Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 397 The Fate of the Country Hanging Geshu (1)

"It's rare for everyone to get together. Come, welcome Captain Zhao." Yu Zangyun held his wine glass, "Captain Zhao is 30 years old, and he is already a general. He is really a hero. Yu has to obey." Several lieutenants stood up with smiles, and someone praised "What Lieutenant Yu said" and "It really is so".

"Where is it, Xiaowei Yu praised it absurdly." Zhao Xingde thanked him with a smile.Following Chen Qianli's instructions, he visited the senior lieutenants one by one, and when he arrived at Yu Zangyun's place, Yu Zangyun was extremely enthusiastic and even invited more than a dozen lieutenants to accompany him to welcome him.Zhao Xingde was disrespectful, so he had to come to Huayue Tower with Yu Zangyun.

All the lieutenants drank it all in one gulp, and everyone came to this reception feast to see Yu Zangyun's face.After the toast, they talked to each other in a hurry.For many Xia people, being the school lieutenant of Huguofu and Shangzhuguo of Zhuguofu is the end of their official positions.Because the captain is elected by the sergeant, if he does not violate the law and discipline, he can be impeached by himself, and the military government cannot remove him from office.There are very few prime ministers of more than ten years in Xia Kingdom, but there are quite a few lieutenants with more than 15 years of experience in the Huguo Mansion. Even the generals who lead the army are very respectful to the old lieutenants.Otherwise, it would be a great trouble if there was trouble in the Huguo Mansion.

While talking, the servants of Huayue Tower brought up various delicacies at a low price. After the roasted hump cooked with various spicy seasonings was served, the cook sliced ​​the hump on the spot. The aroma was overflowing and very attractive.Diners need to pick it up with both hands and eat it wrapped in a thousand-layer butter cake, which is just right for the appetite of these sturdy and bold captains.Other delicacies on the market in Chang'an, such as nectar soup, fumigated roe leg, roasted goose and duck, gourd chicken, fermented fish preserved in wine, crystal cake, cherry cake, yellow osmanthus persimmon, powdered sheep's blood soup, wonton soup, etc. They are all available, Zhao Xingde has tasted several of them, and the taste is not bad at all.He nodded secretly, no wonder people from Guanzhong like to gather here in Huayuelou the most in Dunhuang.But for Zhao Xingde, such an occasion is not enough, because he just arrived, since he has this opportunity to get to know more colleagues from the Huguofu, he can't miss it, let alone appear arrogant.Many school lieutenants were also watching him, secretly judging whether this person was worthy of deep friendship.

"I heard that Captain Zhao was born in Kanto?" Yang Renji of Wutou Army asked, and Huang Ti of Iron Bone Army nodded. Yang Renji asked, "How many wives and concubines does he have?" There is no concubine in the wife's room." Yang Renji nodded, looked at Zhao Xingde, and sighed in a low voice: "The ambition is not small."

"Although Colonel Zhao belongs to the Longya Army, he is stationed in Chang'an, so he is from Guanzhong." A Hu Yangjun named Xie Ximin patted Zhao Xingde on the shoulder, and whispered, "I heard that Captain Zhao Wei is the contractor of Chunyu Iron Works, he is really a person who cannot be judged by his appearance."

"Ashamed, ashamed." Zhao Xingde said humbly.Although school lieutenants can join a commercial firm, they must report to the Huguo Mansion for the record, so as to avoid discussing the time of the country and abolishing the public by private.The relationship between Zhao Xingde and Chunyu Iron Works, the Huguo Mansion only needs to investigate carefully, and it is easy to know.Because Guanzhong prohibits deforestation, and Song State prohibits the export of iron, so although Xia State's weapons are excellent, the price of steel is much higher than that of Song State, and nearly [-]% of the capital is used to buy charcoal and bamboo charcoal.Chunyu Iron Works relied on the secret of using coke to make iron, and the cost was a lot lower than that of nearby iron works. In recent years, the stalls have been getting bigger and bigger.In terms of output alone, Chunyu Iron Works is already the largest iron smelting company in the Xia Kingdom. At the same time, it also casts artillery and firecrackers for the Ordnance Department, which naturally attracted the attention of the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Huguo Mansion.

When he was in Chang'an, Zhao Xingde often went to Chunyu Iron Works despite being busy with official duties. Chunyu Yue found that coke was stronger than charcoal and not easy to collapse, so Zhao Xingde worked with him to improve the structure of the iron-making furnace and increased the height of the furnace. The thermal effect of the wind has been significantly improved compared to before. The newly built blast furnace not only produces a large amount of iron, but also saves a lot of money in fuel.Because of the lower price of iron, those who used to use wood have switched to iron one after another, and even some coal mining mines have replaced wooden tracks with iron tracks.Chun Yuyue is still pushing the Huguofu to allow the ironworks to sell more refined iron to the Kanto.The State of Song also faced the problem of expensive charcoal, and the price of refined iron was high, and ironware was not allowed to enter but not exported. However, as long as the price of refined iron from Chunyu Iron Works was right, the demand in Kanto was almost endless.

"Captain Zhao, you don't have to be humble. My family sold the iron mine in Guanzhong to Chunyu Iron Works last year. Master Chunyu respects Captain Zhao very much." At this time, Bo Jin, the Shangguan of the Tiger Wing Army, came over with a glass of wine.Shangguan Bojin has served as the school lieutenant of the Huguo Mansion for nearly 15 years. In terms of seniority, he is higher than Zhao Xingde and Xie Ximin, and has many friends in the Huguo Mansion.Seeing him approaching, Xie Ximin stopped talking, and just smiled and kept company.Shangguan Bojin saw the jade pendant on Zhao Xingde's waist, and said with a smile, "Xiaowei Zhao, this ancient jade is not bad." Zhao Xingde heard Shangguan Cheng mention this second uncle when he was in Chang'an, and said with a smile, "This is the old jade of the family. Given by Yan."

"The legacy of the ancestors, not bad, not bad." Shangguan Bojin turned his eyes from the jade pendant to Zhao Xingde, nodded, and said with emotion: "This is the inheritance of jade virtue. Shi confuses Yude. For the sake of petty gains, he wants to turn barbarians into summer, and his heart is damnable." He spoke righteously, and Xie Ximin nodded in praise: "Shangguan Xiaowei is very right." Zhao Xingde also nodded with a smile.The firm that bought and sold the Nanman Stone had nothing to do with them, so there was no need to make enemies with Shangguan Bojin over this matter.Several school lieutenants sitting beside also stood up and listened to Shangguan Bojin's words.

"What is Xia and what is Yi?" Shangguan Bojin clenched his fist with his left hand, resting his right hand on the edge of the table, and said impassionedly, "Let's not talk about those nonsense. China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia. It has the beauty of obedience, so it is called Hua. Beautiful jade, like clothing, is unique to China. How can we let the barbarians pass it off? If it is not banned, the barbarians will use the money sold for my jade to hoard food and grass, recruit soldiers and horses, and kill our soldiers. How can we use our own How about giving money to the barbarians to kill our own people?" Several school captains said yes, Shangguan Bojin's expression softened a little, he accused Zhao Xingde of a crime, and went to talk to Yu Zangyun.

"Shangguan Xiaowei wanted to push Shu and Dali to send troops, and destroyed the jade mines of the Nanman tribe. However, the Shu army just fought against Annan, and they were worried that if they fought again, they would cause public anger and it would not end well. " Xie Ximin saw that Zhao Xingde was a little confused, and explained to him.

"Oh, that's how it is." Zhao Xingde nodded. He didn't expect that these 36 jade houses not only forbade Nanban jade to be sold in the Central Plains and Xia Kingdom, but also seriously wanted to destroy the country, kill people and destroy mines. He couldn't help but secretly startled and sighed He said, "Why destroy the mine, I have occupied it and mine it for profit, isn't it good?" He thought to himself, what Shangguan Boyu said just now is somewhat plausible.From the perspective of ceremonial clothing, there have been many changes from the Xia Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.But from the point of view of jade, even the Western Regions, where Xia Guo jade is now produced, were not owned by Xia Guo before the Han Dynasty.Shangguan Bojin just forcibly monopolized the jade market for 36 jade firms.

"Brother Zhao doesn't understand this," Xie Ximin said with a slight smile, "there is not only too little jade in this world, but too much. If it weren't for the 36 jade shops that controlled the production of all jade mines and the market, jade wares It will not be so expensive at all. The mines in the hands of 36 Yuhang are enough to mine for more than a hundred years. Therefore, any new mine is a burden for 36 Yuhang. They don’t need new jade mines at all, they just don’t want others to squeeze in Just come." He looked at Shangguan Bojin who was negotiating with Yu Zangyun not far away, and with an air of envy on his face, he raised his glass and drank it down, "Brother Zhao, you know that Shangguan's family only deals in jade. , is already rich beyond compare."

"Controlling the market seems to be at odds with self-defense, so the court has no idea?" Zhao Xingde was a little puzzled.

"How do you manage it? They didn't buy or sell by force. I really admire this Shangguan's family for being able to manage the 36th line like an iron barrel." Xie Ximin smiled and said in a low voice, "Jade is a luxury item, the more expensive it is, the more expensive it is. Yes, the richer households buy more. By lowering the price of jade, the imperial court will get less profit from mining and jade trading. The imperial court’s expenditure will not be reduced. For the shortfall, can it be impossible to increase the land tax? It is equivalent to letting ordinary people pay more Pay taxes and let the rich pay less taxes. This is not the way to seek the country. Besides, the rich also hope that the market will be stable, and they don’t want the lower Liba people to wear the same dazzling things as them. To put it bluntly, this is identity. If If everyone has it, it’s worthless. It’s better to tolerate the people’s inability to buy high-quality pendants than to let the people have too much food and clothing due to heavy taxes.”

"So that's how it is," said Zhao Xingde, clasping his hands, "I've been taught." He didn't expect to have these careful considerations, and he felt a little different about Xie Ximin and other captains of the Huguo Mansion.He picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "Xie Xiaowei, let's talk about respect."

"I've been in the Huguo Mansion for a long time, so I know these things naturally," Xie Ximin smiled and waved his hands, picked up the wine glass and touched Zhao Xingde, but only took half a sip, and said in a low voice, "Brother Zhao has extraordinary eyes, there is a Good business, let's discuss it. Now our dynasty and the Kanto are vigorously building firearms armies. The amount of sulfur and saltpeter has increased by more than ten times and hundreds of times than before. Sulfur is better, but this saltpetre is hard to find. According to the current situation The stockpile of saltpeter, not to mention the war to destroy the country, will be exhausted in a few wars."

Seeing that Zhao Xingde was engrossed in listening, he moved closer and said mysteriously: "Not long ago, relatives of my Xie family discovered a huge saltpeter mine in Gaochang, Xizhou. Difficult. However, the price of saltpeter fluctuates too much now. If we invest all our family property in it, the risk will be great. I heard from Chun Yuyue that the iron factory has benefited a lot in the past two years. Will Brother Zhao be willing to make this investment with us? Buy or sell?"