Let's just drift through life together in this quick transmigration story.

Chapter 733 Phoenix Returns to Its Nest (19)

The Western Wu Kingdom is also very poor, otherwise it wouldn't be asking the Phoenix Dynasty for money and grain every year.

But Xiong Bufan didn't care about any of that. She couldn't give away so many things for free, and besides, so much time had passed, and interest was due.

She is now in possession of the original owner's body, and what the original owner gave her is essentially something she lent out, so there's nothing wrong with her asking for it back.

Kongkong silently turned the page. She absolutely couldn't record Xiong Bufan's unreasonable behavior. She was going to record Xiong Bufan's path to becoming a wise ruler, not his murders, arson, and robberies.

War, no matter when, is a disaster for ordinary people.

After attacking Xiwu Kingdom, Xiong Bufan, seeing the losses of his soldiers and the depletion of food supplies, had no intention of continuing to attack other small countries.

The fields are overgrown with weeds; the soldiers should come back and pull them out.

However, the small countries outside could not be ignored. The court assembled a diplomatic team to negotiate with the other small countries and get them to pay tribute.

Anyone who dares to attack diplomats will be sent by Xiong Bufan to avenge them.

In military strategy, this is called subduing the enemy without fighting.

Other smaller countries: This is just provoking us to attack.

Under Xiong Bufan's management, the court officials seemed to have all become warmongers, wanting to go out and fight from time to time to vent their anger and relieve their mood.

Since last year, when people donated money to become officials and won fights to make public statements, those who don't study have been working hard to earn money and exercise, all in the hopes of one day becoming officials themselves.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the entire nation of Fengchao is a soldier now, and you can often see people sparring and wrestling together on the streets.

If they didn't have a suitable weapon, they would use wooden sticks and willow branches. They wouldn't kill anyone, but they would hurt.

Xiong Bufan himself is a very peace-loving bear. He was somewhat helpless about the minister's belligerence and began to ask Shangguan Yi for his opinion.

"Tell me, how can we stop them from fighting?"

Shangguan Yi actually felt that things were already very good, because the whole nation was a soldier, and everyone no longer had to fear invasion and attack from others.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, things are perfectly safe now."

Xiong Bufan originally wanted Shangguan Yi to take over his position, but he found that the man's comprehension was too low. He had to figure everything out on his own, and he was simply a useless person.

Shangguan Yi, fearing that Xiong Bufan would be displeased, took the opportunity to flatter him, "Your Majesty is truly talented; in less than a year, the situation in the country has been turned around."

The only fear is that there will be no successor, and that the late emperor will hold us accountable ten thousand years later.

Xiong Bufan: "Stop pressuring me to get married, I'm asking you something important."

Seeing that Xiong Bufan's tone was unpleasant, Shangguan Yi quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

"Step back."

"Yes."

It's wrong to keep fighting in the court, but not fighting isn't an option either. Xiong Bufan felt he needed to come up with a good solution.

After leaving the Imperial Study, Shangguan Yi felt somewhat anxious. She couldn't guess what His Majesty was thinking. Moreover, ministers were now used to solving problems with force, and the people were also moving towards a system of universal conscription, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Moreover, apart from the minister's less-than-ideal appearance, everything else was perfect.

Xiong Bufan lay in bed, thought for a while, then felt sleepy and fell asleep.

Thinking is the most mentally taxing activity, so you should take a good rest.

The next day, when the court session began, Xiong Bufan ordered all the sticks to be put away, which made the ministers feel a little uncomfortable.

Liu Tong: "Your Majesty, why is this stick being put away?"

Xiong Bufan merely glanced at these people with disdain, without saying a word.

Liu Tong looked at his colleagues' faces; almost every one of them had injuries. He then looked at his own robe, which was covered in patches.

Because they were afraid of ruining their clothes when going to court, they always wore their oldest clothes and didn't care if they got damaged.

Xiong Bufan: "We'll stop issuing sticks for a month, and continue issuing them next month."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

They thought the money wasn't going to be distributed anymore, they were terrified, they still had many grudges to settle.

This month is a good time to build up my physique, so that when the sticks are distributed, I can take revenge.

Xiong Bufan: "Let's put the matter of the stick aside for now. What do you all have to report today?"

"Your Majesty, the small border country has agreed to pay tribute, but on one condition."

Xiong Bufan: "What are the conditions?"

"They said they can't gather enough supplies right now and hope you can give them two years," the general said, a sense of pride emanating from him. They had finally found what they had lost.

Xiong Bufan: "Make them pay tribute once a year: 30,000 catties of grain, 30 good horses, and 5,000 taels of silver."

If they disagree, then send troops to attack.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Once they are subdued, they naturally won't dare to resist.

The ministers genuinely felt that this statement made sense, as the barbarians were like their colleagues.

If His Majesty hadn't refused to issue sticks, they would have wanted to take action right now, regardless of whether they discussed it or not.

Attending court was secondary; beating up colleagues was the real issue. Most people in the court thought this way, but unfortunately, they didn't have a thorny stick to use.

Other trivial matters will be handled by ministers, but the imperial examination is in four months, and examiners need to be selected to study the exam papers to avoid being caught off guard later.

Xiong Bufan also planned to choose a slightly less intelligent candidate from among those with respectable family backgrounds to be the emperor. No one could be emperor for a lifetime; it was just too exhausting.

Kongkong also thought this was true. Back then, Xiong Bufan was always carefree wherever he went. He didn't have so much to do. He just ate and slept every day.

The ministers didn't mention the selection of a child again. In any case, it would be fine to choose a child from a collateral branch, which would be easier to control.

His Majesty is too shrewd now, which is not a good thing for them in the court.

After the court session, Xiong Bufan went to the back garden to rest.

If envoys from small countries come to pay tribute, then it will be necessary to build post stations for them to stay in, which will cost some money.

Xiong Bufan thought he could save the money. The envoys were staying in an empty palace, so he could put more porcelain vases in the palace and make them pay for each broken one.

The king of the small country never expected that he would be plotted against before he even went to the Phoenix Dynasty.

They were all worried about the tribute they were supposed to pay. If they were asked to return the silver and grain with interest, they would need those things in return.

Sometimes, they really wanted to curse Emperor Zhao Xianzhi of Xiwu Kingdom. If he hadn't sent troops to harass them, Fengchao wouldn't have bothered to deal with them.

Zhao Xianzhi was confined to a small house, his freedom was restricted every day, but he was given three meals a day, and he lived a stifling life.

I do regret it, but I have a stronger longing to return to my home country.

Food will always be available, but if I can't go back, the emperor of the Feng Dynasty will definitely not let me off the hook if she sees me eating and drinking for free.

Xiong Bufan didn't care what others thought; as long as his country was safe, everything else was secondary.