It's the cyber age now, and you're still playing traditional villains?

Xu Shi nodded, "After all, you were the ones who acted unjustly first, almost completely erasing our achievements in conquering the Sea God."

"I still remember clearly that before setting out to fight the Sea God, His Majesty once said that he wanted the two states to be at peace forever."

He cleared his throat and added, "But now I can't see any sincerity, so it's reasonable to retaliate."

"After all, I am a very careful person."

"..."

After listening to his frank speech, Dongfang Xiao once again stayed in Bengbu.

This person...what's wrong with this person?

To be honest, through the previous negotiation, she had come to understand that Xu Shi's character could definitely be described as strong - if he did not have such a character, their city-state would probably not have allowed him to lead the team out to sea as an envoy.

But isn’t this a bit too strong?

You really don't beat around the bush when you talk to people, right?

She even had an inexplicable feeling of frustration in her heart - sweet words to you don't work, and my kingly attitude can't intimidate you, so what else can I do?

In Dongfang Xiao's opinion, although the empress felt frustrated, she still had the basic qualities of a king. At least she could suppress ordinary ministers. It was not entirely the case that "the world only knows the Grand Duke but not the Empress."

But when facing Xu Shi, it seemed that all the tricks were ineffective.

Tsk.

"...Since Mr. Xu said so, I can understand your feelings."

Even though she felt aggrieved, the conversation still had to go on, so she thought for a moment and said, "But some things cannot represent my opinion... I wonder if you feel better now, sir?"

"well enough?"

Xu Shi's answer was ambiguous. "In the final analysis, I didn't get anything good. I don't care what the people of the empire think of me. I invested real money."

"I don't think so."

The little queen shook her head and said, "I still know something about what Mr. Xu did... It seems that from the beginning, you have opened a lot of stations to trade houses and livestock with my people?"

When the price of Poseidon Stone skyrocketed, the prices of other goods would only become cheaper and cheaper. She was well aware of this. Before, the market price of a working ox was three silver coins, but later it could be bought with even one silver coin. As a result, the situation of other things was not much better.

but.

"Now that Poseidon Stone is worthless, the prices of these things will naturally rise again, even higher than before."

“So, you are actually definitely the biggest winner, right?”

You bought it at a fair price or even a low price, and now you sell it at a high price. The difference between the purchase and sale is not a small amount. Don't pretend here, I understand!

Not to mention that he was the one who instigated this matter in the first place. Dongfang Xiao didn't believe that he was the kind of person who was willing to hurt others by a thousand and suffer eight hundred of his own losses. Who would believe that he also suffered losses?

"You can't say that."

Xu Shi did not deny it, but of course he had to act cute after getting the advantage. "I am a foreigner. What's the use of having so many cattle and sheep? I have to spend money to find someone to manage and clean them... I don't know how much I have to spend on feed every day. It's not as easy as you said, Your Majesty."

"In that case, would you consider selling these things back to the royal family, Mr. Xu?"

The little queen curled her lips and said directly, "I want as much as you have. As for the price, we can negotiate. I can guarantee that you will not suffer any loss. This will be a relief for you. How do you think it is?"

Xu Shi raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this.

Quite smart... After all, the royal family asked him to negotiate today, essentially to minimize the royal family's losses.

And this is indeed a good method - for the Hualan Empire, especially the people of the empire, these are indeed indispensable parts, and they have not yet completely broken away from the scope of agricultural society.

In this case, using material compensation to appease people's hearts is definitely better than directly filling the hole with money.

If he put himself in their shoes, he might sell the items back to the affected citizens at a lower price, which would not only reduce their losses but also reduce the royal family's losses.

At the same time, you can earn a lot of reputation. It is the royal family that saved everyone from the dire straits. This is much more real than the small favors from the Holy See.

Of course, if the goods could be distributed back for free, everyone would naturally be more grateful.

They are all feasible methods, it just depends on how much she is willing to sacrifice.

So, this little queen Dongfang Xiao is not really just a mascot. At least when faced with such an unprecedented difficult situation, she can quickly think of a solution. This alone is very commendable.

This also made him appreciate the other person a little more, you are not just a vase.

only.

"Why?"

He thought about it and just shook his head. "It's better to sell it back to the royal family. I think I can make more money. The market is in short supply now. No matter what price I offer, someone may buy it."

"you!"

This sentence made Dongfang Xiao lose his composure. That’s enough!

From the beginning of the conversation, she had been trying to be nice to Xu Shi and had always been very humble. Even when facing Cheng Gujian, she had never done this.

The response she got was a "Why?" She really couldn't help it.

"Mr. Xu, don't forget that this is the Hualan Empire, not your city-state."

Her face was as dark as ink, and she tried her best to control her tone from being too angry. "But I am the empress of this empire, and I will never let you do whatever you want."

"But Your Majesty, you also said before that you have no say in many matters."

Xu Shicai didn't buy her tricks and responded with a smile, "Even if I really want to talk to the royal family, why don't I go directly to Grand Duke Gu Jian? Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, no matter who I talk to, he will have to pay part of the money."

This is already a very euphemistic way of putting it. To put it bluntly, I don't regard you as the queen at all. Cheng Gujian is the real one in power, okay?

We had a good relationship before, why should I waste time on you?

"..."

This was already the third time that Dongfang Xiao had lived in Bengbu during this short conversation.

And this time it can be said that it poked her lungs, which was the most excessive one.

After all, who would actually say in front of her that she was a mascot? Even if the words were polite, they were still quite harsh to her.

But Xu Shi's words hit the nail on the head. He thought that he could really bypass himself and go directly to Cheng Gujian.

After all, what he said was absolutely right. This deficit would not have been borne by the royal treasury alone. As the person in charge of promoting the Poseidon Stone transaction, Cheng Gujian naturally had to pay some money.

In this case, Cheng Gujian probably doesn't care how much or how little he pays - if the difference is not too big, he won't care too much. If he can do Xu Shi a favor in this way, it will be more worthwhile for him.

After all, because of the expedition against the sea god, there is some rift between the two of them, and he can take this opportunity to eliminate some of the friction between himself and Xu Shi.

"What do you want?"

The little queen bit her lip and asked with a trembling voice.

It seemed that she only realized now that her previous thoughts seemed a little naive, but it was undeniable that from the very beginning, Xu Shi had been leading her by the nose in this conversation, both emotionally and practically.

But the same thing applies, this might really be her only chance in this life, even so she can't give up easily.

"I don't want anything, I just want Your Majesty to understand a truth."

Seeing her slightly aggrieved but helpless look, Xu Shi's smile became brighter, "You are not the one who offers the price, I am."

"I know that Your Majesty is smart and clever. Maybe he saw through the twists and turns behind the Poseidon Stone deal from the beginning."

He crossed his fingers and said slowly, "But you didn't stop it. Instead, you let it develop to this point... I guess you were looking for an opportunity to cooperate with me?"

"To be honest, I admire your courageous act. You are willing to gamble the Hualan Empire's national destiny... This is something most people would not even dare to think about."

"Of course, you are really selfish. After all, you already know that once the bubble bursts, countless people will lose everything they have, and even the entire empire will fall into turmoil... But I can understand you. It is really unpleasant to have a weak ruler and strong subjects. I have experienced such a thing before."

"So, just based on this point, I am actually willing to help you."

"But I also have conditions. It depends on how much you can accept."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 259 Dongfang Xiao seizes the future

2023-09-09

Dongfang Xiao was not very surprised by Xu Shi's words.

Because she actually saw things very clearly. Although Xu Shi had gone too far in the matter of the Poseidon Stone, he also left a lot of room for maneuver, making it clear that he didn't really want to kill them all.

For example, the trade of Poseidon Stone only stayed in the main city of the empire and did not spread to other surrounding counties.

Furthermore, although he also opened transactions and purchased goods from citizens, he could actually do something more radical, such as the simplest one, opening up loans.

If he really did that, it would definitely bring a devastating blow to the empire's economy, but he didn't, which already had a sense of stopping at the right time.

Including the first point, I dare not say that no one will do these things, but there is really no one from Xu Shi's side among them. In addition, this storm came and went quickly. So far, the impact caused is still confined to the main city. It can be regarded as a blessing in disguise.

Anyway, Dongfang Xiao didn't think that this was Xu Shi's momentary negligence - after all, she had to admit that when it came to manipulating the economy, Xu Shi's methods were enough to beat everyone in their Hualan Empire, so how could he not think of what she could think of?

And he came to have a meeting with me today... To be honest, although his aggressive attitude really made Dongfang Xiao very unhappy, the fact that Xu Shi did this already meant that he wanted to negotiate.

Moreover, she was negotiating with herself alone, so her personal inclination was obvious.

Otherwise, he could just ignore it and hide in Yinsong Island and sit back and relax, right? No matter how much the royal family and the church had to pay, he would be the unshakable beneficiary.

This is the advantage of being a foreigner. You can attack or defend... Especially if he is a powerful foreigner, he can even deal with beings like the Sea God. It is not so easy to force him to do something by force.

Therefore, after all the preparations made before, the current situation is just the result he wanted in the first place... He has already made the interests clear, and now what he wants is Dongfang Xiao's attitude.

Her own attitude... On this point, the little queen is very easy to confirm.

The fact is that from the moment she said "What do you want to do", she had already made her attitude clear.

"Mr. Xu, please tell me your conditions first."

So she didn't hesitate much, and after hesitating for a moment, she asked tentatively, "I, I can't agree to everything you say unconditionally, I still have to listen first."

"I understand. It's good that Her Majesty has this attitude."

Xu Shi nodded with satisfaction, "It's no wonder that I have always admired you."

"I really admire you, Miss Dongfang."

He elaborated on the topic very seriously, "As I said before, you are one of the few people who can see the situation clearly and seize opportunities accurately... Even if it costs a lot to do so, in my opinion, this is still an excellent quality."

"Do you...really think so?"

The little queen's eyes lit up a little more, and she didn't bother about the change in his address. Instead, she asked eagerly.

"What else? You want me to say that you are a bad boy? Cold-blooded and heartless, disregarding your subjects for your own benefit?"