Feeling the awkward and strange atmosphere in the palace, Emperor Wei Zhao Yuanxi coughed, not knowing whether he was trying to save himself: "The ten guard girls who were sent to the palace are currently serving your aunts..."
Zhao Hongrun blinked his eyes innocently, showing an expression of "I didn't ask anything." He was so angry that the Emperor of Wei could only turn this frustration into a ferocious look, and glared at Yu Ziqi who spoke so freely.
.
Yu Ziqi broke into a cold sweat behind his back and quickly changed the subject: "Your Highness, Your Highness, let's talk about this first... trade, yes, trade!"
Zhao Hongrun chuckled heartlessly, and then said seriously: "What Master Yu said just now, in my opinion, is only relief and reward between countries, and cannot be said to be a qualified commercial trade.
"
"What is commercial trade?"
"Making money!... I exchange goods worth one copper coin for money or items worth several times the value. This is the essence of commercial trade."
Yu Ziqi was stunned when he heard this: "Who would be so stupid to buy goods worth several times the value when they are only worth one copper coin?"
"That's not necessarily true." Zhao Hongrun shook his head, pointing to the kite he made and said, "For example, the cost of making this kite is forty taels, but now I want to sell it for four hundred taels. Mr. Yu thinks
Will anyone buy it?"
Hearing this, Yu Ziqi suddenly realized: "That's it!... This thing is more novel than ever. It can make mortals go to heaven. It is unprecedented. Let alone four hundred taels, even if it is four thousand taels, I am afraid there will be a large number of rich people fighting for it... What your Highness means is
, I, Wei, want to trade some novel things with other countries?"
"Where can there be so many novel things to trade? Besides, this thing is flashy. What else can it be used for besides playing?" Zhao Hongrun curled his lips.
"Then what your Highness means is..."
Zhao Hongrun said seriously: "As the saying goes, rare things are valuable. The things we trade with other countries must be things that other countries don't have or have very little, but we, the Wei Dynasty, have a lot."
Yu Ziqi suddenly woke up and nodded repeatedly: "We, the Wei Dynasty, produce most of the cotton, which can be sold to Qi and Han..."
But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhao Hongrun.
"Isn't there a lot of that kind of thing in the Chu State?... If you sell it to Qi and Han at ten times the value, the Chu State heard that if you sell it for eight times the value, wouldn't it be a benefit to the Chu State?"
"Uh..." Yu Ziqi's face stiffened slightly, and he said awkwardly: "Your Highness, you mean to choose something that only our Wei Dynasty has? This... Although our Wei Dynasty is vast and rich in resources, there is nothing that other countries don't have.
…”
"You are so stupid." Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yu Ziqi helplessly, pointed at the kite and said, "Are the raw materials for making this kite, bamboo and cloth, available in other countries?"
While He Xiangxu and Lin Yuyang were laughing, Yu Ziqi nodded awkwardly: "Of course there is."
"Then can they do it?"
Yu Ziqi was slightly stunned, as if he understood something.
Seeing that he seemed to have some understanding, Zhao Hongrun further poured new ideas into him: "I'm not asking you to sell raw materials. How much are the raw materials worth? For example, wood can be found everywhere in other countries. But if you summon a group of skilled craftsmen to carve the wood into
How about selling lifelike wood carvings to other countries?”
"The humble minister is taught." Yu Ziqi felt as if he had a sudden enlightenment after hearing what you said.
At this time, Zhongshu Zuo Cheng Lin Yuyang was so happy that he couldn't help but interjected: "Your Highness's suggestion is excellent. However, other countries can also imitate wood carvings. What can be done?"
"This has to involve technical issues." Zhao Hongrun turned to look at Lin Yuyang and said: "If we can ensure that the craftsmanship of the wood carvings sold by our great Wei Dynasty far exceeds that of other countries, the problem mentioned by this gentleman will be easily solved.
"
"Technology?" Lin Yuyang's face showed deep confusion, as if he didn't understand.
"This is indeed too abstract. Let's use another analogy, weapons! In terms of weapons, the level of technology directly affects the combat capabilities of the soldiers of the two countries. Obviously, this is the best expression of technical strength... It is said that my country, the Wei Dynasty, has developed it.
"Ten Forged Irons"?"
Lin Yuyang thought for a while and said truthfully with a bit of pride: "To be precise, there are more than just the 'Ten Forgings'. Let alone other things, in terms of iron smelting skills, there are only a handful of people who can rival me, the Great Wei Dynasty!"
I saw Zhao Hongrun grinning and said, "That would be even better... Sir, if we build a batch of weapons made of ten-forged iron and sell them to some countries that cannot make ten-forged iron weapons at a high price,
how?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuyang's face changed drastically and he said in shock: "Your Highness, no! Weapons are important weapons of the country, how can we sell them casually? If those weapons end up in the hands of the enemy, wouldn't it be an act of capitalizing on the enemy? By then, I, the great Wei Dynasty, will develop the weapons.
Weapons, in turn, kill my soldiers of the Wei Dynasty, how can we explain to our ancestors?"
"So you are also stubborn." Zhao Hongrun curled his lips angrily: "With the wealth gained from selling those weapons at high prices, you can continue to develop iron smelting technology! Develop 20-forged and 30-forged iron as soon as possible to defeat enemy countries.
Even if you hold a weapon made of ten forged iron, what can you do? When fifty forged iron is developed, you can forge twenty or thirty forged iron into weapons and sell them. This is called
Return research and development funds, do you understand?... To ensure that our sergeants in the Wei Dynasty are always equipped with leading armaments, and to sell obsolete armaments in a timely manner to those countries with backward iron smelting technology, wouldn't this be a disguised form of letting the wealth of other countries for us?
Paying for the research and development of Dawei's iron smelting technology? Hmm... it means that the money required for research and development of technology is transferred to those countries in need of armaments in a disguised form."
"This..." Lin Yuyang was dumbfounded.
You must know that the current situation between countries is that, in order to prevent the occurrence of the phenomenon of subsidizing the enemy, unless it is an alliance, the arms of one country are absolutely prohibited from being sold to other countries. And those arms that have been eliminated are either piled up in the arsenal.
, rusty, or go back to the furnace to smelt and continue forging.
However, because the cost of re-smelting a weapon is far greater than that of re-making a weapon, and the quality is far inferior, therefore, most countries end up melting these obsolete armaments into farm tools and disposing of them at low prices to the people in the country.
It can be regarded as making full use of iron ore resources.
And this method of reuse, compared to what the Eighth Prince Hongrun proposed, can be described as "backward"?
The three Zhongshu ministers seemed to see a bright road unfolding before their eyes, making them full of energy.
"The problem of insufficient iron ore..."
"We trade with countries rich in iron ore. We, the Wei Dynasty, sell finished weapons and they pay with iron ore."
"Coal mine..."
"Same treatment method for iron ore."
"Transportation and trading locations..."
"Border transactions are protected by heavy troops."
"What about countries that have no money and no minerals? Do I, the Great Wei, trade with them?"
"Why not trade? You don't need copper coins. People can cast as much of this thing as they want. We can't melt it to make weapons, right? It's up to you to decide on iron, coal, jade, gold and silver. People can do it too, of course not.
The limit is only beauty, but population... In addition, we can accept horses, stones, and even cities, as long as the other party dares to give them!"
The three Zhongshu ministers were dumbfounded. They raised one possible problem after another. What was surprising was that His Highness the Eighth Prince could always think of a solution and answered very quickly, as if he already knew everything.
.
"Is it true that people are born with knowledge?"
Zhongshu Ling He Xiangxu was greatly moved and exclaimed with emotion on his face. He felt strangely that he had lived in vain all his life and yet no fourteen-year-old boy had any insight.
The Emperor of Wei Dynasty, Zhao Yuanxi, was already stunned.
Although he originally had a sixth son, Hongzhao, who was called "Qilin'er", the problem was that Hongzhao was only good at poetry, poetry, chess, calligraphy and painting. He was not as talented in national affairs as the three Zhongshu ministers in front of him.
It was outstanding, and the eighth prince Hongrun, who had always been criticized as a naughty prince who was uneducated and incompetent, was actually able to talk to three ministers, and what was more, he talked about fundamental plans related to the country.
What's even more incredible is that these three ministers still looked astonished and admired them.
I am amazed, but the suggestions put forward by Zhao Hongrun are unparalleled national policies even in the eyes of Emperor Zhao Yuancai of the Great Wei Dynasty. I really don’t know where this weird boy learned these things, and how can he really describe them?
Yan, is he also a genius who is born with knowledge?
However, when he thought that this prodigy had no interest in studying or government affairs, and was willing to be a dandy who enjoyed sex, the Emperor of Wei couldn't help but feel a little headache.
What's even more troublesome is that he seems to have made this boy tired of studying and having fun.
"Thank you, Father, for your kindness. From tomorrow onwards, the emperor will be able to openly study in the palace without going to the palace." Zhao Hongrun thanked him with a smile.
"..." The Emperor of Wei opened his mouth, speechless, and his expression was as awkward as any.
He turned to look at the three ministers.
"I...did you just say that?"
The three Zhongshu ministers responded with innocent looks.
"Yes, Your Majesty, you said..."
"You have no joke!" Zhao Hongrun blocked the Wei emperor's idea of changing his words with one sentence.
"That's all! With your talent and learning, it doesn't matter whether you go to the palace or not..."
Zhao Yuanxi sighed as if he was lying to himself, nodded and said: "Hongrun, since you have answered, then as I promised before, you can...you don't have to go to the palace to study..."
"There is one more promise, Father." Zhao Hongrun reminded him timely.
"This little brat..."
The Emperor of Wei shook his head helplessly: "Okay! What do you want me to promise you?"
In Zhao Yuancai's view, this kind of promise is nothing more than a reward.
But who would have thought that Zhao Hongrun kowtowed to the ground and said seriously: "Father, the emperor wants to leave the cabinet!"
"Leave the cabinet?!"
Zhao Yuansi's expression changed slightly, and he flatly refused without saying a word.