Qubei finally stabilized his fearful mind, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his brand-new sleeves, and held his chest and performed a standard grassland salute, "King Zuoxian of the Huns - go to Hun and meet His Royal Highness King Qi of the Great Han Dynasty." ”

"You don't have to be formal, please take a seat!" Luan Yi raised his right hand and pointed out the position of the head to the humble, while Xi Zhicai lifted the placket of his clothes and sat down directly opposite the humble.

The two sides sat down, and their own servants brought tea.

Luan Yi picked up the teacup, brushed the floating tea in the cup with the lid, moistened his lips, and said slowly: "Please use tea when you go to Lord Bei." Although the old tea in autumn is not as good as the new tea in spring, after all, my Han is the main producer of tea, and it is always sweeter than that on the grassland. ”

He went to act according to his words, moistened a mouthful, and nodded: "It's really good." ”

Luan Yi took another sip of tea and greeted: "Go to Lord Bei's visit this time, did it go smoothly along the way?" ”

"I'm having a bit of trouble in the Saibei grassland. and thousands of people tried to intercept me, but fortunately I was able to avoid it in advance. It caused me to take a lot of detours. After entering the Han land, thanks to the good governance of His Royal Highness the King of Qi, he did not encounter any danger again. ”

"Oh? And Lian? This guy ...... "The name of Helian Luan Yi can be described as thunderous, he is the son of the late steppe male Tan Shi Huai, and he is also the nominal leader of the Xianbei tribe. "Xianbei people deceive people too much. To tell the truth, at the beginning of this year, the Xianbei Kebi Neng Department invaded our Youhe and intended to rob our people and plunder our people's talents. Fortunately, the hussar general Lu Bu and the Bingzhou assassin Shi Juyi fought back, which did not bring huge losses. ”

"Oh? Is there such a thing? Qubei hesitated for a moment and asked Luan Yi: "His Royal Highness the King of Qi is willing to cooperate with me Shan Yuting and find Xianbei people for revenge together?" ”

"Hehehe......" Luan Yi smiled and shook his head, "The grassland is the grassland of the grassland people, and we Han people can't stand the cold wind there, and we can't withstand the scorching sun there." More importantly, although the endless grassland is magnificent, it cannot be sown and cultivated, and it is not suitable for us Han people to rule and live. Since it is useless to take it, why should I bother to send troops to attack. ”

"Oh!" Go to humility to cover up with tea, and smile reassuringly. Secret Dao: Listening to the tone of King Qi, he has no interest in conquering the grassland. In this way, the Huns will be safe for a long time to come!

Luan Yi said lightly: "However, although the Han does not want to levy Xianbei, I hope that your ministry can punish Xianbei." ”

went to humbly pretend to be a bitter elephant, "His Royal Highness King Qi, I really don't hide it." The current Shan Yuting is no longer the Shan Yuting of 200 years ago, and similarly, the current Xianbei is no longer the Xianbei of 200 years ago. Shan Yuting is declining, while Xianbei has become stronger and stronger since the reign of Tanshi Huai. If we really fight, we will lose a lot in court alone. ”

"Down, Lord Bei misunderstood what I meant." Luan Yi explained, "I don't want Shan Yuting to go to war with Xianbei, and there is no need for Shan Yuting to fight Xianbei. I just want to make a deal with Lord Gobby. ”

"Deal?"

"That's right, it's a deal." Luan Yi stood up and paced back and forth on the high platform with his hands behind his back, "Dare to ask Lord Guibei, over the years, has my Han and your trade been quite frequent?" ”

"It's more than frequent! The tea, glass, silk, cloth, paper and other things produced by the Han Dynasty are deeply loved by our tribesmen. Our ministry buys a lot of these products from Hantu every year. ”

"Thank you for the love of the people of your ministry for my Han products." Luan Yi stomped a few more steps, "My Han is rich in products, and new things are born every year" He stretched out his finger and pointed to the clock placed on a chest of drawers in the corner of the lobby and said, "For example, this one in front of you." ”

"What is this?" When I looked around, I saw a wooden box with a strange style in front of me, and the needle in the center of the box moved slowly and clockwise. Just as the hands moved directly above, a rhythmic bell rang out from the wooden box. The crisp voice startled him. The bell rang five times and stopped abruptly, and after a melodious echo, he asked in surprise, "What is this?" ”

Xi Zhicai told Qubei: "This is the mechanical Gui, which is the latest timepiece developed by my Han. The five rings just now mean that it is the hour of the hour. If you look at the watch hand, the short one points to the word 'Chen' to represent the hour, and the long hand points to the sub, indicating the zero quarter of the hour. With the help of this object, one can pinpoint the time. ”

Qubei suddenly realized, "When I came, I saw this thing when I was passing through Yecheng in Jizhou. It's just that Ye Chengli's mechanical gui is a tall tower, and at that time I wondered what the Han people were doing with such a tall tower in the middle of the city. Only now do I understand that it turned out to be to let the people in the city know the time at all times. He clicked his lips, "I didn't expect that." How can this mechanical gui be made so small......" He immediately realized the value of mechanical gui, so he asked Luan Yi, "Dare to ask King Qi, how much does a mechanical gui cost?" ”

Luan Yi saw that he had successfully aroused the taste of despiscation, and he was secretly happy in his heart, "Hey~ Go to the despicable adults all the way from Shan Yuting to my big man, and talk about what money is not money." If you like this mechanical gui, send someone to send one to the adult in a while. It was my gift to the adults. ”

Qubei hurriedly explained, "His Royal Highness King Qi has misunderstood. I just think that there must be a lot of people who like such a good thing, and I want to buy a batch and send it back to my friends. ”

"Send a friend...... Yes, yes! Look at me......" Luan Yi pretended to be kind, and said to Xi Zhicai: "Then I'll send ten sets to Lord Qubei!" ”

"Ten?" Qubei looked suspicious, "I'm afraid ten is still not enough." Otherwise, His Royal Highness the King of Qi would still let Zai pay for it. ”

"This ......," Luan Yi put on a look of embarrassment, "Lord Qubei may not be very clear, this mechanical gui is relatively expensive because of the complicated production process." ”

"High?" I thought that Luan Yi had something to say, and he was laughing at him for having no money in his pocket. Then he said in an unkind tone: "His Royal Highness the King of Qi is wrong with this. Although the wealth in his hands is not as good as that of His Royal Highness King Qi, he is also a right-hand king in Shan Yuting, with tens of thousands of warriors and countless cattle and sheep under his account. A couple of mechanical Gui are still affordable. ”

"That being the case, old drama...... Or give it to the Lady of Bei with ten mechanical gui. Luan Yi said to Xi Zhicai: "If you want more, you can sell it to him at a discount, and you can charge 150 taels of silver at the cost price." ”

"One hundred and fifty taels of silver? Cost price? "Go and gasp, dumbfounded. Obediently, one hundred and fifty two hundred silver is enough to buy two hundred sheep! "It's too expensive, isn't it?"

"There's no way around it. It is very troublesome to make the machine, there are more than 20 processes alone, and it is very precise, but if there is a little mistake during the period, all the previous efforts are nullified. That's why the price of mechanical gui will be so high. ”

After listening to Luan Yi's answer, he was relieved to be humble. "I can't afford such a valuable thing!"

"That's not true. I think that anyone in your ministry can afford to buy our mechanical Gui, because at the moment, I have a big business I want to cooperate with your ministry, with the help of this transaction, it is not difficult for your ministry to make money every day, and after making a fortune, don't say mechanical Gui, glass, tea, silk...... You can buy as much as you want. ”

"Oh? What is the deal? "Go to the humble and suspicious.

Luan Yi looked directly at Qubei and said: "Lord Qubei, the abundant products of the Han Dynasty need a huge human base to support it. We need slaves. ”

"Slaves? His Royal Highness the King of Qi is saying that I will sell my clansmen to you in exchange for money. The wise Qubei immediately realized the potential disaster for the Xiongnu due to population loss. Immediately shook his head, "No, absolutely not." Shan Yuting would never buy and sell his clansmen as commodities. ”

Luan Yi explained with a smile, "Don't always nail your eyes to Shan Yuting!" Who said you were sold to your family? The grassland is so big, in addition to the noble tribesmen, there are also the Karasuma people outside the Saiwai, and to the west, there are the countries of the Western Regions and the Bairong tribe; Across the steppe to the east there were Goguryeo, Sanheng, and, of course, the Xianbei people. With the strength of your troops, you can send elite cavalry to their territory to plunder the herdsmen, and then sell them to our Han Dynasty. ”

"Oh?"

Seeing that Qubei's eyes were wide open and his gaze wandered, Luan Yi knew that he was moved. Then he threw out the bait, "We are willing to give fifteen taels of silver for a blue-shaped man, twelve taels of silver for women under the age of thirty, and seven taels for underage men and women." What do you think? We're sincere enough, aren't we? Of course, we don't want any gray-haired old men, and don't blame us for going back when the time comes. ”

Go and swallow a few mouthfuls of saliva. A young man can be exchanged for fifteen taels of silver, five jars of fine wine, and seven catties of tea...... Ten young men can be exchanged for a mechanical gui. It's a good deal!

Thinking about it, Luan Yi said again: "If Lord Qubei is willing to cooperate with me, the money earned in the future can be exchanged for rich products in my Han." And we, on the other hand, can get more cheap labor to further promote production. It's a match made in heaven. How about going to the humble lord's will. In addition, in order to facilitate your ministry to help our Han army collect manpower, we are willing to open the country and sell Han-made weapons to your ministry. ”

"What?" Go humbled and stunned. For hundreds of years, the Han court has imposed a blockade system on the grasslands, prohibiting the circulation of all goods to the grasslands. Even in the most enlightened eras, such as now, only craft products were allowed to be exported to the steppe, and military supplies such as grain, salt, and iron were not allowed to be sold to the steppe. Anyone who violates the rules in business will be punished with capital punishment according to the law of the Great Han Dynasty.

This was undoubtedly a disaster for the Xiongnu Empire, which was extremely short of iron resources.

In the past, the Huns bought iron and stone from smugglers at high prices to make war blades. The price of the iron and stone bought is too high for the time being, but the hardness and flexibility are unsatisfactory.

Therefore, when he heard that the Han was going to sell the Han weapons to the Xiongnu, he was overjoyed, "His Royal Highness the King of Qi really wants to sell blades to our department?" ”

"Absolutely."