The issue that had been debated in the court for the past two days was miraculously resolved.
After the court session ended, the officials walked out of the main hall, all gathered together and whispered to each other. Most people thought that Li Yingxiao was just bored.
"That's right. Now we can exchange wool for grain. What's the point of fighting? When I think about how my worthless wool in my room can soon be exchanged for bags of high-quality grain, I'm so happy that I almost wake up laughing."
"In the end, it's just that the king is too greedy. He already has the direct sales rights to perfume, so what else could he be dissatisfied with? Besides, when it comes to wool, he's the biggest wool merchant in the world. We're just getting a piece of the pie, so I don't understand why he's dissatisfied."
"Yes, now I don't have to worry about whether those cheapskates down there will starve to death in the winter. As long as they can harvest and shear their sheep on time, they will always get some food. If they still starve to death, it only means they are too lazy."
"It's never easy raiding Grass Valley. If we run into a heavily defended town like that, we might not be able to take it, or even if we can, there will definitely be heavy casualties. Even though we were promised a three-day search, can the dead be brought back alive?"
"Didn't the Zhang family lose several sons outside in the past two years? As a result, he dares not go anywhere and can only stay at home and make trouble. It's really pitiful."
"I'm already forty years old, and I can't lift my arms or legs anymore. My only wish now is to see my children live a peaceful life. You want me to continue fighting in armor? What a joke! I can't live a good life!"
"What do you mean by conquering cities and expanding territory? Even if we really conquer those cities, will the king give them to us?"
"Even if they could really distribute it to us, we don't know how to manage it. We'd have to hand it over to those civil servants, or even the scholars of Da Qi, to help us manage it. What's the point of all this trouble? Just to make a few extra cents?"
"Please don't do that. If it gets like that, we won't be able to do business anymore. We don't know how much we'll lose. We won't be able to get any of that."
"I'm going to tell you all a secret today. I don't want to fight. I just want to honestly shear sheep and exchange them for food. What better deal could there be in the world? Next year I plan to double the size of my flock, shear the wool for food, and keep the mutton for myself."
"Hush, keep your voices down. You're not afraid that the king will hear you if you give way to him."
"What's there to be afraid of? He's taken all the biggest benefits. Are we wrong?"
"Yes, I heard that those Arabs are extremely rich, stupid, and have a lot of money. They smell even more like sheep. I was planning to recommend soap to them."
"Brother, do you have any connections? Please share with us!"
Every political system has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of Xixia's political system is that the pressure on the country is not too great. In many cases, Li Yingxiao is not responsible for the life and death of the people of Xixia. Only the nobles who manage them need to worry about such matters.
As for the shortcomings, it is that the degree of centralization is not enough, and the local forces can challenge the central government, so the respect that the nobles below have for Li Yingxiao is just so-so.
If Lu Chen's Chamber of Commerce and Li Chixiang and his team were considered private transactions, then exchanging wool for food was the national policy of both countries.
Moreover, Li Yingxiao was indeed the one who benefited the most from this. No wonder some of the nobles below were very unhappy. They all felt that Li Yingxiao's eating habits were too ugly.
Li Yingxiao also knew that his subordinates had some complaints, especially after he allowed his family to monopolize the perfume business, there were even more complaints.
But he didn't care. In his opinion, as long as he had enough power, he could overwhelm these dissatisfactions, and money was necessary to maintain power.
After returning to the harem, Li Yingxiao ordered singing and dancing and ate and drank happily.
The concubine who was accompanying him said, lying in his arms, "Your Majesty, I heard that Da Qi has made an orchid-shaped perfume. I wonder when we can use it here. I know that Your Majesty likes the scent of orchids the most. When the time comes, I will make myself smell delicious."
When the matter of perfume was mentioned again, Li Yingxiao became even more excited.
A beautiful woman with a fragrant scent is certainly tempting, but compared to wealth, money can make him more intoxicated.
The Arab side has already offered double the price, and he really wants to make this money, but unfortunately he doesn't have much perfume in stock.
The main reason was that the supply from the Great Qi had not increased. The Xixia people did look down on the people from the Great Tang, thinking that they all smelled like sheep, but the Xixia people also smelled bad and needed perfume as well.
Xixia alone can consume a lot of perfume, and there is really not much that can be sold to the Tangut Empire.
This is indeed a difficult matter. He can't just stop the nobles in the country from using perfume. If he dares to do so, he is sure that his rule will be overthrown tomorrow.
After much thought, he decided to find a solution at the source. Then he remembered that a minister had told him some time ago that the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Da Qi wanted to further cooperate and establish a flower cultivation base in Xixia.
Once the base is built, the output of flowers will increase and the supply of perfume will be greatly improved.
At that time, Li Yingxiao was still a little hesitant. After all, the arable land area in Western Xia was small, and cattle and sheep had to be raised in other places. If a separate area was opened up to grow flowers, would the people of Western Xia lack food?
But after seeing the offer from the Arabs today, Li Yingxiao instantly no longer had any concerns about this.
What a joke, double the price! Perfume is now sold for five hundred taels of silver per bottle in Xixia. If the price were doubled, Li Yingxiao himself wouldn't dare to think about it.
If I could keep the perfume business going, why would I worry about not having enough food? If there wasn't enough food, I could just buy it.
What made Li Yingxiao even more excited was that after establishing a connection with the Arabs, as long as the Arabs could purchase perfumes steadily, he would be a link in the perfume supply chain.
Li Yingxiao took a sip of wine and thought happily, "So, perfume can be considered our own business! It's our own business, so we must pay more attention to it. We should quickly send a letter to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Emperor of Da Qi that I have agreed to lease them the land!"
Lu Chen, who was far away in Yangzhou, never expected that he would get his first concession so inexplicably!
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