At the same time that the Song Dynasty's military front basically destroyed the armed resistance in the two countries west of the South China Sea, the Song and Jin Dynasties' settlements far to the north also announced that they were under full construction.

The locations of the Song and Jin Dynasties were in the northern part of Taiyuan Prefecture, Luancheng of Zhending Prefecture, Ding County of Zhongshan Prefecture, Leshou County of Hejian Prefecture, and Fuzhou of Liaodong Prefecture.

These five places span nearly a thousand miles from east to west and cover dozens or hundreds of counties.

Countless businessmen took action upon hearing the news, and there was an endless stream of vehicles and horses heading north from Hebei and Hedong. Even businessmen on Gyeonggi Road, Jingdong Road, and Huaixi also started to take action.

A large amount of goods began to gather towards the north.

In mid-April, the price of mutton in Tokyo dropped from nine cents (900 yuan) per catty to five cents per catty, and it is said that the price is still falling.

Early in the morning on April 15th, Zhao Ning met Zhao Ding, and he showed Zhao Ding Yu Yunwen's memorial.

Zhao Ning said: "Currently, silk, silk, tea, and paper are all in urgent demand in the market. The demand in the Kingdom of Jin is very large."

Zhao Ding said: "I am not worried about the arrival of silk and cloth products. The land of Qilu has a rich production, but tea is grown from the soil. It does not mean that it is available."

"I also want to discuss this issue with you. The tea issue involves national and Korean bans and commercial and trade system issues. It is a very representative issue." Zhao Ning said.

At this time, Wang Huaiji said: "Officers, Lieutenant Wang is outside asking for an audience."

"Let him in."

Wang Zonglio walked in.

"See Your Majesty, I have met Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Ning said: "You came at the right time. We are discussing the issue of tea and the business system. Judging from the current tea management method, we are unable to meet the supply needs of the four parties."

"I did mention this matter, but many people in the court objected to it," Wang Zongliu said.

"Oh, tell me what you think. What do you think about tea?"

Wang Zongliu said: "Based on Taifu Temple's inspections of tea trade in various places over the years, tea cannot be fully liberalized to the Jin Kingdom at present."

"Why is this?"

"Because the quantity is not enough."

"Not enough?" Zhao Ning asked doubtfully.

"Yes, the quantity is not enough."

"I remember that the total amount of tea produced in the country every year was more than 50 million jins. Why is the quantity not enough?"

"Since the imperial court implemented the Tea Law, the private tea trade has increased. Moreover, the demand for tea in the border areas is huge, and the consumption in the northwest has been even greater in recent years." Wang Zongliang said, "Only the Longyou Protectorate, last year

There was a demand for 3 million jins of tea."

"Why does Longyou need so much tea..." Zhao Ning immediately realized it as soon as he said this.

Zhao Ding added: "Your Majesty, there are many barbarians in the land of Longyou. The barbarians are very fond of tea. In order to stabilize the border defense, the imperial court has been selling tea there for a long time."

"I understand." Zhao Ning walked to the map and started to look at it.

Northwest tea is not just a matter of direct sale. Zheyanzhi bought horses in the northwest. In addition to using cash to buy horses in Xixia, he also bought horses in Longyou.

However, many barbarians in Longyou refused to pay the money and could only exchange tea for horses.

Tea in the northwest is very expensive. A pound of tea may even cost 5 guan. If a horse costs 50 guan, ten kilograms of tea can be exchanged for a horse.

There are also many other exchanges of materials that are carried out using tea.

The Song Dynasty's restraint policy in the northwest also included setting up private schools for the barbarians and building fortresses.

In that kind of frontier place, tea may be said to be hard currency.

Wang Zongliu continued: "Last year, the Municipal Shipping Bureau also proposed a demand for 1 million kilograms of tea from Taifu Temple, and Qian Yuqing said that the demand will be even greater in the next few years. The countries in the South China Sea are quite enthusiastic about our tea, especially

It is a big cannibal. After the shipping company's shipping expanded, Qian Yuqing negotiated several big deals on tea."

He added: "The demand for tea among the people is also increasing day by day. As for the envoys from Japan and Goryeo, they also approached me a few days ago and want to increase the sale of tea."

"Then what do you think we should do now?" Zhao Ning asked, "The country needs to make money, and the money in front of it must be earned."

This problem is actually very acute.

The Tea Law was restored during the Zhao Ji era, with the purpose of controlling the free trade of tea and making profits from it.

For example, if a common person wants to grow tea, he must have a license and pay money. This is understandable.

Once tea is grown, merchants and tea growers cannot trade freely, and merchants must go to the government to buy tea.

The tea introduction here was historically created by Cai Jing for the first time.

Chayin authorizes you to buy as much tea as you want from the tea farmers based on the price you pay.

Before the Tea Law was discussed, the Song Dynasty also implemented official tea management for a period of time.

That is to say, private merchants are prohibited from selling tea to tea farmers for business, and only government officials are allowed to sell tea.

This is obviously unrealistic, and it is impossible for the government to handle everything.

Later, free buying and selling was allowed in the form of taxation, but value-added tax could not be measured statistically in ancient times.

So Cai Jing’s tea tea method came into being.

The method of questioning tea is equivalent to adding the certificate of tea in the middle.

This not only generates income, but also controls the flow of tea.

For example, a businessman comes to buy tea. The tea guide stipulates that the 10,000 kilograms of tea you want to buy from a tea farmer in Kaifeng can only be transported to the northern border for trade.

This greatly reduced the intermediate links in the tea trade and made all parties feel comfortable. Later generations of the Ming and Qing Dynasties followed Cai Jing's method of discussing tea.

The problem is that as the number of links is reduced, merchants become more motivated and sales naturally increase.

However, the supply of tea gardens and private sales are a delicate balance.

In the past two years, the forging fields of Song and Xia were opened, and the forging fields of Song and Jin were fully opened. The forging fields of Song Dynasty, Korea, Japan, and Nanhai were opened at the same time, so the supply of tea naturally became insufficient.

In Zhao Ning's strategic plan, tea will be sold to the Arabs in larger quantities in the future, allowing them to bring a large amount of tea to the west and make huge profits on the Maritime Silk Road.

The more tea and silk were sold, the more the Song Dynasty earned. Only when the land territory expands crazily in the future will there be abundant funds to support the occupation of surrounding areas during the Great Migration Era.

Wang Zongliu glanced at Zhao Ding, and then said to Zhao Guanjia: "I think that the domestic tea produced in Dali in the southwest is rich, so it is not as good as..."

"Not as good as what?"

"It would be better to recover Dali, so that the imperial court will have another place to produce tea, and more tea will be transported overseas, bringing profits to both the imperial court and the people. Hello, me, everyone."

Wang Zongli looks like a profiteer.

This is equivalent to taking the tea grown in Dali and letting private merchants transport it overseas to earn huge profits and increase a lot of income for the court.

In this process, the imperial court made money, private businessmen also made money, overseas countries, and even classmate Wan Yanchang of the Jin Kingdom had tea to drink while sitting at home.

A win-win situation for all parties!
Chapter completed!