Chapter 685 The Prince is Helpless
The Third Young Master issued an order to question: How was the account of the Korean army's invasion of Shenzhou settled? Why did they just send out the military equipment and supplies casually? Wasn't that made with money?
Wang Dian knew that Feng Guiqi would not be able to explain himself after he brought up that topic, and it was impossible for him to get something for nothing. He did not dare to take up Feng Guiqi's topic, nor did he want to waste time, so he directly said how much silver he brought and asked General Feng to sell military equipment to the Kingdom of Goryeo.
Feng Guiqi refused to give in and openly asked the logistics department to calculate the price based on the price that the Shenwei Army sold to the Kingdom of Yue and Dali in the past, and to provide as much weapons as the silver could provide.
Wang Dian saw that 500,000 taels of silver were used to exchange for equipment for less than 10,000 people, so he asked General Feng for more.
Feng Guiqi waved his hands repeatedly and said that official business should be handled impartially and that the New Song Dynasty abides by rules.
He can also give ten of the latest model crossbows.
He then ordered military supplies to be transferred, and Feng Guiqi explained while holding the heavier and wider Shenbi crossbow: This is the Shenbi crossbow that the new Song Dynasty has just released. It supplies arrows through a single slot in the mecha. It can be wound very quickly and has a long range. It can be given to archers to kill enemy generals from a long distance.
Then he took out the mecha to load the arrow. Wang Dian was surprised to see Feng Guiqi easily string the arrow and hit the target from a distance.
Feng Guiqi brought an arrow and asked him to take a closer look. The three-inch long arrow had clear outlines of the arrow shaft and arrowhead. The arrow shaft was made of crude steel, and only the arrowhead was made of fine iron.
He said to Wang Dian: The New Song Dynasty is a big and powerful country, and it needs fine iron everywhere. The arrows used by the Shenwei Army are all made of this two-section iron. Prince, please don't dislike our high price.
In fact, this is because the masters of Hongmeng Valley in the New Song Kingdom mastered the synthetic and invented an economical arrow-making method that uses good steel in key positions. This has completely improved the production of arrows, saving whatever needs to be saved without affecting shooting accuracy at all.
Prince Wang Dian of the Peninsula completed the purchase of military equipment and escorted the equipment back by the time the New Year was over.
The young emperor was very dissatisfied when he saw that he had exchanged hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for such a small amount of military equipment. He thought that Wang Dian was not good at negotiation and bargaining, and was cheated by Feng Guiqi.
Wang Dian was exhausted physically and mentally from traveling back and forth in the heavy snow, and told his father helplessly: The price used in this transaction is still the same price that the Shenwei Army sold to the Kingdom of Yue and the Kingdom of Dali many years ago. Now these two countries have become a route and a state of the New Song Dynasty. The official price of rice in the New Song Dynasty has doubled. Marshal Feng did not raise the price for us by a penny, so how could he be cheating us?
However, in the young emperor's mind, the New Song Dynasty was the Celestial Empire and his small country should be supported. He would definitely lose if he settled accounts in this way.
The surrounding generals took the weapons to try, and they all praised them. Wang Dian pointed to the newly made Shenbi crossbow and said: The new Song State is not rich, and lacks fine iron. The arrow shafts of the newly made arrows are all made of coarse iron.
Everyone looked carefully and found that it was indeed the case.
However, the little emperor still refused to accept it.
He always believed that the New Song Dynasty was the Celestial Empire and should give him military equipment and food for free. But now it was haggling and demanding actual money. His Goryeo Kingdom was definitely suffering a huge loss.
Wang Dian was hurrying on his way and had long lost all energy. He was too lazy to explain to his father any more. After finishing his task, he hurried back to bed and fell asleep.
The general of the Zheng family was very happy holding the heavy new crossbow in his hand, and he couldn't let it go and looked at it carefully. The little emperor cried out distressedly: I bought it with my own money, so you must cherish it.
In Chengdu, Zhao Yulin was feeling very relaxed, hugging his wife Chen Chen.
After the New Year, Chen Chen vomited for no apparent reason, and after the imperial physician felt his pulse, he discovered that he was pregnant. The woman hugged him excitedly and kissed him repeatedly, not caring that the imperial physician had not left yet.
The woman kept saying: I will be absent from work today, and I want Zhao Yulin to accompany her at home to drink tea and smell the orchids. The couple asked the maid to go to the flower hall to prepare food and play supplies, and lay on the chair to enjoy the sunshine. The weather was fine, the willows were swaying, the winter jasmine flowers were blooming in the wind, and the air was filled with the fragrance of spring orchids. Chen Chen asked him to transfer Hong Sheng back to take over, but Zhao Yulin disagreed, thinking that although Hong Sheng was about the same age as us, he was too young in the eyes of the old people in the court. He transferred You Xianzhong from Shaanxi back to take over her position as the pacification envoy, and let Hong Sheng be the pacification envoy of Shaanxi Road first.
The woman knew that he had made plans, so she ignored him and told him that she wanted to learn from Ma Ling'er and Wu Yuqi and not work in Chengdu anymore.
In the future, after she has a child, she will go back to be the prefect of Xuzhou. Brother said that officials should be able to move up and down, so she will take the lead and go back to be the prefect of Xuzhou.
Zhao Yulin praised Chen Chen for being able to let go and was willing to go back to be the prefect. This was certainly a good thing. Xuzhou really needed someone like her to keep it under control.
Chen Chen thinks there is another good young man, Wei Rensheng, who once worked with her on the Jinguan City demolition. It is said that this man worked with Yu Dayi to work hard on the layout and construction of industrial parks in various places. The young man is willing to endure hardships and is always running around in wind and rain, and he never complains about being wronged.
Haha, our Madam Chen Chen is too one-sided. Wei Rensheng is sulking in the house. This guy finally came home, but his father Wei Mingtang caught him and gave him a lecture, asking him to walk around in front of the Shangshu more often and not always be like a bull, just pulling the cart with his head buried.
Wei Mingtang is old and has retired at home. Because he is cautious and follows the rules in his work without making any achievements, he was not given a position as a consultant or researcher in the government, so he retired and stayed at home to take care of his grandchildren.
However, his only son, Wei Ren, was busy with official duties all day and missed out on blind dates, so he had no grandchild to hug. The old man put all his thoughts into planning for his son. Sometimes he worried about his son not having a wife, and sometimes he nagged him for not making progress.
His wife was annoyed when she saw him looking for trouble. She thought her son was not bad. How many children of the same age were like his son Seventeen, who went in and out of the Ministry of Works all day and often went on business trips with the Shangshu?
Wei Mingtang said that these were of no use, the key was to find the right opportunity to show loyalty to the superior and be good at handling things. Look at the kid from Zhang San's family next door, who was a classmate of Shiqi and has become a prefect.
Our kid is a little deacon running around everywhere.
Then, she started to complain that her own child was out of touch with worldly affairs, and that he was already grown up but was only busy with official duties. Why didn't he just recognize a relative and get married?
Women always protect their children. The lady replied to Wei Mingtang coldly: Didn't my husband marry me after he was 30? Why can't life wait a little longer? I think life is good. The third young master likes people who work hard. My life will be great in the future.
At this moment, Wei Rensheng was still lying on his bed, staring out the window in a daze. His father's nagging made him feel unlucky.
Indeed, he had several classmates who were sent to other places, and they either became state officials or served as deputy officials beside the pacification envoy. In terms of career advancement, he seemed to be behind. When he first stepped into the door of the Ministry of Industry and worked with Madam Hulan to develop Huaxi Village, his classmates were envious and said that he was a popular figure beside the third young master's wife and must have a bright future. How come he has become a substitute for emergency response everywhere?
The young man was listlessly daydreaming when his classmate Jiang came to invite him for a drink.
Wei Rensheng had just returned from a business trip and had nothing to do, so he readily agreed, grabbed a handful of new Song coins from the drawer and stuffed them into his pocket, then followed classmate Jiang out.
The two came to the Wangjiang Tower of Qintai, only to see that a table of alumni from the academy, including classmates Hu and Yang, were already seated inside.
Wei Rensheng happily went over and sat down next to his classmate Hu, who immediately told them to start eating. He said that today was the happy day when classmate Yang was promoted to prefect. After graduation, our classmates went their separate ways and it was a rare opportunity for us to get together, so we could take this opportunity to talk about life.
Hu Tongxun patted Wei Rensheng on the shoulder, and everyone smiled knowingly.
Talk about life? Isn't it just about talking about his life?
Wei Rensheng was a little unhappy. When he was in school, his classmates often teased him like this. Now that he has grown up and become an official, he still does this. It's a bit too much.
He held back his words and raised his glass with a laugh.
After three cups of wine, everyone started to have fun. The classmates at this table were either prefects, or transport officials or inspectors of a certain prefecture, all of whom had positions and powers. Even the alley classmates who did not become officials were able to get along well with the alumni. They made a fortune by doing many construction jobs and became local tycoons.
Classmate Jiang asked happily: What's wrong with life? Let's have a drink. It's a rare occasion for us to get together, so we should be happy.
Wei Rensheng had a knot in his heart, so he clinked his glasses with his hands, and drank with a faint smile.
Classmate Yang said to him with a hint of contempt: He is the most promising among our classmates. He follows Minister Yu of the Ministry of Works all day long. He is Mr. Yu's confidant and will definitely have a bright future.
Everyone knew that he was just a substitute deacon, so they raised their glasses and laughed, "Drink, drink!", congratulating him in advance on his successful life and rising to a higher level.
Hutong classmate was drinking happily. He casually put his hand on Wei Rensheng's head and rubbed it for a while, saying with a smile that Wei Rensheng was still considering the great knowledge of life, unlike us ordinary people who are always thinking about their daily meals.
These two men were powerful and wealthy, and they were clearly making fun of him by talking like that. Wei Rensheng felt uncomfortable, and said lightly that he was just an errand boy in the Ministry of Works, and how could he dare to be compared with the big brothers.
Classmate Hu said with a smile: "Life is not something you can rush into. You have to think carefully. As the saying goes, you should start a family and build a career. If you start a family first, you may have everything. Look at classmate Yang, he has married two wives. He has a family and a successful career. Come on, let's toast to classmate Yang."
Wei Rensheng was suddenly extremely embarrassed.
At this time, a girl dressed as a maid at the next table came over and asked him: Deacon Wei from the Ministry of Works, my princess wants to see you.
Hu Tongchuang looked at the maid in simple clothes and said: The court has made good changes. Girls from common people dare to call themselves princesses now.
The maid glared at him and said, "The New Song Kingdom advocates equality for all, why can't it be the same? My princess wants to marry the young master of Wei, do you dare to go and see him?"
