The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 283 Pirate Empire Get Rich Together

"Father, father..."

Sun Quan was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses, and stared blankly at the pouting Sun Luban, only to realize that he was distracted. He smiled apologetically, and motioned, "Speak, Tiger, I'm listening."

"You didn't listen." Sun Luban said angrily, "Father, you just stared outside in a daze, and didn't listen to a word."

"Who said that?" Sun Quan concealed, "I'm listening."

"Then tell me, what did I just say?"

Sun Quan choked, and subconsciously turned to Mrs. Bu for help.Sun Luban was not afraid of him since he was a child, but he was a little afraid of Mrs. Bu. Whenever he encountered a situation that made him at a loss, he would ask Mrs. Bu for help.Mrs. Bu's face darkened, and when she was about to speak, Sun Luyu was overjoyed: "Sister, you are miserable."

Sun Luban stared and stretched out his hand: "Give me back the candy!"

Sun Luyu hid his hands behind his back and shook his head repeatedly.Only then did Sun Quan notice a lump in her mouth, and asked curiously, "What kind of candy?"

Sun Luyu moved his mouth, changed the direction of the candy, and then said vaguely: "The caramel brought back by my sister is really sweet. Sister, I don't want to take it back as a gift."

Sun Quan was amused by the two sisters. He grabbed Sun Luyu, rubbed his face against Sun Luyu's face, and said flatteringly, "Father will help you. Can you let Father have a taste?"

Sun Luyu looked at Sun Quan, then at Sun Luban, thought about it, turned his back, picked up a piece from the palm of his hand, rubbed it with his fingers, and said to Sun Quan, "Father, open your mouth."

Sun Quan opened his mouth obediently and raised his neck. Sun Luyu carefully put the candy into Sun Quan's mouth. As soon as the candy touched his tongue, it melted into a ball of sweetness. Sun Quan closed his mouth, opened his eyes and nodded repeatedly, happy Be like a child: "Sweet! Sweet! Xiaohu, it's really sweet."

"Hehehe..." Sun Luyu couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Hmph, what is this? We have many countries." Sun Luban raised his head proudly.

"Is there a lot of caramel in Yue country?" Sun Luyuan, who came after hearing the news, was concentrating on tasting the candy and asked in a low voice.

"A lot." Sun Luban nodded, showing a surprised expression: "There are a lot of sugarcane forests in Funan, which can produce a lot of caramel every year. Why, don't you know? There should be many merchants who came back from selling caramel."

"Yes, but it's very expensive." Sun Quan stopped wriggling his mouth, straightened his waist, put his hands on his thighs, and looked surprised: "How much do you talk about?"

"A lot, a large area." Sun Luban puffed his cheeks, waved his arms, and made an exaggerated gesture: "Whether it is Zhuya or Funan, there are many lands, with large tracts of sugarcane forests planted. It used to be that sugar was squeezed manually, but now Zhuya College has made a lot of machines, and sugar factories have been built in various places, and the squeezed caramel is shipped out one by one. As far as I know, there are merchants in Wu who have shipped ten After a few boats are out, Jianye should have been sold long ago."

"It's for sale, but it's ridiculously expensive." Sun Quan suddenly realized, with a little anger on his face.Jianye had sugar from Funan, but it was very expensive, and he also had some in his palace. However, these precious things were never rewarded to Queen Xu and Mrs. Bu, so they didn't know about it. Now, according to Sun Luban, Only then did he realize that he was deceived by those businessmen, and he couldn't help being unhappy.

Sun Luban didn't understand what he meant, and was at a loss as to what to say, but Mrs. Bu saw the clue, and felt a sense of loss in her heart.In the past, when Sun Quan got some good things, he usually rewarded her, but now he can't think of her at all. If her daughter didn't come back, she might never know that there are such good things.

China has had sugar for a long time. In the "Book of Songs? Daya", there are verses such as "Zhou Yuan's 膴, Pansy tea is like sugar". The sugar made from it is also called maltose or caramel. For a long time, caramel was a good thing enjoyed by the nobles of the Central Plains.Since the Warring States Period, sucrose has also begun to be available. In "Chu Songs? Calling the Soul", there is "胹苹炒羊, there are some zhe jelly". The zhe jelly here refers to sugar made from sugarcane juice, which is a viscous liquid. It is also called sugar cane yee, but sugar cane is produced in the south, and it is not found in the Central Plains. Until now, sugar cane yee can only be found in Jiaozhou.

And the kind of hard candy that Sun Luban brought back has never been seen before. Even if Sun Quan saw it, at most it was just a candy with certain crystals in the liquid. Even so, it was already very rare.

Jianye's precious things can be found everywhere in Funan, so how far will Funan's strength reach?Sun Quan immediately thought of the most critical issue. If the goods from Funan were allowed to enter Wu State in large quantities, the wealth of Wu State would flow out at an astonishing speed. The most direct problem was that the copper coins in Wu State would be tense. The economy will face crisis.

The more Sun Quan thought about it, he was so shocked that he didn't dare to think too much, he said a few perfunctory words, and hurriedly left Mrs. Bu's palace, leaving Queen Xu and Mrs. Bu looking at each other.Sun Luban saw that Sun Quan's expression was unkind, and wondered if she had caused trouble, but she was not a person who would worry, so she just scratched her head, and soon got into trouble with her two younger sisters.

Gu Mansion, Prime Minister Gu Yong and Madam Lu sat side by side, youngest son Gu Ji, grandson Gu Cheng and others sat together, listening to Gu Yu with a red face talking about the war in Funan and recent events.Gu Yong's face was still as deep as water, unable to see any emotions or anger, but Madam Lu saw that her son who had been depressed because of his poor health was now so energetic, and the joy in her heart could not help showing. She looked at the man who was listening intently. Sun Yuanying sighed secretly, the eldest son Gu Shao was the most capable, but unfortunately he died early, otherwise, the situation of the Gu family would be even better now.It was right to arrange Gu Yu to be with Sun Shao at the beginning, otherwise, he would not be so happy now.

"Zimo was going to come back, but now that Funan is newly settled, there are too many things, he, the new Funan Yin, can't get away, so he had to ask me to greet the two elders." Gu Yu turned to Sun Yuanying He made a salute: "Sister-in-law, Zimo brought gifts to both sister-in-law and Zizhi. He also said that he hoped that sister-in-law would take a trip to Funan when she had time. The king's boat is in Qiantang. If sister-in-law wants to accompany her, she can come anytime." aboard."

Sun Yuanying smiled faintly, without a hint of excitement: "Thank you uncle, I understand."

"Funan Yin, it's not bad." Mrs. Lu nodded again and again with a smile on her face: "Funan County is not only the seat of Taizhou, but also the new capital of the Yue Kingdom. I don't know if you can take on such an important burden, you, as an uncle, have to remind him more. Zimo's kid is smart, but he is a little arrogant, and compared with his father, he is less stable."

Gu Yu nodded with a smile: "Don't worry, mother, Zimo is much calmer now, and according to Shen Xuan, he looks like an old man."

"Really?" Mrs. Lu looked back at Gu Yong, who was frowning slightly, in surprise, and couldn't help laughing: "Shen Xuan is delusional, Zimo has gone through many years, it is possible to be more stable, but to be like him Father estimates that it will take another 20 years."

"Hehehe..." Everyone laughed softly.

Sun Shao asked for the establishment of Funan and Borneo states, but the emperor issued an edict, rejecting Sun Shao’s original plan for Funan and Borneo states, and established Funan as Taizhou and Borneo as Haizhou. Sun Shao didn't care about the little authority of the emperor, but the Yue people had already called it Shunkou, and they were still called Funan Prefecture and Borneo Prefecture. Only Sangongs like Gu Yu knew the official names.The more than a dozen counties near Temu City are Funan County, which is the new capital of Yue State. The prefect of Funan is also called Funan Yin, who is half a level higher than the ordinary prefect.Gu Tan was only in his early twenties, and he was appointed to such an important position, on the one hand because he was Sun Shao's nephew, and on the other hand because he was indeed extremely intelligent.Mrs. Lu was overjoyed to hear such news, Sun Yuanying was also very proud when she heard this news, and Mrs. Lu and her son Gu Cheng could only be envious.Gu Cheng has already performed the coronation ceremony and married Zhang Wen's younger sister Zhang Yuying, but if he wants to become an official, he may have to wait a few years, and then he will follow a series of procedures such as becoming a man and releasing him. He must imagine Gu Tan's age You can easily become two thousand stones, I am afraid that there is no hope in this life.

Gu Yu laughed for a while, put away his smile, and looked at Gu Yong seriously: "Zimo asked me to pass on a message to Ah Weng."

"What news?" Gu Yong stroked his beard, squinted his eyes, and asked lightly.

"Zimo heard about the death of Sun Changxu, so he estimated that Ah Weng might also take over as prime minister. He wrote that if Ah Weng became prime minister, the first problem he would face would be money shortage. If Ah Weng needs help , he can provide an opportunity."

Gu Yong's eyelids twitched, and his originally calm eyes suddenly flashed, and then returned to their original state.He nodded silently, and said calmly, "I see."

In fact, Gu Yong felt this problem as soon as he took office.The economic situation of Wu State was good at first, especially after the pacification of Jiaozhou, a large amount of tax revenue made Sun Quan's life very moist for a while.However, an accident occurred in Nichinan later, which greatly affected the business tax. Later, Sun Deng rushed to Nichinan to suppress the rebellion. The copper coins were earned by the merchants of Yue, and the existing but not serious deficit suddenly showed its power. As soon as Gu Yong took office, he felt the seriousness of the problem. The country has no copper coins to use.

Now that Gu Tan mentioned this issue, Gu Yong had a clue in his mind, but he didn't want to talk about it in front of so many people, but after everyone dispersed, he called Gu Yu to the study and asked Gu Tan about it in detail. ways to help.

Gu Yu said directly: "It's very simple, increase Wuyue's trading volume, sell a large amount of goods needed by Yue to Yue, maintain a balance, and avoid the outflow of copper coins." Gu Yu thought for a while, and then said: "Actually Not only Wu, but Wei and Shu have also encountered such a problem. They are also sending people to discuss this matter with our country of Yue. Our country of Yue also has a problem of money shortage. The king is now considering using gold coins. This time he will meet in the East China Sea. It might be discussed."

Gu Yong frowned, he knew that Sun Quan still had doubts about whether to join the East China Sea Alliance, but if the East China Sea Alliance included such content, and if Wu Guo was absent, he might lose a great opportunity.Dahan is a currency system in which gold and copper coins are in parallel, but gold is generally not used for circulation, but for rewards, gifts, etc. Usually, copper coins such as five baht coins are circulated in the market. With the development of the economy and the increase in transaction volume, copper coins The quantity of gold is seriously insufficient, and using gold as a currency in circulation can indeed solve this problem, but the premise is to balance the price of gold.If the price of gold cannot be maintained in a more suitable range, then reselling gold will become a more convenient way to make profits than stealing.

This is not something that can be decided by the State of Wu. When it comes to the amount of gold, the State of Yue has to be the leader. Everyone knows that Sun Shao not only snatched a gold mine from Yizhou, but also earned a lot of gold from the transaction with Xiyi.In order to stabilize the price of gold, the role of Yue State is self-evident.

In other words, the words that Gu Tan asked Gu Yu to convey are of great significance. It is directly related to whether Gu Yong can secure the position of Prime Minister of Wu. As long as he has the support of Yue, even if Sun Quan has any ideas, he must consider Can other people maintain a stable economic development like Gu Yong?

Gu Yong pondered for a moment, then asked lightly: "The Yue Kingdom is rich and powerful now, what else can we sell?"

"There are too many." Gu Yu smiled and said: "Aside from other things, the citrus in Changsha and Yuzhang is very promising. The citrus in Jiangling is now a big part of the Shu Kingdom's money exchange from the Yue Kingdom, not much worse than the Shu Brocade. "

"There are so many?" Gu Yong frowned, feeling a little unbelievable.Shu brocade is a specialty of Chengdu. Although there are a lot of citrus in Jiangling, the price is far behind. How can they be similar?Does Vietnam consume so many oranges every year?

"Yes, citrus is mainly bought by sailors. It is said that eating one or two citrus a day can cure scurvy, so now as long as merchants go to sea, they must bring some. Your Majesty is planning a long voyage. These citrus Storage is one of the very important preparations."

Gu Yong's interest increased greatly, and the more he talked with Gu Yu, the happier he became.

"The great king is here." The news of Sun Quan's arrival interrupted the conversation between Gu Yong and his son. They looked at each other and felt a little surprised. Gu Yong asked Gu Yu to hide for a while, then put on his court clothes, and prepared to go out to greet him in person. .As soon as he left the backyard, he bumped into Sun Quan who was striding towards him.

"Gu Gong, don't be polite, don't be polite." Sun Quan said with a smile: "I heard that Ji Ze came back, and he must have brought a lot of funan specialties. I came here to get some light."

Gu Yong was taken aback. Sun Quan rushed over just after Gu Yu arrived home. Isn't this too fast?He didn't dare to be negligent, and immediately welcomed Sun Quan into the main hall and sat down, and asked someone to serve refreshments, and then Sun Yuanying came out to meet him.Sun Quan talked and laughed happily, and asked Sun Yuanying a few words, and finally he and Gu Yong were the only ones left, so he put away his smile.

"Gu Gong, you have been prime minister for two months, right?" Sun Quan picked up a piece of pastry and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly, he said calmly, "What's the problem?"

Gu Yong was puzzled, and tentatively asked a few questions, but Sun Quan was noncommittal. It was not until he talked about the money shortage that Sun Quan came to his senses: "How does Mr. Gu plan to solve it?"

Gu Yong breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly rejoiced that if it hadn't happened that Gu Yu had mentioned this issue to him, and now he was suddenly being tortured by Sun Quan, he really had nothing to do.

"This is easy to handle." Gu Yong said calmly: "Traders, exchange and exchange, we can't just buy, but also think about selling, so as to keep the amount of money stable."

"Someone mentioned making big money, do you think it's feasible?"

Gu Yong glanced at Sun Quan and remained silent.Sun Quan laughed awkwardly, knowing that Gu Yong would object if he didn't speak. Of course, he also knew that this idea was a bit bad, and it was not appropriate to bring it up at this time.There were quite a few things like casting big money in the past. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made white deer coins, and Wang Mang also made one knife equaling five thousand coins, that is, one knife money was used as five thousand five baht coins. The word "one knife" was wrong. Gold, also known as Jincuodao in later generations, is a treasure for coin collections in later generations, but it is a failure in terms of currency system reform.Even if the gold is wrong, a piece of money for a knife is not worth [-] yuan. It is profitable, and naturally some people take risks, so the imitation and theft of casting are repeatedly prohibited.Liu Bei also engaged in pawnbrokering in Chengdu, but it was only a temporary measure, a measure to return the scattered coins back to his hands, and it ended in a short time.Now some people propose to Sun Quan to cast big money, which is just a replica of this method, which can meet the urgent need, but it cannot solve the final problem.Because a coin is worth a thousand, and the value of coins far exceeds the value of copper coins, someone will melt and cast copper coins, and then cast them into thousands of dollars to make a profit, which is much faster than doing business to make a fortune.

"Then how do you sell things? What can I sell for money in my country of Wu?" Sun Quan said awkwardly.

"Wu Guoneng sells too many things." Gu Yong said with a smile: "We have good materials, fruits and vegetables, large ships, copper and salt. Not only can we do business with Yue, but we can also trade with Wei and Shu, among other things. Every year, there are as many merchant ships passing by on the big river as the fish in the river. Just by providing food for these people, you can earn a lot of copper coins..."

Sun Quan looked at Gu Yong who was talking eloquently, and suddenly felt a little strange. When did Gu Yong talk about business so smoothly?
At the end of Gu Yong’s speech, he returned to the issue of the currency system. He cryptically suggested that Sun Quan should not miss this opportunity, because even if Wu Guo did not participate, the three kingdoms of Yue, Wei and Shu could reach an agreement, and it would be difficult for Wu Guo to squeeze in. up.Now that Wu and Yue are one, the king of Yue asked the eldest princess to come back to show his favor to the king. Why don't the king seize this opportunity and work side by side with the king of Yue to complete the East China Sea Alliance, so that when Wei and Shu see that Wu and Yue are friendly, they will not Dare to move Wu Guo's thoughts again.

Sun Quan remained silent. He had already prepared himself to listen to Gu Yong's advice to reconcile with Sun Shao. After all, Gu Yong's sons and grandsons all held important positions in Yue. It's tearing the skin open and fighting.

But he was slowly moved by Gu Yong's words. Although Gu Yong had selfish intentions, the actual situation was true. Reconciling with Sun Shao was far more beneficial than fighting against Sun Shao.Among other things, Sun Shao standing behind him to support him, and stabbing him in the back are completely opposite situations for Wu Guo.

"Gu Gong is right." Sun Quan nodded reluctantly: "I want to meet Ji Ze, is that okay?"

Gu Yong smiled: "Your Majesty has orders, how dare you not follow them?"

……

Gu Yu hurried back to Qiantang and reported to Sun Shao the news that Sun Quan was willing to reconcile.Sun Shao smiled and asked someone to invite Yu Fan.

"Grand Yu, please go to Jianye and discuss related matters with Mr. Gu." Sun Shao rubbed his nose and said with an embarrassed smile: "It is said that we should make an appointment at another place close to everyone, but things are very complicated. Urgent, in about ten days, the Son of Heaven will arrive at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the agreement has not yet been settled, and the king of Shu has not yet been seen, so in order to save time, I have to wrong you."

Yu Fan was indeed a little unhappy at first, Gu Yong is the prime minister of Wu, he is the prime minister of Yue, since we want to meet, we should choose a place close to the border and let him rush to Jianye to meet Gu Yong, which is a little bit drop in price.But Sun Shao had already said that, and he couldn't refuse, so he had to agree.

"Wasting time going back and forth." Sun Shao continued: "I will tell you my bottom line first, and then how to talk about it, it's up to you." Sun Shao thought for a while, and said: "It's like when you and The Sheng family and the Zhou family negotiate the same."

Yu Fan was in a good mood immediately. He was the one who had accepted Sun Shao's commission to negotiate with several aristocratic families in Kuaiji, laying the foundation for the Yue Kingdom. No matter how big the grievance is, he is willing to endure it.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will live up to your Majesty's mission." Yu Fan bowed and saluted.After discussing some specific conditions with Sun Shao, he immediately set off with a few subordinate officials and headed straight for Jianye.

Gu Yong got the news and asked Sun Quan for instructions. When Sun Quan heard that it was Yu Fan who had come, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.In the past, when Yu Fan was his courtier, he didn't give him face, but now that he is the prime minister of Yue, he doesn't need to give him face.In order to avoid being turned off by Yu Fan, Sun Quan decided to let Gu Yong talk about it and just report to him in time.After hearing this, Gu Yong couldn't help sighing to himself. Sun Quan and Sun Shao were both kings, but they were much less powerful. People are more popular than people.He had a hunch that in the next negotiation, he would definitely be ridiculed by Yu Fan.

The matter was unfortunate enough to be agreed by Gu Yong. In the ensuing negotiations, Yu Fan firmly held the initiative in his hands because he knew the truth in his heart and didn't need to ask for instructions. However, because of insufficient authorization, Gu Yong was constrained at every step and suffered a lot. suffering.Fortunately, Yu Fan's purpose is very clear. The State of Yue has no intention of becoming an enemy of the State of Wu. In view of the fact that King Wu and King Yue are both surnamed Sun, we are pulling you to make a fortune together. If you are acquainted, immediately agree to peace talks and participate in the meeting At the same time, send a fast horse to notify the Kingdom of Shu. If you don’t know the acquaintance, if you delay for another two days, it will ruin the good thing of my king Donghai’s alliance. Hehe, then there is no need to talk about it.

Gu Yong immediately sent the news to Sun Quan. After weighing it for a long time, Sun Quan finally decided to send a fast horse to inform Sun Deng, asking him to negotiate with Guan Yu and invite Shu Wang Liu Bei to participate in the upcoming East China Sea Conference.

(End of this chapter)