Han Du sighed in frustration and got straight to the point, "What price does the Rubber Emperor want to sell it for?"

Lao Zhu picked up the tea cup unhurriedly, looked at Han Du as if he was sure of victory, and took a sip. "Isn't this urgent? This thing has never appeared before, and I sent an army tens of thousands of miles away.

I have to think carefully about how much I should sell for what I bought."

Why do you need to think about it? Aren’t you just preparing to sell it at a price? Do you think that with the weakness of rubber, you can take advantage of me?

Of course, a steam engine is really useless without this thing. If it were replaced by another Handu, it wouldn't take it to heart at all, but if there is no rubber, there is really no substitute.

Not wanting to control himself, Lao Zhu was also daydreaming.

Han Du thought for a moment, a smile appeared on his face again, and he nodded sincerely, "Yes, I really have to have this rubber. If the steam engine does not have this thing, it will be no different from a tuberculosis ghost."

Lao Zhu squinted his eyes and smiled with satisfaction. "It's good that you know. In that case, I will discuss the price with you again." .??.

"Your Majesty, please wait." Han Du raised his hand to stop Lao Zhu.

Lao Zhu was not in a hurry and immediately smiled: "Oh? What else do you want to say?"

At this time, Han Du smiled and continued: "Rubber is indeed only in the hands of the emperor now, but the emperor should not forget that Jiang Ming took the saplings to Nanyang to plant them. If the emperor sells them too expensively,

, I’d rather wait a few years. It won’t be too late until the rubber trees from Southeast Asia grow.”

Lao Zhu glanced at Han Du, who was swearing, and said: "The rubber in Nanyang is also mine."

I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen such shameless people as Lao Zhu. He clearly promised everyone to plant it together, but now he wants to go back on his word.

"There is no way." Han Du shook his head deliberately and sighed: "If the emperor insists on doing this, then I have nothing to say."

Seeing Lao Zhu's proud look, Han Du changed his tone: "But Your Majesty, there are a lot of things like rubber on the other side of the sea. Instead of being blackmailed by the Emperor here, I might as well go and get them myself."

Lao Zhu's face suddenly turned bad. He couldn't even hold the teacup in his hand and put it down angrily.

"You went to get it yourself? It's tens of thousands of miles away. Did you go there?"

Han Du shook his head: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. I don't even need to go there in person. I just need to spread the news that a piece of cloth on the opposite side can be exchanged for gold of equal weight. Tomorrow, countless merchants will sail to the opposite side. By then,

, Chen only needs to pay a suitable price, and they will naturally be able to bring the rubber back to Chen.”

"In comparison, this is much more cost-effective than buying it from the emperor."

Lao Zhu had no choice but to soften his tone. He chuckled and said, "I didn't say I wouldn't give you rubber, but your steam engine is too expensive. So, I will give you rubber, but you also need the steam engine."

Sell ​​it to me cheaper."

Lao Zhu was very good at calculating. He knew that a steam engine did not use much rubber. Even if he sold the rubber more expensive than gold, Han Du would not spend much money.

Instead of doing this, it is better to use this opportunity to negotiate terms with Han Du. As long as the price can be reduced by 10% or 20%, the profit will be far more than selling directly to Han Du.

Since he has had more contact with Han Du, Lao Zhu has become more understanding.

When it comes to negotiating the price, Han Du is full of bitterness. Anyone who negotiates the price with me is my enemy. "Your Majesty, I only spent 5,000 guan on the gantry crane. Each gantry crane costs 5,000 guan."

I spent a full 100,000 guan to build this steam engine. If I sell it to the emperor for 10,000 guan, I really sold it at a loss."

Lao Zhu frowned: "Really? In that case, I will give you one hundred thousand yuan. You can give me this steam engine."

"Breaking, smashing, and looting? Your Majesty?" Han Du burst into tears.

Look at what Lao Zhu said, how majestic it was. "I'll give you one hundred thousand yuan and give me the steam engine." This is really no different from smashing, smashing and robbing.

Lao Zhu couldn't help it, and suddenly turned red. He cursed: "What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't I give you money?"

Seeing that Lao Zhu had not given up, Han Du was immediately worried that he really wanted to snatch the steam engine away, so he simply said with a sudden heart: "That's not what the emperor said. When the academy minister was in the book

When the court offered a reward, no one was optimistic about it. Even the emperor thought that the hundred thousand gold coins were wasted, right?"

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Lao Zhu's face, and he quickly covered it with his hands. Indeed, he was not optimistic about Han Du at first. He only thought that Han Du was throwing money into the water without even hearing a sound.

"But now, with great difficulty, I won the bet. But the emperor wants to buy the steam engine for 100,000 yuan. Does the emperor think it is possible?" Han Du explained with a pleading tone.

Lao Zhu also felt that one hundred thousand dollars was indeed a bit low, so he picked up the tea cup and said casually: "Then how much do you want? Make an offer."

“If it’s less than 10 million yuan, we won’t sell it!”

Lao Zhu's tea had just reached his mouth and he spit it out all at once.

He frowned and looked at Han Du, "Are you crazy, or am I crazy? Do you really dare to make an offer for 10 million yuan? What are you doing with so much money, are you rebelling?"

Damn, Lao Zhu really didn't even want to lose face for money, and even threatened himself with rebellion.

However, Han Du was not afraid. He smiled and said, "I would never dare to have such delusional thoughts. It's just that this hundred thousand yuan was taken from An Qing. I need to give her an explanation."

No matter how awesome you are, Mr. Zhu, you have no scruples about grabbing your own things. If you have the ability, you go and rob Anqing's things, but I am the one who reaches out and grabs your daughter's things. It is not nice to hear these words spread out.

Lao Zhu did not expect that Han Du would do such a trick, and glared at him fiercely. Seeing that the scare did not work, Lao Zhu returned to the previous topic, "Three thousand guans for one, I will buy ten."

"This is impossible." Han Du refused without thinking.

Are you kidding me? At the price of 3,000 guan, Handu can still make some money, but the profit is not very impressive. I invested 100,000 guan in it, and if I only sold one for 3,000 guan, then I would be able to make the profit only in the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.

return?

"Four thousand guan, I don't care how much you sell it to others, it's the price you give it to me anyway." Of course Lao Zhu understood that the steam engine is a good thing, and it is indispensable if you want to make a divine thunder gun.

Han Du glanced at Lao Zhu speechlessly. He wanted to sell the steam engine to others, but could such a thing be sold to others? At least, not until the needs of the court were met or a newer steam engine was built.

Handu is not prepared to sell this thing to the public.

"Your Majesty, steam engines are related to the manufacture of divine thunder guns. Do you dare to sell them to the private sector?" Han Du stared at Lao Zhu with a keen eye.

Lao Zhu immediately realized that he had made a mistake just now. When he thought of the gantry crane being sold to Fu Yong by Han Du, he took it for granted that the steam engine could also be sold.

After being reminded by Han Du, Lao Zhu suddenly smiled awkwardly. "Then five thousand strings, no more."

Han Du was even more aggrieved when he heard this, "Your Majesty, I spent 100,000 guan just to make the steam engine, and you only gave me a price of 5,000 guan for each one, and you only bought ten of them. The total is only 50,000 guan, and I didn't even pay the cost."

I can’t sell it back.”

Lao Zhu suddenly laughed twice, "You are willing to offer a reward, what does it have to do with me? So you insist on selling one unit for ten thousand yuan, do you just want to sell the capital back from me?"

Lao Zhu suddenly felt that he had not just spent 100,000 yuan to buy all the steam engine technology from Han Du.

"No, absolutely not, at this price." Han Du shook his head like a rattle.

Lao Zhu stared, leaned forward, and said solemnly: "It's just five thousand guan, not a penny more."

"Your Majesty, aren't you buying and selling by force?" Han Du was very reluctant.

Lao Zhu didn't care about him and said with a smile: "Didn't I give you the rubber? If you don't have the rubber, even if you want to make money, you don't know how long you have to wait. Even if you send it immediately

It will take more than a year for people to go to the other side. If you agree now, you can still get back some of the money. If you don't agree, then you can wait more than a year and bring the rubber back by yourself before selling it.

.”

Han Du sighed helplessly and looked up at Lao Zhu

.It’s awesome to have key resources in hand. Han Du can swear that if it weren’t for Lao Zhu holding the rubber in his hand, he would never have sold it to him at this price.

"The emperor is really very aware of the shortcomings of his generals."

Now that he had made up his mind, Han Du no longer hesitated, bowed and said: "As the emperor said, I will sell it for five thousand guans per set!"

When Lao Zhu heard Han Du's tone softening, he immediately understood that Han Du had softened. When Han Du finished speaking, Lao Zhu burst out laughing, "You are also a dignified Marquis of the Kingdom. Why do you act so petty?

.It’s just this little thing, and I was digging around for it.”

Han Du couldn't bear to see Lao Zhu being so obedient when he got an advantage, so he glanced at him and said, "I don't want to do that either, but I have to support my family. I am a marquis who only earns 800 shi of rice per year, but he is often deducted a few bucks for this."

If you add a few stones to the west, more than half of the rice will be removed in a year."

While Han Du was talking, his eyes never left Lao Zhu's face. His lumi was taken away by Lao Zhu. Han Du liked to sleep in, and was often absent during the meal. On weekdays, he was in the Yamen.

No one dared to say anything about him, but during the morning court, the people from the Ministry of Rites were not polite to Han Du.

Whenever Han Du was late once, people from the Ministry of Rites would take the trouble to complain to the emperor. Every time, Lao Zhu was forced to give Han Du a slight punishment. How to punish him?

To really deal with Han Du, Lao Zhu was reluctant to give up, so he could only make a fuss about his salary. Han Du's annual salary was deducted every year because of this, and very little was left.

Fortunately, Han Du didn't rely on this salary to eat, otherwise he would really starve to death.

Lao Zhu snorted twice and reprimanded dissatisfiedly: "It's not because you're too lazy, it's just because I'm being generous. Otherwise, it would be easy for me to send people to hit you. Otherwise, next time I will

I won’t deduct your Lumi, but how about giving me a board instead?”

"Then let's deduct the rice." Han Du smiled awkwardly and quickly avoided Lao Zhu's eyes.

"Humph?" Lao Zhu glanced sideways at Han Du. Seeing that Han Du was still standing there, he couldn't help but asked in confusion: "Do you have anything else?"

Han Du bowed slightly, looked at Lao Zhu without changing his eyes, and explained: "I still have something good in the academy, and I would like to invite the emperor to see it."

"Oh? What is so amazing that makes you so mysterious?" Lao Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Han Du smiled reservedly and said, "The academy made a kind of spinning machine."

Lao Zhu frowned when he heard this, and quickly opened it again. There is nothing unusual about a spinning machine, and according to Han Du's nature, it shouldn't be mentioned as much now.

But Lao Zhu glanced at Han Du, saw the proud look on his face, and asked with a smile: "What? What's so different about your spinning machine?"

Han Du immediately raised his head and smiled, without explaining too much to Lao Zhu, wanting to remain mysterious.

When Lao Zhu saw it, he understood immediately and did not insist on letting Han Du say it. He said slowly: "Okay, I have time to go back and see, but not now."

"In that case, I will wait in the academy for the emperor and the empress to come." Han Du bowed and replied with a smile.
To be continued...