Most of the countries in the Central Plains have hit a wall, and the small countries of the West Sea, such as Qi State, Yan State, Chen State, and Zhao State, have more or less produced 200,000 to 500,000 stone grain and grass in order to curry favor with Yuke, but for the 150,000 Yuke army, the consumption of two or three million stone grain and grass in a year can only meet one-third, which is not counting the consumption of meat, ordnance, cloth, and road transportation. The number of posts continues to increase, and four or five million stones of grain and grass a year cannot be stopped.

Wei Guo proposed to exchange salty cane sugar and silk for Wei Guo's grain and grass, but his original intention was not to ask for sugar and silk, but to embarrass the Jin State.

The Jin State stationed troops in the Qi State, and the sugar and silk of the Qi State naturally tightened the export and tribute to the Wei State, while the Yan State was next to the Qi State, and when it saw that the Jin State was covered, it also began to be dishonest, and it also tightened its exports openly and secretly, and turned to increase the export to the Central Plains, which led to a decrease in the sugar and silk of the Wei State.

However, sugar and silk are not the necessities of people's livelihood and military supplies at the moment, but luxury goods, especially high-grade silk and fine cotton cloth, which are forbidden for ordinary civilians to wear and enjoy, and even if they have money.

But in fact, the eunuchs colluded with each other and became vested interest groups with each other, and the rich also wore high-quality silk fabrics in different ways, such as leno, silk, brocade, silk, water silk of the Changsun Kingdom, and middle and lower soft silk of the Qi Kingdom and Yan Kingdom.

Because it is a luxury product, silk fabric is a dispensable product in the supply chain of people's livelihood commodities, and the wealthy and wealthy class of the country can completely solve the lack of demand for luxury goods by expanding the import of cane sugar and silk.

Now it is directly proposed to let Xianguo exchange sugar and silk in exchange for the grain and grass of the royal guest, and its original intention is to use the royal guest to press the Xianguo, and the Xianguo has to give, if it is given, a large part of the profit income of the Xianguo this year will become a wedding dress given away.

Not only that, Xianguo's share of sugar and silk in the Jin market may also be replaced by Changsun Guo, which is undoubtedly worse for Xianguo's finances.

Once the finances of the Xian State collapsed, the military logistics would collapse, and then drag the Jin State into the quagmire, which was a plan to kill multiple birds with one stone.

What's even more hateful is that let Bailiyan (that is, Wei Xian) come out, all the good people were done to Yuke, and he was all a wicked person.

"Mr. Wei Chi, cane sugar and silk are an important source of income for the Xianguo country, if this year's cane sugar and silk are given to the country, my Xianguo soldiers and people will go to drink the northwest wind next year, this matter is said that Wei can't be the master, and the king will definitely not agree." Bailiyan has a resolute attitude and has no room for negotiation.

Wei Chiguang did not speak ill of each other, but instead talked about the grim situation of the defense line of Qianyue Mountain:

"At present, Qianyue Mountain is only garrisoned by 100,000 troops of the Song State, and the threat of Jin Xuedi's northern aggression is becoming increasingly severe, and it is difficult to resist, and now it has been found that Jin Xuedi has found four or five hundred scouts, and the farthest point has penetrated the defense line for thousands of miles.

Baili Yan was immediately angry:

"Wei has already made it very clear that the national strength of Xianguo is in danger, the army of more than 300,000 is unsustainable, and sugar and silk are important sources of finance and taxation, why did Mr. Wei Chi turn a blind eye."

"What General Wei said is naturally clear, but as far as I know, Xianguo's newly built Yongxing City has started to produce the world's famous weapons day and night, and the sales channels are unimpeded and the supply exceeds demand, and the profits obtained over time can make up for the shortage of sugar and silk income, so why should the general hide it from me."

"You!" Bai Liyan is teeth itched with hatred, and in a blink of an eye, he thought that it must be the news of the secret exchange between the Ligong faction and the royal guest, and he must have learned about the internal situation of Yongxing City, otherwise it would not be so clear.

Thinking of this, Bai Liyan retorted:

"Yongxing City is newly built, the raw materials of the workshop are seriously insufficient, and my Xianguo will not be able to make up for the loss of sugar and silk until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse Month, can't Mr. Wei Chi even count this account."

"General Wei is angry, the situation in Yongxing City is slightly known, as long as the current trend is carried out step by step, the loss of sugar and silk can be gradually replenished within two years. As far as we know, the Xianguo fiscal and tax expenditures are now barely enough to maintain military expenditures, and there is nothing to provide disaster relief to the people.

However, Yongxing City mainly focused on the production of military supplies, so it saved a lot of expenses and used it to purchase military supplies from outside the Xian Kingdom.

As far as I know, the price of copper and tin purchased by Xianguo from the Jin State is more than three times the market price, and the mining of Changqu iron ore is prosperous, presumably it will not be long before the Xianguo purchases copper ore from the Jin State will be sharply reduced, and the high-quality iron blades of the Xian army will gradually enter the army. The Xianguo also possessed the new type of steel blade refining technology, and its cost was far more cost-effective than purchasing military supplies from abroad.

This expense alone can save a considerable amount of national money for Xianguo, and General Wei will not even know this reason. ”

Due to the decline of Qiunan, Xianxi and other counties, the output of copper and tin in Xianguo has fallen by eighty percent, and there is a serious shortage of bronze weapons, and the sale of bronze farm tools has basically stopped, so Xianguo has to import from abroad.

And bronze is a strategic material, where can the countries sell to the Xian country, there is, you can buy the high-priced copper of the Jin country, three times the market price, of course it is too expensive, of course, you can not buy it, what is the result of not buying, think about it with your brain.

Wei Chiguang's abacus was quite shrewd, the quality of Changqu iron ore was extremely high, as long as the scale of mining was expanded, it would not be long before the Xianguo could be equipped with a large number of steel blades, and the cost was much lower than the import of copper and tin from the Jin State, and the difference in this piece alone was enough to reduce the expenditure of the state treasury. Even after the scale of production is expanded, it can also be sold to the outside to earn a full profit.

But the problem is that far water can't quench the thirst of the near. The sugar and silk demanded by the Wei Guo are bound to be paid in full in installments, and it is still a question whether Yongxing City can develop within two years, not to mention the serious shortage of coal, what to use to make steel.

"Mr. Wei Chi, Wei can't be the master of this matter, please ask the envoy to negotiate with my king, if the king agrees, Wei has nothing to say, please!"

Bailiyan gave the order to evict the guests, but Wei Chiguang was not annoyed, stood up and saluted and said:

"That lieutenant will visit General Wei again tomorrow, and he will leave today."

"Wei doesn't send it!"

Bai Liyan's face was calm, Tang Zhao and Fang De saw that the atmosphere was cold, and it was inconvenient to say anything more, so they followed Wei Chiguang and left the mansion. When the royal guest walked away, Wei Xu said carefully:

"General Wei, the royal guests are not easy to mess with, this time will not achieve the goal, I am afraid that they will not give up."

"Wei doesn't know where they are, they are also bullying the weak and afraid of the hard, the princes of the countries have not gotten a single copper, and they have come to blackmail small countries, what kind of reason is this."

When Wei Chiguang and the others left the mansion, it was dark, and they were walking on the road to the inn to stay. On the way, Tang Zhao asked Yu Chiguang in confusion:

"Raising the envoy, what General Wei said is reasonable, Xianguo is difficult to protect itself at the moment, I am afraid it is inappropriate for me to ask for it like this."

Wei Chiguang was not a little annoyed, and said calmly:

"In fact, half of the annual income of the Xianguo goes into the pockets of the Jin State, and the things that the Jin State needs, the Xianguo State is all sold to the Jin State at a price lower than the market price of forty percent or even half. The things needed by the Xianguo were all purchased from the Jin State at several times the market price, and the difference between them accounted for more than half of the income of the people and the treasury of the Xianguo.

This Wei Xian is a talent, and his establishment of a workshop in Yongxing City is intended to reverse this situation. This envoy asked Xianguo for sugar and silk, but it was actually for their good, but unfortunately Wei Xian hadn't thought it through yet, if he thought it through, he would definitely agree. ”

"Let Xianguo give us the sugar and silk for nothing, where will their losses be compensated."

Fang De asked, and Yu Chiguang smiled:

"This is not simple, the Jin State buys cane sugar and silk from the Xianguo at fifty percent of the market price, if we trade with the Weiguo at the market price in exchange for grain and grass, it will be more than double the price difference, you wait, whether the Xianguo is losing or earning."

"But grain and grass are the military needs of the imperial marshal, even if they are traded at the market price, Xianguo can't get half of the benefits, what's the use of this."

"The Xian State will not get benefits, but the Jin Kingdom will get benefits?"

Yu Chi Guangyin laughed fiercely, and Tang Zhao suddenly realized:

"Oh, the Jin kingdom used salty cane sugar and silk for profiteering, and in this way, the Jin kingdom lost this profiteering. And the envoys can use salty sugar and silk as bargaining chips to reap the benefits of both the Jin State and the Wei Kingdom. ”

"Exactly. The Ligong Party had a deep grudge against Jin Guo, and wrote many times to ask the head of the family to give Jin Guoxiao a color. Wait and say, how can the envoy tell this story? ”

Nowadays, cane sugar and silk are still luxuries, affected by sugar extraction and backward planting technology, the productivity is seriously insufficient, the cost remains high, and the silk is affected by the climate and silkworm seeds, and the area suitable for raising silkworms and mulberry is very limited.

Fifty percent of the market price of sucrose is basically the cost price, fifty percent of the market price of silk, there can still be some profits, but the terminal sales price of sucrose and silk after entering the Jin market, even if it only earns fifty percent of the profit, it is still a windfall income.

The coastal county capital of Beihai in the Jin Kingdom has a production area of cane sugar and silk fabrics, and the quality is not as good as that of the salty cane sugar and silk, and the price is not high. After the defeat of the Xian State in the Battle of Jiangdong, the Jin State also obtained the privilege of purchasing sugar and silk from the Xian State, and the sugar and silk of the Xian State had a great influence on the sugar and silk market of the Jin State.

It is precisely because of the supply of high-quality cane sugar and silk in Xianguo that Changsun Guo did not dare to sell cane sugar and silk at high prices in the Jin Kingdom, so that the Jin State was profiting from both ends, and used the materials of Xianguo to dump the import prices of Changsun Kingdom.

Over the years, the elite of the Jin Kingdom has made tens of millions of huge profits. Once the Jin State cut off the source of sugar and silk from the salty state, the Changsun State was now in a tight war, and it was bound to raise the price of sugar and silk exported to the Jin State, further importing the inflation of the Changsun State into the Jin State.

Although sugar and silk are not the necessities of people's livelihood at the moment, they are the daily needs of the rich and powerful, especially in the Jin Kingdom, the people especially like to eat sweets, after Xihuan married into the Xian Kingdom, almost a meal is inseparable from sweets, and fruits are continuous all year round.

Therefore, the consumption of sugar and silk in the Jin Kingdom was extremely considerable among the wealthy class above the middle class.

Once the sugar and silk of the salty country flow to the country, the cost of sugar and silk and the related industries of the Jin country will inevitably be pushed up, even if it does not affect the people's livelihood, it will have a great impact on the middle class and the wealthy class.

After all, a pound of sugar can be converted into a lot of rice, and a fine silk is almost worth a better war horse.

Wei Chiguang's original intention was to use the sugar and silk of the Xianguo as bargaining chips to get enough benefits from the Jin State, so that the Jin State would not be able to blackmail the Xianguo in the short term without the cheap material input of the Xianguo, and at the same time, the royal guests would not need to defend the country's grain and grass supply, and they could deal with the situation first, and teach the Jin State a lesson.