Chapter 258 Who's the Dumber?
"Thump!"
A bundle of silk was thrown onto the long table with a dull thud.
Sri Rahula looked at the stack of silk that had been piled high on the table, his eyes burning with greed, but he still managed to suppress his excitement and firmly shook his head.
"Hey! Don't go too far. My prince may be rich, but he's not a fool to be slaughtered."
Shia was furious; she was angry at her past kindness.
Shia wanted to buy a large sapphire. When she heard that it was available, she excitedly declared, "My prince is not short of money." Then she saw a sapphire that satisfied her immensely.
The gemstone is the size of a ping-pong ball, completely transparent, without even a single color band. It has been polished to have more than twenty facets, which is a very rare craftsmanship in the Lion Kingdom where polishing tools are not well-developed.
Qin Mo recognized this gemstone. Its soft, full, and bright brilliance confirmed its identity as a cornflower blue sapphire. Like the royal blue sapphire, it belonged to the royal family of sapphires, but due to its scarcity, it was much more valuable.
Without hesitation, Qin Mo threw out a bundle of silk. When the wealthy merchant caravans were trading gems in Southeast Asia, they couldn't resolve anything without a bundle of silk. If that didn't work, they would use two bundles at most.
This time, however, Qin Mo had met his match. Shri Rahula, a relative of the ruler of the Koti Dynasty, Parakara Mobahu, was all smiles but refused to budge on the price of the gemstones.
Qin Mo perfectly demonstrated to these bumpkins that "money is no object." Dozens of bundles of silk of various colors filled most of one side of the long table. The silk fabrics, reflecting various colors of light under the sunlight, made Sri Rahula and his friends blush and their noses bleed.
"Shia, ask the hell what they want?"
Qin Mo gritted her teeth and said, "Could it be that I've run into a knowledgeable old driver? That shouldn't be the case! How could someone in such a remote place know how many taels of silver a bolt of silk is worth?"
"Our prince is here, so just name your price! But I'm warning you! He has a bad temper, and if you piss him off... hmph..."
Shia's feigned fierceness and bared teeth actually made several nobles from the Lion Kingdom smile. After all, it's quite amusing to have a beautiful woman grinning and making faces at you.
"We want this... lots of this..."
Sri Rahula took something out and placed it on the table.
Qin Mo stared blankly at the object on the table. It was flat and round, made of bronze, with patterns on both sides. One side even featured a familiar family portrait relief of the three of them.
This is a copper coin from a high-ranking official.
"Damn it! Why didn't you just finish earlier?"
The thousand copper coins and a sturdy sandalwood money box brought a smile to Sri Rahula's face. Silk was indeed precious, but it could be bought in India. These exquisite copper coins were the real rarity.
"Qin Mo, is that guy stupid?"
"Shia, when there is an information asymmetry, the party that controls the information has absolute initiative and can legally plunder the wealth of the other party. Therefore, the early stage of development is the most profitable time, but also the most dangerous time."
Shia's eyes gleamed with admiration; she found Qin Mo incredibly profound. "Why is it the most dangerous time?"
Qin Mo glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then quietly replied, "What if the person who was tricked realizes what's happening? They'll definitely back out! And if they can't back out, what will happen? They'll chop you up!"
Shia immediately stuffed the sapphire into his chest and said fiercely, "A willing buyer, willing seller, money and goods settled. Want to back out?... Don't even think about it!"
The nights in Cote Port are usually quiet, but now they've become lively because of the arrival of the Grand Prince.
After a long voyage at sea, the first thing crew members do upon reaching land is relax and relieve their tense or numb nerves. Strong liquor and women are usually enough to satisfy their needs.
Upon arriving on land, the first thing maritime merchants do is check the local market prices for goods. They travel thousands of miles for money; only substantial profits can send their adrenaline soaring.
As Qin Mo and Shia strolled through the makeshift night market in Koti Port, many merchants from the Pioneer Administration who had accompanied the ship had already set up simple stalls and displayed their products.
Luxurious silks, exquisite porcelains, and high-end goods such as sugar, wine, and cloth were snapped up by the people of Lion Country, including many well-dressed local nobles.
The two wandered around aimlessly, and soon they had circled twice. They discovered that the most popular items were not silk, porcelain, or even ironware, but rather the new currency of the Taiyuan.
When Qin Mo and Xi Ya saw a high-ranking sailor buy a decent cat's-eye stone for two copper coins, they were speechless.
"Qin Mo, are they the fools... or are we the fools?"
That evening, Qin Mo gathered all the accompanying merchants together for a meeting that lasted until late at night. During the meeting, Qin Mo emphasized two points.
"Overseas trade is a long-term endeavor. Don't harm your trading partners for short-term gains, or at least make them feel cheated. Furthermore, establish a reasonable exchange mechanism to prevent price wars that disrupt the market."
"After establishing a stronghold here, it is essential to maintain an elite army in case the Koti people suddenly turn against us."
Qin Mo's past life taught a lesson: Chinese people in Southeast Asia acquired vast wealth through their intelligence and diligence, but when the locals reneged on their promises, they repeatedly used violence to plunder the Chinese people's money back into their own hands, which was truly infuriating.
Secondly, in the palace of Koti, Qin Mo met King Paragala Mobahu of the Koti Dynasty.
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