When Cui Hou received the order conveyed by the hussar escort, he couldn't help but feel a little headache.
"Is the price of spices, jade, and wine going to be raised?" Cui Hou's chief shopkeeper asked, "How much... is the price going to be raised?"
Cui Hou shook his head, "I didn't say."
The big shopkeeper suddenly didn't know what to say. He paused for a moment and then said: "Master, although the price can go up or down, there must be a reason for raising the price. You can't just raise the price if you like it."
, isn’t this a loss of credibility...』
The pace of life in the Han Dynasty was actually very slow. Some people would never travel more than ten miles in their lifetime, so many shops were open for a lifetime. It was not impossible for old customers of decades to temporarily raise prices, but there must always be an explanation.
, otherwise you will inevitably be criticized by customers.
What troubles Cui Hou is not the price increase, but what is behind the price increase.
After all, isn't it a common thing for merchants to raise prices? Needless to say, prices fluctuate when spring, summer, autumn, and winter change. Sometimes there are three prices in the morning, noon, and evening in one day.
There is no problem in raising the price, but Cui Hou doesn't know how to raise the price and how much is appropriate.
And the most critical question, why should we raise prices?
"How about... go and ask?" the big shopkeeper said tentatively.
Cui Hou pondered and did not answer immediately.
In the Han Chamber of Commerce, Cui Hou always boasted about his friendship with Hussar, but in fact Cui Hou was a little afraid of seeing General Hussar.
He feels that Fei Qian today is no longer the Fei Qian he used to be.
Although what Cui Hou occasionally said cannot be completely bragging, he did sit at the same table with Fei Qian for a while in Luoyang City, drinking and chatting, but now Luoyang City, which is said to be unbreakable for thousands of years, has been destroyed.
How can the friendship between this person never change?
Moreover, there was a problem within the Cui family's caravan last time and after being caught by Fei Qian, Cui Hou became more and more reluctant to see Fei Qian. If he didn't meet, Cui Hou could still pretend to be an ostrich. Every time they met, he made
Cui Hou deeply felt the gap in status.
But it doesn't work if you don't see it. After all, how can you do things if you don't know the goal?
So Cui Hou could only hesitate for a while, and then went to the Huqifu Yamen to ask for an audience.
Fei Qian did not come out in person, but sent Xu Chu to come.
This is okay. After all, with Fei Qian's current status, it is impossible to come to greet Cui Hou in person. Cui Hou certainly won't complain about anything, but he will inevitably feel a little sour in his heart.
Xu Chu did not directly take Cui Hou into the inner courtyard, but just led Cui Hou to the side of the corridor. When some Cui Hou felt something was wrong, he smiled and explained to Cui Hou: "President Cui, my lord asked me to speak.
Sorry, he has something to do now and it is not convenient to see you. If you are here because of the price of commodities in the Western Regions, you might as well go and see Mr. Zhen..."
"Zhen is engaged in this?" Cui Hou finally realized what he was doing. He walked forward and out of the corner gate, which was the residence of the foreign officials.
Emotions just go around in circles?
Xu Chu smiled and squinted, appearing to be very kind and harmless to humans and animals, but Cui Hou knew in his heart that this kindness was just Xu Chu's mask.
"Ah, it doesn't matter... Ah, no, I'm here to disturb the hussar. It's not right. If you can get the hussar's advice, there's nothing I can't do. I hope Captain Xu will pay my respects to the hussar on my behalf and thank him..."
Cui Hou himself was still hesitating whether to visit before, but now he couldn't even meet. But what could Cui Hou say? He could only thank Xu Chu, then walked out of the corner gate along the road and turned to the official house.
Cui Hou rarely comes to Guanse, because Cui Hou believes that the Dahan Chamber of Commerce is his territory, so Guanse is still somewhat strange to him.
Along the corridor, Cui Hou walked into the official mansion. He saw blue bricks and white walls, red railings and black tiles in front of him. The houses were arranged in rows. Officials of all sizes were coming and going. Those who walked in a hurry were sweating, those who walked slowly were calm and composed, and those who were panicked were in a hurry.
, it is simply a miniature picture of various aspects of life.
Cui Hou suddenly felt a little out of place.
After standing still for a while, Cui Hou moved forward, looked at the wooden sign erected in front of the official house, and then found Zhen Mi. When Cui Hou saw Zhen Mi, he could hardly recognize her...
Zhen Mi was wearing a red and black official uniform and was sitting on a white thatched mat. She was asking some officials about something. Her face was serious, which was completely different from the gorgeous impression Cui Hou had left before. If you want to use a simple word to describe it.
, that is clear. Like glass, although it is not completely undressed, the pink and white is lightly applied without covering the jade skin, coupled with the red and black official robes on the body, the upright Jinxian crown, bright eyes and white teeth, it actually makes Cui Hou
I also felt a bit calm and powerful.
What surprised Cui Hou the most was that almost all the utensils in Zhen Mi's house were ordinary, that is, used by ordinary officials. There were neither elaborate decorations nor grace. Even the white-coated mat on which Zhen Mi sat was
It doesn't look like it's new. Cui Hou can see ink marks on the mat that may have been left by previous users. There are even some scattered and small holes on the edge of the mat...
Zhen Mi can actually sit on such a thing?
Doesn’t she have an appetite for food, beauty, luxury, and a fetish for cleanliness?
Is this really Zhen Mi?
Cui Hou had heard that Zhen Mi had entered the officialdom before, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Cui Hou felt that with Zhenmi's habits, he might not be able to hang out in the officialdom for long before he would be raped by others or...
Exclude, bully, or belittle, but it won't last long anyway.
It's like the boss of a company in later generations only drives a four-wheel A4 to work, and then his employees not only drive briefs, but also drive big G-model cars. So what will other people think?
When in the countryside, do as the Romans do, not just for the "countryside".
According to his previous impression, Cui Hou felt that Zhen Mi would definitely be uncomfortable even if she could stay in the official house. Either Zhen Mi herself was uncomfortable, or it was making other officials uncomfortable. But he never expected that Zhen Mi would change
So big, if he hadn't seen Zhen Mi many times before and would never admit his mistake, he would almost think that the person in front of him was just another person with a similar appearance!
Cui Hou was a little stunned for a moment, but Zhen Mi looked up and saw Cui Hou standing outside the house.
"Since we are old acquaintances, why are we embarrassed?" Zhen Mi said with a smile, "President Cui is a rare visitor! Don't be surprised if you are not welcomed!"
"How dare you, how dare you!" Cui Hou hurriedly stepped forward and handed over his hand, "Cui, an ordinary person, should not dare to come and disturb you... Now I can see Madam Zhen... Well, Zhen is more elegant in her work than in the past, but outside she is still...
The winds and rains are precarious, and fortunes and misfortunes are uncertain. I really envy you..."
Cui Hou's words were not purely for the sake of inviting favor, but indeed he spoke from his feelings.
When Zhen Mi first came to Chang'an, she had to pay a special visit to Cui Hou. If she wanted to say something to please Cui Hou, she would look at Cui Hou's face carefully, but now it's the other way around.
As for Cui Hou, at the beginning he prided himself on being an old acquaintance of the hussar, and he also thought that he was doing business for the hussar, and that he had done a lot of hard work, but in the end he almost became a prisoner.
Now it seems that Zhen Mi's choice is the right one. Although Cui Hou seems to be the one who calls the shots in the Dahan Chamber of Commerce, when he gets here, he still has to be polite and nod to Zhen Mi. Although he does not hold this position.
It's not high, but this authority is enviable enough.
In addition to her position, this change in Zhen Mi's appearance also surprised Cui Hou and made her feel emotional.
Cui Hou looked at the robe he was wearing and the jade pendant hanging around his waist. He thought it was quite good before, but now it seems that no matter how he looks at it, he feels it is very tacky...
"President Cui is very polite," Zhen Mi invited Cui Hou to sit down, and then asked the servant outside to bring some tea in, and then said to Cui Hou, "Is everything okay in the chamber of commerce?"
"Yes, yes, everything is fine..." Cui Hou said generally, and it was not a lie, because during this period of time, the overall business operations have been relatively stable, and there are no special issues. In addition,
Cui Hou was also a veteran in business, so he didn't find it difficult to do it. After narrating it, Cui Hou mentioned the price increase order of the Qiusi regarding the Western Regions, and then asked, "I have a restless and foolish nature.
He was able to understand the deep meaning of the Hussar, but he was afraid that he would do something wrong and miss the important event of the Hussar. He had no choice but to go to see the Hussar, but the Hussar ordered him to come down to find Zhen Engagement... so he came here shyly, hoping that Zhen Engagement would not hesitate to teach him...
』
Hearing what Cui Hou said, Zhen Mi couldn't help but smile.
To be honest, Cui Hou had never been so polite to her before.
However, Zhen Mi would not go out of her way to make it difficult. After all, Cui Hou also specifically mentioned Hussar to take advantage of it, indicating that he also had someone behind his back...
Specifically, is it better to have someone above you or someone behind you? There is really no need to distinguish between high and low strength at the moment.
Then Zhen Mi smiled and said: "It is a good thing for President Cui to be sent by Qiao Qi to send errands, no matter how difficult it is. Since I am a minister, I should naturally do my duty and do my best. Please also President Cui."
Frankly speaking, what are you worried about?"
As soon as Cui Hou explained the matter, Zhen Mi suddenly understood, "I understand, my lord asked President Cui to come here, I'm afraid it's because of my performance..."
In fact, Zhen Mi was notified before Cui Hou arrived.
Zhen Mi stood up, went to the bookshelf behind her, and found an archived memorial. Then she put it on the table, pushed it forward slightly, motioned Cui Hou to read it, and said at the same time: "I was here some time ago."
, I was aware of the economic and trade exchanges between Shandong and Shanxi, commodity trading, trading bazaars, etc., so I wrote a memorial describing the key points of commercial goods... Hussar asked President Cui to come here, most likely because he wanted President Cui to read it.
One look at this table..."
Zhen Mi seemed to be talking about just taking a look, but in fact it was not.
What Fei Qian meant was that Zhen Mi obviously had more research and understood the key points in terms of goods from the Western Regions, and even the trading of goods in the Han Dynasty Chamber of Commerce, so he asked Cui Hou to learn from it and followed Zhen Mi's advice.
It’s not just a matter of taking a look at the memorial written by Zhen Mi before.
Otherwise, we only need to have someone hand over the memorial to Cui Hou to read and that would be the end of it?
Cui Hou was quite surprised when he saw that Zhen Mi didn't go out of his way to make things difficult. He was stunned for a moment, then he handed over his hand to express his thanks, and then took the archived memorial and started reading it. As a businessman, you are always accustomed to finding rare things, and you always want to find good things.
It is also customary to sell at a high price, but if it goes too far, it will often make people think that it is treacherous and deliberately making things difficult. However, Zhen Mi has almost completely abandoned the traces of a businessman in this aspect, which surprised Cui Hou and at the same time he could not help but feel a little emotional.
"Gold, silver, copper?" Cui Hou looked at the items written by Zhen Mi that seemed to occupy a large space, and couldn't help but repeat softly, "Shandong is so luxurious, and likes gold and silver to be melted into ingots.
Hoarding... Also see that the copper in Guanzhong is precious, transporting it more, making money privately, and making money privately, and you are often proud of it... Zhen is engaged in this... Excuse me, what does this mean? 』
Zhen Mi nodded, and her face gradually became serious, "President Cui, although I was born in Ji, but now I live in Guanzhong and serve as a hussar, so naturally I should focus on the great cause of hussar. I don't know what President Cui thinks."
Or not?"
Cui Hou was stunned and nodded repeatedly, "Of course! As you should!"
"Shandong has been suffering for a long time." Zhen Mi said slowly, "Chairman Cui can't say he doesn't know about the import of inferior copper from Shandong?!"
"This..." Cui Hou shook his hands slightly, and then said with a wry smile, "This matter is indeed... but..."
Cui Hou wanted to speak but stopped.
Zhen Mi's eyes moved, and she took out a few coins from the side of the table and dropped them on the table with a clink.
"This is an imitation coin from Shandong. It is slightly lighter and has a slightly thin flesh. It is prone to black rust when exposed to rain and moisture..." Zhen Mi pointed at the coin and said, "This is the Zhengxi coin... The flesh is good and the outline is round.
The lines are clear, not afraid of wind and rain, and not easy to rust... President Cui, is it possible that you really don’t know about this copper coin?”
Looking at the small copper coins on the table, Cui Hou couldn't help but sweat on his head.
"As for copper coins, there are more imitations..." Zhen Mi took out some small copper coins that were used for change under the copper coins, and said with disgust, "Look, these are, they are worse than bad money."
Not as good as!』
Gold and silver coins are basically invisible and unusable to ordinary people. Even copper coins must be exchanged in smaller monetary units, namely coppers, in some small transactions.
Come on. This copper coin is the smallest coin of the Han Dynasty. It usually has no patterns and is usually a small round copper coin of one or two baht.
Because this kind of small-denomination copper coin is easy to cast and has no anti-counterfeiting measures, compared with the previous Zhengxi coins and the later Qiaoqi coins that were more difficult to forge, Shandong is naturally the hardest hit area for counterfeiting. Although the profit is very small, there is nothing to be done If the quantity is large, there will naturally be profits.
In addition, because these imitation small copper coins are also used in Shandong, there is a gap in copper prices between Guanzhong and Shandong. The east is cheaper and the west is more expensive. Therefore, Guanzhong exports gold, silver, copper coins and other good money to Shandong, while Shandong exports gold, silver and copper coins to Guanzhong. The cycle of constantly looking for every opportunity to import bad money.
"It's not that President Cui doesn't know about it, he just doesn't look into the matter..." Zhen Mi looked at Cui Hou meaningfully, "I'm afraid it's because of the number of trade, and it's a problem... If we investigate deeply, it will definitely affect trade, reduce trade, and make the big man The income of the Chamber of Commerce has decreased, which has damaged the reputation of President Cui..."
"No, no, no!" Cui Hou waved his hands repeatedly, "I definitely don't mean this! I... I do know about this, and I am collecting relevant information... I definitely didn't deliberately hide it from Hussar! I am preparing to tell Hussar Report this!』
Cui Hou almost shouted loudly.
At best, he can only pretend to be stupid. How can he be said to be deliberately deceiving?
This is a completely different meaning, okay!
Zhen Mi stared at Cui Hou seriously. After a moment, she suddenly smiled, just like the frost melting and the spring breeze blowing on her face. "President Cui is in charge of the Dahan Chamber of Commerce. President Cui has the final say on such matters. There is no need to treat me too much." "I said, I'm just discussing the matter...but what does Chairman Cui think about these gold, silver, copper coins and goods from the Western Regions?"
Cui Hou wiped his sweat, exhaled a long breath, and quickly turned his head around. Then he realized, "Most of the goods from the Western Regions are used by the children of the nobles, and now the price is increased to bring back the gold and silver coins that have escaped." ?Zhen is engaged, but I don’t know if what I am saying is right?』
Zhen Mi smiled and said, "I am just a little girl with little knowledge... It is natural that President Cui will make the decision on this matter..."
"No, no, Zhen Cheng, I sincerely ask for advice!" Cui Hou repeatedly raised his hands to Zhen Mi, "Please Zhen Cheng, please give me some advice and give me some pointers!"
Zhen Mi smiled gently and said, "President Cui has gained something, but he doesn't know whether to accept it or not. Why don't you just send the memorial to the hussar... Isn't it a thousand times better than my lie? President Cui, I still have someone here." For official duties, Cui Hui will not be allowed to sit here for a long time. If you are rude, please forgive me."
"This, uh, okay..." Cui Hou subconsciously wanted to take away the watch and seal for filing, but was stopped by Zhen Mi. He couldn't help but handed it back with some embarrassment, and then left. On the surface, he remained polite, but He was scolding Zhen Mi in his heart.
Only a boy is so difficult to raise!
Is it bad money? When is there no money?
Didn't Qiusi do this before?
Besides, bad money cannot be used in the regular market in Chang'an. At most, it can only be exchanged for usable money at Qingyin Shop. The loss will be huge, so it is usually used secretly in the countryside. Cui He doesn't go to the countryside every day. Isn't that normal?
And regardless of whether it is export or import, they all purchase goods and trade, and they are all included in the trade volume of the Dahan Chamber of Commerce. The higher the trade volume, it naturally proves that Cui Hou is more effective in running the Dahan Chamber of Commerce. As for these counterfeit currencies , anyway, aren’t there inspections and inspections in the market? What we found out is that those who use currency are guilty. What does it have to do with the Dahan Chamber of Commerce? What does it have to do with Cui Hou? It’s not like he asked people from Shandong to go there. It was cast privately, and he didn't get any monetary benefit from it!
How could this be considered his fault?
Besides, does Dahan Chamber of Commerce have the power to enforce the law?
No, so what's the problem?
Cui Hou grumbled in his heart and felt a little angry, but when he got to the back, he looked up at the eaves of the official residence and stood there for a long time. Then he let out a long sigh, lowered his head, and slowly continued to move forward.
.
『ε=(′ο｀*)))Alas...』
I need to write a good letter when I get back.
Not only do we need to explain clearly the matter of gold, silver and copper coins, but we also need to talk about the pricing arrangements for goods from the Western Regions...
Cui Hou was covered in sweat just now. When he walked out of the official house, a gust of autumn wind blew, making him shiver and quickly wrapped his collar tightly with his hands.
Cui Hou looked back and suddenly felt that he was getting further and further away from Hussar.
Before, we could still sit at the same table, laugh and talk, but now...
The world is changing, nothing better than that.
But Cui Hou was still mumbling, what is this hussar busy with?