Xia Song was sent as an envoy to the Liao Dynasty. Ye An's relationship with him was considered good, but his relationship with Yan Shu was a bit unfamiliar, mainly because the two of them didn't have much interaction.
Now Yan Shu suddenly said this to Ye An, the most direct reason is that he could not see Liu E and wanted Ye An to clarify the situation on his behalf during the duel with Liu E.
Ye An is not stupid. If he follows Yan Shu's words, he will definitely offend Liu E. How to admonish Liu E skillfully has become a problem for Ye An.
As for Lan Jizong, who was pretending to be kicking stones at the side, Ye An knew by looking at his perked ears that he might have heard everything.
Of course, Lan Jizong didn't say much, and Quan pretended that he didn't hear it. This was a conversation between Yan Shu and Ye An, and it was also the performance of the civil servants of the Song Dynasty in ensuring the imperial power.
Once the Privy Councilor is replaced by Zhang Qi, no one knows what will happen. The saint clings to the military power that is not controlled by civil servants. In the end, it is the Tian family that will be ugly.
The only people Lan Jizong was loyal to were the officials of the Song Dynasty. He, like the civil servants, did not want to see too much power in the hands of Liu E. Both Lan Jizong and the civil servants believed that Liu E was the transitional person of power in the Song Dynasty, not the
She is the owner of the imperial power of the Song Dynasty. The imperial power in her hands does not come from her own identity, but from the official family.
He didn't like what Yan Shu said, but he knew that Yan Shu was protecting the imperial power of the Song Dynasty. This tacit attitude made Ye An understand that this was the reality of the Song Dynasty, and he was simply a rear party and a royalist.
But the only problem is that he knows that Liu E will not ascend the throne and proclaim herself emperor. She already has imperial power. As long as she lives, she can continue her power and no one can take it away.
Naturally, Ye An would not refuse Yan Shu's goodwill. This kind of goodwill should also come from the testing of the court and civil servants, to test whether he and the civil servants were "of the same mind and one heart".
Turning around, he smiled at Yan Shu and said, "I know your intention, so don't worry, Scholar Yan. This matter should not be made public. We will find out for ourselves when Ye An plays against the saint."
No one is a fool. Ye An knew Yan Shu's intentions, but he was not at a loss. If Wang Zeng, Lu Yijian and others wanted to use this simple method to test their "standing in line", it would be in vain.
He may not know about small things, but Ye An knows very well about big things like this.
Follow Lan Jizong to the Changsheng Chongshou Palace, which is the main palace in the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace and was Emperor Zhenzong’s favorite palace when he was still alive.
Liu E met Ye An here, and her temperament was completely different from that in the palace. At this time, Liu E was a little softer, and when she looked at Ye An, this young man was also full of feminine beauty.
When he met Ye An, he did not call him "lord", but said directly: "Is Changsheng here? There are no outsiders here. I also treat you as my nephew. Don't be formal. Just be casual. I'll give you a seat."
Hearing this, Chen Lin moved a brocade stool from the side and placed it gently behind Ye An. After Ye An sat down, she whispered in surprise: "You don't want to thank me first?"
"Oh, Ye An thanked the saint!"
Liu E finally understood that this boy had no rules. Of course, he didn't know the rules that should be followed in this kind of court. Even so, Liu E didn't feel any dissatisfaction in his heart. On the contrary, he felt friendly.
"You have done a good job with Xia Song regarding the Zhengdan exchanges. Now he has rushed to the Liao Dynasty to congratulate Zhengdan. Yan Shu is mature, prudent and talented. If you have his help, you must discuss it as soon as possible, otherwise you will lose my style of the Song Dynasty."
Ye An bowed and said, "If there is anything wrong with what Ye An did, please ask the sage to show it to prevent Ye An from making mistakes."
There is nothing to hesitate about. Ye An is not stupid. He wants to find out clearly what Liu E means. Does he think the money is too much, or does he think the amount is within the acceptable range.
Negotiations without standards and bottom lines were wrong from the beginning. Although Ye An conducted the negotiations from the perspective of the interests of the Song Dynasty, there were some misunderstandings after all.
Liu E's bottom line is very simple: "Two hundred thousand guan is too much for the Song Dynasty. This is a full double, which weakens the national prestige!"
Ye An gently shook his head and said: "Sage, although this seems like we are giving more money to the Song Dynasty, it actually opens up the market of the Liao Dynasty. This is more important than anything else. The wine and drinks alone are enough for me."
Being able to earn back several times the tariffs for the Song Dynasty is equivalent to a bilateral trade agreement. If we regard the Sui coins... Zhengdan exchanges as trade, I, the Song Dynasty, just spent more money to buy some kind of trade agreement.
It’s just power!”
What Ye An said was a little complicated, but Liu E understood the meaning and couldn't help but ask: "If I use your method, won't the Song Dynasty have to give an extra 100,000 yuan to the Khitans every year?!"
"Is one hundred thousand guan a lot? Compared with the money we earned in the Song Dynasty, this 100,000 guan is nothing to worry about... If the saint feels that he can't live with it, I can still find a way to negotiate with the Liao people to change the money and silk.
As for the ratio of cloth, silk cloth is mostly used as money."
Liu E finally felt relieved: "Oh? That's great!"
Ye An was overjoyed, and then he said: "Sage, the Hu merchants in the Western Regions have a product called cotton. This cotton is not the kapok from the Central Plains, but it is somewhat similar. The Hu people's cotton has a large yield and is light in weight.
It can be twisted into cotton thread. In the past, I used cotton thread to mend wounds in the palace, and this cotton thread can be woven into cotton cloth, which is soft and warm, and can replace silk and linen fabrics..."
"You always conjure up some unpredictable things, and I don't know where they come from. Are you planning to start a cotton thread business again?"
Regarding Liu E's "soul torture", Ye An said without hesitation: "The saint is wise. Ye An has no other abilities, but he is wise in making money! The replacement of hemp thread with cotton thread is the general trend, and it can even be used to a large extent.
The sales volume of silk has been greatly impacted. For only one-tenth of the price of silk, you can buy cloth that is warmer than silk. Do you think this is a blessing to ordinary people in the Song Dynasty?"
"It is a blessing for ordinary people, but it is a disaster for those silk merchants and more people who raise silkworms and draw silk! Do you know how many people in the Song Dynasty make mulberry and raise silkworms? How many people rely on boiling cocoons
Living like a fool? You just want to make money and you’re not afraid of having your spine broken?!"
Liu E was not very excited. On the contrary, she really considered the interests of the people of the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, her algorithm was wrong. She only calculated subtraction, not addition.
Ye An smiled and said: "The sage clearly knows that once cotton cloth is born, it will be popular throughout the Song Dynasty. Since people flock to it, the planting area will definitely be expanded. Cotton is easier to grow than mulberry trees, and not all places are suitable for growing cotton.
, this thing has a large output and high profits. It will only take a few years to be fully popularized. It does not even need to be vigorously promoted by the court. The northwest is very suitable for seed cotton. Although cotton is soft and warm, it is still a little thicker than silk.
Inferior, and as more cotton is planted, the price of silk will naturally rise. The silk of our Song Dynasty is good and beautiful, so we can naturally sell it at a good price!"
In the main hall was Ye An's speech. Liu E and Lan Jizong, who was standing beside her, were convinced by his theory. More importantly, they got the answer they expected from Ye An.
The warmth retention of cotton is much higher than that of textiles of this era, except for silk floss made from expensive silk.
What does keeping warm in winter mean? The most direct answer in the Song Dynasty is to kill fewer people!
And according to Ye An, if all the coins could be turned into silk cloth, and then the silk cloth could be replaced with cotton cloth, this would be too affordable for the Song Dynasty.
The two of them finally believed that Ye An's long-term plan was completely from the perspective of benefiting the Song Dynasty.