In a tavern in Daliang, Wen Shaobo and Jie Zigui, who had returned to the royal capital of Daliang after half a month, were happily sitting in the corner of the tavern eating wine.
Because they are elated? Because they have just found a way to accumulate money quickly.
That is, the caravans of noble merchants.
In recent months, King Hongrun of Su ordered Chenggao Pass to restrict the caravans of noble merchants from the Kingdom of Wei, making it impossible for caravans with dozens or hundreds of carriages to pass through Chenggao Pass to Sanchuan. Therefore, those nobles
The merchants could only take the caravan to Xingyang City, not far from Chenggao Pass, and settle down temporarily there. While secretly cursing Su Wang Hongrun for cutting off their wealth, they waited for the good news from the imperial court about the opening of Sanchuan.
However, some aristocratic merchants also had flexible minds. They thought: Although we cannot pass Chenggao Pass, we can buy goods from Sanchuan from those civilian merchants.
Ever since, the first confrontation between aristocratic merchants and civilian merchants began: forced buying and selling.
Due to the same interests, the aristocratic merchants quickly united and set up obstacles on the official road about ten miles east of Chenggao Pass, forcing the civilian merchants who had just returned from Sanchuan to sell them the specialties of Sanchuan on their cars.
As for the price, of course it is close to the cost price.
However, the Chenggao Army seemed to have expected it, so when the first batch of victims appeared, the Chenggao Army's cavalry quickly dispatched, destroying the illegal checkpoint in almost a moment, and arrested all those involved.
.
According to reliable sources, those who set up private checkpoints will build a city wall at Chenggao Pass for ten years. This punishment is not light.
During this period, Cheng Gao's army showed no mercy to those who resisted and killed them on the spot for rebellion.
As a result, the first confrontation between aristocratic merchants and civilian merchants was defeated due to the intervention of the Chenggao Army, and the civilian merchants' path to and from Sanchuan and Daliang was guaranteed.
As the saying goes, wealth touches people's hearts. Seeing those civilian merchants coming and going, those aristocratic merchants gradually became jealous again.
Of course, because of the lessons learned from the past, they no longer dared to forcefully purchase the specialties of civilian merchants. Instead, they changed their approach: selling the goods on their own vehicles to these civilian merchants at a price higher than the purchase price.
Those noble merchants felt: Your Chenggao army does not allow us to buy and sell by force, but if the civilians buy and sell voluntarily, you can't interfere anymore, right?
Not to mention, Cheng Gao's army really didn't interfere this time.
As a result, the hearts of those noble merchants who had been silent for a long time suddenly became hot again.
After all, they can't pass through Sanchuan, and the goods are piled up, so why not sell them to civilian merchants? God knows when the court will open Sanchuan to them?
Anyway, they have the purchasing channels in their hands and can replenish the supply at any time.
As for the civilian merchants, they thought to themselves, we purchase goods from our hometown and travel hard to and from Sanchuan. Now those noble merchants are willing to provide us with supply of goods. Although the price is higher, it saves a lot of time. Why not?
As a result, aristocratic merchants and civilian merchants started a short-term cooperation. The cooperation between the two parties made Xingyang City suddenly prosperous. Unfortunately, this prosperity was false and short-lived, because once the court announced that Sanchuan was against the aristocratic merchants,
If they open up, those aristocratic merchants will not hesitate to leave their partners, common merchants, and even in turn squeeze out the latter's living space.
But no matter what, now aristocratic merchants and civilian merchants have begun a short-term cooperation.
This kind of cooperation made both parties profitable, and only the imperial household department suffered a loss.
Of course, judging from the transaction volume between the Imperial Household Department and Sanchuan, they probably wouldn't care about this loss.
Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu also took this opportunity to rapidly expand their power, and they had more and more loading carriages and slaves.
Today, Uncle Wen has more than 20 carriages and more than 30 slaves under his command.
Today, it was he and Jie Ziyu who came to Daliang, the royal capital, for the third time.
After arriving in the royal capital, Wen Shaobo bought a cart of drinks at a tavern in the city and asked the slaves to use a carriage to take him back to the inn where he rested, as a reward for the slaves' hard work.
As for Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu, they were not in a hurry to return to the inn. Instead, they sat down in the tavern and ordered a few pots of wine and a few dishes to reward themselves.
They planned to have a good rest at the inn in Daliang today, and then drive the twenty or so empty cars to Xingyang City tomorrow to buy goods from those noble merchants. After all, among the goods in Daliang, almost all the goods that were easier to sell in Sanchuan were
They have all been snapped up by civilian merchants. Unless they are willing to spend more time going to other counties, purchasing goods from the noble merchants temporarily stationed in Xingyang City is currently the fastest and most convenient way to purchase goods.
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However, just as the two brothers were drinking and eating in great spirits, they suddenly heard two men sitting next to them talking quietly.
An alcoholic and his drinking buddies.
"Hey, have you heard? Prince Su has been arrested." The drunkard said to his drinking friend.
The drinking friend was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously asked: "Ah? King Su? Which King Su?"
The drunkard rolled his eyes and said angrily: "How many Su kings do we have in the Wei Dynasty? Of course it is His Highness Su Wang Hongrun!"
After hearing this, his drinking partner looked at him as if he were a fool, and sneered: "Are you kidding me, brother? His Royal Highness, King Su, is wise, martial, and clean. Who would arrest him?"
"It's true!" the drunkard said anxiously, "I was really caught!"
"You are trying to trick me again." The drinking buddy smiled and shook his head: "I will never believe you again."
Seeing this, the drunkard hurriedly swore: "I swear on my ancestors, this matter is absolutely true."
In the customs of the Wei people, the gods of heaven and earth are the greatest, followed by the ancestors. No one would make fun of their ancestors.
Therefore, after hearing these words, the smile on the drinking companion's face gradually faded, but before he could ask a question, he suddenly heard a voice from his neighbor.
"Caught by whom? Your Majesty?"
The owner of this voice is none other than Wen Shaobo.
The drunkard turned around and glanced at Uncle Wen. Seeing his face full of concern for this matter, the gossip in his heart was immediately satisfied. He lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "It's the Zongfu!"
Wen Shaobo was stunned when he heard this.
Think about it, although Anling is considered a big county in Yingshui County, compared with Daliang, it is just a rural place.
Therefore, a middle-class family member like Mr. Wen who came from the countryside had never heard of any kind of clan. Hearing this, he subconsciously asked: "Who is the rich clan? What is the origin of that clan? How dare you arrest His Highness Prince Su?"
?”
The drunkard and his drinking companion rolled their eyes, looked at Mr. Wen with some disdain, and said to themselves: Where did this ignorant boy come from?
At this moment, Jie Ziyu waved to the waiter, pointed to the table where the drinker and his drinking companions were sitting, and said lightly: "Brother, the accounts of these two guests will be settled on our heads later."
These words were more effective than anything else. No, the drunkard stopped the shop assistant who was nodding and preparing to leave. He calmly ordered four more bottles of wine, while patiently explaining to Wen Shaobo: "The clan is not
The name of a person is the name of a government office with the surname Ji
The main courtyard of the Zhao royal family is the government office where the royal family restrains its children. It is similar to the Ministry of Punishment. It has the right to arrest any member of the royal family or the public family who has committed an offense. Even though His Highness Prince Su is a direct descendant of the royal family,
You can also be arrested and questioned by the clan."
As he said that, he nodded towards Jie Ziyu.
Jie Zizi was too lazy to care about the drunkard who had just ordered four more bottles of wine. Hearing this, he asked, "What did King Su commit?"
"What have you committed?" The drunkard sneered when he heard this, and then lowered his voice and said: "You have committed the grave crime of being a direct descendant of a royal family, but not willing to join in the same trap with those nobles who bully others and buy and sell by force."
really!
Jie Ziguo frowned when he heard this. He had long predicted that once Su Wang Hongrun returned to Daliang, he would be oppressed by the royal family, the public family, and the nobles in the country. What he heard today can be said to confirm his judgment.
"Prince Su is still imprisoned in the clan mansion?" Jie Zigui asked with a frown.
"Not yet." The drinker picked up one of the four newly brought bottles of wine, poured a glass for himself and his fellow drinkers, and said in a low voice: "It is said that it is because King Su refused to bow his head."
Could it be that King Su intends to keep this stalemate going until June? This is a huge price to pay.
Jie Ziwei frowned deeply and asked again: "No one can intercede or help King Su?"
The drunkard smiled and said: "That's the clan. Although King Yong and Prince Su have a good relationship, they don't dare to offend the clan."
Jie Ziyu frowned again. Suddenly, his eyes moved slightly and he asked in a low voice: "Who spread this news?"
"This" the drunkard was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said: "It is being spread by both the government and the public. I don't know who actually spread the news."
Jie Ziyu touched his chin, thoughtfully.
Did he deliberately hide the source of the news for fear of being resented by the clan? No. According to this person, the clan has great power. If you are afraid of being hated by the clan, you should protect yourself wisely. Anyway, Prince Su will not be in danger of his life.
, so that no one would risk being raped
To help King Su, there is a danger that the government will hold a grudge against him, otherwise if the news is leaked in the future, it will be tantamount to getting burned. In other words, the person who spread the news probably does not care about the revenge of the Zongfu. Does it mean that he does not care at all? Wait a minute, at all.
Don’t care? Could it be the King of Wei?
A strange color flashed in Jie Ziyu's eyes.
After hastily settling the bill for the food and drinks, Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu returned to the inn where they were temporarily staying.
After returning to the room, Jie Zizi asked the shopkeeper for a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and wrote quickly on the paper.
After finishing writing, Jie Ziyu blew the ink on the paper and said to Mr. Wen: "Young uncle, get ready. When I come back, we will leave the city immediately."
"Ah?" Mr. Wen was stunned for a moment, and he was about to ask more questions with a puzzled face, but was surprised to find that Jie Zizi had already walked out of the house.
After leaving the inn, Jie Ziyu came to the vicinity of the Smelting Bureau by asking passers-by, but he did not approach. Instead, he found a child playing on the street and took out the letter and a large amount of money.
"Little guy, send this letter to that mansion, and this big money will be yours."
The child nodded happily.
After a stick of incense, the letter was delivered to the hands of Wang Fu, the chief minister of the Smelting Bureau, who was worried about King Su being trapped in the clan.
"Will it work?"
Wang Fu muttered, then gritted his teeth, summoned a clerk, and ordered: "There is news that all work in our Smelting Bureau will be suspended starting tomorrow."
The civil servant had obviously also heard about Su Wang Hongrun. Hearing this, he exclaimed in shock: "Your Majesty, if you use this method to force the court, not only will you not be able to help His Highness, Prince Su, but you will also harm His Highness!"
"What? Helping His Highness Prince Su?" Wang Fu snorted and said slyly: "Who said it was for Prince Su? It's just that our Smelting Bureau has no money."
"Eh? Wonderful!" To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote on Qidiann. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to n to read.