"Dr. Fan!" Zhuge Wen said with a smile: "I have a question, please let me know!"
Fan Changan glanced at Wang Ence. It was obvious that this nobleman knew very little about merchant affairs. He was just a facade. The real person in charge was Zhuge Wen next to him. He smiled and said, "Brother Zhuge, please tell me everything I know!"
"Dongzhu Fan just said that even a young and strong man can't do it after working hard in the salt wells for four or five years, so he has to buy some barbarians to give birth to babies! But you just said that there are more than ten salt wells for you. There are only three or four salt wells. How many people can die from this salt well every year? Why bother to go to Chengdu for such a small slave business? "
Fan Changan's face changed slightly. He didn't expect that Zhuge Wen would find out what he had just said. He was indeed a subtle person. He smiled and said, "Brother Zhuge must have heard something wrong just now. I just said it wrong." And when it comes to digging wells, this is where most of the casualties are caused. These salt wells are much deeper than ordinary water wells, and they often have to penetrate rock formations, which require human lives to fill them!" At this point, he paused for a moment. : "Let me tell you, although the work of pumping brine, boiling salt, and clearing salt wells is hard, it is not difficult to hire people to do it as long as you pay more wages. The only way to dig new wells is not only hard work, but also involves many casualties. Even if we pay three or four times more wages, we still can’t hire locals to do the job, so I have no choice but to do it!”
Listening to Fan Chang'an singing the Sutra of Bitterness, Wang Ence and Zhuge Wen exchanged glances with disdain. It turned out that since the previous dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty came to dominate the world, in order to show peace with the people, he abolished it in the third year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign (583). Forbidden discussion, the benefits of salt pools and salt wells were shared by the common people. They were neither sold by officials nor exempted from salt tax, and a tax-free system was implemented. It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that Emperor Xuanzong levied a salt tax again when the state supplies were insufficient. This lasted for a hundred years. For more than thirty years, there has been neither a salt monopoly nor a salt tax in the world.
At that time, it had been nearly a hundred years since Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty had abolished the ban on interrogation and shared salt and profits with the people. Even people with little knowledge like Wang Ence knew this. Jiannan Road is located in the southwestern hinterland and has inconvenient transportation links with Hebei, Shandong, Jianghuai and Hedong, the main salt-producing areas at that time. Well salt can be said to be the only source of salt for the local people. There is no need to pay taxes for monopolistic transactions of such daily necessities. It is really shameless to sigh and cry about poverty.
Fan Chang'an may have felt that he had gone too far, so he coughed twice and said: "Wang Langjun, Brother Zhuge, in fact, we want to dig a new salt well not just for the benefit of the family. To put it bluntly, we can only rely on our family." The income from those salt wells is enough for my family to spend every day, even if they have enough food and clothing!"
"If it's not for your own family, then why?" Wang Ence asked with interest.
"Of course it's for the people of Jiannan Road!" Fan Chang'an said: "Does Mr. Lang know what the favorite goods among the barbarians in the southwest are?"
"Tea?"
"No!" Fan Changan shook his head: "Tubo people like tea, but local tea is produced in Liuzhao, and people will not die if they don't drink tea, but they can't stand it if they don't eat salt! Salt is what the barbarians in the southwest have. His favorite goods, as long as he has enough salt, not only can he exchange his treasures, but he can also conquer the enemy without a fight and cut off the Tubo arm!"
"What does this salt have to do with cutting off an arm of Tubo?" Wang Ence asked in confusion: "Do the Tubo people want to eat your well salt?"
Fan Changan smiled and explained. It turns out that although Tubo is inland, it is not short of salt. The Hehuang area it recently controlled has a salt lake rich in table salt. In ancient times, the Han people called it Qiang salt or Rong salt, and it was regarded as the top quality salt by the ancient Chinese dynasty. The salt produced in the Hehuang area is not only enough for the Tibetan people to eat themselves, but there is also excess for the mountain tribes in Yunnan, which can not only make profits from trade, but also be used as a commercial means to control these southwestern tribes. For Langzhong salt merchants like Fan Changan, the Qiang salt from Tubo was not only a commercial competitor, but also smacked of national hatred.
"Qiang salt from Tubo is produced in salt lakes. It is the best quality salt and cannot be matched by well salt. However, it needs to be transported a long way from Hehuang, so it is even! As long as the existing salt well can be expanded by twice, it will not matter. Three times, we, no, the well salt of the Tang Dynasty will definitely be able to defeat the Qiang salt of Tubo. In this way, not only can we cut off Tubo's salt power, but we can also order the southwestern Yidi to become our vassal of the Tang Dynasty and cut off Tubo!"
Wang Ence glanced at Zhuge Wen blankly. What Fan Changan just said was completely beyond the scope of his understanding. What Qiang Salt, what Hehuang Salt Lake, what Well Salt defeated Qiang Salt, and what the Land of the Six Imperial Edicts was to him. There is no difference between Hu Ji in the wine shop. Zhuge Wen coughed: "This matter is of great importance. It will take a few days before I can give you an answer!"
"As you command!" Fan Changan bowed deeply to Wang Ence, and then clapped his hands twice. Someone came in with a tray. He lifted the cloth on the tray. Underneath was a beautiful golden pot. Fan Changan opened it. The lid and body of the pot were tilted, and jewelry of various colors such as amethyst, sapphire, ruby, etc. poured out from the mouth of the pot and fell on the tray, making a crisp sound, which immediately caught Wang Ence's attention.
"A few playthings, just to express my feelings, please let me take them away!"
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Zhuge Wen looked at Wang Ence in the sedan with disappointment. Ever since he walked out of the room, he had held the golden pot filled with jewels in his arms, as if it contained his life. Okay, he admitted that Fan Changan had spent a lot of money this time, but Wang Ence had gone too far, right? After all, he is a descendant of the Langya Wang family and the younger brother of Governor Wang!
As a businessman, Zhuge Wen smelled the atmosphere of conspiracy in Fan Changan's plan. Yes, salt is a big business, and a salt well is an inexhaustible cornucopia for future generations. But the question is why he Do you want to drag others into it? Everyone knows that the salt rats in Langzhong are the most xenophobic. Those families with salt wells have been married to each other for generations, and they will not leave any crumbs to others. This Fan Chang'an is a popular surname in Shu. It is said that this Fan Chang'an's ancestor is Fan Changsheng, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and his elder brother also has a high status in Tianshi Dao. People like this would make the ground tremble when they stamp their feet in Langzhong. Why should they run all the way to Chengdu to flatter Wang Ence? Just to open more salt wells? The Fan family is not that short of money, right?
Is that to cut off Tubo and keep Jiannan Road safe? This sounds a little more believable. After all, no matter how rich and powerful the Fan family is, they are still in Langzhong and Xichuan. If the Tubo people really invade, the Fan family will be severely damaged even if they are not all destroyed. But no matter how you look at it, the Tubo people are not so strong that the Fan family can't sit still, right? Didn’t Governor Wang just win two battles last year? The Tubo people are still negotiating for peace, and the two sides are opening up trade deals. It doesn't look like they are going to go to war, right?
"Forget it, forget it!" Zhuge Wen finally sighed and gave up wasting his brains on this matter. Although he and Fan Changan were both businessmen, he was a salt merchant, a local powerful, and a leader of Tianshi Tao. There is a huge difference between a businessman who has a whole body and an ordinary businessman like himself who only has a few dollars. If he hadn't hugged Governor Wang's thigh this time, this time he wouldn't have been met in Chengdu, but he would have tried every means to come to see him. People are gone.
"arrive!"
The subordinate's voice brought Zhuge Wen back to reality from his thoughts. He nodded, got off his horse, and walked to the carriage: "Lang Jun, the carriage and horses are here, please get off!"
Wang Ence got off the carriage, still holding the golden pot in his arms. He carefully looked around and asked Zhuge Wen in a low voice: "This golden pot is mine now, right?" He saw Zhuge Wen's stunned expression. , smiled sheepishly: "What I mean is that since Fan Chang'an has given me this golden pot, I can keep it and not give it to others, right?"
"That's natural!" Zhuge Wen quickly replied: "It's yours now, you can do whatever you want with it!"
"That's great!" Wang Ence laughed: "By the way, with this golden pot and the jewels inside, even if I go back to Qingzhou in the future, I can live a carefree life!"
Zhuge Wen opened his mouth and didn't know how to answer for a while, but he finally smiled and said, "That's what Lang Jun said!"
After returning to his room, Wang Ence immediately dug out a wooden box from under the bed and carefully put the golden pot in. As soon as he put the wooden box back under the bed, he dug the wooden box out again and put the contents of the golden pot inside. The jewelry was poured into a leather bag, and then he tied the leather bag around his waist, put the wooden box under the bed again, and then let out a long breath.
He has stayed in Chengdu for four or five months. During these four or five months, he has lived a life that he could not even dream of in the past. The most important thing is that everyone is respectful and respectful to him, and Wang Ence knows very well that these people who are respectful in front of him are either wealthy people with great wealth or talented people. What they respect is not Himself, but Wang Wenzuo.
As his knowledge became wider and wider, Wang Ence became more and more aware of the gap between himself and these people. He knew in his heart that if he were not Wang Wenzuo's "brother", it would be difficult for him to even stand in front of them. It would be okay if he was really Wang Wenzuo's younger brother. After all, there are many idiots in the world who hold high positions based on blood, and there are not many like him, but he is a fake!
Therefore, having his bright skin ripped open by Wang Wenzuo and being kicked back to the dilapidated Jitai Village became Wang Ence's daily nightmare. If he could have told himself before, if he had been the one who went to Baekje, he would have been able to climb to where Wang Wenzuo is today; but as his knowledge became wider and wider, and his understanding became deeper and deeper, Wang Ence became increasingly unable to use it. This beautiful lie deceived myself - just as his father said that night, if he was the one who went to Baekje, he would have been buried in a foreign country long ago. Needless to say, Wang Wenzuo did not owe his family a penny, but he did. My family was quite unkind when they kicked Wang Wenzuo to Baekje.
When he could no longer deceive himself, the truth became particularly terrifying. Wang Ence asked himself that if he were in Wang Wenzuo's position, the most merciful solution would be to kick himself back to his hometown and be a farmer for the rest of his life. In this case, the only thing he can do is to keep more capital, so that when he is driven back to his hometown, he will not return empty-handed.
"How wonderful it would be if I really had such a brother!" Wang Ence suddenly sighed: "If so, I will definitely treat him with respect. Then Wang Wenzuo will treat me like a fake brother. If he is a real brother, it will be better. ! Alas, God does not follow man’s wishes!”
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The curtain blocked the dust in the courtyard, but it couldn't block the disappointment. Wang Lu walked into the house tiredly, found a chair and sat down, and sighed: "Give me a glass of wine, I'm so thirsty!"
Fan Changan reclined on a comfortable satin cushion, pouring fragrant wine into a pair of matching suet-fat jade cups. "What's wrong?" He handed her a cup: "You look disappointed?"
"That Wang Ence is a waste!" Wang Lu took a big sip: "I saw that he was holding the golden pot in his arms when he got on the bus. When we got off the bus with him, the golden pot was still tightly held in his arms. He didn't even change his posture, I dare say he never put down on the carriage, this is the first time I've seen such a mediocre person!"
"Haha!" Fan Changan laughed: "You can't say he's a waste, right? I think he's an interesting person!"
"Interesting?" Wang Lu sneered: "After all, he is also Wang Wenzuo's biological brother. His brother was the first person to invade Pyongyang City. He also destroyed Baekje and Japan. The savings of the kings' treasury of the three kingdoms You have gone through it all, what kind of treasures have you not seen? I’m afraid Shi Chong is not as rich as his brother, but still acting like this, he is just like a miser!"
"Wang Wenzuo is the rich one, not him. The elder brother is the elder brother, and the younger brother is the younger brother!" Fan Changan said with a smile: "Besides, this is a good thing. If Wang Ence doesn't love treasures, then where can we start?"
"That's true!" Wang Lu nodded: "I just feel angry and funny, they are really tiger brothers and dog brothers!"
"A dragon gives birth to nine sons, and the sons are different!" Fan Changan said with a smile: "What's so strange about this? Anyway, this salt well business is just about throwing stones to find the way. It's the best. If it doesn't work, it's not a big deal. As long as it can Get on the line with Wang Wenzuo and that’s it!”
"Yeah!" Wang Lu nodded and suddenly sneered: "The emperor of the Li family is really greedy. It's not enough to win the world. He even wants to take the name of the Supreme Lord who came to the world to promote Dharma for his own son. I don’t know if I can bear it!”
"Isn't this the case with all the people in the world who are said to be lonely and ignorant?" Fan Changan looked indifferent and his eyes were as bright as lightning. The smell of copper that usually accompanies merchants was no longer there, and he looked like a worldly master: "Until all the people in the world are like him. Cows and horses, but they don’t know that everything in the world is born of Tao, how can there be distinction between rich and poor, high and low?”
"Hu Er Mi Fu Dao Qi is strong, and he will be transported to the Western Han Dynasty at any time. Muzi is named Gongkou and lives in Chengdu Palace in Shu County." Wang Lu read four sentences and said: "The Sutra of Laojun's Transformation is very clear. This Li Hongnai It’s in Chengdu, in the middle of Shu!”
(End of chapter)
