Since His Majesty Li Er came to the throne in an illegitimate way, he has worked conscientiously and diligently since he ascended the throne.
Therefore, he is often very tolerant to ministers, and he wants to express his generosity and reputation in this way.
When he decided to go to Junyangfang to visit Li Ke and Yang Fan before leaving the palace, he was strongly opposed by all the civil and military officials.
King Wu Li Ke and Yang Fan were assassinated just now, and you, the emperor, ran out again. Isn't this nonsense?
Who can guarantee that His Majesty Li Er will not be targeted?
Seeing all the courtiers' remonstrances and rare unanimous opposition to his leaving the palace, Li Shimin could only give up with a wry smile even though he was very unhappy.
Although he is the emperor, he really can't do whatever he wants as long as he doesn't want to be called a coward.
In desperation, His Majesty Li Er could only ask Prince Li Chengqian to go to express condolences on his behalf.
No matter as the prince or as Li Ke's brother, it is most appropriate for Li Chengqian to go to express condolences on his behalf.
…
Along the way, the heavy snow in the sky made the journey a bit difficult.
When Li Chengqian came to the side road to Junyangfang, he was a little dumbfounded.
The wide and flat roads are all paved with cement. Although there is some snow, it is much easier to walk than the official road.
This made Li Chengqian feel very strange, as if this road appeared out of thin air.
I remember that before the expedition, he had visited Junyangfang. At that time, the road was much smaller than the official road, and it was extremely inconvenient to walk because of the bumps and bumps.
Unexpectedly, in less than a year, a broad and flat road that is more than twice as wide as the official road has been opened here.
I remember that after my father saw cement in Junyangfang, he specially purchased cement from Junyangfang as a building material for the Daming Palace.
At that time, Yang Fan still pushed back. Li Chengqian thought it was because cement production was particularly complicated and the output was not high, so he didn't pay too much attention.
But now we use cement to pave the road, which is simply too luxurious.
Needless to say, it must be the work of that boy Yang Fan who instigated Wu Meiniang.
Women will not give way to men!
I really didn't expect that the concubine given to the boy by his father would be so courageous, which made Li Chengqian a little impressed.
Feeling the carriage traveling quickly on the cement road, Li Chengqian finally realized the convenience.
If the entire Tang Empire's official roads were built with such cement roads, wouldn't it be much easier for people to travel around in the future?
What's more, I heard that this kind of cement is indestructible when used to build city walls. It is lighter and easier to use than huge stones.
This is a good thing to strengthen the army and enrich the country.
Isn't it a great achievement to just get the method to make cement?
Who can take away my position as prince?
A cement road made Li Chengqian think a lot.
If Yang Fan knew what Li Chengqian was thinking, he would definitely praise him for his foresight.
There is a saying in later generations: if you want to be rich, you must first build roads.
Convenient transportation not only saves time and costs, but also allows goods to flow from place to place. It is indeed a way to get rich.
If it were possible to pave all cement roads in the Tang Dynasty, even if Li Chengqian did not become emperor in the future, he would definitely leave his name in the history of the country.
As Junyangfang gets closer and closer, more and more caravans come out, and it can even be said to be endless, with no end as far as the eye can see.
You know without asking that these caravans must have come from Junyangfang.
It was a snowy day, and Yang Fan’s ability to make money once again made Li Chengqian jealous!
However, Li Chengqian was not very enthusiastic about doing business.
After all, he has the support of the Guanlong family behind him and he is the prince, so he is not very short of money.
Although Li Chengqian didn't care about this, the accompanying ministers and some second-generation officials were very jealous.
What is the busiest place in Guanzhong now?
It is not Pingkangfang where famous prostitutes gather, nor is it the East and West Markets where all kinds of goods are gathered, nor is it the Lishan Garden where tourists and literati go out for an outing, but Junyangfang is located on the edge of the Qinling Mountains.
Here, merchants from all over the world gather and department stores from all over the world are distributed.
It can be said that Junyangfang has become the cargo transshipment center in Guanzhong area.
Especially that supermarket, it simply overturned the ancients' understanding of business. It was a brand new platform, and everything contained novelty.
After another half an hour, Li Chengqian and his party came to a more open road.
The roads here are also paved with cement, but they are at least twenty meters wide.
Various products are displayed on both sides of the road, and even on a cold and snowy day, there are endless shouts.
Even though he was used to seeing the lively scenes in Chang'an City, Li Chengqian was also very interested. He got off the carriage and looked east and west.
Many novel objects that he had never seen before made him feel very fresh.
The people accompanying him did not stop him. He stood and looked into the distance. The looming city wall of Junyangfang was already a few miles away. It was obvious that there was not much distance left.
What's more, although everyone is familiar with Junyangfang Mutual Market, they never know what kind of place it is.
Most of the people who come this time usually rely on their status, and of course they will not go to this kind of merchant place.
They wanted to see what kind of skills Yang Fan had that could make everyone praise him so much.
Seeing the busy scene of vendors and people coming and going, Li Chengqian's impression of Yang Fan changed greatly even though he didn't attach much importance to money.
If we say that Li Chengqian’s previous impression of Yang Fan was that he was a little clever boy.
So, in pacifying Tubo this time, Li Chengqian finally saw how powerful Yang Fan was.
Of course, he was not the only one, everyone from the emperor to the common people respectfully called Yang Fan the God of War.
Seeing this bustling trading market again, Li Chengqian couldn't help but be secretly surprised.
Being able to build a sterile place into such a prosperous business place in more than a year, who dares to say that Yang Fan is just a reckless man?
Looking at the busy scene of people coming and going, Li Chengqian sighed: "I found that boy Yang Fan is not only good at fighting, but also has a flexible mind. He can actually build a remote place so well. He is truly a talent. No wonder he was chosen."
My father praised me so much."
Following beside him, Chang Sun Chong, who was dressed in a gorgeous gown and looked elegant and graceful, looked at the scene in front of him and felt a little stunned: "Yeah, I really don't know how that guy did it, he is simply a monster."
As he spoke, his eyes were full of disbelief.
I think that his eldest son, Sun Chong, has always had smooth sailings since he was little.
Whether it is intelligence or knowledge, they are all eagerly awaited by the younger generation.
Since Yang Fan appeared, his star has dimmed and he has even been suppressed everywhere. How can he not be jealous?
When Yang Fan first appeared in the eyes of the public, he only offered a method to prevent smallpox.
Later, he stormed into the Duke's mansion angrily because of a concubine and attacked the prince...
In the eyes of all the honorable nobles, Yang Fan's behavior is nothing more than a fool who acted recklessly because of His Majesty's favor.
Just when everyone wanted to see his joke, the naive guy who once thought of him rose up like a comet, catching people off guard.
Not only did the younger generation fail to catch up even if they wanted to, it also made the older generation feel extremely threatened.
They are the same people, but they seem to be very different in age, but why is the gap so big?
Changsun Chong was jealous.
Seeing traders loading goods onto carriages, Li Chengqian sighed again: "It's so lively here, right? There's at least tens of thousands of dollars worth of transactions a day, right?"
Changsun Chong's expression became even worse!
Xin said, I am not a merchant, how would I know?
However, for such a large transaction volume, 10,000 yuan should be considered a small amount, but my heart became even more sour.
You must know that this is the trading volume in one day!
Although Changsun Chong didn't know, there was one person who accompanied him who knew it clearly, and that was Wei Ting, the Minister of Civil Affairs.
Wei Ting came here this time, of course, not to visit Yang Fan and Li Ke, but to count the shares and taxes that Junyangfang should pay.
After all, the Chinese New Year only lasts about twenty days.
Originally, it was none of Li Chengqian's business if he had questions, but after all, Li Chengqian was the prince. Since he asked, it would be bad if he didn't answer.
So Wei Ting took a few steps forward and said, "Young Master Qi, I know something about the trading volume of Junyangfang."
There are so many people here and Wei Ting certainly doesn't dare to reveal his identity.
Of course, Li Chengqian wouldn't mind a title.
King Wu Li Ke was assassinated, and the princes in the capital strengthened their guard.
Who is not afraid of death?
Li Chengqian was no exception, and he knew it was for his own good.
Hearing Wei Ting's words, Li Chengqian felt a desire to find out, and asked eagerly: "Oh, Butler Wei, please clear up the confusion."
Wei Ting lowered his voice, bowed and said: "As far as I know, from June to September, Junyangfang's transaction volume was about 10 million guan. If it were spread evenly every day, it should be around 100,000 guan a day."
Mr. Wei, the Minister of Civil Affairs, is in charge of the empire's money bag, and he personally comes to calculate and escort every share and tax, so he knows the specific figures.
Of course, these numbers were only part of what Wu Meiniang let him know.
Even so, Li Chengqian was so shocked that he murmured to himself in disbelief: "So many?"
Considering that the Prince's Mansion has so many staff and subordinates, the money he receives from the court every month is only about 1,000 guan.
The daily trading volume here is as high as hundreds of thousands. How could he not be surprised?
When Changsun Chong heard this number, his eyes widened and he almost fell off.
Think of his eldest son as one of the leaders of the Guanlong family.
He also runs Datang's iron ore business alone. Although he doesn't pay much attention to the money in his family, he also knows that his family only has about 1 million guan at most.
I really didn't expect that the entire Changsun family's assets would only have the ten-day trading volume here, which is really surprising.
After a long while, Changsun Chong came to his senses as if he had been struck by a demon, and retorted: "Wei Shibo, did you remember wrongly? Although there are many traders here, it is impossible to have a transaction volume of 100,000 yuan, right?"
Li Chengqian also nodded in agreement.
If calculated in terms of copper coins, 10,000 gu of copper coins would need to be loaded into at least 100 oxcarts, which is more than 100,000 guan. How is this possible?
After all, although there are many people here, the goods are placed there, and even if they are doubled several times, they cannot be sold for a hundred thousand yuan.
Seeing that Li Chengqian and the two were as shocked as country bumpkins, Wei Ting was not surprised.
I think he was also shocked by such a large trading volume at first.
But the taxes paid into the national treasury every quarter are real and cannot be faked.
It can be said that the share and tax revenue of Junyangfang Trading Center is almost half of the annual tax revenue of the entire Datang Dynasty.
This is also the reason why His Majesty Li Er passionately wants to carry out drastic reforms, and even wants to achieve eternal hegemony as soon as possible.
If you have money, you will naturally be willful.
Seeing that they still looked suspicious, Wei Ting continued to explain: "Young Master, what you see now are just sporadic bulk goods. The large cargo trading center is in the store in front."
After saying that, Wei Ting pointed away.
Following the direction of the finger, Li Chengqian and Changsun Chong turned to look...
A few miles away, there are rows of densely packed tall houses. The architectural style is completely different from ordinary residences.
Wei Ting did not continue to show off. Hearing is better than seeing. Just go and take a look and you will know.
When Li Chengqian and his party arrived at the large store, they realized that the rows of houses they had just seen were actually just tall warehouses.
The large space makes people look very weak standing in front of the warehouse.
However, although the warehouse space is large, each warehouse is filled with goods.
Each warehouse or several warehouses contain the same type of products.
At this time, there were many large caravans driving rows of carriages loading and unloading goods, which seemed extremely busy.
According to Li Chengqian's estimate, there are at least hundreds of such large warehouses, and the variety of goods is simply dazzling.
Li Chengqian and Changsun Chong swallowed, their throats were a little dry, and they no longer dared to have any doubts.
In their opinion, the daily transaction volume of 100,000 yuan may be more than 100,000 yuan.
Some people walked to the source of the warehouse with a numb expression, and what they saw was a tall building.
This building is more than twice as tall as the usual pavilions and is at least a hundred meters wide. With such a large span and scale, the main body is obviously not a wooden structure.
However, the walls are decorated with black tiles and the exterior is decorated with wooden carved beams and painted beams, which makes it look extraordinary.
Hanging on the tall lintel is a row of large gold characters that read "Datang Commercial Bank Goods Trading Center"!
After a long while, Li Chengqian and others recovered from the shock, turned around and asked, "Why did Yang Fan build such a tall house?"
Wei Ting hurriedly said: "This is a goods transaction center. If you want to buy or sell bulk goods, you cannot do it privately. You have to go to a trading house to go through the procedures."
"After completing the procedures, the commercial bank will issue a sign with the name and quantity of the goods being sold. With the sign, you can go to the warehouse of the goods to collect or sell the corresponding goods."
Li Chengqian nodded slightly, but still couldn't figure it out. He asked with some confusion: "How can we ensure the quality of so many goods?"
"If some sellers pass off inferior products and buyers don't pay attention, wouldn't it be a huge loss?"
Wei Ting explained with a smile: "Whether you are buying or selling goods here, before the goods are traded, there will be a specialized inspector from the business firm to review the insurance."
"For specific goods, the seller not only has to pledge a deposit, but the payment can only be paid to the seller after the buyer has no feedback on quality problems within a certain period of time, just so that the seller can pass off substandard goods as good ones."
Li Chengqian found a seat at the door and sat down, and asked again with great interest: "Buying and selling are a matter between both parties and have nothing to do with the trading company. How does the trading company make money? Do they charge high handling fees?"
"If this is done, why should the sellers bother to send the goods here to sell them? They might as well find buyers themselves?"
Although Li Chengqian has never seen this kind of trading model and has never been in business, he is definitely not stupid.
Wei Ting explained with a smile: "The trading house does not take commissions, it only charges some storage fees for the goods!"
Well!
Li Chengqian and Changsun Chong were very surprised.
Could it be that Yang Fan is just a money-splitting boy who does good deeds for others without asking for anything in return?
In the hearts of everyone, Yang Fan has simply become a great philanthropist who specializes in benefiting both buyers and sellers!
He didn't realize at all that the deposit left in the account and the delayed payment were Yang Fan's goals.
Just as he was about to ask again, a gorgeously decorated carriage drove from the direction of Junyangfang and stopped directly in front of the business door.
The car curtain opened, and a pretty beauty got out of the car and entered the business surrounded by a group of guards and maids.
Li Chengqian was a little stunned and asked: "Whose wife is this? So beautiful!"
But he didn't notice that Chang Sun Chong's face was dark.
Wei Ting chuckled and said: "Of course she is beautiful. Who in the Junyangfang trading center doesn't know Shishi girl nowadays? She is one of the three fairies in Junyangfang!"
"Could it be the Shishi girl that Yang Fan redeemed from the Jiaoshifang?" Li Chengqian thought of something and couldn't help but turn his eyes to Changsun Chong.
I remember that Chang Sun Chong had a big fall in front of Yang Fan, just because of a girl named Shishi.
Changsun Chong smiled awkwardly: "Exactly."
Li Chengqian asked curiously: "What is she doing here? Does she know how to do business?"
Wei Ting explained: "Now everything in Junyangfang is planned by Marquis Zhongyi, and the rest is decided and implemented by Lady Wu, assisted by her sisters Wu Shun and Xiao Shiyun..."
"Perhaps because Marquis Zhongyi was injured, Lady Wu did not come, so Miss Shishi came to deal with it. Usually, Lady Wu and the three of them come together."
Li Chengqian said in surprise: "Yang Fan is really unexpected in everything he does. He actually handed over such a large family business to a woman to take care of. He is really a prodigal."
Wei Ting glanced at Li Chengqian in surprise. If someone else has earned such a huge family fortune, is this still considered a waste?
It seems that His Highness the Crown Prince has a great prejudice against women!
Changsun Chong said with emotion: "That Bangchui is really lucky to be favored by Miss Shishi."
Although it is inhumane, who doesn’t have a love for beauty?
Li Chengqian stood up and smiled. He didn't make any comment. Instead, he slapped his forehead in surprise and said, "Oh! I almost forgot the purpose of this trip. Hurry, there's more business to do."
After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the city wall of Junyangfang without any hesitation.
Everyone was astonished.
I thought to myself, could it be that His Highness the Crown Prince is really what the outside world has said.
You don’t like pretty ladies, but you like creamy boys?
Otherwise, how could she be so decisive? Such a beautiful lady, she feels so refreshed when she takes one more look at her!
However, he did not dare to disobey the order and could only reluctantly withdraw his gaze and follow closely!