After bidding farewell to his sixth brother Zhao Hongzhao and his sixth sister-in-law Kui Ji, as well as the envoy from Qi, General Tian Dan, the next day, Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, prepared to return to his fiefdom.
In response, Zhao Hongrun took the two sisters Mi Jiang and Mi Rui to see Xiong Tuo off.
It can be seen that although Xiong Tuo is cruel to outsiders, he is really enthusiastic towards Mi Jiang and Mi Rui sisters. He threatened Zhao Hongrun along the way, saying what he said if Zhao Hongrun had the guts to bully the two sisters. Zhao Hongrun secretly despised the words he Xiong Tuo would lead a million-strong army to attack and destroy Wei.
Return an army of one million? Do you still have enough food and grass to feed a hundred thousand soldiers?
Zhao Hongrun was really speechless about this.
Think about it, a king of Yi who can't even feed a hundred thousand soldiers is still talking about a million troops. Do you know that the person in front of you will be the person who secretly supports your bid for the position of King of Chu in the future? ?
"Yes, yes, a million troops, a million troops."
While casually dealing with Xiong Tuo's non-threatening threat, Zhao Hongrun did not forget to glare at the stupid girl Mi Rui who was pretending to be powerful behind Xiong Tuo's back.
In the past two days, because Xiong Tuo was supporting her, Zhao Hongrun felt that this stupid girl was a little unscrupulous.
After Xiong Tuo returned to Chu State, Zhao Hongrun decided to give this stupid girl some strength.
There is no need to be harsh, as long as she is not allowed to eat any snacks or cakes for half a month, I believe that this girl will fully understand the status gap between the breeder and the breeder after crying and fussing without any effect. !
Maybe he saw something in Zhao Hongrun's fierce eyes. That stupid girl Mi Rui also looked a little scared. She ran to his sister Mi Jiang and said something unknown, maybe hoping that her sister could help her. Make some amends or something.
As soon as Mi Rui left, Xiong Tuo chatted with Zhao Hongrun about business matters.
"Ji Run, I need a batch of food and grass."
Xiong Tuo made the request without any shame.
Zhao Hongrun was actually a little speechless for someone who had threatened him just now to change his attitude and make various demands.
"Okay, if you have money, you will have food and grass."
When it comes to money, Xiong Tuo seems a little lacking in confidence. After all, he is very poor right now. Although the price given by Zhao Hongrun is quite affordable, the problem lies in the method of transaction.
Zhao Hongrun has clearly pointed out that if Xiong Tuo continues to use pearls, jade, copperware, lacquerware and other specialties of Chu to trade in the future, then Zhao Hongrun will purchase them at half price, which means that Xiong Tuo's "assets" will be Shrinking it by half is harsh enough.
"Is it okay to keep the debt on credit first and use the slaves from Ba in the future to pay it off?" Xiong Tuo asked weakly.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongrun glanced at Xiong Tuo and said angrily: "According to your credit method, are you planning to turn all the people of Ba into slaves and send them to Wei?" As he said, he thought for a moment and touched his hand. He raised his chin and said, "You can use the ore to pay off the debt."
"Iron mine?" Xiong Tuo frowned upon hearing this, looking a little reluctant.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun pointed out unceremoniously: "What's the point of keeping it for you? Your iron smelting process in Chu State, the iron swords you make are not as good as your bronze swords, it's just a waste of ore... You give me I have iron ore, and I will give you finished military equipment."
Xiong Tuo was silent when he heard this.
Although Zhao Hongrun's words made Xiong Tuo feel very uncomfortable, it is undeniable that what Zhao Hongrun said was indeed true: due to the short-sightedness of some Xiong nobles, the Chu State's iron smelting technology was left far behind by the Wei State.
Weapons made of iron ore cannot be called weapons at all. They are so brittle that they break into pieces when hit with a wooden stick.
But the problem is that even so, Xiong Tuo also hopes to develop his country's iron smelting technology. After all, he relies on other countries, such as Wei. Although he can obtain sophisticated iron weapons in a short time, what about the future?
If Wei gets stuck in selling weapons in the future, wouldn't his army under Xiong Tuo have to go back to using bronze swords?
Looking at his hesitant look, Zhao Hongrun just said lightly: "Ignoring the time it takes to improve iron smelting technology, if the funds invested are countless, this is a bottomless ravine... According to this king,
Rather than investing a huge amount of money, wouldn’t it be better to purchase finished iron weapons directly from Wei? It’s faster and more convenient.”
"Humph!" Xiong Tuo snorted and shook his head.
Unfortunately, Zhao Hongrun's coaxing was good at deceiving other people, but it was obviously not good enough to deceive Xiong Tuo, an ambitious person.
"Even if the investment is huge, even if there is no satisfactory return in the early stage, I can't ruin the future of my country." Xiong Tuo firmly rejected Zhao Hongrun's proposal.
He, Xiong Tuo, is completely different from those Xiong nobles in Chu who blindly believe that bronze weapons are stronger and sharper than iron weapons.
However, Xiong Tuo did not put his words to death. After all, in the early stages of developing his country's iron smelting technology, he still needed the support of Wei's iron smelting technology.
"I can give you half."
"Okay." Zhao Hongrun nodded.
To be honest, Zhao Hongrun didn't care that Xiong Tuo secretly developed Chu's iron smelting technology. After all, the entire Chu State generally believed that iron was inferior to bronze. How could Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, try his best to develop Chu's iron smelting technology?
Wei State? If you want to know about Wei State, the whole country is promoting the iron smelting technology.
At most, Zhao Hongrun just regretted that the iron ore would be wasted by the Chu craftsmen. After all, the Chu craftsmen who had no iron smelting experience could only waste the raw materials in what they built in the early stage.
"By the way, in addition to iron ore, I can also purchase other metal ores."
"Other metal ores besides iron ore? Gold and silver?" Xiong Tuo glanced at Zhao Hongrun strangely, frowned and said, "It's impossible for the Ba people to leave their gold and silver mines to me..."
What do I want with that stuff?
Zhao Hongrun rolled his eyes.
In fact, what he wants is bauxite, tin ore and other metal element ores that can be used to smelt iron and optimize iron-carbon steel into steel alloys. However, he can't tell Xiong Tuoming about this kind of thing.
After all, in terms of fundamental interests, he and Xiong Tuo are not on the same page.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun could only vaguely express that the Smelting Bureau he controlled wanted to further improve the smelting process and planned to try various ores to see if it could make the iron sword stronger and sharper, or in other words
, is there another ore that can replace iron ore?
Xiong Tuo obviously also understood that Zhao Hongrun would never reveal this kind of thing to him easily, so he wisely did not ask in detail, but agreed: if he gets those ores that are not like iron ores, he will send people to transport them to the Wei Dynasty.
As for the price, it is calculated based on the price of iron ore.
Zhao Hongrun was very satisfied with this, and repeatedly encouraged Xiong Tuo to launch his plot against Pakistan as soon as possible. He even said privately that if Xiong Tuo launched a war against Pakistan one day, Zhao Hongrun could appropriately provide certain free material support.
Of course, the premise is that Xiong Tuo must protect Wei's interests.
To put it bluntly, Zhao Hongrun just wants the ores from Ba. After all, Ba, Qian, and Shu are all mountainous areas rich in mineral deposits.
It's a pity that Xiong Tuo didn't give a corresponding reply. Maybe he felt awkward. After all, it felt like he was treating the Wei people like a dog, working so hard to conquer the Ba Kingdom and get what Zhao Hongrun wanted.
ore.
After the serious talk was over, all that was left was some unimportant matters, such as asking Gu Lingjun Xiong Wu and his team.
As a result, after asking, Zhao Hongrun found out that the day after Qi General Tian Dan arrived in Daliang, Guling Lord Xiong Wu had left angrily and returned to Chu State.
"Is Xiong Wu so afraid of Na Tian Dan?" Zhao Hongrun asked curiously: "I originally thought that Xiong Wu was humiliated by me and would try his best to regain his face."
Hearing these words, Xiong Tuo nodded and said with a strange expression: "Although Xiong Wu is arrogant, he is not stupid... As for Tian Dan, this person is just like you, a lunatic who does not tolerate the slightest threat from others!"
After that, he let out a breath and said without any concealment: "In front of you guys who are just trying to do nothing, it is impossible for Xiong Wu to get any advantage."
"Tian Dan? He has a similar personality to me?"
Xiong Tuo was silent for a moment after hearing this, probably trying to organize his words.
After a while, he said in a complicated tone: "In the past twenty years, our country, Chu, has only invaded Qi once, and that was when King Xi of Qi first ascended to the throne of Qi... At that time, my country, Chu, invaded Qi.
Chu took advantage of King Xi of Qi to compete with his brothers for the throne, led his army to attack Qi, and captured Linzi, the capital of King Qi..."
You took advantage of the situation when Lu Xi and his brothers were fighting for the throne, and humiliated the Qi State like this. No wonder King Xi of Qi wanted to kill you, and later led his troops to attack your Chu State from time to time...
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Xiong Tuo with a strange expression and asked casually: "What happened next? Were you beaten back?"
"Well." Xiong Tuo's expression was a bit ugly and he said vaguely: "That was the first time that King Xi of Qi called on Lu and Song to launch an offensive against Chu. It was also the battle where Tian Dan became famous... You are not Chu
People don’t know how much Chu people hate Na Tian Dan!”
"Then you don't want to find a way to kill Na Tian Dan? Isn't this a good opportunity?" Zhao Hongrun joked.
"You Wei people will stand by and watch? Hey! If Tian Dan died in your Wei Kingdom, how will you explain it to Qi State? Furthermore..." Xiong Tuo breathed out and said with a gloomy face: "Tian Dan is very cunning, if
If we can kill this person, then even if it triggers a war, I, Da Chu, will admit it. I am afraid that if Tian Dan cannot be killed here, King Xi of Qi will immediately start a war with Da Chu after hearing the news... Originally, the two countries of Qi and Lu
It’s hard for me, Da Chu, to resist, let alone your Wei State now... Let that guy live a little longer!"
It makes sense...after all, you're still afraid, right?
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Xiong Tuo's expression and wisely did not ask any further questions.
But deep down in his heart, he was a little envious of that Tian Dan. After all, that Qi general made Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo, Guling Lord Xiong Wu and Huang Er, who was a descendant of the Ji Lian clan, feel like they were facing a powerful enemy just by saying his name. It was really majestic.
!
It's great, you can scare enemy countries with just one name...
Sisters Mi Jiang and Mi Rui watched the carriage driven by Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo slowly drive into the distance. Zhao Hongrun smacked his lips and couldn't help but be fascinated. (To be continued.)