The Prodigal Son

In the afternoon, Qin Yu visited the Sifang Pavilion again.

This time, he found Yan Li with ease.

Yan Li was secretly delighted to see Qin Yu again.

Qin Yu took the initiative to come to us, so it seems there's hope for reopening the trade market!

"I just came from the palace."

Qin Yu cut to the chase, saying, "I went through tremendous effort..."

As he spoke, Qin Yu launched into a long, boastful tale.

Basically, it's about how difficult and arduous things are for you, how much you've suffered, and so on.

Listening to Qin Yu's rambling and boastful talk, Yan Li couldn't help but secretly purse her lips.

Do you dare to exaggerate even further?

Yan Li patiently listened to Qin Yu's rambling, but seeing that Qin Yu showed no sign of stopping, she had no choice but to interrupt him, "From what you're saying, Young Master Qin, does that mean Her Majesty the Empress of your country has agreed to resume trade?"

"Of course!"

Qin Yu gave Yan Li a smug look, "I'm His Majesty's favorite minister now! Is there anything I can't handle?"

"Young Master Qin is truly amazing!"

Yan Li reluctantly gave a thumbs-up and then asked, "What conditions did your Empress propose?"

What does this have to do with him?!

It must be his grandfather who's pulling the strings!

This is a classic case of self-aggrandizement!

"Cough cough..."

Qin Yu cleared his throat slightly before proudly recounting the two prerequisites Song Xian had given him.

However, he changed the number of warhorses to ten thousand.

He knew, of course, that Yan Li would never agree.

They're asking for an exorbitant price; let's try to negotiate!

Sure enough, upon hearing Qin Yu's two conditions, Yan Li couldn't help but gasp.

These aren't conditions.

This is clearly treating the State of Yan like a fat sheep to be slaughtered!

However, Yan Li also understood the essence of asking for an exorbitant price and then negotiating the terms.

After a moment's thought, Yan Li responded, "We definitely cannot agree to these two conditions! Therefore, to express our apology, we will compensate your country with 300,000 taels of silver!"

"Furthermore, I can represent the Yan Kingdom in signing an alliance with your country to jointly resist the Northern Qi!"

Upon hearing Yan Li's terms, Qin Yu immediately flew into a rage, "My lord... my lord went to great lengths to persuade His Majesty to agree, and you're treating him like a fool?"

Qin Yu was genuinely annoyed!

We told you to pay back the money on the spot, not to run underground to pay it back!

Three hundred thousand taels of silver?

This is like trying to fob off a beggar!

As for that bullshit alliance, who cares!

This isn't the first or second time that the State of Yan has broken its promises!

An alliance with the traitorous Yan Kingdom is less valuable than toilet paper!

"this……"

Yan Li realized he had indeed overcharged, so he quickly changed his tune: "Then I will offer 500,000 taels of silver as compensation to your country!"

Qin Yu just mentioned Qin Fumeng.

As expected, Qin Fumeng wanted to cure his grandson and was pulling the strings behind the scenes!

"Bullshit!"

Qin Yu refused without hesitation, "Ten thousand warhorses, not a single one can be missing!"

"That's impossible!"

Yan Li refused, "Our dynasty isn't like Northern Qi; we don't have that many horse-breeding areas. This is really..."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

Qin Yu interrupted Yan Li impatiently, "Five years ago, if Bei Qi hadn't offered you enough benefits, would you have suddenly launched a surprise attack on Dingzhou?"

"Ten thousand warhorses? That's probably less than a fraction of the warhorses Bei Qi gave you, right?"

"You've gained so much by betraying us, causing us enormous losses. Now you're offering us some warhorses as compensation? What's wrong with that?"

Yan Li's lips twitched slightly.

Ten thousand warhorses?

That's all?

Does he really think that the Northern Qi is full of warhorses?

Bei Qi did indeed give Yan many benefits, but it was definitely not as exaggerated as Qin Yu thought.

In the years when Emperor Xiaowen of Ningguo was in power, the countries were relatively peaceful and there were basically no major wars.

The price of warhorses had fallen at that time.

However, after that great war a few years ago, all countries lost a large number of warhorses.

The price of these warhorses has skyrocketed recently.

The value of ten thousand top-quality warhorses is definitely more than three million taels of silver!

Next, the two entered the familiar tug-of-war phase.

After a dragging on for more than half an hour, Qin Yu finally lost his patience. "Here's the deal: 3,600 warhorses and 1.2 million taels of silver. You don't have to pay all at once; pay in twelve monthly installments! If that's still not enough, then let's not talk anymore!"

Ok?

Upon hearing Qin Yu's suggestion, Yan Li immediately began to secretly calculate.

Three hundred warhorses and one hundred thousand taels of silver every month?

That sounds pretty good!

The Yan Kingdom, as a long-time traitor, has a wealth of experience in betrayal.

They were also afraid that Ningguo would accept the benefits one day and then change his mind the next.

According to Qin Yu's proposed installment plan, even if Ningguo changes its mind, their losses will not be too great.

After a moment's thought, Yan Li nodded in agreement: "Since Young Master Qin has put it this way, then let's do it this way!"

"That's more like it!" Qin Yu snorted.

Once a consensus is reached, the rest is easier to discuss.

It's nothing more than the specific details of the mutual trade between the two sides and the types of goods traded.

There are some things that neither country will allow to be sold.

However, among the goods Qin Yu provided were grains needed by the Yan Kingdom, and among the goods provided by the Yan Kingdom were snow cotton that Qin Yu wanted to see.

Therefore, the two sides quickly reached a consensus this time.

After these matters were settled, Qin Yu immediately said impatiently, "Now you can tell me the direction to cure my congenital meridian deficiency!"

"This matter is not urgent."

Yan Li chuckled, "Once the resumption of trade between the two countries is confirmed, I will certainly inform you truthfully!"

It's clear that the Qin family cares a lot about this matter.

The Qin family's willingness to facilitate the resumption of trade between the two countries is likely largely due to this reason.

At present, although he has reached an agreement with Qin Yu, the matter is not yet completely settled.

What if he says now that he can't get past Empress Ning, wouldn't that just be giving Qin Yu a free ride?

"I need to know now!"

Qin Yu was furious and said, "If you don't tell me, everything we just discussed is null and void!"

Whether he's genuinely angry or just pretending, he has to act angry at this point.

To make Yan Li firmly believe that he facilitated this matter because he wanted to cure his congenital incurable disease.

Seeing Qin Yu's anxious expression, Yan Li chuckled inwardly, but kept a straight face: "Young Master Qin, your country won't change its mind, will it?"

Qin Yu glared at him, his eyes wide. "The reputation of my Ning Kingdom is definitely better than that of the Yan Kingdom!"

"If you don't tell us, we'll see!"

"Let me tell you, my grandfather now controls the military power in seven northern provinces!"

"Even if the two countries resume trade, it won't matter as long as he doesn't open the Dingzhou border!"

Qin Yu seemed to have really lost his temper and started making threats.

Hearing Qin Yu's threat, Yan Li lowered her head and pondered.

Although the Yi River of Ningguo also flows through Yanguo, the section of the Yi River between Xiaojianshan and Dajianshan has a large drop in elevation and the water flow is very rapid, making it unsuitable for water transport.

To trade with Ningguo, you still have to go through Dingzhou.

If Qin Fumeng, who controls the military power of the seven northern provinces, were to create even the slightest obstacle, the trade between the two countries would not be able to proceed smoothly.

After much deliberation, Yan Li finally relented: "Then I will trust Young Master Qin!"

As she spoke, Yan Li pointed Qin Yu in the right direction—the Northern Qilian home!

"The Lian family?"

Qin Yu asked curiously, "I've never heard of it!"

"The Lian family's predecessor was the Helian family!"

Yan Li replied, "The ancestors of the Helian family were shaman priests of the Mole people. Later, for some unknown reason, they switched their allegiance to Murong Dapan and changed their surname to Lian..."

They not only cured Murong Dapan's congenital meridian deficiency, but also helped him rise rapidly and played an important role in many battles between Murong Dapan and the Mole people!

It can be said that without the Lian family, there would be no Murong Dapan, the prodigy of his generation.

More than forty years after Murong Dapan's death, the Qi Kingdom produced a notorious incompetent ruler, and the Mole people took the opportunity to make a comeback, causing severe damage to both the Murong and Lian families.

For many years afterward, both the Murong and Lian families disappeared.

More than sixty years ago, the Murong family once again gathered strength, seized power during the internal strife among the Mole people, restored the Qi Kingdom, and gradually became what they now know as Northern Qi.

But the Lian family disappeared.

After hearing Yan Li's words, Qin Yu was speechless.

What's the point of talking about it now that it's all gone?

But it's okay!

Anyway, I can still find a way through Bei Qi!

Since Rong Jiu wants to negotiate with me, he must be able to find someone from the Lian family!

He might actually be a member of the Lian family!