Chapter 128 High-Ranking Official's Secrets

"Let me, the king, pay my respects to you. Don't be so arrogant!"

Qin Mo sat down in the main seat with an air of authority and teased Qing Ning for a while. Although Qing Ning was no longer wearing her heavy black armor, Qin Mo still called her "hero".

"Your Highness's status has risen significantly, and the threshold of your residence is too high. It would be best if Qing Ning did not presume to approach you."

Looking at Qing Ning dressed in women's clothing, Qin Mo couldn't help but think that she was still a tomboy, or at most a pretty tomboy.

"Alright, whatever your opinion of me, you can't let your mistress's affairs be delayed. Did you come to pave the way for her, or did you send yourself?"

Qin Mo didn't understand why Qing Ning had such feelings towards him, but he didn't dwell on it. He had to give the Empress some face; it was more important to talk about business.

“You know who my master is. To have my master come to talk to you… don’t you think that’s putting on too much airs?”

"Oh! So she sent you to talk to me? Unfortunately, you can't make that decision." Qin Mo felt she'd been putting on airs a bit, but she couldn't really back down from that.

"Your Highness may not know this, but I have handled many of the Lord's businesses. As for some financial matters, Qing Ning can make the decisions."

Qin Mo smiled helplessly. The girl in front of him was clearly a little angry, but he really didn't mean to look at her like that.

"Look at this, do you know its value?" Qin Mo placed a wooden box on the table and gestured for Qing Ning to open it.

Qing Ning looked at Qin Mo with a puzzled expression, then reached out and opened the wooden box on the table.

The box is divided into several compartments, containing dried meat and several spices, all emitting a unique aroma.

"Pepper? Nutmeg? You want to do this business?"

"Oh! Since Miss Qingning knows about this business, that's perfect. At least I won't be talking to someone who doesn't understand me."

This time, Qing Ning didn't mock Qin Mo. She carefully examined the various spices in the box and even tasted a piece of dried meat.

“Nutmeg is produced in Johor, but the yield is extremely small, and pepper is only found in India. I wonder where Your Highness Heng obtained it?” Qing Ning’s whole demeanor changed, and she became solemn and cautious in her speech.

"Don't worry about where I got them. I get at least 20,000 dan every year. Can your master eat that much?"

Qing Ning stared at Qin Mo's handsome face as if she were looking at a masterpiece. She stared for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before she spoke, "Please forgive Qing Ning's rudeness... Has Your Highness lost your mind?"

"...Do you think I'm messing around with you? My time is very precious, every hour costs tens of thousands of taels of silver..." Qin Mo was getting a little irritated. He thought he was crazy. If she weren't the Empress's woman, he would have dealt with her first. Many soldiers in the capital don't even have a first wife yet!

"Your Highness, do you know how many caravans travel from the Western Regions to the capital every year? Do you know how much spice is in those caravans? Do you know the price of one tael of spice in the capital?"

Qing Ning was not intimidated by Qin Mo's fierce expression at all. Her confident and eloquent manner made Qin Mo look at her in a new light. This tough woman really knew a thing or two about business.

"In the capital, one tael of spices costs one tael of silver, and a caravan can only carry a few dozen loads. However, the Wang family of Longxi, taking advantage of the terrain, has several caravans going to India to trade pepper. Am I right?"

The furniture in Su Xiang Lou was made in Da Yuan. The comfortable rattan chair made Qin Mo's posture look arrogant, but it made Qing Ning suppress her anger.

"Since Your Highness understands everything, then Qingning will take Your Highness's words as true. May I ask where the 20,000 dan of spices came from? And where do you intend to sell them?"

"Spices grow in the mountains and forests, and the elves are the kings of the jungle; finding pepper and cardamom is a piece of cake for them. As for where to sell them, I don't care, but this business can only be your family's property; no one else is allowed to interfere... anyone... understand?"

Qin Mo emphasized "anyone," referring both to himself and the person on the dragon throne. The spice trade was too profitable; he, as the Prince of Heng, alone couldn't control those greedy and unscrupulous tyrants.

The current emperor is currently short of funds due to his military expedition. If we were to entice him to come here and force him to make a painful decision, we would be at a loss.

"This matter is of great importance. Qingning needs to consult with the Lord before she can continue to discuss it with Your Highness. Please wait patiently, Your Highness."

Qing Ning frowned, and after thinking for a while, she said that she needed to consult Wang Yushi. If Qin Mo's claims were true, then this matter was not something she could decide.

"Even if your child couldn't make the decision on his own, he still had to consult his parents. Fine, I, the King, am magnanimous and will forgive you!"

Qin Mo waved to Qing Ning in a very generous manner, got up and left. This time, Qing Ning personally saw him to the door, a change from her previous indifferent attitude towards Qin Mo.

At the Danshui Naval Academy, Qin Mo was giving a lecture. A set of strange equipment diagrams were drawn on the new sliding blackboard, with annotations such as steam jet pipes and exhaust windows.

"The timber used for shipbuilding is generally sourced locally and selected based on the best quality. Unless it is a very important warship, a certain type of ship material is not usually specially selected."

“In traditional shipbuilding techniques, wood must undergo desorption treatment, either by soaking it in water or by piling it up to dry, which can take several years. If the wood is not desorbed, its water absorption rate can reach 70%, making it unusable.”

"Our steam drying technology can shorten the processing time of ship materials to within a few months, greatly shortening the shipbuilding cycle."

Qin Mo spoke eloquently, using fresh and original phrases; the young students below listened attentively to Qin Mo's explanation, occasionally scribbling and drawing on their papers, their eyes filled with admiration.

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