Listening to Shen Jing, the two couldn't help but realize.
The more white sugar they wanted, the more white sugar the Great Zhou imperial court would purchase from his friend.
Thus, he could earn more!
The key was, after they sold the white sugar, they would have to use silver to buy elixirs from him!
He was going to make a huge profit!
"Marquis Shen, what a calculation!"
Gao Yin looked at Shen Jing with admiration, secretly pleased in his heart.
Shen Jing told them to ask for an exorbitant amount, completely disregarding the interests of the Great Zhou imperial court!
No matter what, this was weakening Great Zhou!
"This is good for you too, isn't it?"
Shen Jing chuckled, "This is called mutual benefit for us. Only then can our cooperation last, don't you think?"
"Right, right!"
Gao Yin nodded repeatedly, "Then Marquis Shen, how much white sugar do you think is appropriate for us to demand from Great Zhou?"
"That depends on your abilities!"
Shen Jing's lips curled up, "This Marquis has already handed the knife to you. If you still don't know how to use it, then you're too foolish!"
Hmm?
Shen Jing handed them a knife?
What knife?
"Marquis Shen, rest assured, this old man understands!"
Hulü Xian took over, "Marquis Shen dared to put us under house arrest. It should be no problem for us to demand more white sugar from Great Zhou, right?"
At Hulü Xian's words, Gao Yin suddenly reacted.
Brilliant!
So this was the knife Shen Jing was talking about!
Shen Jing was deliberately giving them an excuse to make trouble!
He really had a premeditated plan!
Shen Jing smiled noncommittally and continued, "In order to put you under house arrest, this Marquis previously persuaded His Majesty to prepare for war with all his might. Now, the main war faction in the court has the upper hand. During negotiations, His Majesty will most likely send officials from the main war faction to talk with you, but they actually have no confidence in their hearts, do you understand?"
"Understood!"
Hulü Xian's face broke into a brilliant smile, "Marquis Shen, rest assured, we will do our best!"
He was relieved!
At this moment, Hulü Xian was completely relieved!
This was something that benefited both sides!
The more white sugar they received, the easier it would be to report back when they returned.
Coupled with the merit of offering elixirs, the Emperor would surely reward them handsomely!
With such a good thing, what reason did they have to refuse?
Shen Jing's act of treason also put a handle in their hands!
He believed Shen Jing would not dare to tamper with the elixirs.
Otherwise, once they exposed this matter, without their protection, Shen Jing would only have a dead end!
...
That evening, Emperor Zhou, unable to withstand the pressure, finally ordered Shen Jing to be summoned to the palace.
Upon seeing Emperor Zhou, Shen Jing hadn't even had time to salute when Emperor Zhou eagerly asked, "How are things on your side?"
"Your humble subject has lived up to his mission and completed it!"
Shen Jing smiled, "Your Majesty, in another day or two, you can summon the Yong Country Delegation and send people to negotiate with them!"
"Really?"
Emperor Zhou was overjoyed, quickly stood up, pulled Shen Jing to sit down, and said, "Quick, tell me, how did you manage it!"
At this moment, Emperor Zhou also breathed a sigh of relief.
So many days of pressure had not been in vain after all!
As long as this matter was accomplished, the imperial court could significantly reduce its burden for a year!
"This..."
Shen Jing hesitated slightly, testing, "Your Majesty, if this humble subject tells you, you won't ask this humble subject to offer the things in his hand to the imperial court again, will you?"
"What are you saying?"
Emperor Zhou was displeased, "You make it sound like I'm robbing you of the sugar-making method! Am I not also doing this to lighten the burden on the imperial court? Besides, didn't I reward you? I am still the monarch of a country, yet you speak of me as if I were a bandit!"
Shen Jing gave a dry laugh, "This humble subject is just afraid, isn't he?"
"Afraid of what?"
Emperor Zhou glared at him, then solemnly declared, "No matter what good things you have, I will not ask you to offer them! I will not take food from your mouth!"
With Emperor Zhou's words, Shen Jing finally felt at ease to reveal everything he had done these past few days.
He also specifically explained that the Five-Stone Powder was poisonous, to prevent Emperor Zhou from having a whim and wanting to taste this so-called immortal elixir.
After listening to Shen Jing, Emperor Zhou was both happy and angry.
"Are you so full you have nothing better to do?"
Emperor Zhou glared at him with bulging eyes, "You could have clearly used that broken elixir to make them cancel the marriage alliance and tribute, yet you told them to demand as much white sugar as possible. Doesn't white sugar cost silver?"
Emperor Zhou, like a miser, changed his mood faster than flipping a book, his spittle almost spraying onto Shen Jing's face.
This scoundrel!
Not only did he not tell Yong Country to ask for less, he told Yong Country to ask for more?
Was the imperial court's silver not silver?
Who does things like this?
Even if he didn't want to arouse the suspicion of the Yong Country Delegation, there was no need to tell Yong Country to ask for as much white sugar as possible!
"..."
Shen Jing's face twitched from Emperor Zhou's spittle. After a long while, he asked with a wry smile, "Your Majesty has never done business, have you?"
"Nonsense!"
Emperor Zhou rolled his eyes at him, stating righteously, "I am the monarch of a country; how can I compete with the common people for profit?"
"This isn't a matter of competing for profit!"
Shen Jing said speechlessly, "This humble subject will give an example: we sell something that is originally worth fifty thousand taels of silver to Yong Country, letting them sell it for one million taels of silver. Then, they use five hundred thousand taels of silver to buy the elixirs in this humble subject's hand..."
"Doesn't that still mean they made a profit of four hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver?"
Emperor Zhou's eyes bulged, saying discontentedly.
"I..."
Shen Jing almost cursed.
Is that how you calculate accounts?
You say he can't calculate, yet he included the fifty thousand taels cost.
You say he can calculate, yet he completely doesn't understand what a trade surplus is.
Shen Jing held back for a long time before patiently explained to Emperor Zhou, "Your Majesty, that's not how you calculate. Your Majesty must calculate how much silver from Yong Country ultimately flows into our dynasty. Individually, they earned four hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver, but it's Yong Country that is losing! Where does their silver come from? Doesn't it have to come from the nobles of Yong Country..."
The silver of Yong Country's nobles flowed into the Emperor's pockets, so they would have to find ways to exploit the common people, wouldn't they?
This enriched individuals but impoverished the country!
The more white sugar they gave to Yong Country, the greater the impact on Yong Country's economy.
In such a situation, why wouldn't they give Yong Country more white sugar?
The more Yong Country's Emperor earned, the higher the price of his elixirs would be!
In the end, wouldn't more silver flow from Yong Country into Great Zhou?
Understanding the intricacies, Emperor Zhou immediately looked at Shen Jing with a face full of shock.
This boy's move not only completed the task he had assigned him but also allowed him to slowly poison the Yong Country's imperial family and nobility with those elixirs, strike at Yong Country's economy, and let Yong Country's silver flow into Great Zhou!
This was simply killing four birds with one stone!
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
After a long while, Emperor Zhou, his face full of excitement, clapped his hands and laughed, "I truly did not misjudge you! You, young man, are truly a great talent! No, an unparalleled genius!"
At this moment, all the gloom in Emperor Zhou's heart vanished, and his face was almost splitting with laughter.
He really wanted to pry open Shen Jing's head and see how on earth this boy's brain was structured.
He even thought of such a strategy!
The key was, the Yong Country Delegation still thought they had gotten a great bargain!
"Your Majesty overpraises me."
Shen Jing smiled modestly, then reminded Emperor Zhou, "Although we should give more, there must be a limit so as not to arouse their suspicion, and too much cannot be produced! Furthermore, this matter must be kept strictly confidential, not even to those involved in the negotiations!"
"Hmm, I understand!"
Emperor Zhou nodded with a smile, but soon, the smile on his face froze, "That's not right!"
"What's wrong?"
Shen Jing was puzzled.
"Yong Country's silver isn't flowing into Great Zhou; it's flowing into your pocket, young man!"
Emperor Zhou suddenly realized.
Yong Country was enriching their Emperor.
But in Great Zhou, it was Shen Jing who was getting rich!
This silver wasn't flowing into Great Zhou's national treasury!
He was almost led astray by this boy!
"This..."
Shen Jing gave a dry laugh, "When this humble subject has more silver, doesn't he also have to spend it? In the end, doesn't this silver still flow into Great Zhou? If this humble subject has people use this silver to do business, can't it also promote the prosperity of Great Zhou's economy?"
Listening to Shen Jing, Emperor Zhou's face twitched violently.
Although he knew full well that Shen Jing was talking nonsense, he actually felt that Shen Jing made a lot of sense?
Confound it!