Handan, Guo Fu.

The status of merchants in Zhao is not low, although it is not as good as the aristocracy, but relying on the blessing of money, it is much higher than the status of ordinary civilians, you can travel by carriage, you can live in a luxurious house, and you will not be looked down upon because of the identity of a businessman.

Unlike the Qin State, merchants were frequently suppressed, not only were taxes extremely heavy and inferior, but even slaves had to serve as slaves, and even if they went bankrupt, their daughters-in-law had to be confiscated and slaved.

As one of the richest businessmen in Handan, Guo Mansion was built extremely luxuriously. Surrounded by powder walls, shaded by green trees, five steps on the first floor, ten steps on the first floor, ten steps on the first floor, the corridor waist is manback, the eaves teeth are high pecked, the dancing pavilion is singing, and the crest beast takes off.

Except that the height of the building is limited, it is not as good as the royal palace, and its magnificence is not much worse than that of the royal palace.

The spacious and bright hall can accommodate nearly 100 people, and there are no seats in the hall, but instead the tables and chairs that Zhao Guo has just emerged.

Zhao was close to the Hu people, and annexed Zhongshan, Daiguo, Loufu, Linhu and other foreign races, under the influence of the Hu people, the Zhao people were fierce, far more open than the Central Plains countries, and it was easier to accept new things.

Tables and chairs and other things relied on the convenience characteristics of the soldiers, and were brought home by the soldiers from the army, and quickly became popular from the bottom up in the Zhao State.

In addition, tables and chairs and other things are simple to make, the grade can be high or low, the rich people use Huanghua rosewood, please ask a good carpenter to do it, and the poor people can also use it if they find a wooden pier. Neither the poor nor the rich will refuse.

As a business tycoon, Guo Zong's use of nature cannot be ordinary tables and chairs. It is said that it is a special offer for the royal family, using the best rosewood, inviting the best carpenters and carvers in Zhao State, every mortise and tenon joint, every pattern has condensed all the efforts of the craftsman.

And it is a limited edition, only ten sets are sold every month, and one more set is not sold, and Guo Zonghao spent 500 gold to buy it, placed it in the middle of the hall, and kept it for pick-up.

On the table is the most exquisite and high-grade pen, ink, paper and inkstone of Zhao Guo, neat and tidy, very conspicuous, you can see it when you enter the hall. Although paper is scarce, as long as it can be bought with money, Guo Zong can get it.

At this time, Guo Zong and Zhuo Su, the head of the Zhuo family, were sitting in the hall, holding the tea transported by Bashu in their hands.

The history of tea drinking in China is too long to be examined, but in the Central Plains, it is mostly used for medicinal purposes or condiments, and is rarely drunk as tea.

However, since Zhao Kuo began to drink tea, tea gradually began to become popular in Zhao State, and even a large number of tea merchants in Bashu traveled thousands of miles to transport tea to Zhao State for sale.

There is a feeling that the king of Chu has a thin waist.

"What is Brother Guo looking for me? Now let's talk about it. Zhuo Su drank two sips of bitter tea, spit out the tea leaves into the bowl, and cursed in his heart, how could anyone like to drink this thing.

Guo Zong slowly finished the tea with an expression of enjoyment, then glanced at Zhuo Su, and said slowly: "There is news from the palace that the king is ready to take the cast iron back to the national franchise, I don't know what Brother Zhuo thinks?" ”

Zhuo Su's face did not change at all, and his breath was steady, obviously it was not the first time he had heard the news.

As a family with the same name as the Guo family, the news that the Guo family can get, his Zhuo family can naturally get it, and the government has not kept this matter secret at all.

"Did the DPRK send someone to discuss with Brother Guo?" Zhuo Su said.

"Brother Zhuo doesn't have to be tempted, since the DPRK has sent someone to negotiate with you, it will naturally send someone to negotiate with me. In this matter, our Guo Zhuo two families are not a competitive relationship, but a cooperative relationship, and only sincere cooperation can achieve greater benefits. Guo Zong said.

The two of them are the largest in the entire Zhao State Iron Smelting Mine, backed by the iron ore in the northwest of Handan, and the farm tools they create are not only sold to the Zhao State, but also to the Central Plains countries, and they will also build weapons for the rangers.

It is no exaggeration to say that the combined scale of iron smelting of Guo Zhuo's two families is enough to compete with the workshops of Zhao's domestic history, especially in the past few years, the main energy of Zhao's workshops has been focused on building weapons, and they are unable to take care of agricultural tools, and the wealth of the two families has continued to skyrocket.

It wasn't until after the end of the war that Zhao swallowed the workshops of Yanxiadu and Qi Gaotang, and the business of the two families gradually declined.

"The imperial court promised to give me the Guo family 5 percent of the right to operate farm tools, 2 percent of the right to operate coal, and the third son of Yin to study at Handan College. The demand is that all the blacksmiths, if they are slaves, including their relatives, be handed over to the workshop of Neishi, and that iron casting will not be allowed from now on. Guo Zong said.

This is the condition of the exchange between Zhao Guo and them, which is very reasonable and fair.

It seems that the profits are much less than before, but the scale of the Zhao Guo Workshop is constantly expanding, and the technology is constantly breaking through, creating more durable and cheaper farm tools.

In addition, Zhao Kuo has a super high prestige among the commoners, and everyone has changed to buy agricultural tools sold by the government.

In the long run, the Zhao market will inevitably be occupied by the authorities, and they can only go to other countries to sell.

Now the state of Zhao not only guaranteed their interests, but also provided them with an opportunity to climb up and become nobles.

As long as one of the three children performs well, with the conditions of the Guo family, it is possible to train them to become doctors, and even Feng Qing, and no businessman is not impressed when he sees it.

But there is a big drawback in this, that is, their lifeblood is all in the hands of the imperial court, once the supply is cut off by the imperial court, it will be like fish on the chopping board without any resistance.

This is what Guo Zong is really worried about, otherwise he would have agreed a long time ago.

"The conditions given to me by the imperial court are similar, 3 percent of the right to operate agricultural tools, 2 percent of the right to operate coal, and 2 percent of the right to operate salt." Zhuo Su said.

The Zhuo family is slightly deficient in the iron smelting industry compared to the Guo family, so the share given by the imperial court is relatively small, but in addition to the iron smelting industry, the Zhuo family also intervenes in the salt industry, lacquer industry, jade and other businesses.

"Listening to Brother Zhuo, are you very satisfied with the conditions of the imperial court?" Guo Zong raised his eyebrows.

"To be sure, the king has a large army at his disposal, and with the support of nobles and commoners, he doesn't need to go to such trouble if he wants to deal with us merchants. As soon as the 3,000 guards came to our house, we had to hand over everything obediently and with a smile on our faces, without any bargaining qualifications. The king chose to exchange with us because he treated us as his own, not as lambs to the slaughter or slaves to exploitation. ”

Zhuo Suming said.

When Qin Xiaogong appointed Shang Ying to change the law, Qin was worried about foreign troubles, and the environment was several times worse than that of the current Zhao State.

Qin Xiaogong still chose to change the law, suppressed all the resistance, and killed enough people to block the water.

Although the two of them joining forces can cause some turmoil to the Zhao State, it is only turmoil, and they will inevitably be raided afterwards and even punished.