Sui Dynasty: I, Yang Guang, am both scrupulous and stable

Chapter 290 Construction of Spiritual Civilization
Yang Guang asked Xiao Cong of Xiliang to start collecting and purchasing a large amount of raw silk last year. As a result, the price of raw silk has been high recently. Because of its huge output, the price is not outrageous, but it is enough to make the newly made cloth this year. The price is nearly [-]% higher than the cost itself.

The increase in cost makes everyone feel helpless, but it doesn't matter if everyone is in the same situation.

Now, inexplicably, some people are starting to cut prices and compete in the market.

Yang Guang looked happily at the message sent by Nan Chen on the latest warship on the Yangtze River.

Naturally, it is not just Jiankang City that is reducing prices. Several major cities in Nanchen have arranged for cloth to be sold at reduced prices.

The incredible price quickly attracted everyone's attention, but there was nothing they could do about it. The court did not stipulate that goods could not be sold cheaply.

In the Healthy City, on the second day after the Jinling Cloth Store cut prices, other cloth stores began to rush to buy the cheap cloth from the Jinling Cloth Store. Yesterday, it was sold out at noon. Today, with everyone rushing to buy in large quantities, the store opened within an hour and a half. It was snapped up.

Everyone was dissatisfied, but Xiao Qing, the shopkeeper of Jinling Cloth Store, still told everyone the same thing, there will be something today, there will be something tomorrow, and there will be something the day after tomorrow.

With two days of fermentation, the news that Jinling Cloth Shop was selling cheap cloth had spread throughout the city, and the number of people who wanted to buy cloth increased instead of falling.

In the small restaurant, a bunch of cloth shopkeepers were discussing happily.

"I grabbed more than 30 pieces of cloth today. After taking a closer look, I found that the quality is indeed good, and there are no flaws at all. It is a perfect fit. I'm sure there is something wrong with his brain when he sells such cloth at such a price, hahahaha."

"Brother, you should be conservative, I grabbed more than 60 horses."

"I have more than 50."

"I'm 160."

"Brother, you are so ruthless. No wonder so many people can't buy cloth. We are snatching it away one by one. How can they buy it? Just waiting for the Jinling cloth store to be destroyed. Isn't this pie in the sky? ?”

A group of people were very happy to grab the cloth from Jinling Cloth Store today, and they agreed to grab it again if it was sold tomorrow.

On the third day, the Jinling Cloth Store opened as usual, and within an hour, all the cloth was sold out.

On the fourth day, the Jinling cloth store opened as usual, and within two hours, all the cloth was sold out.

On the fifth day, the Jinling cloth store opened as usual, and within two hours, all the cloth was sold out.

On the sixth day, the Jinling cloth store opened as usual, and within two and a half hours, all the cloth was sold out.

On the seventh day, the Jinling cloth store opened as usual, and all the cloth was sold out before closing.

……

As the days passed, on the 15th, the Jinling Cloth Store finally had a little surplus of cloth, not more, just a little. It was because there were too many people queuing and they were too busy. If we add more people, we can still sell out.

After half a month, other cloth shop owners were dumbfounded. Why are they still selling at low prices? Why are there still cloths?
Starting from the eighth day, all cloth stores stopped purchasing from Jinling Cloth Store because their stores were filled with hundreds of pieces of cloth. Although the price was cheap, they were panicked because they kept having it. , I don’t dare to be direct.

A group of shopkeepers gathered in the restaurant again. Different from the arrogant faces before, this time everyone was gloomy, with sad faces and full of sadness.

"Why does this guy still have cloth? Why is the price of this guy so cheap? Is he really losing so much money?"

"Do you think he really has a way to make cloth so cheap?"

"How is that possible? It's not like you don't know how to do it yourself. After the price increase of raw silk last year, the price of raw silk is still very high now. How much difference can everyone's cost have? Even if you are all workers with the most skillful hands and feet, the workers will not need to eat unless they don't want wages. , otherwise how could the cost be reduced to this level?”

"Shop Manager Liang, please see what we should do now."

Shopkeeper Liang also had a sad look on his face: "What is going on? It's different from what we expected. I have more cloth in my house than everyone else."

"This can't go on like this. Our cloth store hasn't been open for half a month. If he continues to sell like this, won't I be unable to open one? He will do all the business. How can there be such a reason?"

"No, we can't let him go on like this. This kid has broken the rules."

"What do you want to do?"

"First investigate where his cloth comes from. I, Prince Jin, will arrange for someone to follow him. Aren't you curious how he got such a large quantity of cheap cloth?"

Everyone looked at each other: "Aren't you afraid of causing trouble?"

"You have to take the trouble, otherwise we wouldn't be able to figure it out all the time, and we would be really dragged to death by him."

Everyone looked at Shopkeeper Liang, who coughed and said, "I can't help you if you act privately, but I would like to advise everyone not to make things complicated when doing business."

"Don't worry, Shopkeeper Liang, I have people, I can just do it myself."

These days have been tough for this group of people. Now that they can't stand it any longer, they have to take action. Those with a bad temper are the first to take action.

On the morning of the next day, before dawn, people from Jinling Cloth Store went to pick up the goods, and the people who had been waiting for a long time followed quietly behind them.

The weather has turned very cold these days, and it was even surprisingly cold in the morning.

The people from the Jinling Cloth Store came to a large house on the outskirts of Beijing, and then used horse-drawn carriages to transport large piles of cloth, one cart after another. They asked them to confirm that this was where the Jinling Cloth Store purchased goods. Be brave enough to climb over the wall and get in.

As soon as they entered, they were dumbfounded. There were far more cloths here than they expected. It was so stuffed that it was unbelievable.

"That's too much."

At this time, they wanted to leave, but shopkeeper Xiao Qing and others, who had been ambushing them for a long time, rushed out and captured them.

"Where did the little thief dare to steal my cloth? Take it and send it to the government."

Xiao Qing asked someone to escort a few people first, while he took advantage of the sun to take the waterway to join Yang Guang's warship.

It was a cold morning on the warship, so Yuan Tiantian put a thick coat on Yang Guang.

"Your Highness, it's cold on the river. Why don't you go to the shore to rest first? I've been here for more than ten days and come here every day."

"I have to get the news as soon as possible so I can adapt accordingly. If something happens, I have to be prepared early."

"Your Highness, Xiao Qing is here."

Xiao Qing walked onto the deck and knelt down on one knee facing Yang Guang: "General Xiao Qing, please see His Royal Highness King Jin." Xiao Qing is a man in his early thirties. He looks very ordinary and it is difficult to attract people among the crowd. People note that he has been Xi Liang's hidden stake in Nanchen for many years.

When the Western Liang Dynasty was at its peak, Nanchen was all theirs. Many of the elders in Jiankang City were descendants of the Liang Dynasty, and there were many hidden piles among them.

It's a pity that Xiliang's power is weak, and there are strong enemies in the north and south, so there is no way to go back.

But precisely because of this, Xi Liang has arranged a lot of hidden stakes in Nanchen. Those who are familiar with the situation are easy to operate.

Unexpectedly, this time it happened to be used by Yang Guang.

Yang Guang asked Xiao Qing about today's situation as usual.

"Your Highness Prince Jin, that group of people couldn't bear it anymore. They sent people to investigate the situation today, but they were arrested by our people."

"Make sure there are no tails following you when you come here."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I have walked this road countless times, there will be no problem."

"Okay, whoever is caught can report it directly to the official. You can continue to sell the cloth and bring the price down."

"I understand, Your Highness. I am a little worried. If you force them like this, there are some forces behind them. I'm afraid they will be very difficult to deal with."

"It doesn't matter, as long as the emperor is not alarmed, this cloth business should not be alarmed. Besides, there has never been a reason to sell it so cheaply that the officials will catch it. You can just go ahead and go as planned."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Xiao Qing accepted Yang Guang's permission and was ready to return to Jiankang City to catch the group of people who came to explore the road and report to the official.

Yuan Tiantian looked at Xiao Qing leaving and asked Yang Guang: "Your Highness, how can Yuan Xian of Nanchen help His Highness like this? He is the prime minister of Nanchen, and there are other ministers of Nanchen."

"Coercion and inducement, to put it bluntly, these are just these two things. They have already experienced the power of our Sui warships. This is coercion and inducement. It is also very simple. The money deposited in Xiliang Bank will also have their future glory." Wealth and honor are inducements, and I understand Yuan Xian clearly, he is a man who understands current affairs."

"For people from such aristocratic families, the most important thing in their minds is not the country. To him, Nanchen is just a place to work. If he works somewhere else, the treatment will be better and it will be better for his family, that's fine."

Yang Guang stood up and looked at the gradually rising mist on the river, and continued: "The dynasties of the Central Plains have changed so frequently in the past few years, with ministers from the Han Dynasty serving the Han Dynasty and serving the Jin Dynasty in the evening. Yuan Xian is the Prime Minister of Nanchen, but in his heart, even if Nanchen is destroyed in the future, he will still have a huge say and can stand in line at any time and continue to enjoy the glory and wealth. But I just told him clearly that I will let him Have the right and opportunity to take a stand."

"To put it bluntly, there is a lack of spiritual civilization construction."

Yuan Tiantian frowned: "What is the construction of spiritual civilization?"

"I can't explain it to you at the moment. Anyway, in the absence of spiritual civilization construction, everyone's ideas are self-interested and chaotic. Everyone is fighting for their own interests. I asked people to seize the South with low-priced cloth. In Chen's cloth market, it seemed that the cloth merchants were losing money, but after winning Yuan Xian's cooperation, Yuan Xian made money instead of losing money, and the people around him also benefited a lot, so he agreed to do it."

"But if you think about it more deeply, the textile industry, which accounts for a large proportion of Nanchen's economy, will be invaded and destroyed by us. If people engaged in this industry lose their jobs, Nanchen society will be further turbulent. Officials like Yuan Xian generally do not How can they care about the life and death of those who raise silkworms and spin cloth?"

Everyone is no longer thinking at the same level.

"Your Highness, I secretly feel that based on our current strength, we have the advantage of warships. On the premise of promising benefits to Chen Shujian and promising benefits to Yuan Xian, we can actually start thinking about attacking Nanchen."

Yang Guang didn't say anything, so Yuan Tiantian hurriedly answered the question himself: "I don't know anything about military affairs. It's just my humble opinion. I hope Your Highness won't blame you."

"No, you are right. If we really want to use troops, we can do it now after reorganizing ourselves. Xiao Moke and others in Nanchen will fight stubbornly, but if we fight, especially if it lasts for a long time, Nanchen Chen is definitely no match for us."

"Then why doesn't Your Highness take action?"

Yang Guang sighed softly: "On both sides of the Yangtze River, in the end, we are still our Chinese people, different from foreign enemies."

"The Turks have been plundering our country for a long time. They are foreigners who kill and plunder. They should be killed and beaten. I have not stepped back at all. But in the end, the people of Nanchen are still our own people. We will not fight if we can. Fight as little as possible."

"Once a fight breaks out, people will die, houses will be burned, and lives will be destroyed. The Central Plains has been devastated over the years. Just say that Jiankang City is such a big city. If the other side stubbornly resists, our army can only bomb indiscriminately and fight with blood to death." Killing people, destroying the city, 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties, and so many towers in the smoke and rain, I don't want to burn the prosperous Jiankang City to the ground."

Yuan Tiantian understood Yang Guang's thoughts, but said: "Your Highness, King Jin, but the nights are long and there are many dreams."

"I am still the King of Jin now, so I have to postpone this battle. When I am no longer the King of Jin, this battle will have to be used to establish my prestige."

Several months have passed since the incident in Goguryeo, and it is already the twelfth lunar month of winter. There seems to be no movement from the emperor, and the prince has disappeared for quite some time.

Yang Guang felt even more strange after coming out this time.

The prince had already done such a stupid thing, and the emperor and the queen were also very disappointed with him, especially since the queen had long wanted to replace the prince. Why did the emperor not have any news about replacing him after so long?

This strange thing filled Yang Guang's heart with doubts.

The more doubts Yang Guang had, the less he dared to act rashly.

After defeating the enemy Yang Yong, perhaps he will have to face a bigger enemy, his father.

Anyone who wants to ascend to the throne has always been a loner.

……

In Daxing City, Yang Guang deliberately avoided leaving, while Yang Su and others were running for him. On the first day when the winter snow fell, the prince Yang Yong appeared again in the court.

On this day in the court, the prince's appearance surprised all the officials. Although they didn't know what happened in the East Palace, many previous events showed that the prince should be abandoned by the emperor. At this time, the people around the prince The ministers are also disloyal.

Throughout the morning court, the prince looked haggard and did not speak. The emperor did not ask him anything, and the ministers did not dare to mention it.

Until the end of the morning, a eunuch came in to report.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Shu has arrived."

The ministers looked at the door of the hall together, and the 15-year-old King of Shu Yang Xiu strode into the hall.

"My son, Yang Xiu, pays homage to the emperor. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor."

As the King of Shu, the general manager of Yizhou, and in charge of the military and political power of the 24 states in Bashu, Yang Xiu was recalled to Daxing City at this time. I don't know the purpose, but nothing major happened recently.

The emperor spoke slowly: "The king of Shu, Yang Xiu, was promoted to be the Shangshu Order of Shangzhu Kingdom and Southwest Dao (which governs today's Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Tibet areas), and has jurisdiction over the southwest frontier army."

(End of this chapter)