The next morning, twelve fast horses set off from the Xianbei camp and headed straight for Yancheng. When the soldiers guarding the city saw the Hu cavalry heading straight for Yancheng, they immediately became alert.
However, Prince Yan's Mansion had already said hello that it had invited the Xianbei people to come to the city to discuss matters, but the soldiers guarding the city still checked them one by one before letting them go.
Yancheng is located on the frontier, so we have to be careful. After learning the location of Prince Yan's Mansion from the soldiers guarding the city, Su Hetu led his servants towards Prince Yan's Mansion.
In Prince Yan's Mansion, a group of guards lined up on both sides of the gate. There were also five-step posts on the high courtyard wall. Everyone was holding a spear and a sword on their waist.
Su Hetu led everyone to the gate of the palace. A servant came forward to talk to one of the guards and handed over the letter and invitation sent by the palace yesterday.
The guard checked the letter and invitation, and immediately returned to report after confirming that they were correct.
Zhao Bin was thinking about today's events, so he got up early today. After hearing that the Xianbei people were coming, he asked Chunxi to go out to meet them.
After a while, Chunxi led about ten people to the door of the hall. Xiao Chu stood at the door and motioned for a few people to stop. Chunxi turned around and said to Su Hetu who was following behind him: "Chief Suhe, the guards can just wait outside."
Su Hetu just pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement, and spoke a few words to several servants in Xianbei dialect. One of the middle-aged men was worried and wanted to say something, but Su Hetu stopped him.
Because he knew very well that now that they had entered Prince Yan's Mansion, if Prince Yan really wanted to harm them, just a dozen of them would not be able to do anything. After arranging the servants, Su and Tu followed Chunxi into the hall.
Suhe rushed into the hall and saw a young man sitting on the main seat with a warm face and a slight smile. There were two people standing behind him, one was a burly man with a resolute face, it was Wang Wu, and the other was a pretty-looking man. Maid Linger.
Su Hetu knew that the person sitting on the main seat must be the master here, that is, King Yan. He immediately stepped forward, crossed his arms with one arm across his chest, bowed and saluted: "Su Hetu, the leader of the Suhe tribe of the Xianbei tribe, pays homage to His Highness King Yan." .”
Zhao Bin stood up and said: "Chief Suhe, please excuse yourself. I am the king inviting you today. Chief, please don't be polite. Please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Su He suddenly stood up and said.
"Ling'er is serving tea." Zhao Bin sat back on his chair and continued: "Can Chief Suhe speak Chinese?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, our Suhe tribe has moved here for a long time, and we have some contacts with the local Han people. Therefore, many people in the tribe have learned Chinese. When the Xia army regained Yancheng, they did not expel us, and we also I will pay 200 sheep to the Yancheng government office." Su Hetu replied.
"I see. Since Chief Suhe has some old ties with Daxia, I will speak frankly. The person who sent the letter yesterday must have handed over the salt given by me to the chief. I want to exchange the salt for the cattle and sheep of your tribe. I wonder if Su and the clan leader are willing to exchange horses?"
When Su Hetu heard this, a hint of joy flashed through the corner of his mouth. You must know that salt is very precious to any nomadic people in the north. There is no salt on the grassland, and there is very little salt smuggled on the border. Many herdsmen I can't eat more than a few mouthfuls of salt all year round.
Su He suddenly asked: "I wonder how the prince plans to exchange?"
"It's very simple. A sheep can be exchanged for two kilograms of salt, and a cow or horse can be exchanged for five kilograms of salt. No matter the size." Zhao Bin directly gave his quotation.
This exchange price cannot be said to be fair or unfair, because even if it is a reasonable exchange price, if there is no goods, it is equal to unfair.
The salt and iron of Daxia were in the hands of aristocratic families, and Daxia's decree prohibited the sale of salt and iron to nomadic peoples. Making the enemy strong was tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger.
Suhe suddenly said: "Yes, but I don't know how much salt the prince wants to exchange?"
"It all depends on how many cattle, sheep and horses Chief Suhe has." Zhao Bin said with a smile.
"What does the prince mean by this?" Su Hetu asked a little confused, because he had no idea how much salt Zhao Bin could bring out. In his opinion, it might be dozens of kilograms, or hundreds of kilograms.
Zhao Bin said directly without mincing words: "Except for what your headquarters needs to keep, I can exchange all the rest."
Su He Tu pondered for a while and said tentatively: "Your Majesty, our Suhe tribe can now provide one thousand horses, two thousand cattle, and ten thousand sheep. I wonder if Your Majesty can provide so much salt?"
"Xiao Chu, bring up the salt," Zhao Bin shouted outside the hall.
"Yes." There was a response from outside the hall. After a while, two guards came into the house carrying two bags and placed them in front of Su Hetu. After opening the mouth of the bag, they were filled with white fine salt. These two hundred pounds of salt were just purified from the salt factory yesterday.
"Chief Suhe, these two hundred kilograms of fine salt are an advance payment from me. From now on, you will send people to bring the livestock and pull the salt away every day. What do you think?" Zhao Bin said
Su Hetu looked at the fine salt in front of him and said with some surprise: "Does the prince really mean what he said?"
Zhao Bin smiled and said, "The salt has been placed in front of you, so why not take it seriously? If you can't get the salt, you won't send cattle and sheep, right?"
Su He suddenly slapped the table and said, "Okay, it's a deal, I will send someone to deliver the livestock as soon as I return to the clan."
"No hurry, there is one more thing." Zhao Bin said slowly.
"Your Majesty, please speak?" Su He suddenly looked at Zhao Bin and replied.
"You must have contacts with the Xiliao people. I also have a batch of coarse salt here, which I can give you at a low price. You can take it to the border to exchange for horses, cattle and sheep with the Xiliao people or other tribes. Then you can use these livestock again. Come to this king in exchange for more fine salt." Zhao Bin continued.
"By the way, you can also exchange it for other mountain goods."
Su Hetu readily agreed so that he could earn part of the price difference. The two discussed the exchange prices of some other items. Su and Tu ordered two servants to carry two bags of salt and left the palace happily.
After Su He suddenly left, Zhao Bin called Xiao Chu in. "Xiao Chu, you go and send someone to the government office. Tell me that the king is hosting a banquet tonight and call some important officials over."
"It's the prince."
"Ling'er, ask the kitchen to cut more mutton slices as I told you in the afternoon, and prepare the seasonings I told you. Let's make hot pot in the evening," Zhao Bin ordered.
"Slave, go now."
"Lao Wu, how are the blacksmiths and carpenters doing?" Zhao Bin turned to look at Wang Wu behind him.
"I went to see it yesterday, and now I have assembled about thirty complete iron plows." Wang Wu walked to the front and said.
"Tomorrow you take them to the Yamen, bring the drawings with you, and let the Yamen be responsible for promoting the improved iron plow and its use technology to the people. We can't let our palace do all the work, it will be too busy." Zhao Bin asked He said leisurely while holding his chin.
In the evening, all the main officials of the government came to Prince Yan's Mansion, and they had their first hot pot meal in their lives.
