Seeing that Xiao Hua was determined and unmoved by beauty, Zhang Kuo could only smile vaguely: "Brother Xiao, I invite you here just to drink and listen to music, and there is no other intention."
"Oh, really?" Xiao Hua stood up with his right hand on the carpet under his knees, and said in his mouth: "In that case, the wine has been drunk, I have given you your face, you don't have to listen to the lingering voice anymore, let's say goodbye
.”
Yuan Zai's eyes widened with regret in his heart. He had just sat down for a moment and had not had any interaction with the beauty. This person wanted to leave. It was such a waste of such a good drinking party.
Zhang Kuo quickly raised his hand to stop him: "Hey, brother Xiao, why are you so anxious? And brother Yuan, the night is long, and the spring night will be long..."
Xiao Hua's face suddenly turned cold and he was about to leave with a flick of his sleeves. Zhang Kuo could only lament and said: "Well, I do have something important to discuss with you."
He sat back on the table, his face solemn as if to avoid strangers. Zhang Kuo waved to the beauties present, and they got away from the guests neatly. Yuan Zai seemed to wake up from a dream, and watched the beauty Qingyun leave from
He left her side and reluctantly tugged on her skirt.
After they all left, Zhang Kuo raised his hands and gave high fives, and two boys walked out from behind the screen, each holding a small box in their hands. It was so heavy that they had to move slowly and lightly when walking.
The box was placed on both sides of Zhang Kuo's long desk. The boy reached out and opened the box. Yuan Zai immediately took a breath. There were neatly arranged gold collars in the box. The golden light was dazzling.
.
One tael of silver from a pig's loin is equivalent to about one pound of gold, and ten times that of gold. The gold weighs more than a hundred kilograms, equivalent to tens of thousands of tongbao. If I, the Secretary of Dali Temple, do not make any external money and only rely on the salary issued by the court, I will never be able to make money in this life.
You can't earn so much money.
Xiao Hua glanced at the gold with cold eyes and disdain, as if they were a pile of stinky things that polluted his soul.
Yuan Zai smiled and raised his hands: "Brother Zhang Kuo, we have no merit and no reward, how dare we accept your abuse..."
His words were interrupted by Xiao Hua's sharp rebuke: "The two of us were favored by His Majesty and came to Hexi for official business to investigate the case. You lured them with gold and silver. Are you trying to trap me? Isn't it tantamount to disloyalty!"
Zhang Kuo quickly stood up and crossed his hands and said, "I am deeply impressed by Duke Xu's loyalty and righteousness. Zhang Kuo saves people by himself and should not test his brother with wealth and sex."
Xiao Hua's expression softened, and he held his head high and said coldly: "If you have anything else to say, please say it all. Don't waste all of our time."
Zhang Kuo sat down slowly, dismissed the servants with his eyes, took a drink from the wine cup to moisten his throat, and was thinking about something to say in his heart. "Brother Xiao, Brother Yuan, you came to Dunhuang to investigate our Western Region Chamber of Commerce?"
Xiao Hua looked like he was rejecting people thousands of miles away: "That's true."
Zhang Kuo sighed helplessly: "Brother Xiao, Mr. Xiao, do you know how many people's fortunes you will destroy by this move? How many wives will be separated and homeless."
"Zhang Kuo, don't try to bluff me. I have been traveling all the way, interviewing people's sentiments and opinions, and have a general understanding of your Western Region Chamber of Commerce. You have monopolized an entire official road and post road, turning public tools into private uses. I pay homage to Emperor Gaozu
Since Taizong established his business, he has made it clear that officials above the fifth rank are not allowed to enter the market, in order to prevent competing for profits with the people. But you have colluded with the government to dominate the pepper trade and make huge profits from it. Many business gangs traveling in India have switched to other businesses, or
Just give up your business and your livelihood! I would like to ask Brother Zhang, has your move ruined the wealth of many people?"
Zhang Kuo put down the wine cup, with a fierce look in his eyes, and then smiled: "Mr. Xiao, I don't know where you got this information from. This is just listening and believing, and it makes no sense. Do you know Pepper
Before the opening of the trade route, there were only three or four caravans traveling on the southern trade route to India. These people transported pepper to Hexi and even the Central Plains each year for less than a hundred dan, and they colluded with each other to inflate the prices, making Luoyang paper expensive.
, a small handful of pepper was fried to a price ten times or a hundred times. In the early years of Tianbao, the average price of pepper in Chang'anxi market was one thousand guan per dou, which made ordinary people timid!"
"Now our Chamber of Commerce has spent a lot of money to build a post trade road from Congling to Xiaobolu, and from Xiaobolu to India, turning the long and dangerous road into a thoroughfare. Then we plan the manpower so that all the ethnic groups along the way can be used by us and come and go.
The relay transportation was managed by someone. Just one year after the trade route was opened, more than 500 stones of pepper and spices were transported to Chang'an, Hexi and other places. Now the post station is becoming more and more skilled in transportation, and it can transport more than 1,500 stones of pepper every year, as well as 70% of spices and sandalwood.
More than a hundred gu. The price of pepper in Chang'an City has dropped from one thousand guan to more than 600 guan. Does this mean that it benefits the general public?"
"Besides, you said that we are taking away the way of life, whose life are we taking away? Those merchants you said used to risk their lives and travel thousands of miles from Tianzhu to carry goods, but now they only need to work in Yangguan, Jiuquan, Zhangye, Wuwei, etc.
Purchasing goods at a price from one place not only reduces costs but also eliminates hardship. This is a good thing that everyone is happy with. Why does it become a big evil in your mouth that competes with the people for profit?"
Xiao Hua held his knees with both hands, leaned back slightly, and asked calmly with a sneer on his lips: "The market price of pepper in Chang'an is 631 guan, and in Dunhuang it is 620 guan. The price given by the Western Region Chamber of Commerce to the partner
It’s five hundred guan. Of these 500 guan, a small part of the labor cost has been discarded. Where has the rest gone? Has it been divided up by the beneficiaries? Your Dunhuang Zhang family can’t wait to jump out tonight, and you must be among them.
Let’s take a share of the pie.”
Zhang Kuo quickly raised his hands and said with a smile: "Brother Xiao, you are wrong. Our family is not that big. We just live under the big tree of the Western Region Chamber of Commerce and get a little rain, dew and sunshine. But I want to
I would like to advise Brother Yu, don’t go into a blind alley. The interests here are complicated and the forces behind it are huge, far beyond your imagination. Brother Xiao, you are from a distinguished family and have a bright future, why do you need to put yourself in the crosshairs of the public?"
Even though this sentence was a naked threat, the atmosphere between the three people present instantly solidified. Yuan Zai wanted to ease the atmosphere and smooth things over, but he didn't know how to speak.
Xiao Hua stood up from the front of the case with his chest held high, his eyes shining brightly, and his posture high-spirited like a hero going to his death. He then said: "Before I came to Dunhuang to investigate this case, I already knew that there would be difficulties and obstacles in this case. A piece of Tianzhu pepper
The trade route earns millions of dollars every year, which is equivalent to one-tenth of the national rent of the Tang Dynasty! There are countless stakeholders in this, including many officials from the three towns of Anxi, Beiting, and Hexi, and wealthy families from all over the country.
Also involved were the Fourth Army Town of Anxi, the Three Armies of Beiting, 70,000 people from Hexi, the military envoys of each army, and even the man who controlled the soldiers and horses of the three towns, all benefited a lot and regarded it as their lifeline."
"But am I, Xiao Hua, afraid? I am in the light and you are in the dark. You have a thousand ways to do it, but I only have one passion!" He raised his two fingers and pointed at the floor and said loudly: "I am the head office of the Western Region Chamber of Commerce in Yangguan.
You must go, I have also investigated this case! Even if you are attacked with swords and axes, you will not change your original intention! You can kill me, but don’t try to block my way. If I die, the court will be shocked. Brother Zhang, please
Think more about it with all the princes in Hexi."
After Xiao Hua said this, he turned around and strode out the door with a strong momentum of never looking back. Zhang Kuo shouted angrily behind him: "Xiao Hua!"
Xiao Hua stopped, and Zhang Kuo mistakenly thought that there was still a chance of improvement, so he asked in a sincere tone: "Brother Xiao, please take stock of the situation and think about it. What are the people who are driving you to investigate the case behind the scenes for justice?"
Is it really for the people? No! They are just attacking their opponents for their own selfish interests and so-called power! You are the only one who is stupid enough to be someone else's pawn, offending a lot of people for nothing!"