fifth form

Chapter 1826 Encounter on the road
It was a piece of cake for the monks to have a carriage travel day and night, and there were many monks who could ride horses for days and nights.

But for ordinary people, this is a very tormenting thing.

The bumpy carriage caused extreme stomach discomfort, and some people even got carriage sickness.

Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding were not affected, Rong Li was barely holding on, but Jia Zhiyuan curled up into a ball. Even facing fighting and killing made him listless and unable to muster up spirits.

"Dad, you should be thankful that we are riding in the high-standard carriage of the imperial court and taking the official road. If we had taken those rugged paths, we would have to replace so many wheels that we wouldn't be able to reach Chang'an City for at least half a year!"

"Son, I'm enjoying the good life with you!"

Rong Tianding kept urging Jia Zhiyuan to hold on, and Jia Zhiyuan nodded repeatedly.

He did not speak in a sarcastic tone like Zhang Xuezhou, but Jia Zhiyuan really believed that he would start to enjoy life as soon as he arrived in Chang'an City.

The yearning for such a better life always made Jia Zhiyuan insist on riding in the carriage, even if he had to eat and sleep in the carriage.

From day to night, and from night to day, after getting through the initial excitement, Jia Zhiyuan spent the rest of the journey enduring.

Fortunately, he basically made it through.

Two days and two nights later, Zhang Xuezhou and others had already exchanged horses at the post station outside Luoyang City.

"Brother Dongfang?"

"Brother Hongyang!"

While Rong Tianding went to prepare supplies, Zhang Xuezhou also looked around.

He saw Sang Hongyang leaving the city, and Sang Hongyang, who had stuck his head out to look around, also found Zhang Xuezhou, and even greeted him in advance with some disbelief.

"Brother Dongfang, where have you been for the past six months?"

After the new emperor offered sacrifices to his ancestors, Zhang Xuezhou left the caravan in Luoyang City. Sang Hongyang did not expect that this separation would last for half a year.

For most people, if something like this happened, it would basically be considered exile, and it would be extremely difficult to please the new emperor again.

Zhang Xuezhou performed extremely well when the new emperor was offering sacrifices to his ancestors, and his guessing game brought a lot of face to the new emperor. Sang Hongyang had thought that Zhang Xuezhou would often go in and out of the palace, but he did not expect that Zhang Xuezhou was sent out to do work.

Now it depends on how well Zhang Xuezhou does his job and whether he can keep up with the needs of the new emperor.

For the new emperor, the other party's status and strength are in a period of rapid growth. If things are done too slowly, they will not be able to keep up with the pace of the new emperor.

As someone close to the new emperor, Sang Hongyang had a deep understanding of this.

These companions of theirs have been replaced one after another around the new emperor. If their own knowledge, martial arts, etc. cannot keep up with the new emperor, they will be replaced.

Sang Hongyang's arithmetic could not keep up with the pace, and the new emperor's arithmetic had surpassed his level and no longer needed his tutoring.

But Sang Hongyang was also glad that the new emperor studied arithmetic for sensible reasons rather than focusing on business. This meant that Sang Hongyang, who was proficient in arithmetic but even more proficient in business, was not eliminated from the young core team.

He greeted Zhang Xuezhou warmly at this time, and also wanted to know whether Zhang Xuezhou could return to Chang'an City and gain a firm position beside the new emperor.

"I have gone around in circles around our Han Dynasty in the past six months," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile.

"Have you finished your work?"

"good!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

Except for the fact that Li Shaojun was of no use, he had completed his recruitment task.

"Brother Hongyang, how did you start a business?" Zhang Xuezhou said, looking at the convoy behind Sang Hongyang.

"Your Majesty gave me a large sum of money to transport goods for business. This time I am responsible for transporting the goods to Chang'an City," said Sang Hongyang.

"Congratulations!"

Zhang Xuezhou did not ask Sang Hongyang about the details involved. Sang Hongyang was supported by the Luoyang Merchants Association. These chambers of commerce knew very well what goods were expensive in Chang'an and cheap in Luoyang.

With the royal family as his connection, Sang Hongyang no longer had to worry about how to sell his goods.

Sang Hongyang's convoy had nearly a hundred carriages. Excluding the expenses of personnel and convoy losses, it would inevitably generate a large profit. These profits would also become the money controlled by the new emperor.

As long as enough profits can be generated to please the new emperor, Sang Hongyang's position will be very stable with the help of the Luoyang Merchant Group.

This is also the reason why Zhang Xuezhou congratulated.

"It's difficult to deal with this." Sang Hongyang shook his head and said, "I am currently limited to Luoyang and Chang'an. I am afraid that the scope will be expanded in the future, and your majesty's needs will become greater and greater!"

"Your Majesty, what do you do with so much money?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously.

"His Majesty said that there are some problems with the national treasury and that we need to replenish it as soon as possible to feel at ease!"

Sang Hongyang got off the carriage, looked around and then whispered in Zhang Xuezhou's ear.

"It is not a good thing to store wealth in the national treasury," Zhang Xuezhou whispered, "Money is only useful if it is circulated."

"I agree with you," Sang Hongyang whispered, "but your majesty's thoughts are hard to predict, and I can't figure them out. I can only do what your majesty asks!"

"It seems that your majesty has great use for the money!"

Zhang Xuezhou lowered his head and responded, and Sang Hongyang nodded repeatedly.

It is not a good thing to compete with the people for profits by relying on the power and channels controlled by oneself.

The birth of a giant will inevitably result in many parties suffering losses.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't know much at this time, and he didn't want to criticize. He just had to wait and see how the new emperor would use and distribute the wealth in the future.

Proper redistribution of wealth is beneficial to the country and the people, while uneven distribution of wealth is the result for Jiangdu State.

"Brother Dongfang, do you want to go to the palace with me to see the emperor?"

"Easy to say!"

Sang Hongyang extended the invitation and Zhang Xuezhou readily agreed.

The two had not seen each other for a long time. Zhang Xuezhou was no longer familiar with Chang'an City and had been disconnected from court affairs for a long time. He needed Sang Hongyang to provide information.

Sang Hongyang did not have many friends in Chang'an City. Perhaps it was because he had participated in the low-buying and high-selling business with Zhang Xuezhou and others before. Zhang Xuezhou was also proficient in arithmetic and pointed out the shortcomings of Sang Hongyang's making money for the new emperor in just a few words. It was rare for him to have like-minded people to discuss related matters.

The two of them hit it off immediately, and after the explanations were made, their carriages joined Sang Hongyang's motorcade.

The journey from Luoyang City to Chang'an City is quite long, but it is also the best road built by the Han Dynasty, and even a horse-drawn carriage can travel on it.

If you set out from Luoyang City at dawn, you can reach Chang'an City in the evening. However, most merchant groups that set out at noon will travel at night in order to enter the city in the morning of the next day.

"Brother Hongyang, you are still reading and studying on the road. You are really hardworking!"

“Just some miscellaneous books!”

Zhang Xuezhou got on Sang Hongyang's special carriage. The business-style carriage was extremely spacious. In addition to blankets and other items for shock absorption, the carriage was also filled with a lot of cloth books and bamboo slips.

The bumps in the carriage when it moves quickly are obviously very light and do not affect reading.

This made Zhang Xuezhou marvel at this, and he felt that it was not so tiring for Sang Hongyang to travel around doing business in this kind of carriage.

Sang Hongyang's book involves algorithms, the internal pricing of many commodities by the Luoyang Merchant Group, the approximate consumption of each commodity, and the selling prices of commodities in Chang'an City.

As long as you compare the two pieces of information one by one, the business opportunities will be presented directly and simply before you.

If you can get a caravan together, that will be a steady stream of money coming in.

Even though Zhang Xuezhou had made a considerable fortune, when he saw Sang Hongyang's business manipulation, he couldn't help but sigh at the huge profits brought by the class's monopoly on information.

Under this model, many small and medium-sized merchants who do not produce anything and only rely on reselling goods will inevitably go bankrupt.

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but think about his own Lie Si. He finally felt that it would not have much impact. After all, their scale was too small, so it would be no problem even if they produced and sold their own seeds.

The related industries involved by Sang Hongyang did not have the same luck as their seed merchants. If they could intervene at the right time, they might be able to take over some industries at a low price, and thus be able to move into Chang'an City without the right to purchase a house.