Chapter 642 A Lot of Silver
As soon as they met, Guo Chong complimented him, "Your Highness, it's been a long time since we last met. You seem to be even more vigorous and energetic."
"Really?" King Jin smiled. He had been fighting with the natives for territory recently, and he had indeed become much more muscular.
"Your Highness, our governor is worried that you won't be accustomed to Fusang. So we came to see you this time and brought you some specialties from Dali."
King Jin nodded, "You are thoughtful."
Later, he learned from Bai Xingzhi that the so-called specialty was actually several ships full of supplies, and almost every one of them was what they urgently needed.
Next, Guo Chong did not mention the purpose of their trip. As if chatting, he told what had happened in Pingzhou and Dali during this period.
Prince Jin and Bai Xingzhi then learned of the events that had unfolded since they left Dali for Fusang. In particular, Lü Songli, for the sake of Zhang Zhongxian, had risked his life by traveling to Qingzhou to seek help, leading him to encounter Xie Zhan. The two engaged in a close combat, with Lü Songli ultimately prevailing, sending the injured Xie Zhan into the sea.
Guo Chong also mentioned the incident where Lu Songli and Xie Zhan sat down to discuss Taoism.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he mentioned that Lu Songli once said that the thirteen states in the Central Plains could support 400 million people.
Upon hearing this number, Bai Xingzhi was stunned, and King Jin also found it hard to believe.
Then they talked about some other things, and King Jin arranged for someone to take them to rest.
After Qin Sheng, Guo Chong and his group had a good rest and had their meal, they went out for a walk. When they came back, if King Jin was free, they would go and have tea and chat with him.
This went on for two or three days.
King Jin asked Bai Xingzhi, "What are they here for?" King Jin did not believe that they were simply here to visit him.
Bai Xingzhi knew, "Your Majesty, they want to trade silver with us."
"Do you think we should trade?" asked King Jin.
Bai Xingzhi nodded. "I think we can trade. The prince now owns four silver mines, so he's not short of silver."
They are in Fusang now, and to put it bluntly, it is difficult to spend the money even if they have it.
The King of Jin hesitated, thinking that this would be bad for Dali. After all, if Pingzhou had silver, it could recruit soldiers and horses, which would be a great disadvantage for Dali.
Bai Xingzhi advised him, "Your Majesty, this is not your fault. It's all Song Mo's fault for his injustice."
"Even if you don't agree to the deal, it won't hinder Pingzhou or anything like that."
The news of this silver mine was originally revealed to them by Pingzhou.
Lu Songli can show them the way to Fusang. She may have places similar to Fusang in her hands. At worst, she can send troops to attack.
The prince's refusal may only be a little troublesome for Pingzhou.
Bai Xingzhi's reasoning for the King of Jin stemmed from the profound impact of Guo Chong's earlier retelling of Lü Songli's words. The thirteen prefectures of the Central Plains could support a population of 400 million, yet the combined population of Pingzhou and Dali was less than 20 million. The difference between 20 million and 400 million was truly enormous.
Bai Xingzhi saw clearly that Dali's fate was over. He advised the King of Jin in this way because he didn't want the people to suffer heavy losses due to a protracted war, so he considered it as a way to accumulate merit for the Song family.
Under Bai Xingzhi's persuasion, King Jin once again recognized the truth.
"Your Highness, let's not talk about a deal anymore." Bai Xingzhi held the Prince of Jin back. "Pingzhou is a kind-hearted people. If we do things well, Pingzhou will not treat you unfairly."
Didn't Guo Chong say that before? Shan, Sindhu, Annan, and other places have a lot of good things. Once Pingzhou unifies the country and the people have a few years to recuperate, they will develop in these places.
The current King of Jin owns several silver mines, and this silver is enough for both food and clothing.
It would be better to give some of it out and make friends with Pingzhou. When the time comes and Pingzhou expands outward, just take them along to play together.
The King of Jin was a man who listened to advice. Most importantly, Pingzhou had always been very kind in his dealings with him and had never let him suffer any loss.
So this time, he waved his hand and ordered his men to move the silver onto the ship after unloading the cargo, box by box. After moving some of the silver, he would move the rest of the silver ore, and he would not stop until the ship was full. Anyway, no matter what, it would look good.
Silver! Plenty of silver! Silver mines, white as rice!
The people from Pingzhou looked at this and couldn't stop laughing.
Prince Jin and Qin Sheng said frankly that these should be regarded as his gifts to Pingzhou.
Qin Sheng and Guo Chong were naturally grateful to King Jin for his generosity.
Before leaving, Qin Sheng handed the secret recipe of cement to King Jin.
Seeing this, Bai Xingzhi sighed that Pingzhou was indeed kind.
Yanmen
The Xianbei were also quite busy this year. Even when not at war, the herders still needed to graze their livestock. The redeemed Fuyu people also learned many skills in Pingzhou, such as building houses, paving roads, and farming...
Some of these skills were quite practical, and gradually spread among the Xianbei. For example, in terms of farming, they learned how to plow and prepare the soil. Although they didn't learn how to raise seedlings, they did learn how to transplant rice!
The reason why they wouldn't was simple. Pingzhou was ruthless. They did the easy work themselves, and let the captives do the hard and dirty work! Moreover, some of their techniques were kept secret from the Xianbei!
But it doesn’t matter if they don’t know how to plant rice seedlings. At worst, they can just stop using the Pingzhou method and continue using the old method to farm and still grow crops.
So this year the Xianbei people began to farm. After all, they had already occupied large tracts of farmland in places like Yanmen in Liangzhou in the north.
We can’t let such good land go to waste, right?
However, since there were not many Xianbei people willing to farm, they only chose fertile land for planting.
The poorer fields were left to waste, growing lush green grass, and then they were fenced off to form pastures.
It can be imagined that this year, the Xianbei people, from top to bottom, should be able to have a good winter.
So, when their Xianbei informant from Pingzhou came to them and said he wanted to buy their cattle and sheep at a high price, Tuoba Jin didn't take it seriously. How high could the price be?
When he heard that the other party's bid was 10% to 20% higher than the current market price, he became a little restless.
Over the past year, the Xianbei had more opportunities to interact with the Han people than before, and they felt that silver was very useful. With silver, they could trade tea, various silks, and so on with the Dali people.
With this calculation, the Xianbei people still made a profit.
If the Pingzhou line is lost one day, they can still buy salt from Dali with the silver.
Actually, the Xianbei people really liked the soap and various lotions from Pingzhou; they were so effective. The problem was that the people of Pingzhou wouldn't sell them to them, so they bought them secretly, and they didn't know how many times they had changed hands, so the price was much higher.
Dali also has soap and cleaning liquid, which are cheaper than those in Pingzhou, but the effects are really not as good as those in Pingzhou.
The herdsmen below also disliked it after using it once.
After this period of transactions, he and his informant in Pingzhou have gradually established some trust.
Now the other party is willing to pay a high price to buy their cattle and sheep, and he is happy to do so.
But Tuoba Jin also had doubts. Why did the other party want to buy so many cattle, sheep and other things at once?
The other party refused to answer and said in a firm tone, "Don't worry about it. You Xianbei have raised so many cattle, sheep, and horses this year. You can't eat them all, right? You have to trade them away eventually. What I want to buy now is the part you want to sell."
Tuoba Jin was a little angry, but he was also worried that his refusal this time would ruin the relationship they had been building well, and the price the other party offered was indeed not low.
The prices of cattle and sheep hadn't fluctuated much in recent years, but the price they were offering now exceeded the prices of cattle and sheep in previous winters.
So after Tuoba Jin went to discuss with his father Khan, he decided to trade with the other party.
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