OBS Chapter 390 This official would like to see more of a Silla maid.
Chapter 390 This official would like to see more of a Silla maid.
Park Deok-hwan and Park Sung-sung did not come to Dengzhou Prefecture casually this time.
Ginseng, deer antler, sable fur, pearls, yew wood, celadon, Korean paper, tussah silk, and horses.
All of these miscellaneous items were the main goods that the Koreans brought to the border market for trade.
In addition, Park Deok-hwan and Park Sung-sung brought a thousand laborers with them, along with twenty supervisors.
Park Sung-sung looked at Yang Shaofeng with a nervous expression and said, "Your Highness, these laborers are only the first batch to arrive; there will be more later."
Yang Shaofeng grunted in agreement, then casually instructed Xu Jingyu, the magistrate of Penglai County, to settle the laborers and supervisors. He then picked up a pure white mink pelt.
This thing looks really nice. I'll buy more later and make a couple of cloaks or capes for Jin'er and Yu'er.
Yes, I should also send one to my mother-in-law.
After all, he had offended that old scoundrel Zhu Chongba quite a bit recently, so he had to appease his mother-in-law.
Immediately afterwards, Yang Shaofeng reached out and picked up a pearl.
This thing looks pretty good; it would be great as an accessory for Jin'er and Yu'er's clothes in the future.
Yes, we should also send some to my mother-in-law.
Or you could buy a few more, so that when you have children in the future, they can use them as marbles.
Seeing Yang Shaofeng looking at the mink fur and then at the pearls without saying a word, Park Sung-sung felt a little nervous and tentatively asked, "Your Highness, do you find these things acceptable?"
Yang Shaofeng grunted in agreement, then casually grabbed another mink pelt and chuckled, "A pelt eaten by insects and rats, all shod and tattered, I'll give it to you for five coins."
Park Deok-hwan and Park Sung-sung couldn't help but rub their eyes.
What Yang Shaofeng held in his hand was a white mink pelt, pure white in color, with abundant fur, and most importantly, without a single stray hair, making it a truly rare and precious item.
How did it get eaten by insects and bitten by rats?
How come it's just a bare board without any hair?
How did it get so tattered and broken?
Park Deok-hwan was displeased and was about to speak when Park Sung-sung interrupted, saying, "The Prince Consort is right. This is a tattered, worn-out pelt, gnawed by insects and rats. The official is extremely grateful that the Prince Consort is willing to pay five coins."
Yang Shaofeng was stunned by Park Sung-sung's words.
No, I just remembered this joke and said it offhand.
It's not like I'm really going to spend five coins to buy your mink fur.
Yang Shaofeng shook his head with a smile before speaking, "I was just joking, don't take it seriously."
After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng added, "As for how to price these items, that will need to be determined by the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Court of State Ceremonies once they arrive."
Officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Court of State Ceremonial were quite professional in pricing matters.
For example, the price of iron in the Ming Dynasty market was thirty wen per catty, while the price set at the border market was three wen per catty.
Note that this price is not the seller's price that the Ming Dynasty sells to its vassal states, but rather the buyer's price that the Ming Dynasty purchases from its vassal states.
What if the vassal states don't produce ironware?
It's easy. We'll set a quota for your iron trade each year. As long as you can get enough iron, the Ming Dynasty won't care where you buy it or how you exploit the people in the country. Anyway, if the Ming Dynasty needs 10,000 catties of iron, you can't just bring 5,000 catties to make up the difference.
As for the prices set by the Ming Dynasty, for example, an iron pot cost 1,800 copper coins and a blue and white porcelain plate cost 6,200 copper coins, these were considered fair market prices.
Anyway, don't worry about how much these things sell for in the Ming Dynasty; they're only worth this much at the border market.
Rumors circulated that the prices of these goods were set by a group of people led by the Left Chancellor of the Secretariat and the Vice Censor-in-Chief, who wished to remain anonymous, with officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Court of State Ceremonies also deeply involved.
Therefore, Yang Shaofeng did not intend to interfere with the pricing of goods at the border market.
However, after entering the backyard of the government office, Park Sung-sung took out an envelope from his pocket, pushed it in front of Yang Shaofeng, and said with a smile, "A little something, I hope the Prince Consort will not find it offensive."
Yang Shaofeng opened the gift list in the envelope, glanced at it, and then said with a displeased expression, "What does Vice Envoy Park mean by this?"
Park Sung-sung replied with a big smile, "It's just a small token, nothing really."
Yang Shaofeng said, "That wouldn't be fun."
Park Sung-sung said seriously, "What are you saying, Your Highness?"
"The affairs of the border markets are extremely complicated. How could I not know that the Prince Consort has been looking out for me, Gao Xian, by opening a border market so quickly?"
"Although these things are just cheap and mundane items, they can still be considered a small gift with a heavy sentiment."
"If the Prince Consort refuses to accept it, it would make it seem like I, as an outsider, am rather insensible."
Seeing Park Sung-sung's persistent attitude, Yang Shaofeng could only sigh helplessly and say, "Vice Envoy Park's hospitality is too much to refuse, so I have no choice but to accept it."
This gift is not insignificant.
There are a total of one hundred solid-color mink pelts, including sixty pure white ones, and twenty each of purple and blue ones.
One hundred top-quality pearls.
Hundreds of ginseng plants.
One hundred branches of deer antler.
A thousand catties of yew wood.
Ten sets of celadon porcelain.
One hundred reams of Korean paper.
One hundred bolts of silk made from tussah silkworms.
Ten fine horses.
The total market value of everything on this gift list is probably tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Park Sung-sung is quite sensible.
It's a pity that Park Sung-sung is still too naive; his methods of giving gifts are too low-level.
What kind of kind person would give a gift so blatantly?
You've openly given it away, so I have to give that old man a heads-up.
Besides, do I even care about the things you've given me?
Compared to these messy, vulgar things, I'd actually rather see the legendary Silla maids.
After all, they were on par with the Kunlun slaves. It's a mystery what was so special about these Silla maids that made the powerful clans of the Tang Dynasty so fond of them.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "How about this? Envoy Park and Vice Envoy Park have come a long way. Why don't you rest well in the city for the next couple of days? I'll arrange for someone to show you around later, how about that?"
After Park Deok-hwan and Park Sung-sung agreed, Yang Shaofeng changed the subject, saying, "Just now outside the government office, I noticed that many of the supervisors behaved quite properly, so they must not be ordinary people."
Park Sung-sung's heart tightened, and he replied, "Your Highness has a good eye. After all, you are here to supervise the construction in the Celestial Empire. No one in our country dares to be negligent. Therefore, we have selected people who are only slightly literate."
Yang Shaofeng said "Oh," and then said, "That's good. If there are extras in the future, Ambassador Park and Vice Ambassador Park might as well arrange for more to come over."
Park Sung-sung was overjoyed and bowed to Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Thank you, Prince Consort, thank you, Prince Consort."