Compete for the Song Dynasty

Song Renzong sat tall on the throne, and he watched every move of the officials in the hall. Wang Pang was no longer the naughty kid who teased the ministers at the Chrysanthemum Banquet. Steady, but not lacking in the drive that a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers.

Seeing Wang Pang's confident appearance, Zhao Shu thought about Sima Guang's intentions, and thought it would be better to just be a favor.If Wang Pang is not doing well, he can also take the opportunity to impeach Wang Pang.He made up his mind, looked up and saw Renzong looking at him: "Father, since Wang Shilang is so sure, let's listen to what he has to say." That's what Renzong was waiting for, and he sent an order to summon the king Enter the hall with a picture follower.

The ministers who were still speculating about the emperor and the prince's feelings just now heard that the prince's tone had changed a little, and it seemed that the atmosphere in the court room had eased a little, and they all looked at the king and waited for his answer.

Wang Pang didn't want to be a loser. He said to Renzong: "My lord, since the alliance of Tanyuan, the border between Song and Liao has been peaceful all the year round. Not only trade is thriving, but people's livelihood is also stable. Our country can basically fill the gap in the silver that was bestowed on the Liao Kingdom by taxation. The same is true for Xixia."

"What I mean by increasing income is opening tea farms besides this. According to what I saw during my trip to Xixia, the people of Xixia, because of their eating habits, drink meat and meat all the year round, and must drink strong tea after each meal, so the consumption of tea in Xixia is very large. This is also the reason why my country’s year-old gift of Xixia has [-] catties of tea more than that of Liao. But [-] catties are basically only consumed by the palace and rewarding ministers, and the daily tea drinking of the people is not included in it. Therefore, if Opening tea farms on the border will bring considerable profits to the court.” [

After Wang Pang finished speaking, he stood there calmly, waiting for everyone to ask questions.

Immediately above the court, the ministers were discussing in low voices again. Renzong asked Zhao Shu: "Emperor, how much profit do you think this will make?" He deliberately gave Zhao Shu a chance to speak.

When Wang Pang took over the tea plantation last year, Zhao Shu was not there at the time, and had an agreement with Wang Pang. Now that he thinks about it, he knows how much the tea will benefit. The annual tea profit of the tea farm is also 20 taels."

"Wow!" The voice of discussion in the court became louder.Chong Er pulled Master Bao Zheng, gave him a thumbs up, and said in a low voice: "Master Bao, the adoptive son, recognizes it very well." Bao Zheng snorted triumphantly.

Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang was a little confused. In the past ten years, private tea was banned, and the official sales of tea benefited the whole country, sometimes only 10,000+ taels.He stood up and said, "I don't understand something, how can this tea be so profitable? Could it be that Wang Shilang specializes in selling tea for huge profits?"

When Wang Pang saw Zeng Gongliang asking this question, he must have fallen into disrepute if he didn’t make it clear. Wang Pang cupped his hands and said to Zeng Gongliang: “Master Zeng, don’t get me wrong. The fact that tea is more profitable does not mean that tea is more profitable. Order to cancel the monopoly and implement trade."

When Renzong heard what Wang Pang said, he was also relieved. Which emperor would not want to hear people say that he is a saint?He smiled.Pointing Wang Pang said: "You tell these old ministers the benefits of trade."

Naturally, Wang Pang will not be timid. When it is time to show himself, he must not be underestimated. He put his hands behind his back, raised his chest and raised his head and said loudly: "I think that since the implementation of the 'seeing money law' in Song Dynasty, in Tokyo Pay the money and pick up the goods in the south. The price of tea monopolized by the government is high, and the purchase department suppresses the price, and tea farmers are unwilling to sell good tea to the government. Naturally, there are many people who take risks and smuggle tea. The result is a sharp drop in tea production and government revenue. keep decreasing.

Since the emperor ordered the abolition of monopoly, the implementation of trade.Tea is taxed like ordinary goods. For ordinary people, the sales of cheap and high-quality tea will naturally increase.Government revenue is still higher than before, which is where tea profits soared. "

After Wang Pang finished speaking, the court was full of praise, "Good!"

Seeing Wang talking for a long time, Sima Guang thought that this kid wanted to make a lot of money again when he talked about tea profits, so he stood up and said, "That's the case, is the tea plant set up by Wang Shilang at the border an official one or a private one?" Why?" Didn't you say it's not good for housekeepers to monopolize?I'll see how you answer.

Wang Pang didn't go back directly, he looked at the prince and said: "I only said that there is a profit. As for the arrangement between the emperor and the prince, I can only obey orders." Sima Guang choked back with a word.Renzong smiled, this kid is a ghost, and it seems that he will also fulfill his promise to open the tea plantation to Wang Pang last year.

Wang Bang saw Ouyang Xiu looking at him with a straight face, and he went on to say: "I went to Yanzhou to manage the salt affairs this time, and I also used price countermeasures. There must be brave men under heavy profits, and the price of salt in Qingyan and our country in Song Dynasty was balanced. , no one will take the risk again. This is not a temporary strategy. If we do business with Xia, our country can store green salt as much as possible to deal with price fluctuations."

Ouyang Xiu knew that Wang Pang was referring to himself, so he turned his face and asked, "Then how does Wang Pang know about the floating of Qingyan?"

Wang Pang can't tell Ouyang Xiu that he has an internal response in Xixia, but he can deal with it even if he doesn't talk about the internal response.At this moment, the servant with the picture next to the King Xuanzhao has come outside the hall.

Zhe Kejun held the picture in his hand, Zhang Ping stood beside Zhe Kejun and muttered in a low voice: "Brother Zhe, have you read this picture, my lord? Can he do it as a painter?"

The courtier who led the way gave Zhang Ping a hard look: "Quiet" and then walked into the hall to reply, Zhang Ping quickly shut up.Soon the ministers came out to let him go to the hall and told them the rules, such as not to look at or talk nonsense.Zhang Ping nodded vigorously.

Seeing that they arrived just in time, Wang Bang ordered them to open the map in their hands.The two unfolded the drawing at both ends of the painting, and when it reached the end, there was still a part of the scroll in Zhe Kejun's hand.

Wang Pang pointed to the picture and said to Renzong and the ministers, this is the "Business War Xixia Picture" I drew.After he finished speaking, Renzong and the ministers all looked at the picture, and all laughed in the hall.Mr. Bao, Wang Anshi's expression is dumbfounding.Zhang Ping's palms were sweating, and he thought what kind of trick the young master was doing. [

Renzong has his head crooked on the left and his head on the right. He is far away from the picture. From a distance, the painting seems to be drawn by a five or six-year-old child.This picture looks like a landscape from a distance: the upper half of the picture is full of zigzag peaks, in the middle there seems to be a small piece and a horse. He really couldn't see clearly what kind of characters to arrange. Pointing to the picture, he asked Wang Pang, "Wang Pang, what is the bottom line of your painting?"

Wang Pang raised his head and said, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ten."

Now the officials couldn't stop laughing, and some simply laughed and pointed at Wang and said, "Wang Shilang, if you don't know how to paint, then don't paint. If this flower is hung in Yunxuan, your Yunxuan's The signboard was smashed."

Renzong also couldn't laugh or cry when Wang Bang made it, and he laughed a few times: "Wang Bang, you have to explain it carefully, otherwise I will punish you for disturbing the court."

Seeing that the effect was achieved, Wang Pang asked Zhe Kejun to open the unopened part. The leftmost part of the front and side pictures was also marked with numbers like a ruler. Wang Pang pointed to the picture and said to Renzong.

"My Majesty, this is the price trend chart of Xixia salt horses that I have talked about in Yanzhou for several months. Please look at the peaks with different heights, which are the prices on the left and the fluctuations in the following months. From this chart, we can see It can be seen that the prices of salt and horses, the two largest materials that Xixia mainly trades with my country, change throughout the year."

After Wang Pang said this, everyone looked intently and saw that the mountain peaks on the picture were either high or low, and it was because of the uneven height that Renzong looked like a mountain from a distance.The ridicule gradually subsided, and most officials also looked at the picture carefully, as if they had discovered some mystery.

Renzong understood the meaning of the bottom line, and he pointed to the center of the picture and asked, "What is the middle part of this picture?"

Wang Pang looked around at the crowd, at this moment all the officials put away their contemptuous expressions, waiting for Wang Pang to answer Renzong's question.Then Wang Pang said: "This water is Qinghai Lake, where the green salt of Xixia is produced. Affected by the seasons, the salt production period is from June to August every year. As can be seen from the picture, the salt production period and one or two months after that, This is when the price of green salt is at its lowest. Therefore, if the green salt in Xixia is still consumed, it will affect the sales of salt in the next period of time. This is where Xixia people are nervous."

Renzong patted the armrest of the throne: "The analysis is good, but why did you draw the horse so big?"

At this time, Master Bao, Wang Anshi and the officials who supported Wang Pang were no longer nervous, they nodded and looked at Wang Pang.

At this time, Wang Pang had a solid foundation in his mind, and he said even more confidently: "Xixia's party horses are also an important item that Xixia sells to our country, but Xixia's horse farm is only so big. If it can't be sold, there will be too many horses. They will trample on fertile land, and this cycle will lead to a decrease in food production and instability of people's hearts. Therefore, I am sure that Xixia will send horses to reduce the burden on the racecourse."

The court was full of admiration again, and even Zeng Gongliang was happy because of his proposal of trade.There were originally three propositions, but now Wang Pang has classified the two into one category.

Prime Minister Han Qi thought for a long time, trying to find some loopholes in the king's side, otherwise he would lose face. He asked: "According to Wang Shilang, if people in Xixia don't raise horses anymore, Xixia will have no horses to send to our country. ?”

Wang Pang smiled and said: Horse herdsmen would rather buy horses at a lower price than kill them.What's more, the herdsmen will not get the point if they don't raise horses and change to farming, but he still wants to give Han Qi a step: "Master Han has been a privy envoy for a long time, so he knows the importance of horses in the battlefield. If the Xixia people don't have horses, then We will be generous and take Xixia step by step."

Zhao Shu saw that Wang Pang was in control of the overall situation, so he simply joined the army: "Wang Pang, do you dare to issue a military order? Go to Xixia to do business and get horses?"

Wang Pang laughed. There was no such word as "dare not" in his dictionary.