Chapter 389 The Deal

Chapter 389 The Deal

Xie Wanniang did not refuse outright, but instead asked Jia Yuhong some questions.

"How old is your eldest son this year? Is he educated?"

Jia Yuhong replied, "My eldest son is sixteen this year. He has studied, but his talent is limited, and he hasn't been able to achieve anything significant."

Xie Wanniang asked thoughtfully, "Then what is he good at?"

Jia Yuhong's face turned red—though it wasn't very noticeable. "He, he's just like any other commoner, he doesn't have any great skills, but he's willing to risk his life, and he's also quite loyal."

Seeing that Xie Wanniang did not show any disdain, Jia Yuhong explained, "My wife passed away early, leaving me with only a son and a daughter. His sister is three years older than him and got married last year. He didn't want to stay at home by himself, so he insisted on going to sea with me."

At this point, Jia Yuhong wiped his face with a wry smile, "Don't think that just because I'm not afraid of death and am happy to earn this money, when it comes to my own children, I really can't bear to let them eat this kind of food too."

Through his somewhat incoherent narration, Xie Wanniang learned that Jia Yuhong was originally an orphan. His father-in-law and mother-in-law chose him and raised him as a child son-in-law. They taught him to read and write, and taught him how to do business. Because he was born in a chaotic world, he learned some self-defense (killing) skills from others.

Shortly after he married his wife, his parents-in-law were killed by vagrants who broke into their home. Although he managed to kill the men who killed his parents-in-law one by one, thanks to the ruthless skills he had learned while wandering, their home could never be the same again.

The shop and the house behind it were burned down, and the goods had long been looted and disappeared. The little money they had taken with them when they left was also spent while he was busy avenging his father-in-law and mother-in-law. As a result, the responsibility of supporting the family fell on Jia Yuhong's shoulders.

Because Jia Yuhong killed many so-called "righteous army" members who were entrenched in the area, that "righteous army" sent out a lot of people to search for them.

The couple knew perfectly well that they could no longer stay in the county where they had lived since childhood.

The two were forced to choose to go to sea on a ship to sell tea, porcelain, silk and other goods in foreign countries.

Of course, at that time, they couldn't afford to buy a boat, let alone the capital to buy tea, porcelain, silk, and other items.

Fortunately, the couple still had two pieces of jewelry left – a pair of silver bracelets and a small jade pendant of average quality.

The two pawned the two items, bought some tea to carry with them, and then boarded an ocean-going cargo ship bound for Nanyang as odd jobs.

Yes, Jia Yuhong's wife also went to work as a handyman with him.

Unlike most women in the world, his wife was a bold, meticulous, and daring woman.

This personality trait is partly innate, and partly a result of his in-laws' deliberate cultivation.

Perhaps because they only had one daughter, his wife, they didn't dare to raise their only child as a delicate flower in a greenhouse.

Perhaps because they lived in a chaotic world, this kind of personality had a much greater chance of survival and a better life than a timid, cowardly, and rule-abiding personality.

In short, his parents-in-law have always raised his wife as a boy.

It was thanks to the open-mindedness of his parents-in-law that his wife did not succumb to despair after her parents were brutally murdered. Instead, she first wholeheartedly supported his revenge, and then disguised herself as a man, dressed as a dark-faced boy, and boarded a merchant ship with him to travel to foreign lands.

The couple did this partly to make money, and partly to evade capture and killing by the so-called "righteous army" who felt they had been provoked.

Jia Yuhong didn't elaborate on how much hardship he and his wife had endured to build their current fortune, nor did he mention the reason why his wife had passed away so early. However, Xie Wanniang could sense his deep love and longing for his wife from his words.

He told Xie Wanniang that he had personally chosen his daughter's husband. He had not only carefully investigated the man himself, but also his family. Moreover, the man's father had a life-or-death friendship with him. Even if he were to have an accident at sea, his daughter would not suffer in her husband's family.

His only worry now is his son, who is determined to take over his business and go into the maritime trade. He himself makes a living in this industry, so he knows how dangerous and arduous it is. Therefore, he does not want his son to follow in his and his wife's footsteps.

Although he hasn't been able to persuade his son yet, he thinks that as long as he donates money to give his son an official position, his son will never be able to go out to sea to do business again.

In this way, he completely thwarted his son's adventurous ideas.

Having inquired beforehand and learned that there was no precedent for opening up official positions through donation in the Great Wei, Jia Yuhong did not regard his request as a trivial matter that Xie Wanniang could easily accomplish.

He not only poured out his family's details like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, but also nervously said, "I know this matter is difficult to handle. If the princess is willing to lend a helping hand, I will be willing to spend any amount of money."

Xie Wanniang pondered for a moment before saying, "As you probably know, there is no precedent for purchasing official positions in the Great Wei. I would not take the initiative to bring up this matter with His Majesty, because it would be detrimental to the country and its people. But if you simply want your son to avoid living a life of uncertainty and danger like you, I can lend you a hand."

Jia Yuhong was somewhat disappointed, but not particularly disappointed.

To be honest, for someone of his status, the fact that Xie Wanniang was willing to meet him in person was already a pleasant surprise. He had no idea whether she would agree to pull strings to help him get his eldest son an official position.

As for the rubber he brought, although it was indeed something Xie Wanniang specifically requested to purchase at a high price, the phrase "purchased at a high price" itself indicated that the bargaining chips Xie Wanniang wanted to offer were simply gold and silver.

If he hadn't been unable to find any other opportunities to contact the powerful figures of the Great Wei, Jia Yuhong wouldn't have had the audacity to reveal his desire to donate an official position when asked about the price.

He tried to suppress his disappointment, "I wonder what insightful opinion the princess has?"

Xie Wanniang smiled, "I don't have any brilliant ideas, but our Great Wei is getting stronger every day, and we will eventually have to strengthen cultural exchanges and trade with neighboring foreign countries."

"When envoys go on missions, they can't be like merchants, risking never to return every time they go to sea. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Jia Yuhong is very shrewd; otherwise, he and his wife wouldn't have been able to start from scratch and quickly build up their current business. He not only understood Xie Wanniang's implied meaning but also instantly made many guesses and assumptions.

He wanted to ask Xie Wanniang if the Great Wei navy planned a full-scale attack to clear out the nearby waters, but he dared not.

As an ordinary maritime merchant, any inquiry he made about the affairs of the imperial court would be a great source of leverage for him.

Fortunately, Xie Wanniang didn't have the bad habit of leaving things unsaid and leaving others to guess. She asked Jia Yuhong, "Delaying your son for a year or two and keeping him from going to the ship shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

Jia Yuhong nodded vigorously, "That's indeed not difficult."

Whether he used the excuse of not being at ease with his daughter or the excuse that his son still needed to improve his martial arts skills, as long as he stopped giving outright denials, his son wouldn't insist on going against him.

With that thought, Jia Yuhong immediately felt relieved.

He thanked her profusely and got up to take his leave, even offering to give Xie Wan Niang the rubber for free, but Xie Wan Niang resolutely refused to take advantage of him.

She bluntly told Jia Yuhong, "Either you name a reasonable price, or you take the items back the way you got them."

Jia Yuhong saw Xie Wanniang's resolute attitude and was afraid that if he went against her wishes again, she would turn on him and kick him out of the mansion. So he quickly calculated a reasonable amount.

Originally, it could have been sold for a high price, highlighting the rubber as a rare commodity. However, after Jia Yuhong did some serious calculations, although it wasn't exactly sold at a bargain price, it was indeed cheaper than Xie Wanniang had expected.

Xie Wanniang certainly wouldn't let Jia Yuhong suffer such a loss. After all, to be honest, she hadn't actually helped him at all; she had only revealed a little bit of insignificant information to him.

While this news may not be known throughout the country, at least among the relevant officials in local government offices, as well as the vast majority of imperial relatives, powerful ministers and nobles, and even the lower-level officials and soldiers in various government offices and military camps in the capital, there was no one who had not heard of it.

Jia Yuhong suffered because he was unfamiliar with the capital. Xie Wanniang believed that if he had stayed in the capital longer, he would have been able to easily find out the news on his own.

Using such a common, readily available piece of information to buy so much rubber cheaply from someone else, Xie Wanniang simply couldn't bring herself to do it.

She carefully considered and tripled the extremely low price offered by Jia Yuhong. Then she had someone bring Jia Yuhong some exquisite pastries from the Imperial Kitchen that the Emperor had given to Jiang Yuan yesterday.

These pastries were already considered rare items even for high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital, let alone ordinary maritime merchants like Jia Yuhong who had no access to the imperial palace.

Xie Wanniang even had the illusion that the three-fold payment she offered for the rubber was not as appealing to Jia Yuhong as the two boxes of pastries from the Imperial Kitchen.

What she didn't know was that this wasn't her imagination; Jia Yuhong genuinely valued the two boxes of "imperial pastries" more.

Even at the risk of his life, Jia Yuhong persisted in his maritime business for so many years. It's easy to imagine how much money he made. For him, money is now just a huge, constantly fluctuating number, far less attractive than the words "imperial bestowal."

Under Xie Wanniang's somewhat puzzled gaze, Jia Yuhong carefully carried the two boxes of imperial pastries and took his leave.

Xie Wanniang nodded, signaling the servants and guards to take him to the accounting office to collect the money.

Once his figure had completely disappeared at the courtyard gate, Xie Wanniang beckoned to Cunyu, "Go and arrange for people to investigate this Jia Yuhong. The faster and the more detailed the information, the better."

Cunyu curtsied and replied, "This servant will have them report to you immediately if they have any news."

Xie Wanniang nodded and waved for her to go out and arrange manpower.

As for herself, now that she had the rubber she had been longing for, the next thing she needed to do was, of course, make use of it.

Only when the emperor, court officials, and common people see the usefulness of this thing will they take it seriously.

Of course, Xie Wanniang's purpose was not only to make the emperor pay attention to this item. Her ultimate goal was to have the envoy team that was about to go on a mission to Southeast Asia make a point of purchasing this useful item.

What? People from foreign lands want to hoard goods and drive up prices? Well then, why don't you take a look at the elite troops and advanced weapons of Great Wei before you speak?

After a busy day, having arranged everything, Xie Wanniang was just about to take a break when she heard two children calling out "Mother!" loudly and enthusiastically from the doorway.

Xie Wanniang: ......

What can I do? It's my own child, I can't just ignore it no matter how tired I am.

As Xie Wanniang lamented the loss of ease and freedom, Jiang Yuan, who had also been working hard all day, strode in.

Upon hearing footsteps, the two children immediately went over to greet their father.

Jiang Yuan's expression softened. "School's over? Was today's homework difficult?"

The two children shook their heads together.

Jiang Yuan smiled slightly. "That's good."

He's been running around all day and really doesn't want to tutor his child anymore.

Another reason why he was so reluctant to tutor his child was that as An'an continued to study, his own knowledge was starting to run out.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on him. After all, everyone has their own expertise. He was originally a pure military general whose duty was to lead troops into battle. Reading books was just a way for him to cater to his father-in-law's interests and please him.

After the couple had dinner with An'an and Linlin, Jiang Yuan used the excuse that he had something to discuss with Xie Wanniang to send the two children back to their own courtyard.

Xie Wanniang thought he was up to something bad, but to her surprise, Jiang Yuan lowered his voice and succinctly told her about the reactions of the officials and craftsmen at the Ordnance Bureau after seeing the blueprints she had given him.

His expression was somewhat grave. "I have a feeling that there are a few people in there who are acting strangely."

Xie Wanniang frowned. "Have you discussed this with His Majesty?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head. "Without any evidence, if I were to actually say it, His Majesty might think that I have designs on the Imperial Arsenal."

Or more precisely, His Majesty might suspect that he was trying to secure Xie Wanniang's entry into the Imperial Arsenal.

He was a military general who commanded one of the most elite troops closest to the capital. If his wife were to go to the Military Equipment Bureau, the couple would have the objective conditions to rebel.