Chinese New Year

Chapter 1470 Buy, Buy!

At the end of September, several thousand soldiers and more than ten thousand able-bodied men arrived in Gaochang, preparing to return home.

They weren't in a good mood because they hadn't fought much, and the Kuaihu were still very poor, so they hadn't gotten much spoils of war. Furthermore, the Protectorate General of the Western Regions had begun to strictly enforce military discipline, so they gained even less.

Just before the troops returned, the various countries pooled together some gold and silver as rewards to lessen their disappointment.

However, even with little money, the group still spent lavishly after arriving in Gaochang.

A few days later, Zhao Wangyou, Shen Jin's cousin, and the wealthy merchant Shen Dian and his son led a large caravan to Gaochang.

Almost simultaneously, two Sogdian merchant groups arrived, bringing with them large amounts of silver and goods.

In a short time, the market of Gaochang County, with a population of just over 40,000, was flooded with silver. The silver-copper price ratio reached a ridiculous level, and prices skyrocketed, which was astonishing.

On the last day of September, Shen Dian personally visited the Gaochang royal palace and mentioned some recent events.

Shao Xu had just put down the Kharosthi document in his hand when he waved for an elderly man with a high nose and deep-set eyes to leave.

Shen Dian knew this old man; he was from Shanshan and was proficient in both Chinese and Kharosthi. He often taught King Zhao Kharosthi script and language.

He was somewhat impressed; King Zhao was truly eager to learn! He had no interest in even glancing at the Kharosthi script, which was so terrible, and it was only used in some city-states in the Western Regions; it seemed that it was no longer widely used in India.

The Kushan dynasty is still in use, but the country declined too quickly and its influence has greatly diminished.

King Zhao must have a lot of free time to learn a language that will kill him sooner or later!
"Sit down, and tell me about the major events in the capital." Shao Xu tidied the table himself, then took out his treasured wine and poured a glass for each of them.

Shen Dian rose to express his gratitude, then replied, "The Crown Prince is surveying the fields in Yingchuan. When I left Luoyang, I seemed to have already finished surveying Yingchuan and was preparing to investigate the population and land holdings of the various prefectures in Yuzhou. After Yuzhou, the next step will be Yanzhou."

"Grandpa is truly ruthless." Shao Xu sighed and said, "If it were me, I would have done it myself first, checked all the fields, and let others hate me if they want. Then I would have let my sixth brother show his favor. Wouldn't that be better than what we're doing now?"

Shen Dian bowed his head and agreed.

He disagreed with the King of Zhao's opinion, but he liked the King of Zhao's temperament.

Even the most ruthless, cunning, wicked, and greedy person hopes that the person in power who decides their fate will be more lenient, benevolent, kind, and generous.

King Zhao was certainly not a pushover, but he was by no means a villain either; in fact, he could be described as benevolent. Working under such a person was comfortable and easy.

"Continue," Shao Xu said, raising his white jade wine cup in a gesture.

Shen Dian did not drink. After sorting out his thoughts, he said, "After the Prince of Qi took office as the governor of Pingzhou, he mainly governed by non-interference. In private, he promoted the trade and commerce. I heard that he spent money to buy several old ships that were no longer used in Shamen Town and used them to travel between Wudi and Liekou."

"Wudi?" Shao Xu put down his wine cup and pondered for a moment.

This is going to cross the Liaodong Peninsula! Even if I didn't dare to do that, walking along the coast would still be quite risky. My brother is truly courageous.

"What goods will you sell in Liekou?" Shao Xu pressed.

"Most of the goods sold were daily necessities from the Central Plains, such as furs, seafood, placer gold, and medicinal herbs."

What kinds of seafood?

"Kombu."

Shao Xu sighed upon hearing this word. He was now the prince of the Great Liang Dynasty furthest from the sea, and buying seafood was incredibly difficult. Frankly, it would be better to buy from merchants in the Western Regions—he'd heard that the Kushan Empire and Persia weren't far from the sea, but he didn't know if that was true. He'd have to find some Persian books to read next time, but that would probably mean learning another language…

"King Qi is still recruiting strong men from the Central Plains to march east to Liekou," Shen Dian continued. "I've heard of few, only a few dozen at a time, at most no more than a hundred, including men, women, young and old."

Shao Xu hummed in agreement.

“The King of Chu returned to the capital once, and I heard that he has been given another post, but I do not know where.” Shen Dian added, “Before I left the capital, I heard that Chen Zhen of Yizhou was seriously ill and did not have much time left.”

This time, Shao Xu remained silent for a long time after listening.

Just as Shen Dian was about to continue with the next matter, Shao Xu suddenly spoke up: "No, Second Brother, you cannot go to the South. The Liao people are barbaric and have no sense of honor or shame; they are truly dangerous. Even Zhuge Liang, the Marquis of Wu, expended tremendous effort, crossing the Lu River in May and venturing deep into the barren lands, to barely pacify the region. Moreover, we don't even know where the Liao people in the South came from. All the previous governors of Ningzhou have never dared to take any action, prioritizing peace above all else. This place is unsuitable. Even if the Liao people don't cause trouble, a serious illness could easily lead to—"

At this point, he suddenly stood up, looking somewhat uneasy.

Shen Dian was stunned. The King of Zhao actually thought the King of Chu was going to be enfeoffed in the south? That seemed unlikely. The situation in Gaochang wasn't even settled yet; where would the Emperor find the energy?
After pacing around the room for a few steps, Shao Xu gradually calmed down and sat back down opposite Shen Dian, saying, "I lost my composure for a moment, please forgive me."

"Your Majesty's brotherly love is something I deeply admire," Shen Dian praised.

"What is Tiger Head doing in Liaodong?" Shao Xu asked again.

"No news yet," Shen Dian replied. "All we know is that the Prince of Yan has purchased several old ships and is recruiting boatmen in Jiangnan at great expense, joining forces with the Mi and Huan families to trade horses and furs."

Shao Xu nodded and said, "Fourth brother is capable, much better than me, his elder brother. His Liaodong Kingdom is truly gaining a foothold. Compared to his side, Gaochang is really lacking in talent, alas."

“Your Majesty, I have brought three thousand bolts of silk and over a thousand bolts of brocade with me. I will sell them for—” “One bolt of brocade is worth forty-five coins, and one bolt of silk is worth fifteen coins,” Shao Xu stated the prices directly.

Shen Dian was speechless.

Many times, he felt that the King of Zhao was better at business than him, and knew everything, but only needed people to run errands for him.

In fact, Gaochang does have a certain scale of silkworm breeding, but the quality is very poor. It is considered inferior among cheap coarse silks and cannot be sold at all. It can only be worn by locals.

You can tell from the price: a bolt of local coarse silk costs two coins, which is less than eight-strand linen, which costs five coins. Not to mention a bolt of six-strand cotton cloth, which costs twelve coins.

"Over four thousand bolts of brocade, that's quite a lot. Have you found a buyer yet?" Shao Xu asked.

“I’ve heard that a merchant from Wanjin City (near Samarkand) is willing to pay 90,000 taels of silver to buy it, and with some bargaining, the price might be reduced to 100,000,” Shen Dian said. “However, I’ve also heard that this man’s wife is a Kuaihu.”

"It's alright." Shao Xu didn't care at all, but frowned and said, "Why is it money again?"

Having said this, he stood up again and sighed, "Money! Money! What do I need so much money for? Alas!"

Shen Dian was also helpless.

Some merchants were unwilling to sell their goods in Gaochang and preferred to pay for them with gold and silver.

For example, if people encountered these four thousand bolts of brocade in Gaochang, they would be very willing to buy them directly, or temporarily store them locally, or send someone to transport them back. However, they were really unwilling to sell Western Region goods in Gaochang; at most, they would let you take a cut.

However, the influx of large sums of money into Gaochang also brought many problems.

Actually, this was still considered good. Two hundred years later, the rent for one mu of ordinary land in Gaochang was eight wen per year, and the rent for vineyards and vegetable gardens was as high as sixteen wen per mu per year. The direct reason was that the Xiongnu tribes continued to migrate westward, defeated Persia several times, and even captured the Persian king, demanding huge ransoms. In addition, Persia paid tribute every year, which was equivalent to annual tribute.

The White Huns were not very good at managing their money, so the Sogdians joined forces with them, importing large amounts of Persian silver coins into the Central Plains to buy silk and sell it for profit, thus preserving and increasing the value of the White Huns' assets—they were quite professional investment managers.

As a state in the Western Regions, Gaochang was swept up by wave after wave of silver influx, leading to alarming inflation.

Even if an acre of land yields three or four bushels of grain a year, the rent of eight wen of silver is considered reasonable by both parties. The only explanation is that grain prices have skyrocketed, and even the basic prices of goods throughout Gaochang have skyrocketed.

This trend was already beginning, which is why Shao Xu was quite distressed as he watched the money keep pouring in.

My father said that in the long run, price increases in Gaochang are inevitable, but they must not skyrocket; they should rise slowly to give officials and the people time to adapt.

Furthermore, this demonstrates the wisdom of the father in strictly prohibiting the circulation of foreign money.

If I ban Persian silver coins and only use the tortoise coin (a type of currency), then the amount of silver circulating in the market will be controllable.

Unfortunately, we're still in a transition period, so we can't do that...

“Qing—” Shao Xu stopped and said.

"Your Majesty, please give your orders," Shen Dian said, bowing.

"Have your family moved over yet?" Shao Xu asked.

"They came with this shipment," Shen Dian replied. "There were also some old friends from my youth, from the Sun family of Fuchun, a total of over a hundred people, who all came along."

Shao Xu nodded and said, "You should rest well at home first. You can make another trip to Luoyang and Bianjing in the latter half of the first month."

"Yes," Shen Dian replied.

"The palace has stored a considerable amount of goods from the Western Regions obtained through the lottery system, as well as a large sum of silver." Shao Xu's brows slowly relaxed, and he said, "In the next two months, the palace will mint as many tortoise-shell coins as possible. You can take them all with you, along with the goods from the Western Regions, to Luoyang and Bianliang, and then—"

Shao Xu looked outside and said firmly, "Then recruit people, with generous rewards. Those willing to come to Gaochang will be granted land in Yiwu, Jinman, and Pulei by me, without taking a penny. Their families will also be given money and provisions as a settlement allowance. After all, children raised for more than ten years are suddenly going far away, so some compensation is necessary. You can determine the specific amount after you go to the Central Plains. I'm not sure how much to give them."

Shen Dian was somewhat surprised.

It's truly strange that they would bring so much money and goods to Luoyang and Bianjing, not to buy goods from the Central Plains to continue making money, but instead to "buy" people.

But he also knew that Gaochang was desperately short of manpower. While King Zhao's actions might result in short-term losses, they could ultimately be beneficial in the long run, especially for his descendants.

Therefore, he agreed without hesitation.

"I also have letters to take to Luoyang at that time," Shao Xu said with a smile.

In just a few months, he had sent several letters to his father, the earliest of which may have already reached Luoyang.

He eagerly awaited his father's reply, as well as greetings from his mother and siblings.

Being away from home, loneliness is inevitable. I really want to see my parents, siblings, and other relatives.

(End of this chapter)