At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 340: The uproar caused by spices and the battle for monopoly

The two sides were about to fight. Luan Bu said: "Don't worry, our fleet has enough spices for everyone to buy. The dock is not a place to talk. Our South China Sea Fleet will hang all the spices in the cargo exchange, and the one with the highest price will get it."

Hearing this, all the merchants began to run to the goods exchange in Kuaiji County.
Luan Bu also sent his personal guards to the goods exchange to put on the exchange all the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and other more than a dozen spices in the hands of the South China Sea Fleet, as well as various sandalwood, pearls purchased in Panyu and other luxury goods.

And the quantity written on it made everyone crazy. What was written on it was not one hundred kilograms, one thousand kilograms, or ten thousand kilograms, but hundreds of thousands kilograms of various precious spices. This amount was enough to defeat the luxury of a big man. product market.

But this does not mean that the profits are small. On the contrary, the profits are astonishingly high. As long as they can be the first to sell the goods, they can earn the most generous profits.

The sugar industry back then was like this: businessmen who got the best of everything immediately transformed into big businessmen, while those who followed could only gnaw on the bones, and many people even lost money.

For these merchants, it is no exaggeration to say that time is money at this time. They understand that there is a shortage of spices in various places in the Han Dynasty, but for the Han people who have found a spice island, they will definitely not be short of spices in the future. Can they make a fortune? Getting rich depends on this.

They rushed towards the wooden signs and pushed forward as hard as they could, just to get the spices as early as possible and transport them to other places as early as possible.

As long as these merchants bought the spices, they would immediately pick up the goods and use their own carriages and transport ships to disperse to various places in the Han Dynasty.

However, the shock wave of spices brought by Luan Bu and others spread rapidly throughout the Han Dynasty. The spice time in Kuaiji County, Jiujiang County, Chen County, Donghai County and other counties dropped rapidly with the arrival of merchant carriages, and the price dropped to 9000 yuan per gold. Jin, 8000 yuan per kilogram, fell to around 2000 yuan in less than ten days. This is because those spice merchants have realized that if they continue to hit the market like this, everyone will die, and they have begun to interestingly divide their territories and not let the price of spices rise. collapse.

But Luan Bu could lay a golden mountain for future generations.

But this time the reward was so generous that Wang Dao almost wanted to join the army.

Luan Bu heard this and saluted in the direction of Chang'an City and said: "The search for Spice Island this time depends entirely on the emperor's map. The emperor deserves the greatest credit. The emperor is just waiting for a little hard work. The emperor treats me so favorably. I will do my best to repay the emperor for his great kindness."

He followed his teacher Kong Yu, and took refuge with the emperor when he only had one county. He was considered a veteran, and his teacher was one of the nine ministers of the Han Dynasty. The emperor treated him as a teacher, and his senior brother and uncle were also among the nine ministers. one.

"Have you heard? A mountain of spices was discovered over there in the South China Sea. Luan Bu, the commander of the Hengbo Army, took 15 warships and sailed thousands of miles to find it. They filled the warships with spices. Do you know it? How much spice did you get back? It’s said to be millions of pounds.”

This is also the tradition of the Han Dynasty. Before being knighted, you should inform yourself in advance and let you choose by yourself.

"Why are there so few ordinary plants? The locals must be fools. As long as I bring the spices here, it will be equivalent to making tens of thousands of times the profit. Where can I find such a good deal in the world?"

"If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense here. There are many kinds of spices. Ambergris is just one of them. Most spices are grown. This spice is precious to us Han people, but it may not be so precious in other places. Maybe It is a common plant in the local area.”

But because he did not go to the battlefield, even a veteran like him is just a viscount in terms of title. There are only 500 households with a false title, and he gets an extra 5 yuan a year. However, his title cannot be passed down from generation to generation. When he dies, the title will be lost. Taken back by the court.

After all, they have already witnessed the collapse of sugar prices. From the initial price to gold, it only cost 100 yuan per pound. It only took about five years, and it fell 100 times. In the process, I don’t know how many The merchants' families were ruined, and they had to hide among the various princes of the Han Dynasty and remain anonymous.

But Luan Bu no longer cared about these matters. The matter of selling spices was left to Wang Dao, the governor of Kuaiji County. He only waited to collect the money.

It can be said that kingship requires seniority and connections. He has already become the prefect of the Han Dynasty with two thousand stones at the age of forty, and he is also the prefect of Kuaiji County. You must know Neishi County, Sanchuan County, Chen County, Kuaiji County, and Nanyang County. The combined tax revenue of these five counties accounts for more than half of the Han Dynasty. The status of these five counties is half a level higher than that of ordinary counties. It can be said that he is one of Hou Bei's three ministers and nine ministers.

Wang Dao also brought the emperor's imperial edict, allowing him and his men to take a month's leave before returning to Chang'an City to accept the reward.

Then Wang Dao said with an extremely envious look: "From the news coming out of Chang'an, General, you will be granted the title of Marquis this time, and if you want to grant a land, you will receive an additional salary of 3000 households. If you want to seal the country, the court can seal you on the Spice Island to serve as a royal palace." Guard Spice Island. If you really become a prince, you will have obtained a golden mountain for future generations."

"Pfft!" A tea guest almost choked to death, and it took him a long time to retort: ​​"Impossible, absolutely impossible. You know how expensive and rare spices are. Our current Governor Ye, when he was the prefect of Kuaiji County last year, I met a dead Kunpeng, which was as big as a hill. It was said that Kunpeng's meat had been eaten by the people of Kuaiji County for a year. In the belly of the dead Kunpeng, the prefect only found thousands of kilograms of ambergris and bought it. He spent millions of dollars, but he was deceived by a profiteer. The profiteer took the ambergris to Chang'an City and sold it for tens of millions of dollars. "

In the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, August 27th. Guanzhong, Chang'an City.

In the hot summer, the whole Guanzhong is cloudless, even the cicadas are screaming feebly, and more rural farmers are hiding in the countryside to enjoy the cool weather.

But the city of Chang'an was extremely hot. Taverns, teahouses, and even theaters were full of crowded people. These people did not want to watch a show, drink wine, or drink tea for entertainment, but to inquire about gossip in this well-informed place.

Even for their own benefit, they do not want to repeat the sugar disaster.

"Look, how precious is this ambergris? It takes the death of a Kun to get it weighing a thousand kilograms. According to your statement of a million kilograms, it doesn't cost thousands of Kunpeng. Kunpeng is a mythical beast. It has been a hundred years since I met one. It’s a rare thing. Now that you say there are thousands of them, do you really think that Kunpeng is your domestic dolphin?”

Wang Dao secretly thought, if he is so good at life, no wonder he joined the army late, but he could become a general.

He looked at it like a fool and said: "After traveling thousands of miles, even if my Dahan's straw reaches other places, it is worth gold. This time, General Hengbo sailed on Dahan for more than a month, and sea ships can travel day and night. , Not to mention traveling a thousand miles in one day, 30 days is equivalent to sailing tens of thousands of miles. It is not normal to find the hometown of spices. "

Everyone nodded in approval: "The price of spices transported from 30,000 miles away is comparable to gold."

"I heard that General Hengbo and his group of thousands of people have been collecting spices on the Spice Island for a month. If the battleship had not been able to load them, it would have been impossible for them to come back so quickly."

"General Hengbo and his ships have thousands of stones, and the largest one is said to be 5000 stones. It makes sense for a fleet to bring millions of kilograms of spices."

At this time, a tea guest said excitedly: "Now the imperial court has become rich. According to the price of one pound of spices, one million kilograms of spices can earn millions of gold. The income of the imperial court can be doubled. Shouldn't the imperial court Reduce some taxes for ordinary people like me?”

But someone immediately said with disdain: "Of course a few kilograms of spices can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars, but now there are almost as many spices as grains, how can they be sold for tens of thousands of dollars? You have forgotten how badly the price of sugar has fallen in the past two years. Now I want to sell the spices for tens of thousands of dollars, so it would be nice to have a thousand dollars.”

"You can sell it for a thousand yuan, but it's only hundreds of thousands of gold. The court has found another source of income. Why can't I encounter such a good thing?"

At this time, a tea guest who looked knowledgeable shook his head and said: "You guys are all long-haired and short-sighted. The spice island has been found by the court. Rich people are buying cheap spices and preparing to make a lot of money. The nobles began to buy sea ships and planned to go to the Spice Island to get spices. This ship of spices would be a ship of gold. How much money would they make? "

And at this moment, someone suddenly shouted: "The spice caravan going to Kuaiji County has come to Chang'an City."

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar all around, and then everyone came out one after another and saw the team slowly approaching.

"What does this smell like?" People standing on the street noticed a scent approaching.

A tea guest took a deep breath and said in shock: "This is the smell of spices. I can smell cloves. Damn it, how many spices did the profiteer buy to make the aroma permeate the entire city of Chang'an?"

At this time, groups of soldiers appeared in front of them. These soldiers were wearing shining silver armor even on a hot day. They looked like elites at first glance. Even when these elites entered Chang'an City, they looked around vigilantly. Obviously What they escorted was extremely valuable. At this time, the people of Chang'an City discovered that this was not a caravan at all, but a forbidden army.

The convoy began to appear in front of them, and the baggage trucks began to appear in front of them. Each baggage truck was full of sacks, and the insides of the sacks were also full. The aroma became more fragrant. Obviously, the sacks were filled with It was full of precious spices, and hundreds of baggage trains passed in front of them.

The aroma lasts for a long time, and they can still smell it even if the baggage train disappears far away.

The tea house was silent for a long time. Although they only saw the sacks, they could imagine the spices inside the sacks. To these tea guests, it was like hundreds of gold-carrying cars passing by. This shock was indescribable. of.

"It's not a rumor, this spice island really exists!" A tea guest murmured to himself after waking up from the shock.

"Luan Bu is going to become the richest man in the world. The emperor intends to let Luan Bu guard Spice Island. It is said that the decree of enfeoffment has been issued, and Luan Bu is lying on a golden mountain."

At this time, a strong man stood up and said: "Instead of looking for fish in the river, it is better to go back and build a net. A certain Meng Saw family plans to go south to find the Spice Island. If any of the second or third sons want to make a fortune, they can go with a certain man."

There is always a shortage of people in Guanzhong who want to make a fortune, and someone immediately said, "Do you have a sea ship?"

"I went to Kuaiji County to find a way to do it!"

All the tea drinkers looked down upon Meng Saw.

Meng Jiao said angrily: "If you go there, you will have a chance. Do you think you will get rich by hiding in Guanzhong and chatting in the tea house?"

Hundreds of years of military honors have cultivated the people of Guanzhong to seek wealth through danger. They do not lack the spirit of taking risks for wealth. Dozens of people actually followed Meng Jiao to Kuaiji County to look for opportunities.

There was an undercurrent surging throughout Guanzhong, and even the whole world. Merchants, nobles, and even rangers all flocked to Kuaiji County, wanting to join this wave of great navigation.

In the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, September 7th. Chang'an City, Xianyang Palace.

The Han Dynasty held an unprecedented large-scale court meeting. The emperor of the Han Dynasty, the three princes and nine ministers, and the civil and military officials of Chang'an City with more than a thousand stones all attended the court meeting.

The protagonists of the court meeting were Luan Bu, the general of Hengbo, and Xu Lu, a member of the South China Sea Fleet.

Xu Lu hung his map on a wooden board. The map was extremely empty, with only a few small islands scattered here and there. But all the civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty stretched their necks to watch, because the location of the Spice Island was recorded here.

Xu Lu pointed at the location of the Spice Island with a wooden stick and said: "The Spice Island is extremely far away. Even Panyu, my country, is more than 7000 miles away from the Spice Island. If we include the distance from Kuaiji County, the entire voyage is tens of thousands of miles away. ”

"It's actually so far away?" Zhou Zhang asked in surprise.

A journey of tens of thousands of miles is beyond the imagination of people in this era.

Xu Lu nodded and said: "The journey is too far. It is difficult for ships with thousands of materials to complete such a long journey. Half of the space of the South China Sea Fleet is used to load supplies, and it is difficult for such small ships to adapt to the harsh climate. I will wait there. It was fine when we arrived, but we encountered a big storm when we came back. If the ship hadn't been strong, I'm afraid we would have lost a lot of soldiers on this voyage."

Then he looked at Xu Fan and said: "My opinion is that if the imperial court wants to carry out such ocean transportation, it is best to build large ships. Even if 5000 shi is still too small, it is best to have ships with more than shi to adapt to the harsh conditions of the South China Sea. climate."

The faces of the Han officials in the court were grim. They also wanted a share of the Spice Island.

As a result, the Spice Island is not only far away, but also extremely difficult to get there. Ships weighing more than a thousand stone are not safe. You must know that the mainstream ships of the Han Dynasty are generally more than a thousand stone. A giant ship of more than 5000 stone is less than the index of two fingers, and Only the Kuaiji County Shipyard is building the Wanshi battleship.

Chen Ping said: "The fact that the Spice Island is so far away from Dahan is a good thing for the imperial court. Now the price of spices in Dahan has reached the same level as the price of sugar in the past and has begun to fall. The price of spices in Guanzhong has dropped to 2000 yuan, and in Hebei The land is less than 3000 yuan, and the land in the south of the Yangtze River is only more than a thousand yuan. If the quantity of spices is greater, the price will fall below a thousand yuan, which is not good for our Han court. "

"The trading of spices is related to the military expenditure of our Han army. The imperial court should completely control the spice island, control the price of spices in the Han Dynasty, and gradually increase the profits of spices!"

In Chen Ping's view, since the imperial court was the only one in the world who knew where the Spice Island was, and only the imperial court had the ability to go to the Spice Island, he might as well just let the imperial court monopolize the operation. With an income of more than 100,000 gold a year, all he had to pay was the above. With thousands of people sailing for several months, this is a more profitable business than sugar production.

Zhang Liang objected: "Monopoly goes against the national policy of the Han Dynasty. I, the Han Dynasty, are the Han people in the world, and the government's policies are for the people of the world. How can we prohibit the Han people from increasing their income?"

"If according to what Prime Minister Chen said, if the price of spices is high, the government will monopolize the government, then sugar can also monopolize the government, and salt and iron can also be government-owned. But the wool comes from the sheep, and the money earned by the court still comes from the hands of the people. Collected."

"The imperial court's monopoly operation will increase the number of Han officials and increase the burden on the people. Development and operation is the right way in the world. Our Han Dynasty's tax revenue in the salt, steel, and sugar industries far exceeds the original Qin Dynasty period, because there is a competitive market. It will allow people to get more salt and steel at low prices.”

"The spices are different. This was discovered by the imperial court, and the Spice Island is thousands of miles away. Even the imperial warships were almost capsized by the hurricane, let alone the common people's ships. It is normal for ships to be destroyed and people to die. The imperial court’s monopoly operation is also for the safety of the people.”

Xu Fan, who was on the high platform, saw the people arguing, and for a moment he felt like he had traveled through history.

There are too many smart people in the Han Dynasty. I think this is how the maritime ban in the Ming Dynasty came about.

Emperor Yongle was a very clever man. He formed a huge fleet and sailed to the Western Ocean seven times, discovering the immense wealth of sea trade. In order to seize this wealth, he continued to implement his own policy of sea ban. In his opinion, as long as he maintains the sea ban, he is the only person in the world who can conduct sea trade.

As a result, he did not expect that the later generations of bureaucrats were also very smart. They also discovered the huge wealth of sea trade. In order to seize this wealth, they said that the ancestral family law was immutable and continued to implement the sea ban. In order to prevent the royal family from going to the sea, there was a big Smart, just burn all the charts.

The bureaucratic class has dominated the entire maritime trade for hundreds of years. The more maritime trade is banned, the more money they make. At its peak, half of the world's silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty. As a result, the Ming Dynasty was a very poor country.

In the Age of Discovery, China got up early and went to the evening market.

Damn, thank you so much for these smart people.

After the two argued for a long time, Xu Fan said: "Although the Spice Island was discovered by the imperial court, I represent the people of the world. The people are qualified to go to the Spice Island. People who are willing to go to the South China Sea, government offices at all levels, must not stop them. ”

"No!" As soon as Xu Fan spoke, the two people stopped arguing. Everyone understood that the emperor agreed with Zhang Liang.

Spices are just a luxury and nothing at all. There is too much wealth in the South China Sea, palm oil, various gold, silver and copper mines, and rich land that can feed more than a billion people. These are the most precious resources.

(End of this chapter)