Qiao Silang never dreamed that he could walk out of the inner guard prison alive. The words of the commander of the inner guard king still seemed to echo in his ears: "His Royal Highness Jin is kind and hopes that you will try your best to transport quicklime from Henan Prefecture. As long as you do
If you do well, you will not only be innocent, but you will also have merit. When Zhu Si is overthrown, you will also have a good result.'
Qiao Shilang was very excited, and at the same time he was very happy. He was happy that he was just an official and businessman responsible for buying and selling goods, and was not involved in intelligence, otherwise he would not have been released so easily.
What was exciting was that he happened to be responsible for selling quicklime from Xin'an County to other countries. Several other officials and businessmen like him looked down on quicklime, which made him get the attention of the King of Jin. He could actually have a good future selling quicklime. This was his
Unimaginable in my wildest dreams.
Qiao Shilang hurried back to his business. As soon as he entered the business, the shopkeeper was shocked, "Proprietor, you were actually let out?"
The shopkeeper was also a Luoyang official and businessman with him. He didn't want the shopkeeper to see any clues, so he just said lightly: "Is it strange?"
"Bizhi heard that the proprietor was arrested by the internal guards and the goods were seized. I really thought that the proprietor would not be able to get out!"
The shopkeeper's surprise was normal. They were undercover agents in Luoyang. They were caught by the internal guards. Even if they didn't die, they would be sent to the mines to work as coolies. How could they get out so easily?
Qiao Shilang sat down and took a few sips of hot tea, and said with a happy face: "I'm lucky. The internal guards thought I was an ordinary businessman speculating on business. They didn't expect me to be an official businessman. The key is that our salt was bought before the ban was promulgated."
Yes, I barely broke the ban. After being fined 500 yuan, I was released. I never dreamed that what about the three guys who were arrested with me? They should be released!"
"They were released yesterday and reprimanded. Otherwise, how would I know that the proprietor was caught? The proprietor is really lucky. If he were caught in Luoyang, he would definitely be dead!"
"The inner guard was still reasonable. He let me go and the goods were returned to me. Not only did they pay back the money, they converted it into 500 guan and gave it back to me. However, the 500 guan was fined again."
Qiao Shilang smiled bitterly, "We lost seven hundred dollars this time."
"Proprietor, seven hundred guan is not a big problem. We still have 15,000 guan in the cabinet. However, there is a letter from Liu Xiangguo. I just received it today."
Qiao Silang perked up and asked quickly: "What did Liu Xiangguo say?"
"Liu Xiangguo informed all our trading houses to withdraw all the money from the counters and transport it all back to Luoyang."
Qiao Silang nodded. This was as they expected. They had discovered a long time ago that selling anything in Luoyang would make a loss. Selling old money from Tianbao was the most profitable. One old money can be exchanged for ten new coins. There is no comparison in the world.
This business is more profitable, and Chang'an has not banned the transportation of copper coins to Luoyang. It is a legal business, but the risk is also the highest.
Wang Yue, the commander of the inner guard, just asked him to do his best to transport quicklime to Puyang, but did not specifically ask him to transport what to Luoyang. He only said that he was allowed to do legal business, and transporting copper coins was also a legal business.
Qiao Silang immediately said: "We will pick up the money tomorrow, rent a cargo ship, and return to Luoyang to transport lime to make money."
Of course, Qiao Silang's level was too low, and he would not understand the strategic significance of the Chang'an court sending old money to Luoyang. Whether old money, gold or silver, sending it to Luoyang was all about plundering the wealth of the powerful.
The powerful have a huge amount of new money in their hands. Zhu Si has minted tens of millions of copper coins over the years. More than 90% of this money is in the hands of the powerful. They are eager to exchange the new money into gold and silver or Chang'an's old money.
A large amount of new money will be released, but Luoyang does not have so many corresponding materials, prices will skyrocket, the new money will be completely reduced to waste money, and the military salary in the hands of the soldiers will become worthless, and the consequences can be imagined.
This is the real intention of Guo Song when he told Yang Mi to "use gold as a sword". Zhu Si would drink poison to quench his thirst and create super inflation with his own hands.
Therefore, Guo Song not only did not prohibit merchants from transporting Tianbao copper coins to Luoyang, but also secretly lent millions of copper coins to Liu Feng through major counters. Liu Feng exchanged millions of coins from the powerful by manipulating price comparisons.
With money, their problem of military salaries for hundreds of thousands of troops has been solved.
On the afternoon of Qiao Silang's return, Guo Song issued another Jinwang Order, which was a strengthening of the previous order, strictly prohibiting merchants from all over the country from transporting any supplies to Luoyang. In fact, no normal merchants did business with Luoyang anymore, only Luoyang
Officials and merchants stationed in various places are still transporting goods to Luoyang. This order is actually aimed at them. Guo Song must completely plug this loophole.
The Jin army and the inner guards completely blocked Henan Prefecture from both land and water lines.
In other words, supplies can only come out of Henan Prefecture, but cannot go in. Of course, supplies allowed by the government in private can still be entered, such as copper coins.
...........
More than half of the people in Luoyang have fled. The capital originally had a population of 500,000, but only over 200,000 are left. They are either family members of the army or middle class or above. The people at the bottom cannot afford the high taxes and prices, and even more
The important thing is that people were basically afraid of the epidemic and fled the capital.
If the people in the counties of Henan Prefecture are included, the number of people who fled to Guanzhong in more than a month has reached close to 500,000.
Although the epidemic did not break out in Luoyang, Zhu Si fell ill. It was not an accident that Zhu Si fell ill. It was not because of the increasingly severe situation, nor because of the outflow of people, but because of his body. He was extremely fat and long.
After years of indulgence in sex and drinking, his body finally couldn't bear it anymore and he collapsed.
Liu Feng stood next to the emperor's bed and looked at the emperor Zhu Si lying on the bed listlessly with his eyes closed, as if he had no strength to even open his eyelids.
Liu Feng's heart became heavy. He originally wanted to report to Zhu Si that the Jin army had blocked all trade routes, resulting in too much new money in the market and a lack of supplies. If this continued, there would be big trouble.
But now the emperor obviously couldn't listen to any of his suggestions. He could only sigh secretly and said to his sister Liu Guifei: "Take good care of your majesty. I will go back first."
Concubine Liu cried so hard that she couldn't speak a word with her voice choked with sobs. Liu Feng shook his head and left with a heavy heart.
Liu Feng actually knew what his sister wanted to say to him. If something happened to the emperor and the Xiao family came to power, wouldn't the Liu family be completely ruined?
Liu Feng was also worried about this problem before, but now Liu Feng has completely figured it out. Anyway, the court only has a few days left. Everyone is frantically hoarding gold and silver, hoarding old money, selling land, and selling real estate. Everyone is doing it for themselves.
Considering the fate of the people, who cares about the life and death of the imperial court? What does it matter whether the Xiao family is in power or not?
"Liu Xiangguo stays!"
As soon as Liu Feng walked out of the hall, he heard someone calling him from behind.
When Liu Feng turned around, he saw General Xiao Wanding turning out from behind a big pillar. Didn't he just take the first step? He was actually waiting for him here!
"General, what do you want from Mr. Liu?" Liu Feng asked coldly.
Xiao Wanding walked forward slowly, "I have something to tell the Prime Minister. Recently, the soldiers have reported that prices have risen too much. Two months ago, it was only 500 yuan per meter, but now it has risen to 2,000 yuan per meter.
Except for land and real estate, the price of everything is rising. Everyone is miserable and has great opinions. I originally wanted to report it to His Majesty, but His Majesty fell ill again, so I can only report it to the Prime Minister."
Liu Feng laughed twice and said carelessly: "The main reason is that Guo Song blocked the material channel, so materials can't come in. There are less materials on the market, and the price will definitely rise. This is normal."
"What do you mean this is normal? I want to know how the Prime Minister solves this problem."
"I...I also want to buy a batch of grain from Chang'an, but the gold is not in my hands, and there is nothing I can do!"
Liu Feng responded sharply. It was you, Xiao Wanding, who suggested that the emperor transport the gold to the inner treasury. Now that the emperor is ill and unable to handle government affairs, no one can touch that batch of gold. Now if there is a problem, you want to find me. You deserve it!
Xiao Wanding's face was as gloomy as water, and he said coldly: "If there is a mutiny in the army, I am afraid that the first one to attack will be your mansion, Liu Xiangguo. Don't blame me for not warning you!"
Xiao Wanding directly threatened Liu Feng. Liu Feng was not a vegetarian. His brother-in-law Xiang Fei still had 30,000 troops in his hands. He was so scared!
Liu Feng snorted, "I'm afraid I won't be the first one! The residence of General Xiao will bear the brunt!"
Xiao Wanding saw that Liu Feng was not afraid of his threat, so he had to slow down and said: "Liu Xiangguo, everyone is doing it for the court, not for personal gain. How about this? I persuade the empress to approve and move the gold back to Zuozangku so that Xiangguo can move it back to Zuozang as soon as possible.
Buy food, and I have a suggestion."
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When Liu Feng saw that he had surrendered and was willing to move the gold back to the Zuozang warehouse, he felt a little better and asked, "What other suggestions does the general have?"
"I think the imperial court should strive to protect the capital. I suggest that all the supplies and food from the counties in Henan Prefecture be moved to the capital. In this way, the supplies on the market will not be so scarce."
Liu Feng smiled bitterly after a while and said: "The emperor used this trick last autumn. If I use it again now, I don't know how effective it will be?"