Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 75 One Fire, Two Fires, A Scarlet-Clad Boy Sitting in the Hall
Liu Jianjun is now "ruling the world".

He was standing at the entrance of the horse trading company, haggling with a group of foreign merchants. Twenty Kunlun slaves were a big deal for these merchants, especially since Liu Jianjun wanted the best Sengqi slaves, which cost at least ten strings of cash per slave.

Therefore, these foreign merchants fawned over Liu Jianjun, haggling with him in broken Chinese.

As for the East African blacks and South Asian blacks that Liu Jianjun mentioned, Li Xian could only understand the general idea. Judging from the directional words, Liu Jianjun probably divided these Kunlun slaves according to their regions.

"You're kidding me, this isn't a purebred Black man, he's obviously a Negrito... Hey, this big black guy is pretty good!"

Liu Jianjun weaved through the Kunlun slaves, walked up to one of them, pried open his lips to examine his teeth.

"This guy, you can't even see him at night unless he opens his mouth! Count that one in!"

This means the next person has been chosen.

Li Xian was very curious. The Kunlun slave recommended by the foreign merchant earlier looked quite good. His skin was as black as ink, and his hair was curled into a snail shell shape. If he bought it and placed it at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion, it would look like an angry Vajra, which would definitely make a great impression.

But Liu Jianjun didn't like it.

Not only that, but in fact, those foreign merchants recommended many Kunlun slaves of excellent quality, some with disheveled hair and gold spots, some with broad shoulders and thick backs, but Liu Jianjun seemed to have his eye on the "iron-boned" ones. The foreign merchants were very good at reading people's expressions, and afterwards they only recommended those iron-boned ones to Liu Jianjun.

So, he quickly selected twenty Kunlun slaves and eagerly came to Li Xian's side.

Reaching out his hand: "Xianzi, pay up!"

Li Xian asked, "How much?"

"Two hundred and thirty strings of cash."

"How can I pay for something this heavy?" Li Xian glared at him irritably, then walked up to the foreign merchant and asked, "Do you have any currency here?"

These specialized horse trading posts would have government officials stationed there, issuing "market certificates" as proof of transactions and legal documentation. Of course, for buyers, this was a convenient tool.

The slave trade involved large transactions, and neither copper coins nor silk were convenient to use. Therefore, buyers could sign a market contract with sellers, pay a deposit in advance, and then have the seller deliver the goods to their door before settling the balance.

The foreign merchant hurriedly nodded and bowed, replying, "Yes, we are all legitimate foreign merchants, and we have all obtained market certificates from the government!"

As he spoke, he brought over a scroll of documents stamped with the official seal. Li Xian checked the shop addresses and numbers on the documents, nodded, took out a silver coin from his pocket, and asked, "The deposit has increased to 20% this year? I remember it was only 10% two years ago."

Hu Shang stared at the silver ingot in Li Xian's hand and chuckled: "It's all because of those pirates. In the past two years, they have plundered and sold a large number of Silla maids in Dengzhou, Laizhou and the coastal areas. Those Silla maids were not trained and caused a lot of trouble after they were sold to Chang'an, making it difficult for us legitimate Sogdian merchants to do business."

"The Tang government is taking good care of us, so they have doubled the deposit."

After saying that, he smiled apologetically and said, "As long as you don't back out, it doesn't make much difference whether the deposit increases or not!"

Li Xian nodded nonchalantly: "The Tang Dynasty is infinitely benevolent; you should all know how to be grateful."

Then he handed over the silver coin.

Two hundred and thirty strings of cash is not much; the reward money that Empress Wu gave to the Prince of Pei's residence to appease the Li clan was more than that.

Besides, the money is for Liu Jianjun, so it's worth it.

Seeing that Li Xian had no objection, the foreign merchant immediately nodded and said "yes." He then happily accepted the silver ingots without weighing them, simply placing them in his hand to weigh them. He then pressed his fingerprint onto the market certificate and cheerfully presented it to Li Xian with both hands.

Q: "Where is your residence, esteemed guest?" "Hibiscus Old Garden, Prince Pei's Residence."

……

On the way back, Liu Jianjun exclaimed in amazement, "So this is how the big stake transactions in Chang'an are conducted?"

Li Xian said irritably, "What else? Do you think everyone is a strongman, carrying hundreds or thousands of pounds of copper coins all over the streets?"

Liu Jianjun chuckled and asked, "What was that foreign merchant talking about when he mentioned pirates? Are there pirates along the coast of our Great Tang? Are they Japanese?"

"Piracy has been a persistent problem throughout history. Our Great Tang Dynasty has improved a lot, with only a few scattered pirates. Moreover, these pirates generally do not dare to plunder our Great Tang merchant ships, but only dare to rob foreign ships. As for the Japanese you mentioned, there should be some of them as well."

Li Xian pondered for a moment and said, "Although Japan respects our Great Tang as the Celestial Empire, its land is barren, and there is no shortage of refugees who may turn to banditry."

Liu Jianjun seemed to be deep in thought, and after a while, he asked, "Then these horse and fodder shops should be under the jurisdiction of the government in Chang'an, right?"

Li Xian nodded: "In fact, the officials in charge of the horse and fodder markets are all prefectural-level officials. In other words, the horse and fodder markets in Chang'an should be under the jurisdiction of the Prefect of Yongzhou."

Liu Jianjun was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "The Prefect of Yongzhou? Aren't you the Governor of Yongzhou? He's your direct subordinate?"

"hold head high."

"So you mean this place is under your jurisdiction too?" Liu Jianjun's eyes widened.

"My position is just a nominal one!" Li Xian said irritably. "Have you seen me handling any official business these past few days?"

"That's true." Liu Jianjun nodded, then sighed, "This Prefect of Yongzhou seems to be a talented person, but I've never heard of him before."

“His name is Su Liangsi. In his early years, he served as the Sima (military officer) of the Prince of Zhou's court. He often offered remonstrances to His Majesty, the Prince of Zhou at the time, and was highly praised by His Majesty.” Because they were outside, Li Xian did not address Li Xian by his full name directly. He then asked, “How do you know that this man is a talented person?”

"Didn't that foreign merchant say that the coastal areas are plagued by pirates, which is affecting the foreign merchants' business? He is far away in Chang'an and cannot do anything about the pirates, but he can't just watch the foreign merchants' business decline, since it is related to Chang'an's tax revenue. So he came up with this method of raising the fixed price."

"For the people of Chang'an, raising the deposit will not affect the final transaction price. For the merchants from other places, raising the deposit means greater risk protection, which is a win-win solution."

"The fact that he noticed the small things clearly shows that he has a good business sense. It seems that your Li family has some talented people in the family."

Li Xian said irritably, "Then why are you so sure that the Empress Dowager will win?"

Liu Jianjun sighed: "There's nothing we can do. Your mother has spoiled you princes rotten. She's ruined a perfectly good game..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Xian saw Liu Jianjun's eyes light up and he ran towards the end of the alley.

Li Xian followed Liu Jianjun's gaze and saw several children playing a grass-fighting game. In the dead of winter, the grass and trees were withered, and most of the grass the children found was withered and yellow. They tied the grass into rings and wore them on the heads of the winners, laughing and chasing each other.

Liu Jianjun jogged over, pulled out a few copper coins from his pocket, and grinned maliciously: "Hey, how about I teach you a folk song?"

Whether attracted by the song or by Liu Jianjun's copper coins, the children gathered around.

Liu Jianjun cleared his throat and sang: "One piece of fire, two pieces of fire, a little boy in scarlet robes sits in the palace."

……

(End of this chapter)