Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 501 Looting Guanzhong ([-])

Seeing that the ministers were all confused, and even Bi Shu and Bai Lixian half understood, Xiang Zhuang knew that he should discuss this matter with Widow Qin and Tang Tong, and immediately said: " Forget it, let's not talk about it beforehand, let's talk about the dirty things between the Han Dynasty and the Yue family, what do you loves think?"

Xiang Tadao: "I think this is a good opportunity to win over the Yuezhi people to contain the Han Kingdom."

Wu She said: "But the question is, if the Yuezhi people get the support of our great Chu, will they occupy the desert in one fell swoop and become another Xiongnu? If this situation really happens, it will be worth the loss."

Regarding this issue, Bai Lixian and Bi Shu are also a little hesitant. From the standpoint of dealing with the Han Dynasty, it is necessary to win over the Yuezhi people, but from the standpoint of the entire Huaxia tribe, they should cooperate with the Han Dynasty to suppress the Yuezhi people. Otherwise, if the Yuezhi people take advantage of the weakening of the Xiongnu and become stronger, they will be a disaster sooner or later.

Xiang Zhuang pondered for a moment, and finally decided to let Pang Yu send someone to contact the Yuezhi people first.

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On the road from Handan to Jixian, a four-horse carriage is speeding.

There are more than [-] Jianqi riding on the left and right of the carriage. Obviously, the owner of this carriage is not an ordinary person.

In fact, the owner of this carriage is none other than Xiangzhuang's mistress and Widow Qin, the head of the Qin family in Badong. Widow Qin left Luoyang ten days ago and came straight to Ji County after a short stay in Handan. Jixian went to Liaodong to discuss in detail the matter of selling food in Zhao State with Meng Ji, the guard of Liaodong.

As soon as the car passed the sand dune platform, a fast horse suddenly came flying from the direction of Handan, and the knight on the horse waved his hand and shouted: "Madam Qin, stay here, stay here..."

Mrs. Qin is a well-known red-capped businessman in Chu State, but she would use other identities when traveling around the country, but the person who came here shouted out Mrs. Qin's identity, obviously she was not an ordinary person, and the twenty-odd Jianqi who guarded the carriage rode in an instant When they became alert, they all put their hands into the luggage on the horse's back, which contained a small crossbow.

That rider approached quickly, and the carriage also slowly stopped on the left side of the road.

More than a dozen strong cavalry quickly surrounded the knight group, but the knight looked calm, just bowed to the carriage, and said in a loud voice: "Mrs. , come here to deliver a letter to Madam on the command of the Commander." After finishing speaking, he took out a sealed letter from his bosom.

It turned out to be a member of Xuanyiwei, more than ten Jianqi looked slightly relaxed, but still a little bit skeptical.

A corner of the curtain of the carriage was raised, and a beautiful maid poked her head out of it, and a knight took the letter from the knight and handed it to the maid, who took the letter and shrank back into the carriage. Then he fell down again, and the knight bowed to the carriage again, then he reined in his horse and turned around, galloping towards Handan.

In the carriage compartment, Widow Qin was leaning lazily on the brocade cushion and asked, "Mei'er, what's the matter?"

The maid held the secret letter in both hands and handed it to Widow Qin, saying, "It's a letter from the Handan branch of Xuanyiwei."

Widow Qin opened the secret letter and read it hastily, a strange light flashed in her beautiful eyes. This letter was undoubtedly sent by the Handan branch of Xuanyiwei, but the content of the letter made Qin The widow was a little surprised, so she immediately told the maid: "Meier, tell He Bo to turn around, let's go back to Handan."

"Back to Handan?" Mei'er said in amazement, "Ma'am, are we not going to Liaodong?"

"I won't go." Widow Qin's beautiful eyes lit up, she shook her head and said, "There are several big deals waiting for us in Guanzhong, Handan and Anyi, but there is no need to go to this bitter cold place in Liaodong."

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Bai Mo's salt and iron official camp has been forcibly pushed away in Guanzhong.

Of course, Bai Mo did not kill the salt merchants and iron merchants in Guanzhong, but gave them a buffer period. In the first stage, Bai Mo only nationalized the source industries such as saltworks and iron smelting workshops, and set up Private operations are temporarily allowed in the middle reaches of the industry, such as trafficking, deep processing, and retail.

But Bai Mo had already given a two-year deadline.

Two years later, the production, transportation and sales of salt and iron will be fully monopolized.

Merchants engaged in the salt and iron business in Guanzhong are now naturally full of complaints. Since ancient times, the two major industries of salt and iron have been the most lucrative industries. Yidun, one of the two legendary giants in the Warring States Period, accumulated huge wealth relying on the salt industry. Not even losing to the overlord of the Central Plains at that time—the King of Wei!

More than 500 years ago, Guan Zhong had calculated an account for Duke Huan of Qi, and finally came to the conclusion that the per capita tax paid by a big country with a population of tens of millions was less than half of the profit earned by the Yantie government. How lucrative is the profit of the salt and iron industry? Now that these two industries are monopolized by the government, can Guanzhong merchants have no complaints?

Among them, the Sima family and the Lu family had the biggest opinions.

The Sima family arose hundreds of years ago. In the generation of Sima Cuo, they became one of the top families in Guanzhong. Later, they gradually set foot in the salt industry and accumulated huge wealth. Sima Zhong, the current patriarch of the Sima family, is the fifth generation of Sima Cuo. Sun, Sima Zhong also has a younger brother, Sima Ji, who is a genius in business.

However, due to the Han State's national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, it is difficult for Sima Ji's business talents to be brought into full play. If you want to be strong, you must follow the example of Chu State in implementing the national policy of encouraging industry and commerce.

At this time, Sima Ji lashed out at Bai Mo in front of Sima Zhong: "Bai Mo is acting so perversely, sooner or later there will be chaos in Guanzhong, and sooner or later the Han Kingdom will perish at the hands of this person."

Sima Zhong's expression changed slightly, and he said, "Third brother, please stop talking."

"Second brother, what are you afraid of?" Sima Ji said disapprovingly, "What I said is the truth, there are many people who have opinions on Bai Mo, and it's not just our family. The white ink is to the bone! I dare say that Bai Mo will die at the hands of the Lu family in the future, hum!"

Sima Zhong was silent, who in Guanzhong didn't know about the grievances between the Lu family and Bai Mo?

Sima Ji said again: "Second brother, my younger brother thinks that we must not stand still and wait for death, but should unite with all major merchants in Guanzhong to put pressure on the imperial court, and let the king take back the edict no matter what."

"To put pressure on the imperial court?" Sima Zhong lost his voice, "You don't want to die? You need to know that your arms can't beat your thighs!"

"That's not necessarily the case!" Sima Ji said coldly, "Will Bai Mo dare to mess around with thousands of merchants?"

"Thousands of merchants?" Sima Zhong's complexion changed drastically, and he asked in a low voice, "Third brother, tell me honestly, is the person who found you last night a spies of Chu State? You must not believe their greedy words, The prime minister is ruthless, if you want to fight him, you are looking for death, and you can't win."

Sima Ji's face became more and more cold, and he said: "Second brother, it's too late to say this now, thousands of merchants in Guanzhong have already started to act secretly, within three days at most, the consequences of Bai Mo's forced establishment of officials to specialize in salt and iron will appear Come out, when the time comes, not only the price of salt and iron will soar, but also the price of food.”

"What?" Sima Zhong said solemnly, "Has it already started?"

"Yes, it has already started." Sima Ji said, "Second brother, if we don't follow up, we will lose a lot!"

Seeing that Sima Zhong was still hesitant, Sima Ji said again: "Second brother, what are you worried about? Once the incident breaks out, Bai Mo will be drowned by the saliva of the people in Guanzhong. If he can admit defeat to us, he can only abolish the Yantie official camp, is it possible that he still dares to use force?"

Sima Zhongdao: "But he is the prime minister of Han after all?"

Sima Ji said: "Second brother, if there is a way, the law does not blame the public. This is the spontaneous action of thousands of merchants!"

Sima Zhong finally made up his mind, and said in a deep voice: "Okay, then let us follow up with dozens of commercial firms in Xianyang, Hanzhong, Beidi, Longxi and Shangjun, and buy as much as we can, whether it is salt, iron or grain. "

"Here!" Sima Ji responded abruptly, and turned around in a hurry.

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When Chen Ping visited the mansion, Bai Mo didn't dare to neglect and greeted him out the door in person.

After the ceremony, Bai Mo let Chen Ping into the living room again, and then asked: "The Grand Master Yinye's visit must be something important, but I don't know what it is?"

Chen Ping nodded slightly, and said worriedly: "Prime Minister, according to the report from Heibingtai, hundreds of grain and salt merchants in Xianyang City are moving around secretly, and I suspect that they may have some ulterior motives. Well, it has something to do with the official salt and iron camp that you just promoted, Prime Minister, so we must take precautions early."

Bai Mo was stunned upon hearing the words, and said disapprovingly, "Is the Grand Master worrying too much?"

Bai Mo has always looked down on traders. In his opinion, they are a group of sheep waiting to be slaughtered, who can get anything they want, and they can't make a fortune at all. For example, the Sima family and the Lu family, even if they have accumulated countless wealth, what can they do?All their family assets can be confiscated with just an edict from the king.

Chen Pingdao: "If it's just one or two merchants, it's nothing to worry about, but if hundreds of merchants unite, their influence will be extraordinary. If all the merchants in Guanzhong unite, then the imperial court will be in big trouble. The iron official camp has just been implemented, and industries such as grain and cloth are completely in the hands of merchants, and it’s really impossible to do without them.”

"All the merchants unite?" Bai Mo waved his hand and said disapprovingly, "The Grand Master is overthinking, overthinking, these merchants are all mercenary, and they can blush for a little profit, how can they possibly Joint action? These businesses really want to act together, unless the sun comes out from the west."

Seeing that Bai Mo didn't take it seriously, Chen Ping had no choice but to say: "In short, the prime minister needs to be careful."

"That's fine." Bai Mo couldn't brush Chen Pingzi too much, and said immediately, "Then Grand Master Lao will ask the Black Ice Platform to strengthen the surveillance of the merchants. If they really have any unruly plans, we can stop them in advance."

(End of this chapter)