"Shoes, shoes, my shoes..."
The King of Qi was being dragged along by him, and he kept shouting.
Helpless, Zhao Changqing had no choice but to place him on the edge of the bed.
The maids, who had been too frightened to move, then came forward to help King Qi put on his clothes, shoes, socks, and fasten his hair crown and belt.
Then, without a moment's delay, King Qi, Zhao Changyi, was dragged outside the courtyard and stuffed into a carriage.
He Youyou was in the carriage, drinking coffee and waiting for him.
King Qi felt like an old ox that had collapsed from exhaustion.
He leaned against the carriage, taking in more air than exhaling.
"Sister-in-law, what are you planning to do today?"
He Youyou finished the last sip of coffee in her white porcelain cup: "Since we have nothing to do, let's go take a look at your storeroom."
The King of Qi was about to cry.
She's fine, but he's in trouble.
He had never experienced such exhaustion before.
Every inch of my body is sore and aching.
The person is in a state of being without desires or wants.
What is money?
What is a beauty?
What are fame, fortune, and power?
None of them matter to me.
All I want is to lie in bed for seven days and seven nights...
The King of Qi's treasury was built in the suburbs of the capital.
It occupies a large area.
Upon arriving at the warehouse entrance, a young man came out to greet them and led them inside.
"This is the manager of my warehouse, surnamed Xin," King Qi introduced to He Youyou.
Steward Xin led them inside: "Your Highnesses, Madam, this way please."
This warehouse is divided into several rooms.
These include armories, agricultural implements, civilian implements, and engineering castings.
In the armory, He Youyou asked the Prince of Qi, "Your Highness, in this prosperous age, wars are rarely fought. Why are you making so many weapons?"
King Qi said smugly, "Our dynasty uses 300,000 catties of iron for military equipment every year, but the military equipment in my warehouse is only a few hundred thousand catties. Not much, not much at all."
Before He Youyou could speak, she heard Manager Xin suddenly interject, "There aren't many, but they won't sell."
The King of Qi's expression instantly turned somewhat unpleasant.
He Youyou, however, became interested: "Oh? Why aren't they selling? Tell me more about it."
"Nowadays, most military weapons are made of cast iron, and swords made of cast iron have both excellent hardness and toughness. However, the Qi King's workshop uses wrought iron, and the weapons produced are not of very high quality. Therefore, the people in the Armory are not very willing to use them."
He Youyou nodded after listening.
King Qi awkwardly touched his nose: "Well... I'll try to find some relatives next month to see if I can pull some strings and get the Armory to buy our goods."
He Youyou thought to herself: Relatives? I'm afraid they're looking for the Emperor.
Upon hearing King Qi's words, Steward Xin shook his head repeatedly: "Military equipment is related to the outcome of the war and the safety of the soldiers. This move is inappropriate, extremely inappropriate."
He Youyou couldn't help but glance at him again.
This manager is quite interesting.
Although he was just a lowly warehouse manager, he was neither humble nor arrogant, and his back was straight.
It's truly unbelievable that someone would embarrass their master in front of outsiders.
King Qi's face turned green.
But with He Youyou there, he couldn't openly express his anger, so he could only hold back and continue showing her around.
Upon arriving at the agricultural implement warehouse, however, one finds a completely different scene.
The place was completely empty, with very little inventory.
"Your Highness, where are your farming tools? Have they all been sold?"
Before King Qi could speak, Steward Xin began to speak again.
“Farming tools are not profitable, so Your Highness doesn’t care to make them.”
The King of Qi paled even more after being interrupted.
The group continued on their way and arrived at the casting warehouse.
The scene inside the curfew is truly spectacular.
Inside, hundreds of large utensils were neatly arranged. These utensils were shaped like a large basin, with a diameter of several meters.
"What is this?" He Youyou asked in surprise.
King Qi finally got a chance to speak: "This is a salt pot, used for boiling salt."
He Youyou stepped forward for a closer look and saw that the basins were already covered with rust spots, and some even had patches of peeling.
"Your Highness, how many years have you kept these prison basins?"
"The earliest batch of 180 has been stored for four years and three months. The next batch of 260 has been stored for two years and six months."
The one speaking was Steward Xin.
He Youyou simply asked Manager Xin, "How many have been sold after all this time?"
Manager Xin, with a blank expression, lowered his eyes and said, "Not a single one has been sold."
"Then tell me, why can't you sell them?"
"My salt fields are located in Liaodong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian, and well salt is produced in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi. However, there are no salt fields near my capital. Salt basins are huge and difficult to transport, so salt merchants will not go to great lengths to buy them from the capital."
It was pretty much what He Youyou had guessed.
She once told someone that the King of Qi had a typical agrarian mindset when it came to business; he only looked at output and didn't seek exchange.
In modern terms, production and the market have become disconnected.
These large ironware items are highly profitable and valuable, and although many are made, no one wants them.
Farm tools, which are in high demand by farmers, have low profit margins and low value, so they are produced in small quantities.
However, this Steward Xin showed no respect whatsoever to the King of Qi.
She couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at the sullen King Qi.
After leaving the storeroom, He Youyou whispered to King Qi, "Was the manager of your storeroom always in charge of the storeroom before?"
King Qi's expression changed: "No, he used to be in charge of the workshops, but someone reported him for misconduct, so I demoted him to the warehouse to watch the storeroom."
He Youyou suddenly realized.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
