Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 312
There is a reason for Sun Xiangfu to deliberately let Qu Zhisheng hang out for a few days, because he has already learned some intentions about Gaochang Kingdom from the Hu merchant Arsako in the Western Regions. After being completely crushed by the Tang Dynasty in terms of commodity competition, what they thought of was to set up customs and collect taxes to scrape a layer of oil and water on the Hu merchants in the Western Regions and the Han merchants who shipped goods to the Western Regions.

If you look at this matter in later generations, there is nothing wrong with it. It is normal for me to collect a tax when your goods pass through my country, but in this era, it is not normal.

Because the Tang Dynasty is strong and has big fists, only big countries collect taxes from small countries, and strong countries collect taxes from weak countries, so there is a reason for small countries to collect taxes from powerful countries.

The land area of ​​Gaochang is less than one-third of the size of Anbei Dadufu, and the army is only tens of thousands. It is not a professional army like the Anbei Army. If they follow their army standards, Sun Xiangfu can instantly be in Two to three million soldiers and horses have been drawn out of their own jurisdiction. You must know that the population and territory of the entire Turks plus Huihe are now under the rule of the Anbei Dadu Protectorate.

Gaochang is like a rabbit, instead of hiding and eating grass, it yells to find a lion to collect taxes. Isn't it funny?

Let Qu Zhisheng take a look at Shanyang's strength first, and weigh his own weight, which is Sun Xiangfu's purpose to hang him out for a few days.

As for how powerful Shanyang is, after attending today's banquet, Qu Zhisheng will have a general understanding, at least on the economic level, of Datang. Shanyang is just the North of Datang It's just an important town in the frontier.

The first part of the banquet was witnessed by the government. Those merchants who had loaned goods in Shanyang last year paid off the loan with interest to the Datang merchants who lent goods to them.

The groups of numbers on the IOU were read aloud by Chu Suiliang, and then, the Hu merchant, who had been prepared for a long time, took out the deposit certificate of gold, silver, copper coins and other precious metals directly linked to Datang copper coins in the Shanyang cabinet. , and settled face to face with the Shanyang businessman who lent goods to them last year.

Only halfway through the reading, Qu Zhisheng showed a shocked expression, because the total repayment amount of those merchants has exceeded one million. What kind of concept is this?Their Gaochang Kingdom also knows the value of Datang copper coins. The annual tax revenue is less than 20 copper coins worth of Tang Kingdom. Annual tax?

The answer is yes. Last year, in order to make as much profit as possible, Hu merchants had enough capital to prepare the goods that Sun Xiangfu wanted, so as to get rewards from the mirror. They basically emptied all the goods in Shanyang. This is not a cash purchase. , and the goods exchanged by barter, the value of the purely loaned goods alone is more than one million.

And this year, they have tasted the sweetness, and it is estimated that they will purchase on a larger scale, and it is certain that the transaction volume will rise to a higher level.

However, this is not what Qu Zhisheng is most worried about. What he is most worried about now is the relationship between these western merchants and Datang. Since Li Shimin sent troops to protect their business, they have relied heavily on the Datang court, and, A relatively solid relationship has been established, and goods worth more than one million can actually be borrowed from each other with a piece of paper.

"No wonder, no wonder those merchants don't buy our Gaochang goods anymore. That merchant is unwilling to do business that can be done without capital!" Qu Zhisheng murmured.

He didn't know that the establishment of credit was mutual. Hu merchants in the Western Regions bought Datang's national debts when Datang was in the most difficult time, and helped Datang tide over the difficulties. Only then did Li Shimin trust them, and finally let This lending model is generated.

Of course, the formation of this loan model is also based on the confidence of the merchants in the Tang Dynasty in the goods they produce. They are sure that these Hu merchants in the Western Regions will make money after trafficking their products back to China, so they dare to do so. Loan goods to them.

There are risks in doing business, and those who dare to take risks will reap the rewards. The Datang merchants who borrowed their goods last year have gained a group of regular customers who trust them this year. They don't have to worry about the goods they produce. It can't be sold, because those people last year will definitely find him when they buy goods this year, because they have mutual credit guarantees. This kind of business model is very common in later generations.

Of course, this is just about ordinary commodities. For those commodities that are in short supply, you have to rely on cash or other things.

After Chu Suiliang sorted out all the loan contracts, he smiled and began to sort out the invoices handed in by Hu merchants. For Shanyang, these are all taxes!
In the lobby of the restaurant, there was a large wooden board that had been prepared long ago, covered with white paper. Chu Suiliang picked up a pen and began to write on the wooden board according to the name of the goods in short supply requested by Sun Xiangfu last year.

Then, write the names of Hu merchants and the quantity of goods they provided under those titles. Because of different reasons, it may not be fair, but it is open and fair.

After all the data are listed, the total value is combined, and the person with the highest value will be rewarded with that mirror.

After some statistics, Arsako finally got the reward of the mirror. In fact, this is also a little reward from Sun Xiangfu for providing information on Gaochang Kingdom. It was like helping him.

While many businessmen were beating their chests and feet, they didn't have any doubts about this round of evaluation, because the price of iron ore in Datang was also high in the past, and they only regretted that they were not as lucky as Arsak, and got thousands of boxes of high-quality iron ore. .

Of course, the banquet won't end just because the appraisal is over. The mirror was sent out in front of everyone, and while everyone was there, Sun Xiangfu announced the list of goods in short supply for next year.

Minerals and precious metals are still given priority, followed by slaves, etc. For the merchant who sells the most commodities needed by Shanyang next year, Sun Xiangfu will not only reward him with a mirror, but also reward him with the right to purchase a thousand bottles of perfume.

You know, last year, everyone racked their brains for perfume, and wanted to get some more to sell back, but Shanyang's shipments are limited, and the right to purchase a thousand bottles of perfume represents tens of thousands of perfumes. The benefits, this is a huge profit for a single Hu businessman, who doesn't want it?
Then, the merchants got even more excited, raised their glasses one after another, toasted the officials of Anbei Dadu Protectorate represented by Sun Xiangfu, and vowed firmly that next year, they would definitely bring more goods needed by Datang.

And this lively scene made Qu Zhisheng, who had always wanted to communicate with Sun Xiangfu, unable to open his mouth. Ever since he entered this restaurant, he felt aggrieved, the feeling of being ignored was very uncomfortable.

Naturally, Sun Xiangfu couldn't just leave him alone all the time. When he straightened his posture, he was still willing to talk to the prince. We still need to talk to them about output. If it is not necessary, Datang does not want to start a war with the Western Turks behind him, because the economy is not strong enough.

"Prince Gaochang, the governor of my family is here to invite you."

Xu Jingzong is the preparatory governor of Tai'an City, an important town in the northwest of the Tang Dynasty in the future, and the city within the jurisdiction closest to Gaochang Kingdom. Therefore, Sun Xiangfu arranged to deal with Qu Zhisheng.

"Hmph, most of you governors are so rude." After all, Qu Zhisheng was young, and after being left alone by Sun Xiangfu for three days, he was already full of anger. Now, he is still fighting fiercely with those businessmen in the west in front of him. , ignore him, he knows the status of the businessman in Datang before, this is simply a humiliation to him.

"Really? I don't think so! Hu merchants can bring millions of benefits to Shanyang, so they are naturally Shanyang's distinguished guests. Could it be that your Gaochang country is more expensive than them?"

What Xu Jingzong said was naked irony. However, Qu Zhisheng had no words to fight back against such irony. Even if their Gaochang Kingdom added up the output of the whole country, it would not be worth millions. No one is expensive.

"Hmph, this prince represents a country, and he is a guest from afar. Is this how you treat guests in the Tang Kingdom?" Qu Zhisheng still complained unwillingly.

"Hehe, for my Tang Dynasty, a person who comes from afar is not necessarily a guest, but a guest must be entertained with good wine. If it is a jackal, then it may be a butcher's knife."

It is very difficult for Qu Zhisheng to get cheap with people like Xu Jingzong. When Old Xu lived in the complicated Central Plains society, Qu Zhisheng was probably still a baby boy, so he blocked him without saying a word. His face flushed.

Of course, Xu Jingzong's toughness in front of him was naturally the result of discussions between Sun Xiangfu and several resourceful people under him. He sang a black face, and Sun Xiangfu sang an even darker face. It's good to sing red faces!
After a while, Xu Jingzong led Qu Zhisheng to Sun Xiangfu's seat. As for those Hu merchants, they were very interestingly invited by several of Sun Xiangfu's subordinates to chat.

It was thought that Sun Xiangfu would not even greet him politely, but the big thorn just sat on the seat and waited for him to come to greet him.

"Is this how the officials of the Tang state show their prestige to the monarchs of neighboring countries?"

The young Qu Zhisheng resigned. It is impossible for him to be a dignified prince of Gaochang and salute a courtier of the Tang Dynasty.

"Man said that you are not the lord of Gaochang, even if you are, in a small country, is there any rule of indecency when meeting important ministers of the Celestial Dynasty?"

Sun Xiangfu said very contemptuously, now, he has been in a high position for not a day or two, when the aura is released, even a pampered prince like Qu Zhisheng feels the pressure, besides, what he said is not true at all. That's right, even if he is the king of Gaochang, the land he controls is nothing more than a tiny piece of land to Sun Xiangfu, the governor of Anbei. Compared with Shanyang, their Gaochang royal city is not a little bit worse.

"Hmph, if you don't respect me, I don't have to respect you. This prince is here to negotiate tax matters with your Tang Kingdom..."

"Negotiating the tax of the bastard, the general will ask the commander-in-chief for an order to raise [-] troops immediately to destroy this small country."

Su Dingfang, who sat down next to Sun Xiangfu, didn't wait for Qu Zhisheng to finish speaking, he slapped the table and got up and shouted.

"Hehe, I think it will work. You, General Su, will personally lead the attack. Qu Wentai, Gaochang Qu, may follow in the footsteps of Jieli and Tuli..."

Sun Xiangfu's chuckle made Qu Zhisheng's face turn pale. We haven't even started talking yet!Is war about to start?This rhythm is completely different from what I expected!

(End of this chapter)