What kind of bad intentions can the little prince have?

In the eyes of many people in central Shu, the best product is Shu brocade. Shu brocade originated very early, because the ancient Shu Kingdom was a big country for raising silkworms, otherwise the ancient Shu king would not be called Cancong.For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shu brocade existed, and in the Three Kingdoms period, Shu brocade was further developed.At that time, the financial situation of the Shu State was actually very bad. It was necessary to pacify the Southern Man and the Northern Expedition.

In fact, it is the same now. Although there is a large plain over there, it can be regarded as relatively rich, and the grain output is very good, but the same sentence, except for the small plain area, other places are inconvenient to transport. Therefore, those grains can only be digested internally, because unless it is presided over by the imperial court, it is not cost-effective to transport them out, and there is not much competitiveness, especially after the Grand Canal is opened. Four or five times the original price, and even if the food in Shu is transported by water, the price will generally increase to about seven or eight times.Therefore, unless it is a year of famine, otherwise, the food in Shu is generally digested internally.The real rich in Sichuan is the plain. Other places, it is said that the poor mountains and bad waters are a bit too much, but in fact, most of the people living there are the Tu people, and many of them still maintain very primitive living habits, even if they follow the Han people. I have learned how to farm, but the environment on the mountain is not suitable for farming. This is not like the Yunnan-Guizhou area. It is actually a hilly area. Most of the mountains here have steep slopes, which is not suitable for cultivating terraced fields. Therefore, those mountain people in the mountains still You have to rely on the mountains to eat the mountains.They exchanged the special products in the mountains for food and salt. Even if they got something, they still had to go over the mountains to bring it back.

The merchants in Sichuan are facing such a situation. Selling to locals, the locals can’t sell anything except those around them. If they want to sell outside, because of the traffic, the risks are all high. bigger.Most of the goods transported in the Shu area were downstream from the Yangtze River. However, there is a long section of waterway there that is actually relatively dangerous. If it encounters wind and rain, it is normal for ships to crash and people die.This is especially the case in the section of Qutang Gorge. I don’t know how many people bump into it every year on Yanyudui. Therefore, they will choose to pass there during the dry season every year when they do business. ensure safety.And because the current dyeing technology is not up to standard, if there is a wind and rain accidentally on the way to transport Shu brocade, and the rain from the river enters the cabin, then the value of these wet Shu brocade will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, the government often causes troubles for the local area. For example, if the government thinks that something is good in the local area, it will be slapped on the head and directly designated as a tribute.This is not the future. You can sell plain boiled water at the price of oil immediately after calling it a tribute. In this era, when everyone hears about tribute, it is like hell.For example, those relatively wealthy places are okay, relatively speaking, there is not that much pressure, but for some places, once they are designated as tributes, then you will be in big trouble.The government will not spend money for tribute, you have to pay for it yourself, and you have to send a certain amount of tribute to the capital every year.

For example, Shu brocade was designated as a tribute. Fortunately, the shipment volume is relatively large, so there is no big problem, but other things are different.After a kind of wine in Sichuan was designated as tribute wine, it almost didn't kill the local people.Originally everyone brewed wine to sell money, but after it was designated as tribute wine, not to mention making money, they had to pay a lot every year.Because wine is different from other things, this thing is fragile, no matter what means of transportation is used, loss on the road is unavoidable, just to ensure that enough tributes can be handed in every year is enough, how can there be much excess? .

It took a lot of effort for these wealthy businessmen from Sichuan to arrive in Chang'an so quickly, and thanks to Li Yue's purchase of wood over the past year, several people originally sat in town near Hanzhong for business matters. , so this was able to arrive at the first time.

The status of merchants in the Tang Dynasty is actually quite good at this moment, and there is not much suppression on merchants. The sons of merchants can also go to school and take the imperial examination. Compared with ordinary people, it is really much stronger.Therefore, they are people who desperately hope that Shu can change.At that time, Gao Shilian and Changsun Cao both served as officials in Shu, and promoted education in Shu, but before they had any results, the imperial court conscripted giant wooden ships in Shu to conquer Liaodong, and finally forced the natives of several states to rebel. , It took a lot of effort to put down the rebellion.But this also caused the merchants in the Shu region to suffer a lot of blows. Several powerful merchants in those years directly destroyed their families because of the events of the year, and other Shu merchants were also greatly shaken by this. They wanted to build the track , not only for the convenience of transportation, but also to hook up with the nobles in Chang'an.

Just to get on the route of Princess Xincheng, these Shu merchants have already sent gifts worth tens of millions of dollars. When they came to Li Yue, they were also full of sincerity, a large number of exquisite Shu brocades, and various gold Rao Li Yue is well-informed about jade artifacts, and he has to feel that each of these Shu merchants is indeed rich and powerful.

The surname of the leader here is Cheng Wu, and he claims to be a descendant of Cheng Zheng, a wealthy merchant in Shu in the Western Han Dynasty.After all, everyone knows the situation in the Han Dynasty, but if you have developed to a certain level, the court will immediately move you to the imperial mausoleum after hearing that you are rich and powerful in the local area. No matter how much money you have, it’s useful. If you have more money, people can cut you off as a leek. , huh, huh, then you just wait to be beaten to the bone!

But Cheng Wu does have a way of doing business. He also runs the iron smelting business in Sichuan, but it has failed in the past few years. Li Yue has almost ruined all the people who are engaged in this business. However, Cheng Wu's business It's not just iron smelting, he actually runs a lot of business, food, cloth, medicinal materials, well salt, what does he do to make money, he has a very good relationship with the natives of many tribes, and he can exchange all kinds of things from them The resources in the mountains are more precious, and he also has business contacts with Persian food and businessmen from Tianzhu. It can be said that this is a very flexible businessman.

The same is true for other businessmen. Those who can grow big in central Shu will not have their markets limited to central Shu or even the Central Plains, and will generally have some trade with other countries.Especially in Tianzhu, although Tubo is still separated from Shu to Tianzhu, their trade route does not go from Tubo, but has to go around a big circle. There is no way. Just for fun, you have to cross the snow-capped mountains from Tubo to Tianzhu. Even those Tubo people who have adapted to the plateau climate cannot guarantee that it will be safe.What's more, the Tubo people are not good at nothing. If you walk from them, you have to be prepared to be robbed by the Tubo people.

"Your Highness took the time to meet, Cao Min and others are not very honored!" Although these people had done business with Li Yue indirectly, they were still quite nervous on Li Yue's side.They are very rich, but this does not bring them much sense of security.Since ancient times, these businessmen have actually been the group with the least sense of security. Since Han Feizi identified them as one of the five beetles, apart from being rich, their social status has always been low. Of course, their own integrity is also worthy of questioning. up.In troubled times, it would be normal for these businessmen to betray the country. However, now it can be regarded as the beginning of a prosperous age. Unless these businessmen are crazy, they will fight against those who represent the authority of the royal family and even the court. Li Yue was very humble here.

Li Yue did not despise them. The existence of merchants is necessary. A purely small peasant economy is actually very easy to go bankrupt, and the existence of merchants is actually beneficial to the operation of a country.Li Yue invited them to be seated in a pleasant manner, and then said: "I also know why you are here, but I need to know what your plans are."

Several businessmen looked at each other, Cheng Wu stood up first, and said: "Your Highness, although some people say that Yizhou is a land of abundance, in fact, we Shu people are really suffering. We are not unwilling to work hard, but, If people in Guanzhong sell one point of strength, they can get one point of harvest, but in Yizhou, everyone has to sell five points of strength to get one point of harvest! The key is that Yizhou is mountainous, and the road to Shu is difficult! Don’t be afraid Your Highness joked, I am one of the few families in Sichuan, and my family also has some low income. However, the human and animal power consumed on the road every year is insignificant, let alone ordinary merchants. What's the matter, then it will be the end of bankruptcy! Over the years, Yizhou has actually been building a passage to the Central Plains, but it has not been really improved. It is still inconvenient to enter and exit Yizhou. If Your Highness allows me to raise funds to build the track , I, the people of Sichuan, will always feel the great virtue of His Highness!"

Li Yue shook his head and said, "That's unnecessary. In fact, I just want to know where you are going to start, which direction you are going to go, and what's the budget you have!" To score, you must first listen to others' desperate efforts.In fact, Yizhou is considered pretty good in the whole Tang Dynasty. Ever since the state of Qin tricked the king of Shu to open the earliest road to Shu, all dynasties have tried to develop Shu. After all, the resources of Shu are indeed It is very rich, and it is similar to the foundation of the emperor. Qin State first won the Shu State, and then it has enough war potential. Has been able to maintain the basic disk.Under such circumstances, even if many people regard Shu as a cultural desert and despise it in various ways, but for that sake, everyone will be really happy.

These wealthy merchants were immediately a little embarrassed. Although they had made up their minds that this road must be repaired, they could not agree on how to repair it and where to repair it. After all, they were all Shu merchants to the outside world, but, They are not from the same place, and the business routes they often use are not the same. Everyone has their own interests, and they have not yet reached an agreement. By the time it was agreed, the daylilies were all cold.Anyway, if you buy the rails first, even if you resell them to others, you will still make money, but you must not let others take the lead.

Seeing their expressions, Li Yue knew what their plans were, and immediately snorted softly: "You guys came here to find me without even a rough plan. I'm free, can I accompany you for entertainment?"