Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Li Ke had no intention of forcing Pusmi and the others.

After visiting the prison where more than 40,000 Kunlun slaves were held, and confirming that the Jews had kept the place very clean, they left satisfied.

That evening, at the governor's mansion, after a welcoming banquet, Sufyan even had specially invited Arab beauties accompany Li Ke and serve him.

After the banquet ended, the Jewish family patriarchs, including Pusmi, returned to their clans and were in an uproar.

Li Ke distributed some Tang Dynasty paper money to them as a way to introduce them to the world.

At this moment, a dozen or so Jewish and Arab patriarchs sat together, their heated arguments accompanied by swear words in Arabic profanity.

The general idea is that the Tang Dynasty is extorting and deceiving them.

Even though their clan leader had been in business for over a hundred years and had amassed such a large fortune, and paper was a very popular commodity in their trade, they had never heard of anyone wanting to use these small pieces of paper with pictures and words on them.

In exchange, they received over 40,000 slaves.

"No, I don't understand. They trade these so-called paper money to us, but who do we trade with? Who would accept such a small piece of paper as a bargaining chip to take away their gold and silver?"

"That guy has to be an idiot! And a rich idiot at that! But is that even possible?"

"The King of Han said that merchants in the Tang Dynasty will accept this paper money..."

“Pusmi, you should also take a look at the goods that the Tang merchants brought this time. Even if we buy them all, it won’t be enough to cover this amount of money.”

"We cannot anger the Tang people, much less that Han King... Perhaps we can offer them the option of trading Tang goods and some gold and silver with us for those slaves. If that's not enough, we can accept some Tang paper money..."

This place is tens of thousands of miles away from the Tang Dynasty.

Even by sea, it would take at least two or three months.

They have stockpiled too many slaves. Even with the bare minimum standard of food and drink for 40,000 people, it would still be a considerable loss. The slaves must be traded to the Tang Dynasty; they absolutely cannot be stuck with them.

However, they also could not accept exchanging the slaves they had painstakingly captured for stacks of paper money.

This distrust was also clear to Li Chengqian and Li Ke, the fleet's commander-in-chief.

However, if the two parties in the transaction were of equal status...

Perhaps, as these people are discussing, the Tang Dynasty will start with small transactions and then gradually increase the amount of Tang paper money used in transactions.

However... the Tang Dynasty of today doesn't need to worry about these things.

Without the support of the Tang Dynasty, or even if they were to simply abandon their troops and withdraw now, leaving Jeddah unattended and disregarding the interests of the Arabs, they would be in a different situation.

The first to suffer were the local old nobles and Jews, such as Sufyan and Pusmi.

This will inevitably lead to the most brutal purge by Muhammad and the Muslims.

The next day, Li Ke watched as the merchants of the Tang Dynasty at the port came ashore one after another, busily and excitedly unloading their goods. At the same time, the managers of various merchant guilds on board were also exchanging business ideas with the Arab merchants who had gathered around.

Pusmi, along with several patriarchs of Jewish families, also arrived here.

Pusmi took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

Only then did he muster the courage to approach Li Ke, the Prince of Han, who was still a handsome young man at that moment.

After careful consideration, he revealed the transaction plan that they had discussed all night.

What awaited him was Li Ke's cold laugh.

He glanced at the other man, then his gaze swept over the timid Jews like a sharp, bone-scraping steel knife.

He waved his hand.

"These are the rules of trade in my Great Tang Dynasty. I have already made them very clear. The next time you come, my Great Tang Dynasty will establish an overseas bank in Jeddah Port. If you do not wish to use paper money then, you can exchange it for gold and silver there..."

"However, this time... your timidity is truly disappointing to me!"

"My Great Tang has no need to prove to you whether you are trustworthy or not. You should at least know your own identity! Since you don't even have this much trust... you can leave. My Great Tang will arrange for others to manage Jeddah Port from now on."

Li Ke stood with his hands behind his back and shook his head.

The guards beside him immediately understood and were about to push and shove Pusmi and the others away.

however.

Li Ke's words shocked Pusmi and the others, turning their faces ashen.

"No, no, no, Your Highness, I didn't mean that. You misunderstand. I, I absolutely do not distrust the Tang Dynasty in the slightest. Without the Tang Dynasty, we might have already been swallowed up by that damned bastard Muhammad..."

He tried his best to salvage the situation.

However, Li Ke was too lazy to listen to his rambling anymore.

He summoned Yelü Damu, mounted his horse, and followed him toward a military camp in Jeddah Port.

"Your Highness, as you instructed yesterday, I have prepared the location you mentioned and dug it deep enough. Once it's buried, no one but us will know..."

Yelü Damu led Li Chengqian into a tent guarded by soldiers in the military camp.

What came into view was a large hole that was about ten meters deep.

The soil was still damp. Just before entering the tent, Li Ke had seen a wheeled basket device. Clearly, this pit was also created by Yelü Damu's men who had spent the whole night working on it.

Li Ke nodded.

He then opened the box he had brought with him.

A totem, about the length of a human arm and bearing some ancient inscriptions, with a touch of bronze patina, appeared before the two.

"Your Highness, this is..."

Although Yelü Damu was supposedly a gift from Li Chengqian's "golden finger" (a powerful gift), he had absolutely no memory of it.

Li Ke shook his head.

"I don't know either, but my royal brother gave me this before I left, saying that if I buried it underground in Jeddah Port, the area around Jeddah Port would become an oasis after a year."

Jeddah Port?

Turn into an oasis?

Yelü Damu stared blankly as Li Ke lowered the totem into the pit using a basket.

"Have someone bury this place. It can be restored to its original state in the future, and there's no need to have anyone guard it," Li Ke instructed.

Yelü Damu nodded blankly.

But in his mind, he was still thinking, "Can we really believe His Highness the Crown Prince's mystical words?"

.......

“Your Highness, this is paper money issued by Your Highness. Between my own father and Your Highness, I would rather believe Your Highness… If you don’t even believe Your Highness, then you might as well not live. You must be living a very tiring life.”

"Hey hey hey? Don't push, don't push, it's my turn!"

The queue in front of the Chang'an Royal Bank counter was already full.

To maintain order, the bank's guards had to herd some people outside the bank's gates, allowing one group out at a time before letting another group in.

Even so, the bank's entrance was still completely blocked.

"Dear uncles and aunts, there's no need for this, no need for this. Even if you don't exchange them for paper money, the copper coins you have will still be usable. You can come back in a few days to exchange them..."

Bank clerks were maintaining order while shouting loudly.

But it was all for naught...

Across from the Royal Bank, in a private booth near the window of the hotel, Li Chengqian watched this scene unfold.

He couldn't help but touch his face.

"I've actually gained such a great deal of influence?"