Chapter 939 Negotiation

Chapter 939: Negotiation Chapter 939: Negotiation Editor: Atlas Studios Andre had just gotten someone to make a pot of tea.

When he heard that Prince Rong had returned, he was overjoyed.

Although this Prince was brilliant at fighting wars, he didn’t know how to do business.

Regarding a precious item like a cannon, negotiations might take more than three to four months.

Andre had merely revealed that he would set off soon, and Qi Haoran hurriedly agreed to the price.

Even when he proposed a deposit of 20,000 taels, he agreed immediately.

Upon being informed of his arrival, Andre wondered if Qi Haoran was here to deliver the deposit.

Andre said happily, “Invite him in.” To his surprise though, three people came in.

Seeing Fan Zijin, the tea cup in Andre’s hand trembled.

An ominous feeling rose in his heart.

Smiling, he asked, “Why is Magistrate Fan here too?” When Andre saw the beautiful woman who was half a step behind Qi Haoran, he was stunned for a moment.

He hurriedly stood up and bowed.

“Your Highness, what a rare guest.

Please take a seat.” Mu Yangling had left a deep impression on him, much more shocking than Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin.

Andre didn’t want to offend her.

Mu Yangling stood behind Qi Haoran and waited for Andre to bow to her before returning the bow.

She smiled and said, “His Highness came back and said that he wanted to buy a cannon, and that it’s going to cost 50,000 taels of silver.

As a woman, what do I know about cannons and spears?

Besides, it’s inconvenient for me to interfere in my husband’s matters.

Coincidentally, Cousin came over, and he happens to know a little about these things.

So, I tagged along to broaden my horizons.” In the carriage, Fan Zijin instructed Mu Yangling to act as an ignorant and domineering woman.

In any case, the agenda for this visit was to void the verbal agreement between Qi Haoran and Andre.

If they were doing a deal, they had to renegotiate the terms.

Qi Haoran lowered his head and followed behind Fan Zijin.

He was now a younger cousin who had been lectured by his older cousin, and did not need to care about anything else.

Andre didn’t expect the Han nobles to be such shameless liars.

How could Princess Consort Rong not know anything about cannons and spears?

She had personally carried cannons and seen how powerful they were.

Furthermore, those were cannons that had been in service in Portugal for more than ten years.

How could English cannons compare to them?

It was obvious that the three of them wanted to go back on their word.

Andre quickly introduced England and their country’s cannons again.

He knew that the person in charge this time was either Fan Zijin or Mu Yangling.

Anyway, it couldn’t be Qi Haoran, so his explanation was directed at the two of them.

Fan Zijin did not know much about these Western countries.

In the past six months, he had heard of many countries’ names, but in his opinion, they all looked similar.

Be it men or women, they looked pretty much the same to his eyes.

He really could not tell which country each Westerner was from just based on their appearance.

However, he also roughly understood from the conversations of the foreigners that England was relatively powerful among the Western countries, at least stronger than the countries which Andre and Pedro came from.

Andre’s description gave him a clearer understanding of England’s status and strength among those countries.

In short, even though the Portuguese and Spanish were the most numerous Westerners in Great Qi, the merchants, soldiers, and bandits wandering in the sea outside Great Qi were mostly the English.

Andre said that England even had colonies in the Kozhikode area, and their country’s cannons had played a significant role in conquering the colonies.

In short, the English cannons were very powerful, much more powerful than the ones they were using now.

Concerned about the strategic implications, Qi Haoran asked before Fan Zijin, “Where’s Kozhikode?” Andre clearly wanted to ensure this deal went through, so he said in detail, “It’s on the west coast of India, not far from here.

As long as the route is correct, we can reach it in less than a month.” Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin looked at each other, and their hearts sank.

Mu Yangling didn’t expect England to be so ahead and had already colonized their way to India at this time.

But according to Andre, England had only occupied a small area in India not long ago and hadn’t completely taken over India.

Fan Zijin asked calmly, “Since England is so powerful, Mr.

An, are you sure you can get your hands on their new cannon?” He said meaningfully, “Zhou De has also asked about the cannons, but he only managed to find out about the cannons in service…” Andre felt a little sheepish, but still, he replied with a smile, “I have other ways…” Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “If I remember correctly, you’re Spanish, right?

I heard that your country doesn’t have a good relationship with England.

If even you can obtain England’s new cannon under such circumstances, can your country’s army also be equipped with their cannons?” Andre was shocked that Mu Yangling even knew this.

It then occurred to him that he wasn’t the Spanish businessman here.

Perhaps a fellow Spaniard had told them about his nationality, or perhaps it was the detestable Portuguese.

When he heard that the two countries did not have a good relationship, Qi Haoran glared at him.

How could Andre possibly get his hands on the newly-developed English cannon when the two countries did not have a good relationship?

Wasn’t this outright bullying him for being ignorant?

Even when the relationship between Great Qi and the Jin Kingdom had eased slightly, it took them more than half a year to get their hands on a thousand-kilometer horse from Great Jin.

Let alone a heavy cannon that could not move on its own.

Fan Zijin was overjoyed because he now knew how to discuss this business deal going forward.

Everyone now knew tacitly that the cannons in Andre’s hands were definitely not new, but they would definitely be better than the two cannons in the Great Qi military now.

Considering they had been snatched from Pedro and the other pirates, they were likely antiques from countless years ago.

Once Fan Zijin had knowledge of this, this business was much easier to negotiate.

Andre was a businessman who had been in the sea trade business for 20 years.

Although Fan Zijin had only been in business for a short period of time, his experience was not inferior to his.

As it had been more than 10 years since he started his first business at the age of 13, Fan Zijin had worked with both big and small merchants in Great Qi.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have successfully stopped Andre from selling his entire ship of goods previously.

But Andre was quite a shrewd businessman too.

Otherwise, he couldn’t have provoked Fan Zijin to personally go out to sea and meet the pirates.

Hence, the two of them negotiated back and forth.

Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran were completely reduced to being ornaments merely sitting there.

In the beginning, Mu Yangling could still interrupt a word or two, but now, she couldn’t butt in at all.

Meanwhile, Qi Haoran kept his mouth shut, afraid that he would be a burden if he spoke rashly.

The couple looked at each other before turning to glare at Andre, trying to force him to admit defeat with their gaze.

Andre wasn’t affected by their gazes, but he was still forced to retreat step by step by Fan Zijin.

Of course, this was what Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran thought because the price of the cannon had already been bargained down from 50,000 taels to 23,000 taels.

In Andre’s opinion, the price of the cannon was approaching his reservation price step by step.

Although he wasn’t incurring a loss in this deal, his profit was now much lower than he’d expected.

Then, Fan Zijin bargained down the price one last time, which coincidentally was Andre’s reservation price.

“20,000 taels.

If Mr.

An agrees, I can immediately pay the deposit.” Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran looked at Andre with bright eyes and saw that the latter continued to wear a conflicted expression.

Because he had too much beard, they didn’t detect any anomaly.

However, Fan Zijin, who had been staring at him, saw his pupils constrict slightly.

Knowing that this was his reservation price, he was satisfied.

If he bargained down any further, this business would go down the drain.

Fan Zijin took a sip of tea in satisfaction and said, “Mr.

An, you’re not the only Western businessman in Guangzhou City.

There’s also Pedro at sea.

I heard that not only is he a pirate, but he’s also an earl in Portugal who does business in private.

I wonder if he’s willing to do this arms business deal.”

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