Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

After the court session ended, Shen Lang, who was fishing by the pond at Shuixuan Residence, was immediately summoned to the Hall of State Affairs by the Empress.

Upon entering the main hall, one could see Jiang Mengxuan, Ye Mo, and Zhou Xianwu sitting opposite each other in turn.

"Shen Lang, come and sit down, we've been waiting for you."

Upon seeing Shen Lang arrive, Jiang Mengxuan felt a mix of emotions.

She still hadn't decided whether or not to start an arms deal.

We'll have to hear what Shen Lang has to say for sure.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After thanking Zhou Xianwu, Shen Lang sat down directly opposite him.

Zhou Xianwu glanced at Shen Lang. Compared to their first meeting, the aura emanating from Shen Lang now made him feel somewhat inferior.

Look at them, they've managed to govern the State of Chu so well.

Looking at himself, a man who prides himself on being from a prestigious family and vowed to change the course of the Song Dynasty, he has accomplished nothing so far and has ended up having to ask other countries for help.

Putting aside his chaotic thoughts, Zhou Xianwu smiled at Shen Lang.

Ye Mo spoke up: "Now that the Duke of Zhenguo has arrived, the meeting regarding the arms trade can proceed smoothly."

"Envoy Zhou, all matters related to the military industry of our Great Chu are handled by the Duke of Zhenguo. You can consult him on related matters."

Zhou Xianwu cupped his hands and said to Shen Lang, "Duke Zhenguo, I have already said what needed to be said in the main hall. The Song Dynasty is currently facing an invasion by the Jin Dynasty, and the situation is extremely precarious."

We implore the Duke of Zhenguo to lend a helping hand and provide a batch of military supplies to our Song Dynasty army so that we can overcome this crisis.

After he finished speaking, Shen Lang asked directly, "Where has the Jin army advanced to now?"

"This……"

When Zhou Xianwu was asked this question, he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"Unwilling to speak? Then please leave. Judging from the Song envoy's current attitude, I can assert that the Song state does not treat the Chu state as a friendly nation at all."

"No, no, Duke Zhenguo, please don't misunderstand."

Fearing that Shen Lang would be adamant about not doing arms dealing, Zhou Xianwu quickly began to explain.

"The Jin army marched south in three routes, defeating the soldiers and officers of our Great Song Dynasty along the way. Now they have deployed their troops along the Bian River to cut down trees, build warships, and train the navy."

After rattling off the current predicament of the State of Song in one breath, Zhou Xianwu finally felt a sense of relief.

Shen Lang: "Naval training isn't something that can be done overnight. The Jurchens aren't good at water."

If Bianzhou can be defended firmly, the Jin army will retreat when their supplies run out. Why bother purchasing weapons?

Zhou Xianwu: "Lord Zhenguo, the situation in Bianzhou is truly urgent, and we urgently need a batch of your country's military supplies to solve this pressing problem."

Shen Lang remained silent for a long while before looking at Ye Mo: "Prime Minister Ye, what do you think?"

"The arsenal is not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and I am not qualified to make decisions for His Majesty and the Duke of Zhenguo."

Ye Mo immediately absolved himself of all responsibility, making his meaning very clear.

That means this has nothing to do with me; you two can discuss it yourselves.

So, Shen Lang turned his gaze to his wife.

"Alright, stop looking. Whatever you say goes."

Jiang Mengxuan ultimately chose to compromise, leaving the decision on the arms deal to Shen Lang.

Upon receiving the instructions, Shen Lang immediately smiled and looked at Zhou Xianwu: "Then may I ask, Envoy Song, how many rifles do you need?"

Zhou Xianwu immediately said, "Twenty thousand rifles, one hundred artillery pieces, one hundred thousand hand grenades, and three hundred Gatling guns, and of course, artillery."

During his trip to the State of Chu, he had already gathered information about the Chu army's equipment from various sources, so he was able to rattle off a long list of corresponding military weapons.

"hehe."

Unexpectedly, Shen Lang couldn't help but laugh after hearing this.

Zhou Xianwu: "Duke Zhenguo, what are you laughing at?"

Shen Lang: "Does the Song envoy know how astonishing the number you just reported was?"

"Does the State of Chu not have that many weapons?"

"You're overthinking it. We certainly have weapons, and we can make as many as you want. I just don't know how much money the Song envoy brought with him to our Great Chu to discuss business?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xianwu's face showed a hint of embarrassment, but he quickly covered it up by continuing to ask questions.

"I brought the money, of course, but as for the price..."

"A rifle costs twelve taels of gold, plus twenty rounds of ammunition; a Gatling gun costs four hundred and twenty taels of gold, plus two ammunition pouches, for a total of one thousand rounds of ammunition."

In addition, a single 50mm man-portable mortar costs sixty taels of gold, and comes with ten grenades; a box of hand grenades costs twenty taels of gold.

Furthermore, a 75mm mountain gun costs 7,500 taels of gold, and comes bundled with ten high-explosive shells and ten armor-piercing shells.

These are the current arms deals, and they only accept gold payments. As soon as Envoy Zhou pays, he can take the goods away immediately.

Zhou Xianwu was stunned, his face turning bright red.

Jiang Mengxuan was also stunned.

"My God, is arms dealing really that profitable? Of course, this is just an initial price, but even if the price is lowered, I'll still make a fortune."

At this moment, the Empress's heart wavered. Moreover, the weapons that Shen Lang was selling were all made of carbon steel, and they were old and outdated, already in the process of being phased out.

Meanwhile, the military's munitions had already achieved mass production of alloy steel and were beginning to be upgraded. Even if the Song army obtained the munitions, the Chu state would still have an overwhelming advantage over the Song state.

"What's wrong, Envoy Zhou? Are you not satisfied with the price I offered? It's alright, we can talk about it."

Seeing that Zhou Xianwu remained silent for a long time, Shen Lang spoke up again with a smile.

Zhou Xianwu took a deep breath and suddenly pulled out a pile of Song Dynasty banknotes and placed them on the table.

"Your Majesty, Duke Zhenguo, this is the precious paper money of our Great Song Dynasty. It is equivalent to 500,000 taels of gold. This should be enough to cover the cost of military supplies, right?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang picked up a banknote and began to examine it.

Ye Mo, standing to the side, shook his head and said directly, "This Great Song Treasure Note is a rare and valuable item."

The imperial court only needed to write down a few numbers on it, even if it was a million taels of silver, and it would be considered money.

Unfortunately, the imperial court had overdrawn its credit excessively, and the paper money had become a mere decoration a century ago. A paper money with a face value of one million was worth only one copper coin in the streets of Bianliang.

I never imagined that an envoy from the Great Song Dynasty would actually be delivered to the court of my Great Chu. I remember this very clearly.

"My Chu merchants, within your Song territory, are still forcing people to use paper money for transactions to seek personal gain, aren't they?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang immediately laughed: "If a few strokes on this piece of paper could be used as money, then there would be no poor people in the world, wouldn't you say, Envoy Zhou?"

After being subjected to a barrage of sarcastic and sarcastic remarks from Ye Mo and Shen Lang, Zhou Xianwu immediately stood up and knelt before the Empress.

"Your Majesty, please forgive us. It is not that our Song Dynasty intentionally neglects our friendly nation, but that the Song Dynasty's treasury is empty and we truly have no money to pay for military supplies."

Upon hearing this, the Empress closed her eyes briefly but said nothing.

But Shen Lang couldn't sit still any longer: "Envoy Zhou, do you mean you didn't bring a single penny and are going to exchange a bunch of waste paper for weapons?"

Zhou Xianwu lowered his head and said, "It is like this, please ask the Duke of Zhenguo to provide a batch of military supplies to our Great Song Dynasty free of charge. After the Jin Dynasty withdraws its troops, the whole country will be grateful for the contribution of your friendly nation."

"No money? Then please leave."

Shen Lang's expression immediately changed, and he looked at Zhou Xianwu with a half-smile.

"Trying to get something for nothing from me? I really don't know what you're thinking?"

"In that case, I can declare the negotiations have broken down!"

(I'll update 5 more chapters later, Erha has to catch a flight.)