Chapter 701 - 256: The Envoy’s Provocation

Chapter 701: Chapter 256: The Envoy’s Provocation

With the Holy Birthday Festival over, it was time for the representatives of the barbarian and vassal states, who had lingered in the Capital City, to return home.

Every time this happened, the entire court would fall into chaos.

What kind of chaos?

Take the court’s financial rewards to the various vassal states, for example. The barbarians came to the Wei Dynasty to congratulate the Emperor on his coming-of-age ceremony and to celebrate the Empress Dowager’s birthday. They didn’t arrive empty-handed; they brought gifts for the Emperor and Empress Dowager, along with their expected annual tributes.

This made them "guests." Since ancient times, the people of the nation treated guests based on the principle of giving much more than they received.

The meaning was obvious: the court had to reward them with gifts far richer than what they brought. This was a gesture of goodwill between both sides.

Disputes often arose at this exact stage.

Some envoys brought tributes like horses, ivory, spices, and sulfur, and the court had to repay them with rewards that far exceeded their actual value. For instance, black pepper with a market price of fifty cents per pound might be valued by the court at a premium "reward rate" of three strings of coins or even higher. The court would then compensate them with equivalent values of silk, porcelain, and medicinal herbs.

Yet, even with this generosity, the envoys remained dissatisfied.

They boasted that the horses they brought were "heavenly steeds." They claimed the ivory was "a treasure hoarded by our tribal king for decades." The spices were allegedly royal tributes in their own countries—so rare that their own king barely used any all year, hoarding it entirely to present as a tribute to the great Emperor of the Wei Dynasty.

The implication was clear. They were basically saying, "We crossed mountains and oceans, traveling ten thousand miles to show our unwavering loyalty. We have shown our utmost sincerity, yet you dismiss us with such paltry rewards. Is this how you repay our devotion?"

Whenever this happened, the envoys from the various tribes and vassal states would start crying poverty at the palace gates. If the Emperor ignored them, they would cast aside all dignity and simply keep crying. If the commoners wanted to watch the spectacle, they were free to do so. As long as they could secure more goods, their subjects back home would still be proud of them when they returned.

But if the Emperor decided to intervene, it would be a disaster. They could cry in the Taiji Palace from dawn until dusk. Their main strategy was simple: if their demands weren’t met, no one would have a moment of peace.

In earlier years, the Emperor might have found the whole ordeal too troublesome and embarrassing, choosing to simply agree to their demands. But a few years ago, Mr. Xu had the Ministry of Revenue calculate the total value of the rewards given to the vassal states over the years. The resulting figure left the entire civil and military administration, including the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, completely dumbfounded.

When converted into real gold and silver, those rewards were enough to fund the armies stationed at all four borders of the nation for four or five years.

And it had all been handed over to the vassal states so easily? Did they even deserve it?

Because of that revelation, this year’s rewards for the vassal states were reduced by nearly half compared to previous years. The vassal states originally wanted to bleed the wealthy court dry. Now, let alone bleeding the court, they were barely breaking even. It was no wonder they refused to accept it.

Consequently, they caused even more of a scene. They kicked up a fuss left and right, but nothing came of it.

One day, during the grand court assembly, the Emperor was discussing flood prevention measures with the courtiers when loud commotions echoed from outside. After making inquiries, it turned out that the envoys of the vassal states had forced their way into the palace. They wanted to confront His Majesty face-to-face and ask if he was still willing to be their sovereign.

If he no longer wished to be their sovereign, they would never return to the Wei Dynasty again.

Emperor Ruicheng’s face instantly darkened.

Not wanting the courtiers to watch the spectacle, Emperor Ruicheng directly dismissed the assembly. He then led the core ministers of the Cabinet, the Six Ministers, and others to the Taiji Palace.

The envoys of the various vassal states were summoned to the Taiji Palace shortly after. The moment they entered the hall, without even looking around, they dropped to their knees and began to weep.

"We came in admiration of Your Majesty’s great name, traveling for three months just to reach the Capital!" the envoy of the Western Regions cried. "To congratulate Your Majesty and Madam, we exhausted all the wealth of our nation to prepare gifts for you. You cannot just brush us off with some scraps! How are we supposed to explain this to our king when we return?"

Sensing that his words made him sound like a moocher, the envoy from the Western Regions hastily added, "We wish to bring back a large quantity of tea, ironware, and silk. We will proclaim your achievements and mighty prestige to the people of the Western Regions, Wei Emperor! Please, for the sake of our utmost sincerity, bestow a little more charity upon us."

A dignified envoy of an entire tribe was actually acting like a beggar, even going so far as to use the word "charity."

Following the envoy from the Western Regions, the envoy from Liuqiu jumped out and said, "Our national power far exceeds that of Silla, and the gifts we presented to Your Majesty and Madam were even more precious and generous. At Your Majesty’s coming-of-age ceremony, the Ministry of Rites seated us behind Silla. For the sake of the bigger picture, we did not make a fuss. At the Empress Dowager’s Holy Birthday Festival, our seats were once again placed behind Silla’s, and we swallowed our grievances yet again. But this time, the rewards bestowed upon us by the court are actually fewer than those given to Silla! Honorable Your Majesty, do you intend to chill the hearts of your loyal servants? How could you bear to treat us this way?"