Ci Jinzhi

Chapter 385: frost snow

Emperor Xingyuan, who had always been dignified and powerful in front of officials, rarely showed a dull expression.

What does it mean to stay here?

Want to hang out in front of Ayou every day, coaxing the two of you into a happy relationship, and forcing him to agree? Or... marrying into the family?

If it was the former, he would never give him this opportunity. In the latter case—the dignified Prince Xiling is getting married?

Emperor Xingyuan thought it was too ridiculous. Besides the absurdity, he also had an idea: If this is really the case, as long as Ayou likes it, he can't consider it.

Seeing that his emperor had been silent for too long, the Minister of Rites coughed.

Emperor Xingyuan came to his senses and stared at Prince Baori with complicated eyes: "Your Majesty likes this place, so please stay for a while."

Prince Baori was a little disappointed when he heard this vague answer.

He was happy to stay and live here. Although it didn't matter in Xiling, according to the custom of Daxia, this was called a son-in-law, and the emperor of Daxia actually didn't let go.

But there is no clear objection, it is much stronger than yesterday.

Thinking of this, Prince Bao Ri happily thanked him, thinking that he would not leave anyway and there would still be many opportunities.

After Prince Baori and other Xiling envoys left, there was a brief stagnation in the palace.

The ministers exchanged glances quietly, and no one said a word.

Among them, Xie Zhangyuan was the most shocked.

It turns out that Prince Bao Ri was not looking for trouble because of the imperial edict, but he was a young man who admired Ai and was a good gentleman.

After thinking about it, Xie Zhangyuan silently denied these two descriptions and replaced them with a more appropriate one: lustful.

“Let’s discuss the matter.” Emperor Xingyuan rubbed his brows to relieve his tiredness, and asked his chamberlain to send Xin You into the palace.

When Xinyou arrived, the discussion was almost over.

All the ministers looked at her and thought about one thing: Does Xinyou know that Prince Baori is not leaving?

At this time, Emperor Xingyuan spoke: "Your Majesty, please withdraw."

Members of ministers: "..." Usually they insist on having Xin You present when discussing matters, but now they have to send them away!

Emperor Xingyuan didn't bother to look at the minister who was slowly retreating. When only Xinyou was left, he called her to come closer.

“Ayou, sit down.”

Xinyou sat down.

Emperor Xingyuan looked at the beautiful girl sitting dignifiedly, and suddenly discovered an advantage of Prince Baori: if nothing else, the boy had good taste.

After careful consideration, Emperor Xingyuan decided not to beat around the bush: "Prince Baori came into the palace yesterday and asked me to marry you."

Xinyou was startled.

She thought that Prince Bao Ri understood her attitude and let it go. After all, it was just a matter of sex, and there was no deep emotion at all.

Hmm, just like when she first met Mr. He, she also thought he was good-looking and had a crush on him, but that didn't stop her from misunderstanding him and wanting to kill him immediately.

“Ayou, why don’t you ask me about my attitude?”

Xin You raised his eyes and said calmly: "Your Majesty will probably not agree."

　　Not to mention the father-daughter affection for her, she learned from her mother that if the king of a country is willing to marry her to a foreign country, he would be crazy.

Xin You has this self-confidence, so when Concubine Li begged her earlier, she dared to say a few words for Princess Xuan without worrying about getting burned or getting herself involved.

Emperor Xingyuan smiled: "I did refuse. It was just announced that Prince Baori entered the palace and formally rejected King Xiling's marriage proposal. Most of the Xiling envoys will return tomorrow, but Prince Baori will stay. Let's see what he means. , I haven’t let go of you.”

Originally, it would be a bit embarrassing for a father to say this to his daughter, but Xin You was so open and honest that Emperor Xingyuan didn't feel that way anymore, and it seemed like he was talking about business.

Emperor Xingyuan made his words clear to remind Xin You not to be coaxed to go to Xiling by Prince Baori, but Xin You was not concerned about himself: "Your Majesty rejected Prince Xiling's marriage proposal?"

“Well, I thought about it and found that it really isn’t such a good thing.”

If Xi Ling could rob it forcefully, he wouldn't wait until now. As for bartering, both parties say it is a win-win situation, but in fact it means that no one can take advantage of it. If there is an urgent need for war horses in the future, they can exchange them, but there is not much interest now.

Let’s forget it. But Xin You said: "That day, His Majesty asked everyone to think of a way. I thought about it for a long time, and I have some ideas."

Emperor Xingyuan’s eyes lit up: “Tell me about it.”

"The people of Xiling are fierce and fierce, and Daxia has a strong enemy like Beining. Using tricks to obtain war horses is likely to outweigh the gains. I feel that it is better to exchange things for things."

Emperor Xingyuan was listening attentively before, but when Xin You said "exchanging things for things", he was inevitably a little disappointed.

Silk, tea, and exquisite utensils are what Xi Ling likes to exchange for from Daxia. But just as he thought, an exchange of equal value would not work, but it would be boring.

To put it bluntly, he just wants to take advantage.

As if he guessed Emperor Xingyuan's thoughts, Xin You said: "Ordinary bartering is not cost-effective. But what if the cost of the items we barter with is much lower than the value recognized by the other party?"

Emperor Xingyuan was startled and quickly asked: "What item has such benefits?"

If he had known, he would have changed it long ago.

Emperor Xingyuan's mentality at the moment was that of curiosity and disbelief.

As an emperor who was diligent in political affairs and knowledgeable about people's livelihood, Emperor Xingyuan had a good idea of which products of Daxia were favored by foreign countries.

Xinyou spit out one word: "sugar."

"Sugar?" The curiosity in Emperor Xingyuan's eyes turned to disappointment, and he shook his head with a smile, "For Xiling, Daxia's sugar is indeed a rare thing, but there are rules for how to exchange it..."

“Your Majesty, does your Majesty know how much sugar sells for today?”

And she looks like this, making it difficult for people to treat her like an ignorant young person subconsciously.

Emperor Xingyuan looked at the **** Sun Yan.

The price of sugar, he knows roughly, but he doesn’t know more accurately.

It is indeed extraordinary for Sun Yan to have the status he has today. Although this question has nothing to do with his errand, he immediately answered: "There are many kinds of sugar, including white sugar, which is divided into Western sugar and local sugar. Western sugar is expensive and scarce, and local sugar The quality of sugar is slightly worse, costing about 200 renminbi per pound. Brown sugar is around 50 renminbi per pound, and caramel sugar is relatively cheap."

Not to mention that caramel is cheap, Xining war horses are given to Daxia at a preferential price. Calculated at fifteen taels of silver per war horse, how much red and white sugar does this cost?

And if a large amount of red and white sugar is used in exchange, why not use silk?

Even Sun Yan felt that Xin You’s proposal was unreliable.

Xin You lowered his head and took out a small porcelain jar from the purse hanging on his waist.

“Eunuch Sun, please bring me a clean plate.”

Sun Yan quickly arranged for a chamberlain to pick it up.

Soon the waiter came back with the porcelain plate.

Xinyou opened the porcelain jar and poured out the particles as white as frost.

"What is this?" Emperor Xingyuan asked curiously, looking at the frost and snow in the dish.

“It’s white sugar.”

"Impossible!" Emperor Xingyuan stared at the frosty thing, "White sugar is not this color."

Even the best-quality Western white sugar has a light yellowish-brown tint, but it is not as white as snow as it is in front of you.

“Your Majesty, you can have a taste.”