Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan deliberately delayed the negotiations for several days.
Half a month after the arrival of the Tubo people, a large amount of snow fell. If it weren't for the fact that the roads in Yizhou were well built, they would have been sealed off. The Tubo people didn't have it easy either. Only Yizhou had a small snowflake. Before the people of Yizhou could enjoy it, it turned into a light drizzle.
Ke Mu Jiji didn't stay idle during this period of time. He asked the people to gather information about the Zhang Family and Wang Family. He also sent gifts to the original eleven local yamen officials, asking them to help him think of a solution.
The people weren't willing to pay attention to the Tubo people. If they weren't here to negotiate, they would probably tear Ke Mu Jiji and the others apart. After receiving the gifts, they started talking about the Zhang Family and Wang Family. Everyone said good things and praised the Zhang Family and Wang Family.
Obviously, this kind of praise wasn't what Ke Mu Jiji wanted to know. He wanted to get information from the local people about the rebellion of the Zhang Family and Wang Family. When the time came, he would play dirty tricks on Zhang Zhong.
The people of the yamen received even more gifts. Ke Mu Jiji gave pearls, jade wares, and exquisite gold and silver ornaments. Every time he gave something, the other party would accept it. However, when it came to the work, they were full of helplessness. They talked about how hard they worked and how they were reprimanded. In any case, they didn't succeed and the gifts weren't returned.
The moment the heavy snow fell, Ke Mu Jiji knew he couldn't delay any longer. It wasn't easy for him to dig up grass now. He could only send someone to find Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan to discuss the matter of exchanging livestock for food.
Zhang Xiaobao also felt that the time was about right. He began to give a normal price, the kind that was relatively low. He lowered the price of all livestock by 50% and only calculated based on the weight of the animals after they were delivered. He didn't calculate by head. He also didn't want the animals that were dead. Who knew if they died of illness? What if people fell ill after eating them?
In terms of grain, they still only sold millet, saying that it was good for people to eat it. Those who were in confinement all ate millet and eggs. The price was also very generously reduced to 40 copper coins per bushel.
Just as Ke Mu was about to rejoice, Zhang Xiaobao brought up the matter of the transportation fees. The war had just ended, so it was impossible for the Tubo people to rush in all at once. They needed to hand over the goods at the border of Pengzhou. This section of the road was not easy to travel now. It was snowing, so they would need to increase the transportation fees by 20%, which amounted to 48 copper coins per bushel.
This price was already three times the normal price, but Mu Jiji reluctantly agreed. He was afraid that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan would suddenly go back on their word. He didn't know if the written agreement would be useful or not, so he quickly sent people back to Tufan to collect livestock.
After calculating, it would cost a lot of money to transport the livestock over, and it would cost a lot more to transport the grain back. If he really waited for the Tubo people to eat it, the price of a bushel of millet would be estimated to be more than 100 copper coins.
However, Mu Jiji wasn't sure if the Tubo people would agree, but a notice had already been posted in Yizhou. They would only accept millet and use old grain to exchange for new grain. The exchange rate was 1: 1.2. That was to say, a catty of old millet could be exchanged for a catty of more than three taels of new grain.
Once the notice was posted, the people who heard the news and felt that the transportation fee was worth it thought that Zhang Zhong had gone crazy. If there was new grain, who would want to eat old grain? If other people exchanged grain, they would use it to brew wine. They would use less new grain to exchange for more old grain. However, Zhang Zhong was different. He had transferred to a place closer to Yizhou. Even if he added the transportation fee, he would only receive an extra three taels of grain, which was exactly the same as the original amount.
But Mu Jiji also found out about this matter. He went to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan and said that he wanted to exchange for new grain and not old grain. Zhang Xiaobao took out the 'contract' and showed it to him. There was a sentence on the contract, 'Tubo is willing to use the specific standard of livestock recognized by the Great Tang in exchange for the grain stored by the Great Tang after a certain number of people in and around Yizhou of the Great Tang's Jiannan Province in the past year.'
In other words, Zhang Xiaobao had added punctuation marks according to the Great Tang's habits. However, he didn't add any punctuation marks in this sentence because he was afraid that someone would find fault with it. In order to ensure that there would be no mistakes, it was also written at the bottom of the contract that the Great Tang had the final right to interpret the contract.
Mu Jiji looked at the line of words and thought for a while. He finally understood what it meant. At the beginning, it meant that there had to be at least enough grain for the Great Tang's people to eat before the rest could be exchanged with him. After all, some people had stored grain at home. When he read the contract, he understood it this way.
However, he didn't know that it didn't mean this at all. Wasn't the previous year's grain just old grain? So it turned out that they wanted to exchange this portion for him? Then the price would be even higher.
After the people of Tufan got the result of Mu Jiji's negotiation, it was too expensive to exchange grain. However, considering that they only had to compensate 300,000 strings of coins and they didn't have to worry about Cuckoo attacking them again when she was in Yizhou, the price seemed to be lower. Although they didn't pay in the past, they didn't pay even if they couldn't win.
This time was different. In the past, there was no one as ruthless as Cuckoo to lead an army. She had to wait until her family left Yizhou and she recovered. She had to survive through this winter.
Therefore, she agreed to collect the livestock. The better ones would be kept and the average ones would be sent to the Great Tang. She also reminded them not to forget to give the livestock more water before the exchange. If they didn't drink, they had to force them to drink.
In the exchange of goods between the two countries, some places were far away and it would take at least a month to complete. This was considered fast. By that time, it would be the New Year.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also sincerely wished Mu Jiji well, hoping that the people of Tufan could have a good New Year. Suddenly, the people of Tufan could live and work in peace. The two countries could maintain peaceful coexistence, strengthen economic exchanges, and work together to create a harmonious and stable border environment.
Mu Jiji finally knew why the people of war were so afraid of Cuckoo. She was too shameless. If you didn't beat me, kill my people, and burn my grain, would I not have any grain to eat? They also had to strengthen economic exchanges. According to this exchange, if there were two more times, Tufan wouldn't need anyone to fight. They would be gone.
Old Man Pi and the other two followed them at the beginning. They were afraid that Xiao Bao and Cuckoo wouldn't know how to negotiate and would be at a disadvantage. Later on, the three old men were busy with their own things and didn't care about the two at all. They realized that even if they were the ones negotiating with Tufan, they wouldn't be able to reach the level of the two children.
During the negotiation, they would talk back to each other and then slap the table and glare at each other. They would say that it wasn't easy to gather food and then say that they would gather enough food and send it over immediately. The words that came out of their mouth didn't sound like what a normal person would say. Normal people wouldn't be able to do this.
Don't worry, they were completely relieved. In the future, if there was anything that needed to be negotiated, they would let the two children go. Moreover, the two children were smart. Before they went to Tufan to fight, they didn't know how to speak the Tufan language. After they came back, they could speak the Tufan language fluently and could even speak the dialects of different regions.
One moment, they would speak the local language, and the next moment, they would speak the Tufan language. Whenever they spoke the Tufan language, they were trying to build feelings. When did feelings appear on the negotiation table?
"It seems that when I always looked for them and asked them to give something in the past, it wasn't that they couldn't win against me in terms of words. Instead, they gave in to me and followed my words. They are really good children and very considerate."
Old Man Pi watched Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's negotiation with others. He finally realized that whenever he said something, the two children would immediately follow his words. In the end, they would suffer a small loss. It wasn't that they didn't understand, but that they did it on purpose.
Old Man Chang also admitted, "Xiao Bao and Cuckoo are really good. They are gentle to their own people and cold to outsiders. This time, the imperial court has decreed that they don't want the 300,000 strings of string of cash. It seems that the Zhang Family and the Wang Family don't want it either. I wonder how they will arrange it. Will they use it to compensate for the old grain with the new grain?"
"Probably, but I can't be sure. We'll know when we see." Old Man Yao couldn't be sure. After all, the Zhang family had too many tricks up their sleeves. No one knew what they wanted to achieve in the end.
Li Longji also received detailed information about the war and economic war in the capital. There was also the roasted camel hump personally made by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan for him and Gao Lishi. Anyway, they were going to the military rest stop, so it didn't matter if they brought some food. They sealed the food to prevent people from poisoning them on the way.
The two of them stayed in a house built by Li Xun next to Xingqing Palace. They enjoyed the camel hump warmed by the charcoal fire while reading the information.
Gao Lishi's wish had finally come true. Xiao Bao was willing to acknowledge him as his godfather. Firstly, it was because there was someone in the imperial court who was easy to talk to. Secondly, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had a very good opinion of Gao Lishi. At the very least, it was better than Li Bai who had yet to be found.
Wang Juan felt that since Li Bai had great ambitions and wanted to participate in politics, he should drink less. If he really needed to manage something, he would be called upon at a critical moment. Who could stand that?
Gao Lishi held Zhang Xiaobao's letter and read it over and over again. First, he agreed to it. When they returned to the capital, he would settle everything. Acknowledging someone as his godfather wasn't something that could be done just by saying it. It was quite troublesome.
Zhang Xiaobao's ultimate goal was to influence the entire Tang Empire through Gao Lishi. It was too time-consuming to constantly work hard to change the current situation from below.
Li Longji looked at the happy Gao Lishi and felt a little envious. He also wanted to acknowledge Xiao Bao or Cuckoo as his godchild or princess, but he knew that he couldn't do that now.
After reading the letter a few times, Gao Lishi checked the food box to make sure that no one else had touched it. Then, he checked the mark sent by the pigeon and confirmed that it was really made by Xiao Bao and Cuckoo. He didn't ask anyone to test the poison and directly opened the box to taste it himself. After waiting for an hour and seeing that nothing was wrong, he said to Li Longji, "Your Majesty, you should try it too. It's delicious, better than the food made by the imperial chefs in the palace."
Seeing that Gao Lishi wasn't poisoned, Li Longji picked up his chopsticks and picked up some food from the food box. Before putting it into his mouth, he said, "It's naturally delicious for you, Lishi. Even if they send you rocks, you can still crack a little bit. In the future, you can't mix state and family affairs together."
After giving Gao Lishi a warning, Li Longji put the food into his mouth and savored it carefully. Then, he said to Gao Lishi, "When they return to the capital, bring them to the palace to play. There are many ingredients in the imperial kitchen."
Gao Lishi, who was eating with Li Longji, immediately understood. He scooped up the food in his bowl and ate it carefully. Then, he stopped eating and gave the rest to Li Longji.
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