Fan Li and Ye Xu led the twenty people in a hurry, but after entering the Chu territory, they asked everyone to move slowly to avoid stirring up dust and attracting the attention of the surrounding Chu people.
After all, Ye Xu was from the army and knew their current situation, so he was quite worried about the safety of this trip, so he couldn't help but ask:
"This trip is going deep into Chu territory, and I don't have any official documents in hand. If I encounter Chu people patrolling, how can these twenty people be enough?"
But Fan Li didn't care about this and just replied calmly:
"Haha, how can these twenty people protect us? The reason why Li wants to take them with him is just so that he can take some copper and stones with him when he returns home!"
"Now that the state of Chu is in chaos, we have no time to look north. The people of Chu are all in danger, so where are the guards who are showing off everywhere? So we only need to be careful and we will be blameless."
When Ye Xu heard this, he couldn't help but admire Fan Li very much when he saw that he was the same age as him but so bold and careful.
They hurried on without haste, and six days later, they entered Suiguo safely. At this time, Fan Li immediately sent someone to report the news to the capital.
When these people learned that the world-famous Zheng Guo and Li Ran sent people to Sui Guo for help, they did not dare to neglect them and settled them directly at the pass.
Since there had been no war between Sui and Chu for a hundred years, the pass was built in a crude way.
Fan Li and Ye Xu stayed here for three days before they were finally summoned.
The person who is now in charge of the monarchy in Suiguo is Zeng Houyu, and the one who came to receive them is his prince Yue.
I saw that Prince Yue was holding a child of four or five years old. The child's eyes were wandering around and he was very agile. At first glance, he was an alert child.
Prince Yue introduced:
"It is a great honor for my country to have two distinguished guests come from afar. This is Quan Zi B. Because I have not seen any guests since I have been with the country for many years, I brought him out today to see the scene. I hope you won't be surprised!"
Fan Li said hurriedly:
"How dare you? You're welcome, Prince. Gongsun has such an extraordinary appearance. I think he will become famous all over the world in the future."
Prince Yue smiled and said:
"Haha, it's a small and humble country. I don't dare to become famous all over the world. I just want to be safe."
Later, Prince Yue took Fan Li and Ye Xu to meet Zeng Houyu.
As soon as they entered the main hall, they saw that the main hall was resplendent with ten sets of chimes! With so many chimes, it would be an unprecedented scale to be placed anywhere.
This aspect is enough to prove the abundance of copper and stone in Sui State. On the other hand, it can also be seen that Sui Guo is indeed far away from the rules and regulations of Zhou Rites in the Central Plains.
After all, if it were placed in other vassal states, due to the restrictions of "Zhou Rites", if you want to build a set of chimes with a wider range of sounds, you will probably be criticized by others for a long time.
Seeing someone coming to the palace, Marquis Zeng immediately ordered someone to ring the bell to welcome the guests. For a moment, the whole hall was filled with the beautiful sound of metal and stone.
Fan Li and Ye Xu came forward to pay homage to Zeng Houyu. Zeng Houyu smiled heartily and said:
"Both of you, please rise. Although I live in a humble place, I have also heard of Li Ziming's name. It's a pity that I can't see him today."
Although Sui Guo has been very quiet in these years, with almost no interactions among the princes, and various alliances have basically excluded him, Sui Guo, as a neighboring country, is naturally aware of Li Ran's behavior in Chu State.
Fan Li presented Li Ran's handwritten notes and bowed his head and said:
"Your Majesty, Mr. Ziming has sent me and I to your country this time. I have specially left a volume of letters for you to read! Mr. Ziming has many things to do and cannot come to visit in person. I hope you will not be surprised!"
Zeng Houyu's character was quite open-minded, and he answered directly with a smile:
"No problem, no problem. If there is a chance, I can see you again someday."
Gong Zheng stepped forward and took the slip from Fan Li's hand, and then handed it to Zeng Houyu.
Zeng Houyu unfolded it and read it. Li Ran briefly explained the current situation of the Zheng State in the letter. Now they have taken in the refugees of the Zheng State and want to attack the Zheng State in the name of clearing the emperor and rectifying the government affairs of the Zheng State. However, they lack copper and stone. Making weapons, so I hope Marquis Zeng can help me.
In addition, Li Ran also knew that Suiguo was also a country with the surname Ji after all, so he directly raised the intention of this matter to the level of "reviving Jizhou". And hoped that this could win the approval of Marquis Zeng.
Of course, in the end, Li Ran also clarified that this matter had nothing to do with the Chu State, so Sui Guo did not need to worry that the Chu State would take the opportunity to make trouble, and he promised that he would be heavily rewarded after the matter was completed...
When Zeng Houyu knew the purpose of their trip, he could not help but put down the slip slowly with a frown on his face. He was silent for a long time before speaking:
"It stands to reason that I should be obligated to do this, but this Chu country is adjacent to this country after all. So many copper and stones... If we don't report it in advance, I'm afraid it will be difficult to transport it to Ye Yi. And although this matter is related to It has nothing to do with Chu State, but it’s hard to say what the current King of Chu will think! What if..."
"By then, not only will the copper and stone not be able to be transported to Ye Yi, I'm afraid that our country will also be in danger. I, our country, have not been involved in world affairs for a long time... and if we anger the state of Chu because of this, it will not be worth the loss." !”
After Fan Li heard this, he continued to bow and said:
"I would like to inform you that the King of Chu is now weak. Although Xiong Bi succeeded him, the world knows that the person in charge of the military power is Prince Qiji. Prince Qiji has always shown himself to be a virtuous man, so he must not dare to I will blame Sui Guo for this matter. Therefore, as long as we don’t brush off his evil scales, we should be safe and sound!"
"And according to my husband's name, since I promise to thank you in the future, I won't lie. What's more, the State of Zheng is in the same line as Sui State, and they are both countries with the surname Ji. Now that the State of Zheng is in trouble, if the State of Sui can help , this move is also a way to gain the protection of the ancestors!"
After hearing this, Marquis Zeng was a little hesitant. At this time, Ji Yi, the great engineer and doctor on the side, spoke again:
"Since our ancestors signed the alliance with the Chu State, our country has never had such close contacts with any country. This time we are helping Zheng State, I am afraid that it will arouse the suspicion of the Chu State! I am a humble country, so I have to do what I do. How can you be extremely careful and cautious and risk your life for a huge profit?!"
This Ji Yi is actually the descendant of Ji Liang who signed the alliance with Chu State.
When Fan Li heard this, he thought about it for a long time before he said:
"If you still have doubts, how about this? Just think that Li is here to make a deal with you on behalf of my husband. It was Fan Li who purchased the bronze stone in the name of business. This is a private matter. It has nothing to do with Zheng State, and it has nothing to do with Chu State."
"Li is just a businessman selling copper and stone now. When he took the copper and stone from Suiguo and passed by Yeyi, even if Mr. Ziming wanted to buy it, he had to exchange it for something of equal value!"
In fact, Fan Li's idea is quite risky.
Because if it becomes a private transaction, then the safety along the way cannot be guaranteed, and it is even less possible for Sui Guo to send troops to protect it.
Come and try it quickly. 】
But if you think about it more carefully, if it is in the name of the country, Sui Guo can certainly send more troops and horses to coordinate the transportation, but if the Chu State wants to accuse them, then they will indeed be left with nothing to eat!
Therefore, it might not be a bad thing to simply give up this layer of protection.
When Ji Yi heard this, she couldn't help but narrowed her eyes:
"It's just...do you have anything to guarantee now? You can't just take away so much of our copper and stone for nothing, right?"
When Fan Li heard this, he knew there was something going on, so he immediately raised his head and said:
"Lisu heard that the Sui State was in serious shortage of salt. This was because after the Chu State conquered and destroyed the Yong State, the salt from the Ba State could only pass through Chu and enter the Sui State. Therefore, the salt eaten by Sui Ren was far more valuable than the Chu people."
"On the other hand, most of the salt market in Zheng was bought and sold by the people of Qi, who were near the sea. Although the quality of the sea salt produced by the people of Qi was not as good as that of Ba salt, the price was very low."
"If you, your lord, can trust Li, when Li returns this time, I will ask you to repay him with salt and salt of equal value! I will never allow your country to make this trip. I wonder what your wishes are?"
When Zeng Houyu heard this, his eyes lit up.
Yes, since the three kingdoms of Qin, Chu, and Ba teamed up to destroy the Yong Kingdom, the salt market here has been monopolized by the Chu people.
And because of their relationship with the Chu State, they never dared to open a salt road to the north. So, they no longer had salt cheap enough to eat.
And they have been suffering from this for a long time all over the country.
And these few words from Fan Li can be said to hit the point directly.
If we can "pass the blame" to him alone and create another salt road to solve this big problem in our country, then why not?
So, Zeng Hou opened his mouth and said:
"That being the case... we will discuss this matter after I discuss it with everyone else. You two have had a hard journey, so I will prepare a banquet for you to cleanse the dust for you two!"
Zeng Houyu immediately ordered people to set up a banquet in the main hall. Everyone sat on the ground, and a copper stove was set up next to them for barbecue.
I saw that this copper stove has two floors, with a charcoal fire on the bottom and barbecue on the top floor, with a dedicated person serving it. In this way, you can eat hot food, which is very convenient.
(Later, a copper furnace was unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Hou Yi. When it was unearthed, there was charcoal in the furnace, crucian carp bones in the plate, and traces of soot on the bottom of the plate. It was the earliest bronze cooking utensil for frying and roasting food discovered in later generations.)
Fan Li saw that the copper stove was well made, and he was full of praise for it. Suiguo's bronze wares really deserved their reputation!
