On November 20, the ninth year of Jianji, Shen Guangjin and Wen Zaixiong drove a donkey cart and stopped in front of a certain house.
The Beiping Prefecture soldiers guarding the gate carefully inspected the car and put it in.
"Your Majesty, the old man is back." Shen Guangjin said happily when he saw Da Suiwen sitting in the yard basking in the sun.
There is no heated kang in Peiping. If you don't have a stove to keep warm, it's better to bask in the sun in the courtyard when there is no wind than to stay in the house.
"Thank you for your hard work, dear sirs." Da Suzhan said as he sat there without getting up.
"Yes." Shen Guangjin said: "I went to Nanshi today and bought a bushel of dendrobium for 29 yuan and a bushel of rice for 29 yuan and 46 yuan for rice, respectively. It cost a total of 750 yuan. It was a bit more expensive than ten days ago because the imperial court conscripted people to build roads.
, I opened a warehouse to store grain and then replenished it, which pushed up the price of grain."
Da Suizhan nodded. In fact, he didn't remember the price of food ten days ago at all. Shen Guangjin was a veteran, so he shouldn't lie to him. If he said it had gone up, it meant it had really gone up.
"Where should we build the road?" Dashuzhan asked casually.
"I heard that it is the first-class national road from Ji County to Lu County, which is sixty miles long. The people in Youdu, Ji, Lu, Anci and other counties have been expropriated, tens of thousands of people in total, the scale is not small." "Taiwei"
Shen Guangjin talked about the news he had learned from the market, and then together with "General" Wen Zaixiong, unloaded the grain and moved it into the warehouse.
"Your Majesty, I also bought some things." After carrying the food, the two young Bohai officials took a breath, and Wen Zaixiong took down other things from the donkey cart and introduced them.
"Changlu salt costs 120 yen per dou. I bought a dou of it and it will last for a long time. Well, the price of salt has fallen sharply recently. It was already 200 yen earlier."
"Why did it fall?" Da Suizhan asked curiously as he was really bored.
"There are a lot of salted fish and dried meats coming to the market. Some people who are very economical do not buy mutton. They buy salted fish and dried meat instead, and they buy less salt." Wen Zaixiong said: "They are the common croakers in the Bohai Sea.
Pickled head."
"Shao Shude stole my fish again!" Da Jinzhuan said angrily.
Shen Guangjin and Wen Zaixiong looked at each other and did not dare to answer.
My Majesty, Shao Shude brought so much salted fish and dried meat. On the one hand, it brought down the price of meat, and on the other hand, it also brought down the price of salt. The people of Youzhou praised it. You can just talk about it at home.
, but please don’t go out and whine—er, forget, His Majesty can’t go out now.
"The dried meat is also obtained from Liaodong?" Dashuzhan asked again.
"It seems so." Wen Zaixiong hesitated for a moment and said, "I heard it was a ship sailing from Yanzhou, Tokyo, loaded with meat and fish. They also found several islands outside, killed all the tigers and wolves, and raised deer specifically."
"Humph!" Da Suzhen stood up angrily.
He is not stupid and knows that Shao Shude has come up with a good idea. If the island has lush vegetation and no tigers, wolves and other predators, the number of deer lacking natural enemies will increase rapidly.
To put it bluntly, it is just using the land resources in Liaodong.
If there are not enough people to farm the land, it will only be covered with weeds and cannot be used. But if livestock are grazed, the livestock can use these weeds. Although it cannot be compared with the yield per mu of cultivated land, it is better than the large area.
After the number of deer herds increases to a certain level, hunting can be organized. This is actually a good way to train troops.
"Thief Shao stole my deer again!" Da Suizan was walking around in the yard.
"Your Majesty, calm down." Wen Zaixiong stepped forward and took Da Sui's arm, pulled him to a chair and sat down. Then he returned to the donkey cart, took out a large bag of tea, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I am in the south today.
I also bought some Fuliang tea in the city, I can brew some later."
"Yeah." Da Zhuan replied in a sullen voice.
"General Wen, Your Majesty must be thirsty. Let's cook it now. I'll cook." Shen Guangjin winked and said.
"That's fine." Wen Zaixiong said, "The tea I bought today is great."
"What's so wonderful about it?" Shen Guangjin asked as he took some water and washed the rice.
"Something happened to Jia Hakka's family and they were in a hurry to sell it. I bought half a load for only a hundred yuan," Wen Zaixiong said.
He said: "If it were based on the normal market price, it would be more than ten dollars more expensive."
"That's really profitable. Xia Guo Honglu Temple only gives you such a small amount of money every month, which is really not enough. General Wen bought this tea well, and your Majesty can drink it until the new tea is released during the Qingming Festival next year." Shen Guangjin joked.
After saying that, he and Wen Zaixiong laughed together, looking very happy.
"Raozhou Fuliang Tea Bar?" Dazhuan suddenly spoke: "In the Yuanhe period of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, Fuliang County produced 7 million loads of tea every year, and the tax was more than 150,000 guan. At that time, the price of tea was ten cents
, a load of Fuliang tea only costs more than 200 yuan, your tea is not much cheaper."
Shen Guangjin and Wen Zaixiong were speechless.
"What does the tea that people in Lower Liba drink have to do with me?" Da Jinzhuan flicked his robe sleeves and went straight back into the house.
"Alas!" Shen Guangjin sighed and continued washing rice.
Wen Zaixiong also shook his head and said: "The Queen has not been here for more than half a month, and Your Majesty is angry. That's all. I'll make tea first."
In addition, he can also understand that this tea is indeed very ordinary.
There are many shops selling sencha in Beiping City, some of which use Fuliang tea. It is a regional low-end tea distribution center, mainly relying on sales. It used to be in the hands of Zhong Kuangshi, but now it is in the hands of Xia
It must be a good source of wealth in people's hands - I heard that the amount of money spent on tea every year is nearly half a million yuan.
Yes, the numbers are so scary! It’s not just because tea sales have increased to a certain extent, it’s mainly because tax rates have increased.
During the reign of Emperor Xizong of the former Tang Dynasty, in order to raise money to quell Huang Chao and Qin Zongquan, the Tang court went on a rampage in the south and once raised the tax rate on tea from "three out of ten" to "eight out of ten." You must know that the Xianzong Dynasty was still "one out of ten".
"Well, this rise is too fast, and it also reflects the extremely embarrassing financial situation of Tang Ting, so much so that it is almost exhausted.
After Zhong Chuan separated Jiangxi, because the tax on tea was too high, private tea dealers Daxing's income from tea was dwindling, so he ordered the tax to be halved, that is, "four out of ten", and the Fuliang tea market regained momentum.
Tea is a bulk consumer product, and even peddlers and monks will go to sencha shops——
"Tea is food, no different from rice and salt. It is enjoyed by people, both near and far. It can cure exhaustion and fatigue, and it is difficult to let go of whiskers. It is a favorite among farm villages."
"From Zou, Qi, Cang, Di, and gradually to Jingyi, many shops were opened in the cities to sell fried tea, regardless of the customs, and they invested money to drink it."
If you want to collect taxes, you still have to find a way to deal with these bulk consumer goods - of course, if like the Ming Dynasty, in a large tea distribution center in the south of the Yangtze River, the annual tea tax is only a dozen taels of silver, then forget it, the cost of taxation is not enough Covered, and it was a naked mockery of the Ming Dynasty tax authorities by the Jiangnan gentry and wealthy businessmen.
Now that the Fuliang tea market is under the control of the Xia people, their household income will definitely increase significantly, which is not good news for them, the old and the young of the Bohai Sea.
After Da Jinzhuan went in and became sulky, Shen Guangjin and Wen Zaixiong continued to cook fussily.
Poor two ministers and nobles, they are not afraid of Yang Chun Shui, but they have to do it themselves. Even though they have been "practicing" for several months, they are still very unlucky.
After a long sleep, I was hungry. I went out several times to check, but when I saw that I was still not well, I went back angrily. I was busy until noon, and then Shen and Wen put the food on the table.
Corn rice, broth, braised fish with pickled vegetables, plus dried meat, bean paste, and rabbit meat sauce - the latter is a typical Bohai traditional food.
The three of them, no longer distinguishing between master and servant, sat around a table and started eating.
"The life in Beiping City is really good now. Even ordinary city residents now occasionally buy some meat legs..." Wen Zaixiong picked up a piece of dried meat and dipped it in the sauce. As soon as he said half a sentence, he was Shen Guangjin stopped it with his eyes.
You really don't want to lift any pot! Shao Shude improved the lives of the people of Xia Kingdom, which was a good thing for the Xia people, but for the Bohai monarchs and ministers, it was completely unpleasant.
Fortunately, I was asleep and busy eating, so I didn't seem to hear it.
Wen Zaixiong was reminded and stopped talking. The three of them snorted and ate happily.
"Your Majesty..." A timid shout suddenly sounded outside the door.
"Queen!" Da Suiwen suddenly raised his head and put down his chopsticks with a "pop" sound.
Ran out of the house.
Shen and Wen hurriedly followed.
"His Majesty!"
"queen!"
A group of people greet each other in the courtyard.
Da Jinzhuan looked at the two lieutenants following Gao, feeling disgusted, but he did not dare to say anything.
"Your Majesty, I was recently transferred to Changpingtang by Yeting and just returned yesterday." Gao explained carefully.
Seeing that Da Yishuan's face was not very good-looking, she felt a little anxious and almost cried. She just heard her say: "Your Majesty, I cannot be free, there is really no way."
"Okay, okay!" Da Sui composed his expression for a while, and finally waved his hand generously and said, "I - I don't blame you."
Gao's tears turned into a smile, and he lifted the food box in front of him and said, "These are the snacks made by my concubine. They are what Your Majesty often eats."
Da Suizhan's face completely relaxed and he said, "Come in and talk."
A group of people entered the house.
Mrs. Gao took out the snacks one by one and placed them on the table.
Da Suzhen swallowed, and his dissatisfaction with the queen disappeared.
Gao did not forget Shen Guangjin and Wen Zaixiong. She took out some tea leaves and said: "This is Shuzhong Mengding, Yixing Yangxian and Guzhu purple bamboo shoot tea that Zi often drinks in the summer. It is priceless."
"The two teachers have worked hard, and you can share the drink with Your Majesty."
Shen and Wen were flattered.
Mengding in Shuzhong, Yixian in Yangxian, Guzhu Purple Bamboo Shoots itself is a famous tea, and the tea used in the palace is the best among famous teas, so it is naturally extraordinary.
From this point of view, Da Xia Zi is not particularly excessive. He must feel guilty, so he rewards the palace with royal things.
As for why I felt guilty, it was probably because the unknown army was launched to attack the Bohai Sea, which was morally untenable.
"Young lady, let's sit down and eat together." Dashuzhan grabbed Shuzhong Mengding first, and after looking at it carefully, his smile gradually grew, and he stretched out his hand to say, "It's been a long time since you had Bohai meat sauce, right? Look,
What is this? General Wen made it himself."
Mrs. Gao turned around and saw a few pieces of dried meat next to a plate of bean paste. There was another bowl with rabbit meat paste next to it. Her face was filled with joy. She smiled and said, "Your Majesty, when I see this concubine,
This sauce just feels..."
Halfway through his words, he suddenly couldn't speak anymore. Gao felt nauseated, covered his mouth and walked out the door, the sound of retching could not be heard.
"Queen, what is this..." Da Suizhan asked, not knowing what was going on.
Shen Guangjin and Wen Zaixiong were stunned and looked at each other.
The two lieutenants who were standing outside the door chatting saw their faces changed drastically when they saw her. They quickly stepped forward and supported Mrs. Gao.
Gao's face was extremely pale.
She turned back to look at the sleeping room, her eyes were filled with fear, and her body was trembling slightly.