Chapter 37: Restless City (I)

The tea and horse trading market in Kitahara Castle is located in the center of the city, and the tea horse market is close to the Kitahara Yingshofu, and the Kitahara Tea and Horse Division, which manages the tea horse market, is located in the tea horse market.

The bell and drum tower had just rang the bell, and a long queue had already formed in front of the tea and horse market, and there were barbarians from tribes such as Menggu, as well as Han Chinese.

After the bell rang and reached the tea horse market, the official in charge of the tea horse market ordered several soldiers to sound the gong.

The gong sounded and the tea horse market opened in the early morning with the crisp sound of the gong. A soldier with a small flag pushed open the gate of the tea horse market, and the merchants who were anxiously waiting outside the tea horse market gradually entered the tea horse market.

He Tengxiao lined up behind a large caravan of fifty or sixty people, and He Tengxiao was observing this big caravan from the beginning of the queue. The leader of this caravan was a middle-aged man dressed in straight clothes, with a distinct scar on the left cheek and a shrewdness in his eyes that was characteristic of an old merchant who had been up and down in the business sea for a long time. The fifty or sixty dart masters behind him were not inferior to the elite warriors led by He Tengxiao.

As the gates of the Tea Horse Market opened, the caravan finally began to move forward. Since there had been two rounds of checks before entering Kitahara Castle, the guards of the Tea Horse Market did not conduct any further checks on the merchants who entered the Tea Horse Market.

"Something is wrong with these people." He Tengxiao whispered to Ling Feng.

"What's wrong?" Ling Feng was a little puzzled, the outstanding feature of this caravan was its large scale, and he really didn't see anything special about the others. It was common for Jin merchants' caravans to have hundreds of people at every turn, and it was not uncommon for a caravan of fifty or sixty people to appear in the Tea Horse Market.

He Tengxiao pointed to the rut of the caravan wheel in front of him that had run over the land, and some pointed to the rut of another caravan car next to him. Ling Feng finally saw that something was wrong with this caravan.

"The cars of the two caravans are covered with tea leaves, but the ruts are of different depths, the third master is saying, the group in front of us, there are still things hidden under the tea leaves?" Ling Feng saw some doorways.

He Tengxiao looked at the rut and nodded slightly: "The weight of tea is relatively light, it is impossible to press out such a deep rut, what is heavy and the ancient people need?" ”

"Needless to say." Chang Qing leaned into He Tengxiao's ear and whispered, "Iron tools, the ancient people lacked iron, and it can be used for three or four generations to repair the broken pot." ”

Ling Feng gasped after hearing this, the caravan in front of him had nearly thirty cars, and even if each car was counted as one hundred catties of iron, there were nearly three thousand catties of iron in it!

The Great Zhao Empire strictly controlled iron tools, especially the control of iron tools flowing into foreign tribes, and it was even more strict to the point that it could not be increased. In the tea and horse market, the empire even explicitly forbade the use of copper coins to trade with foreign tribes, in order to prevent the foreign tribes from melting the copper coins obtained through the tea and horse trade into weapons.

Of course, the empire's ban on the use of copper coins for trading also has a level of consideration, the empire's copper reserves are low, and the mint's annual output of copper coins is limited, if the price of horses is discounted into copper coins, a horse is equivalent to more than 30 copper coins, and the financial resources of the Great Zhao Empire cannot afford it. During the Muzon period, the empire allowed the use of copper coins for tea and horse trading for a while, but soon a large amount of copper coins flowed into foreign tribes, resulting in a shortage of money in the empire. The empire soon banned the use of copper coins for the tea and horse trade, and all things considered, it was most beneficial for the Great Zhao Empire to trade tea and horses. Since then, whether it is the tea and horse market in the north or the south, the empire only allows tea to be with foreign tribes.

The horse market has already begun, and there is a lot of commotion in the tea and horse market, and large caravans have occupied good areas in the horse market, waiting for buyers to come and trade. The small caravans could no match the larger caravans, so they could only huddle in remote corners, shouting loudly to attract the attention of the buyers. The law of the jungle is vividly and vividly manifested in this small tea and horse market.

The officials and soldiers of the Tea and Horse Division had no intention of maintaining order in the tea and horse market, and leaned against the fence at the entrance of the Tea and Horse Division to talk and laugh, and even sat directly on the steps under the gate of the Tea and Horse Division, leaving their weapons aside. The Tea and Horse Division is responsible for the trading of the tea and horse market, and is responsible for maintaining the order of the tea and horse market and checking whether the tea and horse trading is trading contraband. But now, how can the officials and soldiers of the Tea and Horse Division in Beiyuan City have the slightest appearance of the Tea and Horse Division?

"The Beiyuan Tea Horse Market is in such a mess, no wonder Peng Chaodong wants to intervene in the Beiyuan Tea Horse Market." Ling Feng muttered.

"These people are also a little bolder, and dare to trade iron tools in the tea and horse market." Chang Qing said as he stared at the caravan.

"One hundred and fifty catties of medium tea for a high-grade handsome, and fifty catties of refined iron can be exchanged for a high-grade handsome, which is more cost-effective than trading, what is there to dare." He Tengxiao remembered Marx's words: If capital has 50 percent profits, it will take risks, if it has 100 percent profits, it will dare to trample on all the laws of the world, and if it has 300 percent profits, it will dare to commit any crime, and even risk being hanged. The use of iron tools instead of tea trading yielded more than 300 percent of the profits.

handed over the tea and horse donations to the officials of the Tea and Horse Division, and He Tengxiao received the receipts issued by the officials to trade with the barbarians.

"Is that you?" Tong Jie saw He Tengxiao crying out excitedly. He said a few words to a young man in his twenties on the side.

The outfits of the young man and the dozen or so people around him were not much different from those of the Han Chinese. He Tengxiao thought to himself that the little girl's surname was Tong, and these people should be from the Tong Department. The Tong tribe was originally a big clan in Hebei, and in the rebellion of the feudal towns in the late Tang Dynasty, several Hebei tribes led by the Tong led 100,000 displaced people to eat in order to escape the war in Hebei. These displaced people survived in the cracks of foreign territory, and after decades of hard work, they settled outside the Saiwai. A unique tribe was formed outside the Saiwai.

After Taizu Taizong swept away the universe and ruled the world, Tongbu repeatedly wrote to request the return of Hebei. However, Emperor Taizong refused to return the Tong Department to Hebei on the grounds that the Tong people had moved to the wild land for a long time, and had changed to Han customs, which was no different from Yidi, and his heart was unknown.

In fact, although the Tong tribe has moved to the outside of the country for hundreds of years, for hundreds of years, the Tong tribe has always insisted on retaining the customs of the Han people, and it is forbidden to intermarry with the barbarians within the clan.

After listening to Tong Jie's words, the young man hugged his fist at He Tengxiao: "Tong Zhen in the lower children's department, thank you for saving the strong man." ”

He Tengxiao talked with the young man for a few words, and the young man was extremely enthusiastic when he heard that He Tengxiao had come to buy a horse. Pulling He Tengxiao to look at his horse.

Tong Zhen brought more than 50 good horses from the tribe to the Beiyuan Tea and Horse Market to trade this time, and He Tengxiao was very satisfied with Tong Zhen's horses. This time, he brought 3,000 catties of medium-sized tea and 500 catties of high-grade tea, which could buy Tong Zhen's 30 good horses at a discount.

After watching Tong Zhen's horse, He Tengxiao asked Wen Kelong to take Tong Zhen to see their tea. He Tengxiao's tea was not shoddy, and Tong Zhen was satisfied with He Tengxiao's tea after reading it, and was willing to make a deal.

The first transaction went so smoothly, and He Tengxiao was very happy. At this moment, the caravan that He Tengxiao had been paying attention to for a long time came over, and after seeing Tong Zhen's horses, he asked Tong Zhen how to trade these horses.

After Tong Zhen quoted the price, the middle-aged man with a scar on his face asked a few people who looked like a dart master to push a few carts of tea, and Tong Zhen was not allowed to say that he wanted to buy all of Tong Zhen's horses.

"This master, these horses have all been sold, a small business, and I hope this master will understand." Tong Zhen's face was embarrassed, and the corner of his eye swept over the tea leaves pushed up by the dart master. Although the middle-aged man with a scar on his face said that these tea leaves were high-quality teas, a discerning person would know at a glance that these tea leaves were only medium tea leaves. Tong Zhen was naturally reluctant to trade with them.

The middle-aged man with a scarface did not allow Tong Zhen to say anything, left the tea leaves to buy Tong Zhen's handsome, threw away a few carts of so-called high-quality tea, and ordered the dart master to step forward and lead the horse away.

Tong Zhen sent people to ask for help from the officials of the Tea and Horse Division, and the officials of the Tea and Horse Division were very familiar with this caravan. Where is Tong Zhen willing to take care of? Tong Zhen was so anxious that he stomped his feet and wanted to cry without tears. More than fifty Liangjun went back in exchange for these carts of medium tea, how could he explain to the head of the family?

"Stop! I've already bought these horses, and you can't take them away! He Teng shouted angrily.

He Tengxiao's shouting was like thunder, which alarmed the people around him, and the dart master who led the horse was stunned, not knowing whether to lead the horse away.

Chang Qing was in a hurry, and took a few old pawns to snatch the horse and snatch the reins from the hands of the dart masters.

The middle-aged man with a scar-faced face glanced at the officials of the Tea and Horse Division, and the first official wearing a cyan official robe called five or six soldiers of the Tea and Horse Division swaggered over, and scolded: "The tea and horse market is important!" When the city forcibly seized other people's goods, did you still take my Da Zhao Law in your eyes! ”

The swaggering over official came over with the cyan robe embroidered with the yellow oriole complement, which means that the official is a civil official of the eighth grade, and the deputy of the tea and horse division is the eighth grade. This official is He Yunting, deputy of the Beiyuan Tea and Horse Division.

He Tengxiao was dressed in a simple power suit, and Wen Kelong's dress was also very ordinary. He Yunting only regarded Wen Kelong as an ordinary businessman, and He Tengxiao was the dart master hired by Wen Kelong to escort the tea.

"They are the ones who take the goods of others! Not us! Chang Qing pointed at the middle-aged man with a scarface and said angrily.

"Bold." He Yunting's voice was violent, and the five or six tea horse soldiers behind him showed their snow-white blades, "What are you holding in your hand!" The evidence is conclusive, do you still want to reverse right and wrong?! Come on, expel these people from the tea and horse market! ”

Five or six soldiers rushed up violently to expel He Tengxiao and others from the tea and horse market. He Tengxiao drank coldly and showed his blade: "I see which of you dares!" As the head of the tea and horse division, I don't know how to maintain the order of the tea and horse market, and secretly cover up illegal transactions, these crimes, not to mention that the official robe of the Huangli complement on your body is not guaranteed, and even the head on your head will not be protected! ”

He Tengxiao's momentum was compelling, He Yunting listened to it and his heart went up and down, He Yunting thought to himself, could it be that this person had really seen through the relationship between him and Qiao Shaoyuan?

The middle-aged man with a scarface is a Jin merchant in Pingyao, who has taken care of the Qiao family's business in Liaodong for many years.

"Insulting and framing in the city is also a felony!" Qiao Shaoyuan saw that He Yunting's heart was weak, and five or six soldiers saw He Tengxiao showing his blade, and they didn't dare to move forward hesitantly, so they cheered them on the side.

With Qiao Shaoyuan cheering He Yunting up, He Yunting was much more confident, and drank the tea and horse soldiers to take He Tengxiao.

"That's them! They were the ones who beat our brothers in the street yesterday! ”

At this time, dozens of soldiers from the northern plains broke into the tea horse market, and the military attache at the head was a thousand households