Huaiyu often comes to Qin Qiong's house when he is not on duty recently. Qin Qiong is ill again.
He became ill, lifeless, and even vomited blood several times.
Wu Huaiyu gave him a diagnosis and prescribed medicine, but there was no improvement.
"Alang, Your Majesty sent the eunuch Zhang Gong to deliver medicine to attract the dragon's beard." Mrs. Qin, the county head, came in and took Zhang Anan with her.
Qin Qiong lay weakly and struggled to get up. Zhang Anan stepped forward quickly and said, "Master Yi, please rest in peace."
Li Shimin heard a folk prescription from somewhere, saying that dragon beards were used as medicinal ingredients and had miraculous effects, so he specially cut a handful of beards and sent them to Qin Qiong.
"I thank your Majesty for your kindness."
The sudden onset of Qin Qiong's illness even made the emperor wonder if it was poisoned by Tujue Xizuo. Wu Huaiyu checked carefully and found that Qin Qiong was not poisoned, but that his body had not recovered well before. When he was in danger, he was ordered to lead the troops to guard Chang'an.
He also went to the battlefield and charged into battle, and captured the Turks Qilifa Kangsumi among the thousands of troops. The Turks were in Guanzhong, and Qin Qiong was waiting for the battle day and night, and he never took off his armor.
Worried and exhausted, Qin Qiong's body quickly collapsed again before she recovered. But in the end, what made Qin Qiong collapse completely was that Li Shimin chose not to fight.
After many considerations, the emperor finally decided to negotiate peace with the Turks and form a White Horse Alliance at Weiqiao. The Turks withdrew their troops and the Tang Dynasty granted them gold.
The emperor also generously rewarded Tuli and many other nobles, and even discussed with the ministers that he would marry Tuli, the leader of Tielili Xue Yantuo, and make the clan head of the county a princess in marriage.
Qin Qiong couldn't figure out these things.
He became a general and bravely championed the three armies.
Even though he was sick and weak, he still rode his horse into battle, captured the enemy general, and still roared, killing seven in and seven out. For this battle, Qin Qiong was a determined fighter. Although he opposed Li Shimin's idea of robbing the alliance, he insisted on
If you want to fight, you must fight.
When the emperor finally compromised and formed an alliance, when the Turks left laden with gold and silver, and when the emperor was discussing peace with the prime ministers, Qin Qiong vomited blood and fell into a coma, unable to survive the illness.
The desolation and anger in his heart made him sicker this time than last time.
For a military general, it was hard for him to let go and accept the end of the war in this way. His body was already empty, and he was overdrawn during this period.
After nothing could be changed, he collapsed.
Li Shimin probably understood what his old subordinate was thinking, so when he heard that Long Xu could guide Qin Qiong, he did not hesitate to cut off a handful of his carefully grown beard and give it to him.
He even directly said that if Qin Qiong's illness needed to be treated with his flesh and blood, he would not hesitate.
Li Yuan once said this to Qin Qiong, and now Li Shimin said it again.
But Qin Qiong still couldn't cheer up.
Huaiyu was helpless.
Qin Qiong was seriously ill last time, but with some guidance and good recuperation, she could slowly recover, but this time the situation is much worse.
The whole body was completely exhausted and overdrawn, and what was even worse was that the spirit was severely hit.
Huaiyu felt that 'Dragon Beard' was of no use, so Qin Qiong could only slowly raise it, and more importantly, it was psychological comfort and guidance.
"Father, with the help of the saint's dragon beard, my father's body will soon recover." He smiled and said to Qin Qiong, "Your Majesty now teaches archery to soldiers in the Xiande Hall of the East Palace every day, and teaches the art of war to the officers.
, and also selected brave young men to form the Eighth Battalion of Beiya, all in preparation for the destruction of the Turks.
In five years, at most five years, His Majesty will send his troops to the Northern Expedition to attack the Turkic Khan Court. At that time, his adoptive father will come out to take charge. In the war to destroy the Turks, his adopted father will be indispensable. When the time comes, he will be in Jieli's Khan Court.
How can you be without your adoptive father when you are drinking celebration wine in the wolf tent?"
These words made Qin Qiong's eyes sparkle, but it quickly dimmed again.
"This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has been missed. The opportunity to annihilate the Turks right at home has been missed. It is easier said than done to make another thousand-mile northern expedition to the Khanate outside the Great Wall!"
Qin Qiong is very pessimistic.
Even disappointed.
"It's not difficult. The capital of Shuofang and Liang will be destroyed within two years. Fengzhou and Yunzhou will be recovered within three years. Within five years, we will reach the foot of Yinshan Mountain and capture Jieli alive."
Qin Qiong smiled, but was not relieved.
The Tang Dynasty's treasury is so empty now. If we didn't fight this time, it will be difficult to fight again. I'm afraid we will have to face intensified aggression and harassment by the Turks every year in the future, and there will be no peace.
As a general, Qin Qiong was ashamed and angry.
But there is nothing that can be done.
Zhang Ananda chatted with Qin Qiong for a long time before leaving.
"Huaiyu, send Supervisor Zhang off for me."
Zhang Anan was also very disappointed with Qin Qiong's current situation, "A man who is as strong as iron actually collapsed all of a sudden. Erlang, you have great medical skills with elixirs. It was you who cured Duke Yi last time. Do you have any good prescriptions this time?"
"I have to take care of it slowly."
Qin Qiong has resigned to Li Shimin and is very determined.
"The imperial court is discussing the withdrawal of the Twelve Routes and the Twelfth Army in Guanzhong. This will be implemented soon. The soldiers and generals in Binzhou will also disperse and return to the countryside and the Weifu. Fan Xing will also return to Beijing soon. You
How are you preparing for your marriage to Fairy Fairy?"
"When General Fan returns to Beijing, he will come to propose marriage. It's just that I originally said that I would ask Duke Yi to be the matchmaker, but now I have to ask someone else."
"Who are you going to invite?"
"Gong Cheng of the State of Lu."
Zhang Ananda smiled and said, "Cheng Zhijie is quite suitable. Remember to notify me when you propose marriage, and I will come to witness it."
"By the way, Wei Zheng has been impeaching you recently."
"Why are you impeaching me again? I didn't provoke him. I've been busy with the Hundred Cavalry Camp affairs every day recently."
"This guy is smelly, tough, and very stubborn. Now I have identified you. Yesterday I impeached you for being a traitor and a sycophant. I flattered you and said that your Baiqi camp is either a bad criminal or a barbarian. You cannot be trusted and are very dangerous."
,
Today I said again that you are a dignified official in the imperial court, but you run a medicine shop and a pawnshop and compete with the people for profit.
What kind of business is this store?" Zhang Ananda asked.
"I just have some idle money and silk, and I also have some Xuanfu. I have some idle money. It just so happens that a lot of people have come to me for loans recently, so I thought of opening a quality shop to save money.
From now on, just go directly to the store."
The name of Huaiyu's pawn shop is Changshengtang. Some people in the Tang Dynasty called lending money Xingsheng, and some temple pawnshops were also called Changshengpu. Therefore, the newly opened pawnshop in Huaiyu was called
Changshengtang is not called a quality shop but a dianshi. In fact, there is nothing special about it.
It's a pawn.
It’s worth ten and bet five.
In the case of pawn mortgage, the maximum amount you can pay for the pawn is 50% of the value. There are live pawns and dead pawns.
The interest rate is not set very high, because after all, this kind of pawn shop has collateral, and interest is charged monthly. If it exceeds one day, it will be charged monthly. If it is not redeemed after maturity, it will become a dead pawn, and the high-quality pawn shop will confiscate it.
The interest is also divided into several grades. The monthly interest is five cents, which is three cents lower than the eight cents monthly interest of Yamen Gongqian. However, the pawn shop also has handling fees, storage fees and other expenses, which are actually a lot of money.
Especially after the collateral becomes dead, you can still make a profit.
After all, if something worth one hundred dollars is appraised at most fifty dollars, you can often only lend thirty or forty dollars. Once it expires and cannot be redeemed, then the thing worth one hundred dollars will be returned directly to the pawnshop, and the pawnshop will only lend out
For a capital of thirty or forty yuan, even if you add 5 cents of profit and expenses, it will definitely not be worth 70% to 80% of the original value.
If you pawn something worth 20,000 yuan for 10,000 yuan, the monthly profit will be 5 cents. After adding expenses, it may be 60 to 70 cents. The monthly profit will be 600 to 700 yuan, which is 600 to 7000 yuan a year. After all, it is at least a daily profit.
Ten thousand and fifty is much crueler than ten thousand and five in later generations.
In fact, the monthly interest rate of 5 cents is still the lowest. The more you borrow, the higher the interest rate will be. The longer you borrow, the higher the interest rate will be.
From 5 cents, to 7 months, to 10 cents, the highest level of the year is 120% interest, which may be 150% plus handling fees.
During the Sui Dynasty, there were regulations on the pawn industry, which stipulated that the profit from a pledge could not exceed five points. However, in addition to large temples, those engaged in the pawn industry were from noble families and even relatives of the emperor.
So in the Tang Dynasty, no one mentioned the interest rate at pawn shops at all. After all, the Tang Dynasty's public loans were charging eight cents per month. How dare you ask others to charge only five cents.
The lowest interest rate in Chang'an's mortgage shops is set at five cents, which is actually a legacy of the Sui Dynasty.
Wei Zheng impeached Wu Huaiyu to compete with the people.
Huaiyu really wanted to throw rotten eggs to Wei Zheng's family.
It must be because the last time Ma Zhou impeached Wei Zheng, he secretly brewed wine for sale at home, and Li Shimin copied his brewing tools and homemade distiller's yeast. This made Wei Zheng resentful. The last time Ma Zhou impeached Wei Zheng, it was indeed Wu Huaiyu's idea. Who
Since Ma Zhou is now the censor, it is also Ma Zhou's responsibility to supervise all officials.
"I'll ask Zhang Baoguo to send you some money and silk later, and I'll also throw some in the Changsheng Hall."
As the founding prince of the Shangzhu Kingdom, Zhang Ananda was actually quite wealthy and received many rewards. He also had a farm.
However, Huaiyu understood that if Zhang Anan was really interested in the pawn shop business, he could actually open two of his own. He wanted to join Changshengtang, and the bigger reason was to support him.
Of course, the pawn shop business is a guaranteed profit.
The only requirement is that the relationship must be strong, otherwise all the gangsters in the city will come to blackmail you, and the corrupt officials in the government will lend a hand, and then the business will not go forward.
When He Shen He Zhong Tang's house was confiscated, he had more than seventy pawnshops under his name, with a capital of more than ten million taels of silver.
Huaiyu's Changshengtang store is different from other stores in that Changshengtang not only collects items for mortgage and lends money, but also helps people keep valuable gold and silver and other items. It is equivalent to a safe business, but it requires payment of handling fees and
There is a storage fee and no interest.
He even planned to give some interest in the future to absorb some people's idle funds and store them, and then use them as capital to lend money. This would not be a waste of money.
"In industries such as farms, medicine shops, and shops, just pick a few trustworthy and capable servants and leave them to take care of them. You still have to focus on business." Zhang Anan reminded Wu Huaiyu before leaving.
Although making money is very important, it is the easiest for powerful people to make money. There are many ways to make money, and the money will even come to you. As long as you are powerful, many businessmen and even local powerful people will want to give money to you.
And once you lose your power, no matter how much wealth you have, you won't be able to keep it.
"Now that the Turks are asking for peace and retreat, the imperial court will soon reward the civil servants and generals who have supported the establishment and defeated the enemy. This time there will be a large number of newly promoted princes. You should also fight for it.
If you miss this good opportunity, it will be difficult to meet again next time." Zhang Ananda specifically reminded Wu Huaiyu that those who changed the Xuanwu Gate Palace have not yet been officially rewarded. By the way, the soldiers who resisted the Turks this time will definitely also be rewarded.
I want to reward a batch of them.
Wu Huaiyu is now a viscount, but now he is being appreciated by the emperor. He works hard to perform well and is vying for a ride, and maybe he can get to the next level.
Even if you can't get a real title, if you can be promoted to the first level of virtual title, or you can get a commander or a general, that would be great. In the next ten years, I'm afraid there won't be such a great opportunity.
