Capital Datang

Seeing Wu Meiniang being hijacked, Li Zhen's guards finally came to their senses. Half of them rushed to protect Li Zhen's carriage, while the others rushed up to intercept the other party's carriage. The bold guard jumped onto the carriage with a bang, and was about to take down the man in black on the carriage. (Baidu search: stay up late novel network, the fastest update when reading novels)

But what they didn't expect was that the men in black in the car were highly skilled in martial arts, and the guards who went up were kicked down by the two people in the car before they could deploy, and even took the opportunity to injure a few of them. The man in black immediately rode his horse and galloped wildly. The guards in front couldn't stop him even if they wanted to, and the pedestrians around hurriedly hid to both sides, making the carriage unimpeded, and disappeared in the streets and alleys of Chang'an City in the blink of an eye.

Li Zhen and Wu Meiniang on the carriage only realized it at this moment. It was the first time for Xiao Meiniang to experience such an accident. His face was pale, but he was still calm. While ordering the guards to chase him, he sent people to report the case to various yamen in charge of public security, and informed the Jinwu Guards to apprehend him throughout the city.

And just as Li Zhen was busy with Wu Meiniang's kidnapping, and guessing who kidnapped Wu Meiniang, Li Yin had already entered Lu Guogong's mansion. Cheng Huailiang took him to the main hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw two people sitting opposite each other, eating and talking, one of them was Cheng Yaojin, and the other Li Yin also knew him. Next to him, watching his grandfather and Mr. Cheng drinking and eating meat, he could only swallow dryly.Capital Datang 120

"Junior Li Yin, see the two uncles!" Although Li Yin's title is higher than that of the Duke, Li Yin dare not discuss any title in front of them, everything is based on personal friendship.These two are on the same generation as Li Shimin or Li Xiaogong.Therefore, it is not bad for Li Yin to call him uncle.

"Liu Lang, please sit down, Zhijie and I have been waiting for you for a long time." Li Ji stretched out his hand to invite Li Yin to sit down, and said with a smile.Li Yin didn't refuse either.He bowed back and sat down, while Cheng Huailiang stood with Li Jingye and accompanied him as a pair of troubled brothers.

"Come on. Don't say anything, drink three glasses first!" Before Li Yin could speak, Cheng Yaojin patted Li Yin's shoulder heavily, and boldly picked up the small bowl-like wine glass and said.When Li Ji heard this, he laughed and picked up his wine glass. As a junior, what else can Li Yin say?He had no choice but to give up his life to accompany the drunkard. The three glasses of wine added up to at least two or three, and Li Yin was still on an empty stomach, so he drank a lot.Immediately, my head felt a little dizzy, and I hurriedly drank a few mouthfuls of sweet soup to feel better.

"Cough~, I don't know if the two uncles summoned my nephew. What's the matter?" Li Yin's face turned red.It feels like the neck has become thicker and the tongue is a little numb.As soon as the wine was in his mouth just now, he immediately realized that this was the first batch of wine brewed by the winery. It was stored for half a year before it was taken out. It's good to finish talking.

"Hehe, it's actually not a big deal. It's just that there is a huge shortage of people in the coal mine. I heard that Jingye and the others kept mentioning this matter, so I wanted to ask Liu Lang to ask if there is any way you can do it?" Li Jixie Glancing at Li Yin, he pretended not to care and asked.

After Li Yin heard this, he secretly laughed in his heart. At the beginning, Cheng Huailiang, Li Jingye and himself and other juniors were always involved in the coal mine matter.However, as coal is used more and more widely, the demand for coal is also increasing, and the huge benefits contained in coal have finally attracted the attention of their elders, and they began to withdraw power from the hands of Cheng Huailiang and his juniors. Participated in the management of the carboniferous mine in the name of Cheng Huailiang, and now Cheng Huailiang and the others spoke in the Carboniferous Association, not only representing their own opinions, but also the deliberate thoughts of the elders behind them.It's just that people like Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji have always been hiding behind the scenes, but today they finally jumped to the front.

"Reporting to the two uncles, my nephew has also been troubled by the lack of people, but I can't do anything!" Li Yin said with a wry smile.

Regarding the lack of manpower in the mine, it has actually been highlighted since the beginning of the mine. At the beginning, Cheng Huailiang and the others bought nearly [-] Tibetan prisoners of war in order to help Li Yin. Pointing slaves is simply not enough points.In desperation, they can only spend money to hire the surrounding farmers. Although the people are still much worse, they can finally make the mine operate normally, but the output is terrible.

However, even if hiring farmers is a way to quench thirst temporarily, there are still two great disadvantages. One is that the cost of prospecting is increased, and the other is that it is okay during the slack season. Farmers who have no farm work are happy to find a job with good wages. Part-time job, but whenever the farming is busy, they will immediately throw down the pickaxe, go home and pick up the hoe to become a farmer. No matter how much you can persuade them, even if you increase the wages, you can’t keep a few. After all, the land-based thinking It has penetrated into their bones. In their view, no matter how much money they earn, it is not as important as the little food produced on the ground.

And after Wang's family was forced to a dead end by Li Yin, they had no choice but to pay them a lot of mines at once, and suddenly doubled the mines of the Carbon Coal Industry Association.Although this is a good thing, it also exacerbates the crisis of lack of manpower. There is a serious shortage of manpower, and now there is no manpower. In desperation, many mines are temporarily sealed up. First develop those with convenient transportation and Easy to develop carbonite.

However, with the promotion of honeycomb coal and coke, the demand for coal is now increasing. The Carbon Coal Industry Association controls most of the coal market, but the output cannot meet the market demand, and even the Wang family can't do it. Seeing such a delicious cake in front of my eyes, but I can't eat it, this is the most painful thing for all the members of the Carbon Coal Industry Association.

It is precisely because of the serious lack of people that the refugees from Jinzhou entered Chang'an last time, which immediately caused looting by the members of the association, and even sent people to Jinzhou to recruit many refugees into the mine. A famine that was destined to starve to death and freeze many people to death completely disappeared.

"Hey! Why do you think those farmers don't steal so much? I heard from the manager that their income in the first half of the year is more than the annual income in the best year. But those people just don't want to!" Cheng Yao Jin punched himself in the leg.He said with an angry look on his face.Don't look at Cheng Yaojin's rude behavior, as if he is reckless, but in fact he comes from a wealthy family.Both my grandfather and my father had official positions, and they received an orthodox Confucian education since childhood, so they couldn't understand the thoughts of farmers.

"Zhijie. You can't say that. If those farmers are really willing to leave farming time and concentrate on working in the mine, Kong Yingda and those rotten scholars will not say anything, even His Majesty will not let us go." Li Ji said Said with a wry smile.Li Shimin attaches great importance to agriculture. If agriculture is affected due to mining, then their mines will come to an end.

Looking at the two old foxes who were singing and playing the oboe, Li Yin felt infinite contempt for these two ruthless old men.In addition, there are those old guys behind Qin Huaiyu, Li Jingheng, etc., in order to solve the lack of people, they are all cruel.Getting ready to do something big.But don't think that Li Yin doesn't know anything?

Thinking of this, Li Yin simply smiled and said: "You two uncles. Of course, the most cost-effective mining is to use slaves. Our Tang Dynasty allows slaves to be traded!"

Hearing Li Yin's words, Li Ji and Cheng Yaojin's eyes narrowed. Their four eyes were like knives. They looked Li Yin up and down a few times, and their heartbeats were a little strange. I don't know if Li Yin knew their intentions or Coincides with them?

"Liulang, what do you mean?" Cheng Yaojin asked with a sudden smile, but there was a rare expression of appreciation in his eyes.

"Hey, in fact, the uncles must have already made plans. Why hide it from my nephew, besides, my nephew is also a member of the association. Externally, everyone's interests are the same. What the uncles want to do is actually exactly the same. What my nephew has in mind." Li Yin said with a smile.Capital Datang 120

"Oh? So Liu Lang, you agreed to set up a slave hunting team?" Li Ji was overjoyed when he heard that.

The Tang Dynasty did not prohibit the slave trade, so it was common practice for wealthy families to keep slaves, and these slaves came from a wide range of sources. In addition to being voluntarily sold or punished as slaves within the Tang Dynasty due to poverty, foreign wars were also a major source of slaves.In addition to these two, there are slaves provided by professional slave hunting teams. Most of these slaves are captured from abroad and then sent to major cities for sale by special personnel. Silla maidservants' are the two most famous of them.

In order to solve the problem of miners' hands, Cheng Yaojin and the others finally set their minds on these slaves. Most of Datang's slave hunting teams outside are pirates or robbers, and their reputation is not very good, but these slave hunting teams have people behind them. There are many shadows of aristocratic families, so it is not too shameful for Cheng Yaojin and the others to organize a slave hunting team.

"I agree with the slave catcher, but I don't agree with the slave catcher team." Li Yin smiled and shook his head.Some time ago, Wang Zihao had reported to him that the caravans in the Cheng Mansion and several other mansions were recruiting brave and ruthless people. It seemed that there was something going on, and Li Yin knew what they wanted to do as soon as he heard it, because he planned to send The other party led this way, and Li Yin was extremely excited to see his plan initially succeed. Today, the other party finally wants to communicate with him.

"Huh? Why is that?" Li Ji and Cheng Yaojin were very surprised.

"Hey, if I'm not wrong, the uncles want to send people to the northern grasslands to attack those weak nomads?" Li Yin laughed.

"Not bad!" Li Ji and Cheng Yaojin nodded.Miners need to be physically strong, so those nomadic tribes in the north are the most suitable, and the north has always been a border problem of Datang. In addition, there are many tribes there, they send people to catch some back to be miners, which can solve their manpower problem Being able to weaken the strength on the grassland really kills two birds with one stone, even if His Majesty in the court knew about it, he wouldn't say anything.

"Hehe, I heard that there are many conflicts among the tribes there, and life is very difficult. For a piece of land with abundant water and grass, the two tribes can fight each other. If this is the case, why do we bother to set up a slave hunting team? , Wouldn’t it be better to directly set up a caravan to collect slaves and spend money to buy slaves from those tribes?” Li Yin said with a sinister smile.

This is the fundamental difference between him and people like Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji. When encountering something, the first thing Li Yin thinks of is to spend money to let others solve it. If others can't solve it, he thinks of doing it himself. Solve, this is a typical post-generational business owner thinking.Cheng Yaojin and the others are different. No matter how high their status is, they are landlords to put it bluntly. After earning money, the first thing they think of is to hide the money, and they will not spend it unless it is absolutely necessary. of.

Therefore, after thinking about slaves, Cheng Yaojin and the others first reaction was to set up a slave hunting team and send people to catch slaves by themselves. Although it is a bit troublesome, the cost is very low after all, and it doesn’t cost much, but buying slaves is different. Well, one slave might not be worth much, but adding thousands of slaves together would cost too much, so I instinctively rejected this method, without thinking about the pros and cons.

"You two uncles, although the cost of buying slaves is higher than the cost of capturing slaves, there are also many benefits." Seeing Cheng and Li's contemplative expressions, Li Min hurriedly continued, "For now, everyone is People with head and face, let people know that we participated in the slave hunting, it is always shameful. The second is that the establishment of the slave hunting team is too slow, so we must first prepare manpower and supplies, sort out the situation on the grassland and our own strength, know Which tribes can be provoked and which tribes cannot be provoked, etc. These must be handled by capable people. I don’t know when the slave capture will really start. Not too much, plus the consumption of the mine, I don’t know that the year of the monkey can meet the needs of the mine. Third, it can also stir up internal fighting among the northern grassland tribes, and it is easier for my father to persuade. Fourth..."

Li Yin slowly analyzed the pros and cons of catching slaves. In fact, it was nothing more than a sentence, that is, if you spend more money, things will become easier and faster, but if you spend less money, it will become troublesome and slow. Now they are not bad at all Money, on the contrary, if you wait one more day, you will lose the money you can earn in one day, let them figure it out!

In the end, Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji calculated it together, and they were finally persuaded by Li Yin, but they also discussed with several other people. If there was no objection, they would go to see Li Shimin with Li Yin at that time. After all, such a big matter , How can I do it without communicating with His Majesty in advance?However, it can weaken the strength of the alien race in the north and strengthen itself, so His Majesty Taizong will not object.

The matter was discussed, and through this incident, Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji also looked at Li Yin with admiration. Before, they only heard how smart Li Yin was, but they had never dealt with each other face-to-face, so they didn't have a deep understanding. Until today It was only after the incident that they really realized Li Yin's talent, and couldn't help but compare Cheng Huailiang next to him with Li Jingye. In the end, they could only shake their heads with a wry smile. Their children and grandchildren were really inferior to the King Qi in front of them.

"Report to Duke, Madam wants to invite King Qi to go!" At this moment, a maid came in to report.