Twelve glass beads exactly.
No, there were twelve crystal beads placed in a box that was hollowed out from a whole piece of mahogany, with the zodiac signs carved on the four walls and the edges wrapped in gold foil.
After making sure that there was no one around, Lin Hai closed the doors and windows, took out the box from his arms, but did not open it. He solemnly pushed it in front of Xin Yuetu.
"Brother Xin, you can take a look. This is the sincerity of our king." Lin Hai lowered his voice and spoke in a volume that Xin Yuetu could barely hear.
Seeing Lin Hai being so serious, Xin Yue put his hands on both sides of the lid of the box, slowly and solemnly opened the box, and then took a breath.
Well, I took another breath.
Well, I took another breath.
Well, I kept gasping for breath...
Just when Lin Hai thought that Xin Yuetu was about to faint, Xin Yuetu, who could only breathe in but not out, finally let out a long sigh. Yes, a very long one.
There are twelve crystal beads in the box, each one is crystal clear and comes in various colors!
One of them showed green light, the color was like emerald but more translucent;
One of them shone red, looking like the sun but feeling cold to the touch;
One of them oozes yellow light, the color is like gold but warm as usual;
"Brother Zhang, where did this treasure come from?" Xin Yuetu didn't even ask about Lin Hai's intention at the first time (of course, it's obvious that it can't be given away for free).
"Brother Xin, although it's Cambodia and the Shanzhai group's cooperation, you and I both know that compared to Cambodia, the Shanzhai group is nothing. The word 'cooperation' really flatters us. If Cambodia's grand plan succeeds in the future, Brother Xin will naturally be the first hero and will be rewarded handsomely. I, your humble servant, will not suffer any loss by following you. However, everything is difficult at the beginning. You also have many constraints in Cambodia. If you fail to accomplish this, it will show that you are incompetent. If you succeed, there is a possibility that others will take credit for your achievements, causing you to fail."
Having said that, Lin Hai looked up at Xin Yuetu and found that he was not paying attention to Lin Hai's actions at all. He was just staring at the glass beads and nodding in response.
"Brother Xin knows that if you don't accomplish something yourself, it's worse than not being done at all! Therefore, we must not only do things beautifully, but also secure your credit. Of course, Brother Xin's care is indispensable to the village. This set of twelve colored crystal beads was found in the newly discovered Qinghe crystal mine. I dug through the vein and found the core. Each one is naturally formed and has a different color, which happens to correspond to the twelve zodiac signs. This divine object on earth corresponds to the astrological signs, which is indeed a very auspicious sign. Giving this to Brother will surely play the greatest role at a critical moment."
Lin Hai finished speaking in one breath, but it could be summed up in one sentence: "If anyone wants to mess with you when you go back, just give this as a gift. It will work."
Xin Yuetu deeply agreed with Lin Hai's words. After all, according to the agreement between the two sides, the Khmer exchanged food and medicine for iron ingots and even weapons supplied by the Shanzhai. This was a mutually beneficial situation for both sides. It could even be said that as long as the Shanzhai had iron, they could exchange it for food and medicine from anyone, so this transaction actually benefited the Khmer. Therefore, for Xin Yuetu, once the trade route was stabilized, the more iron and weapons the Khmer obtained, the greater his contribution would be.
Xinyuetu had no confidence that he could take on such a great credit.
Even if the Cambodian court did not fully understand the amount of iron that a mountain stronghold could provide when the agreement was just reached, and might have thought that it was just a small amount of iron that was useless and could be discarded, that would have been fine. However, once there really was a steady supply of iron transported to Cambodia through the small roads in the Ten Thousand Mountains as Lin Hai said, Xin Yuetu firmly believed that he would definitely step down from his position as the person in charge, and might even frame him with a lot of charges in order to make him hand over his power with good reason.
According to Khmer rules, no collateral branch of the family is allowed to get involved in such a great achievement.
Therefore, this box of "Zodiac Crystal Beads" is used to open up his joints and save his life.
That night, King Zhentian, who had been outside fighting other bandits, finally returned to the stronghold and held a grand banquet to entertain Xin Yuetu who had come from afar. He officially named his stronghold Qitian Stronghold and finally confirmed the content of the transaction.
The deal was simple: the Khmer Empire would exchange food, primarily rice, and patent medicines, for iron ingots and weapons produced by the strongholds. The ratio of iron ingots to weapons was determined by the strongholds based on their own productivity. The Khmer Empire would complete the transaction at the meeting point.
As for Cambodia's ambitions in the southwest after the expansion of the Shanzhai, everyone actually knows it tacitly. It is too early to say this now. There is only a simple sentence left: Cambodia handed over the intelligence of various southwestern forces it had to the Shanzhai. The official reason was that they were worried that the Shanzhai would "accidentally hurt" other Cambodian agents during its expansion.
However, due to the Shanzhai's shrewd behavior and the powerful bonus of a box of crystal beads, Xinyuetu also promised on behalf of Cambodia that after the first iron material-grain transaction was completed, Cambodia could be responsible for gradually repairing the road from Cambodia to the Shanzhai to facilitate transportation. At the same time, the Shanzhai could purchase land in Mengyang, a border city of Cambodia, open a trading house, station reasonable personnel to protect the trade route, and directly trade all products except steel products with Cambodian people in Mengyang.
Of course, regarding this demand, Lin Hai’s explanation is that the output of crystal mines also needs to be sold. The best crystals are naturally dedicated to the Khmer royal family, but if some ordinary crystals can be bought by the Khmer people, it will also be of some help to the counterfeit goods.
In response, Xin Yuetu said, "Leave it to me." It's no big deal for a friend to start a small business.
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