Chapter 336: Teachings of the Books

Chapter 336: Teachings of the Books

Following the announcement, Xianjin bowed and entered the main cabin of the treasure ship. The spacious cabin housed only seven or eight people seated in a formal arrangement, signaling that this was a high-level negotiation meeting.

Grand Princess Bai An gestured for Xianjin to sit, and she quietly took a seat at the far end.

General Ashikaga shot an impatient glance at Xianjin from the corner of his eye, clearly frustrated. "How can Great Wei be so dominated by women? Not only is the one in charge a woman, but now even the delegate here is a woman."

As a defeated nation, Japan had no right to voice its opinions. Ashikaga turned to Grand Princess Bai An and said respectfully, “For any important matters to be reported, we should not discuss manpower, resources, or finances. A one-way journey from Japan to Great Wei takes several weeks, and a round trip would take over a month. This back-and-forth could significantly delay the issuance of important imperial decrees.”

Grand Princess Bai An seemed to ponder for a moment and nodded slightly. "What General Ashikaga says makes sense."

Ashikaga didn’t dare to respond. Her words were laced with hidden traps, and he had already fallen for them multiple times. She would agree with him on the surface, only to turn around and slap him in the face. It was both painful and humiliating.

Grand Princess Bai An said peacefully, "Given that, let's set this matter aside for now."

Ashikaga still didn’t dare to respond, always feeling there was a huge trap ahead.

Sure enough, Grand Princess Bai An tilted her head and pointed at Xianjin. "Initially, one of the national gifts Great Wei presented to Japan, ‘Cranes Descending Upon Great Wei,’ was crafted by the Xuancheng Prefecture Paper Industry Chamber of Commerce. This young Boss He was responsible for offering it. General Ashikaga, what do you think of that gift?"

Ashikaga dared not say he found it satisfactory, nor did he dare to say otherwise. He feared that saying it was satisfactory would require Japan to spend a large sum to buy paper, and saying otherwise might provoke a beating.

They had seen dozens of massive treasure ships at the port earlier. Each ship could hold a thousand people, making it entirely feasible for 50,000 Wei troops to invade the island.

The overwhelming strength was terrifying.

Ashikaga bowed and replied, "The Celestial Dynasty is vast and abundant in resources, all of which are truly extraordinary."

Grand Princess Bai An saw that her prey had fallen into several traps and, seeing he wouldn’t fall for another, nodded without anger. "Then I will bestow the rice paper on you to be used as imperial decree paper."

Ashikaga bowed his head and blinked, calculating in his mind that there seemed to be no loss… right?

Still, Ashikaga didn’t dare to agree.

Xianjin could only bury her head and struggle to hide the twitching of her mouth. Grand Princess Bai An’s series of moves were executed smoothly—allowing Qiao Hui to eliminate the platform, exposing a spy village, slaughtering the village, and demonstrating military might at the port of Fuzhou…

Ten days of negotiations formed a closed loop, with the ultimate goal of interfering in Japan’s internal affairs.

What tributes, what expanded trade—all were just excuses.

When a country couldn’t even issue decrees without the approval of its powerful neighbor, did it truly have the right to govern itself?

Ashikaga felt like a mouse hovering near a glue trap. Everyone knew it was going to get stuck—him, her, and even the mouse itself—but no one knew exactly when, where, or how it would happen.

Grand Princess Bai An directly asked Ashikaga, "Do you think this proposal is acceptable?"

Ashikaga stammered, his mustache twitching up and down.

Grand Princess Bai An didn’t care about Ashikaga’s attitude. "The rice paper will be your imperial decree paper. Every year, ten reams of numbered rice paper will be transported from Huai’an Port to Naha Port. All official documents issued by the court must be written on numbered rice paper, or they will have no official validity.

To ensure Japan uses the rice paper properly, our dynasty will send a team of envoys to oversee the process. We will provide the paper, and you will affix your seal. This arrangement will maintain the legitimacy of your dynasty while demonstrating the benevolence of our Celestial Dynasty, creating a mutually beneficial outcome."

Ashikaga felt a huge wave rising in his chest. This was even more excessive than the previous proposal that Japan needed to report to the Wei dynasty before issuing decrees!

The management of imperial decree paper handed over to the Wei dynasty, the numbering of documents issued by the Wei dynasty, and Wei officials stationed in Japan to draft documents for the court!

What could Japan do?

Even if you held the imperial seal, you wouldn’t be able to find the paper to use it on!

This... Isn't this equivalent to handing over half of our internal affairs authority to the Great Wei?

General Ashikaga dared not refuse: He had already rejected one proposal from the Great Wei! Given her domineering manner and the presence of those formidable treasure ships, he knew he couldn't refuse a second time.

General Ashikaga managed a strained smile. "Wouldn't regulating the special paper for official decrees risk causing chaos in the governance if it's too easily counterfeited?"

"You worry too much," Xianjin's voice chimed in just in time. "Xuan paper, a type of high-quality paper known for its difficulty to counterfeit, has been used in our country since ancient times. The water, the bark of the trees used in its making, these are not found in other places."

"Moreover, the official decrees sent to Japan will use watermarked paper with a distinctive wave pattern. This paper has both visible and hidden watermarks; each sheet bears the same pattern and is extremely difficult to counterfeit—General Ashikaga, you can rest assured."

Xianjin spoke with full confidence.

General Ashikaga shot her a sideways glance, his mouth ready to curse "Baka!" But he couldn't vent his anger on this woman, and now this mere merchant dared to spout nonsense during the negotiations between two nations!

As he was about to vent his anger elsewhere, he saw the terrifying Lord Zhongwu sitting directly opposite him, expressionlessly tapping his fingers, staring right at him.

In this world, languages may differ, but threatening gazes are always similar.

From the gaze of the renowned Lord Zhongwu, General Ashikaga saw a vivid threat: "If you dare to speak, you won't leave this room alive."

Suppressing his anger, General Ashikaga turned to Xianjin. "If the circulation of the official paper destabilizes our governance, how will this woman take responsibility?"

Xianjin calmly replied, "Given your country's smaller size and less developed commercial sector, it's understandable that you're unfamiliar with the techniques for producing such currency. Since the Yuan and Song dynasties, our country has used watermark technology to produce Jiaozi, an early form of paper money, with a long history and widespread use."

It was a subtle jab, harmless on the surface but deeply insulting.

General Ashikaga took a deep breath, and looking back at Grand Princess, he felt a storm of anxiety and utter humiliation brewing in his chest, but he was at a loss for a solution.

This condition, whether he liked it or not, he had to accept.

General Ashikaga bowed his head, staring intently at his wooden sandals, feeling as though he was betraying his country, yet powerless to change anything.

Grand Princess did not speak either, while the familiar Assistant Prefect Wen—now titled Clerk of Records—handed a prepared treaty document to General Ashikaga.

As he skimmed through the document, General Ashikaga spotted a startling clause and looked up at Grand Princess. "Your Highness, this clause states that from the sixteenth year of Zhaode, the teachings of Japanese private schools will be supplied by the Great Wei—"

Frowning, he asked, "What does this mean?"

Grand Princess acted as if she had just realized. "Oh, since we're such close neighbors, it's only fair to return your kindness with ours. Since you've purchased our Xuan paper as official decree paper, we naturally should offer some small gifts in return."

"Rest assured, these educational texts will not cost your country a single penny, and we will ensure they are made from the most precious Xuan paper."

Grand Princess smiled. "Xuan paper is so rare that even in our country, not all books and teachings are made from it—if you choose not to use them, I will be very, very disappointed."

The two "very disappointed" were spoken slowly and softly.

General Ashikaga's face instantly turned pale.

If she were disappointed, and with her many treasure ships and powerful forces...

Who would suffer from her disappointment?

But—

What makes a country a country? Culture, economy, military, diplomacy, laws, punishments, governance... The Great Wei had taken half of the internal affairs authority, and now they were invading the cultural foundation of the Japanese people with books and teachings...

In despair, General Ashikaga closed his eyes, realizing that for at least twenty years, Japan would be powerless against the Great Wei.