Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 239 Using Salt as a Sword

Zhu Ming went back to prepare money. Although the money was not a small amount for him, he felt that as long as he could integrate into the official circle of the Tang Dynasty, let alone a thousand pennies, it would be worth it even if he put all his belongings on it. !
Of course, Zhu Ming was not the only one who thought like this. Seeing him excitedly go back to prepare money, others also went back to raise money one after another, and then sent the money to the royal club according to Tian Yi's request.

So, at noon, the entrance of the Datang Royal Club was blocked.

Copper coins take up a lot of space, one thousand copper coins can fill five big boxes, and this time there are more than 20 people who want to get the pass token, and they brought more than 2 copper coins. A carriage pulled hundreds of boxes to the Datang Royal Clubhouse, and immediately blocked the entrance of the clubhouse.

Seeing so much money, Wu Mei immediately smiled at Tian Yi.

"You came just in time. Yesterday, His Royal Highness asked me to send a batch of military pay to the Hundred Horse Guards Barracks outside the city. I haven't had time to leave yet. How about you bring someone to send the money over there first, and hand it over to the barracks in the barracks yourself? Lord Hegan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will come over in the afternoon, and it will not be too late to report to him if you have anything."

Hearing Wu Mei's words, Tian Yi nodded quickly.

"Yes, I understand, I'm going now!"

After finishing speaking, Tian Yi and his party saluted Wu Mei, and then left.

When he returned after handing over the money to Hegan Chengji, it was almost the time of You, and he suddenly became a little anxious, and hurriedly quickened his pace.

But what Tian Yi didn't expect was that after he entered the royal club, he looked up and saw Gao Ming sitting in the corridor on the second floor.

Seeing this scene, Tian Yi immediately laughed.

"I thought His Highness the Crown Prince had already returned to the palace, but I didn't expect that he was still there!"

Thinking of this, Tian Yi trotted up the stairs, and when he came to Gao Ming, he bowed to him.

"My humble minister Tian Yi, I have met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Seeing Tian Yi's respectful expression, Gao Ming immediately laughed.

"Here is no better than outside, you don't need to be too polite, just sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness!"

Tian Yi bowed to Gao Ming again, and then sat down. Seeing him sitting down, Gao Ming smiled and nodded.

"Wu Mei told me about you. This time I got more than 4000 extra money, which can be regarded as a solution to my urgent need. You have done a good job this time. It seems that I let you be Wu Mei's deputy. Incorrect."

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Tian Yi's face turned red with excitement, he stood up immediately, and saluted Gao Ming again.

"His Royal Highness is absurd, this is the job of a humble minister, not to mention that such a mere copper stinky thing, how can His Royal Highness worry about it?"

Now Tian Yi has fully adapted to his new identity, so naturally there is a trace of disdain for merchants in his words.

After listening to his words, Gao Ming smiled and shook his head immediately.

"No, Tian Yi, you are wrong. As the saying goes, if you are not in charge of a family, you don't know the price of firewood and rice. A penny is still difficult for a hero. Those who say that money smells are poor and corrupt scholars. Don't learn from them. There are enough people like them in the Tang Dynasty I don't need one more of you!"

As soon as Gao Ming said this, Tian Yi quickly lowered his head.

"His Highness the Crown Prince is right, the humble minister has forgotten his roots, and I hope His Highness the Crown Prince will forgive me!"

Seeing that Tian Yi's face was a little more frightened at this time, Gao Ming immediately waved towards him again.

"You don't have to be so afraid. I don't want to blame you. I just want to tell you that a country's prosperity cannot be separated from the support of the economy. Our Tang Dynasty is still in the development stage and needs a lot of money to pave the way forward. .”

When Gao Ming finished speaking, Tian Yi's face was full of admiration.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise, but the humble minister is stupid. In the future, the humble minister will definitely do his best and make persistent efforts to contribute to the construction of Great Tang.

"..."

These words sound familiar!
Gao Ming was stunned for a while before he remembered that he seemed to have said these words yesterday, but he didn't expect Tian Yi to learn and use them vividly today.

Thinking of this, Gao Ming touched his nose immediately.

"Uh... It's good for you to have such an idea. By the way, let me hear what you guys talked about this morning."

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Tian Yi nodded immediately.

"His Royal Highness, the situation this morning is as follows..."

Then, Tian Yi told Gao Ming everything that happened at the business alliance headquarters in the morning. After listening to his words, Gao Ming pondered for a while, and then shook his head towards him.

"Tian Yi, your idea is very good, but to me, Zhu Ming's idea is right, but you are wrong!"

As if he didn't expect such a result, Tian Yi suddenly showed a look of astonishment.

"Is Wei Chen wrong?"

Seeing Tian Yi's surprised expression, Gao Ming nodded immediately.

"Yes, you are wrong. If you are following other ministers, you are right to have such an idea, but you are following me, so your idea of ​​worrying about causing trouble for me is a big mistake!"

Speaking of this, Gao Ming asked Tian Yi back.

"Do you think I will be the kind of person who is afraid of trouble?"

Hearing Gao Ming's question, Tian Yi was immediately speechless.

Seeing Tian Yi's speechless expression, Gao Ming suddenly smiled, and then patted him on the shoulder.

"With my backing, you can go ahead and do it. Since you want to make a name for the Royal Chamber of Commerce, then you should find someone who is hard to fight. For example, the salt merchants in Chang'an and Jingzhaofu. I think they are very suitable. .”

In ancient times, salt, as the main source of finance, was a controlled product of all dynasties, and private sales were prohibited. However, in the early Tang Dynasty, there was no penalty clause for private salt dealers in the "Law of the Tang Dynasty".

In other words, during this period Datang allowed private sales of salt.

However, in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the illicit salt business was so serious that it had seriously affected the central government's finances. Tang Dezong had no choice but to prohibit the sale of illicit salt. Battle of wits and courage.

To say that the most famous private salt dealer in Datang was Huang Chao. Some scholars in later generations even commented on him this way—a salt dealer who pushed Datang to the brink of extinction.

This shows how serious the situation of illegal salt trafficking in the late Tang Dynasty was.

Now that the Tang Dynasty is at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, many things are still relatively expensive, and salt is no exception. The price of a bucket of green salt is nearly [-] renminbi!
You know, the price of grain in the Tang Dynasty is only more than 30 yuan a bucket, and the price of green salt is more than ten times that of grain!
In fact, the cost of salt is not that expensive. There are natural salt lakes in the Guanlong area, where the green salt of the Tang Dynasty is produced, and many people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang use iron pots to cook sea salt.

It can be seen from this that although the output of Datang's salt is not high, it will definitely not reach the level of "rare things are expensive". monopoly.

The green salt is produced in Longzhou, which is monopolized by the Li family in Longxi, and the sea salt from the coastal area has been divided up by several other families before it enters the inland, so when the salt reaches the people , Naturally, it is even more expensive.

Li Shimin also knew this, but he couldn't do anything about it. The Great Tang was originally established by relying on the aristocratic family, but now the aristocratic family also restricted the development of the Great Tang.

Even the royal family is afraid of the powerful families, let alone other people, so when Tian Yi heard Gao Ming tell him to attack the salt merchants, he was immediately shocked.

"His Royal Highness, you don't know something. Others can touch it, but this salt merchant must not touch it. This matter is of great importance, and it needs to be discussed in the long run!"

Tian Yi's words are considered polite, he just wanted to tell Gao Ming that there are people behind these salt dealers, and they should not be touched casually, otherwise even Gao Ming will suffer.

Seeing Tian Yi's frightened expression, Gao Ming couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha, Tian Yi, Tian Yi, do you think I don't know that I'm standing behind the salt merchant? You think I'm afraid of them?"

At this time, Gao Ming didn't make any fuss, because in terms of economy, the Datang Royal Association and the Datang Royal Business Alliance had already been completed. Under the auspices of Wu Mei, these two places could provide him with a steady stream of financial support.

In terms of force, the Hundred Cavalry Guards have also been expanded, with nearly [-] available for Gao Ming to mobilize at any time.

In terms of culture, the Datang Royal Academy is about to be completed, and by then it will be able to train a large number of talents for its own use, without having to rely on aristocratic families.

With the support of the economy, military force, and culture, Gao Ming now has the confidence to attack the aristocratic family.

And salt is Gao Ming's first trump card used to suppress the aristocratic family!

Seeing Gao Ming's slightly excited expression, Tian Yi realized that Gao Ming was serious, and his cold sweat broke out immediately.

"Too...His Royal Highness, I know that you are not afraid of anyone, but have you ever thought that if those salt merchants cut off the salt, there will be big troubles within a month."

Seeing Tian Yi's anxious expression, Gao Ming laughed again.

"I know what you mean, but you have to believe that I never fight an uncertain battle!"

As a time traveler, Gao Ming of course also knows the truth of "blocking is worse than sparse", and he has no intention of taking back private salt, he just intends to lower the price of salt.

The benefits of lowering the price of salt are twofold.

The first is that it can greatly reduce the cost of living of the people, and the second is that it can deal a heavy blow to those aristocratic families who rely on selling salt for huge profits!
It can be said to kill two birds with one stone!
But Gao Ming also knew that this matter must not be so easy to do, because this has already touched the bottom line of the aristocratic family. Although it is not to the point of being killed, the opponent's counterattack will certainly not be small.

However, Gao Ming didn't have any worries because of these. Instead, he rolled his dry lips with his tongue excitedly, and then smiled at Tian Yi.

"It's time for the bayonet to see blood!"

(End of this chapter)