Chapter 375: May I ask you, Lord, how to break the deadlock? (Seeking guaranteed monthly ticket)
So direct? That direct!
In his previous life, Zhao Duan followed the leader and learned from him, so he naturally mastered some conversation skills.
Right now, he was in a disadvantageous situation at home. He was alone in this one-on-two situation, so many gentle methods were difficult to use. So he simply chose a simple and rough approach.
Following his rather straightforward words, the King of Huai'an and his daughter fell silent.
"Misunderstand?"
The wealthy gourmet seemed to smile and said calmly:
"This is the Huai River. I am the King of Huai'an. I am eating with others on my own territory. Why should I care what others think?"
Just brag... Should I believe what you said, or should I believe that you are Qin Shi Huang?
Zhao Duan was secretly complaining in his heart.
As expected, Prince Huai'an changed the subject and said:
"Besides, how could everything in this world be different just because of a meal?"
Zhao Duan didn't say anything. He was evaluating the reasons behind the father and daughter meeting him.
The act of booking the entire Dafeng Tower with great fanfare itself means that King Huai'an is deliberately sending a signal to everyone.
What is the signal?
To show his closeness to the court? No... Of course not.
Prince Huai'an did not choose to deliver the invitation in person, but asked the princess he was familiar with to "trick" him here, and used the terms "elder" and "junior" to define the meeting.
This already expresses that this is a private meeting.
And he only came up with this idea after Prince Jing met him.
Then think of the Prince of Huai'an's notoriously fickle stance and the current three-way situation in Hu Ting revealed to him by Feng Ju.
Zhao Duan's heart gradually settled down, and he probably understood.
Prince Huai'an met with him today, and it was done to show Prince Jing to the outside world.
Expressing a state of being close yet distant to the court.
It is conceivable that after Prince Jing learned that he had met with him, he would definitely worry that Prince Huai'an would lean towards the empress and affect the success or failure of the "opening of the market".
This will lead to further enticement and promises.
Internally, Prince Huai'an also wanted to use this conversation to get a feel for the court's bottom line. He came to Huting on behalf of the Empress this time, and his attitude would, to a certain extent, reflect the Empress's attitude...
As a huge fence-sitter, Prince Huai'an used his influence on the opening of the market as a bargaining chip to test the court's thoughts and sincerity.
The words "This is the Huai River" he just said imply that as the local tyrant, the attitude of the Huai'an Palace will greatly affect the attitude of the neutral faction, and thus affect the success or failure of the court's opening of the market.
To put it simply, this was a meeting regarding the "opening of the Huting market."
To put it in a broader sense, this may be related to which side the King of Huai'an will side with in the negotiations.
Of course, the saying “How can everything in the world be different because of a meal” is also a double entendre.
This means that the negotiations with Zhao Duan will not determine his final position.
All I can say is that none of the Eight Kings are easy to get along with, and the foodie in front of me is a riddler whose every word contains many deep meanings.
Whether or not one can understand the other party's implied meaning is a test of the importance of Zhao Duan as the "Inspector".
…
"Your Majesty, the fish is ready."
Suddenly, a maid's voice was heard from the bottom of the stairs, and then a servant from the palace came up with the big black carp that had just been taken out of the pot.
The hot fresh fish once again interrupted the rhythm of the conversation between the two parties.
The three of them paused their conversation and waited for the black fish, which was covered with golden broth and sprinkled with crispy chopped green onions and bamboo shoots, to be placed in the center of the eight-immortals table.
All the servants retreated downstairs, leaving only three people on the entire floor.
"Haha, stop talking, take your chopsticks and try it."
Prince Huai'an rolled up his sleeves with a smile, picked up the wooden chopsticks, and urged:
"This river fish is best eaten fresh. It must be alive before being killed on the chopping board, and it must not be stewed for too long after being put into the pot, otherwise it will become tough."
Zhao Duan also picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of fish and ate it. It was indeed very delicious.
It made his eyes light up and brought about a huge change in his opinion of the diet of the Dayu Dynasty.
Although the seasonings in this world are far inferior to those in the previous life, they can still rival the original flavors of top-quality ingredients. I don't know how this fish was raised, but it doesn't have any fishy smell, and the meat is extremely delicious.
The dinner table fell silent for a moment, with only three people remaining to concentrate on tasting the food.
After a while, Zhao Duan took a mouthful of fish soup, took out the spoon, wiped his sweaty forehead, and took the initiative to raise a glass of wine.
Then he exclaimed:
"I've heard that the Huai River seafood is the most delicious, and today I finally got to see it. The imperial chefs in the capital are great, but the ingredients are already inferior when they are shipped there."
Xu Junling smiled:
"Your Excellency, would you like to try some other side dishes? This table of side dishes is quite exquisite."
"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it."
Prince Huai'an put down his wine cup and pointed to the eight plates of fresh fish on the table. He said:
"Each of these eight dishes is different, yet they are all representative of river seafood, earning them the nickname 'Eight Ways to Eat River Fresh'. While delicious on their own, they are always inferior. They are best enjoyed with freshly stewed fish."
Zhao Duan glanced at the eight plates of river seafood on the table, forming a circle.
He glanced at the center of the "Eight Fresh" dishes, at the large black carp that tasted delicious and had several bites of meat torn off, and his expression became strange.
At once……
It's like eight kings surrounding and killing a female emperor.
With this in mind, I looked at the side dishes on the eight-immortals table and it really looked like the territory of a continent.
"It's really delicious, mouth-watering," Zhao Duan sighed, "It's a pity that one fish is not enough for several people, so we have to rely on these eight fresh delicacies to fill our stomachs."
Prince Huai'an said nothing.
The table fell silent for a moment. Seeing this, Xu Junling, who was standing next to him, smiled and took the initiative to liven up the atmosphere:
"Come to think of it, I made a bet with my brother before that it would be Envoy Zhao who would open the market this time. After all, it's rumored that the idea of opening the market with this new policy was the Envoy's."
Zhao Duan smiled modestly and said:
"It's just a rumor. I just put forward a few ideas, which were fortunately considered by Grand Tutor Dong and many scholars from the Xiuwen Academy. I don't know the specific details. I didn't expect that during the Dharma Assembly, Han Banshan and others insisted on supporting me and exaggerated it, as if it was my sole achievement."
Well, he just formulated the overall framework policy and had no involvement in the details.
Just a little bit of work.
He wasn't lying.
The father and daughter looked at each other, and Prince Huai'an smiled faintly and said:
"Having said that, it's remarkable that you have such insight at such a young age. His Majesty has appointed you to monitor the lake pavilion, and I wonder how many people in the city are watching you.
As a close minister to the Emperor, my every move is inevitably subject to speculation. This prince has some understanding of the current situation in Huting, and since I am a bit older than you, I have some things to say."
Zhao Duan said seriously, "I'm all ears."
Prince Huai'an paused, his eyes seemed to see through him, and he said calmly:
"Your entry into the city today, whether suppressing Xu Jinglong or humiliating Prince Jing in the Humble Administrator's Garden, may seem rude, but you have a plan. This prince knows you did it deliberately to demonstrate the majesty of the court and make the wavering merchants in the city believe that the court is more powerful.
This move may be effective, but in my opinion, it is of little significance.
You seem to have won on the surface, but Prince Jing is secretly contacting all parties and beating them one by one. After all, the capital is too far away. For ordinary people, the power of the emperor is far less than that of the county magistrate in front of them.
Right now, the representatives of the various families, including Prince Mu and Prince Heng, are all in the city, and their covert intimidation of many merchants is far greater than that of an Inspector like you."
The foodie prince stared at him and said seriously:
"In this situation, have you thought about how to break it?"
These words were extremely straightforward, almost laying everything out in the open.
He was clearly one of the eight kings, but he spoke in the tone of an earnest elder, as if he was considering Zhao Duan.
Zhao Duan's eyes looked a little strange, but he did not answer immediately. Instead, he folded his hands on his lower abdomen and leaned back.
There was silence for a while, until the father and daughter frowned slightly and wanted to ask.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a bright smile:
"As long as Your Highness expresses your support for the new policy, the situation will be easily resolved, right?"
…
ps: I found that I couldn’t finish writing two chapters about the negotiation content… It’s October, during the double period, I’m quietly begging for a guaranteed monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
