Wang Baobao's eyes lit up. It had to be said that the things Zhu Kai mentioned were all the materials they urgently needed. Since Zhu Kai did not do business with them, they could only transport them secretly through secret channels. Moreover, they could only trade a small amount of materials at a time, and the prices were very expensive.

If Zhu Kai could trade with them, exchanging Eastern Chagatai's materials for those of the Ming Dynasty...even if it wasn't an exchange, but he bought them directly with silver, it would be a very worthwhile business.

Now the Ming Dynasty is in confrontation with Eastern Chagatai... to be more precise, it is in confrontation with Wang Baobao. Would Zhu Kai be so kind as to let Wang Baobao get what he wants?
impossible!
Wang Baobao couldn't guess what Zhu Kai was thinking, he just simply thought there was something fishy going on.

Looking at Zhu Kai, Wang Baobao couldn't guess whether what Zhu Kai said was true or false, so he simply said to Zhu Kai: "I want to buy weapons. I am very interested in the weapons in your hand that can kill people from 500 steps away. If you want to sell it, name a price."

"What a ridiculous price! If you had that kind of weapon, would you sell it to your enemy?"

Zhu Kai directly retorted Wang Baobao's proposal. This was not the way to discuss business. He said to Wang Baobao: "Let me tell you, I do business with you because you are still useful. Otherwise, why would I talk to you? I would have wiped out the Eastern Chagatai tribe long ago."

"hehe!"

Wang Baobao would not be frightened by Zhu Kai. It was true that Zhu Kai said he was somewhat useful, but he could also believe that he had destroyed the Eastern Chagatai tribe. But how could he manage the business after taking over the Eastern Chagatai tribe? Would he just leave it here to waste?
Looking at Zhu Kai, Wang Baobao also lost the desire to continue testing Zhu Kai, and said directly to Zhu Kai: "In this case, let's talk about business directly. What can you provide for us?"

"I will provide everything I can, but you have to ensure that the business is normal. If you plan to do business without any capital, then I'm sorry... I will make you pay ten times or even a hundred times the price."

Zhu Kai said to Wang Baobao, "Of course, we can trade directly with each other, but there is one condition: you are not allowed to make any provocations against the Ming Dynasty."

"..."

Wang Baobao frowned when he heard this: "We are not provoking, what about you?"

"Let's fight if we have to. I asked Lan Yu to come here just to beat you up."

Zhu Kai's answer was as it should be, but Wang Baobao blushed at what Zhu Kai said: "Then why are you still doing business with me?"

"Then you can bear to be defeated by me?"

Zhu Kai looked at Wang Baobao and said to him, "It doesn't take three days at all. I can break through the wall of Litai City in just one stick of incense! Do you think the small wall in front of you can stop me?"

"..."

Wang Baobao really wasn't sure what other cards Zhu Kai had in his hand.

He could kill someone from five hundred steps away, and perhaps he could also overturn the wall of Litai City in an instant.

All of this is uncertain. Although Wang Baobao wanted to, he couldn't refuse Zhu Kai. If Zhu Kai really turned against him, he would have to continue to be a dog without a home. "I wonder what kind of business the Second Prince can do?"

Doing business with Zhu Kai is very humiliating. The Ming Dynasty can attack him, but he cannot take the initiative to attack the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty can rush into the territory of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, but Wang Baobao can only passively defend and cannot occupy the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Is there still such forced buying and selling in business?
"Of course, the business I told you about. Weapons, armor, tea, silk, wine, and grain, we can do business in anything."

Zhu Kai looked at Wang Baobao and said, "You can also exchange animal skins with us, livestock as well... anything is fine. As long as you want to trade and I agree, we can exchange... and of course, people."

Zhu Kai bared his fangs: "You can use the captives to exchange for our Ming Dynasty's supplies, so that when you are destroyed by the Ming Dynasty, your death will be more valuable."

"..."

If he had a weapon like Zhu Kai's, Wang Baobao would have made Zhu Kai into a sieve. It was so infuriating: "Second Prince, don't be so angry. Our Yuan Dynasty is not made of mud. If Your Highness wants to destroy us, you may not succeed even if you pay the price of blood."

"In my dictionary, there is no word for failure."

Zhu Kai looked at Wang Baobao and said, "Don't talk so much nonsense. I just want to ask you, do you want to do this business or not? If you do, take out the list and prepare the money. We will pay and deliver the goods at the same time!"

"……Do!"

Although he was very reluctant, Wang Baobao finally chose to submit. He looked at Zhu Kai and said, "I hope the Second Prince can abide by today's agreement and not take advantage of the mutual trade to do anything that would hurt the business."

Wang Baobao was still worried that Zhu Kai was taking advantage of the trade to attack them, and they could not withstand Zhu Kai's repeated attacks.

"A word is settled!"

Looking at Zhu Kai's raised hand, Wang Baobao finally raised his hand and touched it with Zhu Kai's palm: "...It's a deal!"

……

Zhu Kai went to see Wang Baobao just to discuss business?
This was something Lan Yu had not expected.

After listening to Zhu Kai's words, he was very puzzled: "Your Highness, Wang Baobao is our enemy. Our Ming Dynasty is rich and powerful. If we do business with them, wouldn't that be aiding the enemy?"

"Aiding the enemy? Not really. They are just some ordinary weapons and armor. The weapons in the Central Plains are all top-quality. I believe Wang Baobao is also very covetous of the weapons in the Central Plains. Instead of letting him buy them secretly, it is better to talk to them openly and do business with them. The more transactions he makes with us, the less he will dare to be our enemy."

Zhu Kai was quite confident in his plan. He said to Lan Yu, "I guess Wang Baobao is now thinking about speeding up the pace of marching westward. Lan Yu...some wars don't have to be fought to the death on the battlefield. War is a very three-dimensional thing. Let me ask you, why are we fighting against the Mongols?"

To make people live a better life?

Obviously not.

If we want the people in the Central Plains to live a good life, there is no need to fight a war now. How many people from the Central Plains would come to the Western Regions?

Lan Yu pondered for a while, and said to Zhu Kai: "Are we fighting now for the court?"

"Almost. War serves the government. Although you can gain profit from the war, it is only a small profit. Compared with the overall interests of Ming Dynasty, it seems insignificant."

Zhu Kai agreed with Lan Yu's point of view and added to what he was about to say: "War is multifaceted. Trading with Wang Baobao is more about weakening their war potential. When they find that fighting us is like hitting a rock with an egg, they will disappear from our sight and seek development elsewhere."

Lan Yu seemed to understand: "So, Wang Baobao is your Highness's vanguard. Are you driving Wang Baobao to serve our Ming Dynasty?"

In fact, the method used by Zhu Kai is a common financial war in later generations. All wars serve the political affairs of the court. Since the final result is the same, it does not matter what method is used to fight the war.

The Ming Dynasty needs to continue to expand westwards to complete the historic transformation. Zhu Kai wants those in the court to know that outward expansion is the orthodox need of every dynasty. Don't think about the golden mean. Expansion is the hard truth.

Then try to have more children, more children, more children... Even if the world is divided into countries and regions five or six hundred years later... Oh no, wouldn't it still be the Ming Dynasty five or six hundred years later? Other countries are nothing!

Zhu Kai knew that West Asia and Central Asia would be the world's energy base in the future. Even if it was not used now, Zhu Kai wanted to keep that area firmly in his own hands in order to win in the future.

Unfortunately, Lan Yu did not understand the destructive power of financial warfare. He felt that what Zhu Kai did was no different from aiding the enemy. Zhu Kai did not explain to him and said, "Don't cut off your business with Wang Baobao before you get absolute benefits. You should fight the war, but don't destroy the window of business."

"..."

Lan Yu's head was blown away.

Isn’t the suggestion proposed by Zhu Kai too difficult to achieve?
How can you fight a war and do business at the same time?

Lan Yu wanted to quit. It was not so difficult when he served Zhu Yuanzhang back then... But when he thought about it, the opportunity to lead troops in battle was only given to him because he gave in to Zhu Kai.

Moreover, Lan Yu also understood that in the future, Zhu Kai would have the final say on Ming’s wars. If he quit now, Zhu Kai would never use him in the future. So when faced with the task assigned by Zhu Kai, Lan Yu agreed without hesitation:
"Yes, I will definitely follow your Highness' instructions."

"That's pretty much it."

Zhu Kai looked at Lan Yu and said to him, "Don't think I'm making things difficult for you. Once you figure out what this means, you'll know what it means to defeat the enemy without fighting!"

The Ming Dynasty was rich in resources and had a developed light industry. The products that came out of the Ming Dynasty were best-sellers all over the world. The people of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate also came from the Central Plains to some extent and had seen the colorful world of the Central Plains. Now they can enjoy the products of the Central Plains in the Western Regions. This expectation is worth countless silver money.

Wang Baobao got weapons and armor, and they can continue to develop westward. The people of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate use the products from the Ming Dynasty, and can gain a sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty from them. In the future, when Lan Yu launches military action against the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, they will certainly not be united.

Materials are of little value. If you say they are useful, then they are useful. If you say they are useless, then they are useless. Zhu Kai can use these consumables to exchange for population. In this way, the Ming Dynasty can develop more wasteland and grow more food. The construction of the Ming Dynasty's highways and projects will be improved very quickly.

If you don't fight this kind of war, you will gain by fighting it.

Weapons and armor... can be exchanged from the current Ming soldiers. Wang Baobao will not mind second-hand ones. After all, they lack craftsmen to make weapons. What Zhu Kai did actually opened the door to convenience for them. They can buy the items they like by spending money. What could be better than this?

After thinking for a while, Zhu Kai said to Lan Yu: "You don't need to keep that small country of A'rui. Just conquer it. In the remaining time, you should fully prepare for the war with Wang Baobao. You can do both war and business. You should make money when you should make money and fight when you should fight, but you can't think of trading with each other..."

"Yes."

Isn't it that war cannot interfere with business, and war cannot be used to lure people into trade...

Working with Zhu Kai is so damn difficult.

Lan Yu was furious. After Zhu Kai returned, he would find ways to drive Wang Baobao away and turn the Eastern Chagatai Khanate into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so that Zhu Kai would not give him all kinds of impossible tasks.

After Zhu Kai left, Lan Yu racked his brains to think of the meaning of Zhu Kai's behavior, but he couldn't figure it out.

……

On Wang Baobao's side, they were also discussing Zhu Kai's proposal to do business with them.

After hearing the news of trade with the Ming Dynasty, everyone had the same reaction: there must be something fishy!
Even armor and weapons can be sold, isn't this obviously aiding the enemy?

Wang Baobao's men are armed, so wouldn't it just cause more losses for the Ming Dynasty if it went to war with them?

Tian Baonu was undoubtedly the most opposed. Although he didn't understand what benefit Zhu Kai would bring to the Ming Dynasty, he was sure that there was something fishy going on and it was very deceptive: "Prince Qi, don't agree to Zhu Kai, he must be deceiving us."

"What did he do to trick us?" Wang Baobao asked directly, "Do you know why he wants to do business with us? Because the Ming Dynasty is powerful, but the people are poor. The people don't have enough money to buy the products produced, and Zhu Kai doesn't want to lower the price, so he passes these materials on to us."

If Zhu Kai could hear what Wang Baobao said, he would definitely give Wang Baobao a thumbs up.

Or maybe it is your opponent who knows you best. If Wang Baobao is willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Kai will definitely give him a Ministry of Commerce to boost the economy.

Low food prices will hurt the people; low commodity prices will also hurt merchants. It is better to think of a compromise, which is to export commodities.

Zhu Kai can not only sell to Wang Baobao, but also to U-Tsang, and sell to Annan and Siam in the south... In the future, when long-distance shipping routes are opened, Zhu Kai can even sell goods to Europe. Only with money can he do more things.

"What about weapons?"

Tian Baonu asked Wang Baobao, "Zhu Kai wouldn't sell us weapons for no reason, right? Who can guarantee that these weapons can still be used on the battlefield?"

"He sold us arrows, armor, swords and spears. Although they greatly increased our strength, they did not affect the fundamentals."

Wang Baobao knocked on the table and said to Tian Baonu: "Don't forget, Zhu Kai has the Devil Corps. With the weapons in their hands, he can stop 100,000 troops even if he doesn't have the advantage of time and place."

After hearing what Wang Baobao said, Tian Baonu was speechless.

The black-haired man who had been listening to the argument between Wang Baobao and Tianbaonu... He didn't care about weapons or expanding his family. What he cared about were wine, tea, cloth and food. He had chosen to lie down now. The military power had been taken away by Wang Baobao, and he just wanted to be a puppet and enjoy life.

This is the fact. As long as Zhu Kai doesn't sell those devilish weapons, they will not be a match for the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Baobao was also thinking about why Zhu Kai did this. He reviewed the content of the conversation between Zhu Kai and himself from beginning to end, and then suddenly said: "I know what Zhu Kai wants to do. He wants me to act as a pawn and conquer territory for the Ming Dynasty!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Tianbaonu and Heide'erhuozhe turned their eyes to Wang Baobao, hoping to get an answer from him. (End of this chapter)