The days when I pretended to be a cat in the Forbidden City[Comprehensive]

"Hiss—" Everyone in the hall gasped in unison, and a few with weaker mental endurance felt dizzy for a while.

What is the concept of "a thousand pieces of gold"?

When Emperor Hanwen wanted to build a viewing platform, he asked about the cost. The craftsmen at that time said it was about a hundred gold, which was the sum of the assets of ten middle-level families at that time.

Putting it closer, Dou Ying quelled the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, and the reward was one thousand gold.

This is undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

But on the other hand, the royal family of the Western Han Dynasty can actually be said to be the richest royal family in gold in all dynasties, because they inherited the inheritance of Qin.

Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, and all the wealth of the six kingdoms went into the hands of the emperor of Qin. This can be said to be the first gold gathering in history after the tribe appeared, and the assets finally went to the hands of the Han royal family.Therefore, in "Historical Records", gold appears extremely frequently as a reward, even so frequently that later historians think that the "gold" in the Han Dynasty may not refer to gold.Because in everyone's impression, China was a place short of gold and silver until the Maritime Silk Road was connected in later generations and a large amount of foreign gold and silver was imported.

Of course, all these rumors were later dispelled by the opening of the tombs of Marquis Haihun and King Zhongshan, which also confirmed that the royal families of the Western Han Dynasty were indeed wealthy and gold-plated.

But even so, it is surprising that a small feudal lord who has only been feudal for just one year can come up with such a huge sum of money.

Everyone was beating drums in their hearts. It seems that they have never heard of His Majesty rewarding gold and silver when His Highness became a feudal vassal?His Highness's mother clan did not show at all, where did His Highness get the money?

Earn it by yourself?

Even if there is a copper mountain... oh well, speaking of which, His Highness really has a copper mountain.

The courtiers who wanted to understand this instantly calmed down, so the topic went back to the beginning, is it worth it?

The little king held up the piece of paper that everyone had just seen, and smiled slightly, "A genius who can solve the above problems...isn't it worth a thousand dollars?"

Everyone fell silent, thinking about the information written above, if two talented people appear at the same time, one can solve the difficulties in loading and unloading cargo at the port, and the other can solve the huge pressure and negative effects on the port caused by the rapid unloading of cargo ...

Then the one hundred and one hundred gold is undoubtedly very worthwhile.

Because this means that the port in the south of Zhongshan can maintain its outbound transportation capacity while ensuring its large throughput, and this strategy can not only be used in Fukasawa.

Zhongshan country is a country with two big rivers running through it, and there is also a river in the north, which can go directly to the salt production area - if this river can run through Quanzhou County in modern Tianjin, it means that the salt in Quanzhou can be directly consumed. Arrived in Zhongshan country.

This also means that if the Sino-Hungarian trade continues all year round, this part of the salt industry transportation will have to go from Zhongshan in the future.

Leaving aside how much money Zhongshan can earn by transporting this part of the salt industry, if we can establish trade relations with Quanzhou and have a stable supply of materials, the price of salt in Zhongshan can be reduced by more than half. small amount.

What's more, Zhongshan Kingdom and its inland areas are also very thirsty for Quanzhou's seafood. With Zhongshan Kingdom as the center, they can even be sold to the Huns in the north. The people there have never eaten this new thing, and they will definitely be able to sell it. Fee prices.

With these two ports, Zhongshan has access to the sea at the top and the large agricultural hinterland at the bottom. So are you afraid that you won’t be able to transfer the money back?

Heck, it's not all about money.

The bosses coughed dryly, signaling the youngsters to pay attention to their real focus—a talented person who can solve such complicated and even contradictory problems must be a great talent in itself!

Is it possible that such a great talent came out of the mountain for money?It must not be, it must be aimed at our Highness who knows heroes with eyesight.

Actually, they missed the point.

With a warm smile on his face, the little king explained another purpose of his move to his younger brother at night, "Have you ever heard of the story of "a word of gold"? "

The kid shook his head honestly, the other Doudings also said they hadn't heard of it, even Dou Wan smiled and shook his head, Xia Anran rolled his eyes at him, very dissatisfied with this gesture of pretending to be confused.Seeing this, Dou Wan just dried it lightly, and then poured a cup of rice tea for His Royal Highness himself, as an apology.

The little king hummed twice, and then told the little Doudings this story that happened in the Qin Dynasty. The protagonist of this story is Lu Buwei, the editor of "Lu Shi Chun Qiu".

"It is rumored that Lu Buwei, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, spent decades writing this book with his disciples, and published it next to the city gate of Xianyang, inviting talented scholars and celebrities from all over the country to review it. He promised that if someone could add a One word or minus one word, he will be rewarded with a thousand gold. This is a thousand gold for one word."

"and then?"

Liu Zhi's big round eyes widened, "Did Lu Buwei agree?"

The little king shook his head, and smiled in his younger brother's disappointed eyes: "It's not that he doesn't want to pay, but that no one can change it, and the money has never been paid."

"Wow!" Liu Zhi's eyes lit up immediately, "Is this book so powerful? Can't all talented people in the country revise it?"

The little king nodded, and he said with a little sigh: "This book is based on Taoism and Confucianism, and runs through the ideas of hundreds of schools in the pre-Qin period. Therefore, after the final book is written, it is actually not the work of any school."

"Then what happened later? Has King Qin read such a powerful book?"

"No." Xia Anran smiled, "Do you know who Lu Buwei is?"

Xiao Douding nodded: "It's Emperor Qin's second father."

"Not only that." Xia Anran said with some emotion, "He is also a powerful minister who suppressed the emperor for many years after Qin Huang ascended the throne."

"So after Emperor Qin governed Lu Buwei, his works were completely put aside by Emperor Qin, and they were not used as the basis for governing the country."

The little prince frowned and said, "The foundation of Qin's governance..."

"Ephrax?"

Xia Anran nodded, and Xiao Douding touched his chin, "I think Emperor Qin is very bad about this."

"Ok?"

"Since he was suppressed by Lu Buwei before, it means that he is not as good as him. Then he should learn from the other party first, and then defeat him at what he is good at. That would be interesting."

The words of the little prince received echoes from the little bean dings, and the three heads all said they were right, that's it, it's so touching to defeat someone who once looked down on you.

Xia Anran looked at them with a smile in his eyes, and did not comment. Seeing that he did not speak, Liu Zhi suddenly felt a little uneasy, "Brother, did you say something wrong?"

"No, that's right." Xia Anran touched his little corner, "If Emperor Qin had read this "Lu Shi Chunqiu" at that time..." He swallowed the latter words.

He sighed softly, "Would you like to read it? Brother, I have never read this book. It is said that it is a collection of experts from a hundred schools of thought. But because of this, some people say that it is miscellaneous learning, and it cannot be read." The words of the family."

"What does that matter?" The child laughed, "As long as it's useful, don't care which family it belongs to, it belongs to our Han family anyway."

Xia Anran pinched his face, "You're smart."

Xiao Douding laughed happily, and then suddenly remembered something, "I still don't understand, what does brother's actions have to do with this book?"

The little king showed a sly smile, "When Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals did not have this one-word daughter, it was just a family opinion, which could not attract the attention of many scholars. If Shenze Port did not have this second daughter-in-law, it would be just a small port. The number of people who know it is extremely limited."

"Ah!" Liu Zhi was stunned, "I understand! My brother asks the world for advice, and those who want to answer the advice will naturally come to Zhongshan to see what the port looks like. Even if they can't come up with an idea, they will know that Zhongshan has it. Such a great port."

He suddenly frowned, "Then what if they learn from it?"

"So what if you learn it?" The little king sat upright, raised his head proudly after hearing this, "If he imitates me one step, I will advance ten steps. As long as he imitates me one day, he will not be able to surpass me. What's more..."

"If they really learn to go back and expand the port, what's wrong?"

"Water transportation is cheap. If the waterways of Dahan can be used, the price will be cheaper by a few percent, and at that time, someone will definitely build a bigger ship to transport more goods. My brother also thinks that the business can be made. Where is the sea?"

"Go to sea?"

"En." Xia Anran dipped a paper in water to roughly draw the boundary line of the sea-land junction of the Han Dynasty, and then he pointed to several places, "This is Minyue Kingdom, this is Dongou Kingdom, and this is Nanyue. "

Then, he clicked on the location of Jiaodong country, and the circle line formed by tea connected Jiaodong country with all other countries. Even to the south, the little prince's mouth grew big, "Wow! The country of the pig can be reached. So many places?"

"Not only the south, but also the north..." He walked roughly in several directions to the north, "The land outside the big man is huge, and their way of life is different from ours. Our place is very expensive, and theirs Probably cheap, do you know anything like that?"

"I know!" Xiao Douding flicked his finger, pointing to the location of Jiaodong country, "The fish in Jiaodong country is very cheap, but in Zhongshan country it is very expensive."

"Yes!" Xia Anran knew that he remembered the incident that Jiaodong Kingdom sent people to deliver fish.He stretched out his hand to hug the little prince, and surrounded several Doudings, "Besides these, there is food. For example, rice in the south is very cheap, but they can't grow barley well there. If we and them In exchange, maybe two handfuls of Shumai can be exchanged for one handful of rice."

Then his hand continued to move to the south, "The rice here may be cheaper, and maybe a handful of Shumai can be exchanged."

"And here..." he clicked on the blank space in the south, "the people here may not have eaten Shumai at all, in order to eat delicious tofu, they will be willing to exchange two handfuls of rice or even more rice for one handful Shumai."

The children's mouths were wide open when they heard it, and they looked at Xia Anran's fingers as if they were looking at a fool.Xia Anran poked the foreheads of a few children with wide-eyed eyes, "Don't be so surprised, it's just that things are rare and expensive."

"Then, then..." Liu Zhi opened and closed his small mouth, "Can we transport the cheapest Shumai from the north to the south, and exchange them for the cheapest rice?"

The little king nodded with a smile.

Liu Zhi raised his head slightly and thought for a while, "The people of Zhongshan Kingdom will exchange rice for millet after harvesting, because they can exchange more grains. But if they can be exchanged, the people of Zhongshan Kingdom will not need it in the future. Let’s change it! Because these barley can be exchanged for rice in the south.”

"Yes! In the most ideal state..." Xia Anran's eyes fell on the young boy's eyes, and then slowly raised them to the sky. What he saw in his eyes was a more distant future, "Through such Exchange, give people the right to eat whatever they want."

"So!" Little Douding clenched his fists, "We're going to build a big ship! Go to the south to exchange food!"

"Do you like that kind of future?"

"Qing likes it too!" Wei Qing also raised his fist, "Qing likes to eat fish!"

"Hmm..." Zhang Qian leaned over, pointing to the north with sparkling eyes, he was a little curious, but more of anticipation, "Your Highness, is the connection here... the Huns? If the sea can pass, can we go around?" Go to the north of the Xiongnu to steal their lair?"

A group of little bean dings who were just shaking their fists for love and peace immediately had bright eyes, as if Xia Anran could copy the Huns' lair once he admitted that they would immediately move their short legs to help.

Xia Anran: ...

He suddenly didn't want to answer this question.

Zhongshan Kingdom’s policy questions quickly followed the caravan’s journey southward, and they were posted in the most conspicuous places wherever they went. Because the reward was huge and the policy questions were too strange, discussions quickly arose among the people. .

Now the people of Zhongshan country have formed the habit of surrounding the bulletin board for nothing.In normal times, even if there is no notification, there will be small science popularization on literacy and common sense of life. During the busy farming season, there are also tutorials on how farmers can heal themselves after they are easily injured by farm tools, which is very popular among farmers.

These are printed into big-character posters on wax paper, and then distributed to counties and townships by the officials layer by layer.

After the craftsmen have been able to use this technology proficiently, the cost of wax printing is very low, and it is basically possible to write and print at will, which is much better than engraving.Moreover, stencil printing has very low requirements for paper quality, and the rougher it is, the easier it is to color, which directly led to the increasing preference of officials to use the form of big-character posters when ordering.

Visible, eye-catching, very eye-catching.

In order to attract the attention of the villagers, there are sometimes pictures in the form of pictures, especially in villages with a relatively low literacy rate. It is much easier to look at pictures and talk than to recognize characters one by one.Although it is still relatively rough, more like graffiti, but the little king thinks this prospect is still very great.

For this reason, craftsmen also invented various pens for scratching wax paper to meet the needs of different writing.

When the little king passed the city gate a few times, he would stop to watch the slogan full of rural flavor, and had fun while watching.It is worth mentioning that the slogan of the previous autumn harvest was also spread in this way.

The enthusiasm of the last batch of topics about the selection of talents in Zhongshan State Opening in the spring has not subsided, and the enthusiasm of the villagers has been ignited in an instant.

Except for a very small number of people, most of the Western Han farmers have never even seen what gold looks like, let alone a thousand pieces of gold...

"This, so much gold!" A farmer swallowed, "How can I hide it, can I build a gold house?"

His words drew good-natured ridicule from the surrounding villagers, who all pointed at him for eating salty radishes and worrying about how to hide the money before he got it.What they didn't notice was that several plainly dressed figures quietly left in the crowd.

As the people who posted the poster traveled all the way, more and more people came to Zhongshan Country. These people almost set off immediately after hearing the news, for fear that they would be rushed to finish their thoughts when they arrived too late.

A lot of people came for money, but there were also some people who thought about the articles on the policy paper.Whether it's the paper or the ink marks, it doesn't look like it was written by a human being... which is a bit interesting.

The names of Zhongshan Country and Fukasawa Port became famous almost overnight. If you don’t know about it during the chat, you will be out of date in the social circle.

However, in the eyes of people engaged in related industries, the above data is particularly dazzling.

Simultaneous loading and unloading of double cabins, ship modification, loading and unloading of a ship can be completed in three days...

In the eyes of professionals, each of these data is just three words—impossible!

But someone immediately pointed out that the above did not say the size of the remodeled ship, maybe its capacity is very small?

Even so, it is very impressive. Some people pointed to the ship's location design above and said, I think Zhongshan is serious about being able to do so.Should not do opportunistic things.

"A certain person intends to go to Zhongshan country for a visit," a businessman said to his companion, "regardless of the capacity of the ship, it has nothing to do with us. But the posture of the king of Zhongshan obviously wants to focus on waterways, which is to me It's beneficial to wait."

"Besides, I am also somewhat interested in Shenze Port. If I remember correctly, Shenze County is located on a flat terrain, and water is indeed accessible, but I don't know where it leads. If it can pass to the north, it will be Shang good."

"That's the case..." The companion pondered for a moment, and suddenly took a bamboo scroll and wrote quickly, and then hurriedly handed it to him before the ink was dry, "Now I will trouble you to take it to Zhongshan Kingdom."

The businessman took the bamboo scroll and changed hands to look at it, and several veins popped out on his forehead immediately.His companion looked shy, folded his hands and said: "I don't know much, but fortunately I have brother's guidance, and I know some prescriptions. Since I'm going to Zhongshan, I might as well give you some advice."

"I'm sorry, brother."

Trouble, trouble a shovel.

Coincidentally, when the businessman finally embarked on the road to the north, he found that there were not many caravans going north to Zhongshan at this time of year. At first he thought they were all interested in its port, but later found that they were all transporting goods normally. of.

It is not normal to have such a traffic volume in winter. He immediately got out of the bullock cart and stepped onto the donkey, which was more convenient for talking with people. After observing for a while, he found a caravan to talk to.

The businessman who resolutely went north was surnamed Dong, from Nanyang.

There are iron mines in Nanyang, and there are direct roads to Luoyang and Chang'an, so the industry and commerce here are extremely developed.

At the same time, it is a road that guards the south, and it is the only place for Luoyang and Chang'an to go south.Commodities from the south are particularly popular in the north, especially citrus fruits, which are edible and whose peels can be smoked. However, due to traffic conditions, the transportation of fresh fruits to Chang'an before they rot is the limit, and there is no way to transport them to places further north. .

Of course, Chang'an's market is actually very large, and there is still a lot of room for development in the market at present, but Dong Sheng feels that it is possible to transport goods to Chang'an, as long as there are large carts and fast horses.Now their Dong family has eaten the first soup, but there will be more and more merchants following their example in the future, and their orange products will soon be saturated in Chang'an market, fresh fruits are not durable, and more people will ship them over , prices will come down.

Therefore, Dong Sheng was eager to open up another market, and the northeast direction was his next target.

The soil there is fertile, the farmers are rich, and it is where the princes are entrusted.The feudal lords are not allowed to go out of the fief, so there is a lot of pocket money, but there are few places to spend it. Oranges from the south like them will definitely sell well in the north.

His trip to Zhongshan country was to find out where the port of Shenze County could be reached, and secondly, to find out the bottom line of Zhongshan country's business, as well as to investigate the situation of the route along the way, the degree of safety, and so on.

If possible, he also wants to find a local snake to cooperate with.

Dong’s family was originally from a merchant, and Dong Sheng started to make calculations when he could not walk. He knew that with merchants, splendid foreign merchants are not as good as shabby domestic merchants, and he had to find a partner if he wanted to enter this market at the beginning.

And when he approached these businessmen who went north, he wanted to find out what businessmen with a good reputation in Zhongshan country.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he asked this question, the expression of the businessman who was accosted by him suddenly became happy.

Dong Sheng was taken aback, but he didn't expect that he heard an unexpected sentence next, "If you want to find a businessman... just go to the little official under the Shaofu. You only need to pay some commission, and they will give you Arrange a store, and discuss the quantity and pricing with you."

"...Pricing?" Dong Sheng was stunned for a moment, and then frowned suddenly. He intuitively felt that what this person meant was that the bureaucrats in Zhongshan Kingdom took kickbacks seriously.

The salaries of the bottom bureaucrats in the Western Han Dynasty were extremely low, and it was extremely common to get kickbacks basically, otherwise they would not be able to support their family on this salary alone.For merchants, it’s okay to get some kickbacks, but you’re afraid that you won’t do business after getting kickbacks.

Seeing his expression change, the businessman who was accosted laughed, "Mr. Lang misunderstood."

He patted the bags of goods on his donkey cart behind him, "These are water chestnuts that are not available in the north. This is also the second time I have done business. The first time I brought some dried water chestnuts. At that time, I just passed through Zhongshan Country." , I wanted to sell some of them locally to raise funds, and those who just entered the city were handed out leaflets."

"Leaflet?" Dong Sheng was very curious about this new vocabulary, and then he got a "Guide to Entering Zhongshan Country", on which some precautions for businessmen coming to Zhongshan Country for the first time were written in official script, such as reporting goods , Go to a professional selling point to buy and sell. The existing goods in Zhongshan need to be sold within the reference price, and the unavailable ones may need to be evaluated and so on.

It looks very complicated.

However, this big brother who just met waved his hand, saying that it is not complicated, and he will know after just one walk, and merchants like him can let people rent shops in commercial areas before the goods arrive in Zhongshan, as long as they pay a small amount , Zhongshan Kingdom will also advertise for them in various places and attract people for them. "Last time I wanted to go to Ji County to sell them, but I never thought they would be sold out in Zhongshan..."

Business is so good?

That's not true, the man patted his chest, "It's because it's easy to sell that someone dares to bring fresh water chestnuts for sale. This stuff is not easy to keep fresh, but it tastes much better than dried water chestnuts, but it's not easy to put away. Brother, you didn't bring it Something coming?"

"No, I'm here to see the situation in Zhongshan." Dong Sheng cupped his hands at him, and then showed his relaxed donkey and the ox cart with a few items.Seeing this, the man laughed: "I heard your accent, are you from Jiangling?"

"Yes, I'm really rude!" Dong Sheng clasped his fists at him, "We have been talking for a long time, but he never reported his name. The younger brother is from Nanyang, and his surname is Dong. He is the son of the family. It is good for you to call me Dong Er. I don't know where I am. people?"

"I'm from Jiangdong, the third in my family, I'm older than you, so I called you Brother Dong." Wednesday waved to him and motioned him to come over, "Since you are from Nanyang, you probably came here for Shenze Port. "

He said in a low voice: "Before I left, Zhongshan Kingdom was already building Shenze Port. I inquired about it. This time, the Zhongshan Kingdom's river transportation will be connected to Hejian, and the Hejian waterway is the same as Quanzhou. If what I expected is right, Zhongshan Kingdom's move It is to connect the entire North China and become a central point.

At that time, there will be a road in the land of Zhongshan, and the water can reach the northeast area. At that time, it will control the three passes of Yanmen, Yuyang, and Daijun in the north, and there will be a road in the south, which can lead to various places. , here you can vote. "

Dong Sheng's eyes flashed, and he was about to speak, when he suddenly found that there were many people around him without knowing it.Seeing him turn his head, these people all showed kind smiles, "Brother, do you want to discuss Zhongshan Kingdom? Let's talk together."

Dong Sheng asked around, and was shocked to find that all the businessmen he could see were going to Zhongshan.

And many of them are as light and easy as he is, but they are different from him. Their goods are delivered to the post team established by the princes to escort them, so they only need to arrive in Zhongshan country first and wait for the receipt.

"I've heard about this in the south," Dong Sheng was a little curious. "Is it true that the goods will arrive before the time limit?"

"Ouch! There's a lot of chatter about the station..."

"The old man walked by once, too..."

By the time they arrived in Handan of Zhao State, these people had already become acquainted with each other. Even when they entered the city and queued up, everyone continued to chat about the little princes.

"Your Majesty's princes are really not simple." An old man stroked his beard, "Tell me about these highnesses, who are only about ten years old, and the youngest king of Jiaodong is not as tall as a cart wheel, yet they can think of such a good deed. What we are most afraid of when we are merchants outside is damage to the goods, and even more fear of being robbed. Hehe, look at me now, I am wearing rough clothes and riding a donkey, even the robbers are too lazy to intercept me."

"Hahahaha, he is the prince of the Tian family, don't you think he is the same as the boy in the family? Let me tell you, I know more about this than you. The route of this post station was proposed by King Zhongshan, and the route The arrangement was made by other little princes, do you still remember the dense clauses when we signed the agreement? It was all made by this master!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the gate of the city. This is the country of Zhao, so he was naturally referring to the king of Zhao.At the moment, the crowd who eat melons have expressed their admiration, "It's so powerful?"

"His Royal Highness Zhao Wang is only a spoon dancer this year?"

"We didn't even know all the characters. People can compose the law. My wife said that the law is very well written, but it's a pity that it doesn't go to many places now. It can't be found in my hometown, so I have to change the situation." , You said that it would be great if our family could have a little prince to be the vassal king."

"Hurry up and shut up!" The person next to him yanked off his clothes, "What are you thinking? Your Majesty's son has two milk babies who have not yet been crowned king, and you want two milk babies ah!"

"Hahahahaha... If you want me to say, if you can do a good job, we will also offer the baby."

A soldier standing at the door touched his face. Seeing his movement, the soldier next to him immediately looked over, "Your Highness?"

The little king waved his hand to indicate that there was nothing wrong, then he gave a dry cough and said in a low voice, "It's okay, the weather is a bit hot today, wait for me to send some silver dan grass tea, I have something to do, so I'll go back to the palace first .”

After all, the little soldier left the team and walked back to Zhao Guo's palace under the escort of a group of people.

This person is none other than Xia Anran's half-brother, a Zhao Wang Liu Pengzu who likes to pretend to be a soldier and hang around in the Feng Kingdom to enjoy law enforcement.Today, he also became the guard at the gate on a whim, and he didn't expect to be praised severely, ouch, it's really embarrassing.

As a little prince, and a little prince who was left in the palace until the last moment before being crowned king, Zhao Wang Liu Pengzu used to be surrounded by flowers, and various praises and reputations surrounded him.Even though Mrs. Jia has been admonishing her son, Liu Pengzu has not never been smug.

Until there was a thunder on the ground at the end, those people disappeared in an instant like grasshoppers in autumn. In fact, Liu Pengzu also had some ideas about the prince, but people always have a fluke mentality. In the end, the old man chose the eldest son. Brother, he was a little disappointed, but after all, he had been mentally preparing for a long time, and it was actually okay.

It's not that he didn't know that those people came here for profit, but in the end, he was a little bit uneasy. Now... ahem, he suddenly discovered that people's expressions are different when they sincerely praise others, and it's hard to tell for a while. I feel, I just think it's quite pleasant to listen to.

At this point, I have to praise my younger brother. As expected of his younger brother, what he did was reliable.

However, people just can't stand talking about it.

King Zhao rode all the way back to the palace, and when he got to the door, he saw a familiar figure, raised his brows, and his heart twitched, "It's... another brother's letter?"