Chapter 467: The Beginning of Civil and Commercial Rise (5)
"With a transaction of this magnitude, how could the imperial court be short of Sanchuan specialties such as sheepskins and wool?"
Jie Ziyu and Tao Hong looked at each other, then looked at the carriage behind them with a wry smile.
If a transaction volume of the size of the imperial court would be "out of stock", then what use would the weight of the carriage behind them be? A drop in the bucket is not enough to describe it.
Witnessing this scene with his own eyes, even Mr. Wen had to admit that King Su was indeed supporting private businessmen like them by "making the Ministry of Households lose money."
However, with a transaction volume of the size of the Imperial Household Department, it wouldn't care about this small loss from private merchants, right?
"We are really...too weak."
Uncle Wen murmured.
Jie Ziyu and Tao Hong were stunned, because what Shaobo Wen said was exactly what they really thought in their hearts.
"Let's go to Luocheng."
Seeing the loss and confusion in his best friend's eyes, Jie Ziyu comforted him in a low voice: "Exchange the goods on the carriage for the specialties of the Sanchuan tribe and transport them back to the country. If we repeat this a few times, we will have... a lot of capital."
Wen Shaobo nodded silently, and after reluctantly looking at the densely packed ships on the Luoshui River, he clenched his fists and said in a deep voice: "One day, I will also own such a number of ships! ... comparable to the imperial household department.
merchant ship!"
"..."
Jie Ziyu and Tao Hong looked at the usually cheerful Wen Shaobo in surprise, and were quite surprised that the latter actually dreamed of one day being on par with the imperial household department.
However, Wen Shaobo's rare and unparalleled aura disappeared in an instant as soon as he set foot in Luocheng City.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"
As he stood near the gate of Luocheng City and shouted three times, Mr. Wen opened his eyes wide and looked at the stalls and wooden shops all over Luocheng City. He was extremely horrified.
Because in their view, this Luocheng city was like a market magnified countless times, very lively.
In the city, patrols abounded in groups, some were Shang Shui soldiers wearing Wei armor, and some were Sanchuan cavalry leading their horses slowly through the streets.
On both sides of the road, the Yi people, the Jie people, and the Yi people put out high-quality goods and greeted the Wei merchants coming and going in blunt Wei language.
Yes, many of the Wei merchants in the city had Shaobo Wen bite his tongue.
"This, this, this..." He pointed at the Wei people who had the same purpose as him, and was speechless in shock.
However, Tao Hong seemed to have guessed what he meant and said with a smile: "Brother Wen Xian, do you think we are the only smart people? As far as I know, the number of Wei people here increased sharply half a month ago. Don't forget
Well, King Su ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to monitor the domestic affairs
The notices issued by each county seat, if Brother Yu's prediction is correct, the people in those counties closer to Chenggao Army, such as Yangdi, Zhongmu, Yangwu and other counties, may have already made a round trip and are on their second trip.
On the way here..."
Uncle Wen's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he quickly said: "Meson, hurry up, find a place to sell the things on our carriage!"
"No matter how fast we go... we won't be able to make the second round trip this year."
The meson owl smiled slightly.
He doesn't value money, after all, his goal is an official career.
The reason why he accompanied Mr. Wen here this time was only because of the latter's warm invitation, and he was also a little worried about the dangers his close friend would encounter while traveling alone.
But now that he arrived in Luocheng, he found that the security situation here was very good. Jie Ziyu no longer worried about anything and looked at Luocheng with great interest.
Regarding Luocheng, which is said to be a "free trade city", the first thing Jie Zizi noticed at first sight were the flags that were hung or erected inside and outside the city.
The flag is mainly purple, the noble color of the Wei State. On the left side, which shows the dignity, is the word "Wei" in black letters and white frames. Below the words is painted the pride of the Wei State, a four-horse two-wheeled chariot;
On the right, there is the word "Chuan Luo" in a grass-like color, and underneath it is painted an image of a foreign cavalry riding a horse and drawing a bow.
In the center of the fonts and patterns on the left and right sides, there is an embroidered vertical sword in a sheath, which means "sheath the sword", which means "peace".
On the edge of the flag, there are many auspicious clouds and auspicious animals painted on it, which is quite wonderful.
"It looks good. Prince Su drew it himself, and then asked the Ministry of Industry and the Smelting Bureau to work together to make it."
A Shang Shui soldier who was passing by saw the meson looking at the flags blankly and said proudly.
Jie Zizi nodded kindly towards the other party, and then continued to look at the flags in surprise.
Although he had long heard that King Su was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he had not yet thought that His Highness King Su, who led his army to great victories one after another, was actually good at painting.
He imagined in his mind that a fifteen-year-old boy was in front of thousands of troops, commanding the troops with a calm expression, while painting with a calm mind...
But after a few breaths, Jie Ziyu suddenly shook his head, because that scene was so inconsistent.
"meson."
Uncle Wen patted his friend who was in a daze on the shoulder and said to him: "Brother Tao found an open space, let's go there."
"Oh." Jie Ziyu nodded.
After a while, Wen Shaobo and the others came to an open space where no one was setting up a stall, and one after another they put out the goods on the carriage.
It has to be said that Jie Ziu's criteria for judging goods are incredible. He suggested that Wen Shaobo carry the goods. After a while, they were all bought by a man who claimed to be from the Lun tribe of the Yi people.
The other party paid two wooden boxes of "copper coins" for this, but it was not the Wei Guohuan coins that Wen Shaobo was familiar with.
"What kind of copper coin is this...can it be used?"
Uncle Wen picked up a copper coin and asked the Lun man suspiciously.
Unexpectedly, the Lun man who knew the language of Wei said with a smile: "Little brother, have you just arrived in Luocheng?"
"Yes...how do you know?"
The Lun man said with a smile: "As long as you walk around the city a few times, you will see that transactions in various places in the city are settled with the copper coins of your Wei Kingdom."
"But this is not the copper coin of Wei State..." Wen Shaobo said in astonishment.
The Lun man smiled and said: "His Royal Highness Prince Su said that this is a 'commemorative coin'. In order to commemorate the end of the war between the 'Great Wei' and me, 'Chuan Luo', and the establishment of diplomatic relations with each other, you specially gave it to...
...The Ministry of Finance asked the craftsmen there to make them. It may not be circulated in your country at the moment, but it doesn’t matter. I believe that when you leave Luocheng, you will exchange these coins for our Sanchuan specialties."
"Commemorative coins?"
The meson owl listened curiously and picked up a copper coin from the wooden box.
After weighing it, I realized that it was quite heavy, slightly heavier than Wei's big money.
What surprised Jie Zizi was that these copper coins were minted very delicately. One side was printed with the symbol of Wei's pride, "horse and two-wheeled chariot", and the three characters "Wei Banliang" were clearly engraved on it in the shape of a finished product.
On the reverse side, there were some characters engraved on it that he couldn't understand. Later he found out that they were the characters of the Yi people.
Perhaps he noticed that Jie Zizi was looking at the Qian characters engraved on the back of the coin. The Lun man picked up a coin and said with a smile: "That's our Sanchuan character, 'Ten coins for a whole skin, a hundred for a sheep.
Ten such coins can buy a complete sheepskin, and a hundred such coins can buy a sheep."
"Can a hundred coins like this buy a sheep?" Wen Shaobo looked back at the two boxes of coins in shock, and then his eyes lit up.
After all, these coins, according to a rough estimate, may be able to buy twenty or thirty sheep. If they are shipped back to the country, the value will not increase several times?
"Jiezi..." He looked at Jiezi Ou with surprise on his face.
But as if Jie Ziyu could see through his mind, he calmly shook his head and said: "It is too dangerous to transport living animals back to the country. If there are too many casualties along the way, our trip will be in vain. Let's give up."
Uncle Wen opened his mouth, and then said with a bit of frustration: "Then let's take one or two sheep with us when we go back?"
Jie Ziwei smiled faintly, and then asked the Lun man: "Excuse me, where can I buy good sheepskins here?"
"Where can I buy good sheepskins?" The Lun man laughed loudly and said, "Little brother, this is our Luocheng in Sichuan. You can just grab anyone on the road, no matter if he is a member of the Yi tribe or a Yi tribe member.
They are still Jie people. Their tribe owns countless sheep and sheepskins. But..." At this point, he looked at Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu and asked, "Just the two of you?"
"Yes." Mr. Wen said with some confusion.
"This is troublesome..." The Lun man frowned and said: "The copper coins you have now can buy many sheepskins. With your carriage, I'm afraid you can load four or five of them...
…But there are only two of you.”
"..." Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu understood and looked at each other.
Yes, how can two people transport four or five carriages of sheepskins back to the country?
This time, even Jie Ziyu was a little stunned, because he did not expect that the profit of this business trip would be so high.
At this moment, the Lun man stretched out two fingers and asked in a low voice: "Do you want an obedient slave? One slave, two sheep...that is, two hundred copper coins."
"slave……"
Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu looked at each other.
At this moment, the Lun man said with a smile: "Why don't you come with me and take a look? The slaves are very obedient and easy to feed. As long as you keep them fed every day, they will work hard for you."
Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu were deceived by this Lun man.
And half an hour later, when Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu came out from the Lun tribe of the Yi tribe, they were followed by ten slaves. Although they looked a little thin, they were all quite energetic.
"Will they betray us?"
Uncle Wen asked the Lun man who sent them out with some worry, but the latter smiled and said: "Don't worry, they no longer have a home in the north. They voluntarily became slaves for you Wei people. Wei
People are in our Sichuan Luo...tsk, tsk, tsk."
Uncle Wen followed the gaze of the Lun man to the ten slaves, but found strangely that the eyes of these people were looking at him, as if they were looking at big boxes of gold nuggets.
Light.
This kind of earnestness made Mr. Wen shudder.
Seemingly noticing Wen Shaobo's look, the Lun man put his arm around his shoulders and said with a smile, "Stay in Luocheng for a few more days, and you will find out how useful the Wei identity is...