The place to eat was found by Shen Fu. It was an ordinary tavern in the city. Judging from the greeting he said to the owner, he should come there often.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Shen Fu, under the influence of wine, began to complain about all the injustices in Anle City, especially for civilian traders like them who had no status or foundation.
As the largest trading center in the Northeast, Anle City's main business is to sell and sell special products from the grasslands and Northeast to the Central Plains. At the same time, specialties from the Central Plains are sold to several tribal countries in the Northeast and grasslands, including the three peninsula countries.
Places like Turks and Khitan are located on the prairie, so their output is mainly cattle, sheep and horses. The horses are kept by themselves as war horses. The cattle and sheep are either killed for meat and sold as leather goods, or the sheep are sold directly to the Tang Dynasty. Used in exchange for daily necessities such as grain, salt, tea, silk, gold and silver jewelry, pots and pans, and a small amount of ironware.
The grasslands cannot be cultivated, and these barbarian tribes do not know how to cultivate. But eating meat every day is not enough, it lacks vitamins and is too greasy, so tea has become a daily necessity. Not to mention table salt, which is completely imported.
It is worth mentioning that killing cattle is illegal in Datang, so there is no such thing as eating beef in the market. The Khitan land is rich in wild cattle, so the Khitan people also have the habit of raising bison in captivity. However, they mostly kill the cattle that eat meat and sell fur goods, and they don't even use the cattle to pull carts.
Of course, this is also because bison are wild and untamable and cannot be farmed or worked on, so they can only be killed for meat.
As for the several countries here, in addition to the Turks and Khitans, further to the northeast are Shiwei and Mohe, and later Jilin and Heilongjiang. These tribes in the mountains and old forests are sparsely populated and cannot even be called countries, they can only be called tribes. These two tribes have no grasslands and basically do not rely on animal husbandry. They mainly rely on mountain products and fur products to survive.
In the words of Goguryeo: These deep mountains and old forests are covered with ice and snow for half of the year. They are sparsely populated and pitiful. They are not suitable for farming. They have no value at all and are not even worth conquering and plundering.
According to Boss Shen, the presidents and managers of the Anle Chamber of Commerce are all people from the fifth surname and Qi Wang. Even the entire chamber of commerce is controlled by these famous families. They almost monopolize the trade channels between the Northeast and Datang.
All large-scale sales are handled by the Chamber of Commerce. Anyone who comes to Anle to do business must report to the Chamber of Commerce, which is equivalent to visiting the dock. Otherwise, they will be resisted and attacked by the entire Anle Chamber of Commerce, and they will never survive in Anle.
Ordinary people came to do business and could not communicate and trade with those foreigners alone. They could only receive some small orders from the chamber of commerce, or even orders for OEM work in bits and pieces. It can be said that the income is very meager, barely surviving. Not only that, the Chamber of Commerce will also take a portion of each order's income in the name of taxes. That was why Boss Shen went to the Chamber of Commerce just now.
Hearing this, Xiao Rui understood. No wonder Boss Shen in front of him was thin and different from other fat-bellied businessmen. I originally thought that I was tired from traveling all over the world all year round, but now it seems that I can't make any money at all, and I can't gain weight even if I want to.
In addition to being unfair internally, the chamber of commerce has a tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong. It prices goods in different levels. The powerful Turks and Goguryeo purchase goods at high prices. Khitan was second, and Shiwei and Mohe were the lowest. It was obvious that they were just looking at what others were doing.
These foreign countries were also very dissatisfied, but except for the Turks and Goguryeo who spoke forcefully, small countries such as Khitan dared not speak out.
Xiao Rui asked puzzledly: "Since it is a chamber of commerce, it should be a government-run organization. Doesn't the government get involved? Shouldn't a transaction tax be collected for every transaction? Why are they only collecting taxes from small traders? Those Big households don’t pay taxes?”
As if he had heard some fantasy, Boss Shen looked at Mr. Xiao in front of him again. You don't look stupid, how could you say such ignorant words?
"Mr. Xiao, is this your first time out of the house? Don't you know that the imperial court only collects agricultural tax, head tax for entering the city, and customs tax for opening a shop on the ground. There is no such thing as a market like Anle City. Taxes are set for the flow of trade, and the so-called transaction tax in Anle City is just set by the Chamber of Commerce itself to rob small traders like us who have no status."
Having said this, Boss Shen drank a full cup and laughed at himself: "Not only this transaction tax, but actually even the rules in this world are invisible shackles set by the nobles for the lower class. From the perspective of us ordinary people, the government and the chamber of commerce are in cahoots. . And the so-called rules and even laws are specifically designed to serve the upper-class nobles."
Um? ? ?
Xiao Rui was slightly shocked. He couldn't tell that the man in front of him was quite knowledgeable. Rather than simply complaining about the unfairness of the world, isn't he a simple businessman?
Chai Zhewei, who had been listening carefully, couldn't help but retorted loudly: "No, how could the government collude with the Chamber of Commerce? No, don't talk nonsense."
"Dalang, you are still young and don't understand many things. What Brother Shen said makes sense."
"But brother-in-law..." Chai Zhewei wanted to explain, but Xiao Rui glared at him, which meant that if he had anything to say, go back and say it, and listen carefully now and don't talk.
Shen Fu, who was already three-thirds drunk, had a gleam in his eyes, rubbed the wine glass in his hand, and sneered: "It turns out that Mr. Xiao is from the government. No wonder, no wonder there is no trace of the smell of copper in him. You said that he is a scholar who wants to be a merchant, but he doesn't Different from other scholars.”
Xiao Rui became more and more surprised and said with a smile: "Since Brother Shen has seen through it, I don't pretend anymore. I am indeed a member of the government. I was sent by the Governor to govern Anle County. The guard is responsible for the security here. I am responsible for this place." people’s livelihood, including but not limited to rectifying trade.”
This time it was Shen Fu's turn to be surprised, "I'm afraid you are not twenty years old yet? You are actually able to govern an entire city? And this is Anle County, an important border town. It seems that you have an extraordinary background."
Xiao Rui did not defend himself, but instead raised his glass and said, "What, after knowing my identity, does Brother Shen still dare to speak freely?"
Looking at Xiao Rui's expression, for some reason, Shen Fu felt that the young man in front of him was different from ordinary officials, and a voice in his heart said, believe him.
He also raised his glass to signal, and Shen Fu asked again: "I scolded the government for half a day in front of the county guard, but you didn't arrest me?"
Xiao Rui burst out laughing, "The Tang Dynasty is not so dark that no one can speak. Brother Shen pointed out the ills of the times and pointed to the key points. If not, how could the court know the sufferings of the people? I am the new county guard. , If I hadn’t met Brother Shen, a person who speaks out for justice, and rushed into the Chamber of Commerce, I might have directly colluded with them."
Shen Fu stared at Xiao Rui for a long time and asked tentatively: "The imperial court wants to control Anle and get a share of the business from the Chamber of Commerce?"
Xiao Ruixin said, "It's amazing. He guessed my next move at once. This is a talent."
Raising his glass again, Xiao Rui said seriously: "If I say, I want to establish a new business order in Anle, from now on the common people and the nobles will enjoy the same treatment, and the common people will no longer have to beg for food around the chamber of commerce, and can live in business with dignity. Brother Shen Would you like to come over and help me?"
Shen Fu's eyes moved slightly, "You want to recruit me? We met by chance. You are the county guard. You don't even know who I am. How dare you use me?"
Xiao Rui raised his eyebrows, drank the wine, played with the glass, and said calmly: "Your Excellency is well-spoken and knowledgeable. He is not an ordinary businessman. He should have read a book. And your attitude towards the Chamber of Commerce and the nobles shows your background. Poor family. Based on your view of the imperial court, haha, if I guess correctly, you should be a descendant or subordinate of one of the Eighteenth Road Yanchen and the Seventy-two Road Anti-King in the late Sui Dynasty."
Hiss... Shen Fu was extremely shocked.
