Hearing Wu Sheng say that he wanted to send a message to Yuan Sima, who was in the tent and discussing matters with the ministers of other countries, Dao Baifeng immediately shook his head: "I have a vulgar custom, and I am not allowed to talk to others before the competition. This is an unlucky sign."
Sometimes Wu Sheng would be moved by the heroic spirit of these people, and sometimes he would be worried about their stubbornness. However, this concept cannot be reversed in one or two sentences, so he can only change his approach and take another approach.
He came over with a bamboo slip, wrote a sentence, and handed it to Dao Baifeng: "Pass this in and don't say anything. Is that okay now?"
Dao Baifeng pondered over a cup of tea, then hesitantly went outside Yuan Sima's tent, handed the bamboo slip to the guarding monk, and pointed inside.
Although he still didn't speak, the meaning was quite clear. The guarding monk was not a fool. He took the bamboo slip and went into the tent. He came out in a blink of an eye and nodded to Dao Baifeng, indicating that the message was passed in.
After waiting for a while, the arguing in the tent suddenly became fierce. Wu Sheng slowly approached Yuan Sima's tent and heard more words.
"...How can this be done? It's against the rules!"
"What's wrong? Which rule says it's not allowed?"
"We are all allies, why should we fake spiritual materials?"
"If it's true, why don't you dare to test it..."
"Yuan Zirang, don't you believe me, Big Fish..."
"...It's not unbelief, it's justice...Brother Bo Gui, don't misunderstand..."
After arguing for a long time, it seemed that the doctor from the Fish Kingdom finally agreed and said angrily: "Then let's check. Not only the spiritual materials of our Fish Kingdom, but also the spiritual materials of your Yong Kingdom must be submitted to our Fish Kingdom's alchemist for inspection...
Wu Sheng was in a good mood and returned to the tent humming a little tune. Dao Baifeng was lying in the tent and got up with a bang: "Is it done?"
"It's done."
"Can it be done?"
"Why not?"
"We are all doctors, can we listen to you and me?"
"Innate thinking, fixed thinking is harmful to people!"
"What? Who harmed someone?"
"You must dare to break the tradition, Brother Dao, how will you know if you don't try? You are a corporal of Yuan Sima, you are no longer the ordinary citizen of the past. You have the right to make suggestions and the responsibility to make suggestions!"
Dao Baifeng was silent for a moment and lay down quietly, not knowing what to think.
Turning around, the gate of the camp was wide open, and Yuan Sima's retainers and guards stayed to guard the camp. Young Master Qingyu's retainers and guards, each holding a banner, surrounded Young Master Qingyu and Yuan Sima and came to the foot of the platform. After a while,
We began to climb slowly along the ridge to the top, and naturally Wu Sheng and Dao Baifeng were among the team.
There is a stone platform in the center of the high platform. It is a huge and flat lying cow stone. It was erected during the first Putai alliance. It is both an alliance platform and an altar. A flag gate is built in the north direction.
The princes from the four countries came on stage at the same time. There were thirty guards from each family, in addition to several servants carrying boxes and cages. They were separated on the four sides of Pu Tai. The flags they held were flapping in the wind. Although there were not many people, there were still many people.
Quite impressive.
An important minister from each country accompanied the king of his country. Eight people stood in two rows and stood solemnly facing the flag gate. Depending on the rank and the strength of the country, Yongguo should have presided over the alliance, but as the prince Qingyu, the ranking
He could only stand on the side, so it was ruled by the king of the Fish Kingdom who was named a viscount.
Of course, the person actually presiding over it was Bo Gui, the Taizai of the Fish Kingdom.
The alliance is opened. This is an alliance to renew the covenant, not an alliance to slay blood. Therefore, there is no slaughter of three prisoners, no cattle, sheep, and pigs are sacrificed to heaven. Of course, no one will hold the ox ears and offer the plate - otherwise the Chu State will directly send troops.
After the expedition, only the golden pheasant was killed as a sacrifice to worship the four wind, rain, thunder and lightning divisions, praying for good weather and good peace for the country and the people.
Despite this, Bo Gui, the Taizai of the Fish Kingdom, still presided over the ceremony happily, and Mr. Yu also had a happy face, full of contentment.
Wu Sheng stood on his side and sighed: "The king should come... If we make alliances a few more times, the Fish Kingdom will really be on top of us."
Dao Baifeng shook his head: "The king is ill. Sima once said that if he comes, it will be disrespectful to the king and he may be laughed at by the princes. It is better not to come."
Wu Sheng asked: "What disease is there in the foot? Even the magic pill can't cure it?"
Dao Baifeng said: "The king's life span is one hundred and twenty-three years old. He has already passed away. He is down to the waist and has no consciousness. What can be done..."
Wu Sheng blinked his eyes and said nothing.
While they were talking, the worship was completed, and the next step was the highlight of the alliance, which was to renew the agreement of tribute.
The monarch and important ministers on the stage were eagerly waiting for the arrival of a high-ranking scholar, Bogui, the Grand Priest of the Fish Kingdom, who introduced him as the left disciple of Yangzhou Yin, a large southern county of the Chu Kingdom. His name was Shen Douke.
about.
Wu Sheng immediately took out the Feihong Sword and scratched the newly healed wound. After a lot of effort, it finally bled profusely.
Dao Baifeng was stunned and asked in shock: "What does Master Shen mean?"
Wu Sheng applied the winter bamboo shoot pill and said: "Cut your face to clarify your will, um..."
Dao Baifeng couldn't help but salute solemnly: "Master Shen Alchemy..."
Wu Sheng focused his eyes to identify this Shen Douke, who looked strange to him. Then he thought about it, Yangzhou was thousands of miles away from Yingdu, and this was Yangzhou Yin's assistant. With his bad appearance, he must not be able to recognize him.
After Shen Douke paid tribute to several monarchs, he retreated to the side to watch. Dazai Bogui continued to preside over the competition.
This year, the total tribute from the four countries is worth thousands of gold. They need to pay tribute to one hundred yi gold, three hundred magic weapons, two thousand elixirs, eighty kilograms of spiritual materials, six hundred bolts of silk, two hundred jars of spiritual wine, one hundred carts of rice, and beasts.
Five hundred skins.
There is nothing to say about the money. The four kingdoms of Yong, Yu, Kui, and Yu are divided according to the formula 4:3:2:1. The spiritual materials basically come from the wild lands. Yong has the largest market, so it is provided by Yong. The rest is provided by Yong.
Let's give it a try.
The price set by the State of Chu is based on Yangzhou's market, and there is a lot of room for advancement and retreat. Therefore, the four countries are trying their best to compete. If nothing can be won, they must pay real money. One in and one out, at least
A loss of 30%.
The reason for this is that the people of Chu didn't hold it in well, but even if the four countries knew this, there was nothing they could do. We still had to fight for what should be fought, otherwise we would lose dozens of gold every year, and hundreds of gold every ten years. For them,
For a small country, this is a huge sum of money.
The first competition was rice to see which family produced better rice. Each country took out the new rice that had just been harvested - naturally the best of the best was selected and placed it on a stone platform to see how many ears of rice there were and whether the grains were there.
You can tell at a glance that it is full. Of course, you can fake it by buying the best rice seeds from other countries or even Baiyue, but during the tribute, you have to send the samples to Chu according to the samples submitted today. If you cheat, you will be the one who suffers in the end.
Soon, the rice tribute country was decided, and it was still Yongguo. The other three countries had to allocate gold to Yongguo based on the price of rice. This could save Yongguo more than ten gold in tribute every year.
The rice samples were collected by Shen Douke, and when Mao Gong is sent to Yangzhou, this sample will be used as the standard.
The next comparison is about animal skins. The four countries can all receive animal skins from Baiyue and the wild lands, but refining spirit animal skins into usable animal skins also requires skills. The skin-making technique of Lu country is considered a specialty, so it is also
It was decided on the spot that the animal skins would be provided by the Kingdom of Sima.
Dao Baifeng whispered: "When it comes to leather-making, I, Dayong, are the best. It's just a concession to the Lu Kingdom, otherwise they won't get anything."