Chapter 557

This was a move of advancing by retreating; he didn't refuse cooperation, but instead proposed a condition that Great Tang could not accept. Old Li stared blankly at Fang Fang Xuanling and Qin Mu as they clashed in words.

He could understand it, and he could tell the good from the bad, but he just couldn't say such things himself and couldn't get a word in.

However, Fang Fang Xuanling was still no match for Qin Mu.

After a few exchanges, he was defeated and stood silently.

Qin Mu's interest was not in verbal sparring.

He just said a few words casually when he encountered this situation.

Seeing that Old Li and Minister Fang were both silent, he then put forward his own views.

"I heard that the Great Tang court gave all the profits of your three allies to the families.

They are now in those three major powers, thinking about doing business.

If your Great Tang is willing to pay, I can introduce a reliable group of horse bandits to help Great Tang intercept and kill them on the road!"

"Horse bandits?"

Old Li exclaimed.

He had always thought that Qin Mu was an extremely arrogant person.

With Great Qin's prosperity, no matter what happened, as long as the Great Qin army was dispatched, it could be solved.

He didn't expect Qin Mu to actually know horse bandits?

Old Li wasn't that stupid either.

How could the Great Qin Emperor know horse bandits?

These horse bandits must be Great Qin's secret army!

"If the price of the horse bandits introduced by the Great Qin Majesty is not too outrageous, Great Tang can consider it."

What Qin Mu was promoting to Old Li was the June Alliance that had just been established not long ago.

With a scale of tens of thousands of people, they were stationed at June Mountain.

Besides mining gold, it was quite good to engage in some side businesses.

Especially since this side business not only made money but could also incidentally strike at the families.

Moreover, they were active within the territories of the Arab Empire and Byzantium, and could incidentally rob some wealthy foreign merchants.

How could he not accept such a good thing?

"Old Li, what kind of business did you let the three major families do?"

Since he wanted to deal with them, he had to understand the situation first.

At this question, Old Li was embarrassed.

With the Arab Empire, they were doing pirate business.

This must never be said!

With Byzantium, they were doing cattle and horse trading.

This business was normal, but it bypassed Great Qin, so he was a bit embarrassed to say it.

Kievan Rus was nothing much, just the transport, protection, and feeding of cattle and horses along the way.

But this was a follow-up to the cattle and horse business; mentioning it alone would still expose the cattle and horse business.

Old Li thought for a long time, and finally said.

"In order to maintain relations with the three countries, Great Tang did some loss-making deals.

That is, buying some cattle from Byzantium and transporting them back to Great Tang."

As soon as this was said, it triggered a burst of laughter in the court.

It made Old Li's face burn.

Qin Mu was also full of smiles.

"Why? Do you think my Great Qin's cattle are too expensive?"

This is human nature, to bypass expensive places and buy cheap ones.

But the problem is, cheap ones aren't necessarily truly cheap!

"Transporting cattle from Byzantium back to Great Tang is a distance of more than ten thousand miles!

You Great Tang are really capable of making trouble!"

Old Li had no choice.

Transporting cattle for ten thousand miles, the shipping cost exceeded the price of the cattle.

Moreover, along the way, they had to face various dangers.

They might be robbed by mountain bandits.

The cattle might also die of illness.

The final sea route might encounter storms, sinking both ships and cattle.

Old Li and Fang Fang Xuanling had carefully considered these risks.

As long as their luck wasn't too bad, overall, it was about the same as the price Great Qin sold them for.

So they really didn't take any advantage.

Old Li didn't know how to explain it either.

He had to say vaguely.

"Intercourse between allies always requires some business dealings.

This move is not for profit, but just to have some good interaction with allies."

Great Tang is indeed too difficult now.

The surrounding neighboring countries have all been dealt with by Great Qin one by one.

It has fallen into a state of being half-encircled by Great Qin's territory.

If this continues, it will become a country within a country of Great Qin.

Qin Mu could certainly understand Great Tang's difficulties.

Because all of this was caused by him!

He wanted to make Great Tang fall into a desperate situation, at his mercy.

If not for this, it would not be enough to avenge the grudge of that year!

But it was not just about revenge.

Qin Mu also wanted to use Great Tang's experience to let the world compare the superiority of Great Qin's system.

This was also a process of gradually educating the people.

"Buying cattle from Byzantium, transporting them via Kievan Rus, right?

That's easy to handle; the transport line of more than ten thousand miles can be robbed anywhere.

As long as your Great Tang pays, the horse bandits here can be dispatched at any time.

You don't need to worry about the strength of the horse bandits.

Success is guaranteed here; no money if not successful!"

Hearing Qin Mu speak with such certainty, Old Li felt panicked.

He knew Qin Mu too well.

Whenever he put on such an easy-going attitude, he must be about to ask for a huge price.

"Great Qin Majesty, it's good to guarantee success, but this price..."

Qin Mu heard the meaning in Old Li's words.

He immediately interrupted him.

"The price is easy to talk about.

I also know that Great Tang's finances are tight and you might not be able to come up with much money.

But these horse bandits are not very picky.

Land, people, prisoners of war, all can be used to pay the debt!"

Old Li gasped.

Great Qin's appetite was not small; they were asking for land again.

To slaughter Great Tang for a fortune.

What Old Li cared about most was land.

There was nowhere to catch prisoners of war; Great Tang was still counting on getting some prisoners of war from Great Qin.