Fang Yuan took off his civilian clothes, changed into the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty, and met with the envoys of the Wa State and the Korean State in the Canglang Pavilion.

The first person he arranged to meet was the envoy of the DPRK.

The envoy of the Joseon State saluted respectfully to Fang Yuan, who had come to purchase the latest silk on behalf of the King of Joseon, a total of 5,000 horses.

Xu Hua said, "Five thousand horses, 6 taels of silver/horse, a total of 30,000 taels of silver." ”

The envoy of the Korean State spoke the official language of the Ming Dynasty that was not fluent, and said in embarrassment, "Governor Fang, the small people of our country are poor, and the silver is also scarce, and this time I only brought 20,000 taels of silver to the country." Can the governor of the kingdom sell it for 4 taels of silver per horse, which is the same as the price in your country? ”

Xu Hua is a snob, and his vision is much higher, and he sneers at the small country and the poor Korean country, and the total transaction volume of 30,000 taels of silver is not in his eyes.

Now that he saw that the state affairs of North Korea were about to bargain, his face sank, "This, this, the 6 taels of silver/horse that was said to be 6 taels of silver/horse, how can there be a saying that the price will be reduced before signing the contract." If you don't have enough money, buy less, 3,500 horses! ”

The envoy of the Joseon state, Oki Fanghara, saluted respectfully and said, "May the governor of the kingdom be tolerant and tolerant." ”

Fang Yuan had received great favor from the Korean State during the Liaodong War, and if it were not for the sufficient supplies provided by the Korean State, although the Xuanjia Army would not starve to death on Phi Dao, they would have to spend a huge amount of money on Taobao to buy compressed biscuits and canned food in order to survive the winter of that Phi Island.

He was grateful for the funding of the Korean state, and responded happily, "Since the Korean country regards my Ming Dynasty as the superior country, the people of the Korean country are the same as the people of my Ming Dynasty." For 4 taels of silver per horse, I would like to extend my most sincere greetings to the king of your country, and thank the king of your country for his help before. ”

The envoy of the Korean State saw that Fang Yuan was relieved of 10,000 taels of silver, which may be a drop in the bucket for the Ming Dynasty, but it is an astronomical amount for the barren Korean State. The envoy of the Korean state was overjoyed, and Okahara thanked him again and again.

The cost of Xu Hua's consignment sales is 4 taels of silver / horse, and now it is only sold to the envoy of the North Korean State at cost, and he is busy with a game in vain. But he didn't dare to get angry at Fang Yuan, so he could only say with a bitter face, "Fang Junmen, there are rules for external sales, if you favor one over the other, businessmen from other countries will make a fuss." ”

Fang Yuan squinted at him and said, "Boss Xu, I'm the governor, and I care about foreign relations, not the profits of merchants, understand?" Don't say that this time it's just a cost price sale, if you need to lose money and make money, sometimes you really have to sell at a loss, understand? ”

Xu Hua smiled bitterly and nodded again and again, "What Governor Fang taught me is that I am a copper-smelling businessman, alas! In the past, he also received the Korean delegation for five days and five nights, and lost thousands of taels of silver for the reception. ”

Fang Yuan saw that he was unconvinced, and was still muttering about a loss, and said angrily, "Boss Xu, it's cheap to sell to the envoy of the Korean State, just find other envoys to report the account, and invite the envoy of the Japanese State to come in!" ”

Xu Hua asked the waiting envoy of the Japanese State to come in.

The envoy of the Wa Kingdom bowed to Oikatahara and also stated his intention that he was an envoy sent by the Shimazu clan, the lord of the Satsuma Domain in Kyushu, and needed to buy 50,000 pieces of new silk.

The Shimazu clan was a generation of nobles in Kyushu Satsuma, and they also profited from being middlemen between the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese country.

This is a big deal of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for Xu Hua, as long as this one is done, the silver of the Korean country that was cheap for nothing before can be ignored.

Fang Yuan took a leisurely taste of Biluochun, and said lightly, "Fifty thousand pieces of silk, yes, 8 taels of silver per horse, a total of 400,000 taels of silver!" ”

As soon as he opened his mouth, he raised the previously negotiated price by 2 taels of silver per horse, so that this batch of silk would have to pay at least 100,000 taels of silver more.

Xu Hua was stunned on the spot, Fang Yuan raised the price without authorization, and it was even higher than the price of selling to the West, it was simply a matter of treating the Japanese country as a wronged leader, how to do business?

The envoy of the Japanese State changed his face when he heard his sudden increase in quotation, shook his head and said, "No, no, Governor Fang sold 4 taels of silver per horse to the Korean State, but sold it to our country for 8 taels of silver per horse. ”

Fang Yuan had a soft smile on his face, and said unhurriedly, "The Korean State regards my Ming Dynasty as the superior country and calls the ministers to pay tribute, but is the Japanese State willing to claim itself a subject country and call the ministers to pay tribute?" ”

The so-called Wa State is the Ming Dynasty's contemptuous name for the Japanese State, and according to official exchanges, it should be called the Japanese State. Fang Yuan opened his mouth to say that he was making fun of the Japanese with his three-inch figure, which was the biggest humiliation to Japan.

The envoy of the Japanese State was shocked when he heard this, and he got up angrily and said, "Governor Fang, you are simply unscrupulous, and you dare to slander my Great Japan as the Japanese State. ”

Of course, Fang Yuan knew that his humiliation of the Japanese State was not only because of historical complexes, but also because of practical interests. During the Warring States period, a silver mine with very rich reserves was discovered in the territory of the Wa Kingdom, called Iwami Silver Mountain, and since then, the Wa Kingdom has used the silver mined by Iwami Silver Mountain to dump silver overseas, and purchased very rich materials.

The Ming Dynasty, which had huge trade with the Wa Kingdom, bore the brunt of the inflow of silver from Japan and the West, followed by severe inflation. Before Wanli, a stone of rice was sold for less than one tael of silver, but during the Apocalypse and Chongzhen years, it doubled to two taels of silver and one stone.

The vast majority of this inward flow of silver went into the pockets of Jiangnan merchants, but the cost of inflation had to be borne by the common people.

Therefore, Fang Yuan did not disagree with the trade request of the Japanese State, and deliberately embarrassed the envoy of the Japanese State, because in his heart he was inclined to barter and did not want to accept the silver of the Japanese State.

Fang Yuan pretended to be surprised and said, "I'm sorry, noble envoy, I am used to calling the Japanese country in Daming on weekdays, and I can't change my mouth at once." By the way, Boss Xu, I should call this widow, oh, no, what country is called what country? ”

He asked knowingly, Xu Hua could only laugh dryly, and started a round in the middle, "Governor Fang, the Ming Dynasty's diplomatic relations are called Japan. ”

Fang Yuan pretended to say suddenly, "It turned out to be Japan, and the big Japan country is not touched, so it is called Little Japan, this is appropriate!" ”

The envoy of the Japanese Kingdom was so angry that his face was bloodless, he took out the Japanese knife he was wearing, and shouted, "Baga! ”

Seeing that he couldn't hold his breath so quickly, Fang Yuan began to use his knife in public, laughed a few times, and ordered Jinyi Wei to go up and arrest this envoy of the Japanese Kingdom.

Hu Qi immediately ordered Jinyiwei to raise a row of Xuanjia Divine Guns, aimed at the envoy of the Japanese Kingdom, and ordered him to put down the Japanese sword.

The envoy of the Japanese country saw the muzzle of a row of black pressure of Jinyiwei, the Japanese knife in his hand could not only kill himself, but also had an egg, it is estimated that he was beaten into a hornet's nest before he got close, and in desperation, he could only throw down the Japanese knife, and he was tied up by Jinyiwei.

Fang Yuan picked up the sword that the envoy of the Japanese Kingdom dropped on the ground, and saw that the blade of the sword was cold, extremely sharp, and waved it twice, the sound of breaking the air was crisp but not muffled, it was indeed a family heirloom sword.

He put the sword back in its sheath and asked the envoy to untie it, "I will not joke with your envoy, but from now on, we will no longer receive silver for all our original trade with Japan, but must barter." ”

The envoy of the Japanese state was stunned, and before that, Japan had relied on dumping silver in exchange for a large amount of materials, and if it wanted to barter, it would completely break the existing pattern of Japan's foreign trade.

The envoy of the Japanese Kingdom asked in surprise, "Governor Fang, how is the barter method?" ”

Fang Yuan stared straight at the envoy of the Japanese Kingdom, and said lightly, "It's very simple, I only need the most sophisticated naginata knife, Taidao, and Ono knife in Japan, as well as Japan's steel forging technique." ”

The Ming Dynasty imported the most from Japan the Japanese sword, these sword is very conducive to foot combat, and it is also clearly recorded in the "Wubei Zhi". Jinyiwei and Qijiajun are equipped with a large number of swords, because of the high price, ordinary sergeants cannot be equipped, and only officers and above can be equipped.

The Japanese national steel forging technology, derived from the forging technique of the Tang sword, after hundreds of years of improvement, is indeed ahead of the existing sword casting technology of the Ming Dynasty.

In the late Ming Dynasty, a large number of Japanese knives were imitated, which were inferior in appearance and quality. However, the steel clamping technique of the sword, the ratio of various hardness steels, the mastery of the heat, and how to reduce the scrap rate are all important military secrets that will never be passed on. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty has imitated the Japanese knife for many years, but there is still no breakthrough.

This kind of practical forging technology is also not available on Baidu, and can only be obtained through trade with the Wa Kingdom.

As long as you can get the Japanese steel forging technology, you can at least improve the melee combat ability of the Xuanjia Army's infantry combat by a level. The conquest of the south must be based on foot combat, supplemented by cavalry combat, and Fang Yuan wanted to exchange this steel forging technique, which was also making sufficient preparations for the conquest of Jiangnan.

Of course, there is another important reason that in addition to the Japanese sword technology, there is no one in Japan who can look at it.

The envoy of the Japanese Kingdom said with a resolute expression, "You can talk about buying and selling sabers, but you can't talk about steel clamping!" ”

Anyway, the business was negotiated, and to see who couldn't stay up, Fang Yuan smiled unhurriedly, "Please go back and inform the emperor, the shogun, if you are willing to talk about it, I am not in a hurry." ”

The envoy of the Japanese State asked, "Governor Fang, let's not talk about silk first, but what about the raw silk trade?" ”

Japan's raw silk production is insufficient, and at least 50% of it needs to be purchased from Daming. The buying and selling of raw silk is far more important than the purchase of new silk in Japan.

Fang Yuan was still unhurriedly putting pressure on Japan, "If we want to talk together, before the negotiation is completed, I will cut off the silk and raw silk trade between the ten prefectures under my jurisdiction and Japan." ”

The ten prefectures under the jurisdiction of Fang Yuan were the most important producers of raw silk, and if Fang Yuan cut off the raw silk trade, Japan would not be able to find other prefectures to import raw silk.

When the envoy heard this, he had nothing to say, and his face was gloomy and he went away angrily.