"I've seen Her Majesty."

In the imperial study, looking at Dongfang Xiao, who had been waiting for a long time, Xu Shi politely saluted her.

That's right, the seemingly excessive request of "meeting the Empress alone" is actually not so excessive.

At least in Cheng Gujian's considerations, it is still within an acceptable range.

Because in his eyes, Xu Shi's threat alone is not too big - his combat effectiveness is not high, and he has already seen it in terms of ability, and he happens to be restrained by the holy light inherited by the royal family, even if he is allowed to talk to Dongfang Xiao, he will not be able to do anything out of the ordinary.

And this is just an interview, not an elopement, he himself will be guarding outside, if he really notices that something is wrong, he can also respond as soon as possible.

The most important thing is that this time there is a negotiation between their royal family and Xu Shi, and they want to pull him together to eliminate the adverse effects of the Poseidon Stone transaction as much as possible, and the original intention is not to simply chat.

To put it mildly, this is called asking for help...... When they crusaded against the sea god before, they were already not authentic first, and Xu Shi's dissatisfaction was already written on his face, if he didn't make some concessions, then he really couldn't see the situation clearly.

When the time comes, he will return home with a lot of money, and the huge deficit will have to be filled by the royal family alone - anyway, the Holy See can pass the buck and pass the buck, and we are not an authority.

At that time, operations such as the porridge shed and the good hall will allow them to save a lot of reputation, and the pressure will be much less.

In contrast, the royal family is really not so easy...... However, since it is a separate meeting, the location must not be the main palace hall, and the imperial study is a good choice.

The fact is that when Gu Jian himself and Dongfang Xiao report the situation, they usually choose to be here, clean and undisturbed.

It's just that today, it is Xu Shi who sits in his seat.

"Mr. Xu."

Dongfang Xiao smiled and got up and saluted back, and even the title was not the hard name of "Xu Messenger" before, and the sentence of Mr. subtly narrowed the distance.

Even if it is a mascot, for the lord of a country, this gesture can be regarded as sufficient.

"A few times before, I just looked at it from a distance, and I felt that Mr. Feng Shen was handsome and talented, but now when I look at it closely, it makes me feel even more amazing."

She even took the initiative to say something nice to try to bring the two closer together.

"Really?"

Xu Shi sat back and nodded indifferently, "I think so too, since I was a child, people around me said that I was very handsome." ”

“……”

I have to say that such a shameless answer does give the little queen a little bit of a no-brainer.

As a matter of common sense, shouldn't you also say two nice words to each other? To be polite, do you really take it as a tonic?

Even if you're really handsome, you shouldn't be like that...... Am I so ugly? Isn't it worth your praise?

Hey, it's really a demon.

"Of course, it is also an honor for Xu to be appreciated by a beauty like Her Majesty the Empress."

Just when she was quite upset, Xu Shi slowly said what she wanted to hear.

One thing to say, in the face of the king of a country, such words are definitely not very respectful, but have a bit of ridicule.

If he were an ordinary servant and said such a thing, Dongfang Xiao had no doubt that he would be punished heavily, and he would have to be rewarded with a slap at the very least, dare to talk to me like this, don't you die?

But just now she was still complaining about how he didn't boast, and Xu Shi himself was a foreigner, so there was not much displeasure left in her heart, but there was a feeling of "this is about the same".

It can be seen that some people really use language skills for the sake of perfection.

"Human temperament always likes to reconcile, I really have to pull, I don't believe you watch the video"

"Haha."

With such thoughts, the little empress couldn't help but hide her face and chuckle, and teased by the way, "You are flamboyant, no wonder there are groups of wives and concubines around you." ”

"But I'm more amazed at what you're capable of...... How did you come up with the idea of the Poseidon Stone trade? ”

Jokes aside, she didn't forget to cut to the chase, this is the main thing to talk about with him today.

"Is it hard?"

The banter on Xu Shi's face also subsided a little, and he said, "In my city-state, this is just a very basic operation. ”

It's even past that time...... For major consortia, if they really want to make money, there are more efficient means than this.

And that's exactly what he wants to say, I have far more hands than you think, and that's where it goes.

"Yes......"

Dongfang Xiao muttered, and there was no smile between his eyebrows, "Then should I still thank Mr. Xu for using only some basic operations to disrupt the empire's market?" ”

"It should."

Xu Shi nodded, "In the end, it was you who were unrighteous in the first place, and almost wiped out our exploits in defeating the Sea God." ”

"I still remember clearly that before going to sea to crusade against the sea god, His Majesty once said that he wanted the two states to be reconciled forever."

He cleared his throat and said, "But now I don't see any sincerity, so it makes sense to retaliate." ”

"After all, I'm a very cautious person."

“……”

Listening to his straightforward speech, Dongfang Xiao stopped again in Bengbu.

This person...... What's the matter with this person?

To be honest, through the previous negotiations, she also understood that Xu Shi's personality can definitely be described as strong - if he didn't have such a character, I'm afraid their city-state wouldn't let him lead the team to sea as an envoy.

But isn't that a bit too strong?

You really don't turn a corner when you talk to people, do you?

She even had a little inexplicable frustration in her heart - it doesn't work to talk to you beautifully, and she can't calm you with a kingly posture, so what about me?

In Dongfang Xiao's opinion, although this empress is aggrieved, he still has the basic qualities of being a king, at least she can suppress it as an ordinary minister, and it is not completely a situation where "the world only knows the grand duke but does not know the empress".

But when it came to Xu, it felt like no tricks worked.

Tut.

“…… Since Mr. Xu said so, you can understand your feelings. ”

Aggrieved to aggrieved, the conversation still had to be carried out, so she thought for a moment and said, "It's just that some things don't represent what I mean...... I wonder if Mr. is feeling better now? ”

"Are you alright?"

Xu Shi's answer was ambiguous, "In the end, I didn't get anything good, it doesn't matter what the people of the empire think of me, I really smashed the real money into it." ”

"I don't think so."

The little empress shook her head and said, "I still know something about what Mr. Xu did...... It seems that from the very beginning, you have opened quite a few stations to trade livestock with my people? ”

When the price of Poseidon Stone rises wildly, the price of other goods will only become more and more cheap, which she still knows in her heart, the market price of a ploughing cow before is three silver coins, but even one silver coin can be bought later, and the situation of other things is not much better.

But.

"Now that the Poseidon Stone is worthless, the price of these things will naturally rise, even higher than before."

"So, you're actually definitely the biggest profiteer, aren't you?"

Buy at a low price or even at a low price, and now sell at a high price, the difference between one in and one out will not be a small amount, you don't have to pretend here, I can understand!

Not to mention that this matter was originally set off by him, Dongfang Xiao doesn't believe that he is a master who is willing to hurt people by a thousand and damage himself by eight hundred, how can anyone believe that he has also lost?

"You can't say that."

Xu Shi didn't deny it, but of course he had to sell it when he got cheap, "I'm a foreigner, what's the use of having so many cattle and sheep in my hands?" You also have to pay someone to manage the cleaning ...... I don't know how much to spend on feed every day, how can it be as easy as your majesty said. ”

"In that case, should Mr. Xu consider selling these things back to the royal family?"

The little empress pursed her lips, didn't talk nonsense with him, and said straightforwardly, "How much do you want, I want as much as you want, as for the price can be discussed, I can guarantee that you will never suffer a loss, so you can be counted as a breath of relief, how about it?" ”

Hearing this, Xu Shi raised his eyebrows slightly.

Pretty smart, huh...... In the final analysis, the royal family came to him to negotiate today, essentially to minimize the royal family's losses.

And this is indeed a good way to do this—these are indeed indispensable parts of the Hualan Empire, especially its people, who have not yet completely departed from the confines of an agrarian society.

In this case, it is definitely better to use property as compensation to appease people's hearts than to directly fill the hole with money.

If you think about it from another perspective, he may be able to sell things back to the affected citizens at a lower price, which will not only reduce their losses, but also make the royal family's losses smaller.

At the same time, he can earn a lot of prestige, and it is the royal family who saved everyone from fire and water, which is much more than the small favor of the Holy See.

Of course, if the property can be distributed directly for free, everyone will naturally be more grateful.

It's all practical methods, it depends on how much meat she is willing to cut.

Therefore, this little Empress Dongfang Xiao is not really just a mascot, at least in the face of this unprecedented and difficult situation, she can quickly think of a way to deal with it, and this alone is very commendable.

This also made him appreciate the other party a little more, you are not just a vase.

Merely.

"Why?"

After thinking about it, he just shook his head, "It's better to sell it to the royal family than to sell it back myself, I think I will definitely make more money, and now the market is in short supply, and some people may buy it at any price I offer." ”

"You!"

This sentence made Dongfang Xiao not calm, almost done!

From the beginning of the conversation, she has been showing favor to Xu Shi, and her posture has always been very low, even in the face of Cheng Gujian, she has never done this part.

The result was a sentence of "Why?" She really couldn't help it.

"Mr. Xu, don't forget, this is the Hualan Empire, not your city-state."

Her face was as gloomy as ink, and she tried her best not to let her tone be too angry, "And I am the empress of this empire, and I will never let you do whatever you want." ”

"But Your Majesty, didn't you say it before, you can't do many things."

Xu Shicai didn't eat her set, and responded with a smile, "Even if I really talk to the royal family, why don't I go directly to the Grand Duke of Gu Jian?" Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, no matter who I talk to, he'll have to pay a part of the money. ”

This is already very euphemistic, to put it bluntly, the master didn't treat you as an empress at all, Cheng Gujian is the real person in power, right?

We still have friendships before, so why waste time with you?

“……”

This is already the third time that Dongfang Xiao has stopped in Bengbu in a short conversation.

And this time it can be said that it poked her lung tube, which is the most excessive.

After all, how can anyone really show that she is a mascot in front of her? No matter how euphemistic this was, it sounded quite harsh to her.

But Xu Shi's words were still in one sentence, and he really could bypass himself and go directly to Cheng Gujian if he wanted to talk.

After all, what he said was completely right, this deficit would not have been borne by the royal treasury, and as the person in charge of the implementation of the Poseidon Stone transaction, Cheng Gujian naturally had to make some blood.

In this case, Cheng Gujian probably doesn't care about how much or too little - it's not too big, he will never care too much, if he can use this method to give Xu Shi a favor, it will be more worthwhile for him.

After all, because of the crusade against the sea god, there is now a gap between the two, and he can just take this opportunity to eliminate some of the discord between himself and Xu Shi.

"That'...... What do you want to do? ”

The little empress bit her lip and asked with a little tremor in her voice.

It seems that now she realizes that her previous thoughts seem to be a little naïve, but it is undeniable that from the beginning, this conversation was Xu Shi leading her by the nose, both emotionally and substantively.

It's just that this sentence is still the only chance in her life, and even then she can't give up easily.

"I don't want to do anything, I just want Your Majesty to understand a truth."

Looking at her slightly aggrieved, but helpless little appearance, Xu Shi's smile became brighter and brighter, "You are not the one who made the bid, I am." ”

"I know that Your Majesty is smart and clever, and you may have seen the twists and turns behind the Seagod Stone transaction as early as the beginning."

He crossed his fingers and said unhurriedly, "But you didn't stop it, but let it go so far...... I thought, I'm afraid it's just looking for an opportunity to work with me? ”

"To be honest, I still admire your strong man's move of breaking his wrist, and I am willing to gamble with the national honor of the Hualan Empire...... This is something that most people dare not think about. ”

"Of course, selfishness is also true selfishness, after all, you already know that once the bubble bursts, I don't know how many people will go bankrupt, and even the entire empire will fall into turmoil...... But I can understand you, the taste of the weak and the strong is really uncomfortable, I have experienced such things before. ”

"So, based on that alone, I'm actually quite willing to help you."

"It's just that I'm also conditional, it depends on how much you can accept."

(End of chapter)