As the Prime Minister of the State of Yan, strictly speaking, Yao Wenru did not actually have to obey the imperial decrees of the court. This was because from the very beginning of the Yin Dynasty’s founding by the Emperor Gaozu, the tradition of feudal vassal states “obeying military mobilization but not imperial summons” had already been established when enfeoffing the vassal kings.

Furthermore, as the military strategist and advisor to the Duke of Yan, Shentu Yang, everything Yao Wenru thought and planned was for the sake of his lord; the interests of the court and the Emperor were clearly not within his considerations. However, those were all matters of the past.

Ever since the Yin Emperor held his hand and said that phrase, “Now that I have obtained you, it is just like King Tang of Shang obtaining Yi Yin, or King Wu obtaining Master Jiang,” and ever since Yao Wenru personally accepted that box of fine salt under the witness of his lord Shentu Yang (not really), Yao Wenru’s heart had been completely conquered by the Yin Emperor.

People of the time pursued the ideal that “a scholar dies for the one who understands him.” Although Yao Wenru was not the Emperor’s subordinate scholar in the traditional sense, the Emperor was his talent scout and his soulmate. If the Emperor needed him, and his lord needed him too, Yao Wenru thought that he would be willing to go through fire and water for them without hesitation.

This was probably the romance of the scholar class.

But even though Yao Wenru’s mind was in absolute turmoil, he still maintained his usual calm and detachment on the surface. Only his hands, which were tightly gripping the sandalwood box, slightly gave away their owner’s excited emotions.

To celebrate the upcoming ice-breaking integration between the ministers of the State of Yan and the hundred officials of the imperial court, that night, the Yin Emperor held a grand feast for all officials in the palace. Officials of the fifth rank and above in the court were all invited into the palace.

Some people wondered why the Emperor, out of nowhere, would choose to feast the ministers tonight. Others worried that it was a trap of a banquet, anxiously stuffing gold cakes into the hands of the young eunuchs who came to deliver the summons, secretly probing into what exactly had happened in the palace. The young eunuchs who accepted the gold cakes dropped a few hints, intentionally or otherwise, reassuring everyone not to worry and that the palace banquet was a good thing.

A good thing?

The powerful aristocratic clans who had been forcibly abducted to Youzhou by the Yan army begged to differ. Ever since they came to Youzhou, they had not encountered a single good thing. However, after they entered the palace, they discovered that this palace banquet truly could not be called a bad thing. At the very least, on this night, they tasted fine delicacies and wonderful wines they had never eaten before.

Under Yin Shuhuai’s meticulous preparation, the civil and military officials who came to the feast ate dishes prepared by the cooks of the Chief of Imperial Security using fine salt, and drank iced grape wine that Yin Shuhuai had the cooks brew using local mountain grapes. Yin Shuhuai even had the eunuchs and palace maids place a small saucer of snow-white fine salt on the dining table of every single minister; his intention to advertise was blindingly obvious. The aristocratic clans, who had never attended a product promotional exhibition before, unsurprisingly fell right into the promotional trap meticulously prepared by Yin Shuhuai. The moment they saw the fine salt with their own eyes, every single person invited to the palace banquet associated this tiny pinch of salt with the massive commercial opportunities and profits contained behind it. They could not wait to endorse the fine salt!

Just as everyone was clinking cups and exchanging toasts, the Grand Marshal Huo Quan suddenly picked up his wine vessel and walked toward Yao Wenru with a smile: “Prime Minister Yao, I toast you.”

Yao Wenru stood up to return the courtesy and said with a smile: “The Grand Marshal is too polite, please.”

Huo Quan drank the wine in his cup in one gulp, and immediately asked: “I wonder what regulations Prime Minister Yao has regarding the commercial sale of the fine salt?”

As these words were spoken, the originally noisy and bustling banquet gradually quieted down, and everyone’s attention was drawn to the conversation between the two.

Yao Wenru smiled faintly and said understandingly: “Our State of Yan is vast but sparsely populated, far away from the heartland of the Central Plains. Moreover, the two prefectures of You and Bing are currently busy with resettling refugees, preparing for next year’s spring plowing, and also guarding against the Xiongnu to the north who are raring to move, as well as Goguryeo to the east. I am afraid we have no spare energy to organize merchant caravans to go to various prefectures and commanderies to sell the fine salt…”

Huo Quan’s eyes lit up. Just as he was about to speak, the Commander of the Household Guards Wang Su, who was sitting nearby, suddenly spoke up: “Prime Minister Yao can rest fully assured on this matter. As long as you can provide the fine salt, the matter of organizing merchant caravans to sell it can be completely left to us.”

Huo Quan glared at Wang Su, and then asked: “It is just that we do not know how much this fine salt will be priced at?”

Yao Wenru hooked the corners of his mouth imperceptibly: “This will have to wait until I produce the fine salt according to the secret method given by His Majesty before making a decision.”

Hearing Yao Wenru mention His Majesty, the aristocratic powerful clans, who were originally in high spirits, suddenly felt a bit downcast, and their expressions became unnatural. Clearly, they all simultaneously remembered the past event when the court promoted the water-powered large spinning wheel, whose original intention was to share profits with the people, but which almost turned into something that ruined the country and brought disaster to the people under their manipulation.

The Emperor handed the production method of the fine salt to Yao Wenru today instead of to them; was he still holding a grudge over the events of back then?

Thinking up to this point, certain bureaucratic aristocratic officials drank their sorrowful wine in deep regret. Had they known earlier—had they known earlier that the Emperor still held so many good things in his hands—they would not have taken things so far back then. If the policy of replacing wheat with mulberry trees had not incited rebellions in various prefectures and commanderies, the court would not have sent Shentu Yang to suppress the rebellions in the four prefectures, and they would not have been swept up entirely by the Yan army. If the court had not moved the capital, they would not be as passive as they were today!

The Yin Emperor sat properly at the head of the hall, quietly taking in the various expressions of the noble aristocrats, swirling his wine vessel at his own sweet time.

Sitting below, Shentu Yang noticed Yin Shuhuai’s good mood and looked over with longing eyes, raising his cup to toast Yin Shuhuai from afar.

Yin Shuhuai smiled faintly, but also drank the fine wine in his cup in one gulp.

After several rounds of wine, the palace banquet came to an end in high spirits. The entire court of civil and military officials crowded around Yao Wenru as they left the palace. Shentu Yang, however, stayed behind.

Yes, Shentu Yang had found another excuse to spend the night in the imperial palace he wanted to repay His Majesty’s kindness for the fine salt.

Yin Shuhuai peeled away Shentu Yang, who was taking advantage of his tall and large build to insist on throwing himself into his arms, with an unchanged expression: “Speak properly, do not get handsy.”

Following the movement of Yin Shuhuai pushing him, Shentu Yang fell backward onto the dragon bed. He raised the corners of his mouth triumphantly, resting both arms behind his head, the voice he spoke with carrying an obvious leap of joy: “Your Majesty is brilliantly perceptive; you must know what I want to say, right?”

Yin Shuhuai glanced at Shentu Yang: “What do you want to say?”

“I am fond of you.” Shentu Yang sat up with utmost seriousness, looking up at Yin Shuhuai who stood before the dragon bed, as well-behaved as a large dog sitting properly on the spot waiting for its master to pat its head, wagging its tail as it confirmed: “I am fond of Your Majesty, and Your Majesty is also fond of me. We share mutual affection~”

When Shentu Yang reached the last sentence, even the trailing sound of his voice flew upward. He was very certain that the Emperor liked him too.

Looking at the absolute certainty of Shentu Yang, Yin Shuhuai was just about to say something when he was pulled into Shentu Yang’s embrace with a yank.

“Your Majesty is simply too good to me, this minister has no way to repay it…” Shentu Yang, raring to move, untied Yin Shuhuai’s waist belt, saying shamelessly: “I can only offer myself in marriage.”

“You can also work like a horse or an ox to repay me,” Yin Shuhuai said with a straight face, teasing him as he struggled to catch Shentu Yang’s restlessly moving hands.

“But Your Majesty is so good-looking, if I only work like a horse or an ox to repay Your Majesty, this minister feels it is quite a losing bargain!” Shentu Yang said with a serious face: “How about this, this minister will work like a horse or an ox for Your Majesty during the day, and warm the bed for Your Majesty at night, how does that sound?”

Yin Shuhuai could not help but laugh: “In that case, is the Duke of Yan not working too hard?”

“Not hard, not hard, not hard at all,” Shentu Yang said immediately: “To be able to work like a horse or an ox, and fold blankets and warm beds for Your Majesty, is a blessing this minister accumulated over eight hundred years. This minister swallows it like sweet nectar.”

Yin Shuhuai was too lazy to keep tangling with the overly excited Shentu Yang, so he had no choice but to forcefully change the subject: “Do you know about cotton?”

Not expecting the Emperor’s topic to shift so quickly, Shentu Yang could not help but look blank for a moment: “Ah?”

Yin Shuhuai explained patiently: “A few days ago, I was flipping through the daily records of the late Emperor, and found that the official historians once recorded the Governor of Zhuyan presenting wide-width cloth to the late Emperor. This kind of wide-width cloth is cloth woven from cotton. I am highly interested in this cotton”

Hearing the underlying meaning instantly, Shentu Yang did not even wait for Yin Shuhuai to finish speaking before immediately saying: “I will send a message to the Governor of Zhuyan right away, making him present cotton to Your Majesty.”

Yin Shuhuai said: “I also want to plant cotton in the Central Plains”

Shentu Yang said: “Then let them plant some cotton on the side when they are tilling the military fields.”

Looking at the completely obedient Shentu Yang, Yin Shuhuai could not help but laugh and ask: “Are you not even curious why I want the common people to plant cotton?”

Shentu Yang said as a matter of course: “Your Majesty has always loved the people like your own children. If you want the people to plant cotton, you must have your reasons.”

Stung slightly by Shentu Yang’s unreserved trust, Yin Shuhuai was startled for a moment, and only recovered his senses after a short while, explaining slowly: “Cotton can be used to keep warm. The Yan region is bitter and cold, and winter lasts for several months. If the common people can all wear cotton clothes, winter will be much easier to get through. Moreover, cotton can also be used to make cotton armor…”

The so-called cotton armor referred to armor made by wetting cotton, beating it repeatedly to turn it into very thin cotton sheets, stacking many sheets together, pressing them into thick cotton cloth, sandwiching iron plates in the middle of the cotton cloth, wrapping cattle hide over vital areas, fixing them with copper rivets, and then tailoring them properly. Because it was lightweight and warm, it was highly popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Although Yin Shuhuai knew the Yan region was bitter and cold, he had never been to Jixian before and did not know that winter here would actually be so hard to endure. Turning the thought over, if even he, an Emperor supported by all the people under heaven, felt that winter in Youzhou was bitter and cold, what were the common people, who had even worse winter conditions, supposed to do?

Taking a step back, if the citizens who stayed indoors could still rely on heated brick beds and warm stoves to pass the winter, what about the soldiers who had to guard the borders in freezing weather and guard against the enemy’s incursions?

One had to know that the iron armor of the present was not only heavy and clumsy, but also not easy to keep warm. Imagine riding a horse to patrol, stand guard, and keep watch in the freezing wind and heavy snow during a winter of minus thirty or forty degrees; just thinking about it made Yin Shuhuai shiver all over. If only the soldiers could change into modified composite cotton armor. Cotton armor could not only keep them warm, but also improve the combat effectiveness and mobility of the soldiers especially the cavalry. It could be said to kill several birds with one stone.

Shentu Yang originally did not care much about cotton, only wanting to please Yin Shuhuai. Now hearing that the benefits of cotton armor were actually so numerous, his eyes lit up immediately. He wished he could lead troops to attack Zhuyan right away and rob all the cotton back.

Yin Shuhuai: “…We cannot drain the pond to catch the fish!”

Moreover, from Youzhou to Zhuyan, it should be faster to take the sea route. He wondered how the navy of the State of Yan was doing. He did not seem to have heard Shentu Yang mention them.

“The navy?” Shentu Yang was somewhat startled. During his years of campaigning and fighting, he either struck the Xiongnu to the north or went south to the Central Plains, all taking land routes; he truly had not used the navy much.

“If Your Majesty has the intention, how about we go take a look at the navy tomorrow?”