Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 97 Negotiation
My father suspended Feng Deguang from his post. Although it was not a severe punishment, it gave those people hope.

There are bound to be some people who want to kick the can down the road.

Even if we cannot provide conclusive evidence at that time, we can still provide some useful clues.

"Your Majesty, I understand." Zhao Xing said.

"Tell me, what do you understand?" the official said with a smile.

Zhao Xing repeated his guess.

After hearing this, the emperor said, "Although it's not completely right, it's almost right. Fu'er, you have to remember that if you want to be a good emperor, the means are very important. Don't let anger affect your judgment. I am also very angry with Feng Deguang, but I will not lose my mind because of anger."

"My son, please remember your father's teachings."

Zhao Xing said: "By the way, I brought some goodies for you, father."

"Oh?" The official asked with interest, "What is it?"

"Your Majesty, please allow me to keep it a secret. The thing is outside the palace. I will go and have someone bring it in." Zhao Xing said.

"Don't bother." The official looked at Eunuch Liu and said, "Go and make a trip."

"Yes!"

Eunuch Liu responded and went out. After a while he came back holding a jar of wine.

The wine jar is not big and judging by its volume it can only hold two or three kilograms of wine.

"So it's wine. I have tried all kinds of good wine." The emperor laughed.

"Father, I guarantee that this wine is no worse than the imperial wine in the palace, and you have never tasted it." Zhao Xing said confidently.

"Is that so?" The emperor thought, "I want to see what kind of wine is as good as the imperial wine. I haven't tasted it yet. Bring me the wine cup and pour me a glass."

"Your Majesty, this wine needs someone to try it first." Eunuch Liu said with some embarrassment.

The ancients were not stupid. They would not, as they do on TV, assume that something is non-toxic just because it is found to be poisonous after being tested with a silver needle.

The emperor's meals had to be tested for poison first, and the emperor would only eat after waiting for a certain period of time to find that there was no poison.

Even Zhao Xing ate his meals like this on weekdays.

"Can Fu'er harm me? Pour the wine quickly!" said the emperor.

"Don't worry, Eunuch Liu. I have already had someone try this wine before bringing it into the palace." Zhao Xing said.

It was impossible for him to poison his own father, so just in case, he had someone try it before bringing him into the palace.

Eunuch Liu didn't dare to say anything more after hearing this. If he continued to persuade him, it would be like suspecting Zhao Xing of poisoning him.

He asked someone to bring a wine cup and Eunuch Liu opened the stopper of the wine jar.

He held the jug and poured the wine.

The wine flowed out of the jar and fell into the cup, and the aroma of the wine also spread.

The official sniffed it and praised: "The wine has a strong aroma. Just smelling the aroma, it is indeed a top-grade wine."

"Father, this wine is a bit strong. You should drink it slowly," Zhao Xing reminded.

"Haha, what kind of strong liquor have I not drunk?"

The official didn't care when he heard this. He took the wine and took a big sip.

The official's originally ruddy face first turned pale, and then became even redder.

"Cough cough cough~"

"Father, are you okay?"

Zhao Xing was startled and quickly stroked his father's back.

Originally, the strongest liquor in the Song Dynasty was only about 10 degrees, but the liquor that was distilled and blended had an alcohol content of 20 to 30 degrees.

If you are used to drinking low-alcohol drinks, it would be strange if you can tolerate such strong alcohol.

"I'm fine!"

After coughing for a while, the official finally calmed down and asked in surprise, "How can there be such a strong liquor?"

"Father, do you think the Liao people will like this wine?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.

If this thing were sold in the Song Dynasty, there might not be many people who would like it.

After all, they are used to alcohol with a concentration of more than 10 degrees, so they may not be able to adapt. But the Liao Kingdom is different. Although they drink alcohol for their own reasons, they also drink to keep warm.

"You mean this wine can be brewed in large quantities?" the official asked in surprise.

"That's right. I accidentally got the brewing method and wanted to exchange wine for horses from the Liao Kingdom. Does your Majesty think it is feasible?" Zhao Xing asked.

The emperor was silent for a while and said, "The Liao people do love wine, but I don't know if I can exchange it for horses. After all, the Liao people also know how to make wine, and I haven't tried it before."

Nomadic people grew up on horseback, so their advantage is that their soldiers are stronger and they have more cavalry.

The Han people's advantages are military tactics, equipment and city defense.

However, after the Liao Kingdom occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, it gained not only the cities but also the Han people.

The Liao Kingdom also mastered many instruments and skills.

The Liao Dynasty also had the ability to brew things like wine.

Therefore, the Song Dynasty never exchanged wine for horses with the Liao Kingdom, but sold them directly to the Liao Kingdom.

"But this kind of strong liquor is worth a try. Give me the brewing method and I will have someone brew some and sell it to the Liao Kingdom to see if the Liao people like it." said the emperor.

"Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to hand this matter over to the court. Let me, your son, do it." Zhao Xing said.

The wine was originally produced by the government, so there was nothing wrong with handing it over to the court.

But distilling liquor is too simple, and if it is left to the court to handle, it will easily leak.

Moreover, given the character of those officials, it is hard to say whether they can be exchanged for horses.

Zhao Xing's idea was to send some people to the Liao nobles to try first. If the Liao nobles liked them, he would exchange them for horses with wine.

If the Liao nobles were unwilling and wanted to buy it, he would never agree to sell it.

But it would be different if it was handed over to court officials. The Liao people would definitely not easily agree to exchange them for horses. They might even agree to sell them to the Liao.

In fact, there was trade between Liao and Song, and horses could be bought with money.

However, the Liao Kingdom was very smart. Not only did they sell inferior war horses to the Song Dynasty, but the quantity was small and the price was very expensive.

The Liao Kingdom took advantage of the fact that the Song Dynasty had no channels to obtain war horses, so it had to buy them.

If you sell wine to the Liao Kingdom, no matter how high the price is, you can only buy inferior war horses.

Moreover, the Liao Kingdom might also take the opportunity to raise the price.

"Are you sure?" the official asked.

"As long as the Liao nobles like this wine, I will be confident!" Zhao Xing said confidently.

The Liao Dynasty was different from the Song Dynasty. After its founding, the Liao Dynasty also learned the centralized system of power from the Han Dynasty.

However, nomadic peoples themselves are tribal, and even if they have centralized power, it is not as thorough as that of the Han people.

What's more, horses were part of the property of nomadic peoples. Every household had some horses, and the nobles had even more.

It's not like we're doing business with the Liao court.

As long as the nobles like this wine, changing horses will not be a problem.

The official was silent for a while, then said, "Then I'll leave it to you."

He himself didn't have much hope, so it would be good to let Zhao Xing exercise.

"Don't worry, father. I can definitely exchange it for a horse," said Zhao Xing.

The reason why he told his father about this matter was because he couldn't keep it secret at all.

Whether transporting wine out of the country or transporting horses back, one has to pass through the border.

Shengwei’s roots are in Youyang, and it does not engage in cross-border trade, so it has no connections on the other side of the border.

At that time, I will definitely need to ask Fang Zhongrong's father for help to pass the level.

If the emperor doesn't agree, we won't be able to pass this hurdle.

After chatting with his father for a while, Zhao Xing returned to the East Palace and asked someone to find Sheng Wei.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" Sheng Wei bowed.

"No need to be polite." Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "I need you to bring some wine and go to the Song-Liao trade on the northern border in person."

(End of this chapter)