Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 379: The Messenger
Na Zheng, also known as sending betrothal gifts.
Among the "Six Rites", this gift is sent to the woman's home before the wedding date is agreed upon, and only after this step is the marriage considered to be confirmed.
In the official sense, "breaking off an engagement" can only be considered regretting after the "betrothal gift" has been accepted. Otherwise, in theory the engagement has not been established.
If we really want to be serious, the "betrothal gifts" at that time, according to the rank of the princes, were red cloth, jade ornaments and a horse-drawn carriage.
However, the white picture was slightly changed. The red cloth was the Jiangdong brocade which was becoming more and more popular nowadays, the jade ornaments were replaced with artificial colored glaze, the carriage was replaced with a BMW engine, and a Fang Tian Hua Ji was also attached - this one was given to Lu Lingqi, and the one given to Lu Bu had been completed before.
They are all tungsten steel weapons with alloy ratios adjusted according to the user's habits. Their toughness and weight are suitable for the user while maintaining maximum hardness.
After being loaded onto the armor, its level of enhancement exceeds that of any existing weapon!
Because it is not yet possible to mass produce, Pang Tong and Yu Ji can only cooperate to "build" it by hand. Currently, less than 20 people are qualified to order it, and only a single digit have been completed. The other generals have to wait for the progress of the Ministry of Works...
Apart from that, although he was not pulling several carts full of treasures, he also played a leading role. As for the magical weapons and BMWs... he was the chief of the guards, and these were considered work supplies!
The treasures prepared by Lu Bu were not wasted, as they could be used as dowry when he got married.
The next step was to "ask for a date", and the Grand Historian was still in charge of calculating the date - Xu Rong was very grateful to Bai Tu, who did not secretly order her to make any unreasonable requests this time...
This date was not calculated, but the "superiors" had given instructions for her to calculate it.
In order to take into account the ministers of Chu State and the schedule of envoys from other princes who came to congratulate, the date was finally set for April 15th.
Bai Tu also thought that this was a good day - it was a day for officials from the six ministries to have a day off, so they didn't have to take leave to attend the wedding.
Because the news was released more than two months in advance, not only the nobles and common people of Chu, but also the princes from all over the world sent envoys to the country.
Bai Tu was worried that Gongsun Du was too far away to reach the place, so he specially sent the navy's trading fleet to pick him up...
He called Sima Lang in advance and asked him with concern: "Boda, I heard that your brother Zhongda is now under the command of the Marquis of Zheng? I wonder if you two brothers will have a chance to meet when I get married?"
At this time, Bai Tu also knew that Zhang Yan had "kidnapped" Sima Yi.
"Your Majesty, I haven't , but I think my brother is unable to come as he is unable to move around easily," Sima Lang replied seriously.
"That's such a pity." Bai Tu said regretfully.
Sima Lang noticed Bai Tu's regret, but he didn't know what Bai Tu was planning, especially... the rumors about Zhang Chunhua, which even made Sima Lang suspect that Bai Tu wanted to humiliate Sima Yi.
In April, guests began to gather in Jinling, especially Liu Yi, the envoy of Gongsun Du. The navy went to pick him up before the "date of invitation" - and also transported a batch of weapons for trade.
More than half a month in advance, Liu Yi came to congratulate Bai Tu with 300 fine horses that were not included in the transaction.
It’s worth it... ahem, just come, why bring gifts?
Bai Tu severely criticized this behavior.
There were also old acquaintances, such as Jian Yong sent by Liu Bei and Liu Ye sent by Cao Cao. They were all old acquaintances. However, Yang Feng, Zhang Yan, Ma Teng, Han Sui, and the Emperor Liu who did not want to reveal his name, were not very polite!
It would have been fine if Sima Yi didn't come, but they actually only sent a team of envoys as representatives?
There were a lot of people and a grand procession, parading along the way, but the gifts they brought were surprisingly the least.
What’s the difference between this and spending 100 yuan to have a meal with the whole family?
Jian Yong specially met Bai Tu alone in advance, and bowed to him three times as soon as they met - the kind of prostration!
"What is Xianhe doing? This is too much etiquette. The subjects of Chu don't need such etiquette." Bai Tu hurriedly stopped him.
I even wonder if there is a conspiracy here? Are you trying to fabricate something bad about me?
"This is not only a courtesy, but also an apology and gratitude from my lord and me." Jian Yong stood up with a normal expression, sat aside and said.
"Oh? What have you done to make me feel sorry?" Bai Tu was obviously about to get married, so he was in a good mood and even started joking.
"I was selfish and tried to guess the King of Chu's intention to serve the public, so this was my fault. The King of Chu was able to establish his credibility with the Eight Strategies, which also benefited my master a lot. Naturally, I have to express my gratitude." Jian Yong said calmly.
"I don't dare to claim that I am dedicated to the public, but I will help the world when I am successful. But I have left enough 'benefits' for myself." Bai Tu said with a chuckle.
Eight Strategies...
Apart from the first one which is too general, if anyone in the future dares to talk about any of the following ones, even if they are thousands of miles away, Bai Tu will... start typing on the keyboard to condemn this shameless person!
Do you still dare to touch the national tax revenue? Do you still dare to stipulate that you can redeem your sins with money? Do you still dare to support buying servants and not paying them wages? You say that we should appoint people based on their abilities? You say that everyone is equal? ...
"The King of Chu is indeed a sincere gentleman." Jian Yong complimented again.
"Oh? In that case... then Xuzhou can also follow suit. As one of the six marquises of the Han Dynasty, there should still be some autonomy, right?" Bai Tu said encouragingly.
"Duke Zhou was a virtuous man, and Confucius was also a virtuous man." Jian Yong said calmly.
It's nothing more than saying that Liu Bei has his own "virtue"... Since Jian Yong dared to bring up this, he naturally thought about how to deal with Bai Tu.
"Actually, I have an immature idea recently. In the future, when trading, I will give more favorable trading conditions to the princes who share the same spirit as the Chu State. Otherwise... maybe I will impose restrictions. Ahem, this is just an idea. Considering that Liu Xuzhou and I have an old friendship, I'm just reminding you first." Bai Tu did not dwell on the previous topic for long, but his words aroused Jian Yong's curiosity.
Not to mention Jingzhou, Yangzhou's current grain production is astonishing, and... if the Chu State really ceases hostilities for a few years, it is conceivable that it will become an important place for producing grain and fodder, not to mention the production of weapons, cloth, salt... a series of hard currencies.
What does more favorable mean? And to what extent is it restricted?
Unfortunately, Bai Tu no longer answered, and Jian Yong didn't know whether the State of Chu had not yet formulated a specific strategy or Bai Tu didn't want to tell him too much in advance.
Not long after Jian Yong left with a heavy heart, urgent news came from Jiangling - urgent, but not urgent, just asking Jinling to be prepared.
The envoy of the Marquis of Shu had also entered Jingzhou along the river, passing through Yiling and heading all the way to Jiangling. After reading the letter, Bai Tu was very interested in the candidate of the envoy of the Marquis of Shu - Zhang Song!
