I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

There is a small town called Yanjin in the west of Goguryeo.

"Are you all ready? The time agreed by the special envoy is today."

The speaker was a man of about 30 years old. He was dressed in Tang Dynasty clothes, which was neither gorgeous nor something that ordinary people could afford.

"Don't worry, Mr. Cai, everything is ready." The person below resumed.

It turns out that this person's surname is Cai and his first name is Cai Rong. I was a translator at Honglu Temple. When I followed Chen Dade to Goguryeo last time, Chen Dade felt that Cai Rong was smart and capable, so he took him with him on this mission to Goguryeo and gave him a half-level promotion. Now It is the seventh grade.

After Wang Xuance arrived, in order to implement the plan, Chen Dade released all his men. Fortunately, these people could speak some Goguryeo language after two missions to Goguryeo. It’s really a problem not to communicate with the people.

This period was actually very similar to that of later generations. Basically, the nobles of Goguryeo could speak Chinese. Being able to speak the Tang language here is a status symbol.

Senior people are all learning about Datang culture, especially those who have returned from studying in Datang. To use a classic line, I am not an ordinary person. I have been in Datang for several years.

Therefore, there is no obstacle to communicating with the Goguryeo nobles. On the contrary, the common people need to understand Goguryeo.

When the gate of Yanjin City was opened, people came in and out one after another. There was a shop in the most prosperous area of ​​Yanjin, and there was a sign written in Goguryeo in front of the door.

''Purchase all kinds of grain, Tang Dynasty copper coins are twenty cents per dou. ''

Normally, Goguryeo's grain cost more than 30 Wen per dou, and three times the price would be more than [-] Wen per dou. However, due to technical reasons, the copper content of Goguryeo coins was relatively low, so many people were willing to ask for coins from the Tang Dynasty, even if they were a little less, especially the nobles.

They could use these coins to buy the goods they wanted in the Tang Dynasty and sell them back to Goguryeo.

But merchants in the Tang Dynasty did not accept Goguryeo coins. When many people saw this sign, they came over to watch out of curiosity. Isn't it stupid to collect grain at three times the price at this time?

"Are you really charging three times the price for grain?"

At this time, a young Goguryeo man who looked to be in his twenties asked.

Cai Rong smiled and answered in fluent Goguryeo:

"That's right, as long as it's grain, millet, rice, we want it. Triple the price, pay with one hand and deliver with the other."

"Okay, you wait."

The young man turned around and ran away, returning a short while later carrying a bag. Put it in front of Cai Rong,

Cai Rong opened a bag of corn.

He nodded with satisfaction and ordered his men to count them. Nine and a half buckets were less than ten buckets.

"Do you want your coins or the coins of the Tang Dynasty?" Cai Rong asked

"Your Excellency, I want to use money to treat my mother, and I want the coins of the Tang Dynasty." He knew that the coins of the Tang Dynasty were valuable, and sometimes they could be exchanged for a lot of things.

In order to make money from the Tang Dynasty, the doctor would also treat his mother well.

"Okay, for the sake of your filial piety, I'll count you ten dou and give you two hundred coins. Come."

The servant behind him handed over two bunches of money. Cai Rong took it and handed it to the young man.

"Here are two hundred coins. Keep it and go see your mother."

The young man was grateful and finally had money to treat his mother. As for whether we are going to starve or not, the food harvest is in a month, so we can get through it no matter what.

"Did you really pay me?"

"yes,"

"Three times the price. If you give me copper coins of the Tang Dynasty, I will sell them too."

Soon someone in the crowd turned around and went back to get the food. The harvest was almost done anyway. This money can be exchanged with the noble master for some more Goguryeo money.

"You guys stay here and watch while I go to the rice shop in the city."

After Cai Lun finished speaking, he took several people to the rice shop in the city and purchased all the grain in the rice shop at triple the price.

There are four rice shops in Yanjin City, all of which are opened by nobles in the city. There was no need to waste anything. Once the price tripled, they were all sold.

The most important thing is the Tang Dynasty coins given.

Carloads of copper coins were transported to several rice shops, and carloads of grain were sent to the backyard of Cai Rong's shop.

There was indeed a lot of food in the four rice shops. Cai Rong had no choice but to go to the Yamen to issue a customs clearance document and organize a group of people to transport it out of the border first.

For this reason, Cai Rong returned [-] guan of money to the local defenders and mobilized [-] soldiers to help escort him.

By the time Cai Rong finished arranging everything, it was already evening.

"Mr. Cai, today we have harvested nearly [-] tons of grain, which is almost one-tenth of the amount in the city."

"Well, let's continue tomorrow. You don't have to all be in the city tomorrow. You can spread out and go to the village to collect. Each person has ten carriages. Try to collect more than [-]% of the grain as soon as possible.

There are some things that I cannot reveal to you, so just remember to take your time. It depends on this time to get promoted and make a fortune. "Cai Rong knew that Chen Dade would help Treasure King attack this small town in the near future.

At that time, the war will be chaotic. If they have a large amount of food in their hands, they will easily be attacked by the people. Therefore, before the Treasure King takes action, we must purchase as much food as possible and then fly away.

What they were told was that after the mission was completed, they would go to the military camp on the border to wait.

"Yes" everyone agreed.

The next day, the small officials of the mission dispersed, and one person took ten carriages to various villages to purchase grain at high prices.

Cai Rong is not idle either. Yanjin City belongs to the county town and has a prefect, which is the county magistrate level.

Cai Rong was also a member of a large family in Goguryeo. As a member of the Tang Dynasty envoy, Cai Rong was of course listed as an honored guest.

Cai Rong expressed his willingness to buy grain at five times the price. As for how much money the prefect paid, they didn't care.

When asked about the reason, Cai Rong told the prefect of Yanjin in a very cryptic way that he was working for a prince of the Tang Dynasty and left the rest to his own imagination.

The prefect did not give a clear answer in the end. He only said that if there was food, he would sell it to Cai Rong.

After that, Cai Rong went to four other rice shops, and was also willing to buy grain at five times the price, all with Datang coins.

The shopkeepers of the four rice shops all expressed their willingness to trade and readily agreed.

From then on, food was delivered to Cai Rong's shop every day. Cai Rong did not dare to store too much. When a certain amount was reached, he would transport it to the border. In the end, due to lack of manpower, he had to hire local young men, promising two hundred coins for a trip. .

This was a high salary in Goguryeo, and many young men and women were vying for it.

There are horse-drawn carriages and oxen carts transporting grain out of Yanjin City every day. Fortunately, Yanjin is relatively close to the western border. It only takes one day by horse and three or four days by walking slowly.

I don’t know how much grain was transported back and forth, but within a few days there was news in the city that the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was celebrated by everyone. It won’t be long before millions of stones of grain were shipped, and the price was even higher than before. Be low.

After confirming that the news came from Pyongyang, many nobles began to sell large quantities of grain to Cai Rong. And they have increased their acquisition methods of the people below.

What if we don’t take advantage of this opportunity to make more money and wait until food becomes cheaper and people stop harvesting it?

The aristocratic families in Yanjin City had already studied together. Cai Rong was collecting grain for a prince of the Tang Dynasty. They speculated that since the prince was not collecting grain in his country, he must not want the people of the Tang Dynasty to know.

The high-level officials of Tang Dynasty did not want to know about such a large-scale food hoarding, but its purpose can be imagined.