Chapter 12
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In the end, he still couldn’t figure out the reason for the words, so his mind being harsh and blunt, he directly asked: “Wangye, what do you mean?”
Ming Yu no longer made things difficult for him. He smiled: “Ben Wang wants to set up a caravan that can do business with countries in the Western Regions. You should know right? Our Great Yan Kingdom’s tea, porcelain and goods made from woven silk are transported to the southern parts, to countries like the Wan Kingdom, Di Kingdom, Madan Kingdom, Hu Kingdom…..en, afterwards, those other countries’ spices, gems and so on that are transported back to the Great Yan Kingdom are also very popular to sell.”
Bu Atan was already stunned. He didn’t expect that the prince of the Great Yan Kingdom could speak such words openly. He remembered that the Great Yan Kingdom had not yet allowed trade with other countries, right? Or had it unknowingly changed with the current political situation?
He asked cautiously: “Wangye, the rules of the Great Yan Kingdom have changed?”
Ming Yu shook his head, “Naturally not, but who is Ben Wang? The rules are set by our family. Do you think Ben Wang needs to abide by such rules?”
“This…” Bu Atan was speechless. What Ming Yu said was the truth. The rules were always followed by the people below.
“Now, Ben Wang is the lord of this land. They can control you people, but can they control Ben Wang?” Ming Yu gave him reassurance.
In fact, Ming Yu had always been thinking about this plan and had been paying attention to the situation in the Western Regions. When he arrived here, the first thing he immediately did was to come to the foreigners gathering place. Not because of fresh curiosity, but because he wanted to know more about the countries in the Western Regions.
While still on the way here, the idea of forming a caravan was already in his mind.
It’s just that, he had just arrived and didn’t understand everything, so he could only let it go for the time being.
After coming to the boundary of Liangzhou, seeing the current situation here made him feel impatient. It’s too barren and poor, everything must be changed.
However, to change and create new things, to build this land, and to feed the commoners here, which one does not require a lot of money? Although he had the Emperor’s reward in his hand, this was nothing but a drop of water in the bucket. Using a little will decrease it a little. Without increasing income and saving spending, sooner or later, it all will be spent.
It’s easy to speak about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, but to increase revenue is a big problem. Liangzhou is this barren, so what could be the source of revenue? As for controlling the spending, haha, that was nothing. With places where robbers often visit, what things don’t require people spending money?
He heard Bu Atan’s conversation just now and found out that he wanted to take a gamble and risk sending Great Yan’s goods to the Western Regions for trade, so the idea of forming a caravan came out.
That’s right, hasn’t he been worrying about the candidate for making a caravan? This was because there was no one around him who really understood the situation in the Western Regions countries.
And what about Bu Atan? As a foreigner, no one knew these things better than him. When he first met him yesterday, he had a tenacity to have a clear view of things. Together with his current momentum, these were the best characteristics of a business person. And Ming Yu valued these points.
As for whether he would do his best to help himself to handle matters, with regard to whether he was sincere or not, it didn’t matter in Ming Yu’s eyes. As long as there was enough interest involved, what should be chosen will be chosen. They were all smart people, and shouldn’t make people speak too much. He believed that Bu Atan can weight and gauge things properly in his heart.
Bu Atan’s heartbeat speeded up at this moment, and his hands and feet trembled a little. He understood what Ming Yu meant. It was precisely because of this that he was so excited that he couldn’t control himself.
At the beginning, he could only fight a small fight on his own. Now if the prince joined him, he believed that with this kind of backing, he had already succeeded more than half of what he had planned.
He squeezed his thigh hard, it was not a dream. He confirmed again and again: “Wangye, you are not joking, right?”
Ming Yu didn’t speak. He drank the wine in the glass and stared at him with a smile.
Bu Atan quickly picked up the wine cup, poured it respectfully, then scratched his head and smiled awkwardly: “Heihei! Xiaoren’s mouth is clumsy and does not know how to speak. Being capable of following Wangye, it’s this Xiaoren’s great fortune. Wangye, you just have to say your orders and Xiaoren will fearlessly climb mountains of swords and enter seas of flames, and will definitely do as you say.”
He patted his chest to guarantee. With such a good thing, taking this opportunity to favor the prince of the Great Yan Kingdom, the future will be boundless. Only an idiot wouldn’t agree to this kind of matter.
Ming Yu nodded. It was nice to talk to smart people. You only need to mention a few words, and they would know how to choose the most beneficial option.
“It’s not a difficult task. You don’t need to climb mountains of swords and enter seas of flames, you just need to form a caravan. As for the goods, Ben Wang will find a way. When the time comes, Ben Wang will send someone to contact you and discuss all the cooperation matters.”
This request was not difficult. Bu Atan repeatedly agreed. He originally intended to make a caravan. Although it was a small scale, he didn’t dare to be open about it. He had already contacted many people privately, and today he was also persuading his old friend to join, only then did he run into Ming Yu.
Now, if he was going to work for Duan Wang, he had to consider this matter again more carefully. Moreover, it must be trustworthy people. As for the size of the caravan that Duan Wang wants to form, he has to listen to the arrangements of the prince.
“Ben Wang still has an important task here.” Ming Yu said, looking at Bu Atan. Seeing him listening with respectful attention, he continued: “Ben Wang wants you to collect seeds. No matter what kind of seeds, as long as the Great Yan does not have it, Ben Wang needs them. Remember, no matter how precious gems and spices are, they are no better than these seeds in my heart. Do you understand?”
This world was not the same as the original world. Many things in later generations were rarely seen or absent here. He was also able to understand this. He remembered that many crops in later generations were obtained after the opening of the Silk Road, and was slowly being introduced by foreign countries. Although Ming Yu was not sure if there were any of these seeds, or whether the seeds were still in their original places, it was still an unknown factor. Right now, it is still necessary to draw attention to it.
“Huh?” Bu Atan was stunned. He saw Ming Yu’s solemn expression. At first he thought that the task Ming Yu would say would be a difficult task, but after listening to Ming Yu’s words, there was only a question mark in his heart. That’s it? Collecting seeds? Did he really hear it correctly, or did the prince say it wrong?
However, Ming Yu’s serious and firm tone made him can’t help but believe that everything he said was true. It’s just that he didn’t understand, what’s so valuable about this kind of thing? Wangye even regarded it as more valuable than gems and spices. However, the prince had handed him a small matter. Other things he might not be able to do, but this thing was a trivial matter, so it was absolutely no problem.
Although he was puzzled in his mind, from the beginning to the end, he never asked anything more. He knew that he had to grasp his own position. This kind of opportunity was hard to come by, thus it was better to do more and ask less.
Upon seeing this, Ming Yu was very satisfied with his tactful understanding. With this kind of partner, he would be relieved a lot.
This matter, naturally, cannot be accomplished overnight. For a caravan to be formed, in addition to manpower, one also needs goods. He didn’t have anything in his hands now, so what will he trade with then?
Therefore, after the two separated, Bu Atan went to find someone he could trust, and Ming Yu immediately began to write letters after returning home.
The only person in the capital who could help him was His Highness the crown prince. Crown Prince Ming Ye, who was born of the same mother as him. When Ming Yu was in the palace, Ming Ye often came to visit him. Apart from the emperor, Ming Yu was relatively close to him.
It was Prince Ming Ye that he wrote the letter to, to ask him to provide the supply of goods. Which of the princes in the capital did not have his own property? The palace paid a bit of salary every month. Where could these royal descendants and grandchildren squander it? Therefore, when they were a little older, capable people would operate their own properties and these properties would have specialized people to take care of them. Thus, they only need to pay tribute every year.
Ming Yu was a little silly when he was a child, and the palace was full of fighting and scheming. Thus, he was left without anyone to be considerate of his needs. Except for Qingping, there was only a loyal and devoted servant. No one had considered his property issues. Therefore, Ming Yu now only had what the emperor gave when he left the capital, and nothing else.
Now he had no choice but to ask the crown prince to help. He knew that Ming Ye also had a lot of properties in Jiangnan, and his request should just be a trivial matter. Moreover, when the caravan returns, won’t the goods of other countries have to go through the hands of the crown prince to be sold too? When the time comes, earning money will sound like gurgling water.
In the letter, Ming Yu stated his plan in an extravagant embellishment. He even promised a bright future. In the future, he would share the account with the crown prince equally in half. He did not believe that the crown prince would not be persuaded by him.
Of course, he also had to write a letter to request this of the Emperor. It was stated to be a request, but it was only to inform him, so that the Emperor would keep it a secret. After all, this kind of matter of going abroad for trade was not allowed in the Great Yan Kingdom. In the future, if someone tried to play him and giving him small shoes to wear (try to put him in a difficult situation), he will say he had reported it, then there would be no inconvenience. As for the follow-up, it will be the Emperor’s headache.
Ming Yu wrote a letter happily, but he didn’t know that when the letter was delivered, the Emperor was worried and balding with concerns.
At this time, Ming Yu didn’t care about this. In the following days, he tidied up his affairs, built a training base, and inspected his territory situation. He was so busy that his feet could not even touch the ground.
Fortunately, Prefectural Magistrate Liu had finally sent an official that knew the territory situation well according to his request. He was called Xu Wen, a young man with a flexible mind, and he had been a small official here for many years. Thus, it could be considered that he knew everything here like the back of his hand.
Xu Wen had been here for many years and the most powerful official he had seen here was the Prefectural Magistrate Daren. He heard that he was going to be sent to serve as a servant in Duan Wang’s residence, so he was nervous for several days.
This was the prince, a very noble, respectful and matchless person in the royal family. Being able to work for the prince was a good thing that other people could only envy. Although he had also heard some bad deeds of this Duan Wangye, as long as he could be a little quick-witted and work hard, maybe he could obtain this Wangye’s recognition! Then, will he still need to worry about his career at this point in time?
Xu Wen was excited and nervous to proceed toward Duan Wang’s mansion to report for duty. He was still speculating about what errand Wangye would give him. Then, someone came to pass on a message to tell him to join Wangye’s carriage.
He was taken aback for a moment. He came to the Wangye’s mansion to run an errand, what does he need to go with the prince for? He grabbed the person who came forward and asked with a cheeky smile.
As the saying goes, you don’t hit the smiling man with your hand. The man also knew that this Xu Daren especially came to the prince mansion, and it was not good to pull a long face at people. He just muttered, “This is Wangye’s order. This lowly person also doesn’t know anything. If Xu Daren really wants to know, you can simply go and ask Wangye.”
How could Xu Wen dare to ask the prince. He embarrassingly withdrew his hand. That man looked at him like this, and thought that he would be doing things for Wangye in the future, so he sold him a good card, and said, “Xu Daren, please be at ease. Our Wangye is very easy to talk to, you can just go and do what Wangye had ordered, and it will be fine.”
Xu Wen nodded again and again, thanking that person for mentioning it to him, then he waited alongside him for Duan Wang’s carriage to arrive.
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