Chapter 1226: Not a Friend

Ogedei was very curious about the two teenagers calling him ‘brother’. Moreover, he had doubts about the identities of the two youths, so he was happy to talk to them to obtain more information. “Since I’m much older than the two of you, you can call me Uncle Naji if you don’t mind. I’m surprised you two are able to go out and do business at such a young age. There are indeed many talents in the Central Plains.”

“This is also our first time going on a long trip. We were ordered to come out and gain some experience.” Little Treasure changed the topic. “Since Uncle Naji came from the grassland, you must have brought a lot of fur and medicinal herbs. I wonder if you plan to sell your goods in this town or continue south?”

It was a little rude to ask such a question during their first conversation, but because Little Treasure came across as open-minded and magnanimous, Ogedei laughed and replied loudly, “Good kid, I like chatting with straightforward people like you. I’m going to transport my goods to the south. I heard that one can exchange fur and herbs for more tea leaves and satin over there.”

Little Treasure felt a little regretful. “I thought I could get some goods from Uncle. My brother and I still lack some goods.”

Ogedei said meaningfully, “There’s no lack of fur and medicinal herbs here. As long as Young Master is patient, I’m sure you’ll acquire enough.”

Little Bear asked curiously, “People of Great Yuan can also go to the south of Great Qi?”

Ogedei’s eyes darkened, but nonetheless, he said with a smile, “As long as one can get a road pass from the government office.”

Little Treasure and Little Bear looked at him enviously. “Seems like you’ll definitely earn a lot of money from this trip to the south. The fur and herbs in the south are not cheap over there.”

But the question was, who had given them the road pass?

Little Treasure and Little Bear looked at each other and decided to ask Yuan Qing to investigate properly when they returned. Fortunately, they had informed Yuan Qing this time. Otherwise, they would have no way to investigate such things at all. After all, they were outsiders and didn’t even know the people in power in this town.

The three of them chatted merrily while sounding each other out. Little Treasure and Little Bear’s motive was very simple. These two brothers planned to establish a long-term partnership with Ogedei. When the time came, Ogedei would provide fur, herbs, and other grassland local specialties, while Little Treasure and Little Bear would provide tea leaves, silk, and porcelain in exchange.

Nahe did not quite understand why his master had said so much to these two youths. In his opinion, it was impossible for the two sides to really establish a business relationship because their identities were fake. Moreover, the abilities of the two youths were limited and could not satisfy Great Yuan’s needs.

Considering they could only carry two carts of goods on a single trip, the gains did not make up for the losses if they cooperated with them.

However, Ogedei said, “These two teenagers are familiar with the things in Jiangnan, as well as the way of doing business and the prices of certain goods. They’re likely not lying about being businessmen. The nobles of the Central Plain don’t care about these things.”

As Ogedei had known Li Zhang for more than ten years and had learned a lot about the Han Chinese from him, Ogedei was very confident in his judgment on this matter.

Nahe was stunned. “You chatted so much with them to test their identities?”

“That’s only one of the reasons.” Ogedei sat cross-legged on the bed and said, “The more I talk to them, the more I want to work with them. Nahe, we’re too short of money.”

“But they’re just two teenagers!”

“Yes, two direct descendants of a merchant family.” Ogedei smiled. “As long as we manage it well, we might be able to build a relationship with the big clan supporting them. At that time, we can even trade tea, satin, and perhaps even salt.”

Nahe was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, “My lord, you should leave these things to your subordinates. As the ruler, you shouldn’t take such a risk…”

“Do you think I’m here to do business?” Ogedei shook his head slightly. “I’m here to calm the hearts of the army. You’ll understand after a while.”

Nahe did not know what the reason for coming to Great Qi had to do with stabilizing the army’s morale. He only knew that as a king, he should cherish his life and not put himself in danger. He had once been the advisor of Prince Ruyang of Great Jin and had always felt that he was quite responsible as an advisor. He was also confident that he could be the advisor of a ruler. However, from the looks of it now, could it be that he was incompetent and had no idea of what the Emperor was thinking along the way?

Ogedei was staring at the night sky outside in a daze. Stabilizing the morale of the army was not something that could be done in a short period of time. Now, there were all kinds of problems in Great Yuan, and things were in a mess. However, ultimately, there was only one root cause—there was no money!

There was no money to pay the military salary, no money to reward the meritorious officials, no money to appease the tribal shepherds, and no money to build the palace of Great Yuan!

He could stall for time by sending troops to West Xia, but not for long. The soldiers would be tired from prolonged fighting, and his brothers were still eyeing his throne covetously. He could not relax at all, so he could only obtain more money as soon as possible.

Great Jin’s national treasury was occupied by Great Qi, and Great Yuan was so poor that even the most prosperous tribe there could not compare to a middle county of Great Qi. Since West Xia was also suffering, he could only target Great Qi.

Because Great Qi had strong troops and horses, and Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran were not to be trifled with, Ogedei did not dare to make too big a move. In addition, after Li Zhang betrayed him, Ogedei no longer dared to trust his subordinates easily.

Therefore, he had personally come to Great Qi to dig for gold!

That’s right, he was here to dig for gold and silver!

He did not dare to rob the citizens of Great Qi and risk starting a war, but he could secretly dig in the gold and silver mines of Great Qi!

He had occupied this large piece of territory for a long time previously. When he besieged the capital of Great Jin, he had confidently declared to the soldiers that he would definitely be able to take down the Central Capital before Great Qi did. In private though, it was impossible for him not to plan for failure.

Destroy all the maps of Great Jin’s gold and silver mines, kill everyone in the mine, and secretly leave some of his men behind. Even if he failed one day and had no choice but to retreat from this land, he still had the strength to counterattack.

Ogedei’s original intention was that if he couldn’t have something, he wouldn’t allow Qi Xiuyuan to have it either. Thus, he left some subordinates behind to cause trouble for Qi Xiuyuan from time to time. Even if he became a mountain bandit, he could cause trouble for the Qi brothers for a period of time.

Ogedei did not expect his kingdom to have so many problems, the most pressing of which was his need for money, forcing him to use these two chess pieces in advance.

And what could be more lucrative than directly digging up gold and silver?

Fortunately, the borders between Great Qi and Great Yuan had not completely closed off, which meant that both sides could still trade. With money, he could buy a large quantity of food and salt from Great Qi!

Then, he would make some private business dealings with Great Qi’s merchants. Ogedei believed that as long as he had money, the situation in Great Yuan would improve and stabilize.

Ogedei’s mind was preoccupied with money, while Little Treasure and Little Bear’s minds were filled with Ogedei. The two of them lay together and muttered for a long time, but they could not guess why he had come all the way to Great Qi.

The most likely possibility was to spy on Great Qi’s military intelligence. But as the Emperor, would Ogedei personally come to do something that a spy could do?

If that was really the case, Great Yuan would not last long.

After the brothers muttered for a long time, Little Bear said in a daze, “Then should we tell Uncle and my father about this?”

“Ah, I forgot to write home to say that all is well!” Little Treasure got up and said in frustration, “I was so focused on having fun that I forgot to send a letter home via the posthouse.”

Little Bear waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “That’s not a big deal. Didn’t we just send the messenger pigeon the day before yesterday? In the letter, we mentioned that we’ve arrived in this town. Uncle and the others will know that we’re safe after reading it.”

Little Treasure was relieved. “Then I’ll write a letter tomorrow and send it via the posthouse.”

At this moment, in the capital’s palace, Qi Xiuyuan was pacing back and forth with a frown as he said to Qi Haoran, “There’s still no news from the posthouse. Even the messenger pigeon hasn’t returned. Where did these two brats go?”