Ji Tang

Chapter 1286 Merchants’ Feast!

Seeing his father Li Chengqian gnashing his teeth, he was also very angry, but that was not what he was doing. Once he started to arrest or even kill foreign businessmen, it would seriously affect the commercial prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and even worse, under the instigation of some thoughtful people, it would make the Tang Dynasty even more prosperous. Tang's credibility was damaged.

"Father, should you ask Ziyi about this? After all, no one in the Tang Dynasty has a more thorough understanding of economic matters than he does."

"no!"

Li Shimin refused without thinking. It was okay not to mention Ji Song, but he became furious when he mentioned this bastard.After returning to the palace that day, I was extremely angry, but it was a matter of personal concern, so under the Queen's persuasion, I still ordered a thorough investigation.

In fact, it was very simple, just let the small animals take a large amount of the elixir in a short period of time. Sure enough, within a day, all of them had problems. Only a few large cattle and sheep could still move, and the others were all dead. This frightened him quite a lot.

So he ordered all the secrets of the donated elixirs to be captured, and they were all confessed under torture. What made him angry was that these people were just charlatans!

He, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Tian Khan actually allowed liars to fool around?This made him almost go crazy. As for Ji Song, if he knew there was a problem, he would just advise me privately. But I didn't give him any face in front of the queen that day, but I couldn't do anything about him. I had nowhere to vent my anger. I've been very angry for a few days.

Now I hear that I have to discuss with Ji Song after dealing with a few businessmen?Now I am completely angry!

"Father." Li Chengqian said anxiously.

"No need to say anything, I have made up my mind!"

The eldest grandson's face didn't look good either, but she couldn't say anything to the prince, so she could only give him a look and tell him to go out first!

"Hey! Kill, kill, kill them all!"

Li Chengqian also had a temper, so he just waved his hands and walked out of the palace!
"Look, look, what have you done to me? Do you dare to face me? Ah? You're just a bastard."

But he stopped as he was talking, because he saw the queen staring at him, which made him choke on some words and unable to speak, and he gradually calmed down!
"Avalokitesvara is here for me"

"Do you want to remove Cheng Qian from the crown prince position? And then put your married wife into the cold palace?"

When Li Shimin heard this, he was immediately speechless, that is, he was angry for a moment. Why did the prince, who had always been obedient to me after I killed several mere businessmen, dare to quarrel with me?
They have been husband and wife for many years. The eldest grandson knows this pillow person very well. When he saw that he had no words, his tone softened and persuaded: "Cheng Qian is not ignorant of the importance. This matter is probably not as simple as Qian thought. Otherwise, I wouldn’t contradict you in a hurry.”

Then he glanced at him and said angrily: "You too, didn't Ji Song just speak a little harshly that day? As for that? Doesn't this also mean that the child saw you ruining his body and showed anger without knowing it? Really? Even if you want to save face, there is no need to get angry with him."

"Don't even think about it. He was disabled because of your imperial edict and went to the Western Regions. First he fought with the Western Turks, and then with the cannibals. This fight lasted for more than two years. You also saw it in the battle report, the Western Turks 30 Thousands of cavalry, a massive army of 50 people, and an army of nearly 80 servants, how many times have you seen such a battle in the millennia of history?"

"If he hadn't worked hard and planned things out calmly, a slight mistake would have resulted in his death. What's wrong with being a little resentful in his heart? This shows that he doesn't treat you as an outsider. He just speaks more bluntly and makes it difficult for you to show off your face. As for the country at home? Do you want to get angry with your juniors over important matters?"

Changsun's words were like peeling off his fig leaf piece by piece. He was immediately a little relieved, but he still said harshly: "He is just proud of his skills and knows that I will not do anything to him, so he is unscrupulous."

After saying that, he pointed the finger at the eldest grandson: "Isn't it your fault? In the past, you knew how to protect him when something happened, but now you see, even I don't take him seriously."

The eldest grandson rolled his eyes. She finally understood. After all, it was just a matter of face, and there was no one else!
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? I haven't finished speaking yet!"

Li Shimin, who was about to continue talking, saw that his eldest grandson was almost walking out of the palace door, and suddenly said anxiously.

The eldest grandson paused and said angrily: "Since you don't want to find Ziyi, why don't I go find your sons? Are you still afraid of being embarrassed in front of your own sons?"

After saying that, he ignored him and turned around and ordered people to go to the academy to bring back Li Tai and Li Ke. Both of them are now the heads of the first branch of the academy. Their knowledge is not to mention, and they are deeply respected by the students!
Li Shimin: "."

"Bastards, they are all bastards, they all dare to give me a hard time." Chen Shou carefully looked at the muttering emperor, wishing he could disappear immediately, thinking: Isn't it because you are so precious?
-
Since the triumphal ceremony that day, Chang'an has become lively. Whenever an army triumphs, there will be a reward ceremony, and all armies will also receive rewards. Now that the Tang Dynasty's treasury is not short of money, the rewards will be generous.

Of course the first thing the soldiers did after receiving the reward was consumption. They had a lot of money in their hands, so why not buy something for their families?Those who are not married will get married, and those who have not built a new house will build a new house. If they are willing, they will also buy some jewelry, rouge, gouache, etc. for their wives and daughters. Anyway, it is definitely a feast for merchants.

They even heard that these big-head soldiers had made a fortune in the Western Regions. In order to boost morale, the general promised to keep 20% of the captured soldiers as personal property.This time, more than [-] countries were wiped out. Wouldn’t this make a fortune?
Anyway, these big-headed soldiers are now shining golden gods of wealth. If the goods are not enough by then, it will be more uncomfortable than killing him. This is why I dare not call myself a businessman unless I make a lot of money!
bang bang~
The shopkeeper of Zhangjia Jewelry Shop is calculating how much the price should increase at this time. After all, this is a one-time sale. How can it be done without raising the price?But the price cannot be increased too much, otherwise these people will not be vegetarians. If their shop is destroyed, he will not dare to sue the government.Behind him is the general, Duke Xin.

But it cannot help but rise. After all, a large amount of money pouring into the market will inevitably lead to a shortage of materials, and price increases will be inevitable.While he was racking his brains, he heard someone knocking on the door. When he looked up, he was startled.

"Hey, why is the prince here? Remember, I have paid all my taxes this year!"

The visitor is a tax official from the Taxation Department that has become independent from the Ministry of Household Affairs. His surname is Wang. Although he is only the lowest ninth-grade tax official, he has great power. This person is collecting taxes on this street. Every year This person is doing all the tax accounting, so no one dares to offend this person.

There are very few businessmen who are truly honest, otherwise they would have been eaten up by others, and none of them would be left.So there are some problems. No one knows whether this person has something to do with him, so everyone is polite to him!
The smile on his face became even brighter when he thought that Mr. Zhao, the man who defrauded his customers some time ago, was still in jail and would be fined a hundred guan.

"Okay, I'm not here to collect taxes from you. Since I've already paid it, it will be recorded in the account book at the Ministry of Accounts. I don't have the guts to collect taxes randomly. I'll have to turn around."

Tax Officer Wang said angrily: "This is because I have other things to do. You should listen carefully. If something goes wrong by then, don't say I didn't warn you in advance!"

Shopkeeper Zhang was startled and said quickly: "Wang Ye Nian said, listen here!" "Well, this time the victorious army will definitely buy a lot of items after the reward. This time there are more than 50 troops. This is not a small amount. . Even if each person is rewarded with ten guan, that is still [-] guan. However, I heard that the court was very generous this time. After all, such a big event cost tens of millions of guan. These are all the contributions of the soldiers, and the court also That’s not stingy, isn’t it?”

"So the reward from the imperial court has been tripled, which means that in three days at least millions of dollars will flow into the market. This is not a small amount. But Shangguan said that this is the hard-earned money of the soldiers and cannot be deceived by unscrupulous merchants. !”

He glanced at Shopkeeper Zhang, who looked unhappy, and said with a smile: "However, the imperial court also considered that the shortage of supplies made it necessary to increase prices, so it was decided that merchants could increase prices, but it must not exceed [-]% of the current price. This is the bottom line. .”

"Do you understand?"

Shopkeeper Zhang felt as if his parents had died when he heard the first half of the sentence. He couldn't make money and it was even worse than killing him.But after hearing this, he was immediately overjoyed and bowed repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I will definitely abide by the law and will never take advantage of the soldiers."

What he said was awe-inspiring and righteous, and he also said that the soldiers were born to open up territory for the Tang Dynasty. If anyone dared to take advantage of the soldiers, he would be the first to refuse!

"Okay, just do your thing. Remember, this is not discussing with you, this is informing you. Don't you think about it, if those soldiers were not born like this, you can do business here safely? You need to be grateful as a human being do you know?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I promise not to take advantage of the soldiers!"

Tax Collector Wang nodded, turned around and left, apparently to rule other merchants.
Shopkeeper Zhang wiped the cold sweat from his face and thought he was going to bleed. Unexpectedly, the court also sympathized with the merchant's difficulties, but [-]%?This is one-tenth of the profit, and I have stocked up on a lot of goods in advance, so I don’t have to worry about selling any.
Qilin Pavilion, as a cabinet minister, Xie Lian has a lot of official duties every day. It is already dark but he is still dealing with today's official duties.Over the years, whether in Mingzhou or at the Ministry of Household Affairs, I would finish my daily business before going home.Have persisted for many years.

In terms of ability, he is not top-notch. Compared with Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others, he is barely a star.But the emperor still chose him to join the cabinet, and even handed over the most financial power to himself for management, relying on his pragmatism and stability.

Even if the progress is not enough, the success is definitely more than enough. There has been no mistakes in these years, and this is the greatest skill.

Of course, the reason was also due to his son-in-law. After all, his son-in-law was known as the God of Wealth in the Tang Dynasty. The emperor also wanted to rely on his connections. How could his son-in-law stand by and watch if something happened?
Therefore, after all these years, there are many people who covet the Ministry of Household Affairs, and there are many people who are more capable than themselves. However, the emperor has never changed people. Who can I ask to reason?

Just after he closed the last piece of paperwork and stretched, he saw someone coming in.

The person who came was none other than Pei Hongxian, the Minister of Household Affairs.

A few years ago, because of his outstanding ability and good financial management skills, the emperor transferred him from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although they were both ministers, their rights and jurisdiction were much larger, and he was still the minister of Zuo. If nothing unexpected happens in the next step. That's the minister.It is not impossible to join the cabinet in the future.

"Eh? Why haven't you gone home yet?" Xie Lian asked in surprise.

"The elder hasn't even come back, how can you slack off as a subordinate?" Pei Hongxian said with a smile.

"You!"

Xie Lian pointed at him and laughed and scolded: "Nonsense, I have developed this habit over the years. When you are done, just go home. Didn't I say that before? Why are you making fun of me?"

Pei Hongxian didn't take it too seriously. He was originally promoted by Duke Xi, and his boss was Duke Xi's father-in-law. They were all his own people, so he was not polite.

He stepped forward to pour tea for the two of them and said with a smile: "Didn't I just finish what you told me to do and report the situation? How do you say there is nothing?"

"Oh? How about it? Did the Chang'an merchants agree? Are there any resistance?"

That's right, it was his order that limited merchants' price increases. He felt uncomfortable thinking that the soldiers were born like this and the money they earned with their lives was cheated by some unscrupulous merchants!
But it is unrealistic to limit price increases. After all, there are only so many supplies. If everyone wants it, if there are not so many goods, the one with the highest price will definitely get it.

But he couldn't bear the soldiers losing their hard-earned money, so he ordered the merchants to negotiate with the merchants not to increase the price by more than [-]%.

However, what he didn't know was that the order changed when he got down there.Not consultation, but notification.But this is inevitable. The lower-level officials are not as easy to talk to as Xie Lian. It would be nice if they can talk to you in a nice manner.Still negotiating?Can I give you face?
"I heard that the merchants are also very enthusiastic, saying that it is not easy for soldiers, how can they just sit there and raise the price? Some even say they will sell it at a discount!"

Xie Lian nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, the people of the Tang Dynasty were simple and honest, and even the merchants knew the righteousness!"

Pei Hongxian smiled awkwardly. Although he didn't tell the truth, to put it bluntly, it was just a matter of making less or making more.It’s weird for businesses to be happy when they lose their own profits.

But there is no need to tell Mr. Ge about this matter, as long as the matter is settled!
"Okay, tomorrow is the reward ceremony, and we will be busy by then. By the way, have you prepared all the money for the reward? Is there any difficulty?"

"Everything is ready. Now the treasury has some balance every year. In addition, the first half of the year has just passed and the taxes for the first half of the year have been escorted to Beijing. The rewards for the soldiers cannot be lacking. Even if they are lacking, they must find ways to make up for it. , Nothing can make the soldiers feel cold, right?"

Xie Lian said with satisfaction: "You are still stable and capable. No wonder Ziyi often said that you can take on a big job. Some time ago, His Majesty asked me to go to the palace to ask about the next Minister of Household Affairs, and I recommended you!"

Pei Hongxian was stunned for a moment, but then he hurriedly saluted and said, "I thank you, my official!"

Although his surname is Pei, he is not that Pei. There is some connection, but they have been separated by countless generations, and the friendship has long since disappeared.If it weren't for Duke Xin's concern, I wouldn't know where I was wasting my time.

I just didn’t expect Xie Lian to recommend me?This made him both grateful and excited.The Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue is already a highly respected minister. The next step up is to join the cabinet. Although the three provinces have not been abolished, they still fulfill this part of their rights.But it has become the executive agency of the cabinet to manage the six ministries, and its status is lower than that of the six ministers.

Therefore, once he became the Minister of Household Affairs, he would completely stand at the core of the power of the Tang Dynasty. That was the position where a man with lofty ideals could flex his muscles.
(End of this chapter)