Chapter 36 Zhi Yi Nong

"Gardenia only blooms two branches of red, and the beauty has captured the souls of people in Shu. If the city is surrounded by hibiscus, who knows whether it will fail or succeed?" In a teahouse in a remote part of Chengdu, the Kingdom of Shu, there was a pair of singers, father and daughter, playing the piano and clapping the beats.All the tea guests were fascinated by listening to it, but they were all indulging in the beauty of the woman and the melodious melody, but few of them paid attention to the content of the poems sung. I don't know who and why this poem was written. The content seems to be realistic and imaginary, whether it implies some kind of mystery, or conveys some hidden information.

After the song was sung, before most of the tea guests woke up from their indulgence, a group of people had already got up and left the teahouse.It wasn't until the Taoist had reached the gate of the teahouse that there was a burst of high-five applause behind him. Before the applause fell, a handsome young scholar also stood up and walked out of the teahouse.When he got up, his robe was pulled up by the armrest of the chair, revealing a gilt cast iron number plate hidden at his waist.The iron plate is in the shape of "Jiazi Baomu", with the words "Xuegong Fifteen" cast on it, neatly written.

After the scholar went out, he glanced at the Taoist's leaving back, then turned and walked in another direction, and soon disappeared into Yan Cui Nizhu's beauty. At this time, the Taoist also stopped, turned around and glanced at the direction in which the scholar left. In the Huiming Garden, the harem of the Shu Kingdom, the red dyed green is more beautiful.There is a peony garden here, in which there are all kinds of famous peonies, which are as complete as Luoyang.But there is also a red gardenia next to the peony garden, and the two red gardenias in it are the only ones in the world.The seeds of this red gardenia were presented by Taoist Shen of Qingcheng Mountain, and there are only two seeds.After growing up, the flowers bloom wonderfully, as bright as peonies, as clear as orchids, and as fragrant as plums. Therefore, Mrs. Hua Rui, the concubine Hui, regarded them as immortals and became her favorite.Other concubines and maids in the palace couldn't get close to this beautiful face, so they embroidered according to the shape and decorated it on the tuanfan clothes.The flower shape of the red gardenia was spread outside the palace, and everyone in Shu imitated it, adorning the flower shape for beauty, glory, and respect.

When the music is flying and the piano is playing in the teahouse, Mrs. Huarui is sitting on the couch surrounded by trees and flowers, drawing and writing lyrics.Outside the gate of the garden, Meng Chang, Emperor Ruiwen of Shu, hurriedly got off his chariot and walked towards the gate with his belly bumped.The eunuch at the gate was about to send a message to greet him, but Meng Chang raised his hand to stop him.He quietly slipped to Mrs. Huarui's side, embraced her from behind, put his hands in his arms, and held the tender and soft balls. Mrs. Huarui was startled first, and drew out a long stroke of the paintbrush in her hand, reaching beyond the page.After Wei Wei turns her head and sees that it is Meng Chang, the Emperor of Shu, she gently relaxes her body, letting Meng Chang's hands walk on her body, and her mouth gnaws on her neck.When stimulated, he let out a soft breath, and the paintbrush in his hand was scribbling on the album and the desktop.

"Your Majesty, wasn't it the time of joy last night? Why are you so excited now? Is it because I made you the scarlet goat's head that has a miraculous effect on nourishing yang, or did Priest Shen teach you some imperial techniques?" Mrs. Huarui While twisting her soft body, she asked intermittently with delicate panting. "I'm so happy. Not only do I want to protect you, but I also want to conquer the world." After saying this, Meng Chang laid Mrs. Huarui down, took off her clothes, and fought hard beside the red gardenias in the courtyard. Flowers get pistils.

It had been a long time since Meng Chang had shown such a masculine arrogance and an emperor's arrogance, this could not help arousing Mrs. Huarui's excitement, wrapping her around and actively catering to her.At the same time, I thought to myself: It seems that there must be some great things at the court this morning that stimulated Meng Chang and made him pick up some ambitions. Meng Chang really got good news this morning, and there was more than one.The first good news is that the faceless gods have a new fairy language, which is "rich can sit on gold, and old grains can be exchanged for living food".After explaining this fairy saying to Daoist Shen Daoren, the great virtuous master, the conclusion turned out to be of great benefit to the Kingdom of Shu.

The fairy language of the faceless fairy only talks about common people's affairs, not official and royal affairs.But Shen Daoren can not only explain the fairy words asked by the common people like hexagrams, but also deduce the ups and downs of the country's fortune and the mystery of fortune from the common people's affairs.It was because of this ability, and because of his dedication to offering red gardenias and teaching Meng Chang's housework and health preservation, that Daoist Shen was named the Great Virtuous Immortal Master of the Kingdom of Shu. He built a Xuan Xuan Hall.In addition, Meng Chang also gave him a nine-flower gold medal, with which he can freely enter and leave the court and the inner palace.

"Wealth can sit on gold and play, and old grains can be exchanged for living food" is a fairy saying that a group of wealthy farmers in Guanghan got when they inquired about their family's prospects, and they got this sentence several times after inquiring.So I found Taoist Shen to explain the mystery contained in this fairy saying. Taoist Shen calculated that this is a prediction that farmers in Guanghan will encounter great wealth.And this opportunity is not only for Guanghan people, but may also be extended to all Shu people. The second piece of good news fits perfectly with the first piece of good news.In fact, in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the increase of taxes on outbound and transit goods was reported and submitted to Chengdu very early, but the effect of the increase in taxes has not been gradually reflected until now.Southern Tang and Shu are separated by Chu and Nanping. In addition, Shu is self-sufficient in products and has a surplus, so it will not be affected.But what I didn't expect was that the increase in taxes in the Southern Tang Dynasty would have the greatest negative impact on the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Han Dynasty.Now it is unprofitable, or even loss-making, to transport grain goods from the south to the north, and the country’s salt production in Dazhou can only go by dry road, with long distances and high costs.And other related supplies have also been reduced or suspended due to tax increases.As a result, prices skyrocketed within a few days, and not only were various necessities such as food and salt in short supply, but non-essential items such as cloth, silk, pen, ink, and paper were also in short supply.

Upon receiving the news, Prime Minister Wu Zhaoyi repeatedly said, "Excellent!".Wu Zhaoyi is not only the prime minister, but also in charge of salt affairs. He knows the importance of grain and salt to a country, and he also knows that if grain and salt are operated properly, the people can be enriched and the country strengthened in a short period of time.Once food and salt are difficult, national disasters may follow.With such an extraordinary situation in Da Zhou, the national power and military power will be in crisis.But for Xishu, which has always had a delicate relationship with the Great Zhou, it is a good thing.

"Your Majesty, at this time, we should temporarily relax some regulations on barter and salt management, and encourage farmers, salt farmers, and merchants to trade at the border of Dazhou. In this way, the people can earn a lot of wealth in a short period of time, and the country can also A lot of profits can be obtained from it to enrich the national treasury. However, this matter has a certain frequency, because when the price of goods in Dazhou rises to a certain height, merchants in countries such as Southern Tang, Wuyue, and Southern Han can make up for the loss of taxes and make profits again. At that time, they will continue to transport goods from south to north, which will soon bring down prices. When prices drop to a certain level, merchants will no longer be profitable, and goods from south to south will be suspended, and prices will soar again. So the current The operation needs to be quick, but after this round, it is necessary to see and grasp the timing." Wu Zhaoyi's analysis is very in place, and he thinks very long-term.

Wang Zhaoyuan, a member of the Privy Council, very much agreed with what Wu Zhaoyi said, thinking that this is a great opportunity to enhance the national strength of Shu, and it is also a means of making friends with Hou Zhou: "At this time, Zhou is going north to conquer Liao, and before that, he sent a special envoy to The Kingdom of Shu came to show their favor. Therefore, the Kingdom of Shu used stored grain and salt to trade or barter with them, not to take advantage of them, but to support the Kingdom of Zhou." However, Wang Zhaoyuan put forward his own suggestions on the transaction method. "Why don't private merchants be transformed into official merchants. The rich and productive land of Shu is in the hinterland of Dongxichuan, and the road to transport grain and salt to the border of Zhou and Shu is difficult and long. Moreover, there are many bandits in the fierce mountains and rivers. It is extremely risky for private merchants to open this trade route. The future is unpredictable. And just now Master Wu also said that the great business opportunities are fleeting and must be acted quickly. Therefore, I wonder if the state can purchase the grain and salt in the hands of the common people, and then transport them to the border of Fengzhou and the state of Zhou by the army The people trade. The army has strong horses and solid chariots, and the soldiers often take such dangerous routes, so there shouldn’t be any accidents. In addition, the robbers along the way will never dare to think anything wrong with the luggage transported by the army.” Wang Zhaoyuan's idea is not unreasonable, but Wu Zhaoyi disagrees: "For officials and businessmen, first of all, they need to spend a lot of gold and silver to buy the salt and grain in the hands of the people. This is a considerable amount, even if the treasury is emptied, it may not necessarily Enough." "Why do we have to buy cash? We can use food vouchers and salt vouchers instead. Sign the amount of grain and silver on these vouchers, and stamp the tax stamp of the household department as evidence. After the transaction, the silver will be returned according to the amount, which can be added. Set a certain interest rate. In this way, the common people don’t have to take risks, but they can also get more interest rates, so why not do it? For the real treasury, it’s a good thing for nothing.” Wang Zhaoyuan’s idea is really unique. "And it's better not to buy and sell in cash when trading on the border between Zhou and Shu, but to use barter to exchange grain and salt for a large number of horses, cattle and sheep. Not only can military supplies and horses be guaranteed, but also with the large livestock in the north, farming in the territory of Shu It is also easy to expand and develop more wasteland. Then some juvenile livestock and high-quality livestock are used for livestock and breeding. In the future, the cattle, horses and meat used for military and transportation in Shu Kingdom will no longer need to be purchased. This is a good thing where profits come and goes. Didn’t the Faceless God also mention ‘Old grains for living food’ when he just came out with fairy language?” "If it's barter, then how will we cash out the silver and interest rates to the people?" Meng Chang listened carefully, and he felt that if this was not guaranteed, then everything else would be difficult to work. "This is the second step. After the horses, cattle and sheep are driven back, the common people can first exchange the vouchers for horses, cattle, and sheep with the vouchers for grain and salt in their hands. , breeding prospects, and determine which one or several types need to be replaced. Then these horses, cattle and sheep can be distributed to various pastures for grazing and breeding. After deducting official costs, profits and labor service fees, they will be distributed according to the amount of coupons in the hands of the people on a regular basis. To make a profit. Of course, people can also apply in advance to cash in full in a certain period, but in this case, the cash amount must be greatly reduced. If the horses, cattle and sheep cannot be sold and realized at the due date, the horses, cattle and sheep can also be cashed directly In addition, this coupon can also be traded in the market, and the transaction price can be negotiated according to the breeding status and expected profit, but the account name of the coupon must be changed through the tax office of the household department. And the household department can charge a certain amount of handling fees according to the transaction price In this way, the large amount of income from the national treasury can be sustained for a long time." "This strategy sounds attractive at first, but it's just superficial. There are many joints in the whole process, and the changes caused by external influences are huge. I don't know if Mr. Wang has taken into account the various changes and accidents that may occur, has he? I thought that as long as there is a small mistake or mistake, the connection will be broken, and in the end I will lose everything and lose both capital and profit." Wu Zhaoyi felt that what Wang Zhaoyuan said was a bit vain, but he had never had this aspect I can't find the key fallacies, so I can only express my opinions in such a general way.