After receiving the long sword from the Valley Master Guan Hao, Sun Fangyuan and Qian Gang remained silent, only observing the sword carefully.
After a long while, Sun Fangyuan slowly spoke: "The descendants of our sixth realm now basically only receive customized armor."
"Yes." Valley Chief Guan Hao nodded slowly.
Qian Gang said in a deep voice: "In this case, we must rely on our Xifeng Iron."
"It's true that Xifeng Iron is the key, but Chang'an's weapon-making skills are indeed impressive."
After Sun Fangyuan was silent for a moment, he continued: "We underestimated Chang'an before, thinking that their weapon refining skills were based on the Tianfeng Mountain of the Eastern Tang Dynasty, so there was nothing to fear, but now it seems that there are experts in Chang'an."
Qian Gang said: "Currently, they are not enough to pose a threat to our business, but..."
He did not continue speaking, but both Guan Hao and Sun Fangyuan knew what he meant.
I'm just afraid that the weapons business in Chang'an City is getting bigger and bigger.
"The Eastern Tang Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty are both blocking Chang'an. It should be difficult for them to gain power." Sun Fangyuan said.
Guan Hao, the owner of the valley, thought for a long time: "Let's observe it first."
Sun Fangyuan and Qian Gang both nodded together.
Having said that, the three masters of Ice and Fire Valley looked at the two swords with solemn expressions.
What made them even more depressed was that soon worse news came.
The weapons and armor produced in Chang'an City are better than before.
It’s not just a matter of quality, the quantity is also a huge difference.
A large number of Chang'an weapons began to become popular on the market.
Moreover, the price is lower than that of Ice Fire Valley!
The Ice and Fire Valley was the market place of the Western Zhou Dynasty and was soon replaced by Chang'an City.
The Eastern Tang Dynasty had a strict blockade, but it could not stop some people from taking desperate risks.
Although things from Chang'an are banned on the plane, the black market has already been overflowing with them.
What makes Ice Fire Valley even more unbearable is that although the Northern Qi Dynasty blocked Chang'an, it was not strict enough, so a large number of Chang'an weapons secretly poured in, fiercely occupying the base of Ice Fire Valley.
"How could they do this!" Qian Gang was furious.
"Selling it so cheaply will hurt people at the cost?" Sun Fangyuan also frowned.
The two of them went to the residence of Guan Hao, the owner of the valley, together again.
But this time, Guan Hao's disciple signaled the two of them to wait.
They waited for a long time before they saw the owner of the valley slowly coming out.
But this time, Guan Hao was holding a broken knife in his hand.
He put the two pieces of the broken knife into the hands of Sun Fangyuan and Qian Gang.
The two looked at each other, each taking a piece and looking at it carefully. Their expressions became more and more serious the more they looked at it.
"There are no more than five people in our sect who can forge this sword, including Lao Ruan." Guan Hao, the master of the valley, said slowly.
Sun Fangyuan and Qian Gang looked ugly.
Of the five people Guan Hao mentioned, there are three in the room now.
In fact, it means that to forge such a sword at the level of Ice and Fire Valley, you need to have at least a seventh-level cultivation base.
Including Qian Gang, there are three seventh-level warriors in the valley.
In addition to Sun Fangyuan from the eighth realm and Guan Hao, the valley master from the ninth realm, they are complete.
Five of them can create such an outstanding work.
But they have only accepted custom orders from specialized personnel for a long time.
But the broken knife in front of them was mass-produced by Changan!
There are quite a lot of them spread outside the country, not counting the number of people in Chang'an who use them for their own use.
"Brother, please give me an idea." Qian Gang said in a deep voice.
Guan Hao did not speak and fell into silence for a long time.
Sun Fangyuan played with the broken knife in his hand and said: "In any case, let's say hello to the royal family Gao first. At least we can't let Chang'an weapons circulate on the ground of Northern Qi in such large quantities, otherwise we will all suffer from the northwest wind."
"Junior Brother Sun, please go to the capital and discuss this matter with the royal family."
Guan Hao, the owner of the valley, said: "In the future, we can give a little profit to the royal family for our business."
"Do they have the nerve to negotiate the price? Gao Tiankai's two sons are still trapped in Chang'an City." Sun Fangyuan said bitterly.
"In short, they must take action." Guan Hao said to Qian Gang again: "Junior Brother Qian also talks to the people in Chang'an City. This way of hurting others at first sight is not good for everyone."
Qian Gang nodded: "I understand."
Ice Fire Valley's two-pronged approach has yielded results.
On the other hand, Shang Jie said that although Changan's sales have increased, it will not continue to lower prices.
On the other side, the Northern Qi royal family took action and gradually strengthened the blockade of Chang'an.
In the direction of Northern Qi, the blockade of Chang'an in all aspects suddenly intensified.
In fact, under the original blockade, the reason why there was still a lot of communication between Chang'an and Northern Qi was because of the Ice Fire Valley itself.
The southwest area of the Northern Qi Dynasty, bordering Chang'an, is the inherent sphere of influence of the Ice Fire Valley.
Previously, Ice Fire Valley's blockade ban on the Northern Qi royal family was violated in both cases, and instead it was at war with Chang'an.
Now, they began to secretly cooperate with the Northern Qi royal family's blockade.
Of course, they didn't completely break up with Chang'an.
Xifeng Iron is still sold to Chang'an in order to get the resources they want from Chang'an.
When dealing with Chang'an in person, they kept complaining and expressed how much pressure the Northern Qi royal family put on them.
They overcame many difficulties before insisting on continuing to communicate with Chang'an.
In the direction of Northern Qi, business and trade became more difficult, and Chang'an Ordnance Factory's export sales declined.
Zhang Dongyun’s instructions on this are:
Increase intensity.
He transformed into Mr. Wu Yun and gave guidance to Chen Yu, Huang Xi and others to further improve their craftsmanship.
As a result, Chang'an Ordnance Factory's weapon refining level was further improved and the cost was further reduced.
Not only did it completely consolidate the market in the Western Zhou Dynasty, it also began to gradually regain the market share in the Northern Qi and Eastern Tang Dynasties.
The intensity of the ban is indeed huge.
However, Binghuogu quickly vomited three liters of blood and discovered that the price of Chang'an's armor on the black market in the Eastern Tang Dynasty was actually cheaper than his own fair sales.
Even in the Northern Qi Dynasty, soldiers and armor produced in Chang'an began to circulate on the black market.
"Are they selling these magical weapons for medium-level warriors as kitchen knives and agricultural tools?" Qian Gang couldn't believe it.
Sun Fangyuan also had a face full of disbelief.
This time, without waiting for them to go to the Valley Master Guan Hao, Guan Hao directly summoned all the top executives of Ice Fire Valley for a meeting.
There is only one topic for the meeting.
Cut off the Xifeng Iron supply to Chang'an City!
When the news came back to Chang'an, Zhang Dongyun was very calm.
"Be polite first and then fight."
The Mr. Wuyun he projected looked at Shang Jie, who was in charge of liaison in front of him: "It just so happens that we didn't plan to continue cutting prices."
"Yes, sir." Shang Jie resigned, then left Chang'an City and set off for Northern Qi.
She came to the mountain gate of Ice Fire Valley again.
Qian Gang was responsible for receiving her.
"It's been a while since we last met. Elder Shang's cultivation level seems to have improved?"
Qian Gang was slightly surprised.
The last time I met Shang Jie, she was probably still at the sixth level of martial arts, but now she was at the seventh level like him.
"Mr. Wu Yun made some suggestions and made a little progress, which made Brother Qian laugh." Shang Jie said.
Mr. Wuyun of Dahe Longmen taught the method of the heart of the sea, and everyone in the sect benefited greatly.
As a result, Shang Jie was promoted from the sixth realm to the seventh realm.
It's just that she is currently busy with the internal affairs of Chang'an and rarely goes into battle to kill enemies in person, so her murderous aura is relatively weak.
"The production of Xifeng Tie has been reduced, and everyone in our sect is anxious."
Qian Gang said: "We have no choice but to interrupt the shipment of Xifeng Iron to Chang'an this time. I'm really sorry."
Shang Jie nodded: "We have always had a good luck every ten days, so I wonder if the supply will be restored after ten days?"
"It's really hard to say, it depends on the specific production situation." Qian Gang said: "In fact, our department is also reducing production, so we need to save some money."
Icefire Valley has indeed reduced production recently.
But it was not because of the lack of Xifeng Iron, but because a large amount of market share was usurped by Chang'an City, so that many soldiers were backlogged at home and could not be sold, so they had to reduce production first.
Only after production in Chang'an is interrupted and they release a large amount of inventory to seize the market again will they resume production scale.
Shang Jie knew this very well.
She even knew that there was no problem with the production of the Xifeng Iron Mine in Ice Fire Valley.
However, she did not point it out face to face, but just said: "There have been wars in many places recently, and the consumption of soldiers and armor has been fierce. This is a great opportunity for you and me to join hands."
"Yes, yes." Qian Gang said haha: "What a pity, what a pity."
Shang Jie continued: "As for the price issue, the price in Changan has stabilized and will not drop again. I can be sure of this."
nonsense!
It’s already so low!
Qian Gang cursed in his heart.
"So, I dare to ask Elder Shang..." Qian Gang asked: "Will it improve?"
Shang Jie remembered Mr. Wu Yun's explanation, so she shook her head: "As far as I know, it shouldn't happen in a short time."
Qian Gang nodded: "Thank you Elder Shang for your frankness. In that case, I will open the skylight and speak frankly.
Xifeng Iron's production is indeed limited recently. If Chang'an is in urgent need, there is no room for negotiation.
This sect can allocate part of its own needs and give priority to Chang'an.
However, the price is naturally going to change.”
Shang Jie smiled when she heard this: "Brother Qian, I am very grateful for your confession, but with all due respect, the price we gave you at the beginning was extremely fair.
A few days ago, you had a house price increase, but it was just a business deal, so we agreed.
The price is very generous, even on the high side.
If Brother Qian wants to raise the price again this time, it would be too unfair."
Qian Gang said calmly: "There is really nothing I can do to help. After all, the entire sect, including the direct subordinates, has thousands of mouths waiting for food. I have to help the grain master calculate the financial accounts."
Shang Jie said: "There has always been a gap between the Gui sect and the Northern Qi royal family. We and the Gui sect can definitely have more cooperation in other aspects."
"That's not necessary." Qian Gang said: "After all, you are in the Eastern Tang Dynasty and we are in the Northern Qi Dynasty."
Two people were having a conversation in the front hall, while three people were sitting quietly in the back hall.
The sound from the front hall can be heard in the back hall, but the people in the front hall cannot hear the people talking here.
In addition to the leader of the Ice Fire Valley, Guan Hao, and the elder Sun Fangyuan, there was also a man wearing bright yellow clothing.
This man has a handsome and majestic face, somewhat similar to King Gao Tiankai of Qi.
"Hasn't the Valley Master made up his mind yet?" The middle-aged man said with a smile, "It's just right to capture this girl."