northernbook Chapter 416 Arrival in Boyu
Chapter 416 Arrival in Boyu
"Trade routes?"
The chieftain looked bewildered. "Besides sand, stones, and those gems buried even deeper underground, what else does our Kingdom of Boyu have to sell? Merchants don't want to come."
"Colored gemstones?" Ruan Jingshang's eyes lit up. "That's exactly why I came. Is it fire opal, tourmaline, aquamarine, or something like that?"
"Yes... some stones with extremely vibrant colors will be roughly polished by craftsmen, but they can't be transported out and won't fetch a good price; they're all taken away by the higher-ups."
The leader replied
Ruan Jingshang turned to Liang Yuying and Princess Changning, and said solemnly
"General, Princess, this matter may be worth a try. The Kingdom of Boyu is in dire need of food, cloth, and medicine. Our dynasty is abundant and can export these."
"Boyu Kingdom is rich in colored gemstones, which are very valuable in our country. If we can promote trade between the two countries and set reasonable taxes, we can exchange colored gemstones for necessities, and the border people will have a way to survive. Why would they need to become bandits?"
He paused.
"This will not be accomplished overnight, but at least it offers hope. We can propose to the king that this place be used as a pilot site to first restore the border market."
Li Shuchen quickly chimed in, looking at the bandit leader.
"That's right! If you return some of what you stole, especially the official silver and jewelry with seals, we'll be more willing to talk, won't we? Once the trade routes are open, you can exchange your valuables for grain. Isn't that better than robbing people in fear?"
The leader and the bandits exchanged glances, a faint glimmer of light flickering in their eyes, yet filled with suspicion.
"You...can you really persuade the king? Those gentlemen..."
"We have to give it a try," Princess Changning said clearly.
"Rather than waiting here to die, or one day being killed by soldiers, we might as well gamble on a possibility. Our delegation came to the Kingdom of Boyu precisely to promote friendly relations between our two countries."
After struggling for a long time, the leader gritted his teeth
"Okay! We'll trust you this time!"
He turned around and shouted, "Give back to the nobles half of what we looted last night, especially those ornaments with official seals and pretty decorations, and... half of the grain!"
The return process was rather awkward.
Most of the money had already been dispersed, but it was carefully gathered back together.
Some of the jewelry had already been happily put on by the women and children, who then reluctantly took it off.
A young bandit, finding Princess Changning's headdress attractive, hid it. Ruan Jingshang traded it for the last two pieces of dried meat he had secretly kept, and quietly slipped them back to the princess.
Nearly half of the grain was returned. The bandits looked at the grain sacks with reluctance in their eyes, but ultimately pushed them over.
We desperately hope that some benefactors... can truly offer us a way to survive.
The leader bowed deeply.
In return, he provided detailed information about the safest shortcut down the mountain to the border of the Kingdom of Boyu, and sent a young bandit familiar with the terrain to guide him.
The descent was still treacherous, but with a guide, we avoided several deadly quicksand areas and wind-eroded gullies.
When their feet finally touched the flat, scorching ground, the sight before them made everyone gasp.
Is this the Kingdom of Boyu?
Looking out, the boundless yellow sand stretches to the horizon, dotted only by a few scattered clumps of extremely drought-resistant, thorny desert plants, twisted and deformed in the sweltering heat.
The sky was a blinding azure, without a single cloud. The sun beat down mercilessly on the earth, and the air was so dry it seemed ready to ignite at any moment.
Compared to the lush mountains and clear waters, bustling cities and fertile fields of the Central Plains, this place seems to be the end of the world.
"This... is even more terrifying than the mountains," the Tenth Prince fanned himself with his sleeve, immediately feeling his lips and tongue dry.
The guide, a young man named Amu, had a bitter expression on his dark face.
"This is our land. Oases are scarce, mostly in the hands of the king and nobles. We, the people on the border, survive by storing up water during the occasional rain and planting some 'sand wheat' and 'thorn gourd' in the sandy soil."
Amu pointed to a small stall in front of a simple-looking woman by the roadside, on which two kinds of crops were displayed.
As Li Shuchen approached, the woman greeted him expectantly.
"My esteemed guest, please try the wheat and wild melon I bought. They're not expensive, just a bowl of water will suffice, no... half a bowl will do."
Under the woman's hopeful gaze, she picked up two crops.
The so-called "sand wheat" is a low-growing, tough crop with shriveled ears.
"Prickly melon" is a fruit with many thorns on its surface.
Li Shuchen took a bite of the prickly melon. The flesh was barely juicy, and the taste was rough and bitter, not very tasty, but she still swallowed it.
This is the staple food of ordinary Boyu citizens.
She took out her water pouch and poured the water into the stone jar the woman was holding, filling about two or three bowls.
The woman looked up with delight and knelt down to thank Li Shuchen.
"Thank you so much, thank you so much!"
He then hurriedly packed his things and went back inside, where a baby was crying incessantly.
The woman went inside for a while, and the baby's crying gradually stopped.
……
They proceeded along an "official road" half-hidden by wind and sand.
The so-called official road was nothing more than a dirt road with a few more ruts and occasional rotten road signs on both sides.
The scenery along the way was desolate.
The small village is made up of dilapidated mud-brick houses, the walls of which are riddled with holes by wind and sand.
Ragged herders drive emaciated camels or goats with bald patches of fur, searching for food on the sandy ground where hardly any grass roots can be seen.
The people had dark complexions, sunken eyes, and mostly blank stares. They merely observed the differently dressed group from a distance, not daring to approach.
Occasionally, one can see small patches of fields enclosed by rough stone walls, where the withered, yellow crops are a startling sight.
Water is more expensive than oil.
Amu pointed to a shed in the distance, made of a few wooden poles and rags.
"That's the water distribution point; it's only released once a day, and each person is limited to one stone jar."
As they passed by, they saw long lines of emaciated people, their eyes fixed on the tiny stream of water, as if they were staring at life itself.
The people's clothing did have a Western Regions style, but it was extremely simple.
Men mostly wore loose, heavily faded robes of coarse cloth or felt, tied at the waist with straw ropes or strips of rags.
The woman wore a long robe over a tattered vest, and her head was wrapped tightly with a scarf to protect her from the wind and sand; the scarf was a dull color.
There was hardly any jewelry to be seen; only a very few people wore small, uncut gemstones around their necks or wrists, their luster dull in the dust.
This is their only "treasure" from this land, yet it can't even buy them a few mouthfuls of food.
Li Shuchen took out a little salt
He walked up to a woman with a wary look in her eyes.
He pointed to a piece of tourmaline rough the size of a fingernail on her hand, indicating that they should exchange it.
The woman hesitated for a long time, looking at the salt with a fierce struggle between longing and reluctance in her eyes, before finally trembling and exchanging it.
Holding the warm, yet dusty stone, Li Shuchen felt a heavy weight in his heart.
"A place rich in colored gemstones... and this is truly a sight to behold."
Gu Ziying covered her mouth and sighed softly. The scene before her made her heart ache with the suffering she witnessed.
Xiao Xiuyuan frowned deeply. He had seen the harsh cold of the borderlands, but he had never seen such naked and desperate poverty.
Princess Changning recalled the desperate looks in the eyes of the bandits on the threshold of the mountain pass, and compared them to the numb faces of the people before her. She clenched her fist.