Yang Yuanqing took out two copper coins, one is the new money he issued, and the other is the old Daye money, he put the money on the table and said to everyone: "Everyone is familiar with these two coins, I heard that some people use the difference between these two coins in the Sui and Tang Dynasties to make huge profits, I don't know if any of you here have done this, I want to remind you here, I have given an order to the army, strictly prohibit the big cause money in Guanzhong from entering Hedong, of course, a small amount can, everyone can not carry more than ten hangs of big cause money, first warn half a month, After half a month, those who exceed 1,000 hangings will be directly arrested and imprisoned, and the money will be confiscated. It's very simple, go buy goods and enter the country, don't violate the ban again, I will remind you of this matter first. ”

A merchant said: "Back to Your Highness, we have all heard about this matter, but we did not do it, for us, it is too risky to walk in Guanzhong with a huge amount of copper coins, this matter is done by the merchants over there in Guanzhong, His Royal Highness prohibits the entry of Daye money, which also blocks their door, I believe this matter will not be repeated in the future." ”

"Alright! In that case, I will not talk about this matter again. ”

Yang Yuanqing didn't mention this matter anymore, and as soon as the topic changed, he smiled again: "Since the new money was issued, it has been more than half a year, and we have a large amount of exchanged Daye money in our hands, which are piled up in the warehouse of Jinyang Palace, and we planned to destroy all of them, but I heard that Guanzhong and Bashu are still passing the Daye money, so I thought, instead of destroying them, you don't need to use them to buy some materials from Guanzhong and come back, I know that you big businessmen have their own ways, I want to hand over the money to you, and you will buy materials for me, any material can be, food, Oil and salt, cloth, tea, silk, cattle and sheep, wood, etc. Well done this, I'll take credit for your work, how about it? ”

Fifteen businessmen stared at each other, they only now understood what the King of Chu was looking for them to do, just now he said something that made them excited for a long time, it turned out that they were asked to dig out the family of the Tang Dynasty, and it was not impossible to do it with their way, but once it was seized by the Tang Dynasty. Of course, the risk of goods has nothing to do with them, but the loss of people and mules and horses is theirs, which contains great risks.

After a long silence, the oldest merchant said, "Your Highness, there will be a lot of risk in doing this, and we are worried about ......"

Don't wait for him to finish. Yang Yuanqing interrupted his words with a wave of his hand, and said lightly: "You are all famous big businessmen in Hedong County, and you are close to Guanlong, I am a layman, and I don't know how to avoid risks, but you should know, you should go back and discuss this matter!" The money will arrive from Taiyuan in two days, and I am waiting for your good news. ”……

The fifteen businessmen all went back helplessly, Pei Wenjing temporarily went to deal with it in advance, and only Yang Yuanqing and Du Yan were left in the council hall.

When Yang Yuanqing was talking to the businessmen. Du Yan basically didn't say much, but he had a lot of worries in his heart, and it was only at this time that he said cautiously: "Don't hide it from the manager, in fact, I also think that this matter is very risky, once the Tang Dynasty finds out, they will indeed encounter great danger." ”

Yang Yuanqing didn't pay too much attention to this risk, he smiled and said: "Du Taishou doesn't have to worry about them in this matter, they are all businessmen, they know how to avoid risks, and they will definitely not put themselves in danger." They know a lot more than the government, so they might as well leave a lot of things to do, and they will do better. ”

Du Yan saw that Yang Yuanqing was confident, and this matter had been decided, and there was no point in him worrying, so he thought of another thing and said, "Actually, what I'm really worried about is the Chamber of Commerce. This will unite the merchants, and in the future they will twist into a rope and fight against the government, and these merchants are very smart. Sophisticated and shrewd, if it is a plate of scattered sand, the government is very good to deal with them, kill one, the others are afraid, but the Chamber of Commerce is different, they have enough financial and material resources to confront the government, if they are co-opted by the Tang Dynasty, it is a big hidden danger, Chief, I really don't approve of letting them set up a Chamber of Commerce. ”

Yang Yuanqing sneered slightly while holding the tea bowl, "You think too much, it's too far, since ancient times, the people will only rise up to rebel if they don't have a good life, when have you heard of businessmen rebelling?" Businessmen are shrewd people, they want profit, not power, if they twist the rope and confront the government, then there is only one possibility, corrupt officials and corrupt officials force all businessmen to be cornered, they will resist, isn't this good? Give the imperial history a clue. ”

Perhaps because he felt that his tone was a little too heavy, Yang Yuanqing softened his tone and said with a smile: "Du Taishou, I understand your worries, and I also believe that every Taishou will have the same worries, but you also have to think that when fighting for the world, businessmen are a force that cannot be ignored, they have a lot of money in their hands, but they have no status and are very low-key, so not many people notice them, they are an invisible force, I let them form a chamber of commerce, give them a little sweetness, and establish a business-oriented image, In this way, the businessmen will work for me, not for the Tang Dynasty, Du Taishou, in the future, if you have no money to build bridges and no food to run schools, you will go to the Chamber of Commerce and let them apportionment themselves, isn't this better than you knocking on doors and mobilizing from door to door? ”

Du Yan nodded silently, he somewhat understood what Yang Yuanqing meant, in troubled times, we should make full use of the power of merchants, and when they are strong and fat, we will consider new means, this is like releasing water to raise fish, one day, fat fish will eventually become the ruler's meal......

There is a mansion covering an area of ten acres in the west of Hedong City, which is the mansion of Zhang Yuanzhong, a big businessman in Hedong, that is, the oldest businessman, according to the house order of the Sui Dynasty, the merchant is actually not qualified to live in such a big house, and no matter how rich he is, he can only live in a small mansion covering an area of one or two acres.

It's just because of the war that the law doesn't have much binding force, so Zhang Yuanzhong bought this mansion covering an area of ten acres, in fact, with his financial resources, there is no problem with living in a hundred-acre mansion, but he doesn't dare to show off, this ten-acre mansion still has a lot of risks, and it is also because Du Yan and Pei Yuanjing are new officials, and they don't care about the violations of his residence.

In Zhang Yuanzhong's main hall, fifteen big businessmen gathered together to discuss the task given to them by Yang Yuanqing today.

A businessman said: "I estimate that the imperial court has accumulated tens of millions of money, once a large amount of money pours into the Tang Dynasty, buy goods, it will form a situation where money is cheap and expensive, prices skyrocket, the Tang Dynasty will immediately find out that we are making trouble, a decree down, all Hedong merchants are arrested, everyone said what to do?" ”

Another businessman surnamed Wang said: "Actually, it doesn't matter, the grain and materials in Guanzhong are largely from Bashu, we just need to control the amount of purchases, don't rush in to buy all at once, but buy goods in a long stream, and finally drain Bashu, not Chang'an, their prices are also rising little by little, and the court can't realize it, so if you insist on it for half a year, the purchase volume is considerable." ”

The merchant surnamed Li nodded and smiled: "Lao Wang is right, the key is to be skillful, I suggest not to touch the grain at the beginning, the grain and oil and salt are too sensitive, easy to attract attention and be discovered by the Tang Dynasty, you can start with cloth, silk, tea, wood, livestock, medicinal materials, and don't go to the large-scale caravan to purchase, break up the caravan, part of the Tongguan, part of the Pujin, and part of the Guannei, so that it is not easy to be found, maybe the Tang Dynasty is still very happy, the trade is prosperous, and the commercial tax has increased greatly, The money is rolling in, and when it is almost time at the end, we will concentrate on buying food, and as soon as we leave, the sky will fall in the middle of the gate. ”

Zhang Yuan nodded again, and said slowly to everyone: "Actually, there is a way, but it really doesn't work, just let the merchants in Guanzhong deliver the goods to the door, and we will purchase them locally, isn't it also risk-free?" The reason why I complained about the danger in front of the King of Chu was actually to let the King of Chu give us a little more benefit, such as after completing this matter, we can all be knighted, then we can justifiably ride in a carriage, buy a house, marry a concubine, and live without worrying all day long, don't you say? ”

Everyone laughed and gave a thumbs up, "It's still Lao Zhang who thinks far!" ”

Zhang Yuanzhong smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, to be honest, the King of Chu is already very good, promising to restore the merchant's nationality, remove all the regulations that discriminate against the merchant, and allow us to set up a chamber of commerce, of course, we also need to pay, for so many years, we just collect our own money, live underground like a mole, no matter how much money there is, what is the use, can we enjoy it?" The reason why the squires are famous is that they treat the villagers well and help the lonely and widowed elderly, today I heard the king of Chu call us the gentry, my face was a little red at that time, everyone, we can't afford the word "gentry"! ”

Everyone was silent, Zhang Yuanzhong was right, just want to get it and refuse to pay, it is impossible to get the respect of others, some time ago a large number of immigrants came to Hedong County, and the famous families in various townships have the money to contribute and make a strong contribution, but they are businessmen who shrank aside one by one, and no one is willing to come forward, no wonder people hate.

A businessman sighed: "Actually, I also thought that I should pay attention to the displaced hungry people, but I felt that my power alone was too small, and I also felt that it was a bit too much for me to contribute money and efforts, and others did not move, so I just thought about it and did not put it into practice." ”

Zhang Yuanzhong said with a smile: "So the king of Chu suggested that we set up a chamber of commerce, do it in the name of the chamber of commerce, and share the money and food consumed by everyone, in fact, there are not many of them, but the effect is very good, I suggest that we set up a chamber of commerce today." ”

Zhang Yuanzhong thought very well, and today he established a chamber of commerce in his mansion, so the leader of the meeting is him Zhang Yuanzhong.

"What about the things that the King of Chu explained?"

"It is estimated that the money from Taiyuan will arrive in two or three days, and after we set up the chamber of commerce, we can make a plan and then divide labor and work together to minimize the risk."