"You bastards, it's fine if you're not on duty normally, but today you're not even on duty. Do you see what kind of ships these are? They can destroy the entire port in an instant. Quickly drive away those surrounding ships, and don't get close to these Tang Dynasty warships. If anything happens, I'll kill your entire family."
During the negotiations in the Tang Dynasty-occupied area these days, this guy spoke very cautiously even when he met a small Tang Dynasty soldier. Now that he was finally back to his own territory, he immediately raised his voice, and the people around him who had been beaten also knelt down obediently. Their status was so different that no one dared to resist.
"Hayi...Hayi..."
There is such a tradition in Fuso. When your boss beats you, you have to stand here honestly and keep talking. You can talk about the rest after the beating is over.
"Don't just stand there, get to work! Clear all the ships around here. No one is allowed to get within five hundred meters, no, one thousand meters..."
"Also... immediately collect all the food and drinks from the market and send them to me. When you do, make sure you tell me that I sent them."
Lord Suzuki was ready to leave the port. After all, he only had three hours. But he suddenly remembered that he had to deliver a batch of supplies to the ship. He could only arrange these idiots, but he also wanted to leave a good impression on the major general.
In fact, Lord Suzuki had thought it through on the way here. No matter what the court decided, the Tang Dynasty's entry into Fuso's territory had become a fact. It was just that the method and the depth of entry were different.
So Lord Suzuki also started thinking. In the future, he would have to deal with people from the Tang Dynasty. It was normal to leave a good impression now. Maybe they could help him?
Even though he scolded those two Watanabe bastards to death, he still envied them sometimes. At least they had the support of the Tang Dynasty now. Even when facing the Emperor of Fuso, they didn't even need to bow down. They were much better off than himself.
After leaving the port, Suzuki quickly rushed to the palace under the escort of dozens of soldiers. There were only three hours left, and he had already wasted half an hour just now, so he did not have that much time. After delivering the letter, the court would definitely have to discuss it for a while.
It is unknown how many people were knocked over along the way, including the sedan chairs of some dignitaries, but Lord Suzuki no longer cared about that. They did not know how terrifying the Tang Dynasty Navy warships were. Lord Suzuki knew very well that if the major general ordered to fire, the pavilions and towers in the coastal areas would all turn into black ash, especially in a country like Fuso that used wood as the main building material.
"Take me to see His Majesty the Emperor..."
When they arrived at the gate of the palace, several warriors did not see Lord Suzuki clearly and immediately took out their swords. However, after seeing Lord Suzuki, they quickly put their weapons away. When they were about to question him, Lord Suzuki came up and slapped them several times, then quickly went into the palace.
Lord Suzuki is not only an important official of the Fuso Imperial Court, but also the enlightenment mentor of His Majesty the Emperor, so these people did not dare to ask too many questions and could only follow behind, hoping that Lord Suzuki would not alarm His Majesty the Emperor.
At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor was learning Kendo. He was very upset when he heard someone shouting outside. He was about to ask his men to go and see what was going on, but his teacher came running up waving two rolls of paper.
"Your Majesty, this is..."
Lord Suzuki ran too fast just now, and the place where the Emperor met him for study was on a high ground, so Suzuki was a little out of breath. The Emperor knew that this guy had gone to negotiate with the people of the Tang Dynasty, but for some reason Prince Beigong Bai did not come back, and only he came back. Could it be that the negotiations broke down?
"Bring it here quickly."
The emperor threw away the knife that he usually took great care of and asked someone to take the rolls of paper from Suzuki's hand.
"These are the armistice terms proposed by the Tang Dynasty..."
When the Emperor saw what was in his hand, Suzuki-sama breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor wanted to kick him twice. "Now that I've seen it myself, do I need you to explain it? What were you doing just now? It's really useless."
When the emperor saw the cession of Kyushu Island, he did not feel any ripples in his heart. After all, this was what they had agreed upon before. It was just a small island. It could prevent the entire country from being destroyed. Isn't this the right choice?
But when he saw the compensation of 25 million kan, the emperor instantly lost his composure...
This amount of money is simply too much, almost equivalent to nearly twenty years of tax revenue. If the entire Fusang had to pay such a large amount of compensation, how would Fusang survive? Even if we didn't eat or drink and paid all our taxes every year, I'm afraid we still wouldn't be able to reach this amount, right?
"What does this mean?"
The emperor usually doesn't speak much and always wants others to guess, but today is a matter of great importance and there are some things he must clarify, as this concerns his throne.
Lord Suzuki glanced forward. This was a loan plan for Zhidaobao. It took him a long time to understand it. No wonder the emperor couldn't understand it.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty believes we can't pay back the money, so he plans to ask us to pay back part of it every year. This is a merchant of the Tang Dynasty. He can repay the money to the Tang Dynasty court on our behalf, and then we will pay him part of it every year, of course, we need to pay interest..."
Lord Suzuki remembered the Tang Dynasty scribe who explained it to him, and repeated it bit by bit in his own words. At first, the emperor was not in a bad mood, but when he heard that the total interest was nearly twice the principal, the emperor widened his eyes. Even if it was extended to twenty years, the amount of money to be repaid was still too much.
In addition to collecting every penny of tax each year, this merchant also expropriated a significant amount of agricultural products and livestock from Fusang, effectively strangling the entire Fusang economy. Even if power were to remain with the imperial court, would anyone still listen to the emperor? Could a poor emperor still hold power? The Tang people were trying to destroy our nation.
