Chapter 1099: Our Precious Things

"I have prepared two bolts each of various Silk, one Iron Knife, and one Snow leopard pelt; this gift is generous enough, is it not?"

After Baifeng finished speaking, the officials nodded one after another; this bride price was indeed a bit excessively large. Huaxia had strict requirements that the bride price could only be less, not more, but the person on the other side was a Princess of the Jiuli, and the one marrying a wife was a Prince, so being this generous was still not a problem.

The Chieftain of War was, one could say, exceptionally shocked. He had not expected that Huaxia would truly give it, but having already witnessed the Silk, the Chieftain of War could no longer decisively refuse as he had before, so he had to cough lightly: "Then we shall accept it, however, we have no need for this Iron Knife; our Jiuli do not lack them. See if you can give us some of your paper instead."

"You do not want the Knife?"

Once the Chieftain of War said this, it could be said to have shocked all the people of Huaxia. The value of that Iron Knife was not much lower than that of those Silks; after all, an Iron Knife was not a Bronze knife, and besides, a Bronze knife was not cheap either, and was also of very high value. Yet, this Chieftain of War simply did not want it, but wanted some paper instead; it was too inconceivable.

Baifeng, however, smiled and said: "Oh, I forgot that you, the Jiuli, know how to refine Iron, and the Weapons you forge are also very good. Although I do not know how they compare to those of our Huaxia, I imagine they should not be inferior."

"Since you do not want it, that is fine. We shall follow your idea and exchange it for paper for you. However, I must clarify first: paper in our Huaxia does not have much value. Even if the best paper were stacked as high as you are, it would still not be as valuable as one Iron Knife. Are you still willing?"

"Of course I am willing. Paper has no value in your Huaxia, but since we do not have it, it is naturally precious. Iron, in our Jiuli, is not as valuable as that paper."

Good, good, good; they had actually learned another shocking fact. The Jiuli actually did not lack Iron. Most Huaxia officials had thought that only Huaxia possessed Iron. A small portion knew the Jiuli had Iron because they had traded with the Xuanyuan Tribe, but what they had not expected was for the Chieftain of War to say directly that they did not lack it.

"Then we shall give you the best paper, and also some Glass cups; I will give you a few more. You do not have these either. If there are too many, you will not be able to carry them, and they might break on the road."

The Chieftain of War was puzzled: "What is a Glass cup?"

Baifeng called to a servant: "Go, bring them some Glass cups."

The servant immediately went to find the Glass cups; this had been prepared in advance, so it was not troublesome. As for Porcelain, they had already seen it in the hands of Changle, so they were not curious about the Porcelain cups placed before them now. Moreover, Changle had also said that Porcelain was just a relatively special type of Pottery; although it was special and good-looking, the Chieftain of War did not have a particular desire for it.

Things that were not precious could just be requested from Changle when leaving; this was not a problem at all.

Soon, the Glass cups were brought over; they could be called exceptionally beautiful. The Chieftain of War and his party liked them the moment they took a look, but Yangasha immediately discovered the problem: "Is this not the same as the things on your walls? If you can have such large ones hanging on the wall, then does this Glass cup not also lack value?"

"That is true, it does not have much value in Huaxia, but in your Jiuli, it is completely non-existent. I brought out the Iron Knife, which is relatively precious in Huaxia, but Iron is not precious in your Jiuli."

"Giving gifts and trading are the same; I should give you what you consider precious, rather than what we consider precious, should I not?"

The Chieftain of War and his party were speechless for a moment, but it was indeed that kind of logic.

Baifeng then followed the thread of the conversation and began the next topic: "Chieftain of War, that you are able to connect with our Huaxia is also a stroke of luck. Since we not only have communication but have also formed such a relationship, I feel we should cherish this luck."

"Since you lack these things from Huaxia, lack Silk, and lack paper, why can we not conduct some trade? Exchanging the things we do not have with each other, would that not be the best?"

The Chieftain of War had guessed that Baifeng would say this, but the distance of this journey had already given the Chieftain of War his own thoughts: "This, I do not think it will work. After all, our two tribes are separated by too great a distance. We and the Xuanyuan Tribe can at least trade because our territories are adjacent, but we cannot. At such a distance, a round trip would likely take a whole year. Setting out when the Snow melts, by the time we return to the tribe, it would likely be time for it to Snow again."

"In between, it would consume too much grain, and also waste too much of our manpower; the road is also so dangerous, so our trade, I am afraid, will not work."

"No, no, I know our distance is too great. Like this, you sending envoys to Huaxia, or us sending envoys to the Jiuli, are both not feasible. However, we have the Xuanyuan Tribe and the Suiren Clan between us; we can conduct trade through them. For you, the journey is shorter, the danger is smaller, and the trade is more cost-effective; it is the same for us."

The Chieftain of War looked at Yangasha and Qianxi, wanting to seek their opinions, but the two of them also felt it was difficult to make a decision; after all, they could not represent Chiyou.

For the sake of kelp and laver, Baifeng was willing to make concessions. Since they were unwilling to bear the risks, he would bear them himself. Furthermore, although the Xuanyuan Tribe might not have such great certainty, the Suiren Clan could!

They did not know that the Suiren Clan was already part of Huaxia, but Baifeng could directly make use of the Suiren Clan's territory, or directly have the Suiren Clan trade on their behalf; in the end, the Suiren Clan would also be able to enjoy the benefits.

"Are you and the Suiren Clan far apart now?"

The Chieftain of War did not quite understand Baifeng's meaning, but he still answered truthfully: "Our territories are adjacent, and because of territorial issues, we have had conflicts."

Baifeng clapped his hands: "That is good. How about this: after you return, ask your father if he is willing to trade. If he is willing, you just need to tell the Suiren Clan."

"It just so happens that the Suiren Clan and I have conducted a very important trade; I can use this trade to achieve cooperation between our two tribes. The transport of goods can be left to the Suiren Clan. After you go back, think about it; if you trade right at the edge of the Suiren Clan's territory, the benefits for you would be too many."

The Chieftain of War and his party had big question marks directly on their faces; it was even harder to understand. If Huaxia used the Xuanyuan Tribe's route, that could still be understood, as they were close allies, but now there was a Suiren Clan involved, which seemed a bit strange.