Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 135 Li Shimin's Troubles

Every year in mid-June, it is the time when the first batch of Hu merchants from the Western Regions arrive in Chang’an. This year, the Western Regions have been fighting continuously. The merchants who can come from the battlefields of Jieli and Tuli are all lucky. Arsako is a lucky businessman. He, who has many experience in selling goods in Chang'an, knows that he may be going to make a fortune this year, because he didn't see many similar caravans coming to Chang'an along the way, that is to say, there must be very few similar goods in Chang'an this year. , His goods can be sold at high prices.

Arsako's caravan has more than 300 camels and more than 1000 boxes of goods, most of which are filled with white dippers that were in short supply in the Chang'an market last year. Chang'an, but it can be sold at a high price of hundreds of copper coins. Riding on the camel, he fantasizes beautifully. After the goods are sold this time, he will buy a house in Chang'an and enjoy two years of happiness. When the war in the Western Regions stops Yes, he will make another trip.

However, when he walked to a wide river and wanted to fill his kettle with some clean water, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

On both sides of the river, there are actually a lot of cypress trees that are as tall as a person. On each cypress tree, there are dozens of cotton bolls, and many bolls have matured and split, with white flowers.

"Why? Why is Datang able to plant basilica? The basilica trees they planted are actually taller and stronger than the ones in Gaochang. God, what did I see..."

Looking at the endless banks of the river, Arsako hugged his head and shouted.

Cotton grows better, like a small tree, and Sun Xiangfu chose to plant it along the river because there is enough moisture and fertility in the soil, and it can produce cotton bolls. With his scientific planting method, The cotton grown here is of course not comparable to the almost wild cotton grown in Gaochang.

Arsako's shout immediately aroused the uneasiness of his companions. They also felt the seriousness of the matter when they saw the cotton. If Datang could grow so much cotton by himself, then the goods in their hands would become worthless. Well, they risked their lives on this trip, and they might lose money. After all, after a few months, people eat and eat, and their consumption is also very huge.

Sun Xiangfu has planted more than 3 mu of cotton this year. He has planted not a single grain of cotton seeds in his house and the warehouse of the Department of Agriculture, so that the people in Chang'an can wear cotton seeds. Wear warm clothing.

However, he did not realize the consequences of his massive cotton cultivation.

When Arsako's caravan stayed beside the cotton field for a long time, Qin Mansion's cavalry team came over.

Although there were only 30 people, Qin Hu, the leader of the team, was very confident that the camel team led by more than 100 people could be eliminated in two charges.

"Hey, where did the businessman come from, staying by my field, is he trying to steal the crops in the field?" Qin Hu yelled at Al Sako and his party very rudely.Recently, there are quite a few businessmen from the Western Regions who have misbehaved like him.

"The general misunderstood us. We just got tired and rested for a while. We will leave right away. We won't steal the crops in the field." Arsako and his group speak Chinese very fluently, as expected of those who have traveled to Chang'an many times As the merchant said, he also pointed to the cotton tree near the caravan, indicating that there were a lot of cotton bolls on it.

Qin Hu glanced at the cotton forest, and seeing nothing unusual, he urged the caravan again not to stay here.

After a while, Arsako's people filled up the water and got on the camels. Reluctantly, he asked Qin Hu, who was looking at him with a wary look, "Excuse me, general, which family is this Bai Diezi?" Planted in the nobleman's field?"

"Hmph, listen carefully, this is the property of our Yiguo government, don't make any crooked ideas, otherwise, even if His Majesty forbids oppressing Hu merchants, a certain family will let you know that this pair of iron fists was not practiced for nothing .”

When it comes to the annual peak trading season, Li Shimin made a decree specifically that the Han people should not oppress or deceive the barbarians. Special inspection officials were sent in the eastern and western cities to supervise the trading situation and ensure a fair and just environment for all merchants. .

Of course, it’s not without reason that Qin Hu specifically mentioned this issue. Before the decree was made some time ago, his pair of iron fists almost killed a businessman from the Western Regions, because the man ran away to the Qin family’s gourd patch. Spitting blood, blood is filth, it's okay if Qin Hu sees it, but it's a fat beating when he brings it up.

Originally, because he had sold dozens of carts of courgettes to Chang'an, but found that the price was not half of that of previous years, the heartbroken Hu merchant almost died on the spot after being beaten by Qin Hu. It wasn't a heartless person who took him to the city to seek medical treatment from a doctor. Later, Qin Qiong found out about it. After asking the reason, Qin Qiong felt uncomfortable, so he took it out and chatted with Li Shimin.

Ever since he chatted with Li Shimin, there was no smile on Li Shimin's face. First of all, he issued the order not to bully Hu merchants, and then he held Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji and others to the meeting every day, as if He seemed to have forgotten everything about the south, no, when this scene happened by the river, Li Shimin was still having a meeting with several important ministers.

"Your Majesty, the number of Hu merchants traveling to and from Chang'an this year is less than half of that of last year, and the tax revenue of the Ministry of Households may be greatly reduced."

Changsun Wuji read the tax report compiled by his subordinates, and said to Li Shimin with a worried face.He is the Secretary of the Household Department, which is in charge of the national finance and taxation, agricultural tax and commercial tax. Every summer, in addition to the summer grain in the southern region, the transaction tax of the two cities in Chang'an is the largest tax revenue of the Household Department. Hu merchants from various countries had to travel three to four months to reach Chang'an. After more than a month's trading period, they had to rush back to the Western Regions before the road was blocked by heavy snow.

"It seems that Jieli and Tuli can't be allowed to fight in the Western Regions."

The lack of commercial routes was the main reason why Hu merchants were unable to come to Chang'an. Li Shimin saw this and knew the dangers of blocked commercial routes.

If the goods produced by Datang cannot be sold, it will lead to a backlog, which will lead to low prices, and low prices will hurt farmers, because the landlords and nobles will transfer losses to the bottom peasants, and the peasants, it seems, are only ranked in the bottom The second class behind the scholars is actually the class with the least right to speak.

"But at this time, the treasury has not yet reserved enough money and food for an expedition, so it is not appropriate to rush into battle!" Du Ruhui, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, answered.

Wars, especially expeditions, were the most expensive activities during this period. For an expeditionary force of 2 people, the consumption of horses and equipment would cost hundreds of thousands of pennies, and it was necessary to prepare food and grass for at least half a year. The cost of food and grass is horrifyingly high. As for the transfer of strong men, affecting production, and post-war pensions, it is another consideration.

Therefore, without many years of accumulation, the rulers of this era would not dare to launch an expedition. In the early days of Zhenguan, Li Shimin did not dare to send out elite soldiers and strong generals because of his poor family background. If he has achieved a major victory and gained a lot of profits, otherwise, he will have to give him at least two or three years to prepare reserves before launching a small-scale expedition.

"It's impossible to fight, let them go on, and I'm afraid of chaos in the Tang Dynasty. It's really hard to understand." Li Shimin said very unhappy when he knocked on his case.

"Now there is a new problem. Hu merchants who sell Western Region courgettes, baidiezi, leather goods and other goods to Chang'an are very difficult to sell the goods on hand. How much tax." Changsun Wuji not only saw the problem of the small number of transactions from the accounts, but also saw the problem of the small number of transactions, and reported again.

"Why is this?"

Li Shimin and a group of ministers all turned their eyes to Changsun Wuji, waiting for his next words.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten the property of Shubao's family? He has planted tens of thousands of acres of Baidiezi. According to Hu merchants in the Western Regions, the growth is much better than theirs. As for cucumbers, leather products... ··”

Changsun Wuji didn't continue talking, and Li Shimin also knew that the price of courgettes this year is less than half of last year's, and there is long-term supply in the market, because Sun Xiangfu has planted tens of thousands of acres, which is enough to supply Chang'an's food. The rich and powerful have been eating all summer, leather goods, the goods that look like the supreme imperial court are placed there, who cares about buying those unappealing goods brought by the Hu merchants, so the Hu merchants who sell these kinds of goods are destined to be the best this year. Nothing to gain.

And if they don't make a profit, they don't have the money to purchase a large amount of goods produced by the Tang Dynasty, such as silk, linen, ceramics, etc. that the people of the Western Regions need, causing the entire business chain to enter a vicious circle.

But if you want to say that Sun Xiangfu is not allowed to grow these things, give the market to Hu merchants to make money!It’s a little bit unreasonable, why should we pay a high price for something that we can produce, eat and use at a low price?Is it just to make them rich enough to buy our other products?
Li Shimin had a headache. This kind of business problem that he had never encountered before suddenly popped up, which caught him off guard.

When everyone in the imperial study was at a loss, Li Shimin suddenly thought of a person, a person who made him feel enlightened last year, Ma Zhou.

"Come on, go to the Dushui Supervisor to pass on Ma Zhou to the Imperial Study Room to meet you."

Li Shimin's sudden decree made many ministers a little confused. Half an hour later, Ma Zhou, who was wearing a sixth-rank official uniform, was taken to the imperial study by the servant.

After some visits, Li Shimin told Ma Zhou about the problem he encountered, and wanted to hear if he had any good suggestions.

"Report to Your Majesty, this matter is not easy." Hearing this, Ma Zhou thought for a while, then cupped his hands.

"How to solve it, come quickly."

"Your Majesty has two concerns. The first point is that the commercial routes in the Western Regions are blocked and the Hu merchants cannot communicate smoothly. Then, the imperial court can send a small group of partial teachers to escort these Hu merchants. The required expenses will be provided by the Hu merchants." That's it, there are three advantages to doing so.

First, I can take this opportunity to find out the terrain of the countries in the Western Regions, so that when my Tang Dynasty has the power to make an expedition, I won't even be confused about the roads and the environment.

Second, you can take this opportunity to train troops. It is not easy to have many soldiers for long-distance expeditions. If you want soldiers to adapt to expeditions, you must first let them learn some common sense for traveling long distances and adapt to the local climate. In this regard, there are many ways to do business in the Western Regions.

Third, you can declare to the countries in the Western Regions your majesty's benevolence and love for their businessmen, and send troops to protect them, let alone their people? "

After Ma Zhou finished speaking, Li Shimin slammed the table and said, "Well said, I'll be enlightened immediately after listening to your words!"

(End of this chapter)