July is a very hot season, and even in the early morning, the Yulongzhi soldiers who are fully armored are already covered in sweat.
"Di Qing?"
Seeing the middle-aged general in front of him who was not afraid of the heat and whose armor was still neat, Cao Bin immediately became interested.
He directly took out two thousand taels of silver notes from his sleeve, stuffed it over and said:
"Thank you for your hard work, brother. It's my kindness to buy some ice cubes to cool down."
The Song Dynasty already had the technology of making ice with saltpeter, coupled with the storage in cellars. For wealthy people, ice cubes were not a rare thing, and they could be bought as long as they had money.
Since Di Qing has not yet risen, Cao Bin will naturally try to win over him.
Although giving money is a bit vulgar, it is also the most direct and convenient method.
What is the best way to build a relationship? The first is respect, and the second is interest.
Giving money can not only represent interests, but also express respect, perfect!
Although Di Qing is a famous historical general and may have an upright character, he is not a saint after all.
As long as you are a mortal, you cannot escape the shackles of these two things.
When Di Qing saw Cao Bin giving money as soon as he came up and paying back a huge amount of two thousand taels, he couldn't help but be confused and quickly declined:
"Uncle Cao, no, we are sent by the emperor. It is our duty to protect uncle Cao. How can we let him spend money?"
The power of money is still quite powerful. Whether it is because of the money itself or the respect expressed by Cao Bin, Di Qing's favorability suddenly rose to a new level.
In just two sentences, his title changed from the very formal "Uncle Zhongjing" to "Uncle Cao".
At the same time, Di Qing couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Uncle Zhongjing was indeed a well-known dandy in Tokyo. It was so exaggerated that he spent two thousand taels in one move, which almost frightened him.
Even though Cao Bin sells hundreds or a thousand taels, that's just because he has the mentality of a nouveau riche and has a big business to support him.
In fact, in the Song Dynasty, the purchasing power of one tael of silver was quite strong.
A kilogram of rice costs only a few cents, and one tael of silver can buy three to four hundred kilograms of rice, which is enough for ordinary people to eat for more than half a year.
Seeing Di Qing refuse, Cao Bin forced the banknote into his arms and laughed:
"Brother Di, what are you talking about? Isn't it hard work because of your responsibilities?"
"Besides, I don't give all my money to you. With so many brothers traveling with me and suffering, I can't treat them badly."
Seeing that Di Qing wanted to refuse, Cao Bin said with a bluff:
"Brother Di, if you don't accept it, will you look down on me?"
When the lieutenant behind Di Qing saw this, he quickly pulled his sleeve and said with a smile on his face:
"Thank you uncle, our leader just feels that he deserves it."
When Cao Bin saw that Di Qing no longer objected, he laughed:
"That's right. Since we are all our own people, don't be so polite."
After speaking, he waved his hand, not caring about Di Qing's reaction, and quickly boarded the envoy ship with a group of his men.
As the saying goes, you have short hands when you take someone else, and you have a short mouth when you eat someone.
No matter what Di Qing thinks, as long as he accepts the money, he owes himself a favor, it's that simple!
When Cao Bin left, Di Qing complained with a bitter face:
"We have received money from others. If we are asked to do something embarrassing, how can we refuse?"
The deputy general stared at the silver in Di Qing's hand, shook his head and smiled:
"The boss is too cautious!"
"Who is Uncle Cao? Does he need to bribe us?"
"To put it bluntly, we are just soldiers under others now."
"Even if we don't give money, if they ask us to work hard, we still have to obey orders."
"Besides these, I can't think of anything else Uncle Cao would ask us to do."
Di Qing was stunned for a moment and realized that this was indeed the case. He just couldn't understand why Cao Bin was so generous.
The deputy general laughed:
"What's there to think about? Who is Uncle Cao?"
"Maybe this is the cost of a visit to a brothel."
"Originally I was unwilling to participate in this errand, but I didn't expect Uncle Cao to be so considerate of his subordinates."
"With this money, even if the knife tip licks blood, it is still worth it."
When Di Qing heard this, he could only agree with the deputy general's statement.
In this situation, even if he wanted to return the money to Cao Bin, he couldn't do it. Just look at the eyes of his subordinates and you will understand.
However, he had a good impression of Cao Bin. It was not that he loved money, but Cao Bin's attitude.
When Li Tang got on the boat, they came up to pay their respects, but they didn't even get a word of "Thank you".
No matter how upright he is, he can't be fond of such an attitude. He's not a masochist...
At this time, Li Tang was standing on the deck talking with the Xixia envoy, and saw Cao Bin's behavior clearly.
Seeing Cao Bin getting into the cabin without even saying hello, he shook his head with some contempt and said to the Xixia envoy:
"Our deputy envoy is from a martial arts background and does not understand etiquette, which makes Mr. Zhang laugh."
In his opinion, after entering Xixia, the hundreds of guards sent by the imperial court were of no use at all, and the best strategy was to win over the Xixia envoys.
The Xixia envoy is Zhang Yanshou, a thin, short, middle-aged man who serves as the Chief of Planning and Finance in Xixia.
The reason why Yuan Hao sent him to celebrate his birthday is also very simple.
They were just eyeing Da Song's return gift so they could check it out.
For this birthday celebration alone, the Song Dynasty sent a gift of 100,000 silver silk, which was half of the annual coin.
There were more in the Liao Kingdom. In one year, they could give out seven or eight hundred thousand silver in return gifts, which was far more than the annual coins.
This is one of the reasons why the Song Dynasty's treasury receives tens of millions of silver every year, but is still financially tight.
There are so many places to spend money!
Zhang Yanshou heard Li Tang's words, shook his head and said with a smile:
"Master Li, after entering our country, do not despise the warriors. The leader of our country does not like these."
Li Tang was stunned for a moment, then understood immediately, and quickly cupped his hands and said:
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for reminding me. Li took note of it."
As he spoke, he said with joy: "After that, Mr. Zhang needs to give some more advice to prevent Li from violating your country's taboos."
Zhang Yanshou waved his hand and said with a smile:
"Master Li, you're too polite. It's all a trivial matter."
As he spoke, he asked casually:
"I wonder who the female general next to the deputy envoy is? Is she an official of the imperial court?"
Li Tang glanced at him and smiled:
"I have never heard of such a female general in the imperial court. She may be a servant of the Cao family."
Hearing this, Zhang Yanshou suddenly became energetic and asked eagerly: "If I want to buy her, I wonder if Mr. Cao can part with her?"
Li Tang gave Zhang Yanshou a strange look.
He had just met Hu Sanniang. Although she was beautiful, she was too tall and did not fit his taste.
Unexpectedly, the frustrated and thin Xixia envoy would actually fall in love with such a woman.
However, he was overjoyed at this time.
It's just a woman. If she can bribe the Xixia envoy, then his life will be completely guaranteed.
