Qin Official

Chapter 968 Relatives and friends in Luoyang ask each other

Shenyang, the king of Henan in Chu State, was said to be from Zhao. He was a guest from Zhang Er, but he used two boats and secretly reported to Xiang Yu the news that Zhao Gao brothers wanted to surrender to Zhao and Wei from the east of the river.

He took over Xiang Ji in Maojin, and finally was placed in Luoyang due to his merit. It seemed that he was very honorable and enjoyed a sacred place, but in fact, this was the territory closest to Heifu. Chu people did not intend to stick to it. this……

Shen Yang only had two months to live in peace. After Heifu settled the situation in Guanzhong, he immediately ordered the Dongmen Leopard to advance eastward before Han Xin attacked Hedong, seizing Mianchi, Xin'an, Yiyang and other places in one fell swoop. Shen Yang continued Defeated, he finally retreated to Luoyang City and asked for help from Xiang Liang of Liangdi, Sima Mao of Hanoi, and Zheng Chang of Yingchuan.

Unexpectedly, before reinforcements arrived, Shen Yang died inexplicably on the streets of Luoyang. A group of local merchants enthusiastically invited Shen Yang to host the wax festival. In order to get more money and food from these two-week merchants, Shen Yang happily went to the appointment, and the result was that When they arrived at the temple, the merchants all pulled out daggers from their bodies and stabbed Shen Yang to death in a pool of blood. They then cut off his head and went out of the city to offer it to Dongmen Leopard. Luoyang then went down!

And now, Shen Yang's head was pickled with lime, put into an incense-filled wooden box, and placed in front of Heifu's case.

But Heifu was not interested in this soy sauce guy, and focused on the three heroes who returned to Luoyang this time.

The first is that his adviser Sui He, an old Confucian who was about the same age as Shu Suntong, sneaked into Luoyang wearing Confucian clothes, secretly attracted local forces in Luoyang, and facilitated the murder.

Two representatives of Luoyang merchants were introduced by Sui He and they all worshiped in the hall.

"The villain is given for free, he is from Gong County." This man is white and plump, and looks somewhat similar to Zhang Cang.

"The villain Su Li is from Luoyang County." This is a dry old man in his sixties.

"Meet Mr. Xia!"

People in the world have always felt that the people of Yin liked businessmen, while the people of Zhou liked crops. This is actually an inherent impression. When life is forced, people have no traditions and principles.

For example, the people of Zhou Dynasty were trapped in this place with a radius of hundreds of miles. The land was small and the population was large. Everyone had to find ways to make ends meet. There was no place to farm, so they could only engage in industry and commerce.

Although the national power of the Zhou Dynasty declined, Luoyang Street lived among Qi, Qin, Chu, and Zhao. Those who competed for fame were in the dynasty, and those who competed for profit were in the market. Sanchuan and Zhou Dynasty became the dynasty and market of the world and the trade center of the Central Plains. Luoyang people then completely threw away the traditions of their ancestors, devoted themselves to industry and commerce, and regarded it as their "own industry". The pursuit of profits became the new tradition of the city.

As the saying goes, "A country of thousands of chariots must have merchants of ten thousand gold, and a country of thousands of chariots must have merchants of thousands of gold." Luoyang's business became increasingly prosperous, and many famous wealthy businessmen such as Xian Gao, Bai Gui, and Lu Buwei came and went here.

"The villain is Bai Gui, who lives in Gong." Bai introduced himself.

This Bai Gui was a big businessman from Luoyang a hundred years ago. He served as the prime minister of King Hui of Wei, presided over the relocation of the capital of the Wei state and repaired the gap. In his later years, he retreated to his hometown due to political failure, but he refused to accept his old age and resumed his business as an old man. Since then, relying on his connections as Prime Minister of Wei, he has been able to achieve success and become rich again.

Bai Gei is the great-grandson of Bai Gui. The Bai family is currently the richest merchant in Sanchuan. They are mainly engaged in "Xiagu", which is the grain trade. In recent years, they have also operated mills and the emerging flour industry. When Xiang Yu captured Sanchuan, the Bai family through generosity Gifts of food to protect my family from plunder...

But in terms of influence in Zhou Dynasty, even though the Bai family has accumulated over a hundred years, it is still not as good as the Su family.

"The little man's great father is Su Li, the younger brother of Su Qin and Su Dai..."

Su Qin and Su Dai were strategists who controlled the feudal lords, and many black men heard about them. However, the youngest of the Su family may have been overshadowed by his elder brothers, and his reputation was not known to the world.

But as long as the story is told, Hei Fu will know it.

Su Li said: "Did Duke Xia ever hear a saying, 'If you want rice in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, you can't get into the water in the Western Zhou Dynasty!' This is the story of Naizu."

Hei Fu nodded: "I've heard of it."

He only felt strange at the time: "Aren't the East and West Zhou one behind the other? How can they coexist?"

It was only later that I found out that during the Warring States Period, the Emperor of Zhou was only a small prince, with a land of hundreds of miles, but the tradition of enfeoffment was deeply ingrained in his bones. It has been like this, and he will continue to enfeoff!

So the next generation of Emperor Zhou lost all his territory. The actual land was controlled by the Duke of Eastern Zhou and the Duke of Western Zhou. These two relatives fought endlessly in the palace all day long.

The Western Zhou Dynasty was upstream of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the water source of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was controlled by the Western Zhou Dynasty. Seeing that the Eastern Zhou Dynasty wanted to plant rice, the water was cut off, and the Duke of Eastern Zhou Dynasty was stunned.

In the end, Su Li solved the problem and received a thank-you gift from both families. What was even more remarkable was that Su Li later persuaded Bai Qi, Lord Wu'an of Qin, who was approaching the city, to persuade him to retreat with the rhetoric of "always hitting the target". Er Zhou lived twenty years more.

So Su Li was hired as a minister by the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties at the same time, and was also given land. He accumulated wealth by managing the land. When Su Li's son arrived, he thought that being a lobbyist was too risky. He accidentally got cut into pieces like his uncle Su Qin, so he started commercial lending! He often made loans during disaster years, and then annexed land. After repeated attempts, he became a big landowner in Luoyang.

But despite having a wealthy family, the two of them kept a low profile and wore simple clothes.

Hei Fu asked someone to give him a seat: "You are rich, why are you dressed so simply?"

Bai was more tactful and said: "Although our ancestor Bai Gui was a wealthy businessman, he lived a frugal life. He gave up his desires, saved his clothes, and shared the joys and sorrows with his servants."

Su Li liked to tell the truth: "The laws of the Qin Dynasty are clearly written, so we don't dare to go beyond the rules!"

Hei Fu shook his head: "I heard that in the past few months, Mr. Xiang and Shen Yang allowed you to wait for clothes and silk fabrics. Shen Yang treated you well, why did you kill him?"

Bai Gei quickly explained: "The Chu people want to divide the mountains and rivers. If there are many small countries, traffic jams, and excessive tariffs, the merchants will be hurt. We know that justice lies with the Duke of Xia, and the Xiang family is an enemy of Chu and a traitor, so we naturally support Xia." Gong Neng can rule the world!"

Su Li just smiled and still told the truth: "The reason why I hate Shen Yang is because he borrowed a debt from my family and promised to repay it in three months, but failed to repay it overdue. He also wanted to ask for more money and food, and even wanted to use Forced by force, Su had no choice but to take action first..."

Such a hard-core excuse? Heifu was a little amused by this man's straightforwardness.

But for Su, this seems to be a common thing.

Su Li plausibly said: "Back when the Emperor of Zhou was in debt, my father chased him to a high platform to hide! He pointed to the high debt platform and said to me: 'It is natural to pay back debts, even the emperor does the same. This is A person has faith, but if a person doesn't believe, how is he different from an animal? 'Therefore, the Su family's debt cannot be defaulted!"

Bai Gei coughed quickly and said: "Yes, Shen Yang broke his promise and became an enemy of Duke Xia. In order to prevent Luoyang's hundreds of industrial and merchant merchants from suffering from the sword, and having hundreds of years of savings destroyed in one day, we made that move... …”

Heifu nodded: "I summoned you here today for the same thing."

He smiled and said: "Borrow food!"

"Bai should do her best!" Bai Gei immediately expressed his position.

Su Li asked Hei Fu in return: "I dare to ask the regent how much I can borrow."

"Each family has one hundred thousand dan. If there is no millet or rice, bean sprouts will do."

The two looked at each other, a little hesitant, but not ready to cry. When the Chu army withdrew, although they had robbed some in vain and Shen Yang "borrowed" some, the two families still had some savings.

But such a large amount is enough to empty out the two families' food reserves.

"How long will you borrow it for?"

Although his words are timid, merchants are born to bargain.

Heifu raised his eyebrows: "Why, you can't trust the government, and you still want to force me into debt, too?"

"A villain would never dare to do this!" Bai Gei was so frightened that he knelt down. Su Li also knelt down, but still raised his neck:

"A country without trust will perish. Is the regent the kind of person who would be so short-sighted as to destroy his own reputation for petty profit? For the sake of the regent's reputation, we still have to ask clearly."

"How long will the regent borrow it, and how will it be paid back?"

This person is quite courageous, and he is worthy of being a descendant of Sansu.

Heifu slowed down his tone and said, "The grain will be exchanged for the same amount of salt. You can use the salt to transport it to Hedong and sell it by yourself."

This is already the wholesale price, but with Heifu's current control over the local area, if he sends people to run the salt industry again, the income will not be as good as selling part of the management rights.

This is the salt introduction system that Heifu implemented in Jiaodong, and now it has been copied to the Central Plains. He met with the Yi family from Hedong a few days ago. The owner of the Yi family hopes to pay a huge sum of money to contract a small fish pond to relieve the pond according to tradition.

But Heifu did not agree, and was only willing to give him limited operating rights and exchange grain for salt. This would save him a lot of transportation and administrative expenses. Of course, the government will still directly supply half of the local salt at a flat price, and there is no need to worry about merchants raising prices too high.

However, the two big merchants in Luoyang were not as interested in salt as the Yi family, so they unanimously chose other methods.

Bai said: "One hundred thousand dan, Bai is willing to give it free of charge. I just hope that I can continue to sell grain, meat, sugar and other goods in Luoyang!"

Except for sugar, these businesses that were allowed in the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties and Lu Buwei's era were banned across the board after Qin Shihuang took office, and were changed to unified government monopoly.

Heifu did not agree directly. At this juncture, the grain trade must not be let go.

And Su Shi also has his own ideas.

"Why, does the Su family want to continue to borrow money from the private sector and annex land?"

If he dares to say yes, the scissors in Heifu's hand will cut off this big leek without mercy! But that was a bad idea. Kanto was not as good as Kansai. The merchants were more powerful and controlled a lot of wealth. They were also intertwined with the powerful knights and knights. So attacking them all in one go was not an option. Heifu hoped to make a good start in Luoyang.

"The regent is joking. The laws of the Qin Dynasty strictly prohibit annexation. How dare the Su family think about land again!"

Su Li was smarter this time. He lowered his gray head and bowed:

"In addition to borrowing 100,000 grains, the Su family is willing to lend another 30,000 shi, just for a suggestion!"

"I hope that the regent can relax the rules on merchants in the future, and implement the pro-business policy of Jiaodong in the past in Sanchuan County and Guandong, so that merchants all over the world can contribute money and efforts to restore people's livelihood!"

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