This time, Great Xia also blacklisted Dali and Chengdu, the two royal cities.
Dali and Chengdu had a hostile relationship with Great Xia. Ouyang Shuo didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point, putting an end to these two royal cities' thoughts of taking advantage of him.
When the news came out, the caravans from the two Royal Cities were equally anxious.
With the opening of the Grand Line, the proportion of ocean trade in China's trade share has increased month by month and now accounts for more than 30%.
Missing out on the free trade was undoubtedly a huge loss to the Royal City's caravans.
Just as the Dali and Chengdu Chambers of Commerce were feeling anxious, news came from Shanhai City that Great Xia would welcome the Chambers of Commerce to move into Shanhai City and enjoy special treatment.
Everyone knew who this news was directed at.
According to the grapevine, when Liu Bei, the Emperor of Shu, received the news, his face was clearly red with anger. However, in order to maintain his image as a gentleman, he pretended that nothing had happened. It was really interesting.
Fortunately, Guan and Zhang, who would cause trouble for Liu Bei, were not around. Otherwise, there would be another storm.
As for what kind of treatment the Quanzhou caravan would enjoy, Emperor Xia, Ouyang Shuo, had already announced, "Let the Sui Dynasty send someone to Shanhai City for a discussion!"
It was obvious that Great Xia was going to raise the price.
Handan City, Lord's Mansion.
Not long after Great Xia blacklisted the Yan Huang Alliance, Di Chen and the others gathered together to discuss.
"This is too much!"
The one who spoke was Lord Chunshen. Dan Yang City, which had started off as a merchant, had made use of the convenience of the Yangtze River waterway to gradually expand its ocean trade. Who would have thought that just as the trade started, it would encounter such a bolt from the blue.
No wonder Lord Chunshen lost his composure.
Di Chen and the others pretended not to hear. Lord Chunshen's words were too disgraceful. The Great Xia did not owe the [Yan Huang Alliance] anything, and the two were mortal enemies. How could there be bullying?
"This time, the old fox is going to completely fall out with us." Di Chen's face was unprecedentedly solemn. He looked at everyone present one by one, "We have no way out."
"…"
Xiong Ba and the others remained silent, their hearts heavy.
Previously, Great Xia was always on the receiving end of their attacks, and they didn't think much of it. However, this time, Great Xia took the initiative to attack, pressuring the [Yan Huang Alliance] to the point where they couldn't even breathe.
Only now did Di Chen and the others realize how powerful the Great Xia had become. It was suffocating.
"Since there's no way out, let's fight to the death!"
The one who spoke was Xiong Ba. The fighting spirit in his eyes did not diminish, and he had the demeanor of an ambitious and formidable person.
Among everyone present, only Military Kill Ripper, Wandering Linghuan, and Feng Qingyang did not speak much. The territories of these three families were located in the northwest region, but they had no connection with ocean trade. The impact of this round of ban on them was almost zero.
Not long ago, Feng Qingyang finally ended his seclusion.
After he came out of seclusion, it was no surprise that he once again took charge of Swordsman City. His younger sister, Feng Qingyue, who had done a good job, had to leave dejectedly.
The Feng Clan's tradition of valuing men over women was not something that could be changed in a day or two.
Lord Chunshen glanced at Xiong Ba, Di Chen and Wolf Warrior and said unhurriedly: "Didn't the three of you also form a naval fleet? Whether you are a mule or a horse, you should take it out for a spin. If Great Xia can rely on an ocean-going fleet to open up a route to Europe, why can't we? "
The incident of Ouyang Shuo charging into Europe with just a fleet last year had long been spread in the streets, causing countless adventurers to worship him endlessly. Who here didn't know that?
Lord Chunshen was trying to provoke him.
"You mean, open up the Pacific Ocean route and do business with the American region?" Di Chen asked.
"What's wrong with that?" Lord Chunshen was after all born into a merchant family. When it came to ocean trade, his eyes lit up. "The American market is in no way inferior to the European market. It has great potential."
"If we really open up the route, we can also turn around and ban Great Xia."
Lord Chunshen still found it hard to calm down.
Xiong Ba was the first to nod and said: "I think we can give it a try. Since the fleet of Liberty City can reach us, it proves that there is no problem with this route. "
"If we want it to go smoothly, we can directly contact Jack and ask him to send us a nautical chart. Jack is such a proud person. He will not be satisfied with the old fox taking the lead and will definitely agree. "
Xiong Ba's words finally moved Di Chen. He nodded and said: "Then it is decided. I will contact Jack later. We also need to make preparations to form a joint fleet. "
"No problem."
Xiong Ba and Wolf Warrior nodded at the same time.
Ouyang Shuo's provocation had unexpectedly led [Yan Huang Alliance] on a different path from his previous life. The route between the China region and the American region would be opened up at least a year in advance.
15th of August, Shanhai City.
In response to Ouyang Shuo's request two days ago, in less than two days, Great Sui sent a high-level diplomatic mission to Great Xia to discuss free trade.
Yesterday, Great Sui's embassy in Great Xia had already sent an official note to the Chamberlain of Dependencies.
Upon receiving the report, Ouyang Shuo arranged for the Cabinet Head Jiang Shang to be in charge of receiving the diplomatic mission.
On this point, Ouyang Shuo would not be rude.
Inspired by Great Sui's Four Quarters Embassy, Ouyang Shuo ordered people to build a Four Quarters Embassy near the capital. It was specially used to receive diplomatic missions from various countries, and its scale was even grander than Great Sui's Four Quarters Embassy.
One could imagine that in the future, Great Xia would definitely be a place where all countries would pay homage to.
Thus, Great Xia's Four Quarters Embassy wasn't just a simple building. Instead, it was a cluster of buildings that were divided into five main areas: east, west, south, north, and center.
The west court was the Europe Pavilion, the south court was the Africa Pavilion, the east court was the Asia Pavilion, and the north court was the America Pavilion. At the very center was a nine-storey Tower of Ten Thousand Kingdoms, the gathering place for diplomatic missions.
Great Sui's diplomatic mission was placed in the east court, and they were the first batch of diplomatic missions after the construction of Four Quarters Embassy.
...
At around four in the afternoon, Jiang Shang rushed over to report on the negotiations with Great Sui's diplomatic mission.
In the imperial study, Jiang Shang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you will never guess who the leader of the diplomatic mission is." Ever since he became the Cabinet Head, Jiang Shang had gotten closer to Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo smiled. "Is it Gao Ying or Su Wei?"
"Neither." Jiang Shang shook his head. "It's Great Sui's King of Jin, Yang Guang."
"Pu! Who do you think it is? "Ouyang Shuo nearly spat out the tea in his mouth.
No matter how Ouyang Shuo thought about it, he couldn't have imagined that Emperor Wen would arrange for Yang Guang to lead a diplomatic mission to Great Xia. Was there something wrong with the emperor's head?!
To think that he would arrange for an unpopular prince to lead such an important diplomatic mission.
Jiang Shang said, "Based on this old subject's observation, there is an eighty percent chance that Yang Guang was the one who requested for the diplomatic mission. Who knows how many means and connections he used in the process."
Among the princes of Emperor Wen, the most special thing about Prince Jin, Yang Guang, was that in history, Yang Guang was an emperor. Even if he appeared in the wilderness, he had a group of famous officials and generals following him, such as Yu Shiji, Zhang Jin, and Lai Hu 'er.
Even the important officials during Emperor Wen's reign, such as Yu Wenshu and Su Wei, had a period of friendship with Yang Guang. Therefore, they couldn't be considered as Emperor Wen's people.
Of course, some of the officials and generals under Yang Guang were already people of Great Xia. For example, Governor Pei Ju of Somaliland Province, Pei Yun, the head of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Zhang Xutuo, Qin Qiong, and Luo Shixin.
As for the valiant general Shi Wansui, he was purely a general during Emperor Wen's reign.
Speaking of which, Great Xia and Great Sui were quite related.
Back to the main topic, it was precisely because Yang Guang had people following him. After he appeared in Quanzhou, even if Emperor Wen didn't like him, Yang Guang could still speak in the imperial court of Great Sui.
"There's no choice, there are people in the imperial court."
Even Crown Prince Yang Yong couldn't compare.
Yu Shiji and the others were not fools. They knew that even if they didn't follow Yang Guang, they would still be suspected by Emperor Wen. Based on Emperor Wen's suspicious character, he would definitely not put these old officials of King Jin in an important position.
Instead of that, they might as well work together to fight for the right to speak.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo wasn't surprised that Yang Guang was able to get the opportunity to go to Great Xia.
What Ouyang Shuo was surprised about was why Yang Guang came.
No matter what, it had nothing to do with free trade. Currently, Great Sui still belonged to Emperor Wen. Yang Guang didn't have to worry about this.
"Did Yang Guang say anything?" Ouyang Shuo asked Jiang Shang.
Jiang Shang nodded and said, "Yes, he secretly passed me a note, hoping to have a private talk with Your Majesty. He said that he has something important to discuss."
Ouyang Shuo's eyes narrowed as he pondered.
After a while, he said, "If that's the case, make the arrangements tonight."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Ouyang Shuo wanted to see what Yang Guang was up to.
…
It was nighttime, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The East Court of the Four Quarters Embassy.
In an inconspicuous room in the southwest corner of the East Courtyard, Yang Guang finally met Emperor Xia.
When the Four Quarters Embassy was built, the Construction Department took into account the need for private meetings with some of the envoys. Therefore, they designed a few secret locations.
This room was one of them.
In the evening, as usual, Jiang Shang represented Great Xia and invited the Great Sui's envoys to a banquet at the East Courtyard. During the banquet, Yang Guang used an excuse to get some fresh air and was quietly brought here by the guards.
"Emperor Xia, it's an honor to meet you!"
After all, Yang Guang was once an emperor and had an extraordinary temperament.
Ouyang Shuo smiled and said, "Long time no see, Emperor Jin."
Because they were leaving halfway, Yang Guang couldn't stay for long to avoid attracting the attention of other members of the envoys. Emperor Wen of Sui was suspicious. Even though he reluctantly agreed to let Yang Guang lead the team, he still planted many spies in the envoys.
The two exchanged greetings and Yang Guang went straight to the point and said, "I hope Emperor Xia can help me get rid of Yang Yong."
Ouyang Shuo's eyes flashed and thought to himself that it was as he expected.
Ever since he knew that Yang Jian's sons all appeared in Quanzhou, Ouyang Shuo faintly guessed that the Sui Dynasty was about to start another fight for the throne.
Yang Yong and Yang Guang, this pair of sworn brothers, would eventually have to fight.
What was different from history was that this time, Emperor Wen of Sui stood firmly on the side of the crown prince, Yang Yong. During the negotiation with the Xia Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui even had the idea of sending Yang Guang to Shanhai City as a hostage.
No one knew how mad Yang Guang was when he heard the news from the secret agents of the Shanhai Guards. In short, Yang Guang completely lost confidence in Emperor Wen of Sui.
As such, Yang Guang had no room to perform and could only rely on external forces.
Yang Guang could only think of the Xia Dynasty. He was smart and knew that there must be a reason for the Xia Dynasty's' friendly 'last time. Therefore, he tried to get the opportunity to lead the team to the Xia Dynasty.
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