Xue Cheng finally came out of the military camp on the day of rest.
The Xue family has been a military general for generations, and their family has more than 20 acres of permanent land. When Xue Cheng's father was here, these acres were all allocated to tenant farmers for farming. The Xue family was also a small landowner, and their life was quite prosperous.
But when Xue Cheng became the head of the family, many people had fled, and no tenants could be found to cultivate the family's fields.
Now we can only rely on Xue Cheng's mother and sister to cultivate the fields. On weekdays, Xue Cheng goes back to help.
But a few days ago, my sister came to the military camp and said that some of King Jianning's tooth soldiers had rented their family's fields.
These tooth soldiers were very polite and paid one year's rent in advance, which was very generous.
These tooth soldiers under King Jianning were tinkering with how to open a "factory" in the fields.
Anyway, the rent has been obtained, and these tooth soldiers are all known to Xue Cheng. Xue Cheng signed an agreement with them, renting for three years, and paying one year's rent in advance.
"Brother, this way!"
Xue Cheng's sister, Xue Man'er, stood on the roadside, waving to Xue Cheng and shouting.
Xue Cheng showed a smile. His sister was just fourteen years old and had just had a hair-raising ceremony at the beginning of the year.
It's a pity that the boy who had been engaged to be engaged since he was a child, followed the captain to the King of Qin in Guanzhong, and has not been heard from since.
However, Xue Maner has an optimistic temperament and now helps her mother with housework at home. She is a well-known virtuous little lady.
Guazhou City is a military town, and there is a curfew on weekdays. Only during the holidays, people outside the city can come and go freely. At this time, the Dongshi Market will also open, and people from nearby Guazhou will go to the city to attend the market.
However, the streets today were much busier than usual. Xue Cheng looked at the pedestrians coming and going, including many sunken-eyed businessmen from the Western Regions.
In fact, the Xue family was originally from the Yuezhi people, which was also an ancient civilization that had been passed down in the Western Regions for a long time. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions, it was to unite the Yuezhi people to attack the Huns.
Even the Han Dynasty believed that the Yuezhi people could form an alliance to fight against the Xiongnu, which was enough to show the prosperity of the Yuezhi people back then.
However, the Yuezhi Kingdom has long since disappeared from history, and after several generations of intermarriage, the Yuezhi people now look no different from the Han people.
The Xue family has never thought of themselves as a foreign race. His family all practices Tang rites and speaks Longyou Mandarin. Like the Han people in Guazhou, they are all subjects of the Tang Dynasty.
But why did these blond, blue-eyed, and lewd people, as well as the big cannibals wearing white hats, come to Guazhou City again?
Xue Man'er said: "Brother, there have been more and more merchants from the Western Regions recently. I heard that the prince is planning to build a market outside Guazhou City specifically to trade with these merchants!"
Xue Cheng said doubtfully: "Trade? Is there anything else we can sell in Guazhou?"
Guazhou is adjacent to the Shule River and has a dense water network. It is known as Jiangnan outside the Guanwai.
But Guazhou is not Jiangnan after all. The temperature difference here is too big to raise silkworms, so the silk that is the favorite of merchants from the Western Regions is not produced here.
In the past, Guazhou was also a very prosperous city, and porcelain and silk shipped from Yumen Pass would be transited here.
Some merchants from the Western Regions who want to grab the lead will gather in Yumen Pass to buy the best silk and porcelain.
But all this happened a few years ago. Since the Tianbao Year, the ambitions of the Uighurs and Tubos on the Longyou Road have become clear. The road from Longyou to Guannai is full of bandits, and there are still some riots by refugees.
The silk porcelain shipped to Shazhou also decreased, and Guazhou gradually became depressed.
The number of people fleeing famine increased, causing the population of Guazhou itself to drop a lot.
Trade shrank, fewer merchants were willing to go to Guazhou to grab goods, and the large market outside Guazhou gradually became deserted.
"So many merchants? What are they buying?"
Xue Man'er said with a smile: "I heard that these are novel products produced by His Royal Highness King Jianning's tooth soldiers. These products are very popular. Now many businessmen from the Western Regions come to Guazhou to purchase goods from thousands of miles away."
The goods produced by King Jianning's tooth soldiers? Can these guys come up with anything good?
Xue Cheng didn't understand, he was really annoyed by these guys during this period.
Xue Chengcheng was targeted by this group of tooth soldiers after he presented the family's rhubarb crossbow to Yu Chixin.
He follows him when he eats, follows when he practices, and even when he sleeps and poops, these guys follow him.
If he hadn't scolded two tooth soldiers who tried to enter his room, His Royal Highness King Jianning later ordered these tooth soldiers not to harass Xue Cheng.
Xue Chengdu was about to suffer from hysteria due to being tortured by these guys.
What good things can these guys make and sell? And will they attract the attention of these Western businessmen?
With such a mood, Xue Cheng took his sister to Dongshi.
The East Market in Guazhou City is a grocery market, which is quite large. Now the entire East Market has undergone some simple expansions, and some abandoned houses nearby have also been expanded into the East Market.
Nowadays, what is bustling with traffic and bustling with people is the East Market of Guazhou City?
When did Dongshi become prosperous?
Xue Cheng looked at the carriage parked at the entrance of the East Market and was surprised to see this brand new market.
Xue Man'er is a girl at heart. She was even more excited when she saw the bustling Dongshi. She said with expectation: "Brother, let's go in quickly!"
Xue Cheng and his sister entered the market gate together and saw a group of soldiers in armor checking the goods at the gate.
Xue Chengdu knew these soldiers. They were all tooth soldiers under King Jianning.
I saw these soldiers quickly checking out the trucks in the market, then taking out a form to write calculations, and then handing the paper to the owner of the goods.
The cargo owners checked the documents, readily took out a packet of money from their pockets, and handed it to the soldiers.
Good guys, what are these guys doing? Are they directly extorting businessmen?
Xue Cheng's anger suddenly rose, "Have you thought about the reputation of His Highness Prince Jianning by doing this?" He stepped forward quickly to teach these tooth soldiers who had robbed Sheka a lesson.
Xue Maner grabbed her brother, pointed to the notice posted at the door of the market and said: "Brother, they are helping King Jianning collect taxes!"
Collect taxes?
Xue Cheng saw a large notice posted at the entrance of the market.
This notice was not only in Chinese, but also translated in Da Shi dialect. The content of the notice was also very simple. All merchants leaving the market must pay a commodity tax of 5% of the total value of the goods to King Jianning.
However, merchants who buy daily necessities for local residents and sell special supplies to the Procurement Bureau of Dongcheng City can enjoy the tax-free policy.
Business tax?
Guazhou City had collected entry tax before. When did it collect commercial tax?
Is there any commercial tax provision in the Tang Code?
But it seems that these merchants from the Western Regions do not object to this commercial tax. Instead, they pay the tax honestly and leave with their goods with a smile.
What exactly is going on?
Xue Cheng walked into Dongshi with doubts.
I can only see that there are neat shops on both sides of the road in the East Market. These shops have big signs hanging to explain the products sold in these shops.
Xue Cheng soon saw a shop that was surrounded by merchants from the Western Regions. With the girl, Xue Cheng also squeezed in.
"Zhou's Treasure Pavilion", I looked up and saw the signboard of this shop. This shop sells treasures?
We don’t have gems in Guazhou, so where do we get treasures from?
But what are these businessmen robbing?
At this time, a waiter came out: "A pair of purple pomegranate crystal cups! Freshly baked treasures! The starting price is ten dollars!"
Ten goals?!
Xue Cheng took a breath!
The usual money is one thousand coins, which is one thousand Kaiyuan Tongbao!
You must know that one acre of Xue family's good land can only produce one grain of food after one year of cultivation.
Nowadays, the war is in chaos, and the price of rice has increased, but regular money can be exchanged for once-in-a-lifetime food.
The Xue family only had a total of 20 acres of land. When his father was alive, he had a full budget and only earned 20 yuan a year.
This small cup actually costs 10 pieces. Is this the starting price?
Auction, that is, sale, as Xue Cheng also knows, is a commodity that everyone is asked to bid for, and the one with the highest bid gets it.
I just saw these businessmen from the Western Regions bidding wildly with placards as if they were crazy.
Such a pair of wine glasses quickly increased from ten to twenty!
Finally, the water glass was sold to a big food merchant wearing a white turban for twenty-five guan.
"Brother, this cup is so valuable! It's more than our family's annual rent!"
Xue Cheng also nodded, but this pair of wine glasses is indeed very beautiful. The transparent cup body shines like a gem. The rim of the cup is a beautiful garnet red. There is also a flower embedded in the base of the cup to symbolize fertility.
Happy pomegranate.
Xue Cheng has never seen such a beautiful crystal cup. Was it produced by this shop?
Xue Man'er was young and didn't know much about it. After looking at it for a while, she said, "Brother, let's go check out other stores?"
"Let's go, let's continue shopping."
The two passed through the crowd and arrived in front of a shop.
This shop sells all kinds of porcelain. When did Guazhou still produce porcelain?
But the quality of this porcelain is too bad. Is it produced by a private kiln?
Seeing these porcelains with strange patterns and untidy edges, Xue Chengcheng had no desire to buy them.
However, this store seemed to follow the path of small profits but quick turnover. Box after box of porcelain was piled at the door, which also attracted many businessmen from the Western Regions to rush to buy it.
These Hu businessmen are really making money, but I heard that these Hu businessmen can make a hundred times the profit as long as they transport the goods to the far west continent.
If one day he wanted to visit the westernmost part of the world, Xue Cheng suddenly felt a surge of pride.
The two continued walking and came to a strange shop.
"Sun's Wool Store?" Xue Cheng raised his head, looked at the sign of this store, and stopped in confusion.
Wool? Are you selling fur coats?
Xue Cheng looked at this shop in confusion. This shop occupies three rooms and is full of people. Selling a leather jacket is so popular? What are these people doing sitting in it?