Of course, it was impossible for Xie Xiuwen to handle such a big matter alone. Emperor Jingwen also sent another person from the Ministry of Household Affairs to assist. Xie Xiuwen left Beijing again just a few days after he was rehabilitated.
Liu Ruolan looked at the empty study and couldn't help but sigh.
Where is the promised official from the capital?
Why are you out of town for most of this year?
Liu Ruolan did not dare to complain. After all, she also knew that Xie Xiuwen had no foundation in the capital and could only rely on his own ability to get through. This time, the border trade incident offended both Mr. Wang Ge and Mr. Zheng Ge. The days ahead are not going to be easy.
When Xie Xiuwen left Beijing this time, he took Xie Rongen with him. In addition to him, the Holy Emperor also sent General Liu of Zuo Xiaowei with five hundred troops to accompany him.
This General Liu was once a subordinate of General Yunhui. This time Xie Xiuwen brought Xie Rongen with him because he also wanted to send him to the military camp for training.
Along the way, it can be regarded as an opportunity to test Xie Rongen.
Xie Xiuwen's trip was not directly under the banner of commercial documents. Externally, it was only said that the border trade was to be opened, and the court was planning to establish a formal government office there and also build a pagoda. This trip to the south was just to raise funds. silver.
Of course, before Xie Xiuwen arrived at his destination, the big merchants had already gotten the news, and all of them were eyeing this business document.
In a word, only merchants certified by the imperial court are considered legal. No one will be in trouble no matter at the border or in the palace. The imperial court will even send elite soldiers to protect them along the way.
And without this document, you can only stare at others making a lot of money.
Because this is a trial run at the beginning, not many CDs will be distributed.
Some of the bolder ones thought about how to bribe Mr. Xie in order to get the document.
Some timid ones are not sure whether this business can be carried out smoothly, so they are still hesitant. If the price is too high, they will give up on their own initiative.
It has to be said that this vision is still very different.
On the other side, Xie Rongzhao and Liu Ruolan in the capital were also entertained by many ladies and ladies.
At first the two didn't understand what was going on, but when news came back later, they realized they were being targeted.
Everyone is not a fool. If there are ten documents scattered in Jiangnan, there will definitely be some in the capital.
But the specific number, value, etc., you have to find a way to find out.
Since Xie Xiuwen is in charge of the Jiangnan side, he must be related to the capital here.
When they heard the word "profit", everyone reacted very quickly, and they all wanted to finalize it as soon as possible, so that their families could get a document, and then the losses caused by the strict inspection of the checkpoints could be made up for. .
It has been more than half a year since the Holy One issued an order to strictly inspect the checkpoints.
The generals at the border were not replaced, but two more were sent from the central court, and they were both upright and upright.
As a result, those people at the border who wanted to make money through smuggling were dumbfounded.
At least for now, the prices of some furs and gems have increased, which should be related to the shortage of goods.
At this time, if we can get the trade documents and get such good goods from outside the customs, it will definitely be several times the profit!
Everyone is not a fool. Seeing the Holy One's imperative, everyone will naturally no longer just think about setting up obstacles to border trade, but thinking about how to get some benefits from it is serious.
Moreover, once the border trade here really develops, the border town will inevitably be booming. By then, the prices of houses and fields there will rise. It is better to make arrangements early to save no profit at all.
Xie Xiuwen had already sent Xie Rongye and Qi Zhong to the border town.
Xie Xiuwen asked them to find suitable wasteland in the border town and then buy it directly. As for fertile land, he did not consider it for the time being.
There are not many fertile fields in the border towns, and due to climate and geographical reasons, the harvests there are not very good.
Two acres of land combined may not yield more than one acre of fertile farmland in Gaoyang County.
Therefore, Xie Xiuwen felt that there was no benefit in buying land there, so he simply focused on hills or wasteland.
Xie Xiuwen did use his status as a courtier to know some inside information in advance. However, this kind of thing is not illegal, and he spent money to buy it. Even if someone impeaches him in the future, he is not afraid.
Xie Rongye returned to the capital ahead of Xie Xiuwen, and at the same time brought back several carts of goods.
"Auntie, the origin of these goods is clean. They were seized by the soldiers at the border. When we went on this trip, my uncle asked us to bring more than a dozen carts of grain, and then we got so much food in exchange for it. thing."
"How can you get so much in exchange for more than a dozen carts of grain? Aye, are you fooling me?"
Xie Rongye laughed twice and said: "Not only the food, we also brought the banknotes. All the things uncle told us were done, and there was still money left, so we just bought them all. These leathers are cheaper than us. The things sold in Jingli are pretty good, but the prices are less than 20% of theirs!"
Liu Ruolan was also surprised: "Why is it so cheap?"
"The main reason is that this thing was seized by the border officers. They disposed of it and exchanged it for money or grain. They also benefited from it. It is equivalent to a business without capital!"
This is true.
Of course, you can't talk about this kind of thing in a big way outside, as it will easily make people hate you.
Can you not hate it?
Those fine leathers that were made from leather were picked up by them for as little as cabbage price.
And the dozen carts of food were actually exchanged for two boxes of various colored gems.
The moment the box is opened, the shining gems can blind one's eyes.
Let alone a box of gems, just taking out one of them would cost dozens of taels of silver?
After all, he is so big!
Xie Rongzhao took a look and saw that it was indeed quite big, bigger than her thumbnail.
"Auntie, what should we do with these things?"
Liu Ruolan felt so happy in her heart.
"Keep the furs and stuff for now. We can give them away as coming-of-age gifts later. As for these gems, I will keep them to make jewelry for you. If you can't use them up, I will keep them as your dowry!"
Xie Rongzhao smiled and said: "There are so many, and when trade is opened in the future, there should be more of these things."
"That's different. What happens again in the future will happen in the future. Guobao, do you think Aniang is stingy?"
Xie Rongzhao stepped forward and hugged her arm: "My grandma is not stingy, but I think the ruby is so beautiful that I can make jewelry for my grandma. I also saw a piece of warm jade that I can make into a jade pendant for my dad." (End of chapter) )
