"He just agreed?" Sun Quan frowned, his eyes full of suspicion. Even after hearing Lu Xun's confirmation, he still couldn't believe that Wei Ba would be so generous.
Three hundred thousand clay bombs cost 450 yuan each, which is less than half of the original price.
"Yes, he agreed." Lu Xun nodded again to confirm. "However, he required us to pay a 70% deposit one month in advance, and the remaining 30% should be paid before picking up the goods."
"Does he really think of himself as a businessman?" Sun Quan laughed with some disdain.
"He is just a businessman." Lu Xun said, and he kept the next words in his heart. Wei Ba's business was not just as simple as 300,000 pottery bombs, he wanted to buy and sell the entire world.
Sun Quan shook his head, stroking his purple beard and pondered for a moment. Although Lu Xun came forward, Wei Ba not only lowered the price, but also lowered the starting quantity for sale from 500,000 to 300,000. The one-time payment he needed to make was from
Fifty thousand gold became 13,500 gold, and for the first time, I only had to pay 70%, less than 10,000 gold, but this amount was still a very heavy burden.
It's not that Sun Quan couldn't come up with it, but it was still very difficult to come up with so much money at once.
The economic situation of Wu State is not optimistic. After several years of continuous wars, not only did they lose most of Jingzhou and almost the entire Jiaozhou, but the military expenditures they paid were also very staggering. It can be said that after these few years of fighting, Sun Quan's treasury was almost empty.
. To complete this transaction, he has to use the royal family's funds.
You must know that it is not enough to purchase clay bombs. The expenses of tens of thousands of soldiers and the preparation of siege equipment will be consumed by the soldiers and civilians. Which one does not require money? It can be said that after purchasing these 300,000 clay bombs, Sun Quan
They have to tighten their belts to live a life, and even the royal family's normal expenses will have problems.
However, Sun Quan had to do this. On the one hand, he really needed to obtain the land in Henan as soon as possible and push the front to the Yellow River. Only in this way could he be qualified to divide the world with the Shu Han. If Zhuge Liang captured Bingzhou and completed all the
Task. And if the Wu Kingdom is still entangled between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River, if Zhuge Liang wants to capture Jizhou, he will not be able to stop it. Once Zhuge Liang captures the strongest Jizhou, he will no longer have the strength and ability to divide the world with the Shu Han.
qualifications.
On the other hand, he didn't know if Wei Ba was really negotiating business with the State of Wei. If Wei Ba really sold the pottery bombs to the State of Wei - Cao Rui had no reason not to buy the pottery bombs. And he also had the strength -
-If Wu State does not have pottery bombs to counterattack, Wu State will face huge pressure on the battlefield, and may even suffer a disastrous defeat, and will not be able to achieve its strategic goals at all.
Facts forced him to buy pottery bombs. Even though he knew Wei Ba was blackmailing him - the cost of pottery bombs would never exceed a hundred yuan. Wei Ba asked for 450 yuan. This was an unprecedented huge profit, and it was basically blackmail.
Sun Quan knew that Wei Ba could do it. He never paid attention to etiquette and morality. In his eyes, interests were the most real thing.
Sun Quan sighed. "Bo Yan, I can't afford such money at once."
Lu Xun bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to give you the reward from your Majesty over the years, which should be about three thousand gold."
Sun Quan frowned slightly. This was Wu's war, not Lu Xun's war. There was no reason for Lu Xun to pay, and it was not a small amount. It was almost all of Lu Xun's family property. If possible, he would never let Lu Xun pay.
, because Lu Xun could not give out the money for free. Even if Lu Xun was willing, he could not agree, otherwise what would other ministers think of him, a monarch who only knew how to exploit his ministers?
However, he really had no choice. He couldn't come up with this huge sum of money in a short time.
"Bo Yan, I am grateful for your loyalty, but..." Sun Quan hesitated for a while before continuing: "Three thousand gold is still not enough."
"Your Majesty, this is a battle for the rise and fall of the country, and all Wu people are at stake." Lu Xun said calmly: "All Wu people should contribute their own strength."
Sun Quan sighed. Whether the Wu people Lu Xun mentioned were the people of Wu or the people of Wu County, he was not sure, but he understood that if the Wu County family was to contribute, he must give them corresponding rewards, in addition to the spoils of war.
During the distribution, they will take a large piece. At the same time, the Wujun family will also occupy a more important position in the court.
He didn't want to agree to Lu Xun, but he was forced into a desperate situation. He could either give it a try or be tied up. There was no third option.
"It seems that this time we really have to devote all our efforts to the country." Sun Quan murmured.
…
Cao Rui's eye sockets were sunken, his eyes were red, and an ominous blue-grey color appeared on his face. He stared at Cao Fu fiercely, his brows furrowed into the character "Chuan".
Cao Fu helped him a lot last year. Just when the price of rice in Luoyang was soaring, Cao Fu rushed to Luoyang with dozens of ships of Jiaozhou rice, which effectively curbed the rising rice price and gave him time to mobilize various counties.
The supply of food provided relief to the market, and at the same time stabilized people's hearts.
Of course, Cao Fu also made a big fortune. The rice was transported from Jiaozhou, a long way away, not only with rough seas, but also with pirates. The cost of transporting it to Luoyang has increased by more than five times. However, the price of rice in Luoyang has risen to normal
Fifty times the price, so Cao Fu still made a huge profit.
It can be said that the most comfortable person in Luoyang right now is Cao Fu, as well as Xiahou Mao and Princess Qinghe who are hiding behind Cao Fu. The reason why Cao Fu was able to go to Jiaozhou to sell rice was partly related to Xiahou Xuan's appointment as the prefect of Rinan.
On the other hand, it was because of the inexplicable affection between Xia Houmao and Wei Ba. Without Wei Ba's acquiescence, Xia Houxuan would not have been able to make the decision.
It is impossible for Cao Rui to have a good impression of such a person, but he cannot say he has a bad impression. Although Xiahou Mao was captured for his incompetence and led to the loss of Guanzhong, he did not actively do evil. After returning to Luoyang, he stayed behind closed doors and had a good attitude towards confession.
It's so hard that people can't bear to talk about him anymore. As for Cao Fu, he is innocent and meritorious.
However, today, Cao Rui couldn't help but stretch his hand to the hilt of the sword at his waist, and the character he had cultivated over the years still couldn't control his anger.
He was not targeting Cao Fu, but the demon who was thousands of miles away.
Wei Ba actually wanted to sell him fire bombs, or to be more precise, he forced him to buy them.
Because now not only the Shu Han has such fire bombs, but also the Wu State. If the Wei State does not, then the Wei Army will be weak in the future battlefield, at least in terms of city offensive and defense, the Wei Army will face huge pressure.
Sima Yi said that the best way to deal with Wei Ba's siege tactics is to use the same tactics. Wei Ba used more than a thousand thunderbolt chariots to fire at the same time. Wei can also do this as long as there is enough preparation time.
.However, the problem of fire bombs cannot be solved in time. Only Wei Ba has the manufacturing technology for this new type of weapon.
Ma Jun, who had always been relied upon by Cao Rui as his greatest source of confidence in the fight against Wei Ba, knew nothing about this weapon. He was proficient in mechanics, but could not explain why this kind of clay bomb spontaneously ignited, let alone imitate it.
Therefore, Cao Rui seemed to have no other choice but to buy it from Wei Ba. Not only that, he should also be grateful that Wei Ba was willing to sell it to him, otherwise he would have no place to buy it if he had money.
But the price is too outrageous: each fire bomb costs a thousand gold, and the starting price is 300,000 pieces. A one-time payment of 30,000 gold is still not a small amount even for the emperor.
This is not business, this is robbery. This is Wei Ba's use of economic means to rob Wei's treasury.
So Cao Rui was very angry and his face turned pale.
Cao Fu was a little nervous. He didn't know why the emperor was so angry, but he knew that once the emperor couldn't control his anger, he would be the unlucky one. Cao Fu had a way of doing business, but he didn't have much knowledge in the court.
Not even as good as his father Cao Hong. Cao Hong even knew how to invest in Cao Cao back then, laying the foundation for his later wealth. However, he had no foundation in the court, and his relationship with the emperor had always been distant, not close.
"This price... is too high." Cao Rui almost gritted his teeth and said, "Thirty thousand gold."
Cao Fu breathed a sigh of relief. The emperor said the price was high, but didn't say he wouldn't buy it. This was a good start.
"Your Majesty, the price can be negotiated." Cao Fu said with a smile: "What idea did Wei Ba have? Although I am stupid, I know very well. It is just to make a fortune by taking advantage of the war between the two countries. But I am big
Wei has a lot of talents, so as long as you can buy some pottery bombs, you can naturally imitate them and use them on others. The expense this time seems to be huge, but compared with Wei's eternal history, it is still insignificant."
Cao Rui's eyebrows twitched involuntarily. Cao Fu's words sounded reasonable, but he knew clearly that Cao Fu wanted to broker this deal not for Wei's future, but for profit.
But, can he refuse? No.
Cao Rui took a deep breath: "How are you, General Hou?"
Cao Fu didn't react for a moment and said instinctively: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My father is in good health."
"General Hou is also a veteran who followed Emperor Wu to conquer the world. Now that the mountains and rivers are in turmoil and the world is uneasy, we have to rely more on these veterans to tide over the difficulties."
Only then did Cao Fu react. He was stunned for a moment and nodded in fear. He knew exactly what Cao Hong was capable of. When Cao Rui thought of him, he probably wouldn't use him to lead troops in battle.
Instead, he was thinking about his money. When he thought of this, Cao Fu wanted to slap himself twice.
Cao Rui quickly summoned Cao Hong. After a long conversation, Cao Hong left the palace expressionlessly. When he returned home, he placed a pair of hussar general's seals and ribbons in front of Cao Fu, grinning, expressionless.
He laughed and said, "I spent ten thousand gold to buy a hussar general. Is this business worth it?"
Cao Fu breathed a sigh of relief, but did not dare to show the slightest expression of relaxation on his face. He hesitated for a while: "Dad, it's okay. As long as we can keep this road, we can always earn back this ten thousand gold. I heard Taichu say
, Wei Ba is building sea-going ships, and using sea-going ships to transport goods in the future, we can go further and earn more."
Cao Hong frowned and suddenly said: "Don't just think about business, you should also find a good husband for your sister. Are there any suitable young talents in Jiaozhou?"