Chapter 159 Step by Step
After a series of discussions, Panlong Kingdom finally targeted the Second Princess as the breakthrough point. After all, she had not handed over their people like the First Princess did, which proved that there was a chance for cooperation.
The second princess originally didn't want to meet these people, but then she changed her mind and realized that they had promised to help her ascend the throne as empress, but they had not taken any substantial action, and as a result, the new emperor benefited from it.
Now the Sixth Prince who has ascended the throne seems to want to establish a good relationship with her. As for what his purpose is, everyone knows it, but she is not stupid.
Since she wanted to bring down the eldest princess, she couldn't dirty her hands with some things, so she secretly asked her confidant to meet the people of Panlong Kingdom, and to ensure that everything was foolproof, she also asked one of her secret guards to go with them.
The two sides secretly spy for two hours before leaving one after another. The content of their conversation reached Lianyi's ears in less than half an hour.
"Empress, Panlong Country wants to sell us their surplus grain, saying it is to help the Second Princess so that she can have more confidence after having the grain. Moreover, they have promised to sell it to Fengqi Country at a price three cents per pound lower than the market price."
"With such a good bargaining chip, what are Panlong Country's conditions?"
Lianyi would never believe that pie would fall from the sky.
"Let their grain transport teams enter Fengqi Country and allow them to sell other things."
"I remember there is a special trading market with Panlong Country. Are they planning to open a new trading market?"
"They wanted to go to the five occupied cities, and they also gave their reasons. After all, after the cities were occupied, the people of Panlong Country did not leave, but continued to make a living in the cities. They also have some relatives and friends who want to take them back."
"Humph! I'm afraid the drunkard has other intentions! What does the Second Princess say?"
"Her confidant replied that they could only go to one of the cities and let them think it over. The two sides are still arguing.
However, that confidant accidentally let the other party know the whereabouts of the Third Princess and the city she was in."
After Fengshou replied, he stood aside with his eyes lowered.
Lianyi was so angry that she almost laughed. She didn't know whether to say that the Second Princess was smart or stupid. She knew how to kill with a borrowed knife and used the people of Panlong Kingdom to eliminate the Third Princess for her, and she was also able to drag the First Princess into the water.
What's so stupid is that she is trying to get the skin of a tiger. Once this matter is exposed, she will not be able to ascend to the throne, and she may not even be able to keep her current identity as a princess. After all, she, the empress, is still alive!
"If she can buy a large amount of disaster relief food at a low price, then let her do it, but she must keep a close eye on it and don't let Panlong Country pass off inferior goods as good ones.
Keep a close eye on the people from Panlong Country. It would be best if we could follow the clues and pull out all of them. Then we can arrange for someone to use these identities and send a generous gift to Xuanwu Country and Baihu Country."
Lian Yi ordered directly.
"Yes, I will give the order right away."
"Arrange someone to bring back the Third Brother and Xian Shijun. Make sure they are not infected with the plague."
Lian Yi added another sentence.
"yes."
Lianyi cut a peony flower, put it in a small crystal vase, and asked Lanxin to give it to Nannan. The child was quite sensible and would come to pay her respects after finishing her homework every day.
Sometimes she would ask questions that she didn't understand. Lianyi had already begun to instill the thinking of a superior into the little girl, influencing her subtly. In Shijiu's words, she had started to practice the trumpet.
Three days later, the Second Princess came to see Lianyi. After all, buying grain from Panlong Kingdom was no small matter. It required the use of the reserve silver in the national treasury, so she had to let the Queen know and stamp it with the Queen's seal, otherwise she would not be able to use the silver.
“Mother Queen, this matter was initiated by the people of Panlong Country. They contacted my people privately. At first, I thought they were big grain merchants, but I thought the timing of their appearance was too clever. Later, after several investigations, I found out that they were from Panlong Country.
But the price they offered was very attractive, and it could also solve the urgent problem of food shortage, so I did not expose them. I negotiated with them for a few days and agreed on the price, and then I came to report to the Queen Mother. To be honest, I was not sure, and I always felt that Panlong Country would definitely not be so kind. "
The Second Princess' words cleared her of all charges and handed the final decision-making power to Lianyi, showing her respect for the Queen. She also revealed through self-exposure that it was not she who took the initiative to contact the Panlong people, but that the other party concealed his identity and contacted her.
Lianyi smiled, thinking that the Second Princess's rank had improved and she even knew how to distance herself from the relationship and share the risk.
"The cities affected by the disaster will have to rely on relief grain until the beginning of next spring, and they will also need good seeds for farming after the beginning of spring. You can ask the people in the Ministry of Revenue to make a detailed calculation to see how big the gap in the reserve grain in the national treasury granary is. It doesn't mean that we must buy it just because he sells it."
After hearing this, the Second Princess immediately said:
"I have asked the Minister of Revenue to do some statistics, and the current shortage is 500,000 kilograms of grain."
The second princess obviously came prepared.
"Well, you buy 100,000 kilograms of grain first, and check every bag of grain to make sure the people of Panlong Country don't take advantage of you. You yourself doubt their intentions, so you must be even more cautious."
Ripple proposes a compromise.
"Your Majesty is still thinking long-term. Then let's buy 100,000 kilograms first. I will definitely assign someone to keep an eye on it. I will have them transport the grain directly to the disaster-stricken city. This way, we can further test the other party. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"But! I told you that you are the regent now. If you are undecided about anything, you can come and ask me for advice. Once you have an idea and a decision, just do it. Don't procrastinate!"
"Yes, I thank you for your trust!"
The second princess bowed and left Zhuo Xiuyuan with a smile on her face.
This matter was brought up at the morning court on the second day, and all the ministers agreed with the Second Princess' proposal. The Ministry of Revenue could still come up with the silver to purchase 100,000 kilograms of grain, so the matter was finalized.
The next step is to wait for Panlong State to deliver the grain, and everyone will inspect the goods in person before paying the silver.
Panlong State also received the news sent back by themselves, and knew that Fengqi State was willing to pay silver to purchase grain, but the gap was large and they could not raise such a large amount of silver at once. They were also worried that they would cheat, so they only proposed to buy 100,000 kilograms of grain first, which was also a test.
"Your Majesty, the Queen of Fengqi has always been suspicious. We just need to agree to them. Even if they are testing us, our grain transporters can still enter Fengqi. Moreover, the Second Princess said that all the grain this time will be used for disaster relief, so it will be transported directly to the disaster-stricken cities. Our chance has come."
Zhang Zhang explained the pros and cons very clearly.
"Okay, we won't do anything with this first batch of food. We'll just send it over first. The main purpose is to allow our people to enter the five cities smoothly."
(End of this chapter)
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