Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 385
"That's right! That's right!" Cui Hongdu also understood at this time, this Nanbajin is the largest port for the Japanese, and those who can make a living here must be well-informed people. The fine porcelain that Wang Wenzuo sent out earlier, Tea and silk are favorite items of the Japanese aristocrats. This kind of thing can be as short as three to five days, or as long as half a month, and it will spread throughout the capital of the Japanese people. No one is afraid that no one will come to buy it.

"Minggong, you want me to come?" Cao Sengnu bowed his knees at the cabin door.

"Monk slave, you are here, come in and talk!" Wang Wenzuo pointed to his left hand: "By the way, what do you think of Nanbajin?"

"Nanbajin? What does Minggong mean?" Cao Sengnu showed a puzzled look, obviously he still didn't quite understand which aspect Wang Wenzuo was asking about.Seeing this, Wang Wenzuo smiled and said, "It's my fault that I didn't make it clear! What I mean is, if you build a trading station in Nanbajin to trade with Japanese people, what do you think?"

"Build a trading station in Nanbajin to trade with the Japanese?" Cao Sengnu opened his mouth in surprise: "If this is the case, it would be great, but will the Japanese agree?"

"Whether the Japanese agree or not, let's put it aside! Tell me why you think it would be good to be a business station in Namba Tsu?"

"Minggong, the villain thinks that Nanbajin is the Japanese Yangzhou!"

"Yangzhou? Why do you say that?" Wang Wenzuo and Cui Hongdu exchanged glances, and they both saw a trace of surprise in each other's eyes. Although the economic center of the Tang Dynasty was still in the north, when it comes to the commodity economy, there is a saying that one is better than the other. , That is to say, the world's cities are prosperous in business and trade, Yangzhou is the first and Yizhou is the second, not Chang'an and Luoyang. Cao Sengnu compares Nanbajin with Yangzhou, which can be said to coincide with Wang Wenzuo.

"Ming Gong, the villain is rude!" Cao Sengnu pleaded guilty to Wang Wenzuo, took the water glass in front of Wang Wenzuo, stretched out his finger to dip in the water, and drew on the table: "Since ancient times, if you want to have a prosperous business Land, first of all, must have a prosperous population, so that people can have wealth; secondly, it must have convenient transportation. , with rich products and a prosperous population. Secondly, the Yangtze River Canal meets here, and the north and south goods meet here, and overseas merchants can also come from the upstream Yangtze River. This is also the case in Nanbajin. First, the river and the sea meet, and the transportation is convenient. The population is booming."

"That's right! If it's not enough, it's too much to say!" Wang Wenzuo laughed.

"It's okay to announce it tomorrow!" Cao Sengnu hurriedly said.

"I heard what Dinghui and Shoujun Dashi said before: the ancestors of the Japanese first arrived in a basin in Nara. Later, as the strength of the Japanese became stronger, they sent out troops to attack and open up, enfeoffing their children as vassals, but The capital is still in Nara, and this Nara is like the Guanzhong of the Japanese, but what is it that cannot be separated from the current Guanzhong?"

"Water transport?" Cao Sengnu asked.

"That's right, it's water transportation!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Since the Nara Basin is the root of the Japanese, their nobles must live here, and the tax and tribute from the four territories must also be collected here. Many, the waterway is the most convenient. Think about it, what did those tank boats in Chang’an pack when they returned? Are you still worried that the Japanese will not agree to build a trading station in Nanbajin?"

"The villain understands!" After Wang Wenzuo's advice, Cao Sengnu finally understood.Different from modern cities, the vast majority of cities in ancient times were purely consumerist, and the cities had a purely extractive and parasitic relationship with the countryside. The cities squeezed a large amount of surplus products from the countryside in the form of taxes, tributes, etc. Except for a few high-end handicraft products and daily necessities (such as salt and spices) that cannot be produced locally, nothing will be given back to the countryside.And the more important cities are like the capital, the more extreme examples are Chang'an, Luoyang, Bianliang, Beijing in ancient China, and Rome in ancient Western countries. Most of the residents in these cities are ruled by a small group of top Those who serve the class do not do any productive labor.At that time, Japan's capital Asuka, although it would not reach the level of the cities above, would definitely have a large number of foreign tributes and taxes to support the unproductive population around the capital.

But it cannot be said that the extraction of rural areas by ancient cities is completely useless. It should be said that this also promoted the development of commercial trade. In order to reduce transportation costs as much as possible, city rulers will build roads, ports, and canals. In order to store goods, He will build warehouses, and in order to obtain goods that are produced outside the scope of his rule, he will also build markets, formulate laws, and reward merchants.With the gradual recovery of commercial trade, the ruler will gradually find that collecting commercial taxes is a more profitable thing than directly collecting tribute from the countryside.Take Nanbajin of the Japanese as an example. People in other areas far away from the Nara Basin will definitely hide their harvest as much as possible, and try their best to refuse and delay paying taxes; Bojin, in order to obtain these rare Chinese goods, other Japanese-ruled areas, and even other local aborigines outside the Yamato Kingdom’s ruled area, will voluntarily transport various goods for trading. The more people come, the more prosperous the trade will be. The Japanese rulers only need to send a tax collector, and they can easily get rich returns, which can be described as sitting back and enjoying the benefits.

"However, if this is the case, it would be too cheap for the Japanese!" Cui Hongdu laughed and said, "It is obvious that they are a group of barbarians who offended Master Wang at Baijiangkou, but we came to give benefits!"

"Hongdu, first of all, we can also benefit from trade, and it will be the big one. After all, after we are familiar with the waterway, we can go directly to the ports in other Japanese territories to trade directly, instead of just staying in Nanbajin!" Wang Wenzuo He said with a smile: "Secondly, my family is the only one who can trade with the Japanese. Once the trade is on track, whether to give this benefit or not, to this person or that person, is not in my hands alone!"

"That's right!" Cui Hongdu clapped his palms and said with a smile: "In this way, we can manage the Japanese government without spending a single soldier!"

"That's not enough!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "But at least it's no problem to support a few people we trust!"

Sitting at the side, Cao Sengnu was already dazzled by what he heard. He was born in the nine surnames of Zhaowu. In these small countries in the Western Regions, he influenced the government through trade, and even directly intervened in the royal infighting. too much.He has been familiar with it since he was a child, but he also knows that Datang is different from those small countries, not to mention meddling in the royal family, even the affairs of the state and county are not something that a merchant dares to talk about, but he did not expect that he would be able to meet in the country of Wa. Hearing this familiar story, and thinking that he might be like those rich businessmen in the legend who turned their hands into clouds and rain, his heart beat faster and faster, almost jumping out of his mouth.

"Monk slave!"

"The villain is here!" Cao Sengnu hurriedly bowed his head.

"The tall buildings are rising on the ground. The first thing right now is to get the Japanese to agree to give us a piece of land to settle down! I'll test you first, how should I speak?"

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The next day.

Cao Sengnu tilted the wine bottle and poured the dark red wine liquid into the cup of the small Japanese official Pingliu on the opposite side.Ping Liu stared at the dark red wine in the cup, and swallowed subconsciously.

"Come, please!"

There is no need for a translator, Pingliu can also understand the meaning of the opposite Tang. He carefully picked up the wine glass and licked it first. A feeling that he had never felt before came from the tip of his tongue. He looked at the opposite Tang. Looking at himself with a smile on his face, Ping Liu took a deep breath and drank the wine in the glass. The unprecedented pleasure passed from his stomach through his throat and rushed straight to his forehead, making him subconsciously shout: " yay yay!"

Cao Sengnu was taken aback by Pingliu's reaction, he picked up the wine glass and took a sip, isn't this wine sour?Could it be that the Japanese are not used to wine, and they even picked out a bottle of good wine, which is really a waste of feeding peonies to pigs.

Feeling coming and going faster, Ping Liu picked up the wine glass and pushed it over, pointed to the wine bottle in Cao Sengnu's hand, then pointed to his own empty glass, and raised his thumbs again and again.

"It turns out this guy likes to drink, he scared me!" Cao Sengnu heaved a sigh of relief, he filled the glass again, and Ping Liu drank it clean again, and he drank seven or eight glasses in a row, Cao Sengnu tilted the bottle , but no liquid flowed into the glass—the bottle of wine was finished.

"One more bottle, I haven't had enough!" Ping Liu shouted loudly drunkenly, and the interpreter at the side translated it to Cao Sengnu in a low voice, Cao Sengnu nodded: "Tell him, this wine is for the boat The envoy of the emperor drank it, this bottle is the half bottle that the envoy drank last night, I secretly took it out to treat him, and now it is gone, if he still wants to drink, then there is only ordinary rice wine!"

"No more?" Ping Liu slapped his tongue in disbelief: "Forget it, it's a blessing to be able to taste the fine wine of the envoy of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty today. Thank you Cao Guiren for me!"

The rice wine was brought up, and Ping Liu took a sip. Maybe it was because he just drank the wine, but the normally palatable rice wine seemed so bland and tasteless, and even had a musty smell. He put down his glass in disappointment, and sighed.

"Are you not used to drinking this kind of rice wine?" Cao Sengnu asked.

"Yes!" Ping Liu sighed: "It is obvious that a person of low status has touched the fairy wine that the nobles drink. I am afraid that I will not be able to drink alcohol in the future. I am really troubled!"

"If you really like this kind of wine, I can give you two bottles! Let you drink it to your heart's content!" Cao Sengnu laughed.

"Give me two bottles? That would be great!" Ping Liu was overjoyed, and then he frowned again: "But that is a good wine that only the emperor's envoys can enjoy, how can you bring it to me?"

"The envoy is a very generous nobleman. As long as anyone can solve his troubles for him, he will reward him very generously. He has a very troublesome thing right now. If I can solve it for him, don't say Two bottles of wine, no matter how many rewards there are, he will generously agree!"

"A noble person like the emperor's envoy also has troubles?"

"Yes, he was ordered by the emperor to go to Japan this time. There are many valuable gifts for the king of Japan in the cabin. Due to the long journey, many of the gifts in the cabin are wet by sea water. If you take them out in time to dry If you do it, these goods will be rotten and damaged, which is a great sin!"

"Then why not take the cargo out on deck to dry?"

"The deck is only so big, and the sea is very windy. If it is blown into the sea and lost, wouldn't it be a greater sin?"

"That's true!" Ping Liu nodded, he pondered for a moment and asked, "How much space do you want to dry?"

"We have four boats, and there are a lot of goods in the cabin. Let's say at least fifty steps square to dry them! And in order to prevent these goods from being stolen and wet by rain, we have to send people to guard them and build a bamboo basket. shed!"

"Is fifty paces enough?"

"Enough! Ping Liu, do you have a solution?" Cao Sengnu asked.

"If fifty steps square is enough, then leave everything to me, Ping Liu!" Ping Liu patted his chest and said with a smile: "Anyway, it's a gift for the king, and it's not a courtier to watch them rot and ignore them." duty!"

"Then everything depends on Master Pingliu!"

"Hahaha, this little thing is nothing, do you have some wine now?" Ping Liu turned his gaze to the door.

"No problem!" Cao Sengnu laughed and said, "Brother Ping Liu, besides the wine, I will also prepare a special thank you gift for you after the matter is completed!"

About half an hour later, Cao Sengnu, whose face was reddish, walked out of the cabin, came to Wang Wenzuo beside the side of the ship, and said in a low voice, "Ming Gong, that little Japanese official agreed!"

"Very well, I will leave this matter to you, remember, I don't know anything!"

"The villain understands!" Cao Sengnu lowered his head. As Wang Wenzuo's envoy of a country, if he is too enthusiastic about these business affairs, he will only give others a hand. It is better to pretend that he doesn't know anything.

"I took a lot of gold and silver from you in Chang'an—"

"Ming Gong!" Cao Sengnu hurriedly replied after hearing the words: "You have saved our lives, so what is this little gold and silver, the villain has absolutely no grudges!"

"This is the best!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "But! You can't say that no one of your compatriots has a grudge against me, can you?"

"This——" Cao Sengnu was dumbfounded for a while, and he replied in a low voice after a while: "Those people are short-sighted, you go and don't be as knowledgeable as them!"

"Of course I don't have the same knowledge as them, otherwise I wouldn't tell you these things now!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "You Sogdians say it nicely because they are good at management, and what they say badly is greedy for money, but most of the merchants It’s this disposition, and I can’t blame you. But you have to remember that money is important, and there are more important things than money!”

"The villain remembers!"

"Just memorizing is useless, you have to think clearly to be useful! What you said just now is correct. Those people are short-sighted. If they want to do a small business, it's fine. If they want to make the business bigger, they will only be short-sighted if they are rich in capital. I hurt myself!"

(End of this chapter)