Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1082 Who to Win Over? The Northern Branch of the Duke Yansheng?

Park Sung-sung sold out Manlahafis without hesitation.

Moreover, Park Sung-sung not only sold out Manlahafis, but he also repeated all of Manlahafis's remarks, including his various criticisms of the Ming Dynasty and the border markets, as well as his later analysis of the situation, without hiding anything.

Emperor Zhu glanced at Park Sung-sung and smiled, "You're quite good."

This Korean guy named Park Sung-sung is actually a smart man.

He was far, far smarter than that vassal envoy named Manlahafis.

In fact, even if Park Sung-sung hadn't come to the Prince Consort's residence today, Emperor Zhu was confident that he could obtain the record of Park Sung-sung and Manlahafis's conversation within an hour, or even half an hour, after Manlahafis left.

Park Sung-sung was overjoyed and quickly bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your praise, but I am unworthy of such praise."

Emperor Zhu grunted in agreement, then stood up and said to Yang Shaofeng as he walked, "The rest of the matter is up to you and Biao'er to handle. Let's go back to the palace first."

After Emperor Zhu left, Zhu Biao spoke first, saying, "Vice Envoy Park handled the situation well; I have taken note of it."

Park Sung-sung quickly said he dared not, but Yang Shaofeng stroked his chin and asked, "According to what Vice Envoy Park just said, Manlahafis is very concerned about the swords, armor, arrowheads and their quotas in the border market?"

This is a bit illogical.

Because the Timurid Khanate itself had no shortage of blacksmiths, nor did it lack the technology to forge swords, armor, and arrowheads.

After all, the concept of technological secrecy simply doesn't exist in Hu Yuan's mind.

The local gentry, who had been spoiled since the Northern Song Dynasty, did not care whether mining, iron smelting, and steelmaking technologies were being leaked to other places.

More importantly, the region where the Timurid Empire was located also had its own iron smelting and steelmaking technology.

The famous Maascua steel comes from there.

Now, things have gotten really out of hand. The envoys from the Timurid Khanate have set their sights on the swords, armor, and arrowheads in the market.

Park Sung-sung nodded and replied, "In response to Your Highness, Manlahafis is indeed quite concerned about the swords, armor, and arrowheads at the border."

"The foreign ministers speculated that the Timurid Khanate might soon launch a military campaign against its neighboring country, and it could be a large-scale military campaign."

“Otherwise, Manlahafis shouldn’t be so concerned about the swords, armor, and arrowheads at the border.”

Yang Shaofeng's heart stirred, and he asked a few more questions in detail.

Only after Park Sung-sung took his leave did Yang Shaofeng say to Zhu Biao with a beaming smile, "This is truly a windfall!"

Zhu Biao immediately perked up and laughed, "Brother-in-law, are you talking about the oil of the Timurid Khanate?"

Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "That's right, it's oil from the Timurid Khanate."

"As Your Highness knows, petroleum is a treasure trove. It can be distilled into several different kinds of flammable oil, and even the residue after distillation can be used to pave roads."

"The key issue is that nobody knows whether this stuff is renewable or non-renewable, and nobody knows how much it is in reserves."

"If we could open the gates of the Timurid Khanate with just some swords and armor and bring back a lot of oil, that would be wonderful."

Zhu Biao also hummed in agreement.

Having known Yang Shaofeng for so many years, the words Zhu Biao heard most often were "accumulate more wealth for future generations," "let the barbarians wreak havoc first, and try to conserve our Ming Dynasty's mineral resources," "if you want to get rich, build roads first," and "there's plenty of land outside."

Anyway, there was a whole bunch of random theories, and no matter what, the brother-in-law was always right.

As for what the Timurid Khanate would do after buying swords and armor from the border market.

Zhu Biao solemnly stated that the Ming Dynasty would only sell standard defensive weapons and would never support any vassal state to use force against other vassal states at will. Any disobedience would be severely punished by the Ming Dynasty.

After considering it for a moment, Zhu Biao said, "Then let's do as brother-in-law says. Let's trade our swords, armor and other such things with the barbarians of the Timur Khanate for oil."

After a slight pause, Zhu Biao looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "What about Manlahafis? How does brother-in-law plan to deal with him?"

Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "Let's stick to the original plan. First, scare him, and then have the Embroidered Uniform Guard contact him and turn him into a Ming Dynasty spy."

“However…” Yang Shaofeng changed the subject and continued, “Since Manlahafis is not behaving himself, let’s let him run wild for a few days and see what other trouble he can cause.”

……

Manlahafis returned angrily to the courtyard where Timur's delegation was located, plopped down in a chair, and roared, "That Korean is simply ungrateful!"

Mosha, who was serving as the chief envoy, glanced at Manlahafis and asked, "Didn't the Koreans agree to your proposal?"

Manlahafis picked up the tea, which had long since gone cold, and drank it all in one gulp. He then wiped the tea stains off his beard and snorted coldly, "What's more, if you disagree?"

After recounting the entire process, Manlahafis spat again and cursed, "That damned Korean even lectured me for a long time, saying that the Ming Dynasty was strong and powerful, and that a mere rebellion was nothing to worry about."

"In short, those Koreans aren't on our side."

Mo Siha nodded slightly and said, "It has been said in the books and stories of the Ming people that those who are not of the same race as us will never be of one mind with us."

"However, this is fine too."

"It's much better than him being compliant on the surface but stabbing you in the back."

After a slight pause, Mosha continued, "Since it won't work with the Koreans, it probably won't work with the other vassal states either."

Manlahafis nodded. "Among the Ming Dynasty's vassal states, the Koreans and the short, ugly Japanese are the strongest, followed by Annam and Siam, and then Burma and Ryukyu."

“If even the Koreans are so cautious, the other feudal lords are naturally no better off.”

"We have to change our minds."

Manlahafis picked up the teapot, refilled his cup with tea, and then slowly said, "Since these envoys are unreliable, let's try a different approach. Let's try to win over those rebellious Saiyinhongs in the Ming Dynasty."

Mo Siha was immediately startled and asked, "Who did you just say you were trying to win over? Saiyin Hong, the rebel leader from the Ming Dynasty?"

Manlahafis nodded again and said, "That's right, it's those rebellious Saiyinhongs from the Ming Dynasty."

"However, we're not going to try to win them over directly."

"After all, those people are all petty people and opportunists."

“If we step in directly, they will underestimate us, and they might even make unreasonable demands.”

Mosha nodded slightly and asked, "So what do you mean?"

Manlahafis sneered and said, "Of course it's that family in Qufu."

"Don't be fooled by their claims of being the orthodox Confucian scholars and their dubious titles like Duke Yansheng. Back in Kublai Khan's time, they were eagerly rushing to Dadu (Beijing) to seek official positions."

"Many members of their family died fighting for the Yuan Dynasty."

"Most importantly, their own backsides aren't clean either."

"Let's go find them first, and then let them come forward to win over those Saiyinhongs."