448: Chapter 448 Youth-Preserving Pill

Meanwhile, the corridor on the third floor of Building 4 at the State Guesthouse in the capital was carpeted in deep red.

Landscape paintings hung on both walls, and there was a potted plant every few steps; the lighting was soft, and the air conditioning temperature was just right.

However, the atmosphere in the corridor was completely at odds with the decor.

There were eight suites in total on the third floor, housing delegations from five countries.

These people had been waiting here for six days.

The first to arrive was the Saudi Arabia delegation, led by the King himself, with thirty-seven people in tow.

They had booked the two suites at the far end of the corridor and a reception room, and every morning at nine o'clock, they sent a secretary to the front desk to ask: "When will the Great Xia side arrange a meeting?"

The answer was the same every day: "Please continue to wait patiently."

The second batch to arrive was the joint delegation from France and Germany.

The foreign ministers of both countries led the team together, with a lineup even larger than Saudi Arabia's—over forty people, including the accompanying medical experts and trade negotiation officials.

The third batch was the Russian delegation, led by the Prime Minister; there weren't many of them, only twelve, but everyone held very high-level credentials.

The last to arrive was South Korea; they came the most urgently and left the most frequently. Their representative called the contact person at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Great Xia at least three times a day, and each time, they were politely blocked.

Su Mingyuan arrived at the State Guesthouse at two in the afternoon.

He entered through the side door and went straight to the temporary office area on the second floor.

Elder Qin was already there.

The office was small, with one table, a few chairs, and a map hanging on the wall.

Elder Qin sat behind the table with several documents spread out in front of him, his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

"Sit." Elder Qin raised a hand slightly.

Su Mingyuan pulled out a chair and sat down.

Elder Qin took off his glasses, placed them on the table, and rubbed the space between his eyebrows.

"Those people upstairs have been waiting for almost a week. If we don't see them, some countries won't be able to save Face."

Su Mingyuan nodded.

"Who are we seeing today?"

Elder Qin pushed the documents on the table over.

The one on top was the information on the Saudi Arabia delegation. The fact that the King came personally made it the most significant, and they had also been waiting the longest.

"Saudi Arabia's demand is very clear: the rejuvenation pill," Elder Qin said. "Three direct members of the royal family suffer from cancer—two with pancreatic cancer, one with late-stage lung cancer. They are willing to pay any price."

Su Mingyuan flipped through the document.

"Price is not the issue," he said. "The pricing for foreign citizens has already been announced at the press conference: one hundred million daxia currency per pill. The rules cannot be broken."

"They are not here to haggle," Elder Qin said. "They are here to discuss long-term cooperation."

Su Mingyuan looked up.

Elder Qin leaned back in his chair and slowed his voice down a bit.

"The intention from Saudi Arabia is that they want to sign a five-year supply agreement. They will purchase a fixed quantity of rejuvenation pills every year, while simultaneously binding themselves deeply with Great Xia in other areas."

"What areas?"

"Oil. In the future, all crude oil exported from Saudi Arabia to East Asia will be settled in daxia currency, not using the eagle dollar, and not passing through SWIFT."

Su Mingyuan didn't speak, but his fingers paused on the desktop.

Settling oil in daxia currency.

Before the Eagle State kicked Great Xia out of SWIFT, this was something one wouldn't even dare to imagine.

Global oil trade had been priced in eagle dollars for over half a century; this was one of the Foundations of the eagle dollar hegemony.

But things were different now.

rejuvenation pills only accepted daxia currency; if people around the world wanted to live, they had to exchange for daxia currency first.

The anchor for daxia currency was no longer GDP or gold, but a medicine that could cure cancer.

This anchor was harder than anything else.

Saudi Arabia wanting to trade oil for a long-term supply of rejuvenation pills was, in essence, switching their own economic lifeline from the eagle dollar system to the daxia currency system.

"The King came personally just for this?" Su Mingyuan asked.

Elder Qin nodded.

"He brought the Crown Prince, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Petroleum. This lineup isn't here for a medical visit; they are here to switch their allegiance."

Su Mingyuan stood up and walked to the map on the wall.

Middle East, East Asia, Pacific Ocean, North America.

He looked at it for a while and then said one sentence.

"Meet them. But don't just talk about oil."

Elder Qin looked at him.

"I want one more thing," Su Mingyuan said. "The mining rights for rare earth minerals within Saudi Arabia."

Elder Qin's eyebrows raised slightly.

Not many people outside knew that Saudi Arabia had rare earth minerals. The reserves weren't the largest in the world, but the grade was very high, and they hadn't been developed on a large scale.

"What are we trading the mining rights for?" Elder Qin asked.

"A promise," Su Mingyuan turned around. "In addition to the fixed annual supply of rejuvenation pills, we will provide Saudi Arabia with an additional purchase quota for the Youth-Preserving Pill."

"Youth-Preserving Pill?"

"A type of Medicinal Pill that purifies Impurities in the body. For ordinary people, it is equivalent to a full-body deep detox, delaying aging and improving sub-health conditions. The effect is much weaker than the rejuvenation pill, but its advantage is that it can be taken daily, and the long-term effects are significant."

Elder Qin was silent for a few seconds.

"When did you prepare this?"

"The Pill Formula was translated yesterday. Han Li test-refined a batch, and the success rate was very high. The demand for raw Materials for this type of Medicinal Pill is small, and the refining difficulty is low, making it suitable for large-scale production."

Su Mingyuan walked back to the table and sat down.

"However, all Medicinal Pills will only be produced within Great Xia; this line cannot be loosened. The formula, raw Materials, refining techniques, and finished products must all remain domestically. We will only open purchase channels to the outside world, not production authorization."

Elder Qin thought for a moment.

"Are you worried about technology leakage?"

"Just in case," Su Mingyuan said. "The production of Medicinal Pills cannot be separated from Spirit Medicine, and the cultivation of Spirit Medicine cannot be separated from Spiritual Qi. The Spiritual Qi concentration in the Skeleton World and the Yaowu World is dozens of times that of the Main World; these environmental conditions cannot be replicated by other countries. Even if they are given the Pill Formula, they won't be able to refine them."

Elder Qin put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose and bowed his head to write two lines on the document.

"Fine. I will add this in."

"The rejuvenation pill is hard currency—low quantity, high price—used to anchor the value of daxia currency. The Youth-Preserving Pill is a daily necessity—large quantity, low price—used to expand Great Xia's influence. We walk on two legs, but both legs grow on Great Xia's own body."

Elder Qin looked at him and didn't speak for a long while.

"It really has to be you young people; you think further ahead than us old folks."

Su Mingyuan didn't respond to that.

"Three-thirty, third-floor reception room." He checked his phone. "Have the Saudi Arabia side prepare."

Forty-five minutes later, in the reception room at the end of the third-floor corridor, two groups of people sat facing each other.

The King of Saudi Arabia sat in the main seat. He was younger than Su Mingyuan had imagined, in his early sixties, with a gaunt Face but high spirits, wearing a traditional white robe and a red and white checkered headscarf.

Sitting beside him were the Crown Prince and the Minister of Finance; opposite them were Su Mingyuan and Elder Qin, with two interpreters nearby.

The opening pleasantries were short.

The King spoke a paragraph in Arabic. After the interpreter translated, the gist was expressing gratitude for Great Xia's reception, admiration for the efficacy of the rejuvenation pill, and a sincere desire for long-term cooperation.

After listening, Su Mingyuan didn't engage in small talk and went straight to the point.

"Your Majesty, the pricing and purchase rules for the rejuvenation pill have already been announced, and this will not change. But what we can discuss is the priority of supply and the long-term framework."

The interpreter translated this, and the King nodded slightly.

"Our proposal is as follows," Su Mingyuan said. "Great Xia will provide a fixed annual supply of rejuvenation pills and Youth-Preserving Pills to Saudi Arabia, with the quantity linked to the scale of Saudi Arabia's oil settlement in daxia currency. The larger the settlement volume, the higher the supply quota. All Medicinal Pills are to be produced domestically in Great Xia; finished products are exported, and no transfer of any production links is involved."

The Crown Prince's eyes lit up.

The Minister of Finance pulled a document from his briefcase; evidently, they had prepared a similar plan before coming.

"At the same time," Su Mingyuan continued, "we hope to obtain the mining rights for the rare earth minerals in the Nafud region of Saudi Arabia for a period of twenty years."

After the interpreter finished translating this, there was silence on the other side for a few seconds.

The King glanced at the Crown Prince beside him, and the Crown Prince leaned forward slightly.

"What is the Youth-Preserving Pill?"

Su Mingyuan took a small glass bottle out of the file bag on the table, which contained three pale cyan Medicinal Pills.

"Purifies toxins in the body, improves bodily functions, and delays aging. Long-term use can extend a healthy lifespan by twenty to thirty-five years."

He placed the bottle on the table.

"Although it cannot cure diseases, it can allow healthy people to live longer."