Ai Qian sat in a side room outside the General Office of the Great Chu, waiting for Ma Xiangnan's summons. Yesterday, after they arrived in Shangjing City, they had already submitted a letter of state to the Chu court. Today, they received a notice from the concierge officer under the Chu Ministry of Rites, that the Prime Minister will receive him today.

Ai Qian was not a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty court. He was just a chief officer of the Commercial Bureau and a sixth-rank official. In the Ming Dynasty, the sixth-rank rank was actually not low, because shortly after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the first-rank rank was not low. In addition to the deceased Duke Wang Hou of Yi, the other ones, even the chief ministers were only the second-rank, and the ministers of each department were only the third-rank. When they came to the county magistrates, the fourth-rank was the highest, and there were also some small counties in remote places, which were only the fifth-rank.

In the words of Wang Hou, Duke Yi of the State of Yi, who was responsible for the reform of officials at that time, to leave a rank of promotion for the officials of the Ming Dynasty, if the official rank is high, he will inevitably be able to live a simple life, just live a life of lying above the official rank.

So Ai Qian was only over thirty years old and had already reached the sixth grade, which was already very good.

But in the center of the Great Chu, the sixth rank is really as numerous as a dog. Ai Qian heard that in the Shangjing City, you throw a brick on the street at will, and you may be able to hit a fifth and sixth rank official. In the Shangjing City, the sixth rank is probably the most grassroots dog-legged character.

In the Ming Dynasty, people like Jiang Qian spent hundreds of millions of dollars every day.

The envoys sent by the Ming Dynasty were led by Ai Qian, a mustard official in the view of Chu State. In the view of Chu State, this was an extremely despised act, but there was no way. There was also an empress who was now in Shangjing City! Furthermore, it was Chu State who was seeking Ming State, not reversed.

Therefore, the Chu court could only pinch his nose and receive this small official at the highest standard, but the Minister of Rites could not stand it and came to greet Ai Qian in person. However, a second-rank minister of the Ministry of Rites came. This made Ai Qian quite satisfied.

What are you doing? Ai Qian knows it very well.

In a word, a quarrel.

The Chu State was defeated by Qi in a crushing defeat and urgently needed to find some face on the battlefield to inspire the extremely sluggish morale. They urgently needed to use victory to inspire the whole country's enthusiasm. But the most elite eastern border troops have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of Fire Phoenix troops need to take charge of the capital. If you want to win a battle, what should you fight?

Although Cheng Wuben stabilized the Jinghu defense line, it was only stabilized. The general of Qi State Zhou Jiyun had approached the Jinghu defense line. Cheng Wuben's current military strength was already in short supply. Where can he fight back? If he can't fight back, how can he win?

Therefore, the State of Chu is now in urgent need of the Ming army's extremely sharp weapons. Ai Qian, to put it bluntly, he is here to sell weapons. Of course, the above has already agreed on relevant matters, otherwise Ma Xiangnan would not have been so anxious to summon him the day after he arrived.

The more urgent they are, the more they occupy a favorable position. How can this bamboo ricket not be knocked out and how can it be worthy of the attention of the superiors to themselves?

Ai Qian was born into a family of merchants, but he had read books for many years. However, in Qianyue, he failed many times. He had already lost his career and was ready to concentrate on learning business with his father. However, in just a few years, the city wall was filled with the king's flag, and Qianyue collapsed. On the ruins of Qianyue, the Ming Dynasty rose.

Shortly after entering Yuejing, the Ming Dynasty's vigorous official reform began, and the selection of subjects was not as good as a previous article. The subjects were five or eight. No matter which subjects you are good at, as long as you are good at, you can basically break through the siege.

Ai Qian was the lucky one who stood out in the first wave of Ming Dynasty scientific expeditions. Because he was not only good at learning, but also knowledgeable in the current affairs, knowledgeable and business, he was still a target for several departments in the Ming Dynasty, where officials were short of officials. In the end, it was Wang Yueyao of the Commerce Department who walked through his father and brought him to the Commerce Department with a transfer order.

Facts have also proved that Ai Qian is indeed suitable for this yamen. In the Commerce Department, he was doing well. Within two years, he grew up to be one of the most important officials under Wang Yueyao.

Ai Qian admired the most, except for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there were only two people. One was the boss of the Commerce Department, Wang Yueyao. Although he was a woman, Wang Yueyao's keen sense of business and unparalleled business skills made the Commerce Department give up control of most industries, but the Commerce Department still firmly controls the direction of the entire Ming Dynasty business. As long as Wang Yueyao is willing, she can easily let an industry live and a industry die.

The second one is not an official, and this person is not willing to be an official at all. That is Geng Jingming, a legendary businessman in the Ming Dynasty. As a second-generation official, this young man made a fortune in a very short time and became a wealthy businessman in the Ming Dynasty. When he established the Railway Bureau, raised funds, and built the Shafeng Line, this person was forcibly summoned to do odd jobs in the Railway Bureau. This person made money out of nothing, which made Ai Qian admire him.

The Ming Dynasty was short of money, and it was very poor. Ai Qian knew very well, so this trip, he had to get enough money for the Ming Dynasty. There was nothing more effective than quarreling at this time. Thinking of the fact that before leaving, Su Kairong, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, made an appointment with him, and that when he talked about the treasury, he looked pitiful when he mentioned the state of Chu, Ai Qian couldn't help laughing when he thought about it.

The Ministry of Revenue of Su had only one purpose, to get money and get more money, and to grab the sucker of Chu State and knock money hard. The more it hits, the more it will be, the more beneficial it will be to the Ming Dynasty.

Making money is of course an important purpose of Ai Qian's trip, but it is not the entire purpose. This time, the Ming Dynasty targeted the State of Chu, which was a systematic project.

I have been sitting in the side hall for a long time. The tea on the coffee table is tasteless, but there is no slight anxiety in the short term. He has encountered such a method many times when he was doing business. Their family is not a wealthy businessman, but they are just small business operations and are richer than ordinary people. And the humiliation he sometimes suffers in order to start a business is simply unimaginable.

What is this cold treatment now? As long as I think about the happy process and the angry but helpless expression of the opponent, Ai Qian feels very comfortable.

Ma Xiangdong, the chief assistant of Chu State, was the eldest brother of Ma Xiangnan, the governor of Changyang County of the Ming Dynasty. This relationship once surprised Ai Qian. He knew that Ma Xiangnan was very respected by His Majesty the Emperor, and this old man was indeed admired. However, I heard that his elder brother was talented, but his virtue was not so good.

But what does it matter? He must have thought that the Ming Dynasty was going to ask for a lot of money. Now he is able to understand that he is deliberately slowing down and regaining a little bit of pitiful self-esteem. It is already rare for him to be a small sixth-rank chief official to sit with the first-rank chief assistant of Chu. Under normal circumstances, the two countries have intersected, and this kind of gap is not common.

If Lord Wang Yueyao had not passed away because of Duke Yi, this negotiation might have been that Lord Wang had come in person. How would Lord Wang deal with Ma Xiangdong?

Along the way, he had already made several plans and touched the things in his arms. Ai Qian couldn't help but smile.

He likes people very much by using the general trend.

The door of the side hall was pushed open with a creaking sound. An official walked in and bowed to Ai Qian: "Encourt, our prime minister has a request."

Ai Qian stood up, bounced his already meticulous official robe in a casual manner, and then helped him back and said, "If you have any questions, your official will lead the way."

"Please!" The official reached out and gave in.

Ai Qian smiled and raised his head forward, "The tea in Da Chu is famous all over the world, and this tea tastes really good." He suddenly said something, and the Chu official glanced at the tea that was already like white water on the table, and his face suddenly turned red.

Ma Xiangdong was indeed very unhappy. After the emperor came back this time, he scolded him in a private summon. Of course, it was precisely because Ma Xiangdong was the emperor's confidant general that he had such treatment. In this scolding, Ma Xiangdong discovered that what His Majesty hated was not that he was granted the great power to take charge of the affairs of the Great Chu during his encirclement, but that he did not prevent Cheng Wuben from being appointed as the military commander of the Great Chu.

Ma Xiangdong was really wronged about this matter! The situation was so critical at that time, who could he rely on if Cheng Wuben did not rely on? And this was the order issued by the Empress Dowager holding the prince and sitting on His Majesty's throne. How dare he take it? Even if he knew that Cheng Wuben had a problem, he would not dare to take it under that situation!

Now, a big black pot was smashed. Negotiations with the Ming envoy were only allowed to succeed, not fail! The current Da Chu needs all-round support from the Ming Dynasty, not only to maintain the continuous pressure to align people on the border, but also to purchase all the most advanced weapons and equipment in the Ming Dynasty.

Before we could talk, Your Majesty had already set a tone, only success is allowed, not failure is allowed! This is simply to be blackmailed by his opponent without any scruples! Chu needs those military and national weapons, but what does Chu need to pay? Ma Xiangdong couldn't imagine that after the agreement was announced this time, he was afraid that he would be called a traitor.

At that time, I am afraid that the position of this prime minister will not be kept.

He was very angry, so he put Mingzhe in the side hall for a long time. Even if he was to be ripped off, he would still be more noble. Even if the other party knew that the extortion was about to succeed, at this time, even if he offended him, he would pretend not to know.

As expected, the other party sat on the bench for a long time. Not only did he not feel any anxiety, but he was content with confidence. After hearing the description of the Ming official, Ma Xiangdong just sighed deeply. As soon as he heard this guy, he knew that this guy was a hob and was difficult to deal with.
Chapter completed!