The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 150 Commercial System
He Jin frowned slightly when he heard this.

In her impression, the people she had met who talked about serving the country and the people were just talking. This was the first time she had seen someone like Li Heng who was willing to give up what he had gained to serve others.

He Jin was silent for a while, and then said, "Your Highness is willing to give up the profits from repairing and operating the post stations, so I believe many caravans are willing to pay. In the past, the court imposed taxes when repairing post station roads."

Li Heng said, "In the past, the imperial court assigned the task of repairing post stations and maintaining roads to each county, which then collected taxes from each county. This is certainly easier, but the situations in each county are different, and some counties may not be able to repair and maintain the roads. If the county magistrates and others are more corrupt, they will use this as an excuse to collect more taxes, and the people will suffer terribly."

"Your Highness is in a high position, but he knows everything that is going on here." He Jin was surprised, "Your Highness is really as clear as a mirror."

Li Ying said, "Miss He, you are overpraising me. Do you agree with this?"

"Of course." He Jin nodded. "This is the best result for us. As long as Your Highness can guarantee one thing, we will be able to earn it back sooner or later."

"Promise what?"

"Make sure your highness can stay in Anxi longer."

"Why?"

"Only when Your Highness is in Anxi can your policies be continued. If it were someone else, they might not recognize them. More importantly, only when Your Highness is in Anxi can peace be maintained in Anxi and Tubo and Daqin would not dare to invade rashly." He Jin explained seriously.

Li Heng asked in confusion: "I am in Anxi, they dare not invade, where did you hear this?"

"It's spreading all over Anxi." He Jin smiled, "There's even a song about it."

"This..." Li Ying was stunned.

These words are not necessarily a good thing for him. If they were to reach Chang'an, I wonder what Li Longji would think.

Li Heng felt that he needed to think of a strategy in advance.

Li Heng pondered for a while before saying, "By the way, do you have trade with Tubo?"

"Yes." He Jin did not hide it and said, "There are two roads from Anxi to Tubo, one is Khotan and the other is Bolor. Now both roads are under the control of Your Highness. Does Your Highness want to prohibit the caravans from going to Tubo?"

"That's not the case." Li Heng shook his head. "I just want, if possible, your caravan to go to Tubo and bring me some news from Tubo."

"Yes, Your Highness ordered me to do it." He Jin paused and asked carefully, "Your Highness, don't you have any secret agents in Tubo?"

Li Heng said: "The news that the secret agent heard is different from what you heard."

He Jin wasn't sure what the difference was, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He discussed the matter of building the post station with Li Heng and then left.

……

The next day.

Yang Yuhuan changed her clothes and prepared to go to the market with Li Heng.

Li Ying took a look and saw that Yang Yuhuan was wearing a modified men's outfit today.

Yang Yuhuan asked, "My dear, does this dress look good on me?"

"Let me take a look." Li Heng walked up to Yang Yuhuan, watched her turn around, and said, "If Princess Taiping had the honor of seeing you dressed like this, she might never wear men's clothes again."

Princess Taiping particularly liked men's clothing. She once wore a purple robe with a jade belt, a folded scarf, and a scarf, and sang and danced in front of the emperor. The emperor laughed when he saw her and said, "You are not a military officer, so why are you so anxious?"

Yang Yuhuan naturally knew these things and said with a smile: "Why wouldn't she love it?"

Li Ying said, "Because I'm not as beautifully dressed as you, you've stolen all the limelight."

"Really?" Yang Yuhuan laughed happily, "With this attire, can anyone still recognize that I am a woman?"

"Of course." Li Ying smiled, "Which man can have a face like yours?"

Yang Yuhuan asked, "What if I wear a mask?" "No way." Li Ying pulled Yang Yuhuan's clothes, and the clothes were tight, revealing her proud breasts. Li Ying said, "It can't be hidden."

Yang Yuhuan laughed and said, "Who else but my husband dares to touch me like this?"

"That's right." Li Ying nodded.

Yang Yuhuan took Li Heng's hand and said, "My concubine and I are both in poor health. This is truly a marriage of husband and wife."

Li Ying smiled and said, "You learn these things quite quickly."

Yang Yuhuan kissed Li Ying and smiled sweetly.

After they finished talking, they went out together.

……

The market of Qiuci.

Li Heng and Yang Yuhuan were accompanied by several civil servants, while the guards followed in plain clothes.

As the group walked and looked around, Li Ying suddenly asked Liu Yan, "Does Shi'an know anything about the market?"

Liu Yan at the back was always worried.

Before Liu Yan came, he had already agreed with Li Heng that he wanted the position of county magistrate, but Li Heng never told him which county he would go to.

He thought Li Heng was going to go back on his word.

So when he heard Li Heng's question, he was stunned and quickly followed Li Heng and said, "I have some understanding."

Li Ying said, "Then tell me about it."

Liu Yan sorted out his thoughts and said, "In our dynasty, all the markets are managed by the government office. All the markets must abide by the principles of building cities and markets. The establishment, planning, and construction of the markets must be regulated by the court. The markets in Chang'an and Luoyang are uniformly managed by the Taifu Temple."

"The Great, Middle, and Lower Military Governorates and the upper prefectures in the prefectures have a city magistrate, who is of the ninth rank, and there are other positions such as chancellor, assistant, historian, and commander. The middle and lower prefectures and counties also have city magistrates, but they have no rank."

"There are clear regulations for the opening and closing of the market: At noon, the drums should be beaten 300 times, and the crowds should gather; 7 quarters before sunset, the gongs should be beaten 300 times, and the crowds should disperse."

"There is a Tang Dynasty law that states that every August, measuring instruments must be calibrated and stamped with the official seal before they can be used."

"The government needs to divide the market into branches. There are 220 branches in Chang'an East Market and West Market, and each branch has a branch head."

"In addition, government offices at all levels must also set prices based on the market conditions and the quality of the goods. The quality is divided into three grades, and prices are set every ten days, which is called the Three Merchants' Time Estimate."

"..."

Liu Yan had clear ideas and spoke in an organized and coherent manner. He reported the Tang Dynasty's market system to Li Heng.

Li Ying was quite satisfied after hearing this.

Because the questions Li Yan asked at the beginning were rather general, if ordinary people heard them, even if they knew the answers, they would not know where to start. But Liu Yan not only understood clearly, but also spoke clearly and logically in a flash, which was enough to show that his thinking was not weak.

Li Yan asked a general question, and then asked about the details: "Do you think the three-time estimate is reasonable?"

Liu Yan said: "At the beginning, the Three Merchants did set a public price for the goods that everyone had to abide by. However, the price of goods is affected by many factors. Over time, merchants will not trade according to the public price. Therefore, the public price is mostly just a reference for government transactions and the valuation of criminal items. If some government offices force the market to trade according to the public price, it is unreasonable, but if the government offices do not force it, it is beneficial."

"Yes." Li Heng nodded and asked, "Then do you think the black market should be cleared out, or should the government intervene to manage it?"

"I think..." Liu Yan stopped talking halfway.

Because Li Heng's eyes fell on a man not far ahead.

(End of this chapter)