On the fifth day of October in the seventeenth year of Dashun's reign, northeast of Kunming City, Rabbit Pass.

Rabbit Pass is the key point that enters Kunming City, the southern capital of Dashun, from the northeast, and is also a prosperous commercial town in Kunming Prefecture.

Unlike the situation in Shaanxi, where there is tension all year round, the two armies of Ming and Shun on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau do not really fight at all, but fight for three months a year at most, and the rest of the time is spent trading - copper coins from Yunnan, jade from Burma, iron from Huguang, and silk cotton from the southeast all come and go through the trade routes between Yunnan and Guizhou. The war between the two sides has been fought for more than ten years, and the heroes have not played a few, but the rich have played a large number of ...... And Rabbit Pass has also become a commercial town from a military powerhouse.

And with Li Jicheng's return from India, this important commercial town has become more prosperous.

Li Dingguo, who was dressed in a simple blue robe and tied with a white cloth around his waist (bringing filial piety for Li Guo), led a hundred and ten followers, and at dusk, he walked the official road in the north and entered the town of Tu'erguan in the north of Tu'er Guan.

White flags were hung everywhere in the town, pedestrians came and went in plain clothes, and all the men in blue were all wearing white cloth around their waists, just like Li Dingguo and his entourage, in honor of the recently deceased Emperor Taizong of Dashun, Li Guo.

Now it is the state funeral period of the Great Shun Dynasty, the whole family of the government soldiers is filial piety, and ordinary people are also forbidden to wear bright clothes, all entertainment activities must also be prohibited, and alcohol is not allowed in public. However, big fish and big meat are still allowed......

When Li Dingguo, who was in the dust, rode into the town of Tu'erguan, he smelled the aroma of cured meat wafting from a restaurant on the side of the road.

Li Dingguo, who had been on the road for many days, had not eaten and drunk well for some days, and when he smelled the fragrance, the gluttonous worms in his stomach were hooked, so he immediately restrained the horse under his crotch, turned back to his son Li Runxing and said, "Son, let's eat here." ”

"Medium! Ada, I'm already hungry, so let's eat something here and enter the customs again. Li Runxing had already flipped off his horse as he spoke, then threw the reins to his entourage, and was about to stride to a restaurant with a sign of "Old Shaanxi Restaurant".

"Child," Li Dingguo looked at his son's swaggering appearance, and hurriedly ordered, "Don't disturb the people." ”

He didn't want everyone in the town of Rabbit Pass to know that King Jin had arrived—how much of a movement? What is the need?

"The child knows." Li Runxing answered, walked into the restaurant, and came out with a guy after a while.

The guy is a Sichuan man, and when he saw Li Dingguo on a horse, he knew that he was a big official, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed - Dashun domestic businessmen are lowly, and the rules are big, and businessmen have to salute when they see ordinary government soldiers, and they have to kowtow when they see officials.

After kowtowing, the guy said to Li Dingguo: "Forgive me, the business of the small shop is booming today, there are no vacant seats, there is only one private room left to entertain guests, but the private room is small, and it really can't accommodate so many people......"

"Then let them eat outside," Li Dingguo had already dismounted, and ordered, "Serve more good meat and vegetables, and don't be afraid of spending money." ”

The guy bowed to Li Dingguo again, and said with a wry smile: "The official is bold, but the small one still has to tell the official, the good pigs and sheep here in Kunming have risen sharply recently, and even the price of rice and noodles is more expensive than in the past, and the small shop is a small business, so I have to go to the market with ......."

"Don't talk nonsense, will Ada lose your money?" Li Runxing was a little annoyed, and interrupted the guy as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Let him say," Li Dingguo frowned and asked, "How much has the price of rice and noodles risen?" How much does braised meat sell for a pound? How much is lamb a pound? ”

"Back to the official's words, today's rice in Kunming Mansion has risen to 30 Wen a catty, the cured meat in the small shop sells for 700 Wen a catty, and the cooked mutton sells for 800 Wen a catty......

"So expensive?" Li Dingguo suddenly changed color.

Now Dashun's money and silver exchange price is maintained at 1000 Wen to 1 tael, 30 Wen is 3 cents of silver, one stone is 60 catties, and one silver is 1 tael and 8 coins...... This price is nothing in Yingtianfu and Shanghai, but this is Kunming!

As for pork and mutton, it is even more expensive, and the cooked pork and cooked mutton all reach seven or eight hundred wen a catty...... It's a little bit smaller!

Seeing his father's gloomy face, Li Runxing on the side thought: Ada is too stingy, right? Just took 80,000 taels of silver, so you can't afford to spend it?

At this moment, Li Dingguo spoke again, "I know, let's serve mutton and meat buns in the water basin...... The amount is not short of your money. ”

"Thanks, thanks...... You and your son, and all the uncles, please! ”

The guy naturally smiled from ear to ear, and courteously invited Li Dingguo and Li Runxing, as well as a few guards, staff, and bookkeepers who followed Li Dingguo closely, into the store.

The business in the store is a little surprisingly good, and it has not become cold because of the price increase, and the people who sit inside to eat and drink are all soldiers in blue clothes...... Li Dingguo found that the blue clothes of these people were not coarse cloth, but silk! And they're all very old, so I don't know where they came from?

After entering the private room, Li Dingguo stopped the guy and asked, "Are all the people eating downstairs government soldiers?" Where did it come from? ”

"Of course those are government soldiers, otherwise they can't wear blue!" The fellow said, "They're all from the Rabbit Pass camp." ”

"Rabbit Guan's camp?" Li Dingguo thought for a while, "Isn't that an empty camp?" ”

"It's not empty," the guy laughed, "A month ago, His Royal Highness the Prince's Long March soldiers came from the south and stationed in the Tu'erguan camp. Those soldiers of the Long March Prefecture all came from Tianzhu, and they had a few in their pockets, and they went back to the camp to play and eat and drink when they were on vacation. ”

He didn't say all his words, of course Li Jicheng's uncles and soldiers didn't go out of the camp just for stuttering, and there were still a few brothels in Tuerguan Town......

Li Dingguo asked again: "Does the rise in rice, noodles, pigs and sheep in Kunming Mansion have anything to do with these Long March soldiers coming from the south?" ”

"This ......," the guy was taken aback by the question, "don't dare to talk nonsense!" ”

Li Dingguo waved his hand to prevent the man from talking, and then ordered meat buns and mutton in the water basin, and sent him down.

Li Laiheng and Li Jicheng on Wuhua Mountain have known about the sharp rise in prices in Kunming Mansion for a long time, and as for the reason for the rise in prices, Niu Yan, the prefect of Kunming, is reporting to Li Laiheng and Li Jicheng, father and son.

"The reason for the recent rise in prices in the capital is due to the excessive amount of gold and silver from the south, and the minister has arranged for officials and businessmen to go to Guizhou and Sichuan to purchase, and after a while, it should be able to calm down, please Your Majesty and Your Highness do not worry."

"What about prices elsewhere?" Li Laiheng asked again, "Won't they all rise as sharply as here in Kunming?" ”

"It has risen a little," Niu said, "and Kunming is not comparable, Kunming here is prosperous in commerce and trade, and there is the benefit of making money, and the collection of businessmen and women, the price will naturally be a little more expensive." Elsewhere, they suppress business and agriculture, and they are all self-cultivated and self-fed, so what does it matter if the price of grain is high or low? ”

Li Laiheng nodded lightly, "That's right." ”

In fact, what Niu Yan said is not quite right, and the impact of inflation on the peasants who are self-employed is not small, because the peasants in Dashun have to bear heavy conscription, mainly to send military rations and materials to the front line, or to build cities in dangerous places. To do this, they need to leave their hometowns and serve far away, sometimes moving between different places of service – when they arrive, there will naturally be supplies, but they have to deal with it themselves on the way. So they had to bring a little copper money to buy something to eat.

In addition, farmers also have weddings, funerals, illnesses, and medicines, and sometimes they have to buy some farm tools and livestock, and there are still many places to spend money.

Their source of money was the government and merchants and the purchase of surplus grain and cloth, and the so-called purchase was compulsory purchase at the price set by the government...... Of course, Dashun suppresses business, so there will be no private businessmen going to the countryside to buy rice, grain, cloth, pigs and sheep. Those who can do these transactions are officials and businessmen appointed by the government.

Because it is difficult for the peasants in Dashun to get money, they often cherish the silver money they get from officials and businessmen, and they are reluctant to eat and use it, so they save it well......