"These Shatu people are just mean. If you treat them well, they will be arrogant and want to shit and piss on your head. If you destroy the Tuli tribe and hang Tuli's head on the wall of Baishi Pass, these Shatu people will send you a lot of gold and silver. Li Qiang, look at these rhino horns, deer horns, gems, jades and so on. They are all top-grade goods, especially these gems. If you add these 20,000 taels of gold, it will be converted into silver, which is almost more than 300,000 taels. Wow, you are so damn rich..."
In the storehouse of the Guardian's Office, Qian Suzheng and Yan Liqiang, who were in charge of the household department of the Guardian's Office, were walking around the storehouse, looking at the boxes that were opened one by one. Inside those boxes were the generous gifts that Su Shali had sent to Yan Liqiang on behalf of the Seven Shatu Tribes.
The lights on the walls on both sides of the warehouse have been lit. Under the light, the boxes of gold, silver and jewelry are shining with a dazzling luster. If it were in the past, Yan Liqiang might have drooled at the sight of so much gold and silver in front of him, but now, he has seen more gold and silver, and his horizons and mind have become broader. For Yan Liqiang, these gold, silver and treasures have gradually lost the exciting attribute of money and become a kind of resource. Yes, it is a resource. With these things, Yan Liqiang knows that he can do many things, that's all.
"Gulang Grassland is a treasure land. It has not experienced war in the past few decades. Even a small Tuli tribe has such considerable wealth, not to mention a large tribe like the Wuli tribe!" Yan Liqiang stopped in front of a box, stretched out his hand, and grabbed a handful of gold sand from the box. Grains of gold sand slid down from the gaps between his fingers, making a wonderful sound. "I used to wonder why Lin Qingtian favored the Seven Shatu Tribes so much. In the past few days, I gradually understood that there must be a shameful and dirty deal between the Seven Shatu Tribes and Lin Qingtian. The Ye family may be just the tip of the iceberg. Lin Qingtian obtained a lot of money from the Seven Shatu Tribes and took them as his thugs in the northwest, while the Seven Shatu Tribes received Lin Qingtian's political asylum, which is what they all need!"
"I just came back today and heard from people in the palace that the Shatu envoy is a princess from one of the seven Shatu tribes, and a great beauty!" Qian Su showed the kind of casual and friendly smile that he only showed when he was with Yan Liqiang, "Those Shatu people are not trying to use a beauty trap on you, Liqiang!"
If this were the case, Qian Su would never say this to Yan Liqiang in public, but at this time, it didn't matter, because Qian Su knew that Yan Liqiang didn't like him always putting on a businesslike face at this time. The relationship between the two was not just a simple superior-subordinate relationship, but also an uncle-nephew relationship, so there was no need to be too formal...
"Haha, Uncle Qian, you guessed it right. It's a beauty trap. Often, women play a special role in many situations. They make men less defensive and soften their attitude unconsciously. Those Shatu people are not stupid. They know how to deal with me the easiest. If they had sent a man this time, I would have chopped off his head after just three words!" Yan Liqiang smiled indifferently and picked up a white tiger skin on the box. "Uncle Qian will take this tiger skin away later. Have someone put it in the car. It will be comfortable in the winter..."
"Haha, this tiger skin is pretty good..." Qian Su took the tiger skin, looked at it, and nodded. "By the way, since the Shatu people used the beauty trap, did they put forward any conditions? Did they want you, Li Qiang, to support them in fighting the Black Jie people, or to cancel the wool monopoly bureau?"
"None!" Yan Liqiang shook his head.
"Ah, can a dog change its habit of eating shit? Those Shatu people have also changed their temper..." Qian Su asked in confusion.
"This is their cleverness. They knew that if they talked to me about these things at the beginning, I would never agree, and might even become more aggressive with them. So when that woman came, she didn't say a word about these conditions. She only proposed one condition, which is to set up a contact point for the Shatu people in Pingxi City to facilitate communication with me. I have agreed!"
"Contact point, those Shatu people won't have any conspiracy, right?"
"There is a conspiracy for sure, but it won't cause any big waves, let alone run rampant in the city like before and form a gathering area for the Shatu people. At most, they want to continue to use the beauty trap to trip me up, and then wait until the time is right to slowly talk to me about the things you just mentioned, Uncle Qian. Now they first need to stabilize me and don't let me completely fall out with them, because now on the Gulang grassland, the Black Jie people are fighting them. If they don't want to be attacked from all sides, they must have a good relationship with the Qiyun Governor's Office. Even if they have to bow their heads to me temporarily and suffer a little loss, it doesn't matter. The seven Shatu tribes all fled to the Gulang grassland. They know when to bow their heads. This is their fine tradition..."
"So, Li Qiang, what are you going to do? You're not going to fall for their honey trap, are you..."
"Haha, this is a poison arrow coated with honey. According to my style, I must eat the honey and shoot the poison arrow back!" Yan Liqiang smiled, "I let them live in Guanyuan temporarily, and allowed them to buy another piece of land in Nancheng to build a special residence for the envoys of the seven Shatu tribes. The woman agreed. When they really built the residence for the envoys of the seven Shatu tribes, I asked the tribes in Yulong Mountain to buy a piece of land in Pingxi City one by one, and build an envoy's residence next to the place where the envoys of the seven Shatu tribes lived, so that I could summon and contact them conveniently..."
Qian Su was stunned for a moment, then he clapped his hands and laughed, "Great, this is a great idea, Li Qiang is really amazing, you can come up with such an idea. In this way, in the eyes of outsiders, wouldn't the seven Shatu tribes be just like those minority tribes in Yulong Mountain, and become your subordinates, Li Qiang, and you can summon them at will and send them away at will. Let's see how arrogant the seven Shatu tribes will be in the future. This is to first confirm the status of both parties and let them suffer a loss..."
"The Shatu people have always valued profit over righteousness. They don't care about this loss. What bothers them the most right now is the Black Jie people. That's their biggest worry. In fact, even if the envoys from the seven Shatu tribes didn't come today, I already had this plan. There are many tribes under the Governor's Office. In the past, the Governor's Office didn't have a special agency to manage these tribes. In the future, I want to gather all these tribes together. There should be someone around me waiting to be summoned at any time to facilitate communication and exchange of information. This not only shows my favor to them, but also greatly facilitates governance and management. This is also the power of the Governor's Office..."
What Yan Liqiang said was actually not new to Yan Liqiang. It was just a variation of the embassy, and the level was not that high. However, this method, when heard by Qian Su, had a different taste and feeling.
Qian Su looked at Yan Liqiang steadily for a few times, and nodded heavily, "I think the emperor made the right choice to let you, Liqiang, be the governor of Qiyun. Uncle Qian can also benefit from you in the future. By the way, should the gifts sent by the Shatu people this time be deposited into the public treasury of the governor's office or your private treasury?"
"Let's use the public treasury!" Yan Liqiang said indifferently, "With these gold coins, we can do a lot of things. Uncle Qian, didn't you say that the plan I proposed to build new government schools in every village in the county does not have enough funds for the time being? The subsidy funds for popularizing water-fire machines are also limited. With this money, we should be able to get started. After a few months, the Wool Monopoly Bureau will gradually get on track, and this money will not be a problem..."
"Okay!" Qian Su nodded, but then he thought of something and asked with a puzzled look on his face, "But Li Qiang, do you think it is really necessary to build a new government school in every village and town? Now there are private schools in every town and village in Qiyun County. And the water lighter, why did you give him a reward and subsidy when others bought it..."
"Private schools are private schools, and government schools are government schools. From now on, all children of appropriate age in Qiyun County will not need to pay tuition to study in government schools to learn to read and practice martial arts. Private school teachers in villages and towns, as well as local celebrities who teach children martial arts, can transfer to government schools to become teachers and receive a salary if they are willing. Those who are unwilling will not be forced. As for the matter of the water lighter, Uncle Qian may understand it in the future. I went to the manufacturing bureau two days ago and asked the manufacturing bureau to find a way to reduce the sales price of the water lighter while ensuring its quality. It doesn't matter if they make less money..."
"The cost of this water-fired machine is largely due to steel smelting, and it's not easy to reduce this cost..." Qian Su, who was very familiar with the affairs of the Manufacturing Bureau, immediately interjected.
"In fact, there is huge room for reduction in the cost of steelmaking, but the conditions are still a little immature now..." Yan Liqiang shook his head.
"Oh, I don't know how to reduce the cost of smelting steel. If the cost can be reduced, it will be a big deal. Li Qiang, do you have any ideas?" Qian Su asked immediately.
"Uncle Qian, have you ever thought about this: if a large workshop only needs a hundred or so craftsmen to easily produce 10,000 kilograms of steel a day, how low would the cost of this kilogram of steel be at that time?"
"Ah, any random workshop can produce 10,000 kilograms a day, how is it possible to produce so much?" Qian Su shook his head in surprise.
"Let me think about this, and then you will know, Uncle Qian..."
(End of this chapter)