After the emperor arrived, the banquet officially began.
Cheng Wanwan sat in the corner. No one was watching her for the time being, so she started to enjoy her meal.
The dishes at this state banquet are all delicacies from the mountains and seas, including abalone fins and belly. After being cooked by the royal chef, the high-quality ingredients retain the most original umami flavor. With the addition of some very simple seasonings, the deliciousness blooms in the taste buds again and again.
After everyone was half full, someone at the table began to talk.
Assab's envoy was today's distinguished guest, and the topic naturally revolved around Assab. As an interpreter, Cheng Wanwan was called to the front by the emperor.
She stood behind the emperor and empress and was responsible for the translation between the two languages.
First, Assab praised Dayu, which made the emperor who was indifferent to emotion and anger very happy. Then, Assab showed their sincerity, which was box after box of jewelry and gold. It is very common in their country, but it is very precious in Dayu Country. They want to use these to exchange for food from Dayu Country.
Cheng Wanwan always had a smile on his face: "Your Majesty, what Asab's envoy said is to ask how much these dozens of boxes of jewelry and gold can be exchanged for in Dayu Country."
The emperor couldn't answer this question, so he handed it over to the Minister of Household Affairs for accounting.
The value of gold can be calculated, but it is difficult to give an accurate valuation for things like jewelry and jade.
"The total is 2,300 taels of gold, which is equivalent to 23,000 taels of silver. The current price of rice on the market is eight to twelve cents per catty, so it is calculated based on ten cents." The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was making calculations. "In other words, the gold brought by the Assab envoy can purchase a total of about 2.3 million kilograms of grain."
"hiss!"
"so much!"
The officials present took a deep breath.
Many people do not lack 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver at home, but they generally do not use all the money to buy food, so they do not have a clear idea.
As far as they know, the four largest granaries in the southeast, northwest and northwest of the capital only hold five million catties of grain combined.
"It is difficult to convert these jewelry and jades into silver taels." The Minister of the Ministry of Finance said with a solemn expression, "But according to the price in the capital, the value of these boxes of treasures is at least around 30,000 taels of silver."
The Queen felt that this estimate was not watered down.
She is the mother of a country, and the best jades and jewelry in the entire Dayu Dynasty are in her Kunning Palace. But when she saw these jades sent by the Assab envoy, she realized that good things are not only in Dayu Kingdom... Then The jasper was crystal clear. If it were made into earrings and put on the market, it would cost at least a thousand taels of silver. And the pink crystal, as a queen, she had never seen such a beautiful crystal.
The total of all these things, thirty thousand taels of silver, is just a conservative estimate.
The Minister of Household Affairs looked at Cheng Wanwan: "Master Si Bin, does Assab's envoy only need food?"
If only food is needed, all the food in the capital will be sold out, which is not a good thing for Dayu.
But if they refuse to sell food, then the trade between Daewoo and Assab may come to an end...
But once they see those exquisite jades and sparkling gems, no one is willing to let go...
Cheng Wanwan just had a conversation with people from the Assab country about food issues. Assab is located in the north. It is cold for eight or nine months of the year. The land is barren and the yield of anything grown is low. Food is the most precious thing in their country. They come all the way here just to bring food back. This is their mission.
However, it is impossible for Daewoo to sell five million kilograms of grain. This will definitely cause food prices to skyrocket and cause social unrest.
Cheng Wanwan thought for a while and then said, "They really only want food. However, I will try my best to make the Assab envoy willing to give away the jewelry and jade. At the same time, Dayu will also give gifts in return. How about it?"
If they take the path of trade and exchange, Assab will definitely only want food, and there is no need to discuss this.
But if they are giving gifts, then they can give whatever the Daewoo Dynasty gives. After they see the porcelain, silk, rouge, delicacies and other good things from the Daewoo Dynasty, the next trade will never only involve food.
Hearing this, the queen couldn't help but click her tongue.
These things look very valuable at first glance. Would Assab be willing to give them away?
The queen believed that Cheng Wanwan was trying to secure the position of Lord Si Bin and was suspected of being a liar.
She was thinking in her mind, if the Sui'an people didn't succeed in talking later, how could she give the Sui'an people a step down...
Cheng bent his knees and bowed, then walked towards the Assab envoy.
"You have brought a total of 2,300 taels of gold. After deducting the trade tax, this gold can buy approximately two million kilograms of grain in Daewoo. You need to arrange at least several thousand carriages to transport it." She said with a smile. , "As for those gems and jades, in the Dayu Dynasty, rich people had no shortage of these things, but ordinary people have no need for them, so I can only ask you to bring them back the same way."
The Assab envoy was shocked. This gold could be exchanged for nearly two million kilograms of food. Oh my God, so much food could save many people from starving to death in their country...
They thought this year would be like every year before, but they didn't expect that they would be promoted after bringing back so much food!
The breathing of the seven or eight envoys became rapid.
"These jewels and jades will be troublesome on the way back to your country, and they will occupy a few carriages in vain." Cheng Wanwan took in their expressions, "Let me tell you something privately, our queen seems to like them very much. A pink crystal, if you are willing to dedicate this crystal to the Queen, the Queen may be pleased and may grant Assab permission to come to Daewoo twice a year to trade."
The envoy from Assab was moved when he heard that, two million kilograms of grain were given at one time. Wouldn't it be possible to take away four to five million kilograms of grain if he came twice? Who would turn away such a good thing?
Without hesitation, he said: "Send it to the queen, and give everything else to the queen."
These gems and the like are very common in their country, so it doesn’t hurt at all to send them such big boxes.
Cheng Wanwan immediately raised her hand in the direction of the emperor: "Assab's envoy said that all these jewelry and jades should be given to the noble empress of the Dayu Dynasty."
The queen was stunned, the deal was actually concluded?
This Assab envoy must be too easy to fool.
Cheng Wanwan continued: "Assab's envoy is determined to have good relations with the Dayu Dynasty. In my humble opinion, he can reward me with exquisite things from the Dayu Kingdom to show the prestige of our Dayu Dynasty."
"Okay, very good!" The emperor was very satisfied with Cheng Wanwan's performance and waved his hand, "I will reward you with a thousand pieces of Assab silk, a thousand pieces of satin, a thousand pieces of brocade... I will reward you with a thousand pieces of celadon from the official kiln, and a thousand pieces of white porcelain. pieces, thousands of pieces of opalescent porcelain... One hundred catties of Maojian tea, one hundred catties of Gushan black tea..."
The emperor of the Dayu Dynasty believed that the country of Dayu was vast and rich in resources, and would never take advantage of Assab in the slightest. The sum of these various things was worth at least 40,000 taels of silver, which fully demonstrated the power of the Dayu Dynasty.
And these things are all produced by the Daewoo Dynasty, so it doesn’t hurt to give them away.
The envoy of Assab was overjoyed, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute, calling the Emperor long live, long live, long live, long live the emperor in poor Dayu language...
Next, Mr. Zhang expressed the hope that Assab could send some other items in the future, such as spices, animal skins, nuts, cattle, sheep and horses... Of course, the specific contract will not be signed today, but will be negotiated with each other for three to five days. Sign again to confirm.
Assab Country achieved its wish, and the envoys from Laji Country could not sit still. They kept praising the delicious food of Dayu Country, and at the same time proposed to increase maritime trade. They wanted to buy more food, silk and tea from Dayu Country. , and at the same time, it will also bring more fish and seafood to Dayu.
The two countries are separated by a sea and have been conducting trade a hundred years ago. These can be easily negotiated.
"The reason why we appear in the Yue clan during this period is to look for the rare species of the Yue clan." The leader of the Laji Kingdom said, "Since this spring, we have been traveling to various countries and have searched for many precious animals and plants. Among them We will bring some back to the Laji Kingdom, and we are willing to give some of them as tribute to the Dayu Kingdom."
The emperor nodded: "Bring it here and take a look."
The people of Laji Kingdom were well prepared and immediately went down and brought up many boxes.
The first box opened and contained a small pile of seeds.
People from Laji Country introduced: "This is an ornamental flower from Malang Country overseas. The yellow flower is called yellow flower by the locals. Because of its tenacious vitality, we bought seeds and wanted to plant a flower in Laji Country. Sea of flowers.”
Cheng Wanwan raised his eyes and saw that it was so small that he couldn't tell what it was.
Originally she didn't care about this matter, but she didn't know why. Maybe it was the national complex in her previous life that caused trouble, and she didn't have any good impressions of life in the Laji Kingdom.
So, she clicked on the system mall.
【Ding! Found goldenrod seeds, worthless. 】
Cheng Wanwan raised his eyebrows. If it were goldenrod alone, it would be just a medicinal material. If you add goldenrod in the north, it would be completely different. It is an invasive species. Where this kind of flower grows, there will be no crops at all. It can destroy Drop a village!
