Chapter 170 Dancing Skills
Shibi Khan treated Li Jiancheng in this way not just because of their old friendship. After all, they were just acquaintances of a few times.

What was important was Li Jiancheng's reputation and status, as well as the troops in Liaodong City. Any one of these would be enough for him to treat well, let alone all of them added together.

Without Li Jiancheng, the most he could do was to occupy Shuofang, Wuyuan, Yulin and other counties. Although they had expanded, they were not considered rich places after all. With Li Jiancheng, he might be able to rule the Central Plains and become not only the Khan of the grassland, but also the emperor of the Central Plains.

But he would not say so at this moment, and he even promised: "Yang Guang is incompetent and unjust, and is not a wise ruler. In my opinion, the Central Plains should be ruled by you!"

Li Jiancheng shook his head and said, "How dare I have such thoughts? I just hope to live in peace on the grassland."

Shi Bi said considerately: "I know this matter has hurt you a lot. Well, let's not talk about this for now. Let's go back to the royal city first. I will give you grasslands and herds. Although I want to marry my sister to you, you must follow our Turkic customs and herd thousands of sheep before you can marry her. Hahaha!"

A Turkic nobleman said, "I brought 30,000 sheep and 100 pure white horses, but the Khan was unwilling to marry the beautiful princess to me. Now this nobleman from the Central Plains wants to take the princess away with just a few thousand sheep. This is too unfair. Khan, you have to compensate me with ten tents of fine wine!"

Shibi Khan laughed loudly and pointed at Li Jiancheng without hesitation: "Then ask him for it."

Li Jiancheng said with a smile: "Ten tents are not enough. I want to fill a hundred tents with fine wine so that everyone can drink to their heart's content."

Everyone's eyes widened. Wine was relatively scarce on the grassland. Even though they had high status and countless cattle and sheep, they only had a few jars of real good wine and had to drink sparingly on weekdays.

A noble with a rough personality swallowed his saliva and said: "You have been sold to us by your emperor. Even if you were very rich before, can you still get good wine now?"

This person obviously does not understand the situation in the Central Plains. Such people are very common on the grassland. Even in the Central Plains, there are many who only know the people in the township or two counties where they live.

Li Jiancheng took a bite of mutton and said: "Ten days, ten days later I will host a banquet for you all in Dali City. If you can't enjoy the banquet without wine, it means I am incompetent and should get out of the grassland."

The man stood up excitedly: "Okay, then I will prepare cattle and sheep for your feast!"

Shibi Khan was very happy because he felt that Li Jiancheng was really ready to stay in the grassland, so he wanted to make friends with his subordinates. This was a great joy.

Li Jiancheng's words not only demonstrated his generosity, but also showed that he was not just an individual. Without his official position in the Sui Dynasty, he still possessed powerful forces and was able to mobilize so much wine within ten days.

A few days later, everyone arrived at Dali City, where a huge and lively banquet had already been prepared. Princess Yicheng personally led the Turkic princes and nobles to welcome them. At the signal of Shibi Khan, Li Jiancheng was the second one to drink the wine in the golden cup.

Princess Yicheng was just over thirty years old. She was not very pretty, but her eyes were bright and she looked very tough. She handed the wine glass to Li Jiancheng and said, "I have heard about the matter. It is our Yang family who has let you down."

After drinking it, Li Jiancheng said, "It is my duty to repay the emperor's kindness, but if your majesty does not cheer up, the Sui Dynasty will be in danger."

Princess Yicheng knew this better than anyone else. As a princess of the Sui Dynasty, her power would be greater if the Sui Dynasty was stronger, and her rights would be squeezed if her family was weak.

Although it was not very kind, she had been looking forward to Li Jiancheng's arrival since she received the news, as she really needed a helper.

As outsiders of the Turkic people, no matter what conflicts their families had, their relationship was always stronger than that of the Turkic people, and they were natural allies. When Shibi Khan went south, he brought mostly his confidants, but the situation in Dali City was a little more complicated. Due to the Turkic habit, the strong preyed on the weak, and the position of the Khan of the grassland was not as stable as that of the emperor of the Central Plains.

Therefore, Li Jiancheng was not only welcomed, but fortunately, what Li Jiancheng was best at was handling relationships. During the banquets that lasted for several days, riding, shooting, singing and dancing were all the focus of everyone. Even those who came with bad intentions at the beginning would eventually put their arms around Li Jiancheng's shoulders and call him brothers.

In just a few days, the gifts received included twenty-three precious swords, thirty fine horse whips, fifty carts of furs, one hundred horses of various colors, and three thousand cattle and sheep.

Compared with the people in the Central Plains, the Turks are still simpler. Li Jiancheng was able to please everyone in Chang'an Jiangdu, but they were all officials from aristocratic families who had seen and experienced many things and were as smart as human beings.

There was also the foundation laid by Changsun Sheng. Although he had passed away, he had still convinced a generation of Turks. Li Jiancheng and Changsun Sheng were close friends regardless of age difference, and they had even arranged for family marriage.

Speaking out naturally eased the rejection of the neutral Turks. Except for a very small number of Turkish nobles who had conflicts of interest, the vast majority of Turks had a good impression of Li Jiancheng.

And when the appointed day came, the caravan like a long dragon poured into Dali City. Many exquisite utensils that the Turkic nobles had not only seen but even heard of were unloaded and generously presented to them by Li Jiancheng. The feeling was even better.

All of this was prepared in advance by Li Jiancheng. How could he forget the Siege of Yanmen? Before the emperor was besieged, he led his troops out of Liaodong and secretly entered Zhuo County to arrange many matters.

It was Shibi Khan himself who asked for it. Kangtan, Shibi Khan's trusted adviser, was promoted by him with a large sum of money.

Kang Tan and Shibi's previous adviser were both Sogdians. The Sogdians were engaged in trade as a whole, and their trade extended all the way east to the Sui Dynasty and all the way west to the Eastern Roman Empire.

They are broad-minded and shrewd, and have always been trusted by the Turkic nobles. Not only do they manage caravans, but the best of them are also absorbed into the upper class and serve as advisers.

After Pei Yun designed to kill Shi Shuhu Xi, Li Jiancheng immediately chose Kang Tan as his partner, allowing his caravan to travel to the Central Plains without obstruction, and would send people to protect them.

In this way, Kangtan's caravan can travel between the Central Plains Turks and the Eastern Roman Empire, and naturally make a lot of money. Such a relationship of interest is the most secure.

To Kang Tan, Li Jiancheng was far more important than Shibi Khan. It had never been difficult to trade with the grasslands, and the Turks would not refuse because their supplies were too scarce.

But the situation in the Central Plains is different. They are too rich and lack nothing. As a result, without a strong background, they are not qualified to get a share of the pie. Even if they force their way in, the obstacles along the way will be enough to make them lose all their money.

But with the support of the Li family, things were different. Everything went smoothly for him. Everyone who heard about it would give him some respect. Kang Tan became richer and had more financial resources to open up trade routes, making him even richer in the future.

He had plenty of gold and silver to present to the Eastern Roman nobles, and enough treasures to present to Shibi Khan, but Li Jiancheng was the only one who had everything he needed. What gave him a headache and made it difficult for him to sleep was that there was no one who could help his most important backer.

It was not until before the siege of Yanmen that he received the secret letter that he finally felt relieved.

...............

(End of this chapter)