The furs and other goods of the tribes as far away as the Turkic desert were concentrated in Dingxiang City, waiting for the grain merchants in the interior to exchange grain for the furs in their hands. These merchants in the Central Plains then resold their furs to the mainland at a high price, and their main customers were the gate lords of various large and small feudal towns, and there were also people who bought furs to make clothes or leather goods to sell, and the market was very large.

A few days later, the life of the mainland grain merchants was not easy. None of the grain trafficked from the Central Plains to Dingxiang City could enter the city, and if it was privately traded with Turkic fur merchants in the city, it would be arrested by the Dingxiang County Government and confiscated the goods. A large amount of grain in their hands could only be traded with the Dingxiang County Government at a low price, and the transaction price became a stone of grain that could only be exchanged for 5 cowhides, which was equivalent to running away in vain.

After a few more days, the incident became more and more troublesome, because many of these mainland merchants were originally officials and businessmen of the inland feudal towns. The Dingxiang County Government's monopoly fur business seriously infringed on the interests of all parties. The paperwork of the complaint was sent to Tang Gong Li Yuan.

On this day, I got a letter of complaint from the caravan in Jingxiang Xiaomiao, and the letter full of blame from Wang Shi on the desk had not yet been processed. was so angry that Li Yuan walked back and forth in the study, panting.

"Uncle Yue, what's so annoying?"

"Oh! O Sichang! The people of the world are there, so sit down and speak! After Li Yuan finished speaking, he also sat down at the table angrily, and handed the letter from Jing Xiang Xiao Mill and Wang Shichong to Chai Shao in his hand. Li Shimin was curious and took a letter to read.

"Oh---, I see! This Dingxiang County Government has really gone too far! Chai Shao was also a little unhappy after reading it.

"Huh! This Dou County Order is really a smart person, I don't see any fault! He was in the middle of nowhere, and the Turks in the city were the majority. It's normal to have a monopoly on this fur business. After reading one letter, Li Shimin read another and said.

"Shimin, you are too young to understand this. It is not the actions of the Dingxiang County Government that are angry with the father, but the Dou brothers. Control the country's resources for one's own selfishness. Li Yuan touched his son's head and said.

"Father-in-law, this matter is easy to do, the son-in-law will go to the Dou Mansion and let him hand over the transaction to the state. How could the two of his brothers have eaten the belly of Nuoda's fur business. Chai Shao said to Li Yuan with a smile.

"So much for the best! Si Chang should be kind to persuade him, and Dou Wenwei should know the general situation. ”

Dou Wei had originally discussed with Dou Kang that he would accept it when he saw it, and he would just make a lot of money during this time when Li Yuan didn't react, and he also knew that Li Yuan would definitely ask about this matter sooner or later. On this day, when Li Yuan's son-in-law came to the door, he immediately knew that the matter had been revealed, so he had to hand over the rights of Dingxiangcheng Mansion to Chai Shao with a smile, and symbolically hand over the tens of thousands of stone grain he had earned to Li Yuan. When Li Yuan saw it, he didn't embarrass the two of them.

After that, the fur trading power in Dingxiangcheng was in the hands of Li Yuan, and it was handed over to Chai Shao and Shen Yuan, the waiter of the Internal Affairs Office, who were specifically responsible. The Turkic fur was officially monopolized by Li Yuan of Jinyang, and the method of low income and high sale was used to make a lot of money. In order to improve the efficiency of short entry and short exit, Li Yuan actually used the standing grain of the Jinyang treasury to enter the market for trading. Inland grain merchants were not allowed to go to Dingxiang City, and could only carry out grain and skin exchange transactions in Jinyang City, and slowly due to the high cost of round-trip travel, mainland merchants no longer went to Jinyang, and only reported the share of the transaction to Jinyang Li Yuan, who organized Jinyang caravans to transport furs and other goods to the mainland for exchange. Even so, Li Yuan made a lot of money.

After nearly half a month of monopoly operation, the grain in Li Yuan's granary increased by 500,000 stones. Dou Wei of the Inner Mansion came to report the good news the next day, which made Li Yuan feel as comfortable as a spring breeze every day. This is faster and easier than urging the people to grow grain.

"Wen Wei! Bengong felt that he should seize this opportunity to make more money. You can leave 500,000 stones of grain in the treasury in your charge for emergency circulation, and the rest of the grain will be transported to Dingxiang City to be handed over to Sichang and Shen Yuan, and all of them will be exchanged for cowhides as much as possible, and more than a dozen caravans will be organized to be sent to the Central Plains in the interior, and all the furs will be exchanged for grain and transported back to the Jinyang treasury before the winter as soon as possible. Li Yuan said to Dou Wei.

"Tang Gong, there are only about 1 million stones of grain stored in my treasury that can be exchanged for Turkic furs, and if all of them are exchanged for furs, nearly 8 million pieces can be hoarded, isn't this a bit much?"

"Huh! This is a lot, even if 8 million high-quality furs can only be exchanged for 1.6 million stone of grain, not much. Moreover, there are many large and small gate valves in the mainland, and they can't afford to put up a horse team, but they can form tens of millions of foot soldiers, and these foot soldiers need to be armored; Besides, there are more famous families in the world, and they all need leather armor to equip the courtyard guards, these noble families have as little as 1,000 soldiers, and as much as 50 million are possible, Wen Wei, you can do the math, is hoarding 8 million high-grade skins too much? You can let Sichang send a grain team directly into the tribes in the Turkic interior to exchange grain for skins, and exchange the skins back as soon as possible, let's do it! ”

"Yes, Tang Gong." Dou Wei lowered his head and went out, but he always felt that he was a little unsteady in his heart.

Soon the grain stored in the grain depot of Jinyang Inner Prefecture was continuously exchanged for cattle and sheepskins by Chai Shao and Shen Yuan of Dingxiangcheng, and was continuously transported back to Jinyang City. Among them, all the way to Luoyang, Zhongzhou, the main market; boarded the boat all the way to Liyang, and then landed on the shore to go to the Qizhou market in Shandong; On the way out of Tongguan to the south to Nanyang, Jingxiang; There is also a way west to Hanzhong and Guanzhong. Each road carried at least 100 wagons carrying at least 500,000 furs, and this trip had to sell 3 million furs in exchange for 800,000 stone of grain.

Looking at the several carriages full of furs that were gradually moving away, Li Yuan's heart was extremely happy, as if he could wait for millions of stones of grain to enter the warehouse immediately.

"Wen Wei and Si Chang are immediately preparing for the next batch of caravans to enter the Central Plains in a few days, and the opportunity must not be lost!"

dragged back to the house tired, Chai Shao was almost tired and out of shape during this time.

Seeing this, the lord of Xiuning County hurriedly stepped forward to help his husband sit down, made hot tea and brought it up.

"Husband, is it still smooth to trade furs with the Turks in Dingxiang City during this time?" Lord Xiuning asked.

"Now there are fewer and fewer Turkic caravans that can come to Dingxiang City, and the price is always fluctuating, earlier a stone of grain could be exchanged for 10 skins, but now it can only be exchanged for 8 pieces, and the quality of the skins is not as good as before. In order to complete the requirements of the father-in-law, it is necessary to organize a caravan to carry grain deep into the Turkic Desert, and the tribes to collect it, which is tiring, but the quality of the leather goods collected in this way is good, and the quantity can be guaranteed. Today, I just sent another group of caravans to the interior of the Central Plains, led by Lord Shen Yuan. I hope they can exchange it for enough food, otherwise--- or ---" As he spoke, Chai Shao fell asleep on the table.

"Eldest sister, what's wrong with brother-in-law?" Li Shimin suddenly ran out of the inner room, he hadn't seen his brother-in-law for several days, and he wanted to play with his brother-in-law, but he saw his brother-in-law lying on the table.

"Your brother-in-law is tired today and fell asleep without eating, alas! Father is also really, millions of grain are used for barter, isn't this to kill your brother-in-law? The county lord of Xiuning reproached with a sullen face.

"Eldest sister, today Shimin learned a news from others, saying that the imperial court is going to open the Yongji Canal and waterway, that is, from Zhuojun to Liyang City, connecting the Yellow River. I was about to ask my brother-in-law if it was true or not! ”

"Wait, your brother-in-law woke up hungry, and you're asking while eating!"

Li Shimin had to walk out of the house stupidly after hearing this, Li Xiuning was busy with the help of the maid, and carried Chai Shao to the bed with difficulty, covered with a thin quilt, and was busy at the table next to the female red, he wanted to make a close-fitting warm clothes for her husband for the upcoming winter.

Just when Chai Shao was resting and Li Yuan was happy, Lu Zhaolin and the others, who were in Luzhou, laughed.

"Zheng Gong, Zheng Er's shopkeeper, your brother's task is well accomplished! Now that Li Yuan is being led to the desert to collect leather goods, I don't have to continue to put furs in Dingxiangcheng in Luzhou. The Zheng family caravan that stayed in Dingxiang City can collect troops and return to Luzhou, but they still have to be careful not to let Chai Shao find out their identity. Lu Zhaolin said with a smile to Zheng Fengchi and Zheng Fengju who were present.

"Huh! This time, I put 300,000 furs in Luzhou, and then coerced the Turkic caravan to Dingxiang City to trade furs. Nearly 100,000 stone of grain was transported here in the name of the caravan in the interior of the Central Plains, and the investment was not small, but fortunately, the wolf was trapped, and it was not a loss. The Zheng brothers looked at each other and smiled.

"When did I make a loss-making deal in Hedong, and when Li Yuan ate it, he would have to spit it out." Pei Shiju said that the grain stored in the warehouse through his hands this time was roughly less than 100,000 stones, which was only less than 11% of the grain stored in the Heluo warehouse.

"Mr. Zhaoren's detailed work to various places in the Central Plains has been arranged?" Lu Zhaolin asked Liu Wenjing, the commander of the Military Intelligence Department on the side.

"Lord Lu is relieved, and he has let out the wind. There are many green forests in the Central Plains, and now they all know that Li Yuan's convoy is going there. This time, at least more than 60% of his grain was intercepted. ”

"Good! However, it is not enough to borrow the power of the green forest, everyone knows that Li Yuan has a great relationship with the green forest road, and there are many green forest ringing horses that will give Li Yuan face and not rob him. When you use the shadows of your military intelligence to ambush in the various gate valves, let these gate valves see the black and eat the black. Lu Zhaolin coldly suggested to Liu Wenjing.

"Huh! Adults are good at scheming, that Wang Shichong, Tang Bi and others are very good at black eating black tricks, this hand just exchanged for fur at a high price, and turned around and turned into a wicked person to secretly grab back the food capital. Liu Wenjing couldn't help laughing when she heard this. Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

After laughing, Pei Shiju said again: "It's not enough to have this trick alone, you can't cut off Li Yuan's food dream from the root, there will always be grain that will be exchanged back to Jinyang, unless my Hedong Jin army does not let its grain team return." But the lord said that on the surface, our Hedong forces will not interfere in this "fur" plan, and they must not break the contract and detain the Jinyang caravan. ”

"In this case, the old man has to adopt the lord's idea. A large number of low-priced furs were put into the Central Plains market, so that Li Yuan's furs lost their price advantage, and the Central Plains buyers no longer bought his goods. In this way, Li Yuan could smash all the millions of furs in his own pot. The grain obtained by his lucky trade should also be notified to the military intelligence department of various places to work as agents, especially Wang De of Luoyang Qianhu, to do whatever it takes, and accompany the sound of the horse to rob him, not to mention that the grain has been transported back to Jinyang, and even my Hedong can't come. Zheng Fengchi said viciously, as a lifelong veteran of business, this price war is not the first time it has been used, and it has been tried and tested.

"Good! A two-pronged approach. Jizhou Yu Culture and 300,000 furs were prepared, and Donglai Wang Bo was prepared 200,000 furs, all of which were handed over to the Zheng family caravan to Luoyang and Jinan in Zhongzhou to suppress the price of fur. If the spot is not enough, then sign a follow-up supply document with the gate valve, and sign a futures contract in the words of the lord to enjoy a lower discount, not afraid that the gate valve of the town will not sign with me. Lu Zhaolin gave the final order to block the attack.

"Lord Lu, Wang Yi of the Thousand Households of Zhuo County, Du Fuwei of the Thousand Households of Jianghuai, and Du Chong of the Thousand Households of Tuyuhun of the Military Intelligence Department can organize an appropriate amount of cattle and sheep fur and manpower to participate in this operation." Liu Wenjing got up and said.

"Good! Let your men and horses accompany the horse robbers, Du Chong hijacked Li Yuanhanzhong's grain convoy, Wang Yi hijacked the grain convoy to Zhuojun and Jizhou, Du Fuwei hijacked his grain convoy returning from Jiangnan, and Wang De hijacked the grain convoy out of Luoyang. It's not necessary to use his fur in a few places, and it is enough to invest hundreds of thousands of furs to suppress the market. Lu Zhaolin instructed Liu Wenjing again.

"Okay, the lower officials will arrange a lot of things later, if you put a grain of grain and return to Jinyang, Liu should apologize in front of the lord!"

A fierce battle for the mall has officially begun! One is in the light and one is in the dark.

There are three summers in summer and three dog days in autumn, and although it has entered the dog days, the heat at night is still hot.

Chai Shao, who was sleeping on the couch, suddenly shivered, woke up suddenly, and sat up. It startled the county lord Xiuning, who was concentrating on making clothes on the bedside table.

"County Lord, what time is it? How long did you sleep for your husband? Chai Shao picked up the Luo Pa next to the pillow and wiped a layer of sweat on his head, I don't know if it was hot or startled by a dream.

"Husband, it's just time to hold the lamp, and I've only slept for half an hour. It just so happened that the meal was still warm, and it was not too late to go to bed after eating. The county lord of Xiuning hurriedly ordered the maid to prepare for food.

Fang Cai suddenly had a dream, dreaming that he was being chased by a group of men in black, and his husband escaped to the edge of a cliff, and then woke up. Alas! This dream is unlucky! Chai Shao got up from the bed and walked to the table and sat down, picked up the cold tea on the table and took a sip, while chatting with the county lord about the dream he had just had.

"Husband, I've been too tired in the past few days, and when the errand at hand is done, it's good to rest for a few days." The county lord of Xiuning comforted Chai Shaodao.

"Shimin has been gone for a few days, is he okay? Fang was dazed as if he heard his voice. ”

"Huh! As soon as the prince of the house went to sleep, the people of the world came, and when they saw that you were asleep, they went out to play. I don't know what I'm doing at this time? I don't think it's gone yet. ”

"Ping'er went to find Shimin, and if he was still playing outside, let him come into the house." After listening to her master's words, Ping'er, the maid beside Xiuning, hurriedly went out to find Li Shimin.