The abandoned concubine who transmigrated woke up shouting "Long live the widow!"

"Go in quickly!" Ye Muchen didn't want to keep people waiting. He didn't care about the people from the Ministry of Revenue, but the Cangbei delegation was still there.

Jingxue nodded, then glanced at Gao Chi and Li Guangxing standing in the distance. Li Guangxing seemed to be doing well, looking quite energetic.

Upon entering the hall, Jingxue sat down, and the discussions began.

Wanyan Junhui spoke first, "We discussed it yesterday when we got back. We can accept the price offered by Princess Zhan, but we have one condition."

Jingxue remained silent, while Hu Yucheng said, "What are the Cangbei delegation's conditions?"

Last night, Jingxue also thought about it. Cangbei's main purpose in coming this time was to sell grain and buy fine salt. Everything else was secondary. However, the amount of grain allocated by Emperor Ye Muming was not much, at most 80,000 shi.

This is difficult to negotiate, as there is a difference of 120,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) in the middle, which is one of the reasons why an agreement has not been reached.

“Our conditions are that your fine salt originally cost eight copper coins per pound, but we want five copper coins per pound for Cangbei, and we want 20,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) in quantity,” Wanyan Junhui said.

Jingxue had read the Ministry of Revenue's data. Beiye's annual salt production was about tens of millions of catties. However, 20,000 shi is 2.4 million catties. Cangbei has a large population. Is their lake salt production really that low?

Hu Yucheng assumed that Jingxue's silence might be due to not having finished reading the documents, so he asked, "Princess Consort Zhan, what do you think?"

Jingxue didn't even glance at the old man before saying, "We can meet your needs for the quantity of fine salt, but the price is fixed. The quality of our fine salt is much better than before, so the cost is naturally higher."

"Also, although our Northern Night is arid, we don't need that much food. We only need 80,000 shi of food."

After Jingxue finished speaking, both the Grand Preceptor of Wulin and Wanyan Junhui frowned.

The Grand Preceptor of Wulin said, "Princess Consort Zhan, we have already made concessions, but your actions show a lack of sincerity in negotiations."

Qin Jing said, "Grand Preceptor, you flatter us. We in Bei Ye are very sincere; otherwise, we would not have agreed to your visit."

“However, you should also make some concessions to show your sincerity,” Wanyan Junhui said.

Qin Jing was about to argue when Jing Xue stopped him.

"Here's what we'll do! I've looked at your order form. Wheat is less than sorghum, and we in Beiye really don't need that much sorghum. If you're worried about storage issues and the grain spoiling, I can personally give you a recipe for brewing sorghum liquor. How about that? This way, you can brew the surplus grain into liquor, which will be easier to store and you can also sell the liquor for money."

Ulindaku and Wanyan Junhao exchanged a glance, unable to make a decision for the moment.

Wanyan Junhao, who was standing to the side, readily agreed and said, "That's good. In the future, in addition to mare's milk wine, we can also produce sorghum wine. But you won't ask us for money, will you? You're so poor!"

Hearing Wanyan Junhao say this, Runyue, who was standing behind Jingxue, said angrily, "You're the one who's poor! Your whole family is poor!"

"What are you doing, you little brat, interrupting me?" Wanyan Junhao said, sticking his neck out.

This time, Jingxue wasn't angry. She turned around and gave Runyue a reassuring smile, and Runyue stopped talking.

Qin Jing said, "Second Prince, Princess Zhan has already said that she will give you the recipe for brewing wine, and giving it away means she won't ask for any money."

Wanyan Junhao looked at the Imperial Advisor and said, "Father-in-law, didn't you want grain seeds too? Have her send some as well!"

Jingxue: This kid isn't stupid at all; he knows when to push his luck!

"The grain seeds cannot be given away!"

An Wenguang had been wanting to speak for a long time, and now he could no longer hold back. "Princess Consort Zhan, the grain seeds belong to you personally, not to the imperial court. We are discussing border trade between our two countries!"

Jingxue frowned and asked, "Personally? Don't I pay taxes to the court when I sell goods? Besides, apart from the fine salt which belongs to the court, aren't the tea and silk you've already negotiated all privately owned?"

An Wenguang was speechless after being confronted.

The Grand Preceptor of Wulin said, "We still need to discuss the Princess Consort's suggestion when we get back. Since the seeds belong to the Princess Consort, you can make the decision. What I want to ask is, how much do you sell those seeds for? And are they easy to grow?"

"If you really want to buy grain seeds, that's not impossible. There's a saying: 'Sow one grain in spring, reap ten thousand in autumn.' Grain seeds are many times more expensive than grain!"

Jingxue didn't actually intend to profit from Cangbei's grain seeds; they wouldn't need many anyway. However, after spring, they would have to supply the imperial court with grain seeds, which was no small sum. If it were only for the common people, Jingxue could do without money, as she had the means. But the emperor was also involved!

She didn't want the emperor to take advantage of her, even though she had done it several times already. She wanted to avoid it as much as possible!

Therefore, she had to show the emperor, so that the foolish ruler would realize just how much she had contributed!

An official from Cangbei behind Wanyan Junhui said, "Your Highness is exaggerating. How could one seed possibly yield so much grain? Wheat and sorghum only produce a few dozen grains each."

“But my grains aren’t wheat or sorghum. For example, the cornmeal you’ve seen—corn is one seed that can produce one or two ears of corn, and one ear of corn has hundreds of kernels,” Jingxue said.

“Impossible!” the official exclaimed.

Actually, if Jingxue's shop sold corn kernels, Cangbei wouldn't have needed to mention the seeds; they could have just gone to the shop to buy them. But the shop only sold cornmeal and corn grits, so they had no choice but to bring it up and discuss it.

Some people from the Ministry of Revenue shook their heads, but Jingxue chuckled and said, "Seeing is believing. Then I'll ask His Majesty if you all can go to my estate and Prince Qin's estate to take a look. The corn there should already be heading."

"Now? In this season?" someone from the Cangbei delegation asked.

Qin Jing said firmly, "Yes, right now."

Both Wulin Guoshi and Wanyan Junhui were surprised. "If it's true, then we really want to go and see for ourselves."

Qin Jing said, "We will consult His Majesty and give you news this afternoon. If His Majesty agrees, you can go first thing tomorrow morning."

The Imperial Advisor didn't waste any time and immediately said, "Then let's go back and wait for news. We can also discuss the conditions offered by Princess Zhan."

And so, today's negotiations came to an end.

On the way back, Wanyan Junhao continued racing with Runyue.

Jingxue, however, was thinking that tomorrow was the Little New Year, and if the Emperor agreed to go to the estate, it would be a good opportunity to give the workers New Year's benefits and wages.

In the afternoon, Jingxue was woken up by Wanyan Junhao's loud voice before she was fully awake. He had come to ask Runyue to go out and play. Jingxue was speechless!

Xiaoman didn't want Runyue to go, so she led her to ask Jingxue for permission.

"Yueyue, you can go out to play if you want, but you can only ride your bike on the road in front of Yichun Palace. Come back when it gets dark. Also, if he bullies you, come back and tell me!" Jingxue instructed.

“I’ve got it, miss. If he asks me anything, I’ll just say, ‘No comment!’”

Jingxue laughed, "Wear more clothes! Make sure you wear your hat and mask!"

"Yes, miss."