Chapter 485: Performing Functions

In the end, Na Songyunzi and Bai Shizi decided to set the refining time of the pill at 6636 days, which means that they could not open the furnace to see the pill after 36 days. And the Tianzhu monk of Na Luo Suo Po also set the refining time of his immortal medicine to be one month later.

The two gangs reported to Li Shimin at the same time. In other words, it will be at least a month before Zhang Yunwen can preside over the pill competition. It is impossible for him to stay in Chang'an all the time this month, and he has to go back to Luoyang to get the rest done.

When he heard that Zhang Yunwen also brought a Taoist priest to refine the elixir for Li Shimin, the ministers of the court and the central government rebuked one after another. That Xiao Yu even stopped Zhang Yunwen and scolded him bloody. Even Fang Xuanling, Cheng Yanjin and others blamed Zhang Yunwen for being ignorant, and instead of admonishing Li Shimin, they just returned it, but brought a Taoist priest to refine the pill for Li Shimin.

Zhang Yunwen is not the only one who is implicated, but also Yuan Tiangang. There are fewer incense burns in his Baiyun Temple.

Zhang Yunwen didn't want to be scolded every day, so he left Chang'an quickly.

Yuan Tiangang's heart was very uneasy, he didn't know if the Dao Sect could win the pill competition in a month, after all, the monk seemed to have two brushes. However, after Zhang Yunwen proposed to steal the beam and change the pillar and replace the golden pill with a big tonic pill, even if he doesn't win, he won't lose! After all, the tonic pill is beneficial and harmless to people and monkeys.

As for Zhang Yunwen's request to Lin Ran to find someone, there will be no news in the short term. And Lin Ran promised that as soon as there was news, he would inform Zhang Yunwen immediately.

When Zhang Yunwen left Chang'an, Li Yu and the others wanted to follow them again, but Zhang Yunwen stopped them, saying that they would return to Chang'an in a month, so why bother. Moreover, during this month, they can also travel back and forth to Luoyang, Chang'an, so that they don't have to worry.

Li Yu and Zhirou came to Chang'an on the third day after Zhang Yunwen arrived in Chang'an. At that time, Zhang Yunwen was still visiting relatives and friends. Later, Zhang Yunwen conducted a pill competition, and led two Taoist priests to Li Shimin, saying that they could refine the pill to strengthen the body, and even Li Yu was very dissatisfied and complained to Zhang Yunwen several times. However, Zhang Yunwen is not going to say the purpose of the pill competition in this matter, and he will talk about it after Li Shimin completely wakes up, so he can only let Li Yu and the others complain.

After leaving Chang'an, he returned to Luoyang again with Ma Wangshan and Yang Shi.

Luoyang is still the same as when he left, on the street, there are still flags and flags leading the wind, the traffic is busy, the only difference is that it is already very hot at this time, and the high willows on both sides of the street know it, and there are bursts of neighing desperately, resounding throughout Luoyang. Sounds annoying.

As soon as Zhang Yunwen returned to Luoyang, someone noticed his whereabouts. As soon as the members of those business guilds heard that Zhang Yunwen was back, their already somewhat apprehensive hearts suddenly relaxed. I thought that as soon as this Zhang Yunwen came back, he would definitely be able to make decisions for himself.

It turned out that not long after Zhang Yunwen left Luoyang, several foreign caravans clashed with local merchants in Luoyang. The main areas involved are wood, cloth and cotton. The caravans from other places saw that they were also coveting the huge market and superior geographical location of Luoyang, and wanted to get a piece of the pie here.

With their abundant funds and financial resources, they quickly took root in Luoyang. As a result, there was a conflict with the local merchants in Luoyang. Like the Mao family's timber shop, the Gan family's cotton shop, etc., these merchants originally wanted to use the advantages of local merchants to fight back against these foreign merchants, however, these foreign merchants also came from a lot of background, and even the caravan that trafficked cotton was still the Li family in Longxi.

After a few battles, the Luoyang merchants lost a lot of money.

At this time, the local merchants remembered the organization of merchant guilds. This organization was formed by the Luoyang Eastern Capital Pastoral Mansion and was directly managed by Cangcao of Luoyang Prefecture. They filed a complaint with the merchant guilds, hoping that the guilds would intervene in the encroachment of foreign merchants on the local market and suppress those foreign merchants.

After receiving the request of the local merchants represented by several major families, Cangcao Shen Military of Luoyang Prefecture did not dare to make a decision, and immediately handed over the matter to the Eastern Capital Pastoral Mansion to deal with. After Wang Fangyi got the news, after thinking about it for a while, he summoned all the members of the Chamber of Commerce over and discussed with them how to deal with this matter. At this time, news came from Chang'an, saying that Zhang Yunwen had conducted a pill competition in front of Li Shimin, and wanted to let two Taoist alchemy masters and a Tianzhu monk test the pill.

Everyone thought that Zhang Yunwen would return to Luoyang after this competition, but unexpectedly, within two days, Zhang Yunwen returned to Luoyang.

As soon as Zhang Yunwen returned to the Eastern Capital Pastoral Mansion, those businessmen came to visit one after another and directly told the matter.

After he heard this, he stroked the beard on his lips, and finally said: "Since the commercial guild has the function of protecting local merchants and preventing vicious competition, then act according to the regulations, first suppress this foreign merchant for a while, and then talk to them!" ”

Hearing these words, the local businessman's face was happy, and when he was about to say some words of thanks, Zhang Yunwen said again: "However, this official still wants to tell you, if you have been like this, whenever foreign businessmen come to Luoyang, they will use the power of the guild, then the shop you are waiting for will definitely not last long, and will eventually be swallowed up by others." Only by enhancing their own strength and not being afraid of competing with others can they survive forever! ”

Among the crowd, some people nodded thoughtfully, while others showed disdain.

Zhang Yunwen said that, so he no longer talked about this matter, but set up tasks.

When these businessmen went out from Zhang Yunwen, everyone's faces were full of relief.

In the days that followed, local merchants began to crack down on those who were out of town. First, there was a collective price reduction. Because the goods of foreign merchants had to be transported from other places, even with the convenience of the Grand Canal, the huge amount of goods still cost a staggering amount. Local merchants, on the other hand, do not have shipping costs. This time, all the local merchants united to reduce the price, forcing the foreign merchants to follow suit. During this period, there were many daily losses.

Then, the city order of Cao Shen, a military subordinate of Luoyang Prefecture, began to conduct a large-scale inspection of the northern and southern cities of Luoyang, as well as the surrounding grass markets (spontaneously formed bazaars). Among them, the focus is on inspecting the shops and warehouses opened by foreign merchants in Luoyang. This inspection immediately revealed that many shops and warehouses set up by foreign businessmen had not applied for business permits at all, so these shops and warehouses were immediately forcibly closed. It is not allowed to reopen until 10 days later, when the business permit is issued.

As a result, the foreign businessmen who were attacked from both sides immediately panicked, and they went around trying to get the government to withdraw the decision to suspend business.

At this time, Wang Fangyi sent invitations to these foreign businessmen. It's time for a face-to-face conversation.

On the top of the largest restaurant in Luoyang, presided over by Wang Fangyi, local merchants and foreign businessmen in Luoyang sat at the same table and began to talk.

Zhang Yunwen did not participate in this negotiation, but sent Wang Fangyi to preside. In the negotiation process, from the initial tension, to the gradual harmony, and finally to the distribution of the market.

The negotiations lasted for three days, and in the end, the local merchants in Luoyang and the foreign businessmen finally reached a settlement. Out-of-town merchants retreated to part of the market and turned to other directions. The local merchants in Luoyang compensated them with some money, which was not a small amount, of course.

So far, the first performance of the functions of the Luoyang Commercial Guild has been successfully completed.