Xie Yuan knew that Helian Jue had a new woman by his side, which meant he suddenly had a "love rival."
Helian Jue successfully occupied Huangzhou and obtained all of Huang Zhida's property.
He allocated the vast majority of the funds to military expenses, but still selected a few pieces of jewelry and ornaments and ordered Xuanjia to deliver them to Xie Yuan.
"A complete set of jewelry inlaid with rubies in pure gold, a pair of top-quality mutton-fat jade bracelets, and two potted coral trees that are a foot tall..."
While counting the items on the list, Xie Yuan also played with the gold and silver jewelry.
There were also golden pearls the size of longan, large pieces of ambergris, and a box full of pearls, enough for Xie Yuan to make a pearl-embroidered shirt.
The "gifts" that Helian Jue sent to her alone were worth more than 100,000 strings of cash.
"Tsk tsk, war really is a way to make money."
What's that saying again? "When the cannons roar, gold pours in."
Helian Jue did not have cannons, but he had five thousand well-trained and well-equipped elite soldiers.
Moreover, his attack was a surprise attack, and Huang Zhida's tribal-style, unprofessional army was no match for Helian Jue.
In just one encounter, Huang Zhida and his men were routed.
Helian Jue's side only had wounded, with no casualties, which shows that the battle was not intense at all.
He Lianjue easily defeated Huang Zhida and gained access to his accumulated wealth over the past decade. This battle was a huge win for Helian Jue.
"Not bad, he ate the meat himself, but he didn't forget to give me some soup!"
Xie Yuan was very satisfied with the "dividends" sent by Helian Jue.
That's what a great partner is like—they don't hog all the benefits.
Fortunately, Helian Jue couldn't hear Xie Yuan's words, otherwise he would have been angry: This is a gift for my wife, not some bullshit dividend.
After taking inventory of the items, Xie Yuan picked up Helian Jue's letter.
In the letter, Helian Jue gave a general account of his situation during this period.
They marched hastily through the mountains, incidentally eliminating one or two bandits, and then encountered the daughter of Li Jin, the former governor of Huangzhou.
Helian Jue couldn't remember Li Lizhi's name at all, and in the letter, he simply referred to her as "Lady Li".
Moreover, the Li woman only appears once.
Judging from her indifferent attitude, Xie Yuan couldn't possibly consider Li Shi as a rival in love.
She wouldn't, like Li Lizhi, overthink things and think that Helian Jue had a "new love."
Throughout the entire letter, Xie Yuan didn't pay any attention to this woman surnamed Li.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that Xie Yuan did not treat Helian Jue as a husband, but only as a partner, or even a boss.
"Go to Jiaozhou? Fine! We'll just take Jiaozhou directly!"
Xie Yuan generally agreed with Helian Jue's decision.
Jiaozhou has been the territory of the Chinese nation since ancient times, and even now, the governor of Jiaozhou has clearly stated his allegiance to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Helian Jue has now merely transformed Jiaozhou's nominal submission into a de facto return.
"...I hope he can find Champa rice successfully."
Xie Yuan prayed silently in her heart. She put the things away, lit the letter, and threw it into the brush washer to burn to ashes.
...
The first month of the lunar calendar passed quickly, and the busyness of the new year slowly began.
Just as Xie Yuan had predicted, the powerful and wealthy people in Yuezhou and other prefectures and counties in Lingnan who had acquired the secret recipe rushed to buy sugarcane and open sugar shops.
As soon as February began, large quantities of brown sugar appeared on the market in Lingnan.
The supply of brown sugar surged, causing the price to drop.
Of course, those nobles weren't stupid.
They knew very well that cutthroat competition would only make their brown sugar less and less valuable.
They began using their family connections to transport brown sugar out of Lingnan.
Jiangnan, Northwest China, and even the capital city.
Brown sugar quickly swept the world.
Although it took some effort and money, the price of brown sugar ultimately remained within a relatively expensive range.
The powerful and wealthy can barely accept this situation.
As a result, a new round of land grabbing and sugarcane planting began throughout Lingnan.
Disputes such as seizing farmland and encroaching on the land of the Li and Liao people also occurred one after another.
Lingnan began to exhibit a chaotic and frenzied state.
Amidst this chaos, Xie Yuan did not join in the fun; instead, he scaled back his sugar-making business.
Her sugar shop simply reduced the amount of brown sugar and focused on selling white sugar and rock sugar.
The brown sugar trade routes opened up by the powerful and wealthy also benefited Xie Yuan.
She also sold white sugar and rock sugar outside of Lingnan.
Having the same sales channels, its price is much higher than that of brown sugar.
Therefore, although Xie Yuan did not expand, his profits increased instead of decreasing.
However, because the other powerful figures made a grand display, the Prince Yue's residence became increasingly low-key and thus did not attract much attention.
This perfectly aligns with Xie Yuan's principle: to make a fortune quietly.
Although Zheng Yurong, Zhao Min, and the other managers understood Xie Yuan's intentions, they still felt a pang of regret.
It's such a pity that they gave up the brown sugar business.
Even a small mosquito bite is still meat, but the problem is, the brown sugar business isn't about "mosquito bites," it's about huge profits.
Xie Yuan smiled and said, "It's alright! We have enough white sugar and rock sugar."
One should not be too greedy.
"But even white sugar and rock sugar need to be boiled down with sugarcane!"
Unfortunately, the princess did not expand the sugarcane plantation; the sugarcane from Xianjia Village and a few surrounding villages was simply not enough.
"Don't worry! I, the princess, have my own ideas!"
White sugar is made from brown sugar, so even if she doesn't go to great lengths to acquire land and grow sugarcane, she can simply buy brown sugar.
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