Chapter 654: True Relatives

New Year's palace banquet concluded perfectly; when it dispersed, the Great King said there should be one less fireworks display, a pity his treasury didn't allow it, and next year there's still a big sum of money with no destination. Zhang, the Minister of Agriculture, had been grinning widely, but upon hearing this he immediately tucked his tail between his legs.

On the first day of the lunar new year, the Great King led civil and military officials in conducting the Heaven Sacrifice Grand Ceremony. This fellow lacks interest in everything, is not proactive in court attendance, not proactive in studying, but has an enormous enthusiasm for the Heaven Sacrifice, an enthusiasm that leaves the ministers baffled.

Sure enough, that very night the Great King appeared at the Phoenix Market, gleefully hawking the New Era Heaven Sacrifice Ritual Vessels.

Baiyang came to handover the grain obtained from splitting the restaurant's profits, laughing beside his stall for a long time, "... also letting you find a way to make money."

The Great King suddenly remembered and quickly assigned him a task; once spring arrives and flowers bloom, he will need a large amount of grain, and the timeline is very tight.

Don't worry. I've already set up a grain company. That batch of flour, corn, and soybeans imported from overseas will clear customs in about a month and a half; after customs, they'll be distributed to warehouses in three cities, and then in another month and a half I'll have them ready for you.

Is it safe to buy a lot at once?

It's fine; our country already imports these items in large quantities, so compared to the state's import volume, my few hundred tons are negligible.

Upon hearing there was a lead, the Great King became delighted.

That is to say, at most two months and I'll be able to obtain a large batch of grain?

To be precise, this shipment of imported grain can in one go provide you with roughly eight hundred tons.

The Great King hastily grabbed a calculator and started punching numbers: 'Fifty thousand cavalry at one jin per day, fifty thousand warhorses also at one jin per day—what... would last only ten-odd days? We wouldn't even make it to Hanshou!'

You can't calculate like that! You can't consume that much grain—it's hard to transport and not filling. There are still two hundred tons of soybeans in this batch; turn the soybeans into oil, and the leftover soybean meal can be made into food with some extra ingredients—who can eat a jin of soybeans a day?! Besides, you're not lacking salt and sugar; buy some meat, not to mention my supermarket, the Phoenix Market also sells it—you can order in advance.

The reserves of dried meat and fish from the military rations workshop have all been transported to Mount Heng. Fish— the treasure ship can make three round trips before setting out in spring; meat— Great Jin has too little, livestock farming isn't viable yet, so we still need to buy. Only my pastures and farms are raising livestock on a large scale; the people of the Northern Border only raise a few sheep, unwilling to eat or sell them, and the scale is tiny. I've inspected the meat at the Phoenix Market— every kind is more expensive than yours; this would burn through silver.

Raising livestock is costly, so we should promote poultry; eating protein gives people strength, improving public health. By the way, how are the ships you yourselves built turning out?

They're slow to build, have poor wind resistance, and small tonnage. They can only ply the coast, doing minor work near the sea, falling short of treasure ships by eighty thousand miles." The Great King said this, then launched into another tirade against the Office of Works.

Baiyang: ……

Do you think the modified treasure ship of the cultivation realm is just an ordinary fishing boat! Shipbuilding from scratch takes at least ten years to get the hang of; some dynasties go centuries without advancing shipbuilding techniques at all!

He quickly changed the subject: 'In two months, if you sell just one of these ritual vessels, you can trade it for plenty of duck and chicken meat—our duck meat is cheap, and I've been stockpiling duck and chicken meat.'

Speaking of this ritual vessel, the Great King's expression swiftly brightened— "... This item has few connoisseurs, and it's also something you can sell for three years after opening shop. You don't know; I've recently been forced to start selling arms as well." Upon hearing this, Baiyang became instantly excited.

That's exactly right! Those retired weapons of yours, even your homemade armor, can be sold to friendly neighboring countries. The world is vast, and the market is still huge.

The Great King smiled narrowly, 'There's no one on good terms with me. But that's fine—I can make them believe the Eastern Xianbei are the Great Jin's best friends on the steppe, and the Wusun are my true relatives in the Western Regions!'

If they can't fight, that's no problem either—I can work to make them fight, so the weapons will sell well~

Baiyang: ……

You've come into your own.

You already have the demeanor of a world lighthouse.

But he still gave the Great King an idea: 'In the age of cold weapons, not only arms—you can also resell precious horses! Precious horses are the luxury steeds of your realm, a lifelong pursuit for men. Don't limit yourself to domestic auctions; the nobles' silver is essentially yours too. You need to earn money from abroad!'

The world is vast; heading west along the Silk Road, the regions that produce precious horses pursue ever higher quality and have more discerning buyers. You know Emperor Wu of Han, right? He once expended a hundred thousand troops, launched two campaigns, marching over four thousand kilometers, all to obtain the blood-sweating precious horse. So there's definitely a market! Your Black Wind Horse and White Gold Wild Horse are unbeatable in appearance—take a couple to the Western Regions to let them broaden their horizons and also earn some foreign money. Isn't the Kushan Empire beyond Kangju rolling in wealth?

The Great King pondered; it made sense.

It happens that we're about to send an envoy to Wusun; why not conveniently bring a merchant caravan to get trade started? Once things are unified and stable, the long journey can begin—earning while spending isn't bad either.

Great Jin's productivity is lacking, it's too poor amidst turmoil, but it can produce weapons surpassing contemporary standards and top-tier precious horses.

'I still need to have them use it, making weapons and precious horses into consumables.' He must help the Wusun desperately resist the oppression of the Guishuang Dynasty~

Baiyang: ……

The student has surpassed the master.