Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 256 I can give it, but you can’t ask for it
"I'll give you 50,000 sets of vehicle chassis wheels!"

Feeling like he'd hit the jackpot, Lin Dao didn't hesitate to give away even more rubber tires and frames for large trucks.

He pointed to a shop not far away, "It's this kind."

This is a shop that specializes in selling carriage frames.

Everyone looked over and saw that the bicycle frames that were displayed did not use wooden wheels, but rubber tires that were much larger than bicycle tires.

Even more surprisingly, these frames are all four-wheeled.

The most prominent feature in the store is a large vehicle frame with eight wheels.

"Great stuff, really great stuff!"

Li Erfeng's eyes lit up as she rushed over and gently stroked the frame of the carriage, as if she were caressing a peerless beauty.

He was an emperor who rose from the ashes, so he understood the importance of this all too well.

When Lin Dao went on the expedition with the army and took charge of logistics, it was naturally not noticeable.

But if he doesn't come along, the importance of military logistics will immediately become apparent.

The cargo capacity of such large carts was absolutely revolutionary and powerful in the Tang Dynasty.

"His Majesty."

Fang Xuanling came over and gave him a push without making a sound.

Lowering his voice, he said, "Such good stuff, and you're giving away 50,000 sets right off the bat? This..."

Li Erfeng reacted instantly as well.

He secretly regretted asking for too low a price!

He thought his asking price was already very high; asking for 50,000 bicycles was almost equivalent to asking for 50,000 horses.

That's 50,000 horses; even the Turks couldn't produce that many at once.

But Lin Daohao's generous reaction was unmistakable proof that the exorbitant price he demanded was completely unimportant to Lin Daohao.

"Tens of thousands of bicycles are not worth much. Factory direct sales, and we can negotiate lower prices for bulk wholesale."

"This is an authentic copy of the 'Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion'!"

"Without the Imperial Seal of the State, this is the most important and rare treasure."

"I own the Imperial Seal of the State, and now I've acquired the 'Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion.' In the world of collecting, I'm the one who's in the limelight!"

Li Er, on the other hand, was starting to regret his actions.

But he was the emperor, and he couldn't go back on his word.

Especially when facing forest roads.

At this time, he couldn't show himself, so he gave Fang Xuanling a look.

Fang Xuanling did not step forward directly, but instead went to find Wei Zheng, who was examining the chariot frame.

When it comes to securing benefits for the Tang Dynasty, it has to be this troll.

Moreover, Master Lin clearly had a different opinion of Wei Zheng.

After listening to the story, Wei Zheng stroked his beard and pondered.

“Brother Xuanling, if we directly ask for a higher price, it may damage the dignity of our Great Tang Dynasty and harm His Majesty’s reputation.”

"Brother Xuancheng is absolutely right." Fang Xuanling nodded repeatedly. "But if we sell it so cheaply, I'm still unwilling to accept it."

“In that case,” Wei Zheng said, taking a breath. “I’ll play the villain.”

He straightened his clothes, thought of what to say, and stepped forward to greet Li Erfeng.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations!"

Li Erfeng was puzzled. "What's the joy about?"

"The marriage between Princess Xiangcheng and the Duke of Song's family is naturally a joyous occasion."

Wei Zheng calmly said, "Your humble servant wishes to propose marriage between my son and Princess Xiangcheng."

"Nonsense!"

Li Erfeng rebuked, "How can a woman marry twice!"

"What your Majesty said is true."

Wei Zheng stroked his beard and smiled, "A woman cannot be married twice, nor can an item be given twice."

"His Majesty has already promised to bestow the 'Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion' upon me. How can I now give it to Daoist Lin?"

"When did I... cough cough..." Realizing what had happened, Li Erfeng immediately chimed in, "Oh dear, I drank too much and forgot about it. What should I do?"

He absolved himself of any responsibility by saying he was drunk.

Wei Zheng immediately turned around and bowed to Lin Dao.

"Master, what do you think is the best way to resolve this matter?"

"Are you trying to put on a two-person comedy act for me?" Lin Dao saw through their trick at a glance.

"How could I not know that Li Er was a huge fan of Wang Xizhi?"

"He was willing to cede it because I offered a high price, which would greatly supplement the national strength and military power of the Tang Dynasty."

"A reward for you?"

Lin Dao laughed, "Even if you were a combination of Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and Xi Shi, he still wouldn't give it to you."

When his plan was exposed in public, Wei Zheng remained calm and composed.

He raised his hands and rubbed his face vigorously, completely disregarding his dignity.

"His Majesty has given it to me, so tell me what to do with it."

"Are you trying to play dirty?" Lin Dao, sitting on the back of his old bicycle, still smelling slightly of alcohol, had a slightly grim expression. "Aren't you afraid I'll just throw it away?"

The sun was shining brightly, but sweat was dripping from Wei Zheng's forehead.

With his thoughts in turmoil, he simply bowed deeply, pleading, "I beg the Daoist Master to aid the Tang Dynasty; I will never forget the Daoist Master's kindness!"

“That’s more like it.” Lin Dao’s expression improved, and he crossed his arms. “I’m willing to help you, that’s a favor. What I can’t accept is being coerced.”

"I can give, but you can't ask for it."

Li Erfeng hurriedly led a group of civil and military officials over to pay their respects.

"Please, Taoist Master, help me!"

"We will never forget your immense kindness and virtue~~~"

This is the proper attitude for asking for help.

Using tricks and schemes will only make people dislike you.

If we can please Lin Dao, then offering assistance is the right thing to do.

Trying to coerce him?

He's not buying it.

"In that case," Lin Dao said softly, "then I'll send you another 100,000 sets of tools for road repair."

"Only when the roads are good can cars run smoothly and fast."

Upon exchanging glances, Li Erfeng and the others all showed joy on their faces.

The complete set of tools Lin Dao mentioned included a whole set of tools such as shovels, picks, hammers, hoes, rollers, wheelbarrows, and sieves.

The steel used in the tools was of even higher quality than that used in military armor.

Using these materials to build roads greatly speeds up the construction process. The ancients understood the principle that to get rich, you must first build roads.

However, productivity cannot keep up, and road construction is slow, time-consuming, and labor-intensive.

With the right tools, the process can be greatly accelerated.

With the deal settled, the group continued shopping.

Qin Qiong finally voiced the question that had been bothering him.

He pointed to two different price tags in front of a glass lamp and asked, "Master, why are the same items priced differently?"

“The entire Tang Dynasty cannot consume so much stuff,” Lin Dao replied softly. “The other portion of the price is for selling to foreign merchants.”

Everyone was suddenly enlightened.

Making money off Hu merchants is a matter of course.

Those foreign merchants who traveled thousands of miles to Chang'an were all incredibly wealthy.

"If there are foreign merchants," Qin Qiong breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then asked again, "what if we hire ordinary people from the Tang Dynasty to buy them at low prices?"

Lin Dao didn't say anything, but looked solemnly at Li Erfeng.

"If there are such shameless and treacherous people," Li Erfeng, having composed herself, immediately declared, "the Tang laws will handle them!"

Fang Xuanling and the others responded in unison.

The Tang Dynasty was still relatively poor at the time, and Lin Dao only collected some silk and raw silk.

He also had no shortage of grain, which was the main commodity in the trade.

The truly wealthy were the caravans of Hu people from various regions.

A caravan from the Kingdom of Gaochang arrived with bags of gold coins to buy glass, as their king loved anything sparkly.

The Hu merchants of the Nine Sogdian Clans traded spices for various kinds of sugar from the forest road.

As a result, they were dragged to a grain and oil general store and made to see for themselves how little the spices in the market cost.

Having no other choice, they had to barter for goods using orchids, camels, jewels, and horses.

The wealthy and powerful Tuyuhun paid with herds of cattle and sheep.

They love bicycles and have ordered hundreds or even thousands of them.

Lin Dao kindly reminded him that this thing wasn't actually that useful on the grasslands, and it would be best to wait until the Tang Dynasty built the Tang Straight Road to Tuyuhun before buying it.

But they wouldn't listen, so Lin Dao sold it.

As for the cattle and sheep that were exchanged...

The cattle were sold to the Tang Dynasty court, and Li Erfeng paid for them with raw silk.

The sheep are raised to provide ingredients for the food street.

The Tibetans also arrived, bringing with them various kinds of gemstones.

They bought more, especially glass products.

At the same time, they also made large-scale purchases of spices, salt, sugar, and other items that were ridiculously cheap.

Fang Xuanling privately asked Lin Dao, "Why are the goods sold to the Tibetans so cheap?"

Lin Dao's response consisted of only one sentence.

"They're all spiked."

If the Tibetan Plateau is too difficult to climb, then let's just make sure they can never come down from it!

The Hu people were well aware of the price difference between buying it themselves and buying it from the Tang people.

It was quite natural to hire a Chinese person to help with the purchase.

Within a few days, wooden stakes were erected outside the West Market, and dozens of unfortunate men were hung on them.

After that, no one dared to help the Hu people anymore.

After all, you have to be alive to spend the money you earn.

After the autumn harvest, Li Erfeng once again led troops.

He launched a military campaign against the Goguryeo people for insulting the corpses.

During Yang Guang's three campaigns against Goguryeo, many Sui soldiers died in battle.

The Goguryeo people used the remains of these soldiers to build a mound of corpses to show off their military prowess.

Now, under Lin Dao's instigation, Li Erfeng is personally leading an expedition against Goguryeo, intending to use Goguryeo people to create a mound of corpses.

The army arrived in Youzhou and immediately captured Luo Yi.

This man, ostensibly Li Jiancheng's man, was in reality a warlord who controlled a separatist regime.

Moreover, he was a foolish warlord who couldn't see the bigger picture.

After the first Xuanwu Gate battle, Li Jiancheng wrote to Luo Yi, urging him to go to sea with him and create a new world.

Luo Yi didn't reply at all.

Afterwards, Li Erfeng defeated the Turks, and her fame shook the world.

Feng Ang, also a warlord, was so frightened that he came to Chang'an early to pay homage and offered his allegiance to the reorganization.

Luo Yi still didn't come.

For Li Erfeng, it was of course intolerable that such a warlord existed within the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

He was given the opportunity, but he wouldn't listen, so we had no choice but to resort to force.

When the army marched into Youzhou, Luo Yi once wanted to raise troops to resist.

However, all his generals opposed it, which prevented the plan from succeeding.

The generals aren't stupid.

How could Youzhou possibly withstand the entire world?

In the past, there were Turks who could be relied upon as a backup plan.

But now that their backers have been defeated by the emperor, it would be suicidal to try to resist at this point.

Having no other choice, Luo Yi had to swallow his pride and perform the courtesies due to a subject when he came to pay his respects.

Li Erfeng didn't waste any time arguing with him and took him down on the spot.

In this way, the rear route for conquering Goguryeo can be secured.

"Brother Zihou."

Before the army left Youzhou, Li Erfeng, filled with worry, sought out Lin Dao to play cards and chat.

"In a few days, the land of Goguryeo will soon be frozen."

"Moreover, they built many fortified cities, which were difficult to breach even when besieged by a million Sui soldiers."

"This battle will probably be tough."

Having drawn a good hand, Lin Dao first asked Cheng Zhijie, the player to his left, if he wanted it.

Only after Cheng Zhijie slid down and he picked up his trump card did he respond.

"I have plenty of warm clothing."

"As for fortified cities."

"I prepared the heartless cannons for the Goguryeo people."

(End of this chapter)