the negotiations with them, it was all left to the King of Loulan.

"Please don't be anxious, this is a serious matter and we still need to weigh it carefully."

"Weighing the pros and cons? Half a month has already passed. You've dragged it out for too long!"

Zhuang Shigong did not give any face at all and questioned the King of Loulan in a sharp voice.

If someone who didn't know the situation came and saw his attitude, they would think that Loulan was a vassal state of Daqian.

"Actually, we have a distinguished guest visiting us recently, and we need to hear his opinion on our matter."

The King of Loulan did not take Zhuang Shigong's offense to heart.

"Dignified guest?"

Zhuang Shigong frowned slightly, and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

It can’t be that person…

Just as he was thinking to himself, a figure was walking towards him from a distance.

"Zhuang Shigong?"

Qin Ming raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect to see this guy here.

He was quite familiar with Zhuang Shigong, who used to be a county magistrate in Zhao County near the capital.

Because it was close to the capital, he often traveled back and forth between the two places to establish relationships with officials at all levels.

Later, when the imperial court was promoting people, this guy spent nearly 200,000 taels of silver to buy a sixth-rank position and get into the court.

Unfortunately, Qin Ming discovered it and ordered the Ministry of Personnel to thoroughly investigate the crime of selling official positions and titles.

He was dismissed from his post and transferred out of the capital.

Logically speaking, this guy made such a big mistake and it was recorded in the book, making him a tainted official. There is no possibility of him being promoted in the future.

Unexpectedly, after a few years of wandering, he returned to the court and even became an envoy in the Ministry of Rites.

It seems that he holds a high official position.

“Your Highness…?!”

Zhuang Shigong was so frightened that he trembled all over, stood up from his seat and took a few steps back.

The officials around him also lost their minds, and their previous arrogance disappeared.

In the imperial court, they only received news from afar and knew how terrifying Qin Ming was.

At that time, even if the sky fell, there were tall people to hold it up, so no one had to worry.

But now that he was facing Qin Ming directly, this feeling of fear suddenly arose.

"I didn't expect you to return to the court. This is a good thing."

Qin Ming spoke calmly. If the people recruited by the court in recent years were all people like Zhuang Shigong, then his pressure would be much less.

He believed in the incompetence of his opponents.

"This is the VIP I invited."

The King of Loulan walked forward and personally brought Qin Ming to sit next to him.

"Lingnan disagrees with Daqian's conditions. You two can discuss it."

After throwing this hot potato to Qin Ming, the King of Loulan breathed a sigh of relief.

Daqian has a strong army and all of them are equipped with firearms.

The Western Regions will definitely not dare to provoke in the short term.

Zhuang Shigong took a deep breath, immediately calmed down, and said to Qin Ming:

"Your Highness, since you have already established your own faction, we are no longer on the same page. We are here with a mission and will not back down!"

"Lingnan has a lot of factories, but its own resources are not abundant. It can't compare with Daqian at all."

"Even if your factories were operating at full capacity, they wouldn't be able to keep up with Daqian's free supply. You'd better stop obstructing the alliance between Daqian and the Western Regions!"

Everything he said was true.

The reason why Qin Ming became rich was simply because their increased productivity outweighed the shortcomings of insufficient resources.

They can purchase raw materials from all around and make various industrial products, but they still have their own limitations.

Zhuang Shigong is very insidious and hits the pain points directly when he opens his mouth.

"That's fine. I can purchase raw materials from everywhere. Daqian can only provide the most basic raw materials and doesn't even have the ability to turn them into commercial products. So you're using this as an advantage to come here and make a fuss?"

Qin Ming smiled. He connected the Southern Barbarians, Japan, the Western Regions, and all parts of Western Shu.

The raw materials alone are easily available.

Coupled with the factory's productivity, it can produce goods in large quantities. How can Daqian compare?

"It's Daqian who previously said they would work together to isolate Lingnan, but later pushed West Shu and the Western Regions to confront Lingnan. How can they have the nerve to return to the Western Regions and ask them to unite with Daqian?"

Qin Ming's words made Zhuang Shigong blush.

He naturally understood that coming here now was a bit unreasonable.

But after the baptism of war, the situation in Daqian has changed and it has even intimidated the surrounding areas.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Shigong snorted coldly:

"Your Highness, what Daqian can provide to the Western Regions is not only resources, but also protection!"

"Most of the countries in the Western Regions border Daqian. If they can coexist peacefully, both sides will surely achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. What they gain will be much better than being together with Lingnan."

He said this to protect the Western Regions.

But the King of Loulan frowned deeply after hearing this.

Zhuang Shigong is threatening them!

If they refuse to obey, I will bring people to attack them directly.

Seeing this, Qin Ming said calmly:

"Zhuang Shigong, does the imperial court know how arrogant and ignorant you are?"

"Why, can your Highness's army, with such a small number of troops, still protect the Western Regions?"

Having said this, Zhuang Shigong no longer concealed his feelings and asked Qin Ming with a sneer.

He was a little confused by Qin Ming's sudden appearance just now, but he thought about the fact that he had Daqian's support behind him.

He immediately felt emboldened and even wanted to avenge his past and severely humiliate Qin Ming.

"Protecting the Western Regions? That's not a problem."

To Zhuang Shigong's surprise, Qin Ming actually nodded slowly at this moment.

"What do you think my train is built for?"