Li Qianzhe's trip to Sichuan was not actually an envoy. At least he did not go to Sichuan to communicate with the local officials on behalf of the Jingzhou Governor's Office. Instead, he went to Sichuan privately with goods to contact the local wealthy people for sale.
Smuggling is more suitable.
Shuzhong is currently the territory of Xiao Ji, King of Wuling in the Southern Liang Dynasty. Due to its unique geographical location, it has been minimally affected by Hou Jing's rebellion downstream. King Wuling Xiao Ji has been in charge of Shuzhong for more than ten years and has made great achievements in the governance of Shuzhong.
say.
It's just that when the nest is overturned, there are no eggs left. Today's Shuzhong can only rely on the geographical advantage to delay the spread of the war, and it is inevitable to be involved in it after all. Moreover, Xiao Laoba himself is not a peaceful person, with such a
How can someone with great strength be willing to be lonely all the time?
The so-called victory over Shu is that when Hanzhong was captured, Li Tai had already had the idea of Shuzhong in his mind. But he also understood that he was not the only one who had such an idea. There must be a balance within the gang, even if the Tai government had already decided to
If we attack Shuzhong, I'm afraid we won't let him take responsibility.
However, the interests and resources of a region are multi-faceted, and it is not just about conquering cities and occupying land. There are other ways to influence and control some of Shu's human and material resources.
Li Qianzhe is a wealthy man in Ankang. The territory is rich in products and gold resources. Because he controls a considerable amount of hard currency, he maintains close contacts with the wealthy families and merchants in Sichuan. Although at the moment
Hanzhong is not under the control of Jingzhou Governor's Office, but Li Qianzhe can also enter and leave Shuzhong through other channels.
Because of his surrender and his assistance to Li Tai in conquering Nanzheng City, after a series of wars ended last year and with Li Tai's efforts, Li Qianzhe was directly awarded the official position of Hussar and Kaifu at the beginning of his surrender.
, and was granted the title of Duke of Ankang County, and served as the governor of Jinzhou in his hometown of Ankang.
However, since Li Tai had another appointment for him, Li Qianzhe stayed in the Office of the General Manager and let his younger brother Li Xianjuxiang handle the affairs of Jinzhou on his behalf.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of both parties, the relationship between Li Shizhi and Li Tai in Ankang is now similar to that between Li Shizhi and Yu Wentai in Gaoping.
Li Qianzhe introduced himself to Li Tai's disciples, and Li Tai also gave him great trust. Before returning to the court to report on his duties, he arranged for Li Qianzhe to carry a batch of rare fashionable goods to Sichuan for trade. Naturally,
White granulated sugar is indispensable. Xiao Bodhisattva could not even taste the white granulated sugar, so Li Qianzhe directly took more than a thousand kilograms of it to Shuzhong.
During this trip to central Sichuan, profit-making from trade was secondary, but more importantly, it was to get in touch with the local wealthy families in central Sichuan to explore the possibility of cooperation with each other. Just look at the large amount of Shu brocade that Li Qianzhe brought back this time.
The trip was a great success.
Shu Brocade not only means a high-end fabric and a hot commodity in Shu, but also has a greater significance. It can be said to represent the crystallization of the most advanced productivity and production technology in Shu.
Shu brocade has been famous all over the world for a long time. As early as the Shu Han Dynasty, there was a saying that "the people are poor and the country is weak, and the only resource for decisive battles is brocade ears." It has become an important strategic material.
For people outside of Shu, Shu brocade is just an expensive and popular gorgeous fabric. It is best to have it, but it does not affect normal life if you can't have it.
However, Shu has already formed a series of social division of labor and resource allocation around Shu brocade. From the supply of raw materials, the monopoly of technology and the control of sales channels, the processes are all in the hands of the powerful families in Shu.
A piece of Shu brocade represents the social structure and order of Shu. Its complex raw materials and cumbersome craftsmanship basically eliminate the possibility of small civilian households participating in production as independent individuals. It can even be said that mastering Shu brocade is equivalent to mastering the middle of Shu.
After Li Tai came to this world, he was able to see Shu brocade only because of his father-in-law Duguxin's arrogance. Under normal circumstances, it was rare to see Shu brocade for sale in the market in Guanzhong.
It wasn't until the Hexi trade route was opened that Longyou merchants could obtain supplies of Shu brocade from the Hu merchants and Tuguhun people in the Western Regions, and then transport them to Guanzhong for sale, but the price was already several times higher than before.
Because of the existence of Shu brocade, a leading product with excellent performance, Shuzhong is also a relatively strong presence in the Silk Road trade. Later, the reason why the Northern Zhou Dynasty was able to benefit a lot from the Silk Road trade was also due to its mastery of the relationship between Shuzhong and Shuzhong.
Quite deep.
Shu brocade is much thicker than ordinary silk fabrics. Although the more than twenty carriages are fully loaded, the total is only more than 3,000 horses. But if it is converted into ordinary silk fabrics, it would be more than a dozen
Even Gao Aocao couldn't stop him.
In the current market situation in Guanzhong, a piece of Sichuan brocade of only average quality can't be bought for a hundred pieces of silk. This is of course because there is no direct trade between Guanzhong and Sichuan, and things are rare and expensive, and it goes round and round.
After a few hands, the middlemen will naturally have to eat the price difference, but the value of Sichuan Brocade itself is definitely not low.
Due to the complex and cumbersome technological process, Sichuan brocades are generally produced in workshops, with different people responsible for different links. For example, some Sichuan brocades with more complex patterns and higher quality are woven every day by even the most skilled weavers.
It's only a few centimeters. Of course, most Shu brocades can't reach this level, but the time used is far more than ordinary fabrics.
When there is no specific scale to measure the value of goods, the craftsmanship and labor contained in different goods are a direct reflection of their value. Therefore, the value of one piece of Shu brocade can easily exceed dozens of pieces.
Silk price.
But what Li Qianzhe brought back from this trip was not only the fabrics and money, but also the human relations behind them. So Li Tai checked the Shu brocades and put them in the warehouse, and he took Li Qianzhe's hand into the hall to take a closer look.
Ask about this trip.
"The last general has old acquaintances with the Qiao family, a wealthy family in Brazil, and has had many exchanges of money and goods in the past years. This time he entered Brazil through Shangyong, and because of the guidance of his clan members, he met many wealthy families in Bazhong and displayed their latest goods.
It is very popular. Especially the frosted candies are more popular. People come to buy them enthusiastically and they are all sold out in an instant..."
Li Qianzhe carefully talked about his experience of visiting Shu, but of course he also slightly modified his words.
In fact, most of the goods he carried were left in the cold by the powerful chiefs of Sichuan. In their words, although they were exotic treasures, they were actually just commonplace in Sichuan.
After all, the status of Shuzhong in the Silk Road trade is much more important than that of Guanzhong, and it cannot be reversed in an instant. The goods carried by Li Qianzhe may be robbed elsewhere, but in Shuzhong they are
It's a bit uninteresting.
But when he took out the white sugar, these Shu people were immediately shocked. In fact, there are many stone honey products in Shu, and the daily consumption among the powerful Shu people is not low, but because of the comparison
, only then can the purity and rareness of white sugar become more apparent in comparison.
With more than a thousand kilograms of white sugar, Li Qianzhe originally thought that he would have to contact a few powerful people from Shu, at least to get around Chengdu to complete the bulk cargo. However, he did not expect that he was squatted in Brazil and was attacked by several local powerful people before he could even move.
Join forces to make a good deal.
Sugar condiments were considered luxuries in ancient times, and white sugar can be said to be a luxury item among luxuries. Even though there is no obvious improvement in taste, it is just a change in appearance. But people in Shu are used to it.
Shu Brocade's appearance bonus, naturally, I don't think there is anything wrong with paying for appearance.
More than a thousand kilograms of white sugar and Sichuan brocade worth hundreds of thousands of pieces of silk were sold. The profit was astonishing. Li Tai was already quite surprised by this huge return, but the people of Shu still felt that it was so amazing.
There is still room for prices to continue to rise.
The price they paid included part of the cost of regional monopoly operations. In short, no matter how much goods Li Qianzhe provided, they would eat them all, and Li Qianzhe would not be allowed to operate other sales channels in Shu. Although Brazil
It belongs to the middle of Sichuan, but it is still far away from Chengdu where the essence of the heart is. It is conceivable that once this batch of white sugar is sold near Chengdu, the price will inevitably go up to a higher level.
Li Tai is not so greedy as to squeeze the last mile of profit. The purpose of testing the waters is to seek cooperation from local people. But if you want to eat this bowl of rice, you don't just have to have money, you also need to look at it.