Chastity Layman

On the afternoon of the day when Qin Lang paid a private visit to Fang Xuanling, a quiet transaction was completed in front of a warehouse in Guangyuntan outside Chang'an City.

A Hu merchant delivered 800 shi of pepper in the warehouse to another Hu merchant.

Two bearded businessmen, with high noses, deep eyes and beards, were both Sogdian beards from the Western Regions. One was surnamed Shi and the other was surnamed An. This huge transaction went smoothly. The two parties did not even bargain for such a large amount of spices.

A total of eight hundred shi peppers changed hands like this.

An Lushan checked the banknotes with a smile. One by one, the banknotes of the World Bank, each with a denomination of one thousand guan, were stamped with more than 30 seals, signatures, special paper stamps, and various anti-counterfeiting marks , coupled with special tokens, etc., so that this batch of bank notes is guaranteed.

One hundred cards, three hundred thousand guan.

After counting, An Lushan closed the box with a smile, "Happy cooperation, brother!"

Shi Jingzong smiled and hugged An Lushan, "Happy cooperation!"

After the transaction was completed, the two Sogdian Hu people did not make too much noise. An Lushan gave Shi Jingzong 800 shi pepper and the entire warehouse.

He sat in a carriage and left with 300,000 silver bills.

His son asked in puzzlement, "These 800 shi peppers are a rare commodity to live in. Selling 300,000 guan to Shi Jingzong is too cheap for him!"

Nearly 100,000 catties of pepper, this pepper warehouse, is the largest pepper inventory in Guanlong, all of which were trafficked by sea, landed at Jiaozhou Taiping Port, passed Zhennan Pass by land, passed through Yongzhou, Guizhou, and then From Hunan to Han, and finally arrived at the capital, not long after arriving in the capital, he was sold to Shi Jingzong.

The average price is three per kilogram, and the price is indeed cheap enough.

Normally, according to the previous distribution and sales method, so many peppers can be sold for at least another 50,000 to 100,000 guan.

An Lushan just closed his eyes and smiled.

"We are just maids with keys, and we are not really in charge of the house. The pepper is not ours. Since the owner of the pepper says to sell it, we will sell it, and the price is also set by the above."

"Saburo is not the most popular and favored, why is he selling these peppers at such a low price now?"

"Do you know who Shi Jingzong is working for?"

"I know, Fan Yang and Lu's family."

"Wrong, it's Lu and Li's family, Fanyang's Lu's second house, Longxi's Li's aunt's house, and this Wubenfang Fang's." An Lushan is a wealthy businessman. But that is not his property, he just manages it on behalf of him. Four Seas Company has more than a dozen shareholders, and the largest shareholder is Wei Guogong Qin Lang.

And he was the big shopkeeper selected by the Duke of Wei.

As a shopkeeper, of course you have to listen to your boss.

Three hundred thousand guan of the pepper that had just been shipped to Chang'an was sold to Shi Jingzong at a low price, which was naturally Sanlang's intention.

"Even if Saburo wants to give the 800 shi pepper to Shi Jingzong, we can't interfere."

"But why?" An Qingxiang was puzzled.

"Son, you are still young, don't just stare at the goods and money, you have to look up. Money and goods are just small ways, and the avenue is power. All goods have to be attached to power, without power, everything is just clouds, remember last time The guy whose house was ransacked? He had a family property of 600,000 yuan. He was in Chang'an City before. , this is just a fat pig, once he offends someone who shouldn't be offended, even the man above him won't dare to protect him."

······

Zhenguan five years, winter.

Fang Xuanling, who had been dismissed for three months, was reinstated by imperial edict. He still worshiped Shangshu Zuopushe, entered the crown prince and Taishi, entered Kaifu Yitong Sanshijie, and specially added to the Zhongshumen to make peace, and was renamed Liang Guogong.

This is also the first time that the three senior officials have been given the title of Tongpingzhangshi, which means that the authority of the Zhengshitang has risen again.

At the same time, the emperor further weakened the authority of Shangshu Province, and further raised the status of Zhongshu and the two provinces under his sect.

The three high-ranking officials used to be natural prime ministers, but now the left and right servants of the Shangshu province have to be added to the Zhongshumen Xia Pingzhangshi to enter the political affairs hall. superior.

Immediately afterwards, the right servant shot Gao Shilian.

Servant Wei Zheng, Zhongshu Ling Xiao Yu is still the prime minister of the Zhengshitang without adding a title. Among the emperor's edicts, Zhongshuling ranks first, servants rank second, and left and right servants rank third and fourth.

Fang Xuanling, who was reunited, did not expect that there would be such a big change in three months.

After the court meeting, he played against the emperor and played against the emperor alone.

"I would like to add more seaports along the coast, add a city shipping department, implement a monopoly system for spices, such as extracting, buying and banning, and issuing fragrances to attract fragrance merchants..."

Fang Xuanling requested the establishment of port and city shipping departments in Dengzhou, Mizhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Mingzhou, Wenzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Qinzhou, Jiaozhou, and Wu'an.

He asked for the increase of trading seaports along the coast, opening up thirty-six seaports, and putting them under the jurisdiction of the above eleven city shipping divisions.

The three major responsibilities of the Municipal Shipping Department are ship entry and exit management, issuing port entry permits to foreign ships, and issuing port exit permits to domestic ships.

The second is to manage the goods, send troops to monitor the ships entering and leaving the port, board the ships to inspect the goods, and collect taxes on imported goods. Important materials are purchased by the imperial court, and export taxes are also levied on export merchant ships.

Third, the sea ban defense. Establish a naval division, prohibit the export of gold, silver, copper and iron, military books, agricultural books, etc., prohibit sea smuggling, and combat piracy.

Lao Fang's suggestion is well-founded, and according to his suggestion, the imperial court will receive more stable tax revenue. For important imports such as spices, when they enter Hong Kong, the imperial court first collects two out of ten to collect taxes, then buys them at the market price, and then sells them to merchants, directly increasing the price to make a lot of money.

In fact, it is earned twice.

And Fang Xuanling also guaranteed the royal family's original share of income, and all the fragrances of spices will be given priority to the royal palace, with a total share of 10%.

Thirty-six commercial ports will be opened, eleven municipal ship divisions will be established, and eleven naval battalions will also be established.

"Taiping port also needs to set up a city ship department?" Li Shimin was a little puzzled, "is Taiping port the resident county of Wu'an Prefecture, Qin Lang's fiefdom?"

"Sage, Taiping Port has developed rapidly in recent years, and now it has become an important port in Annan. Here is the largest coal mine in the southeast coast. In addition, Taiping Port now has an important shipyard. In addition, it is also the largest sugar center in the country."

"Is it very big?" Li Shimin always felt that it was a bit strange that Taiping Port would set up a shipping department together with Jiaoguang and other ports. Isn't Jiaozhou right next to it, so it is necessary to set up another one?

"Your Majesty, last year alone, the Taiping Port Shipyard delivered more than 60 ships, all of which are sea-going ships. There are now several shipyards in Taiping Port, and they are still increasing this year. Around the shipyard, there are still many supporting facilities there. Industries such as ship cables, sails, planks, masts, anchors, etc., from logging to plate making, to keel, anchors, and construction, Taiping Port has a complete shipbuilding industry, and their ships are exquisitely designed. With excellent performance, it is the most popular ship type for maritime merchants today, known as Fuchuan, it can sail in the ocean, and can even sail directly to the Persian Gulf!"

Maritime trade is naturally inseparable from high-quality sea-going ships, and the ships from the Taiping Port Shipyard have many advanced technologies.

They are the first to use docks to build ships, using nail-and-tenon joint technology, watertight cabin technology, and splicing keel technology. Make the model of the ship for the customer to choose to modify, and then draw the ship's drawing and construct according to the drawing.

Even because the supporting related industrial chain is complete, after receiving the order and starting construction, subcontracting various component materials can build a new ship at the fastest speed.

The nautical compass they made greatly facilitated sea navigation, and they could sail deep sea instead of just along the coast. The new sailing technology can even achieve wind from all directions. As long as there is wind, even headwinds can run faster than tailwinds, and it is no longer necessary to completely rely on trade winds to set sail.

It is these new technologies and shipbuilding efficiency that keep the Taiping Port Shipyard receiving more orders. They specialize in building ocean-going ships and are now the first in this field.

Even though it only built more than 60 ships last year, these 60 large ships are equivalent to hundreds of old ships in other shipyards.

Not to mention, the Qin family has mastered the processing and refining technology of white sugar and rock sugar. Now Taiping Port in Wu'an Prefecture has become a sugar center and sales center for white sugar. Raw sugar from all over the country is transported to Taiping Port, where it is processed and refined before being distributed to other places. .

The nearby carboniferous mine is the one with the highest proven reserves in the entire Tang Dynasty and the largest mining volume. Tens of thousands of slaves are working there day and night. Countless charcoal boats come to transport charcoal, and many boats will arrive first. The supply and reorganization of Taiping Port has brought more excitement to Taiping Port.

Backed by a huge coal mine, there is cheap coal, so now Taiping Port is also developing iron smelting, and has introduced many iron factories to manufacture iron pots and other exports.

It is also a very lively slave trading port.

In short, Taiping Port was still a little-known small fishing village a few years ago, but now it has changed with each passing day. The key is that Qin Lang is willing to invest money and has a good long-term plan.

This is missing elsewhere.

Prior to this, Taiping Port was still an important spice port.

If it weren't for the fact that Jiaozhou is a traditional big port, Fang Xuanling even thought that Annan's shipping department could be directly located in Taiping Port, and Jiaozhou would not need to be established again.

In response to the recent impeachment of foreign trade by many officials, which has caused a large number of fields to be planted with cash crops, and a large number of people to work in workshops, etc., Lao Fang also proposed his own solution.

"The Ministry of Households delimits the basic grain fields according to the original number of cultivated land in each county, and orders local officials to guarantee the number of basic grain fields to ensure food security. In addition to the basic farmland, economic crops such as sugar cane, cotton, mulberry, and hemp can be developed. This will not only help to increase the income of the people, but also avoid food hazards.”

Laofang’s approach is specific to each landowner, only a certain amount of land can be planted with cash crops, and a certain base of farmland must be guaranteed to grow staple foods, under the supervision of state and county officials.

As for the development of handicraft workshops, which led to a large number of young and middle-aged laborers leaving the fields, Lao Fang felt that there was no need to panic. Nowadays, the population of the Great Tang is still sufficient. As long as the basic grain fields can be guaranteed and the fields are not barren, it is not a disadvantage to develop the handicraft industry appropriately and develop the commodity economy.

Now the agricultural tax is actually far inferior to the industrial and commercial tax. As long as the basic grain output is guaranteed, there is no need to worry about other things.

Li Shimin originally thought that Qin Lang would come to tell him these words, but unexpectedly it was Fang Xuanling.

But after carefully reading his strategy, he has to say that it not only guarantees the interests of the imperial court, but also takes care of those who are dissatisfied. Those who belong to wealthy families will aggravate these people's plundering and possession of wealth, but it does take care of the interests of all parties and can calm their current dissatisfaction.

It's just that Qin Lang didn't say anything, which made the emperor less chance to beat him up.

"Fang Xiang went back to draw up a specific proposal for attracting incense merchants and presented it to me. I will think about it again!"