My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 60 The eldest son of the emperor? Big troll!
Does the eldest son of the emperor think it's okay?
This sentence contains a lot of information.

——Under what circumstances would a dignified emperor of the Han Dynasty ask his son about one thing: Do you think this is okay?

The answer is: The emperor felt that it was not possible, but he could not refuse it himself, so he wanted to use his son's words to refuse it.

In other words, Emperor Qi did not want to agree to Qi King Liu Jianglu's intention to get involved in the porcelain business, but due to the imminent reduction of vassal status and the need for the court to stabilize the Qi Dynasty, it was inconvenient to refuse directly.

This is only the first level.

Continue to dig deeper: Emperor Qi summoned Liu Rong today, and the porcelain was just an introduction and an excuse to summon Liu Rong.

The real purpose is probably to use Liu Rong's mouth to say something to King Qi and King Chu that he wants to say but is inconvenient to say in person.

To put it more bluntly, one is the white face and the other is the red face - Liu Rong is responsible for intimidating and admonishing, while Emperor Qi stands up to comfort and win over.

And this means that before each of Liu Rong's next words is spoken, he must accurately figure out Emperor Qi's intentions and accurately say what Emperor Qi wants to say but cannot say in person due to his identity.

Thinking of this, Liu Rong stood up with a smile. He did not answer the emperor's father's question directly, but gave Lu Yao, the king of Qi who was sitting in chief, a cup of his hand.

"I've heard for a long time that Qi is famous for its industry and commerce, as well as its fishing and salt production. When I saw it today, it really turned out..."

"——Even the great uncles and vassals of the King of Qi never forget to use industry and commerce to seek Jia Li. This is probably the case with the folk customs of Qi."

"But I don't know how much porcelain Uncle Wang wants to bring back to Qi this time, and what price he is willing to pay?"

First, he implicitly mocked Liu Jianglu for being a noble vassal king, but he was running a lowly business as a merchant. Then Liu Rong naturally asked about the order volume and the purchase price Liu Jianglu could give.

It wasn't because Liu Rong really planned to discuss this business with Liu Jianglu.

But when he just walked into the palace, Liu Rong vaguely noticed something from the stiff smile of the emperor's father and the embarrassment on the face of Cen Mai, the young master.

——Qi Wang Liu Jianglu probably used the Shaofu porcelain as an entry point to extort money from the imperial court in Chang'an.

Since it is a rip-off, it is naturally impossible to pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other hand.

I just don’t know how Liu Jianglu will cover up his intention to catch the white wolf with nothing...

"But it made the eldest son laugh."

"Our country of Qi has a small territory and few native people. If we do not seek the benefits of merchants and industry, the people of Qi will definitely not be able to support their wives and children through farming alone."

"Even the humble King Qi Gong always cares about the people's livelihood. He always thinks about where he can buy a batch of grain from and bring it to the land, for fear that the people under his rule will starve or catch cold."

"Over time, it is inevitable that you will acquire the habits of a Jia person..."

Qi King Liu Jianglu did not take Liu Rong's insinuation seriously.

After being the King of Qi for so many years, Liu Jianglu's ears had become calloused by similar cynicism.

——It’s not like Liu Jianglu has never heard of someone who scolded someone even more harshly and excessively than Liu Rong.

As a clan king with a strong business mentality and philistine spirit, Liu Jianglu only cares about practical interests.

As for the gains and losses between words, Liu Jianglu would not have any emotional fluctuations at all.

As usual, Liu Jianglu shamelessly defended himself, which also paved the way for the follow-up. Liu Jianglu followed Liu Rong's topic and began to express his thoughts.

"I have seen the porcelain made by the Young Master in the Young Mansion."

"——It's so beautiful!"

"It's just that the texture of this porcelain is too brittle. It's not much stronger than pottery. It's not as hard as copper or wood, and it's not as soft as cloth or silk."

"Qi is thousands of miles away from Chang'an. If we transport porcelain directly, the carriage and horses will be bumpy along the way. I'm afraid..."

After he stopped talking at the right time, Liu Jianglu shook his head and sighed, seeming to be very troubled by this.

But everyone in the palace, without exception, understood the meaning of Liu Jianglu's words.

"Okay! Guy~"

"Did the co-authoring directly focus on the production process?"

At this time, Liu Rong finally understood why the smile on the emperor's father's face was so stiff when he entered the palace just now, and why the face of the young master Cen Mai was so clouded with worry.

"Ah……"

"I thought Uncle Qi Wang wanted to share a bowl of meat soup from the Shaofu." "I never thought that he wanted to take the pot back to Linzi with him?"

Realizing Liu Jianglu's purpose and having a rough guess about Emperor Qi's stance, Liu Rong revealed Liu Jianglu's thoughts with just a smile.

As he spoke, he did not forget to glance up at Emperor Qi with his peripheral vision to make sure that he had guessed Emperor Qi's intention correctly.

Seeing that Emperor Qi's expression remained as usual, Liu Rong was determined and stopped being polite to General Liu.

"Porcelain is a new way for me, the eldest son of the emperor, to open up a new source of wealth for the young government when I know that the imperial court is about to cut down the vassalage, and there may be major changes in Guandong. The military expenditure is likely to be insufficient."

"——When in the future, King Wu Liu Bi raises his troops to rebel and wreak havoc in Guandong, the Shaofu will use the money earned from selling porcelain as military expenses for the court to suppress the rebel army."

"Perhaps by then, even Uncle Wang who is far away in Linzi will need to be rescued by the imperial army..."

"But I don't know: Uncle Wang wants to take advantage of the young master's new way of making money. What kind of compensation can he make for the young master's internal funds?"

On the surface, Liu Rong was asking what price Liu Jianglu could offer, but in fact, these words forced Qi King Liu Jianglu into a very embarrassing situation.

——The King of Wu wants to rebel. This is now known to everyone in the Han Dynasty.

Under this premise, at a stall where money is being spent in the Shaofu, and money is flowing out like a flowing stream, Liu Jianglu is licking his face and poaching the corner of the Shaofu. Obviously, he needs to give a reasonable explanation. .

The most reasonable thing is of course the fact: if the porcelain production technology can be obtained from the Shaofu, the seven kings of the Qi family represented by Qi King Liu Jianglu can verbally promise not to collude with Wu King Liu Bi.

And this is what makes Liu Jianglu embarrassed.

"Dare you say it?"

"Do you dare to say in front of my father, 'As long as you give me the craftsmanship of making porcelain, I will not rebel'?"

Liu Jianglu obviously didn't dare.

Not to mention Liu Jianglu, who is such a shrewd businessman, even if he is a fool, as long as he is not too stupid, he will not dare to do so.

But apart from that, Qi King Liu Jianglu obviously couldn't give any other convincing reasons...

"As a widower, I can share the profits with the young master."

"I can share half of the proceeds from the sale of all the porcelain produced in Qidi to the Shaofu."

"Young Master doesn't have to do anything to earn a fortune..."

Before Liu Jianglu finished speaking, Liu Rong smiled and shook his head, interrupting Liu Jianglu's fantasy.

"Uncle Qi is not the only one who can do this."

"Uncles King Chu and King Liang, as well as Yan, Dai, Zhao in the north, and even the King of Changsha in the south can do the same."

"——To put it disrespectfully: If this is really what you want, my father can even find a random eunuch in the palace to do the same thing."

"Like Deng Tong, who minted money in Shu during the late emperor's time?"

Speaking of sensitive areas, Liu Rong did not forget to cast a sideways glance at the emperor's father who was sitting on the imperial couch.

Last month, Deng Tong starved to death on the streets of Chang'an.

This lucky minister who was once so rich that he even shared the world's currency market equally with King Wu Liu Bi could not escape the fate set for him by that prophecy.

But at this moment, Emperor Qi's focus was obviously not on a dead person.

Liu Rong finally breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the emperor's acquiescence, or the instruction that he would not be punished for this.

Immediately, he also said the words that sealed the coffin and made King Liu Jianglu of Qi completely wake up from his fantasy.

"Compared to such an eunuch who only needs to eat and drink enough, all the income from business operations will be transferred to the young manor, and will be loyal to his father until death, how is Uncle Qi better?"

"——Why should the young master give half of the benefits of porcelain to Uncle Qi, who has done nothing for the country and is of no benefit to the people, and has no intention of being loyal to the king and serving the country, but only seeks the interests of merchants?"

···
"How can Uncle King Qi ensure that in the future, after he accumulates huge wealth through the benefit of porcelain, he will not be like the current Wu King Liu Bi who wants to covet the sacred?"

"Or perhaps Uncle Wang already had such thoughts at the moment, and it was just because his family was not as rich as Liu Bi that he set his sights on the Shaofu's porcelain???"

　Second update~and one more~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)