This transaction, rather than being a business deal, was Fang Er leaving a trump card for the Great Ming.
Although Zhu Youjian paid ten million taels of silver, in this era, if it hadn't been for Fang Er, even a hundred million or a billion taels wouldn't have yielded such a result!
Thus, after Fang Er and Li Shimin left, Zhu Youjian, carrying his AK, returned to the palace.
Once he had securely stored the gun and the formula, his excited mood could no longer be contained. He stripped off his clothes in a flash and lunged towards the imperial bed.
"My beloved consort, I am so excited!"
Empress Zhou poked her head out from under the covers and said with a hint of resentment, "Your Majesty was just about to offer me to the Ancestor, and now you wish to enjoy me yourself?"
"Hehehehe, my dear, please don't be angry. I was just speaking carelessly, wasn't I?"
"Some things are definitely more interesting when you do them yourself~"
With that, he got into bed, his hands beginning to roam over her jade body.
Suddenly, he stopped his movements and looked at Empress Zhou meaningfully, "I shall bestow a nickname upon you!"
Empress Zhou asked curiously, "What nickname?"
Zhu Youjian, with a mischievous smile, said, "From now on, in private, I shall call you 'Troublemaker'. How about it?"
After saying this, he let out a few hearty laughs and pulled the covers over them, concealing them completely.
"Troublemaker."
The next morning, four tanks were parked neatly outside the palace gates. Behind each tank was a massive carriage.
From Beijing to Jinzhou, there were still hundreds of miles to travel. The tanks couldn't accommodate so many people, making these carriages the best means of transport.
Also towed behind the carriages was one million taels of gold, sent by Zhu Youjian.
Song Yingxing, Fang Yizhi, and others had been waiting since early morning. Upon seeing Zhu Youjian personally escorting Li Shimin and Fang Er out with his ministers, they all bowed their fists in salute.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"No need for formalities. Everyone, are the people and materials all ready?"
Li Shimin smiled kindly at them. These were people Fang Er valued highly, so they must possess abilities. Although it was inconvenient to formally employ them in the Ministry of Works, it was not appropriate to slight them.
"Replying to Your Majesty, everything is ready and we can depart at any time," Song Yingxing stepped forward and replied with a cupped fist.
"Excellent. Quickly board the carriages. I shall personally take you to the Great Tang to witness its prosperous era!"
Li Shimin pulled Song Yingxing and personally placed him into a carriage.
Zhu Youjian had already learned that these people would be leaving with them, but he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time.
However, seeing the usually aloof Li Shimin treating them with such respect now, he suddenly felt as if he had missed something.
"Your Majesty of Ming, please return. We shall depart now. If there is an opportunity in the future, we will certainly return to visit."
Fang Er walked to Zhu Youjian's side. After saying this, he leaned in and whispered into his ear, "The civil and military officials are all brand new, the national treasury is abundant, and you have my firearms. Work hard."
"Otherwise, the next time Your Majesty strikes you, it won't be as simple as a black eye and a swollen face!"
Zhu Youjian couldn't help but shiver. Thinking of the first time Li Shimin had slapped him, his face felt hot.
He thumped his chest and earnestly vowed, "Don't worry, Duke Fang. I will definitely govern the country with diligence!"
After everyone had returned to the tanks and carriages, Fang Er gave the order to set off.
With the roar of the tanks, the convoy began to head towards Jinzhou.
Zhu Youjian watched the departing convoy, then clasped his hands and bowed deeply towards the distance.
The officials behind him followed suit, shouting in unison.
"Ancestor Taizong, wise and mighty, master strategist, pacifier of the Tatars!"
"Ancestor is mighty, benevolent and all-knowing, eternal, uniting the internal and external!"
"We respectfully send off Ancestor Taizong!"
Li Shimin, hearing the farewell words from within the carriage, lifted the curtain and peeked out. Seeing the scene behind him, he suddenly remembered something.
He reached into his robes and pulled out an item, it was the mobile phone Fang Er had given him earlier. He then snapped several photos of Zhu Youjian and the others with the "Meitu 30".
After he climbed back into the carriage, he chuckled and showed the pictures to Liu Rushi and the others.
"Look, these people who used to be so poor can't bear to see me leave~"
"Ah! What is this?"
This was the first time the women had seen a mobile phone, and the clear images on it shocked them.
"Your Majesty, this object is so magical!"
"Yes, yes, it's like a living person has been captured inside this small thing!"
"Ah! Your Majesty, could this be a treasure for capturing souls?"
Li Shimin proudly demonstrated the phone's camera function to them, completely unaware that the phone in his hand was currently only in child mode.
The convoy departed from Beijing city at dawn and arrived outside Jinzhou city by dusk.
In the stunned gaze of the Liaodong soldiers, the tanks, towing the carriages, drove straight up the steps towards the city wall.
At a corner of the city wall, the spatial passage that had disappeared earlier suddenly appeared out of thin air as Fang Er and the others approached.
"Kid, this is just a hole, how can it restrict the number of people?" Li Shimin asked Fang Er, pointing at the spatial passage.
"It can only take ten more people back. For each additional person, it costs a million taels of silver or one hundred thousand taels of gold." He couldn't understand the reason no matter how he thought about it.
"Does this hole eat silver and gold?"
Fang Er chuckled, "Since you're interested, let them pass 50 people back first."
After speaking, he had Wang Xuance lead some people back to the Tang through the spatial passage. After 50 people had passed, the previously calm spatial passage suddenly began to twist.
Fang Er had someone find a sheep and throw it into the spatial passage. The next moment, the reaction within the spatial passage made Li Shimin break out in a cold sweat.
The lively sheep, the moment it entered the passage, was sliced into several pieces by several black lines that suddenly appeared.
"What is this! What is going on!" Li Shimin nervously asked Fang Er, pointing at the passage.
"Father, look again!" Fang Er picked up a silver ingot and threw it towards the passage. With a flash of light, the silver disappeared the moment it touched the passage.
"Then stop the nonsense and quickly throw in all the silver. Let's go back to Tang!"
"Damn it, this thing is too weird!"
Li Shimin had no idea that all of this had been pre-arranged by Fang Er and the system.
The carriages of gold, seemingly thrown into the passage, were actually converted into points by the system and displayed in Fang Er's balance.
After the million taels of gold were thrown, the distorted spatial passage gradually returned to normal, which finally put Li Shimin's worried heart at ease.
"Let's go, let's go, don't let anything else happen!" Li Shimin impatiently walked towards the passage. After taking two steps, he turned back and grabbed Fang Er's arm.
"Let's go together! I feel more at ease when you're with me!"