"Your Majesty, Weichen has made a big deal for Your Majesty at the wine table today!" Xia Hongsheng bowed to Li Shimin and said: "Weichen sold his weapons to the Turks, a hundred steel swords!" ”

"Sell to whom?" When Li Shimin heard the word Turkic, he frowned and confirmed, but when he heard the number behind him, he was greatly taken aback, and his voice unconsciously raised: "How much?!" A hundred? A knife?! ”

Xia Hongsheng smiled and nodded: "Your Majesty heard it right, a knife, a hundred yuan." If there is no copper coin to pay, the copper coin can be converted into cattle, sheep, horses, and copper ore according to the market price. ”

Li Shimin couldn't read the book in his hand anymore, and threw it on the desk: "Quick! Quickly explain this matter in detail! ”

Xia Hongsheng invited Ashina Mujin to drink with him, and asked Xue Yantuo about buying Datang weapons in the middle of the banquet, revealing that the Turks also wanted to buy Datang weapons, and that he had a temporary idea to pretend to be drunk to make the Turks believe that Xue Yantuo would buy Datang weapons at the price of a hundred steel knives.

"Your Majesty, Xue Yantuo now has 200,000 soldiers, most of them are people from the Xue Yantuo tribe and the Hui tribe, and their combat effectiveness is very strong, and it is not easy for the Turks to suppress Xue Yantuo. Now that Xue Yantuo has the status of a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, it is even more difficult for the Turks to do it again. And if the Turks don't take advantage of the fact that Xue Yantuo has just rebelled and suppressed it, it won't take long for Xue Yantuo - even now, it is already a taboo behind the Turks. Weichen made the Turks think that the cost of Tang weapons was very high, so the price was very expensive, and sold them to Xue Yantuo weapons. It was to bring down Xue Yantuo. But in the case of the Turks. Clear-eyed people know that there has been friction between the Turks and the Tang Dynasty. And now Xue Yantuo has been added, which can be said to be the enemy on the back of the abdomen. And the Turks are most lacking in cattle, sheep and horses, in this situation, whether the Tang Dynasty is dragging down Xue Yantuo or not, it is meaningless for the Turks. Therefore, the Turks will definitely be more eager to buy the weapons of the Tang Dynasty, at the expense of their expensive prices. This is necessary for him to guard against Xue Yantuo, and it is also a way to stabilize the Tang Dynasty from dealing with Xue Yantuo. Therefore, the Turks' demand for buying Tang weapons is much more urgent than that of Xue Yantuo. Xia Hongsheng said to Li Shimin.

"One hundred runs...... ...... hissed" Li Shimin was obviously quite moved: "I remember." As long as the steel is sufficient, the assembly line method used by our Datang today to make a hundred steel knives is not much! ”

"Hehe, back to Your Majesty, dozens of times - nearly a hundred times the profit!" Xia Hongsheng grinned.

Consistent money is a thousand Wen, and now the need to build a hundred steel knives supports the cost of consistent money. Even if it is a new weapon made by the improved new forging steel method, the cost is less than two dollars.

That is, the proceeds of selling a hundred-for-steel sword to the Turks. It's enough for us Datang to forge another forty or fifty new knives?! Li Shimin's eyes widened, and his throat hooked one by one.

I don't know if I'm swallowing saliva. Xia Hongsheng speculated unscrupulously.

Li Shimin's reaction seemed normal to Xia Hongsheng. This is one of the benefits brought by the leadership of armament technology! The huge profits of the arms business, a hundredfold profit is not a lot.

"Your Majesty, this is just a hundred steel swords! Our Datang weapons are not only knives, but also long lances, hooks and sickles, and halberds...... The knife is just the cheapest in it. ”

Li Shimin was stunned again, and Xia Hongsheng looked at him, and there were obvious signs in his eyes that he was about to dissipate.

This is starting to be crooked, I must be imagining the scene of my own money counting and cramping. Xia Hongsheng scolded again.

Soon, I saw Li Shimin suddenly stunned, his eyes froze, his brows furrowed, he shook his head and said, "I'm just afraid that it's not appropriate." According to the information sent back today, there are already many voices among the Turkic nobles who want to make a move against the Tang Dynasty. You and I both know that now the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks is about to break out, and we are just waiting to see who will make the first move. In such a situation, even if our Datang's weapons are far better than those made of 100 steels, if the weapons made of 100 steels are sold to the Turks, in the end, it will still increase its strength, which is not good for my Datang. ”

"Your Majesty is really sage!" Xia Hongsheng bowed again and said, "So if the Turkic envoy asks His Majesty to buy weapons, please ask Your Majesty to be noncommittal and ask him for a bid." When he quotes the price, His Majesty should not agree or refuse, just say that he will consider it. ”

Li Shimin's eyes froze, and then he suddenly laughed: "I understand what Xia Qing meant." Xia Qing's move is really ...... Hehe, you want to force Xue Yantuo to death! I'm curious, is this Xue Yantuo really so unkind to Xia Qing? ”

Xia Hongsheng saw that Li Shimin saw his purpose, so he also laughed and said: "It's not that Weichen can't see Xue Yantuo much, he's just taking precautions!" Is the Turks still my Tang Dynasty's opponent now? Not anymore. Once the war starts, will it be possible to keep the Turks any longer? And the Turks were destroyed, and Xue Yantuo naturally relied on this to grow. In addition to Jieli, the Turks also have a piece further west. Xue Yantuo was at odds with the Turkic Khanate further west from the beginning, so he took refuge in Jieli. At first, with the constraints of this northern enemy behind the desert, Yi Nan not only did not dare to go south to invade the Tang Dynasty, but also had to live in harmony with the Tang Dynasty, so as not to fall into the predicament of being attacked by the enemy. But if you look closely, you will find that Xue Yantuo is very similar, there are countless tribes within the Turks, and Xue Yantuo is the same, there will be contradictions between the tribes, and there is only one way for the two to transfer their internal contradictions, that is, to start a war against the Tang Dynasty and turn the spearhead to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, in the long run, Xue Yantuo will become today's Turk one day, and there will be a life-and-death battle with the Tang Dynasty. ”

"Xia Qing really has a long-term view, and he is quite thorough!" Li Shimin nodded, and said with a smile: "So, Xia Qing is asking the Turks to help, and through the Turks, he will propose the price of weapons for the Tang Dynasty and raise the price of the weapons of the Tang Dynasty." If he saw that the Tang Dynasty was also very likely to sell weapons to the Turks, even if Xue Yantuo was not in a hurry, he couldn't help but be in a hurry. Therefore, Xue Yantuo must have bought the weapons of the Tang Dynasty in front of the Turks, so compared to the price proposed by the Turks, Xue Yantuo could not lower it much, and could only admit it. And it is useless to buy less weapons, buy more, Xue Yantuo seems to be a strong army, but in fact it consumes the people, which will make the people centrifugal, and the foundation is unstable, so it is difficult for Xue Yantuo to grow. ”

"Your Majesty is wise!" Xia Hongsheng saluted and said with a smile: "This is an economic war that made Xue Yantuo fall into an arms race with the Turks, and finally dragged down Xue Yantuo's economy!" (To be continued.) )