Chapter 265: Opening storm

Early on the 8th day of the second month, the sound of deafening firecrackers sounded at the same time in the East and West markets, which had just opened, and bamboo tubes burst into crackling in the fire. Coins of red paper stuck to the sky. Countless children and people watching the fun rushed up, picking up copper coins all over the ground.

Far from afar, many businessmen surrounded them and watched in surprise the opening of these two new cabinet shops. The cabinet shop was the earliest bank, storing copper coins for merchants and lending usury at the same time. It was one of the most profitable businesses in the Tang Dynasty. Generally, there was no strong capital and backend, and no one dared to get involved in this business.

The newly opened cabinet shop is naturally the industry of the Han and Tang dynasties. Both cabinet shops have the same name: Juhaixing, which was Li Qing'an's major decision, and was an important step in solving the export of Anxi silver and money to the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty. The role of Juhaixing is to exchange copper coins and gold and silver coins, and to use the strong financial resources of the Han and Tang dynasties to achieve his goals step by step.

Of course, exchange of silver coins is just a secret task of the Guest House. The public business of Guest House is flying money, that is, merchants put the money in the Juhaihang Guest House where Shuye is stored, and they go on the road empty-handed. After coming to Chang'an, they will come to Juhaihang to Chang'an with the flying tickets and the agreed secret codes. They only need to pay a small handling fee, which will save the insecurity and the trouble of transporting on the road.

This kind of flying money is equivalent to the remittances from other places in later generations. It appeared in the Middle Tang Dynasty. It was first carried out between the same city and later gradually evolved into exchanges between cities.

In this way, the merchants who came to Chang'an to do business took silver and money in Chang'an, or exchanged silver here for copper coins. These Hu merchants generally used a lot of money, and they took silver and money to various parts of the Tang Dynasty. It was both hidden and natural, and it became Li Qing'an's best method to launder money without realizing it.

Juhaixing in East City and West City are both three-story buildings, covering an area of ​​more than 20 acres, and have underground cash storage rooms. They were originally two cabinet shops. Because the owner of the company changed business, they sold these two large houses and were bought by the Han and Tang Dynasties at the right time and renovated them.

The door of Xinguifang in Dongshi City was filled with curious merchants. There was no news about their opening, and it appeared silently. Hundreds of merchants crowded at the door and were talking. As merchants who often deal with Guifang, they were most concerned about the background of Guifang, which was directly related to whether they could deposit copper coins here.

For example, the Yangji Cabinet opened in the first lunar month this year, less than fifty steps away from Juhai, was imposing. Everyone knew that it was opened by Lady Guo State. The power of the Yang family made them feel at ease, so everyone was willing to store their money in the Yangji Cabinet.

What is the background background of this Juhaixing? It opened next to Yangji Cabinet, which makes people full of imagination.

"Dear fellow villagers, great merchants, younger brother Li Yunfeng is the shopkeeper of Juhaixing. I hope everyone will support you in the future!"

Li Yunfeng is Li Huichun's second son. He is 35 or 36 years old. He is smart and capable, eloquent and has rich business experience. He was appointed by Li Qing'an as the shopkeeper of the east and west cities and is fully responsible for the operation of the cabinet shop.

Among the onlookers, many people knew Li Yunfeng. Isn’t this the second owner of the Suiye Tea House in Xicheng? It turned out that the Suiye people opened this cabinet shop. Many people vaguely guessed that the backstage of these two Juhaixing is very likely to be related to Li Qing'an.

Soon their speculation was confirmed. When the large plaque with red lacquer and gold was hung on the door with the sound of firecrackers, someone suddenly recognized that the three words "Jihaixing" like flying dragons and phoenixes were actually written by Gao Lishi. Just two years ago, it would cost at least a thousand gold to get a word from Gao Lishi, so it was called Qianjin. It was not that his words were well written, but that his power was feared by everyone.

When the news spread, it immediately caused a burst of exclamation at the scene. Li Qing'an, Gao Lishi, the backstage of this cabinet shop is not very tough!

Some people are happy about Juhaixing and some hate him. The first thing they hate is Yangji Cabinet next to him is Yangji Cabinet. The two Cabinets are only thirty steps apart. Not to mention that their peers are enemies, even Juhaixing has overwhelmed Yangji Cabinet in terms of scale. Juhaixing is a three-story building with an area of ​​dozens of acres, while Yangji only has two floors and covers an area of ​​more than ten acres. Yangji Cabinet is obviously ridden by Juhaixing.

The shopkeeper of Yang Jigufang is named Yang Xuan, who is a distant brother of Yang Huahua. He is barely considered to be a member of the Yang family. He was originally the shopkeeper of a rice shop in Chengdu. He was invited by Yang Huahua to stay in the shop. He was woken up by the sound of firecrackers this morning. When he learned that a cabinet shop had opened next door, he was furious and ran out of the door with great momentum.

Yang Lien observed nearly a cup of tea and found that this cabinet shop was different. If another cabinet shop opened, there would be a lot of guests, and there would be a steady stream of high-ranking officials and powerful people coming to congratulate. However, when this cabinet shop opened, there was no guest coming to congratulate them. They were all surrounded by merchants watching the fun. This was so strange. If you don’t put on the backstage, who dares to save money?

Unless there are two possibilities, either they are not prepared and opened in a hurry, or this cabinet shop has no background at all, and how can a cabinet shop be not prepared to open fully? Today is not a special day. Is it because they really have no background?

Yang Xuan was not among the merchants, but stood at the door of his shop. He did not hear the merchants' comments or knew Li Yunfeng. He took preconceived ideas and suspected that Juhaixing had no backstage.

Soon he discovered another strange place. There was no guard in this cabinet shop, which was absolutely incredible. For example, there were fifty guards with excellent martial arts skills in their Yangji cabinet shop.

Yang Zhi knew the reason for this, that their guards must have not been in place. At this time, a vicious and bold idea emerged from his heart, why didn't he smash their sign?

The most important thing in doing business is to have good luck in opening. Once an accident or a dissatisfaction occurs during the opening, it will mean that the business will be unsatisfactory in the future. This is a taboo for merchants, especially for shops like the guifang that specializes in dealing with money. Once someone is bullied, who will dare to save money to come to it in the future?

The Yang family's domineering in Chang'an gave Yang Xuan the courage to do evil things. His way of thinking of profiteers made him think of using vicious means to deal with his competitors. He shouted in a low voice: "Go up and smash its brand!"

More than twenty guards immediately came out of Yang Jigufang, holding long swords and iron rods, and headed towards Juhaixing in a fierce manner.

The businessmen watching the fun around discovered the abnormality. They were so scared that they hurriedly dodged back and hid dozens of steps away, looking at the newly opened cabinet shop with fear. Many people sighed secretly, how could they think of opening a store next to the Yang family to compete? But many people were also excited. It was rumored that Yang Zhao and Li Qing'an had a bad relationship. Now the two cabinet shops started a war and there was a good show.

The shopkeeper Li Yunfeng also noticed something abnormal. He saw many businessmen retreating. When he turned around, he saw more than 20 burly men coming around with long swords and iron rods. He was also shocked and couldn't help but take a step back and shouted loudly: "Don't do anything randomly, do you know whose industry this is?"

No one listened to his explanation when the big man who came to find trouble. They shouted and rushed towards the gate together, raised the iron rod, swung the long knife, and prepared to smash the plaque. Li Yunfeng's eyes were red in anger. He tried his best to stop him, but was kicked over. The guys were so scared that they hid in the store. At this critical moment, an arrow shot "swoosh!", and the latte rod was about to smash the plaque man in the store. Then another arrow shot through the other person's thigh. Two shrill screams came from the crowd. The arrow was so powerful that it was an iron arrow that broke the bones of both of them. The two rolled on the ground in pain.

These great men suddenly became quiet. At the same time, they looked to the left at the same time and saw dozens of steps outside, about a hundred people. They all set their bows and arrows, all of them were murderous. The general in charge held the bows and arrows in his hands and looked at them with anger.

"It's Li Qing'an!" Someone suddenly recognized it and shouted.

Everyone's eyes showed fear. They turned around and ran away in fear, even daring to go back to the cabinet and ran around, running faster than a rabbit. The two thugs who were shot by arrows cried and cried and crawled towards the store.

"Big shopkeeper, save us!" Their voices changed in fear.

Yang Li was stunned. He never expected that this cabinet shop was Li Qing'an's property. He took a few steps back and felt as if he had stepped into a deep abyss in his heart. He had never seen Li Qing'an. He had only heard of him in his family that Li Qing'an was Yang Guozhong's opponent, and he was also a person who made the Yang family very afraid of him. Why did he provoke him?

‘What should I do now?’ His face turned pale. He was just a small businessman who had never seen anything. He used to support him, so that those nobles respected him and made him forget his lowly identity.

But today when he first met a powerful person, Yang Xuan was at a loss.

Li Qing'an urged his horse to come slowly. He didn't mind exposing his relationship with Juhaixing. These two cabinet shops will be in the future to exchange money. Everyone will know that it was Li Qing'an who runs it. The key is not to expose the relationship between the Han and Tang dynasties.

Juhaixing originally planned to open again in a month, but it was well prepared, but at his request, it opened early. The 100 guards transferred from the Han and Tanghui in Luoyang were still on the way. Unexpectedly, something happened that someone wanted to smash his sign.

Yang Li went up in a panic and bowed, "See General Li!"

"You little businessman, how dare you smash my sign?" Li Qing'an said coldly on the tall war horse.

"The villain really doesn't know that it is the general's property. If he knows, he would not dare to give me the courage. Please forgive us this time for the sake of the wife!"

Yang Li bowed repeatedly, and at this time, he had no choice but to move Yang Huahua out.

Sure enough, Li Qingan was stunned and asked, "Which wife?"

"It's Lady Guo State. I heard that my wife is an old friend of the general."

"It's her!" Li Qingan sneered. Yang Huahua was indeed his "old friend".

"That's right! She's my old friend."

Yang Xuan didn't hear Li Qing'an's slander. He thought the matter had a turnaround, so he quickly smiled and said, "Yes! They are all their own people, and it's really a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple."

At this time, Li Qing'an's face sank, he turned his horse's head, and he glanced at the sign, which was Yang Guozhong's handwriting.

"Smash it up!"

The cavalry received the order and rushed forward one after another, pulled out their swords and chopped them at the sign of Yangji Cabinet. They used their swords to cut the sign into pieces in a moment.

Yang Li was so scared that he was stunned. A cold air rose from his feet. His whole body trembled like a sieve. He could no longer stand steadily and sat on the ground.

After a while, his friends ran out of the store, helped him into the counter, locked the door, and did not dare to come out.

At this time, Li Qing'an smiled again and bowed to the dazed merchants around him and said, "This cabinet shop was opened by my Anxi Army. It is to facilitate Hu merchants to deposit and withdraw money from other places and ensure safety on the road. If you are willing, you are welcome to store the money here. We do not charge you for handling fees and also give you a certain amount of money saving profit."

Li Qing'an's last words caused a sensation among the merchants around him. The cabinet shop is mainly used to lend money to farmers and merchants. If you save money, you have to charge a certain custody fee. Generally, merchants store their money in the underground warehouse of the cabinet shop for safety and convenience, otherwise the money will be hidden in their own homes.

Now Li Qing'an's cabinet shop is actually going to pay the profit money, which makes the merchants incredible. There is a lot of discussion around him, and everyone is skeptical. Li Qing'an smiled. There is no need to explain this kind of thing. Over time, merchants will naturally come to profit.

At this time, a large group of Hu merchants holding camels appeared in the distance. They had already received the news to exchange for the money in their hands. The shopkeeper Li Yunfeng shouted loudly. With the arrival of Hu merchants, the guys began to get busy.

Li Qing'an was a little surprised. He had already received news last night that Li Longji had issued a formal order to circulate gold and silver and money across the country. Why hasn't the official notice been posted yet? Li Qing'an was not worried that Li Longji would change his mind. He gave Li Longji a private 200,000 jin of silver equivalent to 1.6 million jin of copper coins. Li Longji considers his own interests and will also issue an order to circulate silver and money across the country. The Tang people will have a process of accepting silver and money. The key is how much time this process will take, which is the focus of Li Qing'an's concern.

Just as the Hu merchants came, several officials from the city office rushed to the distance. They bowed to Li Qing'an, "I have seen the general!"

Seeing that the man was holding a roll of yellow paper notice in his hand, Li Qing'an couldn't help but smile and said, "But is the notice of the official circulation of silver and money?"

The city office official said in surprise: "How do you know the general?"

"The Lord told me about this yesterday, you guys go and announce it!"

Several officials immediately ran to the gate and began to paint paste on the wall and post notices. The merchants rushed up one after another, and in a moment they surrounded the notices.

Someone chanted loudly: "I have been cast in the Tang Dynasty for a long time. Because of the small amount, it has become a collection and it is difficult to use food and goods. However, the Xihu silver coins are rolling in and flooding the Lifang. The city sells them privately and corrupts the money system. Instead of blocking them, it is better to dispel them for benefits. Now a special edict is issued to order the whole country to circulate Tianbao gold and silver coins in the Tang Dynasty. The size and style are like copper coins, one cent of silver coins for one cent of copper coins, and one cent of gold and one cent of copper coins for thousands of copper coins. The following coins are like coins. I will be told to the whole country that they must not shirk responsibility and refuse to accept them. All gold and silver in the world are cast by official furnaces, and the three Jiedu Palaces of Fanyang, Anxi and Longyou are not allowed to cast privately. Those who violate the order will be punished for serious crimes. I will be punished for this! The seventh day of the first lunar month of the eleventh year of Tianbao."
Chapter completed!