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

Chapter 377: The Vibrant and Chaotic Pinglu Fort

On September 6, the eighth year of the Han Dynasty, in the Protectorate of Southern Mobei, Pinglu Fort.

Xu Fan brought Chen Sheng and his personal guards to inspect the Pinglu Fort's carriage and horse market. Because of the war, Pinglu Fort had been in a period of economic prosperity for more than half a year.

The market was full of caravans coming and going. You could see horse-drawn carriages and camel caravans. Some of these caravans brought specialties from the Central Plains, while others brought specialties from the desert. Xu Fan even saw a few people from the Western Regions with high noses.

Xu Fan saw an extremely large carriage team on the street. The carriages were heavy-duty horse-drawn carriages with steel bearings. Sacks were piled up like mountains. Each carriage was pulled slowly by four horses.

When Xu Fan saw the convoy, he couldn't help but follow it. Soon the carriage arrived in front of an official warehouse in Pinglu Fort.

A group of people immediately gathered around him and said, "105 coins per dan of grain, sell it to me for 100 dan."

Another shopkeeper also shouted, "I will also pay 105 coins and sell 100 dan of grain to me."

The grain business in Pinglu Fort was extremely hot. Pinglu Fort, which originally had a population of less than 100,000, now had an influx of hundreds of thousands of people. The market expanded three or four times in one go, and every grain merchant in Pinglu Fort made a fortune.

But they also know that the time to make a fortune is limited. After the Mobei War is over, this feast of wealth will be over. Now every day is very important to them.

The owner of the caravan sent someone to ask the grain official of the imperial court, and then led the caravan to follow these shopkeepers.

When Xu Fan saw this scene, he understood the reason. Although Pinglu Fort had stockpiled a large amount of grain in the past two years and transported 500 million shi of grain to the front line before the start of the Mobei War, more than troops were consumed on the front line, and there were also Hun prisoners.

Therefore, the food stored before the war in Pinglubao was consumed like water, and the local food price kept rising. From 70 coins per dan before the war to coins per dan, this was when millions of dan of food were imported into the impoverished Pinglubao every month.

When 30 Huns were captured in Pinglu Fort, the price of grain quickly broke through 110 coins and headed towards 120 coins and 200 coins. After all, hoarding is the instinct of merchants. In order to make more profits, they do not mind pushing up the price of grain to 300 coins, coins, or even thousands or tens of thousands of coins. Such things were common in the feudal era.

But at this time, the Han imperial court took action and the government warehouse released grain at the price of one hundred coins.

At the same time, they interviewed merchants headed by the Mo Nan Trading Company and fined them millions of dan of grain on the pretext that they hoarded grain and disrupted the war. The Han Dynasty's thunderous measures immediately made the merchants in Mo Nan no longer dare to make a fuss about the grain issue.

Of course, local grain merchants can still sell grain, but the price cannot exceed 110 coins. Once the price exceeds this, the imperial court will open the warehouses to release grain and start to talk to these grain merchants.

The Han Dynasty had just been founded and its control over the grassroots was still very strong. There weren't as many messed-up things as on TV in later generations. These grain merchants didn't have the backing of dukes or marquises. When they were summoned by the court, they knew that grain was a red line that could not be touched. Therefore, even in wartime, the price of grain in Pinglu Fort was still controlled within an acceptable range.

Xu Fan was interested in this convoy, so he followed and said, "My name is Xu Qiang, nice to meet you, brother."

The owner of the caravan said, "I am Wu Ying, and I have met Brother Xu."

Xu Fan asked, "Where do you get your food from?"

Wu Ying smiled and said, "It took me more than ten days to get to Pinglu Fort from Julu County and Gaoyang."

Xu Fan was surprised and said, "As the saying goes, you can't sell grain a thousand miles away. Julu County is more than a thousand miles away from Pinglu Fort. Can you make money from this?"

Wu Ying said: "Of course, the price of grain in Julu is only thirty coins per stone, which is the lowest in the entire Han Dynasty. The profit is more than three times. Even if it is transported for thousands of miles, it can still make money."

Then he said helplessly: "My hometown is close to the sea, and Julu is a wealthy place in Hebei. In the past two years, guano has been discovered, and the grain production capacity has increased rapidly. But the world has been peaceful in the past two years, and the grain price has dropped year by year.

In three years, the price dropped from 100 coins to only 30 coins. Now no one is willing to use guano to fertilize the land because it is not cost-effective. The price of guano is more expensive than grain. So what is the point of working so hard to spread guano? "

Then he said indignantly: "There is Ao Granary in the Central Plains, Jiujiang Granary and Nanyang Granary in Jianghuai, Lantian Granary in Guanzhong, and there is also a minimum protection price for grain. Damn it, we are all people of the Han Dynasty. Why can these places build granaries and Guanzhong's grain can be sold for 50 coins?"

Chen Sheng said, "There is so much grain in the world that the court cannot collect it all. We don't have that much money. Even if we build granaries, it will only treat the symptoms. Ao Cang already has 200 million dan of grain. The granaries you mentioned are also full. The price of grain will fall again. Why don't you learn from the south and grow some sugar cane and tea gardens? This way you can get more benefits."

In fact, Xu Fan wanted to maintain the price of grain at around 150 coins, so that a farmer who owned acres of land could harvest shi of grain, pay shi for taxes, eat shi for himself, and keep shi, which would give him an annual income of coins. This income was enough to support the whole family and lead a relatively wealthy life. At the same time, these farmers could also become the market for the Han handicraft industry.

But Xu Fan soon found that this was not realistic at all, because the land owned by the equal-sized farmers had increased their production enthusiasm, and the grain production capacity was roughly limited. If they wanted to obtain other commodity resources, they could only sell their own grain, but this soon led to low grain prices that hurt farmers.

Without human intervention, the price of grain would soon fall to 30 coins. Xu Fan built four granaries to maintain the price of grain, but soon the four granaries were full. Moreover, the Han court could not afford so much money to stabilize the price of grain in the world.

Xu Fan tried every possible means, but he could only maintain the price of grain at around 50 coins per stone in the Guanzhong region, where the Han court had the strongest control.

Wu Ying said unhappily, "I'm afraid you are from Jianghuai."

Chen Sheng nodded.

"You can't grow sugarcane in the north, and there are no tea trees either."

Chen Sheng continued, "If grain doesn't make money, we can make something else. The farmers in Guanzhong can engage in animal husbandry and expand the area of ​​mulberry and hemp cultivation, and they will live a good life."

Wu Ying said: "So all the good things in the world are taken by people from Guanzhong. Guanzhong can develop so many industries because there are farmers guiding them. In Hebei, there is no one to guide them. Ordinary farmers don't have this ability. Even if they know so many things about planting, they can't do it. The most they can do is raise a few more chickens."

If everyone was poor, Wu Ying would not be so indignant. But among a bunch of poor people, there was one who was not so poor and naturally became the one who stood out.

"If there hadn't been this war, farming would have no future." Wu Ying looked at Xu Fan and said, "Brother, do you also want to do the grain business?"

Xu Fan asked: "Do you have this idea?"

Wu Ying said, "I advise you not to waste your efforts. It is already September, and it will snow in the northern desert in October. By then, whether the court wins or loses, it will have to withdraw its troops from the desert. Once the troops have withdrawn, there will be no need for so much food. It is not worth the effort to transport food now."

Xu Fan said, "I bought grain from a place as close as Taiyuan and brought it to Pinglubao to sell."

Wu Ying said: "When I passed Hengshan County, the local grain price exceeded 50 coins, the grain price in Dai County exceeded 70 coins, and the grain price in Yanmen County exceeded 90 coins. The closer to the battlefield in the whole north, the higher the grain price. At this time, selling grain is not worth the loss. This war has emptied the granaries of the border. Only after the summer harvest this year, the price of grain may fall back."

After thinking for a while, Wu Ying said, "If you really want to trade, you can buy some woolen cloth in Pinglu Fort and sell it in the Central Plains. The imperial court seized a large number of livestock during the war, which caused the price of wool to drop sharply. As the price of wool dropped, the price of woolen cloth in Pinglu Fort also began to drop. Winter is coming soon, and you will definitely make a lot of money by transporting woolen cloth to the Central Plains."

Xu Fan bowed and said, "Thank you, Brother Wu, for your advice."

Then Xu Fan continued to stroll around the market in Pinglu Fort and found that most of the caravans coming to Pinglu Fort were transporting grain. The 2-3 times price of grain made them profitable. At the same time, Pinglu Fort's cheap woolen cloth, livestock, and various leather products could be sold to the Central Plains of Hebei at a high price.

For these caravans, although they could not earn much from grain, they could earn several times more from the goods they brought back. This led to a large number of caravans from Hebei and Central Plains coming to Pinglu Fort.

For the Han Dynasty, these merchants could bring a lot of food to Pinglu Fort. Xu Fan didn't care even if they made money. What he had to do was to suppress those who harmed the public and enriched themselves, and not let these people benefit. Xu Fan didn't want to see the situation that happened in the future again in his own Han Dynasty.

In the afternoon, Xu Fan began to inspect the outer city outside Pinglu Fort.

Because of the large population, many caravans set up tents outside Pinglubao to create a residence or a market. Such a newly established place is naturally not as clean as Pinglubao.

The roads here are bumpy and extremely narrow dirt roads trampled by people. On both sides are tents of various shapes. Most of the tents are covered with patches. There are many local specialty products in the tents. It looks like a small shop. There are also many horse-drawn carts of herdsmen of this era. Each cart is a residence.

Xu Fan walked into a cart filled with goods and looked around casually. The area inside the cart was not large, and hung on it were some bones and teeth of unknown animals, some pendant ornaments. Xu Fan also saw some grassland folk musical instruments made of bones, and handicrafts of various ethnic groups made of other materials.

"Sir, what would you like to buy?" An old man with a haggard face asked in Chinese with a Xiongnu accent.

Xu Fan said: "Let's take a look first."

Soon Xu Fan took a fancy to Go.

The old man immediately said, "This is a Go board made of cow bones and black cow horns. There is no such thing in the Central Plains."

Xu Fan was surprised and asked, "Old man, you also know Go?" The old man said, "I have been a Han Chinese for several years. I can not only make Go, but also make Han Wang chess."

The so-called Hanwang chess is the chess that Xu Fan invented when he was bored in Chenjun.

Xu Fan complimented, "My father-in-law is very capable."

Then Xu Fan started chatting with the old man.

Through communication, Xu Fan learned that the old man was a Hun. When Xu Fan defeated Maodun, the entire Hun tribe suffered heavy losses. Many Huns from small tribes could not survive and had to flee to the Han Dynasty. Then the old man was placed in Pinglu Fort.

Through communication, Xu Fan learned that the old man had a son. Because he fled to the Han Dynasty early, he was very lucky to get a pasture near Pinglu Fort. He proudly said: "The per-acre yield of a certain family is 50 sheep, 10 cows, and 2 horses."

Then he pointed it out to Xu Fan.

Xu Fan praised: "This is a considerable family business, why are you still here?"

The old man smiled and said, "My son got married and gave birth to grandchildren. They are very smart. I thought that they would go to school in two years. The books, pens, inkstones and paper would cost a lot. I am too old to do heavy work, so I modified the broken cart at home and opened a shop to sell wolf teeth and cow bones to make money."

Xu Fan gave a thumbs up and said, "You are awesome!"

Then Xu Fan asked: "What do you think of this Han-Xiongnu War?"

The old man sighed and said, "Although Maodun Chanyu is a powerful leader, he can only make the Xiongnu strong, but he cannot keep the Xiongnu alive. I have seen too many deaths and lives in the desert for decades. Almost every year, people freeze to death or starve to death. If someone like me still stays in the desert, I would have died. Only in the Han Dynasty can I continue to live."

"It is better for the desert to be ruled by the emperor, because the emperor can keep everyone alive."

"My father-in-law is very insightful!" said Chen Sheng.

Then Xu Fan bought a set of Hanwang chess and a set of Go from the old man's shop.

Continuing to walk around this slum-like area, the vendors around greeted Xu Fan warmly when they saw his outfit, making Xu Fan feel that this Caoshi was full of vitality.

But because there was no manager, the defects were extremely obvious. There was garbage and animal feces scattered everywhere, which made Xu Fan and Chen Sheng, who were used to the neat and clean streets in Chang'an City, very uncomfortable, and he retched from time to time.

Chen Sheng complained: "Brother-in-law, you shouldn't come to this kind of place."

Xu Fan said calmly: "I need to see more places like this so that I can be down-to-earth. This is what most areas of the Han Dynasty look like."

After the renovation of Chang'an City, its architecture was close to that of a county town in the 80s. Xu Fan thought he had done a good job, but he understood that he still had a lot to do.

The two men tried very hard to find a clean surface to walk on on the dirt road, but it was not easy. Soon, Chen Sheng and Xu Fan's leather shoes were stained with some indescribable substances.

At this time, a Han official ran up to Xu Fan and said, "I am Qiangfu from Jiaxiang, Pinglu Fort, to greet Your Majesty. Please let Your Majesty and I leave this filthy place." The Han official did not dare to reveal Xu Fan's identity here, so he could only use "Your Majesty" instead.

Although Xu Fan did not hide his figure on purpose, his departure from the Governor's Mansion still caused tension among the entire Pinglu Fort, and they quickly found Xu Fan's location.

And when they learned that the emperor had arrived at the outer city of Pinglu Fort, they were terrified. There were a large number of Hu people in the outer city. If something happened to the emperor, they would all be doomed. So this is the scene before their eyes.

Xu Fan followed the man and asked, "Why is it so chaotic here?"

Jiaxiang Qiangfu said helplessly: "Most of the people here are herdsmen. They have a habit of living in a dirty and messy way. In addition, a large number of merchants have gathered here recently. Many of them stay here for a short time and naturally don't care about the environment here. The court has captured a large number of Huns during this period. Many of us are guarding these Huns, so the management here has been relaxed."

In three years, Pinglu Fort developed into a large city with a permanent population of nearly 10. This is a real-life portrayal of a three-year city, and the Han officials of Pinglu Fort are also proud of it.

As a result, they showed the emperor the ugliest side of Pinglu Fort, and now Jiaxiang Qiangfu wanted to die.

Xu Fan didn't think this was a big problem. Aren't all urban-rural fringe areas like this? They are full of vitality but also full of chaos and filth.

Xu Fan pointed at the children running around and asked, "Why are there so many children here?"

In this slum-like place, there were too many children wearing tattered clothes, and many of them were simply shirtless. They were covered in dust, and there was no clean spot on their bodies. They had big heads and small bodies, and were even more miserable than the refugee children Xu Fan saw in later generations.

Jiaxiang Qiangfu said: "These are all children captured by the Xiongnu. The young and strong Xiongnu captives are detained in the camp. We usually do not restrict the children from leaving, so they often come here to play."

Xu Fan asked: "Can't we let them go to primary school to study?"

Jiaxiang Qiangfu said, "There are too many people, and a large number of teachers have gone to the front. Pinglubao Primary School does not have enough teachers, and it is even more impossible to accept these Xiongnu children."

Xu Fan asked, "Have you ever thought about changing this slum-like place?"

Qiangfu said: "Right now, Pinglu Fort's energy is focused on the front line, and there are not enough people to transform this place."

Xu Fan said: "We have many Xiongnu prisoners in our army. We can use their labor to transform this place. You Pinglu Fort can get a brand new village, and the Xiongnu prisoners can also get some food."

Mr. Qiang said, "I will report it right away."

Xu Fan and his group left the slum, but Xu Fan saw an unexpected person.

"Hu Hai!"

When Hu Hai heard someone calling his name, he turned around and saw the person he was terrified of: "Oh my God~~~" He didn't say the rest of the words for a long time.

Xu Fan and Chen Sheng walked over. Chen Sheng frowned and asked, "Why did you come to Pinglu Fort?"

Hu Hai said timidly: "I am doing a small business in the desert."

Zhuzi obviously sensed Chen Sheng's ill will towards Hu Hai and said angrily, "Who are you to dare to speak to my brother Hu Hai like that? How can our coming to Pinglu Fort hinder you?"

Xu Fan patted Chen Sheng, and then he smiled and said to Hu Hai: "I didn't expect your business to be so big, and you even have business in the desert."

Zhuzi said proudly: "We have purchased three ranch tickets. Now we are just waiting for the court to defeat the Huns so that we can enclose land in the desert."

Hu Hai immediately made amends, saying, "I have invested all the money I earned over the years just to contribute to the court."

Xu Fan said: "It's good that you have this idea. Let go of your previous burdens and live a good life in Dahan. Ranch tickets are a profitable business. You have a good eye."

After saying that, Xu Fan took Chen Sheng away.

Hu Hai then breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Pei asked curiously, "Is the identity of the Dong family very special? Why are you so nervous?"

Hu Hai whispered to Zhu Pei: "This man is the Han Emperor."

Zhu Pei was stunned. This was the emperor in the legend.

(End of this chapter)