"Girl, if you want to go to the merchant to buy iron, you might as well be exempt......"

No matter how stupid Lu Ren was, he knew that copper and iron were extremely important strategic materials in that era, and he had been in the officialdom for so long, so he knew very well that it was not so easy to buy, so he would say such things to Mi Zhen.

Mi Zhen tilted her head slightly, and shrugged her shoulders to learn Lu Ren's habit and said, "Sir, if you don't believe it, forget it." But can I finish my sentence? ”

"Alright, whatever you want, let's just talk after dinner."

Mi Zhen first took a glass of recently brewed fruit wine and took a few sips, then raised her head and thought, "Well, where to start first...... Oh, let's start with the current situation. Sir, you only know that Xun Lingjun wants you to solve the problem of Xu Du's lack of copper and iron, but sir, have you ever thought about why this is happening? ”

Lu Ren shook his head. The recent autumn harvest has made him tired enough, and people are still groggy and let Xun Yu find to put out the fire, where will he have the time and energy to think about this matter?

Mi Zhen said: "In my opinion, the reason Xun Lingjun said to Mr. is only one-sided, really speaking of Mr., have you ever heard of the fact that there is no copper and iron in the warehouse just because of a defeat?" ”

Lu Ren then shook his head.

Mi Zhen said: "Xu is in the center of Henan, almost the central area of the Central Plains, Daoduo Road and Guangzhou are developed in commerce and trade, and now it has become the capital of the Han Dynasty, which should have become the meeting place of all parties...... If I am not wrong in my calculations, it is mainly because all trade routes have been blocked. ”

Lu Ren was said by Mi Zhen, but he also understood a little, and muttered: "That's right...... To the west, Chang'an and Luoyang, the two capitals of the past, have been dilapidated, and this trade route of your Mi clan has been broken......"

Mi Zhen was probably afraid that Lu Ren would rob her of the opportunity to perform, so she hurriedly interrupted Lu Ren's words and said: "In terms of the world's iron casting skills, the land of Wu Yue is the most, and the source of copper and iron in the land of Wu Yue is the most and the best, but Cao Gong and Yuan Shu are not on good terms, so the trade route to the south of Xu Du was interrupted by Yuan Highway, and I can't go to the Grange of my Mi clan on the side of Chaisang; The copper and iron to the east of Qingzhou are also very good, but ...... If I want to buy Qingzhou copper and iron, I have to get my Xuzhou Mi family back, and when I go back to Xuzhou, isn't it just to send sheep into the tiger's mouth? Sir, are you willing to push me into the fire pit? Saying that, Mi Zhen deliberately put on a very pitiful expression to show Lu Ren.

Wan'er covered her mouth when she saw this, but Lu Ren waved her hand again and again in anger: "I'm afraid of you!" Don't joke when you're down to business, okay? ”

Mi Zhen smiled proudly, stretched out her hand and snatched Lu Ren's wine glass and drank a few sips before saying, "The east, west, and south sides are blocked, but I can still go to the north!" Fortunately, there are many places to the north that are rich in copper and iron, and as long as I am careful, it will not be difficult for me to buy some copper and iron. ”

Lu Ren saw Mi Zhen's confident look, and felt that Mi Zhen should be very sure, and couldn't help asking, "Are you really so sure?" North...... As soon as you cross the Yellow River in the north, you will reach Yuan Benchu's territory. Originally, the current princes of all parties controlled the copper and iron in the territory quite strictly, and Yuan Benchu was reorganizing the soldiers and horses to prepare for war with Gongsun Zhan, is it possible for you to buy copper and iron from Hebei? In Lu Ren's opinion, Yuan Shao was still a relatively accomplished and wise person during this period, and it was impossible for him to ignore these things.

Mi Zhen grinned: "Sir, you also traveled the world at the beginning, how could you not see the mystery here?" Yes, the official family has always controlled the circulation of copper and iron quite strictly, but in fact, since before Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, the salt and iron industries in various states have actually gradually been in the hands of local wealthy families. When the official family came, they could pay some copper and iron and taxes according to the established account and send them away, and then they could resell the copper and iron in their hands to other places. By the way, isn't our Mi family still in the business of sea salt? You know this gentleman. ”

Lu Ren was dumbfounded on the spot: "Is this okay?" What is the difference between this appearance and selling smuggled salt and iron!? ”

Mi Zhen shook her head: "The difference is big!" Illegal salt and iron are playing the little trick of tax evasion, but big clans like ours are all white families who have paid enough taxes on the surface. If it is resold again, the government will get the iron tax, and the officials will get the benefits, so they will naturally turn a blind eye. Besides, this kind of wealthy family is rich and powerful, and if they don't have an accident in the state, they will already make the government thankful, and how many stupid people who are not long-sighted will provoke them? ”

"It's okay...... Lu Ren nodded again and again, but he was also laughing at himself in his heart: "This situation is very similar to me, I am here in Xuchang to avoid any conflicts of interest with the local wealthy families." ”

After a pause, Lu Ren asked again: "You said so much, can you tell me what you plan to do?" Do you have any wealthy people in Hebei, and you have the copper and iron industry in your hands? ”

Mi Zhen said smugly: "Of course there is!" Otherwise, where would I dare to ask for help? I'm going to go to Zhongshan Wuji and ask Zhen to buy a batch of copper and iron and come back......"

Before he finished speaking, Lu Ren's ears stinged as if they had been pricked by needles: "Wait, wait, who are you talking about?" The Zhen clan of Zhongshan Wuji? Isn't it the two thousand stone ...... of the world official" quickly clicked on the center of his eyebrows to activate the chip and found the relevant information before continuing: "After the Han Taibao Zhen Han, the Zhen family of the two thousand stones?" ”

"That's right, it's Zhen." Saying that, Mi Zhen remembered something, pointed at Lu Rengui and said with a smile: "I forgot, sir, you once said to people about the three beauties in the world, and this third beauty is the Zhen family's Xiaomi...... Have you ever seen Xiao Mi, sir? Calculate the age, Zhen Xiaomi is only fourteen years old this year, how old was you when you met her, sir? If you arrived in Xuzhou four years ago, she would not have been ten years old! ”

"Xiao Mi? I'm still Xiaomi! It's so dear! ”

Lu Ren muttered this sentence in his heart and shook his head at Mi Zhen: "How can I have seen it?" It's just that when I was in Puyang Tuntian some time ago, I heard of her glamorous name. ”

Mi Zhen's cherry lips pursed a few more times, and she said a little depressedly: "Xiao Mi is six years younger than me, and she is already famous for her beauty at the age of fourteen this year...... However, Xiaomei admitted that Xiaomi has been a beauty embryo since she was a child, and it is better for Xiaomei to stand with her. ”

Lu Ren also secretly calculated that Cao Cao conquered Yecheng in the ninth year of Jian'an, and after breaking the city, Cao Piqiang accepted Zhen Mi, who was twenty-one years old at the time. It is now the second year of Jian'an, that is, 21-7, and Zhen Mi is just fourteen years old.

"Oh......" Lu Ren couldn't help but raise his head and start thinking about it, but immediately shook his head and didn't think about these unrelated things, and then said to Mi Zhen: "Don't mention this, don't mention this, you are going to tell me how you know the Zhen family?" ”

Mi Zhen glanced at Lu Ren and said: "Back then, my Mi family went to Luoyang to sell goods, and I also had a lot of business dealings with the Zhen family. Although it is not a generational relationship with Zhen, there is always some friendship. I remember that it was when the Yellow Turban first disappeared, when Dong Zhuo did not enter Luoyang, I went to Luoyang with my eldest brother to do business, and when I came back, I went to Zhongshan to buy barter with Zhen's family, and I also lived in Zhen's Village for several months, and Zhen's five daughters were my playmates at that time. ”

Lu Renxin said that this is really interesting, and he can be regarded as accidentally knowing some interesting anecdotes in the Three Kingdoms.

Mi Zhen said: "Zhen's was originally mainly in the jade business, but when mining jade a few decades ago, he accidentally discovered a large iron mine, so Zhen's also started a copper and iron business. Xiaomei led the caravan over this time, and they saw the relationship with my Mi family, and there should be no problem in selling me a few thousand catties of iron, but the price may not be cheap. ”

After listening to these explanations, Lu Ren finally put his mind at ease, nodded vigorously and said, "It's okay to have less, I can deal with Xun Wenruo." As for the matter of money and food, I will say hello to Xun Wenruo when I go back, and ask for more money and food. And if you calculate how many people the caravan needs, I'll just transfer it to you......"

Mi Zhen hurriedly shook her head and said, "Absolutely not!" ”

"What's wrong?"

Mi Zhen explained: "After all, the current situation is not right, and this resale of a large amount of copper and iron cannot alarm the government, at least not Yuan Benchu's side." Of course, the money and grain from Xu Du's side must be transferred to me, but it must not be in the name of Cao Gong. Otherwise, I am afraid that it will harm the Zhen family, and the Zhen family will definitely not sell iron to me when they consider this matter. ”

Lu Ren was reminded by this, but he also remembered that the current Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were at odds with each other, so it was also very common for Yuan Shao to secretly deliberately restrict the development of Cao Cao's strength. And the Zhen family can only be regarded as a local wealthy family, where can they dare to offend Yuan Shao?

Mi Zhen saw Lu Ren's thoughtful expression and nodded: "Mr. should have figured out what was going on." So this time, I have to come forward and buy from the Zhen family in the name of my Mi family's private businessman. If Tianxing buys it back, it cannot be directly resold to the official warehouse here in Xudu, but it is necessary to deliberately break up the whole goods, sell them to the surrounding areas of Xudu, and then buy them from the private sector by the Xudu government, or directly buy money from those military offices. In this way, Hebei can not be suspicious and not harm the Zhen family. If Xu Du still needs to buy copper and iron in the future, there is a precedent to follow and Zhen sees no risk before he will resell it to me again. ”

Lu Ren thought that this was not bad, he originally planned to take the lead in driving the market circulation here in Xuchang by Mi Zhu, but now he is stalling such a thing, and it has a bit of a taste of promoting the waves. After thinking about it again, Lu Ren smiled dryly: "I understand!" What the hell is this sister? Obviously, the official family purchased copper and iron, but it was like reselling tax evasion and private goods. ”

"Taxes?"

Mi Zhen froze slightly when she heard this word, and immediately remembered something and said to Lu Ren: "There is another very important thing, that is, the money and grain for the purchase of iron this time are secretly issued by the government, so you must give me a tax exemption order along the way." Hebei is not under the jurisdiction of Cao Gong, and what should be paid still has to be paid, which is not a small amount, if it is returned to Xudu, it will be levied by the official family to pay a heavy tax on salt and iron......"