Hearing that Shang Cheng actually pointed out that those maritime merchants in Mingzhou were making up lies to deceive people, King Ruyang couldn't help but grinned, and was about to say two jokes to make fun of Shang Cheng's ability to coax the Ministry of Industry to be willing to lose money, but King Jiangling opened his mouth first: "How can you say this?" ”

Shang Cheng said with a smile: "How can you lose money when you go to Dongwei to do business now?" Not only do you not lose money, but you still make a lot of money. It's just that they make too much money, and those maritime merchants can't digest it for a while, and they are afraid that people will find out and follow them to fight for guns, so they will run next trip every two or three years. ”

Listening to his words, several princes all looked at each other. For a moment, a deep sense of worry rose in everyone's hearts. In addition to the ability to fight, Shang Yanshan can't understand other affairs? Shouldn't this time borrowing money be like glass again, and it will become a bottomless pit that only eats and doesn't vomit?

"Heh, hehe...... Zida joked. King Gangneung laughed awkwardly, not knowing how to answer the question. Zhao because of the Tang system, so since the dynasty, although the people in marriage and marriage attach great importance to the difference between the four of agriculture, industry and commerce, the attitude of the imperial court is to treat them equally, although the officials who are not from farming and reading are indeed more difficult than others when they are promoted, but the rules that are clearly written into the court decree have never been. It is precisely because the imperial court did not particularly emphasize "emphasizing agriculture over commerce" and "respecting the town and floating", so many officials operated industries either explicitly or covertly. His family also hired people to help manage the wealth and goods, and sold salt, Shu brocade and medicinal materials from Bashu to the Central Plains, and he could make a lot of profits every year. A few years ago, he invited a few shopkeepers to start trying to operate a sea route, and at that time, he also found a few maritime merchants in Mingzhou, hoping to ask for some maritime experience. Because of him, those families were very polite, and gave a detailed introduction to the sea routes from Dazhao to Goryeo to Dongwa and to Chenla. Although the later trade at sea was not completed, he also knew about the situation in the east. As the king of Ruyang said, the villain of the Eastern Wa Kingdom is poor, and the idea of making a profit is simply an extravagant hope, who can keep the capital, it is a very capable person. How can it be like Shang Cheng said, someone not only made a lot of money in Dongwei, but also desperately covered the news and wanted to be rich for a long time?

Shang Cheng listened intently to King Jiangling's words, and did not say a word.

When King Jiangling finished telling him the news he had heard, Shang Cheng first admitted frankly that he didn't know what kind of business the maritime merchants in Mingzhou were doing with the Dongwei, but he immediately said: "I think what they can transport to the Dongwei to sell is nothing more than silk, tea, porcelain, paper, and books." Originally, ironware was also a big business, but the imperial court had a strict system for the production and sale of pig iron, so this trade could not be done openly and openly. When he said this, he was actually implying that those maritime merchants were suspected of selling pig iron, but the princes did not say anything. It is very common to do business and sell a bit of smuggling and entrainment, and their respective families are not clean, so there is no need to run to accuse others of rubbing the bottom of the pot with a black face; What's more, listening to Shang Cheng's meaning is not to talk about smuggling.

Sure enough, Shang Cheng's next sentence changed the topic: "But the sea ship has transported the goods to the East Widow, what can it sell when it comes back from the East Widow?" Timber? Rice? Sutra? Or something else? ”

King Jiangling paused for a moment and did not say anything. He hadn't really paid attention to it.

King Ruyang lowered his head and thought for a while, and said, "...... It seems that most of the time they come back empty-shipped. He said disdainfully, "In a place like Dongwei, there really isn't anything that can be looked at. ”

Shang Cheng smiled, didn't speak again, and drank tea with a cup.

His behavior in this way obviously shows that he has told everyone the truth that the Dongwei Sea Road is promising. But everyone thought about it carefully, but they didn't understand the essentials at all. King Ruyang frowned, screwed the pig iron and the sea route mentioned by Shang Cheng together and thought for a long time, and then said uncertainly: "If the empty ship returns, the sea will be high and it will be easy to capsize. Does Yiyi Zida mean that they are doing things on the ballast stone? ”

Several princes suddenly lit up. King Jiangling clapped his hands and said, "Yes, what Uncle Huang said is extreme! When they went to sea, they used pig iron as ballast stones, and when they arrived in the east, they changed them to stones, and this came and wen......t," he said, and he was silent. Even if it is a large sea ship of 5,000 stones, how many ballast stones can be used? Besides, pig iron is a bulk trade, and a large amount is needed in order to have an objective profit, but the government keeps a close eye on the private pig iron trade, and the maritime merchants are afraid to sell pig iron, at most only tens of millions of catties, and how much profit can they make?

Shang Cheng said: "I didn't say that they were playing tricks on the ballast stone. I'm just saying that this kind of trade has to go and never come back, and once you come and go, you have to run half a trip empty, and you have to bear the risk of going back and forth by sea, which seems to be a bit uneconomical. ”

There was a news everywhere in and out of his words, that the Dongwei country had a lucrative business, which really aroused the curiosity of everyone present; But he just doesn't implement every word, it's really itching. King Ruyang couldn't bear it, so he simply arched his hand to Shang Cheng on the seat, and said, "Zida, Uncle Shang, Uncle Ying, general...... I said you can't speak more straightforwardly? ”

Shang Cheng still continued to speak in circles: "I remember that there is a record in the Book of Tang that during the Tang Dynasty, the envoys sent by the Eastern Wa Kingdom used grain and cloth as the attachés, but the main envoy and the deputy envoy were sent Jinsha, as if it was 27 catties of Jinsha or 24 catties. ”

All the people present are the leaders of the clan, of course, the news is very well-informed, and they probably know some of the contents of the meeting at the Hanyuan Hall that night, so as soon as Shang Cheng mentioned Jinsha, the first thought that flashed in everyone's minds was Kagoshima Jinshan and Iwami Kunginzan in the Eastern Wa Kingdom. King Ruyang looked disappointed and pitiful, shook his head and said, "If only I knew that there were two gold and silver mountains there." Not anymore. Right now, Zhang Pu's eyes were red and staring there, who had the ability to snatch food from his mouth......" He suddenly realized something, his eyes widened suddenly, and he stared at Shang Cheng without blinking. The Dongwei people didn't know about the two golden mountains at all, and the golden sands carried by the Tang envoys naturally couldn't have come from there, so where did these yellow things come from? Shang Yanshan first explained that the state maritime merchants were not trustworthy, and then said that it was unreasonable to do business at a loss, and also mentioned empty ships and ballast stones...... His heart was pounding, he swallowed his saliva vigorously but couldn't speak, he rolled his eyes and glanced at the king of Qinghe County, the old king of the county put his hand into the tea soup but didn't feel it at all, just stared at Shang Cheng vigorously; Look at King Gangneung again, King Gangneung's cheeks are bitten tightly, and his face is a little blue; The king of Xiangzhou and the other two princes were all the same, pouting and gasping for air...... He finally restrained his mind, tried to calm himself down, and asked in a tone that was like a homely one:

"So, ah, Dongwei, over there, more than one, more than two, two golden mountains?"

He exerted all his strength to finally finish this short sentence. And the voice was hoarse as if it came from a dry well, hollow and dry, and he himself was startled when he heard it.

"Of course it's more than two." Shang Cheng said with a smile, "Not only the gold mountain, but also the silver mountain and the copper mountain. These mines are rich ores, and none of them are as difficult to mine as our mines in Dazhao. There are several such mines. It's just that the mining technology of the Eastern Wa Kingdom is backward, so most of these mines have not been excavated much. Several princes may not know what the price of gold and silver in the East Wa is in the country, right? Gold to silver is only one to seven or eight, and silver to money is one or two for a few hundred wen. This is because the metallurgical technology of the Dongwei is too poor, and all that comes out is miscellaneous gold, miscellaneous silver and miscellaneous copper. It is for this reason that since the Tang Dynasty, the Dongwei people have liked to use our money. Especially the coins cast by our Da Zhao, one can be used for several coins of the Tang Dynasty, like the Yongning Tongbao during the Yongning period, such copper coins can be used as more than a dozen or dozens of coins. Therefore, some of our unscrupulous merchants in Dazhao transported copper coins from China to exchange them for gold and silver, and then exchanged them for copper coins when they came back, and this one in and one out is a multiplier of profits......"

There were several heavy gasps in the hall. Several princes were boiled in blood by his words, and their eyes were full of longing and yearning.

King Qinghe took a few breaths and asked, "Zida, is this matter serious?" But don't fool us! You must know that this time he lent the monk 6 million yuan to the monk of the Eastern Wa, and it was not only a few of us here who were in the way, but to raise such a large sum of money, the Tai half of the clan in Beijing would invest money in it. Even with this money, we also signed a contract with the Dongwei monk, and we also found a new gold mountain in Dongwei, but it will definitely cost millions of dollars to invest in the gold mountain, and we will have to find others to borrow this money, I am afraid that there will be more than the clan at that time......" At this point, he stopped talking, raised his eyes and stared at Shang Cheng with a bright gaze.

Shang Cheng certainly understood the warning in his words. Now it is a group of clan princes who borrow money, and it is the civil and military officials in the court who turn back to invest in prospecting and mining, if what he says is false, the end can be imagined, don't think about the preferential treatment of Lingnan one by one, and the place to die without a burial is light! But he wasn't afraid at all. Dongwa was once known as the country of gold in history, the most glorious time, the output of a Iwami silver mountain accounted for one-third of the world's annual silver production at that time, and other large and small gold mines and silver mines are countless, as long as the king of Qinghe is a little patient, and willing to spend money, it is just a matter of hiring people to find a few rich mines. What's more, his idea was not to let them go to Dongwei to do industrial mining, but to choke the economic lifeline of Dongwei. If the kings of Qinghe County were flexible enough and their hearts were vicious enough, the mortgage contract for this loan alone would have allowed them to eat for a hundred and eighty years. It's just that I don't know if they have Jiang Yan's clever methods......

Since Shang Cheng said it categorically, and the commercial taxes of the Eastern Wa Kingdom as collateral were quite valuable, especially thinking of the price of gold and silver in the Eastern Wa Kingdom and the merchants from all walks of life who would inevitably be moved by the news, the King of Qinghe County and the King of Ruyang, who had the intention of making this transaction, were all determined. With the attraction of commercial taxes and countless gold and silver, they don't even care about the outcome of the Eastern Empire's strategy now. Is it necessary to worry about victory or defeat in the war? Of course, it's best if you win, and if you lose, you will fight again! One battle can't make two battles, two battles can't do three battles, Emperor Yang of Sui can conquer Goryeo three times, and Emperor Dongyuan can't attack Dongwei three times? Fight, you have to knock down; If the first three can't be the king, our Da Zhao can't agree!