Fish swimming around the world

The war had to be dealt with, and the prince had to ascend the throne. There were so many things to deal with in the remaining two days. Although Jiang Fan was too lazy to deal with those tedious government affairs with his father around, he could not escape the busyness.

After arranging Huangfu Linzhong's departure, all the remaining things were important affairs and people.

The most important thing was the Qin-Xia war.

In fact, Jiang Fan didn't need to care about this matter because the prince had issued a statement and Ying Wushuang had seized the opportunity, but he understood that as the military strategist of Tiance, Xiao Cui would definitely get his confirmation before she would really stop.

During this period, the war had already undergone major changes.

As of the last day when the news was received, all of Xia's Muzhou was lost except for the state capital. The 100,000 reinforcements of Xia were intercepted by Gao Qi's troops in two routes and fled after three days of fighting. The 160,000 troops of Muzhou defended the city to the death, refusing to give up an inch, and were still in a stalemate.

But at this time, Gao Qi had actually slowed down his pace, and the siege was also intermittent. He was obviously waiting for news.

During this period, Xia State made matters worse. Chu State actually took advantage of the situation. Julu Gong led an army of 100,000 to cross the Wujiang River and divided the troops into two groups to attack Luanping and Pingzhou. The two states were taken by Yinglu in seven cities in just ten days without any preparation or reinforcements.

Later, Xia State urgently dispatched Lu Qinghou to lead troops to help, and finally curbed Yinglu's momentum. Lu Qinghou seemed to be born to restrain Yinglu. Under his exquisite command, Yinglu had to plunder and then gave up Pingzhou and concentrated all its strength in Luanzhou. As of the last day of receiving the news, Luanzhou was occupied by Yinglu, and the five cities on the south bank of Wujiang River were under its control. Due to the Qin-Xia war, Lu Qinghou could not get strong support, and could only start a tug-of-war with Yinglu in Luanzhou. The focus of the competition was concentrated in Luancheng, the state capital.

Chu State also took action, which seemed to mean that the war between the five countries would start again. The world was in a panic, waiting for further news.

The real controller, of course, was Jiang Fan. What he was waiting for was to meet the five elders and obtain the two major parts he wanted to get from the Holy Land in this war, the independence of the imperial court and the two cities.

Now that he has it, the war seems to be unable to continue, but Jiang Fan is not in a hurry. On the one hand, the negotiations between the Holy Land and Xia and Wei have not yet ended, and on the other hand, the pattern that Jiang Fan wants to reset is still a little short of being in place.

So he is waiting, waiting for certain people.

And the first one is the King of Jin.

Although in Jiang Fan's eyes, this is an out-and-out fence-sitter, but fence-sitters are also divided into three, six, and nine levels. Some people can do very well. Even if you know that he is wavering, he can find a way to make you comfortable. Sima Ji is undoubtedly this kind of person.

He came with a generous gift.

And this generous gift is so generous that it is difficult for Master Jiang to refuse.

The first is to reduce taxes on Daqin goods across the board, and halve them again on the original basis. This is roughly equivalent to 20% of the tax on imports from other countries. This alone made Master Jiang hold back the sarcasm he had prepared.

That's not all. The second thing is that he assigned all the river and land within a radius of ten miles of Taibaiju to Taibaiju. I don't know if he really noticed the relationship between Jiang Fan and Taibaiju. Anyway, on the surface, his explanation was that he gave it to Mr. Jiang and asked him to do a favor for Taibaiju. Although it is useless on land, the ferry business of Taibaiju is very strong within the ten-mile river surface. It is entirely possible to build a dock near the estuary. Although Sima Ji will not understand the meaning of this, it will be very useful to Jiang Fan in the future.

Good things come in pairs, and he also brought a third thing, which is also the one that Jiang Fan is most satisfied with. It is also what Jiang Fan really wants to achieve in this battle.

The letter of the Qin-Jin alliance.

At the beginning, the alliance between the two sides was a relatively confidential matter, and it could only be implemented by constraints. Now that the letter of state has been filed and the public proclamation has been issued, it means that this matter will spread all over the world. It will be very difficult for Sima Ji to do anything in the future. How can a king of a country easily go back on his word? Not only will his prestige be greatly lost, but it will also create excuses for other forces. So this time, it is a real alliance.

Jiang Fan breathed a sigh of relief. What did he seek after all his efforts? The most important thing is to change the pattern of the five countries. And at the moment, the most important thing is Jin. First, there is a basis for alliance, second, there are constraints in Jinnan, third, there are common commercial interests, and fourth, it forms a pincer attack on Hetaiyue, Jin, and Wei.

Jin finally agreed to make it public to the world, and the other three countries and even the holy land must consider it carefully.

So far, Jiang Fan has been completely satisfied. But Sima Ji makes people feel comfortable when he does things better than you think. This guy actually has a fourth thing.

He took the initiative to write to His Majesty Pinghuang, with sincere words, first of all, he explained that he did not distinguish between loyalty and treachery, missed the best time to send troops, and was guilty of negligence. Secondly, he pointed out that Jiang Fan was the hidden prime minister of the country. According to tradition, he was one level higher than the prime minister. In principle, he, the leader of the five countries, should not be equal to the prime minister. He asked to lower his rank in the court by half a level, so that all officials could be headed by the prime minister.

This was to take the initiative to give up the right to equal dialogue and put himself below Jiang Fan.

With these four points, Jiang Fan really couldn't say anything else, so he could only sigh: "Brother Sima, tell me, why are you doing this?"

Sima Ji smiled kindly: "It's not about suffering, it's about having fun. My brother is now shining in the sky, and I want to climb up the high branch. I hope you will give me a chance."

People who can talk are different, and you will feel good when they speak.

Jiang Fan smiled faintly, and finally picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea personally: "You and I have a deep relationship as brothers, and we are allies. Isn't it strange to say these things? Since my brother is sincere, I will be disrespectful to refuse. Please give me tea."

Sima Ji then drank the first cup of tea after coming in.

"Tsk tsk, the fragrance of tea is pure and the aftertaste is endless. Now, my dear brother, just from this tea, he can earn tens of thousands of gold per day. I am truly envious of you as my brother."

This is true. Jiang Fan's tea has now become popular all over the country. Even ordinary people rarely drink that kind of boiled tea. It seems that most nobles regard it as the best for entertaining guests and reciprocating courtesy. From the tea business alone, Jiang Fan had never calculated how much money he earned, how much weapons he bought for Da Qin, and how much infrastructure he built.

Especially in a country with a flourishing literary style like the Jin Dynasty, drinking tea is a first-class elegant thing. Those literati and elegant people cannot live without good tea every day. As for the ceramics and purple clay tea ceremony produced in Da Qin, they are in demand among the five countries. The largest amount, and the tea ceremony is much more expensive than tea.

Therefore, Sima Ji's light words inadvertently reminded Jiang Fan of how many benefits he had received from him.

"Haha, that boy Nangong is making a lot of money now, right? Do you still hate me?"

Sima Ji smiled and said: "Now that he regards you as the God of Wealth, he wishes you were incense-filled every day. How can he still remember those things from back then?"