It has become an established fact that the countries formed an alliance to jointly attack the Wei State.

No one cares whether the Wei State provoked it first, anyway, since the decline of the Dali Dynasty, in order to annex the countries, there is no etiquette at all, and it is already important to be famous.

Led by the Jin State, a total of seven countries expressed their intention to send troops, and the remaining small vassal states also intended to contribute money and grain.

As for the number of troops, even excluding the main force of the Jin Kingdom, it has reached millions.

In this troubled era of constant strife, war is like two meals a day for the common people for all countries, it is no longer a common thing, today it is the people of this country, tomorrow it will be the people of that country, and everyone has become accustomed to it.

In particular, the common people are almost numb, being a soldier and fighting a war is like completing a task, and the only wish of the people at the bottom is to be able to live a stable life for a few days.

After all, there are almost no more countries like Cangguo that have maintained peace for thirty years.

This time, Jin Guo, as the leader of the alliance, showed a strong skill.

The most clever move is to pull most of the vassal states into their camp without spending a single soldier, and start a new round of annexation.

The matter of destroying Wei was not trivial, so that the emperor of the Jin State did not have time to meet the kings of the countries one by one, and Yang Mu, as the emperor of a small country, was invited to a banquet half a month later.

In the past half a month, of course, Yang Mu couldn't waste it, so he basically met with the emperors of the surrounding countries of Cangguo.

Among them, the countries of Long, Zhu, Dan, Tang, and Xu in the south of Cangguo have a very friendly attitude towards Cangguo, and due to geographical location, Cangguo has no direct conflict of interest with these countries.

And the friendliness of these countries to Cangguo mainly comes from the emerging books and paper.

So far, the source of fiscal revenue has changed from agricultural taxes to light industry exports.

Among them, the most important are books and blank paper.

Books can be regarded as luxury goods, even nobles do not necessarily like them, and the number of purchases is limited.

But the big white paper can be said to be just needed.

From the aristocracy to the imperial court, all countries worship the big white paper as a sacred object.

The classics and historical books of many countries have begun to be replaced, and they are transcribed and sealed on large white paper.

As a result, the emperors of several countries in the south suggested that Yang Mu open up a trade route from Cangguo to the south and strengthen cooperation in caravans.

To be honest, Yang Mu was also a little surprised by this.

For a long time, it was caravans from various countries that passed through Shengguo and traded with Cangguo.

He also didn't realize that the paper produced by Cangguo had such a great impact in these countries in the south, so he hadn't thought about opening up any passages in the ravines and ravines in the south.

But now it seems to be necessary.

Emperors of all countries had the desire to trade with Cangguo, and once a new trade route was opened, it not only meant that they could earn more money, but also that it was more strategic.

For example, during China's Anti-Japanese War, the coast was blocked by the Japanese army, and the Yunnan-Burma Highway in a ravine became a material supply line and a lifeline for China's Anti-Japanese War.

If Cangguo opens up a trade route similar to the Silk Road in the south, then its strength will definitely increase greatly, and it will also be more confident when it fights with Shengguo.

As a result, under the deliberate promotion of Yang Mu, diplomatic relations were opened, and a large number of alliances were signed with various countries.

So much so that Yang Mu began to regret that he didn't bring a few officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce over this time.

Just when Yang Mu thought that his trip had been completed, Empress Nguyen sent out an invitation, and in an attic in the Great Honglu Temple, the two monarchs sat together and began the unfinished story of the previous time.

Yang Mu was very surprised, he didn't expect that a story of Mulan would have such a great impact on the Empress of Ruan, so he told the story of Mu Guiying being in charge.

Of course, this is just a prelude, and the real main course is business cooperation.

In business cooperation, books and blank paper are the main ones.

For this empress of Ruan Guo, Yang Mu has always had a feeling that he can't see through.

With the strength of the Ruan State, among the major vassal states, it is not a problem to rank in the top ten.

The emperor of such a big country can put down his posture and discuss the cooperation between the two countries face-to-face with himself, and his eyes are not ordinary vicious.

Because, even if other countries see the huge economic benefits of books and blank paper, they do not deeply analyze their strategic significance.

However, Empress Nguyen considered it, and it was straight to the point, and she was willing to pay a big price to buy Cangguo's papermaking technology.

Yang Mu refused.

After laughing, papermaking is the most advanced technology in Cangguo, and it is also a much more advanced existence than Caihou paper, with this technology, as long as Cangguo does a good job of secrecy, it will definitely not be a problem to monopolize it for hundreds of years.

Selling papermaking to Ruan Guo, isn't this killing chickens and eggs?

Seeing Yang Mu's refusal, she retreated to the next best thing, asking for cooperation at the national level, and allowing Ruan merchants to enjoy the same treatment as Cangguo merchants.

From the perspective of the territory of the entire Dali Dynasty, Ruan and Cangguo are not far or close, if the caravan is in a hurry, it can be a round trip in three months, and there is no problem with the purchase of large white paper, if you cooperate with Cangguo, lower the purchase price, and get priority at the same time, then Ruan Guo can save a lot of money.

Moreover, the cooperation between countries is not temporary, as long as there is no rupture, the cooperation will generally be maintained, Ruan Guo's needs are not just as simple as a big white paper, if Cangguo has the rest of the good things produced, Ruan Guo can also get goods more conveniently.

For this cooperation request, Yang Mu of course readily agreed, a country's procurement is a huge amount, even ten caravans can't compare, and more importantly, some of these resources, such as horses and iron ore, can't be supplied by caravans at all.

When it comes to state settlements, of course, silver cannot be used as currency.

Therefore, the emperors of the two countries reached a cooperation, all the payment for the goods will be offset by horses, in addition, the two countries will each send ten caravans to maintain normal exchanges, and the civil caravans in the country of Ruan will not only be able to enjoy priority in future transactions, but also get a price concession, and the status of the merchants will be the same as the merchants of Cangguo.

For example, if a merchant of Ruan Guo wants to buy a mansion in Cangguo, or open a shop, or hire workers, the taxes and fees will be collected according to the local people of Cangguo, and they will enjoy the same rights.

Then, Yang Mu took the initiative to visit the emperor of the cave country.

It can be said that half of the purpose of this trip to the alliance was to meet with the emperor of Dongguo and establish diplomatic relations.

The emperor of the cave country was about fifty years old, with thinning hair, a big belly, and a large group of maids around him.

The Dong Kingdom and the Sheng Kingdom have been fighting for hundreds of years, and from the comparison of the emperors of the two countries, the Dong Kingdom can be said to be completely defeated.

Regarding Yang Mu's proposal to assist each other and jointly attack Sheng Guo, the Emperor of Dong Guo was a little hesitant.

It was this hesitation that made Yang Mu's heart sink a little.