Silk horse market in Shuofangxi Shoujiang City (now Hangjinhou Banner, Inner Mongolia).
In the huge market, all you could hear was the sound of people and the neighing of horse hooves.
Caravans from various tribes in Mobei occupied their respective stalls in the open-air market, loudly recommending their products to the merchants passing by.
The Shuofang Silk Horse Market was established in the 15th year of Kaiyuan (727). "Zizhi Tongjian" says: "The Turks paid money to the city, and Emperor Xuanzong cared for it. At the age of 18, Xu Shuofang's army surrendered to the west and surrendered to the city as a mutual market."
However, although Shuofang Silk Horse Market has the word "silk horse" in its name, the goods traded there are all kinds of things, including silk, Luo, tea, medicine, lacquer, livestock, slaves, etc.
In the most central place of Kinima City, there is a low and connected courtyard and pavilion, which is a place where only noble people can enter.
Pass through the gatehouse guarded by guards, enter the city courtyard where signs are posted, and finally enter the spacious and transparent inner hall.
Li Guangbi sat cross-legged on the middle table, and nobles and chiefs from many tribes in Mobei sat on the side tables on both sides.
Different from those private transactions in other cities, the business discussed here is called "official market", and there are generally only two types of commodities, silk and horses.
Li Guangbi first said to the many noble leaders present: "The horses in this mutual trade have been inspected. Except for a few poor horses, the rest are all good horses. Thank you for your hard work."
Everyone smiled and nodded.
Next, comes the highlight of bargaining.
Li Guangbi nodded to the military bookkeeper, who picked up the silk horse book, first reported the number of different horse breeds, and then gave a comprehensive price - twenty-five silk horses for one horse.
After hearing this price, everyone looked at each other, and someone asked: "Last year, it was still thirty pieces of silk for one horse. Why is it less this year?"
Li Guangbi said: "This year, Henan Province, Jiangnan Province, and Huainan Province in the Tang Dynasty were all hit by disasters. Silk production has been severely reduced. Domestic supply is still insufficient, so there will naturally be less for mutual trade."
Someone said: "Our tribe has been fighting the Turks for more than half a year. The horses have suffered serious losses. The pastures are not taken care of, and there are many fewer horses."
Therefore, the two parties discussed the price of the silk horse, and finally settled on the market price at a discount price of twenty-eight silk for one horse.
After the price of the silk horse was set, the nobles and leaders of the tribe did not leave their seats. Instead, they stayed where they were and waited eagerly, as if they had received some news in advance.
Li Guangbi clapped his hands, and a maid brought out the tea set, lit a small fire in the middle of the inner hall, and began to boil water.
Amid people's murmurs, a maid carefully held a silver cup filled with tea and came to the stove.
Next, there is a series of elegant and unique tea art sessions.
When the aroma of tea filled the hall, some people couldn't bear it any longer, so they came over and planned to get a cup first.
There is little tea but there are many people. Everyone here has a cup and all the tea leaves are used up.
Just when the noble leaders were still savoring the aftertaste in their mouths, Li Guangbi spoke: "This is tea from the Immortal Mountains. It is called 'Cloud Tea'. It is collected from cliffs and stone streams. It does not need to be processed. It can be packaged as long as it is exposed to the sun. If you want to drink it,
When the tea is cooked, it doesn’t need to be steamed or boiled. Just boil the water and the aroma of tea will fill the house.”
Li Guangbi looked around and said: "If you are interested, you might as well bid for it. The one with the highest price will get it."
Just when Li Guangbi was confident that everyone present would compete to bid, the hall was silent and no one spoke.
The unexpected situation made Li Guangbi stunned.
He looked around and asked again: "Is there anyone bidding?"
When asked for the third time, someone finally offered a price: "One pound of cloud tea for one piece of silk cloth."
Li Guangbi looked at the person who made the bid. He was dressed in Huihe attire and was a noble from the clan under Guli Peiluohan.
Zhou Jun originally sold Yuncha to Shuofang Army at twice the market price of the best wax-faced tea in Chang'an West Market. The approximate price was 800 yuan per kilogram of tea.
Including transportation, fire consumption, manpower, etc., the cost of one pound of cloud tea for Shuofang's army is about one thousand two hundred yuan.
The official price of a piece of silk cloth in Shuofang is about 3,300 yuan.
The Uighur nobles offered the price of a pound of cloud tea for a piece of silk cloth. Shuofang's army seemed to be getting nearly three times the profit, but it was still far lower than Li Guangbi's psychological expectations.
Because, the last time Wang Zhongsi put the tea leaves given to him by Zhou Jun to be auctioned to raise military funds, a pound of cloud tea was sold for a high price of nearly three pieces of silk cloth.
But now, the Uighur people are only willing to pay for one piece of silk cloth, which is really unacceptable to Li Guangbi.
After thinking about this, Li Guangbi ignored the Huihe noble and continued to ask the others: "Is there anyone else who bids?"
After asking several times, Li Guangbi looked at the evasive eyes of everyone sitting down, thought about it carefully, and finally realized what happened.
At the last tea tasting party, the name of Yuncha may have spread.
Therefore, this time at the tea market, the noble leaders of the Mobei tribe also learned wisely and established an offensive and defensive alliance to negotiate with Shuofang's army.
Thinking of this, Li Guangbi felt his teeth itching with hatred. He touched his waist with his right hand and growled at the Huihe noble: "You want to play with Li?!"
That time, when the nobleman saw that Li Guangbi was angry, his face turned pale, and he quickly said: "Two pieces of silk cloth, two pieces! It can't be any higher!"
Li Guangbi remembered Wang Zhongsi's instructions to appease the Mobei tribe before leaving, and also recalled the impending shortage of food and pay for Shuofang's army. He couldn't help but clenched his fists and said in a deep voice: "Okay, two horses are two horses!"
Hearing this, the noble leaders of many tribes in the hall showed joy on their faces.
After the price was finalized, the delivery of cloud tea and silk cloth was completed.
Three days later, Xihou surrendered to the foot of the mountain at the northern foot of the city.
The noble leaders of the Mobei tribe held another meeting here.
At the meeting, the Uighur noble first said: "The quantity of cloud tea this time is not as large as originally expected. I am afraid the distribution method will have to be changed."
Someone asked: "Didn't we originally agree that everyone should share it equally?"
The Uighur noble said with a smile: "Think about it, there are twenty-one Mobei tribes participating in the mutual trade this time. If they are divided equally, the big tribe will suffer and the small tribe will gain."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar.
The meaning of the Uighur people's words is that the Uighur family has a great cause and a large population, so naturally it should be divided the most.
As a result, a group of noble leaders got into a quarrel and almost ended up fighting.
After a lot of effort, everyone finally decided on the distribution ratio of cloud tea.
Among the tribes in Mobei, the Uighur tribe has the largest population and the strongest strength. They also receive the largest amount of cloud tea, accounting for almost half of the total.
The other half of Yuncha was distributed according to the strength of the remaining tribes.
The larger tribes can get several barrels of cloud tea, while the smallest tribe can only get one cup of cloud tea.
After this incident, a rift developed within the Mobei tribe, and many tribes were dissatisfied with the Uighur tribe. However, due to their powerful strength, they could only swallow their anger and settle the matter.