Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 558 Li Hong
"Fan Dongzhu!" Zhuge Wen said with a smile: "I have a question, please let me know!"

Fan Changan glanced at Wang Ence, obviously this nobleman knew very little about merchants, he was just a façade, and the real manager was Zhuge Wen next to him, he said with a smile: "Brother Zhuge, please, I know everything, but I can talk about everything!"

"Fan Dongzhu just said that if you work hard in the salt well, you are a young and strong man. After four or five years, you will not be successful, so you have to buy some barbarians to live! But you also said just now that there are more than ten salt wells. There are only three or four wells, how many people can die in this salt well every year? With such a little slave business, why do you need to go to Chengdu for such trouble?"

Fan Chang'an's face changed slightly, he didn't expect that Zhuge Wen would find out the fault after he said a few words just now, and he was indeed a delicate person, he smiled: "Brother Zhuge must have misheard just now, I just said something wrong. And when it comes to digging wells, this is where most of the casualties are, this salt well is much deeper than ordinary water wells, and it often penetrates rock formations, and it takes human life to fill it!" He paused for a while when he said this : "I don't want to hide from you, although the work of pumping brine, boiling salt, and clearing the silt in the salt well is hard work, as long as you pay more wages, it is not difficult to hire people to do it. Only digging new wells is not only hard work, but also many casualties. Even if the salary is increased three or four times, the locals cannot be hired to do it, so I have no choice but to wait for this!"

Hearing Fan Changan sing the Sutra of Suffering, Wang Ence and Zhuge Wen exchanged glances, and they both showed contempt. It turned out that since Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ruled the world, in order to show that he was resting with the people, he abolished the It is forbidden to discuss, the benefits of opening salt ponds and salt wells are shared with the common people, neither official sales, nor salt tax, and a tax-free system was implemented. Until the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong reopened the salt tax for more than 583 years. , There is neither a salt monopoly nor a salt tax in the world.

At that time, it had been nearly a hundred years since Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty abolished the prohibition and shared the salt profit with the common people. Even people with little knowledge like Wang Ence knew about it.Jiannan Road is located in the southwestern hinterland, with inconvenient transportation to Hebei, Shandong, Jianghuai, and Hedong, the most important salt-producing areas at that time. Well salt can be said to be the only source of salt for the local people. Monopoly trading of such daily necessities does not require paying taxes. It is really shameless to lament bitterness and cry for poverty.

Fan Changan also probably felt that he was going too far, coughed twice and said, "Wang Langjun, brother Zhuge, in fact, we don't just want to dig a new salt well for the benefit of our family. For the future of those salt wells, the old man’s family can’t use up the money even if they have rich clothes and fine food every day!”

"It's not for my own family, so what is it for?" Wang Ence asked with great interest.

"Of course it's for the people of Jiannan Road!" Fan Chang'an said, "Does your lord know what is the favorite item among the barbarians in the southwest?"

"Tea?"

"No!" Fan Chang'an shook his head: "Tuban people like tea, but there is local tea produced in the land of Liuzhao, and people will not die if they don't drink tea, but they can't stand it if they don't eat salt! Salt is the barbarians of the Southwest. As long as you have enough salt, you can not only exchange its treasures and treasures, but also defeat others without fighting, and break Tubo's arm!"

"What does this salt have to do with cutting off Tubo's arm?" Wang Ence asked puzzledly, "Could it be that the Tubo people want to eat your well salt?"

Fan Changan smiled and explained.It turns out that although Tubo is inland, it does not lack salt. The Hehuang area it recently controlled has a salt lake rich in table salt. In ancient times, the Han people called it Qiang salt or Rong salt, and it was regarded as the top grade of salt by the ancient Chinese dynasty.The salt produced in the Hehuang area is not only enough for the Tubo people to eat, but there is also a surplus for the mountain tribes in the Yunnan area, which can be traded for profit, and can also be used as a commercial means to control these southwestern tribes.For Langzhong salt merchants like Fan Changan, Tubo's Qiang salt is not only a commercial competitor, but also has the taste of national enmity.

"The Qiang salt in Tubo is produced in the salt lake. It is the top grade of salt, which is beyond the reach of well salt, but it needs to be transported from Hehuang for a long distance, so it will be evened out! As long as the existing salt well can be doubled, it will not be difficult. Three times, we, no, Datang's well salt will definitely defeat Tubo's Qiang salt, so that not only can we cut off Tubo's salt power, but we can also order the Southwestern barbarians to become my Datang vassal and cut off Tubo's arm!"

Wang Ence glanced at Zhuge Wen blankly. What Fan Changan just said was completely beyond his comprehension. What kind of Qiang salt, what kind of Hehuang salt lake, what kind of well salt defeated Qiang salt, and what kind of land of the Six Edicts were all the same to him. Orchids in wine shops are no different.Zhuge Wen coughed: "This matter is very important, and it will take a few more days for Mr. Xiao Lang to give you an answer!"

"Obey!" Fan Changan bowed deeply to Wang Ence, and then clapped his palms twice. Someone came in with a tray from outside. He lifted the cloth on the tray, and there was a beautiful gold pot underneath. Fan Changan opened it. The lid and the body of the pot were poured, and jewels of various colors such as amethyst, sapphire, and ruby ​​poured out from the mouth of the pot, and fell on the tray with a crisp sound, which immediately caught Wang Ence's eyes.

"A few playthings, let's talk about your heart, and please take it away!"

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Zhuge Wen looked disappointedly at Wang Ence in the sedan chair. Since he walked out of the room, he held the golden pot full of jewels in his arms, as if it contained his life.Well, he admits that Fan Changan has spent a lot of money this time, but Wang Ence is going too far, right?After all, he is a descendant of the Langya Wang family, the younger brother of Wang Dadudu!

As a businessman, Zhuge Wen smelled conspiracy in Fan Changan's plan. It is true that salt is a big business, and a salt well is an inexhaustible cornucopia for children and grandchildren, but the question is why he To drag others into it?Everyone knows that those salt rats in Langzhong are the most xenophobic. The few families with salt wells have married each other for generations, and they don't leave any crumbs to others.This Fan Chang'an is a common surname in Sichuan. It is said that the ancestor of this Fan Chang'an was Fan Changsheng, the prime minister of the Cheng Han Dynasty, and his elder brother was also quite prominent in the Taoism of Heaven.People like this would tremble three times when they stomped their feet on the ground in Langzhong, why would they run around Chengdu to flatter Wang Ence?Just to open a few more salt wells?The Fan family isn't that short of money, is it?
That is to cut off Tubo's arm and keep Jiannan Road safe?This sounds a little believable, after all, no matter how rich and powerful their Fan family is, they are still in Langzhong and Xichuan. If the Tubo people really invaded, even if the Fan family did not die, they would also suffer serious damage.But no matter how you look at it, the Tubo people are not so strong that the Fan family can't sit still, right?Didn't Dudu Wang just win two battles last year?The Tubo people are still negotiating peace, and the two sides are open to trade each other. It doesn't look like they are going to go to war, right?

"Forget it, forget it!" In the end Zhuge Wen sighed and gave up wasting his brain on this matter. Although he and Fan Chang'an are both businessmen, but such a salt merchant, local tyrant, and leader of the Heavenly Master Tao There is a huge difference between a businessman in Yuyi and an ordinary businessman like himself with only a few dollars. If he hadn't hugged Wang Dudu's thigh this time, this time he would not have come to see him in Chengdu, but he would have tried everything possible to come to see him It's gone.

"arrive!"

The voice of his subordinates brought Zhuge Wen back to reality from his thoughts. He nodded, got off his horse, and walked to the side of the car: "Mr. Lang, the horses and chariots are here, please get off!"

Wang Ence got off the carriage, still holding the golden pot in his arms, carefully looked around, and asked Zhuge Wen in a low voice: "This golden pot is mine now, right?" He saw Zhuge Wen's astonished expression , smiled embarrassingly: "I mean, since Fan Changan has already given me the golden pot, I can keep it and not give it to others, right?"

"That's natural!" Zhuge Wen hurriedly replied: "Now it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it!"

"That's great!" Wang Ence laughed: "By the way, with this golden pot and the jewels inside, even if I go back to Qingzhou in the future, I can live my whole life carefree!"

Zhuge Wen opened his mouth and didn't know how to answer for a moment, but he finally smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right!"

Back in his room, Wang Ence immediately dug out a wooden box from under the bed, and carefully put the golden pot in. He just put the wooden box back under the bed, turned the wooden box out again, and put the golden pot inside Put all the jewelry into a leather pocket, tie the leather pocket around his waist, put the wooden box under the bed again, and let out a long sigh.

He has been in Chengdu for four or five months. During these four or five months, he has lived a life that he never dared to dream of in the past. Now, the most important thing is that everyone respects him very much, and Wang Ence knows very well that these people who respect him in front of him are either wealthy families with a lot of money, or people with considerable talents and learning. What do they respect? himself, but Wang Wenzuo.

As his knowledge grew, Wang Ence became more and more aware of the gap between himself and these people. He knew in his heart that if he hadn't been Wang Wenzuo's "brother", it would be difficult for him to stand in front of them.It would be fine if he was really Wang Wenzuo's younger brother. After all, there are many idiots in the world who are in high positions by virtue of their blood, and there are not many idiots, but I am a fake!

So, being kicked back to that dilapidated Jitai Village by Wang Wenzuo tearing off his bright skin became Wang Ence's daily nightmare.If he could have told himself before that if he had been the one who went to Baekje, he would have been able to climb to where Wang Wenzuo is today; but as his knowledge became wider and deeper, Wang Ence became more and more useless This beautiful lie deceived me——as my father said that night, if I had been the one who went to Baekje, I would have died in a foreign country long ago. It was not kind of my family to kick Wang Wenzuo to Baekje.

When he can no longer deceive himself, the truth becomes even more terrifying. Wang Ence asked himself that if he were in Wang Wenzuo's position, the most merciful treatment would be to kick him back to his hometown and be a farmer for the rest of his life.That being the case, the only thing I can do is to save more capital, so that when I am driven back to my hometown, I will not return empty-handed.

"It would be great if I really had such a brother!" Wang Ence sighed suddenly: "If so, I will definitely respect him, and Wang Wenzuo treats my fake brother like this. If he is a real brother, it will only be better ! Hey, God doesn’t obey people’s wishes!”

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The curtain kept out the dust in the courtyard, but not the disappointment.Wang Lu walked into the room wearily, found a chair and sat down, and sighed, "Give me a glass of wine, I'm thirsty!"

Fan Changan reclined on the comfortable satin cushion, pouring the mellow wine into a pair of matching suet jade cups. "What's the matter?" He handed her a cup: "You look disappointed?"

"That Wang Ence is a waste!" Wang Lu took a big sip: "I saw that he broke the golden pot when he got on the bus, and when he got off the car, the golden pot was still tightly hugged in his arms. He didn't even change his posture, dare he never put him down on the carriage, this is the first time I've seen such a mediocre person!"

"Hehe!" Fan Changan laughed, "You can't say he's trash, right? I think he's an interesting person!"

"Interesting?" Wang Lu sneered: "Anyway, he is also Wang Wenzuo's younger brother. His brother was the first to attack Pyongyang City. He also destroyed Baekje and Wa Kingdom. The savings of the king's treasury of the Three Kingdoms I've gone through it all, what kind of treasures haven't I seen before? I'm afraid Shi Chong is not as rich as his brother, and he looks like a miser!"

"It's Wang Wenzuo who is rich, not him. The elder brother is the elder brother, and the younger brother is the younger brother!" Fan Changan said with a smile, "Besides, this is a good thing. If Wang Ence doesn't love treasures, then where should we start?"

"That's true!" Wang Lu nodded, "I just think it's so angry and funny, it's really a tiger brother!"

"The dragon has nine sons, and the sons are different!" Fan Changan laughed and said, "What's so strange about this? Anyway, the salt well business is just throwing stones to find the way, and it's the best if it doesn't work. Get online with Wang Wenzuo, and it will be done!"

"Yeah!" Wang Lu nodded, and suddenly sneered, "The emperor of the Li family is really greedy. It's not enough to win the world. He even took the name of the Taishang Laojun who came to the world to promote the Dharma, and used it for his son. I don't know if I can bear it!"

"Isn't that true of all the lonely people in the world?" Fan Changan looked indifferent, his eyes were like lightning, the smell of copper from the usual merchants had long since disappeared, and he looked like an outsider: "Until the world, all the people in the world are for it." Cattle and horses, but they don’t know that everything in the world is born of Tao, how can there be distinctions between rich and poor, high and low?”

"Hu'ermi Fu Dao Qilong, transferred to the middle of the Western Han Dynasty at any time, Muzi's surname is Taboo Gongkou, and lives in Chengdu Palace in Shu County." Wang Lu read four sentences: "Old Monarch's Changing Promise Sutra clearly stated that this Li Hongnai It’s in Chengdu in the middle of Shu!”

(End of this chapter)