The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 484 Writing a Letter
Springtime, 1135 AD!
The insidious plot of Qin Hui and his faction has begun to take shape.

At this time, Li Gang, along with a group of his family, had just boarded Jiang Ziliang's merchant ship, disguised as merchants, and was traveling with the fleet through the Grand Canal towards Chuzhou.

Once he began his "disguised escape," Li Gang cut off all communication with the Southern Song court. He was quite distressed, wanting to know what was happening in the court all day long.

Fortunately, there was a "subordinate of Young Master Yue" on the ship. This person was always with Li Gang and never got off the ship, but for some reason, he was very well-informed. He could immediately know what was happening in Lin'an and tell Li Gang about it.

At this moment, Yue Gongzi's subordinate, who was actually Yue Wenxuan himself, was telling Li Gang about current affairs: "This morning at court, Qin Hui proposed that meritorious service should be rewarded, and Han Shizhong, who was meritorious in resisting the 50-strong Jin army marching south, should be promoted to Privy Councilor, and Yue Fei should be appointed as Deputy Privy Councilor. Zhao Gou agreed without even thinking about it."

Upon hearing this news, Li Gang's heart skipped a beat, but he still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking to himself: Although the Privy Councilor is nominally a civil official, he can still command troops. Tong Guan was the Privy Councilor back then, and he led a large army in campaigns across the country.

However, Yue Wenxuan immediately added, "Han Shizhong has been transferred from the army, and his troops have been handed over to some unknown people whom I've never heard of."

Li Gang: "This is bad! They're going to target Han Shizhong. What about Yue Fei? How is Yue Fei now?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Yue Fei has not yet left the army. He knows that if he leaves, the six prefectures of Jingzhou and Xiangyang will soon be taken over by the Jin army and the puppet Qi army. So he stubbornly defies orders and does not hand over the army immediately. He stays in Nanyang to take charge."

Li Gang breathed a sigh of relief: "Phew, Yue Fei was the smartest."

Yue Wenxuan had a strange expression on his face: "Is this what you call clever? This is clearly being too upright! Alas! I wonder if Prime Minister Li has ever heard the saying 'too much of a good thing is to break.' I think Han Shizhong, who obediently handed over his military power, is the truly clever one."

Li Gang was speechless for a moment. After several seconds, he sighed softly, "To be wise and preserve one's life is merely cleverness. To sacrifice oneself for righteousness is true wisdom."

After saying that, he quickly added, "It seems that Han Shizhong and Yue Fei are both in trouble! Brother, you should quickly inform Young Master Yue in Lin'an and ask him to think of a way to save Han Shizhong and Yue Fei."

Yue Wenxuan shrugged: "It's not like I want to save them and they'll accept it. Maybe they don't even want anyone to save them?"

Li Gang: "..."

Yue Wenxuan: "Unless, Prime Minister Li is willing to write a letter to persuade the two of them, then it might be much easier for Young Master Yue to persuade them with Prime Minister Li's letter."

Li Gang suddenly realized: "That makes sense. I will write a letter right away."

He quickly picked up his pen and wrote. True scholars write quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two letters were finished. Moreover, the handwriting was excellent, practically two pieces of top-notch calligraphy. Yue Wenxuan had a hard time reading classical Chinese and it took him a long time to understand what he had written. It turned out that he had simply refined and simplified Yue Wenxuan's words of advice and turned them into classical Chinese.

Yue Wenxuan accepted the two letters, stopped a merchant ship from Chuzhou to Lin'an on the river, handed the letters to the Northern Song merchants on board, and asked them to take the letters to Prime Minister Qin's residence in Lin'an. Then he continued to accompany Li Gang northward.

Before long, the ship arrived at Chuzhou.

This was Li Gang's first time in the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty. His first stop was the "benchmark city" built by Yue Wenxuan. Chuzhou was a city built from scratch, from ruins. Therefore, the entire city used "new concepts". The city was clean and tidy, and well-planned. The wide and bright streets alone were far superior to Lin'an.

Because Yue Wenxuan consistently promoted a policy of "mercantilism," commerce in Chuzhou was extremely developed, with shops lining both sides of the streets, stretching from the docks all the way to the city center.

As soon as Li Gang disembarked, he was dazzled by the vast array of shops. He saw a merchant from Lin'an haggling with the shopkeeper in front of a cotton cloth shop by the roadside.

A merchant from Lin'an asked, "I need cotton cloth, lots and lots of cotton cloth. What are your prices?"

Local fabric merchant: "How much do you want? The more you buy, the bigger the discount!"

The Lin'an merchant raised his hand and said, "One thousand bolts!"

The local cloth merchant gave him a strange look: "A thousand bolts, how about a 5% discount?"

The Lin'an merchant was shocked: "Only a 5% discount? I want so much, and you're only giving me a 5% discount?"

The local cloth merchant shrugged: "Brother, your quantity is too small. I'm not trying to scare you, but ask around. Merchants from Lin'an all buy in quantities of five or ten thousand. Your thousand bolts are just a small business. Even a 5% discount is too low for you. If I didn't want to make friends, I wouldn't give you a single penny off."

Lin'an merchant: "..."

Li Gang listened from the side with a very strange expression on his face. He turned to Yue Wenxuan and asked, "Is the cotton cloth business so booming right now?"

Yue Wenxuan laughed: "As cotton planting in Chuzhou continues to expand, cotton is becoming cheaper and cheaper, and cotton cloth is naturally becoming cheaper and cheaper as well. With lower prices, the market is bigger, and with small profits but quick turnover, merchants' appetites for purchasing goods are naturally getting bigger and bigger. How long has it been since Prime Minister Li has been out and about among the people? Most of the people in Lin'an City are now wearing cotton cloth produced in Chuzhou."

Li Gang sighed; he really didn't know about this.

It seems that those in high positions of power are prone to overlooking the suffering of ordinary people.

He continued forward and saw that the dockside was mostly filled with wholesalers, who valued the quantity of goods they sold, as the price was lower. Goods like cotton, salt, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes—items that were locally produced in Chuzhou—were priced so cheaply that Li Gang was shocked. Once these goods reached Lin'an, the toll fees along the way would cause their prices to skyrocket, almost doubling. In other words, the people of Lin'an lived a life twice as hard as the people of Chuzhou.

Li Gang couldn't help but ask, "Chuzhou is the place of origin, so it's not surprising that things are cheap. But are prices like this in other cities in the Northern Song Dynasty?"

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "There are no tolls for transportation within the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty. So only the transportation cost is added to the price of the goods. Cotton cloth will be slightly more expensive in other places, but not by much."

When Li Gang heard this, he felt terrible.

Was the officialdom in the Northern Song Dynasty really that clean and honest? Did they not charge tolls throughout the entire country?

He couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "If local officials, military officers, and clerks don't set up toll booths to collect tolls, how do they make money?"

Yue Wenxuan revealed a sinister smile: "Making money? Young Master Yue has paid them their full salaries. Anyone caught making money illegally will be caught and killed!"

Li Gang: "!!!"

(End of this chapter)