“Those Shatu people are cheap bastards. Treat them well, they’ll act all high and mighty or even go as far as to backstab you. Now that you’ve exterminated the Tuli Tribe and hung their severed heads on the walls of White Stone Pass, they came bearing generous gifts instead! Liqiang, look at all these rhino horns, antlers, gems, and jadeites… They’re all of the highest quality! Especially these gems! If all of these and the twenty thousand taels of gold are exchanged into silver, they’re worth probably more than thirty taels of silver…! Hehehe, damn they sure are rich…!”

Qian Su, who was responsible for finances in the Protectorate General’s Office, was looking at the opened boxes with Yan Liqiang in the storage room. Inside the boxes were the generous gifts that Sushali had delivered on behalf of the Shatu Seven Tribes.

The lamps on the storage room’s walls were lit, causing the gold, silver, and gems in the boxes to dazzle in the light. Yan Liqiang would have drooled at the sight of this much wealth in the past, but he was indifferent now that he’d seen too many of them. His excitement gradually diminished over treasures like these and now he viewed them as nothing more than a form of resources. Yan Liqiang knew that he could use them to do many things, and that was the only thing he could see.

“The Gulang Plains is valuable land that has been peaceful over the past several decades. Even small tribes like the Tuli Tribe thrived, not to mention big tribes like the Dark Razor Tribe!” Yan Liqiang stopped in front of a box, then reached out to grab a handful of gold in it. The gold nuggets spilled through the gaps between his fingers, creating a melodious sound.

“I’ve always wondered why Lin Qingtian chose to side with the Shatu Seven Tribes, but I’m starting to understand these past few days. They definitely had made some shady deals with each other. The Ye Clan was only the tip of an iceberg. Lin Qingtian obtained a large amount of wealth from the Shatu Seven Tribes and kept them as his thugs in the northwestern region, while the Shatu Seven Tribes gained protection from him. This was what both sides needed!”

“As soon as I returned today, I heard someone say that the Shatu envoy is a princess from the Shatu Seven Tribes. Not only that, but she’s also a beauty!” Qian Su gave Yan Liqiang a smile that he would only show when they were alone. “You think it’s a honey trap from the Shatu?”

Normally, Qian Su would definitely not say that to Yan Liqiang if they were in public, but he knew it should be acceptable in this situation since Yan Liqiang wouldn’t want him to be all formal with him right now. The relationship between them wasn’t as simple as only a superior and a subordinate, but also an uncle and a nephew. Hence, there was no need to treat each other like strangers.

“Hehe, you’ve guessed it right, Uncle Qian. It’s indeed a honey trap. Most often than not, women can come in handy in many situations. They can make a man let his guard down and soften their attitude. The Shatu aren’t all that dumb either. They really know the easiest way to get to me. If they had sent a man here, I would have probably sent his head flying in less than three exchanges!” Yan Liqiang smiled indifferently as he picked up a white tiger leather on a box. “Take this with you later, Uncle Qian. Have someone lay it in your carriage. It’ll give you comfort during wintertime…”

Qian Su accepted the tiger leather and admired it. “Oh, this is fine tiger leather…” He nodded in approval. “Oh yes, since the Shatu are laying out a honey trap, did they try to make any deals with you? Did they ask you to support their war against the Dark Ram Tribe, or did they ask you to abolish the wool monopoly bureau?”

“Neither of those!” Yan Liqiang shook his head.

“Oh? Could it be that a dog can break its habit of eating sh*t? Those Shatu people have changed their ways…?” Qian Su asked skeptically.

“That’s what they’re clever at. They knew if they were to negotiate all these with me at the start, I would definitely disagree and might even act more harshly toward them. So the girl who came didn’t mention any of that. She only asked for one thing, which is to set up a point of contact for the Shatu people in Pingxi City for ease of communication. I have approved it.”

“A point of contact? Are they up to no good?”

“Definitely. Even so, they can’t do much now, let alone wreak havoc in the city like before and set up a Shatu community area. At most, they’ll just plan to lure me into the honey trap and negotiate the things you mentioned earlier when the time is right. For now, they need to secure my trust and stay on my good side because they are raging war against the Dark Ram Tribe on the Gulang Plains as we are speak. If they want to prevent being attacked from both sides, they will have to maintain a good relationship with the Qiyun Protectorate even if that means temporarily yielding to me and suffering slight losses. After all, the Shatu Seven Tribes came to the Gulang Plains as refugees back then. They knew when to yield and this is their fine tradition…”

“What are you planning then? Are you really going to walk into their trap…?”

“Haha, this is a poisonous arrow coated with honey. With the way I do things, I will definitely eat the honey, then shoot them with the same poisonous arrow!” Yan Liqiang chuckled.

“I have arranged for them to stay in a manor for now and granted them approval to buy a piece of land in the southern part of the city to build a residence for their envoy. The woman has accepted it. By the time they are done building the residence, I’ll have the tribes dwelling within Mount Jade Dragon buy lands in Pingxi City too, so that they can surround the Shatu Seven Tribes envoy’s residence. They shall build a residence for their own respective envoys so that I can communicate with them easily…”

Qian Su was briefly taken aback before he laughed while clapping his hands. “Awesome! What an awesome idea it is! That’s impressive of you to come up with such an idea, Liqiang! From the perspective of an outsider, the Shatu Seven Tribes would be no different than those minor tribes within Mount Jade Dragon! They’ll become your subordinates and yours to command. We shall see how the Shatu Seven Tribes can continue being arrogant. Let’s secure our positions and have them suffer losses in silence…!”

“The Shatu have always prioritized profit over justice. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind suffering minor losses. After all, the Dark Ram Tribe is their current major headache. Even if the envoy from the Shatu Seven Tribes didn’t come, I already had this planned out. The Qiyun Protectorate had control over many tribes, but they never had a dedicated organization to manage them in the past. My future plan is to gather up all these tribes so that they can readily accept my orders at any time, and I can easily exchange information with them as well as shower them with my generosity. This is an extremely favorable way to manage and show the power of the Qiyun Protectorate…”

Yan Liqiang’s plan was nothing original. It was just another form of a less glorified embassy. However, the plan was impactful to Qian Su.

Qian Su stared at Yan Liqiang before giving him a heavy nod. “I think His Majesty has made an excellent choice in choosing as the Qiyun Protectorate General. Uncle Qian will be basking in your reflected glory in the future. Oh right, where will the gifts from the Shatu people go? Into the Protectorate General’s Office’s public account or Liqiang’s private account?”

“Public account,” Yan Liqiang replied, seemingly unbothered. “This amount of gold is enough to do many things. Didn’t you mention that we are running out of money to fund the plans of building a bureau academy in the villages? Our funds to subsidize the promotion of the Aquapyro Engine have also been stretched to the limit. So I guess we can use this money first. Money will no longer be an issue in another few months when the wool monopoly bureau slowly gets on the right track…”

“Alright!” Qian Su nodded. He then seemed to think of something and asked, “Do you really think it’s necessary to build new bureau academies in every village? There are already existing private schools in those places. As for those Aquapyro Engines, why are we still giving them rewards and allowances now that other people have started selling them?”

“Private schools and bureau academies are different things. In the future, children of appropriate age under the Qiyun Protectorate will study and learn martial arts in the bureau academies for free. We will welcome any teachers from the private schools and the other martial trainers who are willing to teach at the bureau academies and offer them wages for their services. We will not force those who are not willing to transfer. As for the Aquapyro Engine, you will probably understand soon. I went to the manufacturing bureau two days ago and tried to lower the prices without compromising the quality. I am willing to settle with less profit…”

“The main cost of the Aquapyro Engine is the steel. It won’t be easy to lower that…” As the person who knew the ins and outs of the manufacturing bureau, Qian Su immediately gave his feedback.

“There’s actually still a lot of room to lower the cost of making steel. It’s just that we haven’t met the right conditions yet…” Yan Liqiang shook his head.

“Oh? How do you do that? It’d be great if we can really lower that cost. What ideas do you have, Liqiang?” Qian Su immediately asked.

“Uncle Qian, how low do you think the cost of a jin of steel can go if ten thousand jin of steel can easily be produced in a day with only a hundred artisans in a huge workshop?”

“Ah? How can a workshop produce that much in just a day?” Qian Su shook his head in disbelief.

“Let me think about how to make that work. You will find out when the time comes, Uncle Qian…”