At dusk, Guo Song returned to his mansion from the governor's office. As soon as he entered the mansion, Butler Wang came forward to report, "Your Majesty, Master Zhang is here!"
Guo Song didn't react for a while and asked again: "Which Mr. Zhang?"
"That's Fatty Zhang, the proprietor of Jubao Pavilion!"
Guo Song was overjoyed that it was his senior brother who came, and he quickly asked: "Where is he?"
"It's in the east courtyard! Madam asked me to arrange for Mr. Zhang and a few of his entourage to stay here first."
Guo Song hurriedly came to the east courtyard. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he heard Zhang Lei shouting: "Don't unpack your luggage. I don't like the weather here. Let's go back after staying for two or three days!"
Guo Song walked into the courtyard and said with a smile: "When did senior brother become so squeamish and still have requirements for the weather?"
Zhang Lei couldn't close his mouth for a long time, and laughed and said: "The weather is just an excuse, I am really worried that your sister-in-law will not be able to work alone in the capital."
"Then why did senior brother think of coming to Ganzhou? Could it be that he wanted to collect some sheepskins and take them back?"
Zhang Lei's eyes widened, "I wonder why there has been no news! It turns out that you have simply forgotten about it."
"Forgot what?" Guo Song was a little confused.
Zhang Lei said angrily: "Have you forgotten about the wine?"
Now it was Guo Song's turn to laugh, "Of course I haven't forgotten, but I just don't have the energy to take care of it yet."
Zhang Lei rolled his eyes, "I knew you had forgotten, so I came to Zhangye."
Guo Song smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Don't be angry. Come to the study with me for a cup of tea and we'll discuss it."
Zhang Lei was half persuaded and half coaxed by Guo Song to go to the outer study. Guo Song asked the maid to serve tea.
Zhang Lei took a sip of tea and then said: "I'm really anxious. Now Chang'an wine is getting more and more popular. Needless to say, our Meishou wine is definitely the best, but the output has never been able to increase. Mid-range wine
Basically, the world is dominated by Zhangye wine. Our problem is that we can’t get the goods. Zhangye wine is monopolized by a few companies and they don’t supply it to us at all. I have no choice but to come to you from the source.”
In the past two days, Guo Song really got to know Zhangye wine for the sake of military expenses. He said to Zhang Lei: "The Zhangye wine production area is in the south of Ganzhou, with tens of thousands of hectares of vineyards, and the winemaking areas are in Zhangye County and Xiedan County. There are three wineries in total.
Among the big families, one is from the An family in Hexi, another is from the Pu family in Gaochang, and the other family has the surname Luo, which is more mysterious and their origins are unknown."
"I know this person named Luo very well!"
Zhang Lei said: "I specially spent a lot of money to hire someone to investigate. This winery named Luo was originally owned by the Wushi family in Gaochang. It is a famous winemaker in Gaochang. Because of the oppression of the Shatuo people, they took part of the winery industry 20 years ago.
He moved to Zhangye and bought tens of thousands of acres of land to grow grapes. Later, he succeeded, and only then did Hexi An family and Gaochang Pu family follow up.
This wine merchant named Luo was actually the son-in-law of the Wu family, named Luo Yu. He was very shrewd and successfully sold wine to Chang'an. Later, he gradually controlled the vineyards and wineries. About ten years ago, the Wu family
Suddenly something happened, saying that he was colluding with Shatuo. As a result, the eldest sons of the Wu family in Zhangye were killed. The two younger sons were sent back to Gaochang by Luo Yu overnight. The vineyard and winery were confiscated by the government, but soon, Luo Yu
Yu bought the vineyard and winery, including dozens of winemakers, at a very low price, but it has nothing to do with Gaochang Wushi."
"Is this true?" Guo Song asked.
"Of course it's true. This case caused a sensation in Zhangye ten years ago. If you ask the older generation, they all know about it and praise Luo Yu as the savior."
"This Luo Yu is quite interesting!" Guo Song said with a faint smile.
"That's funny. It's obviously colluding with the government and swallowing up the Wu family's brewing industry. I don't believe you don't understand!"
How could Guo Song not understand? He narrowed his eyes slightly, with an imperceptible sneer flashing in his eyes. This news came too timely.
"Brother, this matter will not be resolved so quickly. You can stay here for a few days and then I will give you an answer."
"Okay! I will stay for a few days. If you need any help from me, just ask."
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "Speaking of which, I really need my brother's help with something. I am in urgent need of money now. I want to ask my brother to borrow 100,000 yuan, and then slowly deduct it from the wine money. Do you think this will work?"
Zhang Lei's eyes narrowed with a smile, "Does this mean that you are very sure about winning the winery?"
Guo Song said calmly: "It is related to the survival of the army. Even if you are not sure, you will be sure."
"No problem, as long as you can get wine for me, it doesn't matter how much I lend you."
.........
After sending Zhang Lei to rest, Guo Song immediately asked his soldiers to find Wang Yue, the commander of the internal affairs battalion, and Cao Wannian, the county magistrate. Not long after, the two hurried to Guo Song's house and were taken into the outer study.
"I'm sorry to see you, envoy!" Wang Yue knelt down on one knee and saluted.
Guo Song waved his hand, "Don't be too polite, sit down and talk."
The two sat down, and Guo Song told them about the military salary issue of the Liangzhou Army. Cao Wannian smiled bitterly and said: "It's the same everywhere. There is no threat from Xue Yantuo in Fengzhou, and the military salary of the self-recruited army is not the same."
No matter what, Guo Shu was so worried about this matter that he finally had to disband the self-raised army and return to the fields and change it into a militia. Unexpectedly, Liangzhou was also like this."
"Since I have been appointed as the governor of Hexi Province, I have to solve this problem. There are only two solutions, increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. It is impossible to reduce expenditure. I can only find ways to increase revenue. I plan to make a fuss about wine.
, if done well, there will be no problem in earning tens of thousands of dollars per month, which will be the bulk of military expenditures."
"Your Majesty, do you want to move the three major wineries?" Cao Wannian suddenly understood what Guo Song meant.
Guo Song shook his head, "It's not the three major wineries, but Luo's Winery. How much does Lao Cao know about this winery?"
Cao Wannian frowned, "This winery seems quite mysterious. The gentleman served me Jie Feng wine two days ago, but he didn't seem to see the head of the Luo family. I really don't know for sure."
Next to him, Wang Yue said: "Your Majesty, you may know a little bit about your humble position."
"How did you know?" Guo Song asked in confusion.
"Last time Yu County Cheng brought the list, Luo's Winery was included in it. I personally investigated it."
"Wait a minute!"
Guo Song suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly asked: "Is this Luo's Winery also related to the Sogdians?"
"Envoy Qi, they have little relationship with Sogdia, but they have some relationship with Shatuo."
Guo Song became even more interested, "What is their relationship with Shatuo?"
"They have been buying milk cakes from Shatuo in large quantities. This is strange. Hexi also produces a large amount of milk cakes. Why do they have to buy them from Shatuo?"
Cao Wannian shook his head, "Actually, it's not surprising. Things in Shatuo are cheaper. The price of sheepskin is also cheaper than in the Hexi Corridor. The same goes for milk cakes. It's profitable, right?"
"But the problem is that buying from Shatuo means endangering the enemy. This is a matter of principle of great right and wrong."
"There are more merchants doing business with the Shatuo people, and the historians have done more..."
"You two, stop fighting!"
Guo Song waved his hand to stop the quarrel between the two of them, and said to them: "I need the Luo family's winery now. You two will do it openly and secretly. Lao Cao will re-investigate the case of Gaochang Wushi's collaboration with the enemy. The situation will become more serious."
, the Wu family's eldest son was killed by the government. Also, Luo Yu bought the Wu family's winery and winery with 30,000 yuan. Was it sold at a low price? Then Commander Wang fully investigated the Luo family's purchase of Shatuo.
Regarding the milk cake, it is best if someone can prove that the Luo family has been to Shatuo. I hope to produce results within three days."
"I understand my humble position!" The two of them bowed and saluted together.
.........
After seeing the two of them off, Guo Song returned to the inner house. His wife Xue Tao smiled and handed him a cup of ginseng tea, "I can see that this is not a good job for a military governor. My husband is exhausted."
Guo Song put down the tea cup, gently touched his wife's bulging belly, and sighed: "When I was not a family, I didn't know how expensive firewood and rice were. I never worried about military salary before. Now that I am the governor of Liangzhou, I know how many mouths are waiting for food!"
"
"Husband, are you going to pay out of your own pocket again?"
Guo Song shook his head, "We have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on military expenses. How can I have so much money? I can only find a way!"
Xue Tao thought for a while and said: "I heard that famous generals in ancient times would distribute rewards to the soldiers after receiving rewards. In fact, we are not short of money. My husband's 10,000 taels of gold will be given to the soldiers later!"
Guo Song was very moved by his wife's profound sense of justice. He nodded, "The ten thousand taels of gold are still in the capital. I don't know when I can get them. But right now, I need at least one hundred thousand taels of gold to reissue the Liangzhou Army Third Army."
I have already borrowed three months of military salary from my senior brother, but I am a little worried that I will not have enough time. It will take at least two months for him to send the money to me from the capital."
"Why has my husband become stupid?"
Xue Tao pursed his lips and smiled and said: "Won't you ask the Shi family directly to borrow it? Then ask the senior brother to give the money to the Shi family in the capital..."
Guo Song slapped his forehead and said with a dumb smile: "I have really become stupid!"