Even in late autumn, the city of Chang'an is still prosperous. The cheap shops scattered in various areas collect goods from all over the world for the millions of residents of Chang'an to choose from. Here you can find grains and vegetables from Guanzhong, as well as rice and fruits from Lingnan.
, even jade from the Western Regions and furs from beyond the Great Wall are no longer luxuries, they are just casually placed on rows of wooden shelves for people to choose from.
Liu Che had heard of the name of Biianfang, but had never been there. He was just wandering around today, so he walked into the largest Biianfang on Zhuque Street with the encouragement of Su Kang and others. There were no stores coming to sell, and there were no salesmen who were enthusiastic about sales.
, except for the two big men with dark faces standing at the entrance, Nuoda's store was actually full of customers.
Curious Liu Che casually took a product from the shelf, and Su Kang immediately said: "Uncle, this is tea from Nanzheng. This tea is just for ordinary people to drink. It only has some tea flavor and no fragrance. This is the tea."
The Yunwu tea sent from Lingnan tastes good, and this is what my family drinks."
There is a whole shelf of tea leaves, with five layers from top to bottom, which is about one foot long. There are tea leaves in various packages. You can quickly tell the quality of the tea leaves from the packaging. The ones wrapped in hemp paper are definitely not good ones.
The top thing was packed in a copper box, and a girl picking tea was printed on it. The painting was very good. Compared with this, it should be the highest-grade tea. As expected, Liu Che found that it was written on
The price on the shelf frame shows that the tea in the copper box is more than a hundred times more expensive than the tea wrapped in hemp paper.
"To brew Yunwu tea, you need to use porcelain from Yaozhou kiln. These two are a perfect match, but the purple clay teapot from Deyang is also very good. My father has a top-quality Deyang purple clay teapot. It is said that it is made by some famous artist. I have never been allowed to touch it.
, but I haven’t seen him use it a few times. He always pours it with tea. I don’t understand what it means to raise a pot!”
Su Kang kept explaining the differences and quality of various goods to Liu Che. This cheap store was very big. Although it could not be compared with Jianzhang Palace, it actually had two floors. There were no less than a thousand kinds of goods in it, which made Liu Che
It was very unexpected. He suddenly had the illusion that the big man was already so rich. There were endless grains and vegetables, and endless silks and satins!
Leaving Bibiafang, just around the corner is the magnificent Dahan Bank. Logically speaking, a government office that manages money should be sparse, but he didn’t expect that the place was bustling with people, with people coming and going like a street market. This made Liu Che
Feeling very uncomfortable, he waved his hand and walked straight in. Looking at the long queue behind the long counter, Liu Che said nothing.
"Sir, do you want to deposit money or exchange money?" A young man dressed very energetically came over with a smile on his face. He was wearing a blue cloth gown that was very different from the wide robes in the court. The long sleeves were narrowed at the waist and the sleeves were a bit weird.
.However, there is a sense of competence and spirit in this weirdness: "Sir, if you have a large sum of money, you can go to the private room with me. This place is only open to scattered customers."
Liu Che said nothing, and the young man bent down to lead the way. The private room was indeed very elegant, with calligraphy, paintings, potted plants, and the four treasures of the study. It looked more like a study than a private room. An old man with a gray beard sat quietly.
After setting up the table, the young man whispered a few words to the old man and then bowed out respectfully. When he came in again, he was holding a bowl of fragrant tea in his hand.
"Sir, do you want to deposit money or borrow money? Our store is a Dahan bank. As long as it is a matter of money, our store has taken care of it for you." The old man had no expression on his face, but he was quite polite when he spoke.
Liu Che thought for a while: "Go and get me your general ledger!"
The old man was stunned, his eyes slightly closed, and he immediately said to the boss: "Sir, whether it is depositing money, borrowing money, or exchanging money, I can help you, but this general ledger is the secret of our store and will never be shown to anyone. Please..."
Liu Ju immediately said: "Take it as you are told. You can't make the decision. Find someone who can make the decision! Go quickly!"
The old man had no choice but to salute and leave the room. Liu Che smiled at Liu Ju, picked up the tea bowl and started drinking tea.
Sang Hongyang goes to the bank to sit for a while every day. He likes to watch the money flowing out and back again. His special seat is at the railing on the second floor. Whenever he comes to the bank, he will definitely be here. Wait until the money comes back.
When the old man found Sang Hongyang, Sang Hongyang was about to leave. But after listening to the old man's narration, cold sweat broke out immediately. This is his Sang Hongyang's territory, and no one has ever been so bold, but from the old man's narration, we can
The man seemed to have bad intentions.
The general ledger was definitely not allowed to be seen, so he had to go and see the person. Sang Hongyang had already guessed who the person was before he entered the private room, so he was extra careful. He sent the old man out in front of the emperor.
, and arranged for people to clear the area around the private room, and then knelt down and saluted.
Liu Che looked at Sang Hongyang coldly: "First, tell me how profitable this Dahan Bank is?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, since the establishment of Dahan Bank, it has basically remained stable in the first three years. It has also started to make profits three years ago. It had a balance of 180,000 gold in the first year, and a balance of 530,000 gold last year. It is estimated that it will be about 800,000 gold this year.
Ten thousand gold.”
"Hiss..." Liu Che took a deep breath. In these years of fighting with the Huns, he had taken away a lot of money from the Dahan Bank. In his impression, even if the Dahan Bank did not collapse, it would at least be in a period of difficulty in supporting supplies, because
The treasury is in a difficult stage of maintenance. That is the treasury of the Han Dynasty! Every year, the national taxes will be concentrated there, and what is a bank? It is a place where coins circulate. Although it saves the people the hard work of carrying money back and forth, it will not
With such ferocity, according to Sang Hongyang, wouldn't it mean that Dahan Bank is the richest place in the world?
"Your Majesty!" Sang Hongyang continued: "A few years ago, your Majesty went on an expedition to the Huns and borrowed one million gold from Dahan Bank. In the past three years, the national treasury has repaid part of it. If all the debts can be paid off this year, one million can be obtained this year."
The balance of gold.”
"Cough cough cough..." Liu Che choked on a mouthful of water and coughed repeatedly. Liu Ruyi quickly massaged the emperor.
Su Kang sneered: "Uncle Emperor, my father said that Sang Hongyang is not a good person. Don't be deceived by him! One million gold? Most of the money in Dahan Bank was deposited by ordinary people.
This requires paying interest to the people. Only by lending this money can you make a profit. For example, if you borrow one million gold, they charge five thousandths per year, which is 5 cents of interest, which is only five thousand gold per year.
I guess 600,000 of the million gold are deposits, which means they only loaned out 400,000 gold."
Su Kang took a piece of paper and wrote while talking: "The usual profit is two cents, and four hundred thousand gold is eighty thousand gold. Even if they loan out all one million, it will only be one hundred thousand gold, and they still have to pay the depositors."
The interest is 50,000 gold, and what is left behind is only 50,000 gold. You are still the largest owner of Dahan Bank, accounting for 50% of the shares. In a few years, you can receive dividends of 25,000 gold, which is much more than my family's 10,000 gold."
After listening to Su Kang's explanation, Liu Che felt much better. Although he still didn't understand it very well, he understood that the money in the bank belonged to the people, not the bank, and he was the bank's major shareholder.
, he gets half of the dividend every year, which means that he is the one who controls the bank, so he feels better again.
"Do you understand?" Liu Che turned to ask his son Liu Ju.
Liu Ju nodded. Liu Che said: "Then you can explain the bank to my father tomorrow!"
Chang'an City is close to the Wei River. It is precisely because of this river that Chang'an City comes alive. Compared with the big rivers in the south, neither the big river nor the Wei River is suitable for sailing. However, the stubborn Han people forcibly blocked the Wei River north of Chang'an City.
The wharf became the largest river shipping wharf in the world. The water volume of the Weihe River is not much, and the river channel is not wide, but there are many ships coming and going, especially the group of people Su Ren brought back from Lingnan, and now they are all
The boss of the boat on the Wei River stood naked and stood on the boat rocking left and right, shouting at the coolies in Chang'an dialect with a Lingnan flavor.
Liu Che stood on the shore, staring blankly at the densely packed ships. The autumn wind blew his beard, and his face was solemn. It was not that he had never been to the Weihe River before, but when he looked at it today, it had completely changed. Standing here, he felt
It feels like being in Lingnan.
"Uncle, look, that's the boat coming from Suzhou. I heard that it has to pass through the sea and then enter the big river before it can enter the Weihe River!" Cao Xiang yearned for the sea very much, so he was the first to speak: "The boat with the emblem of Pingyang Marquis Mansion
It’s ours, and the fruits we transport are all from Lingnan. Although they are a little damaged, they will definitely sell for a good price during this season.”
Su Kang curled his lips and said: "Your Pingyang Marquis Mansion doesn't do business, and my family doesn't transport fruit. The consumption is too great. We only transport tea, which is the best tea."
Liu Che ignored the quarrel between Cao Xiang and Su Kang and asked Liu Judao: "You also have a fleet, right?"
Liu Ji nodded: "With the help of Marquis Yong'an, Hai'er also built a fleet to transport rice from Lingnan to Chang'an. I heard Marquis Yong'an said that the rice in Lingnan is harvested three times a year. Chang'an has a population of one million and it is impossible to live without food. It is impossible to have food every year.
After three or five trips, we can bring back half a million shi of rice."
Liu Che nodded: "Very good!"
Cao Xiang shouted again: "Look, look, the navy fleet is coming. Su Kang, your tea boat is going to suffer. If it is placed on the river at this time, it will be crushed by the fleet! That tea boat of yours is coming
It’s finished.”
Before he finished speaking, the Su family's tea boat suddenly made a beautiful maneuver in the river, narrowly avoiding the river and not being crushed by the fleet as Cao Xiang said. This made Su Kang very happy:
"The sailors in my family also often travel by sea. The river is not a problem for them, unlike those in your family who are all landlubbers and feed the Sea Dragon King sooner or later."
Not in the mood to listen to the two children bickering anymore, Liu Che turned around and got on his carriage. A group of people walked back to the official road and headed towards Chang'an City. In just one day, Liu Che just walked around Chang'an City.
After a lap, he felt deeply about this lap. The big man had changed, and he seemed to be unfamiliar with the change. Moreover, the speed was still accelerating, and he began to worry about whether he could catch up.
Above. When he turned around and saw his son who was messing around with Cao Xiang and Su Ren, he suddenly laughed again. (To be continued)
