Whenever there are frequent wars, food prices will skyrocket. This is due to wars destroying agricultural production, and unscrupulous businessmen hoarding food and driving up food prices. But in the area under Liu Xin's rule, this will not happen. This happens.
Because in the process of Liu Xin's continuous expansion, most of the farmland in various places was taken over by the government. In addition to taxes, rents were also paid to the local government. Therefore, most of the grain harvested every year did not actually fall into the hands of those wealthy noble families. Instead, he entered the government's granary. On the other hand, Liu Xin has always attached great importance to grain production, vigorously built water conservancy projects, and cultivated grain seeds, which greatly increased grain production. Take wheat as an example. In the past, the Han Dynasty's main production was wheat. The district is in Hebei under the control of Yuan Shao, and the yield per unit area is about 200 jins. In Nanyang now, the yield of wheat per unit area has reached 300 jins. Not only that, in the Jingnan area, the output of rice has far exceeded that of wheat. It reached an unprecedented weight of 500 kilograms.
It is precisely with the guarantee of sufficient granaries that Liu Xin can have the confidence to ask the government to determine a unified grain purchase and sales price, keeping the price of grain on the market at about 20 yuan. However, in this way, the areas under Liu Xin's rule and other areas There was a big price difference between the grains, and smuggling of grains happened from time to time.
As an important strategic material, the sale of grain is of course strictly controlled. It is impossible to smuggle grain on a large scale. To ensure the long-term confrontation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Liu Xin must expand the scale of grain smuggling. Therefore, it was necessary to use some secret power. Liu Xin quickly wrote a reply and asked Jushu to take full responsibility for the matter. In the letter, Liu Xin also told Jushu to make good use of this opportunity and rescue a person from Puyang.
Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had already started war, and Liu Xin no longer had any worries and could handle affairs in the Western Regions with peace of mind. So, the group left Wuwei and meandered westward, passing through Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang counties, and finally arrived at Yumen Pass.[
Yumen Pass and Yangguan in the south are the two only roads leading to the Western Regions. Beyond the pass is the vast Gobi. Once upon a time, there were camels ringing here, and there was an endless stream of caravans coming and going from east to west. It was a busy scene. Now, standing on the pass city Looking around, apart from the scattered swamps, criss-crossing ravines, and tall poplar trees, no one could be seen outside the pass.
Liu Xin thought that during her trip to the Western Regions, she would re-open the Silk Road and restore the prosperity of the past. She couldn't help but feel proud. She couldn't help but get excited about poetry and sang softly: "The Yellow River is far up among the white clouds. , an isolated city in Wanren Mountain."
This popular "Liangzhou Ci" was of course "plagiarized" by Liu Xin, but he could not continue reciting only the first half of the poem, because the next two lines are "Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows? The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass." Obviously It doesn't fit in with the current scene.
Jia Xu was listening attentively with a pious expression on his face, but there was nothing to say. He couldn't help but said with some regret: "I have long heard that my lord's literary talent is unparalleled in the world. Today, I can hear my lord's singing with my own ears, which is really a blessing in my life." , it’s just this poem about my lord…”
Liu Xin waved her hand and said seriously: "The great work has not been completed, how can Liu have any leisure time! It's getting late, let's get out of seclusion!"
Just when Liu Xin led a large group of troops to leave Yumen Pass and go straight to the Shanshan King's City, Muni City, a caravan also quietly left Runan and entered Qiaojun. Both Runan and Qiaojun originally belonged to Yuan Shu's territory, and now they have returned Liu Xin returned to Cao Cao, but the contact between the two places is still very frequent, and there are often caravans traveling between them. Of course, there are more smuggling teams between the two places. Because Runan is mountainous, there are many It is a secret trail, and Liu Xin's local army here has not yet been fully formed, so it has become a hardest hit area for smuggling. The smuggled goods are of course mainly grain, sometimes mixed with a small amount of paper and white porcelain.
However, this caravan that set off quietly at night did not take a small road like other smuggling caravans, but took the Sunshine Avenue. Because this caravan has a strong backing, as the saying goes, there are people above it.
This caravan comes from the Mi family in Xuzhou. It is true that the Mi family is the largest family in Xuzhou, but in the entire Han Dynasty, it is nothing. But Mi Zhu, the head of the Mi family, is now an official in charge of world commerce in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Doing business is very important. The Mi family has unique conditions, so this caravan holds official certificates and can take the main road to leave the customs. Of course, the certificates listed cannot be strategic materials such as grain, nor can they be tea. , specialized products such as silk and white porcelain are clearly recorded on it, but they are just ordinary products.
According to regulations, no matter which caravan leaves the customs, it must undergo strict inspection before being released. The regular regiments stationed at the border are not subject to the control of the local government. Therefore, even if someone can obtain an official voucher, if they carry a If it comes to prohibited items, they will also choose to take those hidden trails.
But the Mi family's caravan is in a special situation. Because the soldiers stationed at the border are all soldiers of the Fourth Army, and the commander of the Fourth Army, Zhang Liao, is the son-in-law of the Mi family. The leader of this caravan is Zhang Liao's brother-in-law Mi Fang. A few days ago, the soldiers here were informed by Zhang Liao that the Mi family's caravan would be released without inspection. Of course, even with such convenient conditions, he from the Mi family did not dare to pass the customs in public in full view, so he still I chose to cross the border quietly at night.
As soon as he entered the territory of Qiaojun, Mi Fang's head was raised. His goods were all in short supply, not only the food that Cao Cao urgently needed, but also Xiang paper, white porcelain and other items that were deeply loved by the upper class. Luxury goods, especially grain, Mi Fang actually transported as much as 100,000 shi in one go this time. With this batch of goods, Mi Fang became the boss in Cao Cao's territory and could even walk sideways.
Runan is the hardest-hit area for smuggling. Qiao County borders Runan. Smugglers from Runan can be seen everywhere, and most of those smugglers will dispose of the goods they have smuggled through painstaking efforts in Qiao County. Anyway, these smugglers What the merchants brought were food and other items that were urgently needed by the local area, but the local officials turned a blind eye and rarely took the initiative to inquire.
However, the sudden appearance of a large caravan like Mi Fang still attracted the attention of the government. When Mi Fang and the others arrived outside the city of Qiaojun, they were blocked by a group of officials who shouted, "What is on the car? To where?" Where to go?”
Mi Fang waved her hand, and the servant behind her quickly presented the certificate issued by the government.
Although the feudal lords in various regions were hostile to each other, private trade did not stop. However, various regions had certain regulations on the goods that were allowed to be bought and sold. For example, in Liu Xin, grain was not allowed to be sold out of the country. In Cao Cao's jurisdiction, grain was not allowed to be sold out of the country. In this area, the purchase of white porcelain is prohibited and the purchase of Xiang paper is restricted.
Among the goods shipped by Mi Fang, these three commodities were the main ones. However, the certificates listed by the government did not have the names of these commodities. Some were just coarse cloth, sacks, kudzu root, etc., including daily necessities and common medicinal materials. They are all worthless things anyway.
The leading official looked over the voucher several times, and found no flaws at all. Of course, there were no flaws. This was issued by Mi Zhu personally from the Household Department. The voucher was written on high-grade paper and had the security mark of the Household Department on it. It cannot be counterfeited. Officials in Qiao County have also seen such vouchers. Those who can obtain such vouchers are all well-known people there.
However, this is Qiao County, not Liu Xin's territory, so these officials did not treat Mi Fang differently because he had the ability to obtain such a certificate. Instead, they shouted carelessly: "Open everything in the car. I want to check!"
A man who looked like a steward saw the opportunity quickly and secretly stuffed a small purse into the hand of the official, and said with a smile: "Brothers, thank you for your hard work. It's just a small thing. I'd like to invite you to tea." [
Normally, all problems are solved as soon as the purse is released, but today this official was a little surprised. Not only did he not accept the purse, he also sneered, pulled out his sword and shouted: "Don't let it go anymore." Come on, I won’t be polite!”
Mi Fang shouted in a deep voice: "How dare you!"
Although he was in someone else's place, Mi Fang was not afraid at all. Although he came here for smuggling, he was carrying out smuggling under Liu Xin's secret order. The people escorting the vehicle were all selected from the Fourth Army. There are as many as a thousand people including carriages and escorts, so how can they take these more than ten officials seriously? Moreover, this place is not far from Runan, and the tens of thousands of troops stationed there are all from him. He is afraid of his support.
Following Mi Fang's shout, dozens of guards standing behind him rushed to pull out their swords, startling the dozen or so foreign officials and retreating continuously.
Mi Fang snorted coldly, and led the people to push into the city gate step by step, and said loudly: "To tell you the truth, this car is full of food. How will you treat it?"
Although Cao Cao very much welcomes food from other places to enter, anything that is not listed on the official voucher is considered smuggling, and can even be confiscated according to the law. However, under normal circumstances, everyone knows it well, and there are some benefits to official status. The smugglers were making profits, and everyone was happy. Although Mi Fang was smuggling for the first time, she knew the rules, but today's official position seemed a bit unethical.
When the officials saw Mi Fang's aggressive attitude, they were at a loss.
At this time, a man walked out of the city gate with his hands behind his back. He cupped his hands towards Mi Fang and said, "Brother, can you lend me a moment to speak?"
Mi Fang put her hand on the hilt of the sword and asked warily: "Who are you?"
The man waved his hands towards the officials, and after the officials bowed and retreated, he said, "I am Liu Dai, the prefect of Qiao County. I have offended many of my subordinates just now, so please don't blame me."
Mi Fang always felt that there was something fishy about today's matter. These officials refused to accept bribes, just like a cat suddenly stopped eating fish. Now he finally understood that it turned out that there was this prefect beside him, so he couldn't help but let go of his hand and said deeply He bowed and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Liu, please forgive me for the courtesy. I wonder what your orders are?"
Liu Dai returned the gift and said: "If what this brother is carrying in the car is really grain, then Liu will buy it all. I wonder if I can agree?"