Chapter 866

"If you don't trade, I'll just kill them! I can't have them wasting Great Qin's food for nothing!"

"Trade, trade, we'll trade!"

Li Er was truly helpless and had no choice but to agree.

As for Pei Ji and his son, if they died, they died; they weren't of much use anyway.

But Li Tai was his most beloved son, and he had been sent to the Empire of Harsha to serve the country.

How could Li Er bear to see him sacrifice his life for the nation?

"Your Majesty of Great Qin, let's consider this settled. I have already brought the imperial decree ceding Huating with me, and I can present it to Your Majesty right now."

"Please, Great Qin, release them quickly."

They had long since made up their minds to cede Huating, so they had even prepared the Great Tang's imperial decree.

They just hadn't expected to get it for free upon arrival!

Great Qin hadn't really spent anything; they had just happened to capture a few people earlier and had gained such a piece of land for nothing.

Fang Xuanling soon recovered from this feeling of defeat.

Their trump cards had all been played, yet they had only managed to trade back a few people.

This situation was completely unexpected.

Furthermore, the main business of this diplomatic mission had yet to be addressed.

"Your Majesty, since you do not agree to let Great Tang send artisans to learn, could you allow us to observe the scene where these artisans are learning?" Fang Xuanling thought more deeply.

He knew Great Qin must be on guard against Great Tang, and they certainly wouldn't be able to secure anything too core.

However, just watching the artisans' learning process was much easier to accept.

Fang Xuanling simply wanted to see what those artisans were actually thinking when faced with Great Qin's new policies.

Often, these ordinary people at the center of things could make the most authentic judgments.

Whether they were happy or worried would directly reflect the prospects of this policy.

Qin Mu agreed.

This request was nothing; if they wanted to watch, they could watch.

As long as he didn't let them go to the production sites, they wouldn't see any secrets.

"Then it's decided! Since you've come from afar, join me for a meal."

Qin Mu arranged for a table of wine and food to be set in a pavilion within the palace.

Qin Mu also had a purpose in keeping Fang Xuanling and Li Er for a meal.

A meal couldn't be eaten for free!

When the food was served, the plates and bowls used were all uniform Ru ware.

Finally able to touch them, Li Er and Fang Xuanling both held the plates, unable to put them down.

"Your Majesty, this porcelain is so smooth!"

"The sound is also crisp and pleasant!"

Seeing their unworldly appearance, Qin Mu couldn't help but sigh repeatedly.

"Stop tapping; if you break them, you can't afford to pay for them!"

Li Er was furious.

As a dignified Emperor, no one had ever dared to tell him he couldn't afford something.

Today, he had heard it.

What was even worse was that he really couldn't afford it!

And he had no way to refute it.

At this moment, several eunuchs carried over something larger than the table. It had four fan blades and was covered by a wire cage.

Then, they led over a donkey.

"Your Majesty, what is this thing? Is the donkey going to perform a show?"

Qin Mu chuckled.

He really had to hand it to him for thinking of having a donkey perform a show.

"You'll know once you take a look."

After the donkey was harnessed, it began to turn. As the donkey turned, the four fan blades also began to spin.

A refreshing, cool breeze blew through the pavilion.

The sweltering heat of the summer day was instantly reduced by quite a bit.

"This... is a fan?"

Li Er was dumbfounded, unable to believe it.

He had never seen such a fan before!

It could even be pulled by a donkey? Not only was it labor-saving, but the wind power was also strong; it was too refreshing!

Qin Mu pointed at the object and said.

"This is a donkey-powered fan I invented; currently, there are only a few in the palace. If I were to sell them, do you think they would sell well?"

How could they not sell well?

Not to mention others, just look at those noble clans.

Fang Xuanling and Li Er knew those clans all too well; they had more money than they could ever spend.

Regardless of the price, just because it was so useful, every household would surely buy a few to keep.

Even Li Er wanted to buy a few to take back and enjoy in the palace.

"Your Majesty, there probably aren't many commoners who can afford this donkey-powered fan. Could I buy a few to take back and present to the Emperor of Great Tang?"

....... Begging for flowers... 0

This was said to try and fool Qin Mu.

He deliberately downplayed the potential of the donkey-powered fan.

What he was actually thinking was to buy a few to take back and imitate, so that Great Tang could also produce this kind of donkey-powered fan.

Then Great Qin wouldn't be able to make money off Great Tang with this thing.

Qin Mu shook his head and pointed his chopsticks at Li Er.

"You're not being honest! The commoners of Great Qin are all wealthy; buying this donkey-powered fan isn't much of a burden.

Besides, it's useless for your Great Tang to have this thing!"

"Why?"

Li Er was a bit unconvinced.

In his mind, although the commoners of Great Tang were generally poorer than those of Great Qin, Great Tang had many noble clans. Fang Xuanling secretly tugged on Li Er's sleeve from the side.

The purchasing power of the noble clans was also very strong.

He leaned in and whispered.

"This thing needs a donkey to pull it. Great Tang has no donkeys!"

No donkeys!

Li Er almost choked and spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Not having donkeys was a real dilemma.

Speaking of donkeys, he thought of the time he had been heavily fleeced when buying cattle in Great Qin.

So even if Great Tang could build them, it would be useless. When buying donkeys, they would still be heavily fleeced by Great Qin! How depressing!

Qin Mu certainly wouldn't let Minister Fang and Li Er fall into despair so easily.

"Great Qin can sell this thing to your Great Tang, but don't even think about your Great Tang artisans being able to build it! In the future, there will be many, many more things like this appearing in Great Qin. All of them can be sold to your Great Tang." Hearing this, Li Er and Fang Xuanling were actually somewhat delighted at first.

At the same time, they were also somewhat indignant.

Why say that Great Tang's artisans couldn't build it?

As long as they observed carefully enough, couldn't they learn it?

The two walked closer to the donkey-powered fan and examined it carefully for a while.

They sadly discovered that they really couldn't build this thing!

They didn't understand at all how this thing operated; they couldn't even figure it out.

Moreover, after this donkey-powered fan was sold to Great Tang, it would make the people of Great Tang start to struggle.

Should they buy a donkey, or not buy a donkey?

If they buy one, they get fleeced!