Wang Xuanzhi's anxiety did not last long, but within a few days, a caravan full of goods appeared outside Yingzhou City.
Wang Xuanzhi saw Pang Ju in the caravan and quickly ordered his men to open the city gate and welcome the caravan in.
Wang Xuanzhi took Pang Ju and asked him, "Pang Jun, where did these caravans come from?"
As he spoke, Wang Xuanzhi showed greedy eyes.
Pang Ju is really my lucky star!
The more Wang Xuanzhi looked at Pang Ju, the more he liked him.
Pang Ju leaned into Wang Xuanzhi's ear and said, "Commander, this is the caravan from the Bohai Kingdom."
Bohai Country!
Wang Xuanzhi suddenly realized when he looked at the strange costumes of the caravan members.
The Bohai Kingdom is a prosperous country in the east of the sea. There used to be many merchant ships in Pinglu Town trading with the Bohai Kingdom. The ports along the coast of the Andong Protectorate were filled with merchant ships from the Bohai Sea.
However, as An Lushan gradually showed his rebellion and extorted merchants from the Bohai Kingdom many times, the merchant ships of the Bohai Kingdom disappeared.
Before An Lushan raised his army, he had also considered the Bohai Kingdom.
However, Bohai Country is separated from the three towns by snowfields, and if you go north by boat, you will encounter the freezing sea, so Bohai Country also escaped the disaster.
If he hadn't seen the caravan with his own eyes today, Wang Xuanzhi would have almost forgotten that there was such a prosperous commercial country to the north of him.
Wang Xuanzhi immediately pulled Pang Ju and said, "Pang Jun, how did you contact these Bohai businessmen? How did they come so fast?"
At this time, Pang Ju said the words he had prepared for a long time: "Commander, in fact, in the Silla Kingdom, there has always been a caravan from the Bohai Kingdom."
Wang Xuanzhi suddenly realized that Silla was very close to Pinglu Town and was a loyal vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. It even called itself the Silla Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty to the outside world.
Xinluo is located on the peninsula and has trade relations with Bohai State further north. This is also very normal.
Before the An Lushan Rebellion, the three towns in Hedong had a good relationship with Silla, and they even often joined forces with Silla to attack the Turks, Xianbei, Khitan and other northern barbarians.
However, since the An Lushan rebellion, Silla and the three towns in Hedong have ceased contact.
However, Silla is not far from Yingzhou City. How did Pang Ju attract Bohai merchants from Silla?
Pang Ju said: "The trade between Silla and Bohai mainly involves purchasing grain and furs in Silla and transporting them to Datang for sale."
"Actually, Marshal Jie doesn't know something. The barbarians in the north have a lot of contacts with the merchants of Bohai and Silla. Otherwise, who would they sell their fur goods to?"
"When Xiaguan was guarding the border in the north, he happened to meet a caravan from the Bohai Kingdom. This time he went out of the city and found their market, so he invited them over under the pretense of being a commander."
Wang Xuanzhi was overjoyed and asked quickly: "But now there is nothing in Yingzhou that can be traded with the Bohai people. Otherwise, if we kill these merchants today, our commander's urgent need will be solved!"
They are indeed a group of bandits!
Pang Ju secretly complained in his heart that it was normal for An Lushan's generals to be unpopular in the Central Plains. These guys had always known how to fight, kill, or rob the land continuously, and they had no idea of running a business.
Pang Ju could not let Wang Xuanzhi kill these pretended Bohai merchants. He said: "If the commander-in-chief just wants to survive the winter, then kill these Bohai merchants. But what will happen next spring? Is the commander-in-chief prepared?
"
Wang Xunzhi realized that he had said the wrong thing, and he quickly smiled and said: "It was just a joke, but now the army is short of money, can these businessmen obediently help me?"
Pang Ju said: "Of course, this Bohai businessman is here to invest!"
"invest?"
Wang Xuanzhi looked at Pang Ju in confusion, not understanding what investment meant.
Pang Ju said: "Does the commander know Lu Buwei's story?"
Wang Xuanzhi is a rough man, and there has never been an atmosphere for studying in the three towns led by An Lushan.
He shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Pang Ju was stunned and asked: "This Lu Buwei was a businessman during the Warring States Period. He invested in a foreigner who was a hostage in Zhao State and helped him become the king of Qin State, and Lu Buwei also became the king of Qin State.
Mutually."
Pang Ju said: "The so-called investment is to lend a helping hand when the other party is in trouble and wait for more returns in the future."
Although Wang Xunzhi is a rough guy, his ability to plan two coups also shows that he is a smart man.
He quickly understood what Pang Ju meant: "What do you mean, Mr. Pang, are the Bohai merchants here to invest in me this time?"
Finally it made sense, Pang Ju smiled and said: "That's exactly it."
Wang Xuanzhi asked: "Then the Bohai merchants want to be the chief historian of my Jiedu Envoy Office? That's not possible. How can I let the Bohai people do my official position in Pinglu Town?"
Pang Ju said: "Bohai people don't want to be officials. They are businessmen, so naturally they want to do business in Pinglu Town."
Pang Ju persuaded and said: "Commander, you are sitting in Pinglu Town. The people from the Bohai Kingdom want to do business in Pinglu Town."
It turns out that if he just wanted to come to Pinglu Town to do business, Wang Xuanzhi would certainly not stop him.
But Wang Xuanzhi became confused again. The people from Bohai brought ten carts of goods. Why did they pay such a high price to do business in Pinglu? What kind of business can earn these ten carts of goods?
Pang Ju said: "I'm afraid the commander-in-chief doesn't know that these Bohai people have the ability to turn stone into gold. This land east of the sea is a cold and barren land. The Bohai people can be so rich because they know how to do business."
Wang Xuanzhi nodded. He had heard about this. When the Bohai State was founded, it was just a small country. It relied on maritime trade to become a large and prosperous country in the north.
Wang Xuanzhi no longer had any doubts and quickly brought these Bohai people into the Jiedushi Mansion.
The caravan leader of the Bohai Kingdom is an elegant middle-aged man. He has a Chinese name called Fang Guoshou, and he is very fluent in Chinese.
Wang Xuanzhi held a banquet for Fang Guoshou and his "Bohai merchants" at the Jiedushi Mansion. He had two right-hand men, one literary and one military, accompanied by Hou Xiyi and Pang Ju.
Fang Guoshou came up with a glass of wine and said: "Pang Lang has already talked about the situation in Yingzhou. This time we are here to give a gift to Marshal Wang!"
Fang Guoshou took out a gift list from his sleeve, and a smart guard handed it to Wang Xuanzhi.
Seeing the "precious" gifts such as gems, crystals, and colored glazes on the gift list, Wang Xuanzhi's breathing quickened.
Fang Guoshou continued: "We Bohai merchants just want the approval of the Commander-in-Chief to allow us Bohai merchants to pass freely in Pinglu and establish trading houses to buy and sell goods freely!"
Is this just a requirement?
Wang Xuanzhi also understood that offering kindness without any reason was either cheating or stealing. If these Bohai merchants only wanted free trade, would it be necessary to offer such "valuable" gifts?
Fang Guoshou had known for a long time that Wang Xuanzhi was suspected of being seriously ill, so he immediately said: "We Bohai merchants also hope to become the exclusive merchants of the Jiedushi Palace."
That was originally the idea.
The Jiedushi Mansion was a small local court, and the cost of food and clothing was huge.
Monopoly merchants were specifically responsible for helping the Jiedushi government buy and sell things. From the grain and grass needed by the army to the treasures that the Jiedushi himself enjoyed, they would be purchased by these monopoly merchants.
Monopoly merchants, like imperial merchants, had great privileges in the feudal town and could even buy and sell goods by force.
It turned out that these Bohai businessmen had made this calculation, and now Wang Xuanzhi felt relieved.
Isn't he just a monopoly merchant? Wang Xuanzhi also has no trusted merchants, so there is no harm in letting these Bohai people be the monopoly merchants of this Jiedushi Mansion.
The atmosphere of the banquet immediately became harmonious. After the guests and hosts had a good time, Wang Xuanzhi accepted ten carts full of "treasures."
Wang Xuanzhi immediately summoned his soldiers to distribute these "treasures".
The soldiers who were originally resentful because of the delay in disbursing the charcoal money immediately changed their attitude after seeing eight carts full of "treasures". They all knelt down to Wang Xunzhi on the high platform of the military camp and shouted loudly that they were loyal to Wang Xunzhi.
slogan.
The soldiers got the charcoal money, and Wang Xuanzhi survived the crisis.
Under the seemingly win-win deal, the price has been quietly paid.
Immediately afterwards, a group of strangely dressed Bohai people entered Yingzhou City in a grand manner.
An order came from the Jiedushi Mansion, appointing these Bohai merchants as the exclusive merchants of the Jiedushi Mansion, responsible for purchasing the goods needed by the Jiedushi Mansion.
Fang Guoshou selected shrewd businessmen and entered Yingzhou City in a grand manner.
They went in and out of the military camp and secretly drew city defense plans.
Get close to military officers and formulate a plan to bribe and win over key military officers.
These "Bohai Kingdom" caravans set out from Yingzhou to other areas of Pinglu Town and penetrated into every corner of Pinglu Town.
On December 22, Prime Minister Cui Yuan met Shi Siming's envoy in Luzhou, and the three towns in Hedong represented by Shi Siming formally surrendered to Datang.
Cui Yuan immediately asked his subordinates to rush to Chang'an to report the good news to the emperor before the Zhengdan meeting.
In the city of Chang'an, Yuan Zai, a former doctor from Duzhi who was currently the envoy of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and the envoy of salt and iron to Jianghuai Province, left Chang'an for Yangzhou before the New Year.
Yuan Zai's relatives and friends came to Baqiao to see Yuan Zai off.
Yuan Zai was a man of great dignity. He was born in a poor family and was a Jinshi in the first year of Tianbao.
Now that Yuan Zai was already forty years old, many of his colleagues thought that Yuan Zai had lost his favor, and not many people came to Baqiao to see him off.
Although Yuan Zai held a key position in controlling the imperial court's affairs, such as the doctor of the imperial court, Yuan Zai was very cautious as an official, acted impartially in his office, and lived a very poor life.
In order to go to Yangzhou to take up his post, Yuan Zai rented a carriage, and his wife and children all crowded on the carriage.
In addition to personal belongings, the carriage was filled with a full collection of books.
Because the space inside the carriage was too small, Yuan Zai's wife Wang Yunxiu opened the curtain of the carriage.
Seeing the sparse crowd on Baqiao seeing him off, Wang Yunxiu couldn't help but snorted coldly.
Yuan Zai, however, was smiling all over his face as he said goodbye to his relatives and friends who came to see him off. When he pulled a young official to say goodbye, he put away his smile and said solemnly:
"Second Duke, turmoil is about to break out in Chang'an. Please find an opportunity to leave Chang'an as soon as possible."