Chapter 343: Is This Bandit Etiquette?

"I, Hua Jinchuan, greet Your Majesty."

A handsome young man was brought forward. He lowered his head and eyes, bowing obediently with perfect form.

Xiao Li saw his clothes and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Although she didn’t manage the low-level officials, she still ran into them occasionally. These clothes were clearly the uniform of a minor official.

Song Junzhan smiled and explained, "Your Majesty asked me to arrange their placements. After much thought, I decided to follow Your Majesty’s example and not let talent go to waste. Hua Jinchuan’s literary skills are lacking, but his arithmetic is decent, so I had him assigned to the Ministry of Revenue."

Xiao Li couldn’t help but laugh. ’What an elegant way to put it. Following my example of not wasting talent? Are you sure you aren’t just working him to the bone? He’s the kind of accountant at the Ministry of Revenue whose abacus practically smokes from overuse every day.’

"Rise."

Xiao Li raised her hand. "A seat for him."

Hua Jinchuan was a little surprised to hear he was being offered a seat, but he didn’t forget to thank her first. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Then he looked up and met a pair of eyes watching him with great excitement.

Hua Jinchuan’s previously numb expression instantly came to life, filled with joyous surprise. "Brother, what are you doing here?"

Hua Qichuan beckoned him over. After more than three years, the two brothers were finally reunited. Hua Jinchuan burst into tears, and Hua Qichuan was also deeply moved.

"Don’t cry. You mustn’t be impolite in front of Your Majesty."

Hua Qichuan suppressed his excitement and patted Hua Jinchuan comfortingly, then turned and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much, Your Majesty."

Hua Jinchuan was young and had delicate features. He had been sent to Longsheng precisely to curry favor with the Empress.

Stories of noble ladies toying with young men—abusing, humiliating, and even killing them—were all too common.

Hua Qichuan had already prepared for the worst. His only prayer was that his brother was still alive, and nothing more.

He never expected such a turn of events. He had chanced upon the Empress at the Yun Dan Border, and she turned out to be such an exceptional person. Not only had his brother not been tortured, but he even looked quite well.

Looking again at the Empress and the two people beside her, for a moment he even felt it was a pity that the Empress hadn’t taken a fancy to his brother.

There was a world of difference between being toyed with by a noblewoman and serving an Empress like her.

But these were thoughts he could only entertain for a moment; they could never be spoken aloud.

After the banquet, Xiao Li had someone arrange lodgings for Hua Qichuan in the palace. She also gave Hua Jinchuan a Token so the two brothers could meet whenever they wished.

Hua Qichuan felt the Empress hadn’t kept him here purely out of hospitality, but he couldn’t guess her intentions. He also suspected that taking his brother away would not be so easy.

-----

「In the Imperial Study Room.」

Song Junzhan stood before Xiao Li’s desk.

"The King of Yundan, Hua Lin, is a clever but timid man. He knows how to assess a situation and is flexible enough to yield when necessary. It won’t take much effort for Longsheng to take Yundan."

Yundan was truly a tiny, sesame-seed-sized country. It was coastal, with little land and only three major cities. If they were to truly attack, they could conquer it completely in ten days.

Hua Qichuan had thought Song Junzhan’s many questions meant he had designs on Yundan, and perhaps intended to use him.

However, Song Junzhan had simply been looking for topics of conversation. As for prying for information during the chat, that was pure instinct—a habit.

It was true the Empress had plans for Yundan, but she really didn’t need to use anyone. She already knew most of what Hua Qichuan had told them.

Besides, for such a small place, it wouldn’t take much effort to crush it with their army.

Beside Xiao Li hung a map of the world.

Beicang and Yue Country were now fully incorporated into Longsheng’s territory. The neighboring countries were Yundan, Xiqi, Chi Rong, and Bai Di. These four nations bordered Longsheng. Further out, there were more than a dozen smaller countries and tribes, such as the Southern Domain, which occupied a mountain range and was led by the Witch Clan tribes rather than being an established country.

In Xiao Li’s eyes, each of these encircled territories was like a condition she had to clear.

As long as she passed these "levels" and unified the world, perhaps her deepest wish would be granted.

The two of them thought for a while and finally decided to appoint Hua Jinchuan as the Chuyun Envoy to persuade Yundan to surrender.

When Hua Qichuan heard this, he rushed over. "Empress, must you have Yundan?"

Xiao Li wasn’t in a hurry to explain. Instead, she handed him a proposal created through the joint efforts of the Six Ministries. "Read this first, then come speak with Us."

Other rulers conquer the world with an Emperor’s mindset: conquer the territory, plunder its resources, enslave its people, and make them worship me as king.

Xiao Li conquered the world with a boss’s mindset: her own country was a large corporation, and other countries were smaller companies. She would acquire and merge them, then manage them centrally to make the corporation bigger and stronger.

An Emperor lives by plundering the world, treating everyone like leeks in a garden to be harvested again and again.

Xiao Li’s way was to make the company operate, generate profits, distribute the benefits downwards, and then use that money to make more money.

The officials were management, and the common people were the employees.

When the people and the officials became prosperous, she, with absolute power over factories, gunpowder, sugar, and salt, would just need to develop commerce. Would she ever be short on money?

Invest first, profit later.

Xiao Li’s method of governing the world was fundamentally different from that of all other Emperors.

One was about exploiting the people; the other was about making the nation powerful and its people prosperous.

Anyone with a functioning brain could tell the good from the bad in those political measures.

Hua Qichuan was a Yundan noble, and Xiao Li didn’t think he would sympathize with the common folk. However, he was worldly and had a benevolent heart, so he should know what this plan signified.

After Hua Qichuan finished reading, he was indeed speechless.

He had been within Longsheng’s borders for two months now and had heard enough stories.

The fact that the people of Longsheng hadn’t paid a single cent in taxes for three years was enough to crush any other nation by comparison.

And this plan categorized everything—politics, commerce, agriculture, manufacturing, animal husbandry—with simple and clear descriptions.

As long as there was a strong executive power to implement and perfect it, it would absolutely lead to a powerful and prosperous era.

Hua Qichuan stood before the Empress once again, his demeanor now calm. "Reporting to Your Majesty, my king will not be persuaded to surrender. It’s useless for Jinchuan to go back."

Xiao Li shot him a smiling glance. "Do you think We need to rely on your brother to take Yundan?"

Song Junzhan added from the side, "The Chuyun Envoy is merely a representative figurehead. The ones truly in charge will be officials from the Ministry of Rites. The envoy will be escorted by five hundred Silver Armor Guards, and over ten thousand troops will be mobilized to wait at the border."

Persuading you to surrender doesn’t mean we won’t attack you; it means we’re giving you a chance first.

If you refuse our goodwill, then don’t blame us for getting a little... physical.

Don’t say anything about Yundan not provoking Longsheng. When you’re unifying the world, you can’t get too caught up in the details.

Besides, aren’t we going to persuade them nicely right now?

Courtesy first, force later. We’re a nation of etiquette, after all.

Hua Qichuan: ... ’This is the etiquette of bandits, isn’t it?’

’Why do I have to stand here and listen to others plot the destruction of my own country?’

"Your Majesty."

Hua Qichuan lifted the hem of his robe and knelt down ramrod straight, pleading, "Yundan is my homeland. I cannot bear to watch it be destroyed. I beg Your Majesty to reconsider."

No matter how good the Empress’s methods of governance were, Longsheng was Longsheng, and Yundan was Yundan. He could not betray his country over a proposal.

No matter how rich or wonderful another’s home is, it’s still theirs. No matter how poor your own home is, it’s still yours.

Although he knew his plea was unlikely to sway this Emperor, he could not just stand by, indifferent and unmoved.