Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 256
Lai Shangrong knew nothing about the changes in Rong Mansion. He was busy negotiating matters during this time.

It's not that negotiations have already begun, but that some preparations have been made.

It is said that if you know yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles, and the same is true for negotiations.

From the point of view of intelligence, Britain is not alone in being poisoned, and there is also a threat from the red ghost.

Red Ghost was the previous dynasty’s name for the Netherlands, which was adopted by the Great Xia Dynasty.

That is to say, Lai Shangrong is not familiar with modern world history. Otherwise, it can be roughly judged that it was after the third Anglo-Dutch War that the Netherlands began to decline. It was not until the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War a hundred years later that the Netherlands completely lost its maritime hegemony.

So now Britain is in trouble and there is no real governor.

Knowing this, Lai Shangrong's bargaining chips have increased a lot.

Lai Shangrong didn't care much about the face-saving project, it was mainly about the planning of future large-scale industry.

Industrial development requires a large amount of resources. Although Daxia has not closed itself off to other countries, the trade with the Western Yi countries has always been led by the Shipping Department, and import and export are also strictly controlled.

Lai Shangrong does not want to relax supervision, but just wants to expand the scale on the original basis and seize some dominance.

In a farming society, it is impossible for ordinary people to give up their attachment to the land, but the current farming model is too inefficient.

In addition to mechanization and the use of fertilizers, there is also the irregularity of the land and the lack of irrigation systems.

But let alone the current Lai Shangrong, even if he is an emperor, if he wants to touch the cake of the land, he may not be able to implement it, and even the country will be unstable at every turn.

Unless you have the courage of a teacher, even if the Taizu of the Great Xia Dynasty had just conquered the country, he would still have to rely on the cooperation of the elders of the gentry clan to secure the country.

Think about India in later generations. It was they who launched the non-violent non-cooperation movement, which led to the failure to completely change the ownership of land. In the 21st century, the geographical environment with three crops and four crops is still low in productivity.

There is even a strange situation where there is not enough food at home and too much food is exported.

With the advancement of industry in the future, the labor force required will inevitably increase. If we continue to maintain the original agricultural production efficiency, we will either hand over the lifeline of food to others, or we will have to seek changes.

He planned to use imported grain to hit domestic grain prices first, so that the powerful class who held a large amount of land would not see the benefits of the land, and then in exchange for industry and commerce, he would buy or replace their land. At the same time, he would follow the example of later generations and build production corps and rural areas. The grand commune model relevels and plans the land and establishes a mature irrigation system to improve agricultural production efficiency.

Although he was not familiar with modern world history, he also knew that Western colonization mostly used plantations and mines to make profits.

The population of Xiyi was limited, and they did not regard the colonial people as human beings. If they wanted to make money, they had to have a large enough market, so the market of the Daxia Dynasty was actually a very important bargaining chip.

Of course, there are many things to consider in terms of price, etc. After all, Qianxiang Country suffered a defeat and the impact of this battle needs to be weakened.

Failure to win on the battlefield means nothing. If Zhou Qiong hadn't captured an intrusive Xiyi nobleman along the Western Sea, I'm afraid Daxia would be a piece of fat in the eyes of Xiyi.

After sorting out the information in his hand, he already had a rough idea of ​​how to negotiate, and planned to make Xiyi suffer a heavy loss.

Just as he was planning what to do, there was suddenly a noise outside the door, and then the door to the check-in room was pushed open.

"Sir! Your Majesty..."

King Zhongshun rushed in angrily, and Yuan Chengtao followed behind with a look of embarrassment.

"Why are you here, Your Majesty!" Lai Shangrong bowed and saluted.

Then he ordered Yuan Chengtao: "Okay! You go down and make a pot of tea for the prince!" Yuan Chengtao was immediately relieved and turned around to make tea.

King Zhongshun sat down on the chair in front of the case, pointed at Lai Shangrong and complained: "Shangrong! We are old friends, you can't hurt me!"

"Why did the prince say such a thing?"

"We lost thousands of people in the Qianxiang Kingdom. The Western Yi only lost two ships along the Western Sea. Even if they captured Sir Lao Shizi, they still captured nearly a thousand of us. How can this make the Western Yi Retreat? You have benefited for yourself and can only serve as a foil. Why did you bring me along with you?"

They are not fools. Knowing the difficulty of this negotiation, King Zhongshun did not dare to complain to the emperor. He could only blame him as the instigator.

As for the benefits, the emperor heard that Xiyi was given a high title, so in order for his deputy position to be worthy of the name, he gave him the title of a second-class male that he could not inherit.

Although the title has jumped several levels, Chinese people pay attention to the descendants of blessings, and the title that cannot be inherited is indeed a bit tasteless. In addition, the Manchao is not optimistic about this negotiation, and they are afraid that the pot will fall on their own heads, so no one Send it right.

"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. How can you care about personal gains and losses when you are devouring the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor?"

For King Zhongshun, you can either talk about benefits, or you can only use this kind of official talk to suppress him.

"Oh, what can I say to you!" King Zhongshun was trembling with anger, pointing at him and shaking his head: "It's not that I care about everyone's gains and losses, it's just that diplomacy and negotiation have always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Etiquette. I'm afraid that If I don’t know how to do this, I will ruin the important affairs of the imperial court.”

Lai Shangrong said disapprovingly: "Your Majesty is worrying too much, but I think your Majesty is more capable of this important task than those clean people from the Ministry of Rites."

Without waiting for King Zhongshun to speak, he continued: "Of course, if the subordinate is not somewhat sure, how can he recommend the prince!"

"Huh? Are you sure?" King Zhongshun said with a glint in his eyes: "How sure are you?"

"If we let those Qingliu take the lead, I'm afraid there won't be even [-]%. But if the prince takes the initiative and the subordinate officials cooperate from the side, there will be [-]-[-]%."

King Zhongshun was about to ask when Yuan Chengtao knocked on the door and came in with tea.

Lai Shangrong waved to Yuan Chengtao: "Chengtao, don't leave either, stay and listen, this time you will also participate in the negotiation."

Then, Lai Shangrong explained his plan.

After hearing this, King Zhongshun said with a surprised look on his face: "If the two countries are fighting without killing each other, then... this won't cause any trouble, right?"

"What does this have to do with Zan Bu Zan? It's just a battle, and besides, it's just some accompanying guards, not an envoy."

"Won't Xi Yi get angry out of shame? If our improper handling leads to a war between the two countries, we will be drowned by the spitting stars!"

"Your Majesty doesn't know much about the Western Barbarians. They are barbarians who started out as pirates. The more polite you are to each other, the more guilty they will feel that you are guilty.

Negotiation etiquette and so on are all waived, which is why the official asked the prince to preside over it. According to the past practices of the Ministry of Etiquette, the momentum is weak before even talking about it.

As long as we perform this scene well, I will be at least [-]% sure of forcing them to submit. "

"It's impossible not to use the Ministry of Etiquette without one person. Honglu Temple Young Minister Mei Gong, the emperor has already chosen him to participate."

"He probably won't be able to act, so the prince will ask him to be a record officer and just watch with a straight face."

(End of this chapter)