Li Siye guessed that for such a big matter, businessmen should also consider it carefully, and it was right to delay coming, and after someone thought about it, they would naturally come over for consultation.

He continued to wait, and after another half a month, no one came. It made him feel bad! At present, there are many people in the Metropolitan Protectorate waiting to see his jokes, and if things are messed up, not only will his face be dull, but even Fu Meng Lingcha will lose face.

People who do things always have to take all kinds of risks, but people who do nothing can happily watch others work and be unlucky.

The sun shone hotly in the compound, and the officials knelt in front of the desk wearing hats, sweat dripping from the top of their heads, and sometimes raised their heads and squinted their eyes to glance at the sun.

They complained especially to Li Siye in their hearts, and secretly laughed at him for his whimsical and unexpectedly wanted to hand over the post station of the government to the merchants to build, not to mention that the merchants revered the Anxi Protectorate, but in fact, they stayed away, and it was impossible to do business with the government, and they lacked the most basic trust at all.

The Metropolitan Protectorate holds a murderous knife in his hand, and it is not equal in terms of power or interpretation. How dare the traders come, aren't they afraid that the Duhufu will suddenly regret and take back the post station?

Li Siye sat anxiously under the eaves steps, there was still some residual soup left in the tea, he threw the empty cup in his hand to the felt, stood up and waved to the officials: "Let's stop here today, and continue to wait in the courtyard tomorrow." ”

The officials stood up with gloomy faces, each covered their faces with their hats, and muttered to themselves: "I'll come tomorrow, I'll wait, no one will come for more than ten years!" ”

They were about to carry the desk and futon into the house, when a slightly chubby face peeked out from behind the door, and they saw two soldiers standing on the left and right of the doorpost, and suddenly retracted their heads.

Li Siye's eyes were swift, and he immediately shouted towards the gate: "Who was it just now?" Why don't you want to enter the door? ”

The two guards of the Imperial Court immediately went out and "invited" the person who was snooping outside the door to enter, and this person looked very nervous, as if he had followed the Hades Palace, and came to the steps of the main hall with a nervous expression.

Li Siye felt a little hope, stretched out his hand and beckoned to him and asked, "I just saw you appear at the door, why did you shrink back again?" ”

This man wears a coarse garment of arrowroot, close-fitting but wears silk, a thick scarf on the top of his head, and a shawl hanging down to his shoulders to block the wind and sand. He asked tentatively in a low voice: "I heard that the Metropolitan Protectorate has built more than fifty more post stations in Anxi, and wants us businessmen to pay for the repairs, not in the form of voluntary donations, so I specially came to take a look." I...... That's just to see, you're not going to force me to do it, are you? “

"Of course not!" Li Siye was particularly excited, since someone came to the door, it showed that this matter was still tempting to the businessmen, but I don't know what kind of concerns made them hesitate.

"Come, please be seated." Li Siye stretched out his hand and invited him to take a seat on the felt in front of the eaves.

The vendor waved his hand again and again, saying that he didn't dare: "I'm just a merchant traveler, how dare I sit opposite General Li, I'm still standing at the bottom of the steps." ”

"It's okay, today in business, since you are here to discuss business with the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, then our relationship is equal now, just partners, please sir!"

Li Siye, a gentleman, called the vendor to the bloody brain, and was very excited: "How dare you, how dare you, I am just a small businessman, how dare I be worthy of the word sir." That, I still don't sit down, the law of the first emperor cannot be violated. ”

He was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that Tang Gaozu Li Yuan had issued a decree restricting merchants, stipulating that the children of merchants were not allowed to be officials and not participate in the imperial examinations. He, the official of the Imperial Protectorate, did not expect it for a while, but the merchant remembered it firmly.

"Okay." Li Siye no longer insisted, scooped out a bowl of tea from the teapot, and handed it to the other party: "Come, quench your thirst before negotiating." ”

He waited for the vendor to finish speaking, and then slowly spoke: "Ben Jiang has done a careful and thorough investigation of the central and southern roads on the Silk Road, and it is absolutely profitable to operate post stations on trade routes, but for a long time, the lack of unified management of post stations by the Metropolitan Protectorate has caused a lot of money to flow into the pockets of private individuals such as post chiefs. A while ago, it was not only found out that the head of the Chihe Post took advantage of the geographical advantages of the post station to charge high accommodation fees to past business travelers, and within ten years, he had collected more than 8 million dollars, counting his squandering and bribing his superiors, there were already more than 15 million. ”

"I calculated that even if I entertained business travelers at ordinary prices, I would be able to recover the money for building the inn in one year, and the remaining two years would be completely profitable. Do you think this business can be done? ”

The trader bowed and replied: "This account has also been calculated, and I know that it is profitable, but what I am afraid of is not losing money, but losing all my money." ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"We traders can do business safely on the Anxi Trade Road, all by the cover of the Duhufu, and we are naturally willing to do business with the Duhufu, but the officials and businessmen are different, and they have to rotate back and forth, in case we build the post station, and the Anxi Festival envoy is replaced by someone else, if we flatly deny the conditions between us and the Duhufu, and we have to take back the post station in the first year, won't we have nothing to lose?"

Li Siye was silent for a moment, he really didn't expect this.

Due to the lowly status of the merchants, they were indeed as weak as duckweed in front of the Metropolitan Protectorate, and once the Metropolitan Protectorate began to gather wool, the merchants had almost no room for resistance.

The vendor looked at Li Siye and whispered, "General Li is very courteous to me, so I naturally can't help but tell the truth. I'm afraid it's not just me, almost all businesses think so, we don't dare to do business with the imperial court, it's because of this, after all, once the son of heaven and a courtier, the new festival makes the throne, and it is easy to change the order. ”

This matter will be difficult to solve, and even if he Li Siye is responsible, he cannot guarantee to the merchants that the next Jiedu envoy will not forcibly take back the post station built by the merchants. The key is that he wants to guarantee, and no one believes it, who dares to believe in an uncontrollable future.

Li Siye pinched his chin and said: "The operating time of the merchants I posted on the notice is three years after the completion of the post station, do you think that in these three years, the four towns will be changed?" ”

The merchant solemnly crossed his hands and said: "We have no way of predicting this matter, and we dare not take such a risk." ”

He then focused on the topic and asked, "Who do you think the festival envoy will be replaced?" Whoever has this possibility to ascend to the position of the envoy of the Four Towns Festival. ”

"I don't dare to say this, and it's hard to say."

He stood up from the felt carpet, folded his hands in front of his lower abdomen, raised his head and said: "What dare you not say, as a merchant, you have been walking the silk post road for a long time, and you have to watch and listen to all directions, how can you not have your own prediction of the future movements of the capital protection mansion." If you speak out boldly, the official will not blame. ”

The merchant glanced left and right, and saw that no one was eavesdropping, so he boldly said: "If there is a change in the future of the Four Towns Festival, and the imperial court does not transfer it from other places, the Four Towns Festival will be the only one in the future." ”

The businessman's political sense of smell is really sensitive, and he even guessed that he is not far from ten, which undoubtedly also made him see a glimmer of life. Li Siye pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "If I re-post the announcement, the announcement will not only be stamped with the official document seal of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, but also the seals of Tian Renwan and the deputy capital protector Meng Lingcha. In your opinion, can you merchants be trusted? ”

When the merchant heard this, he solemnly crossed his hands and said, "Of course you can!" As long as the Jie Du and Fu Meng Du can show their determination and show their full support for the merchants to build the station, we will naturally dare to take this risk. ”

"You stand back and wait first, and I'll go to Fumengduhu."

A moment later, Li Siye stood in Fu Menglingcha's study, bowing with his hands crossed to report the report.

Fumeng Duhu raised his head, tugged at his beard and thought: "You said that the merchants are afraid that the Duhu Mansion will change its decree overnight, and they are afraid that the money they invested will be wasted. ”

"It's true, they are worried that after the change of power in Anxi, the new Jiedu envoy will overthrow the previous one, so they are afraid to come and unveil the list."

"This is really difficult, this is not guaranteed." Fumeng Lingcha shook his head and smiled, and asked him, "Have you come up with any good ideas?" ”

"Yes, yes?"

"Huh?" Fu Meng Lingcha raised his head in surprise: "Say." ”

"The Anzai Metropolitan Protectorate will re-present a public notice, which must not only have the official seal of the Metropolitan Protectorate, but also the seal of Tanaka Cheng and you, so that the suspicions of merchants all over the world can be solved."

"Oh, I want my big seal to be stamped ......" He suddenly looked up with a smile and asked, "What does this mean?" Stamping me with a seal of deputy protection can relieve their worries? Could it be that I have ......?"

"That's right," Li Siye clasped his hands in front of his chest, and his voice was low and determined: "The merchants are traveling in the west of the moraine, and they naturally have a keen estimation of the situation and movements of the Metropolitan Protectorate, they trust their own judgment, as long as you stamp your own big seal, they will be equivalent to getting the oath certificate of the next Jiedu envoy." ”