The business environment of the Great Song Dynasty was unique in the ancient feudal society, and Bianliang was the most important.

There are four rivers in Bianliang, all of which are canals. From west to southeast is the Bianhe River, known as the Tongji Canal in ancient times, it is an important section of the Grand Canal dug in the Sui Dynasty, the upstream is connected to the Wuzhi Yellow River, and the downstream is connected with the Huai River and then leads to the south of the Yangtze River.

Flowing into Bianjing from the southwest was the Cai River, which led to the southern part of present-day Henan along the waterway. The Wuzhang River enters and exits from the northwest and northeast from Kaifeng, and most of the material transactions in the north are carried out through the Wuzhang River. There is also a river called the Jinshui River, which plays the role of connecting the other three rivers.

Among the four rivers, the busiest is undoubtedly the Bianhe River, which has the reputation of the lifeline of the Song Dynasty. Jiangnan is the richest region in the world, and the annual rice transported to Bianjing through the Bianhe River reaches 5 million stones, accounting for more than 80% of the total.

In addition to basic rations, the boats that shuttled back and forth on the Bianhe River also carried cloth, tea, salt, metal, feathers, glue, lacquer and other materials, and these goods were handled by merchants in addition to the government.

At this moment, hundreds of boats on the water of Tongji Canal are contending, and the ships have sailed into the Hongqiao Wharf, countless freight ships come and go, the workers on the wharf come and go, the carriages coming and going to the warehouse seem to have never stopped, and the shouts of the boatmen, the shouts of the slender men, and the shouts of the merchants come and go.

On the shore, there is another scene, with many teahouses and restaurants, rows of shops, signboards swaying in the wind, and countless stalls of all kinds on the street. Some people rest in the teahouse, some are fortune-telling, and some eat in the restaurant. The boats in the water and the dense population on the shore jointly construct this prosperous scene.

When the Tian family's merchant ship arrived at Hongqiao Wharf, several wealthy middle-aged people who were originally drinking tea in the teahouse got up one after another and watched from afar.

There is a large-scale wooden arch bridge on the Bianhe River, it has its sound in the "Qingming Riverside Map", it has a delicate structure, beautiful form, like a flying rainbow, so it is called Hongqiao. The Tian family's merchant ship was parked on the edge of the Hongqiao and was pulled into the parking position by the slender men.

Then a few merchants dressed in silk satin slowly came down from the ship, led by about fifty or sixty years old, with a thin build, and only wearing ordinary black silk robes, but no one dared to underestimate him.

Because he is Tian Chang, the largest tea boss in the Jianghuai region, he transported 200,000 catties of tea from Yangzhou to Bianliang during the Tianxi period, shocking the whole of Tokyo.

Although he was very miserable by Prime Minister Li Di that time, but also became famous, after paying money to save his life, Tian Chang and Bianliang and Jianghuai and other places 17 large tea merchants together to set up a tea shop, in the entire Bianliang tea trading market Tianjia tea shop has a pivotal position.

It's the time of year when tea is on the market.

Spring tea in the stunning of January, especially before the Qingming Dynasty is the best, at this time Tian Chang will buy tea in Yangzhou, Jianghuai and other places, and then immediately start to stir-fry, and after the tea is fried, it will be immediately packed on the ship and transported to Bianliang.

Therefore, from mid-March and early April, the tea is picked and then fried, and then after a month of transportation, just like in mid-May, the fresh tea leaves will arrive at the Bianliang Tea Trading Market.

At this moment, Tian Chang Shi Ran got off the ship, the housekeeper stayed on the boat and started docking with the dock workers under the ship, most of the guards also stayed on the ship to maintain order, and he only took seven or eight guards to the dock steps, ready to go to Fanlou for a meal first.

As a result, before he could go to the street, several people came over.

"Brother Tian!"

"Oh?"

Tian Chang looked at them and wondered, "Brother Zhou, Brother Wang, Brother Li, Brother Zheng, why do you have spare time to find the old man today?" ”

These wealthy middle-aged people are also in charge of major tea merchants, and they have established a tea shop with Tian Chang.

However, after all, there are competing interests among peers, although they built a tea shop together to maintain the chaotic order of the tea market, but this does not mean that their relationship is very good.

So seeing them coming, Tian Chang was still quite puzzled.

Everyone looked at each other, and then Zhou Yunsheng of the Zhou family's tea shop said: "Something did happen, Brother Tian still doesn't know." Today, I will wait for the east and go to Fanlou to eat and talk together. ”

"Okay."

Tian Chang saw that their expressions were more solemn, and he realized that something might indeed be wrong, so he followed.

Along the way, Tian Chang was wondering what was going on.

Tea is a market that is subject to great fluctuations, and sometimes a new policy of the imperial court, the price of daily necessities such as oil, rice, and salt rises, or a natural disaster occurs in a certain tea producing area, which may affect the price of tea.

Zhou Yunsheng and the others came over, it is very likely that something big happened this year, which affected the price of tea, so they came to him to discuss the market pricing.

It's just that what Tian Chang didn't expect was that the things involved had nothing to do with the price of tea.

The group soon arrived at Fan Lou, there are seventy-two top restaurants in Bianliang, especially Fan Lou, it is rumored that there is the shadow of the Great Song Dynasty royal family behind it, so it has become the most prosperous restaurant in Bianliang.

The Fan Tower is very large, consisting of five buildings: east, west, south, north and middle. There are three floors high, five floors facing each other, bead curtain embroidery, lights and candles flickering, flying bridge railing, light and dark communication. The overall building is undulating, the eaves are staggered, and each floor is connected by corridors, which is magnificent.

The tea merchants had already booked a place in Fan Lou, and after entering the box, all kinds of delicacies were quickly delivered, Zhou Yunsheng helped Tian Chang pour a glass of wine, Tian Chang saw that his attitude was so low, and he was very puzzled: "What happened." ”

"This ......"

Everyone looked at each other, and Zhou Yunsheng slowly spoke: "Brother Tian doesn't know yet, the imperial court is going to implement the money law again, Li Xianggong summoned me to Taifu Temple to talk, saying that if you want to get tea in the future, you must transport more grain and grass to the border." ”

His words suddenly opened everyone's chatterbox, and Wang Min, another head of the Wang family, said with a sad face: "Brother Tian, you also know that we can't compare to your family's big business, and we can only support our family by relying on the border pass and valuing some goods." And in the future, not only will there be no overestimation, but this tea will also have to work a lot......"

"yes, didn't that kill us? Transporting grain and grass to the border is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the cost is extremely high, and the slightest carelessness may cause losses. It doesn't hurt if you lose some money, it's good to get tea, but who can say for sure what tea is? ”

"The price of tea does not seem to fluctuate much this year, but if we want to get the tea introduction, we must transport grain to the border this year, and we can get the best spring tea next year. If prices fluctuate next year, we could be bankrupt overnight. ”

"Brother Tian, you have to help us this time. You know a lot of dignitaries, you can say something on it, if you can help, we will definitely write down this kindness, everyone said yes. ”

"Yes, yes, Brother Tian, you can say something."

The crowd was gossiping.

Tian Chang frowned and remained silent.

The world only said that the tea merchants colluded with the border officials and sucked the blood of the Song Dynasty, but they didn't know that the tea merchants were not easy to do.

Because the tea market fluctuates greatly, for example, there was a natural disaster in a certain place this year, and the imperial court sent disaster relief rice to the past, so the price of rice in Bianliang may rise, causing the price of tea to fall.

There is also a blockage of the Jianghuai Caoyun Canal, and the capsizing of salt and rice carriers or the delay in Bianliang for some days may make the tea market close to collapse and no one will buy it.

After all, no matter how good tea is, it can't be compared with food, compared to the necessities of life, tea can only be ranked below rice, salt, and oil, and it is far less important than the previous ones.

Therefore, the tea merchants seem to make a lot of money, but due to the continuous natural disasters in recent years, the rise in rice prices, and the difficulty of selling tea, the life of the tea merchants is also getting worse, and many people rely on sucking the blood of the imperial court to maintain a luxurious life.

Now that the imperial court is not allowed to suck blood, the income has plummeted, and if the market fluctuates again next year, many tea merchants may go bankrupt.

So these people united in the hope of opposing the implementation of the New Deal.

However, Tian Chang didn't really want to get involved in this matter.

Because he is the largest tea merchant in Bianliang and even the country, in order to increase the adhesion of customers, Tianjia Tea Shop even has a trademark.

There is an icon drawn on the packaging of the tea sold out by Tianjia Tea Shop, a tender green tea leaf in the box, and the shape of the tea leaves is like a "ten" character, which is the "Tian" of Tianjia Tea Shop.

has such a great reputation, unless no one drinks tea in the entire Great Song Dynasty, it is impossible for him to go out of business.

So others need to make more money by sucking the blood of the imperial court, he doesn't need to, in the past, Tian Chang transported the most grain to the border, took the most tea, and overestimated the money he earned, he earned it if he could, and it didn't matter if he couldn't earn it, he was not bad for these three melons and two dates.

And the most important thing is that Tian Chang is well versed in a truth, that is, the people do not fight with the officials.

He is a native of Jianghuai, and some time ago he heard that Guo Chengyou, the governor of Bozhou, was arrogant and domineering, and he set his sights on the famous paintings of the Tang Dynasty of the Zhang family, a wealthy merchant in Bozhou, so he designed to make the Zhang family ruined. There is also Sun Wei, the governor of Hangzhou, who directly robbed people's daughters, fabricated charges to frame wealthy businessman Xu Ming, and raped people's wives.

In the early years, Tian Chang was rectified by Li Di, although Tian Chang has made many high-ranking officials and nobles over the years, and also bought a false official in Taifu Temple, but compared with the real high-ranking officials, it is nothing.

Therefore, Tian Chang was actually reluctant to stand up for the people of the commercial house and resist the pressure of the government to oppose the implementation of the new policy.

But if he refuses now, if he doesn't say it well, he may be squeezed out by all the tea merchants in Bianliang, even if he is the largest tea merchant, he can't stand up to the attack.

So in the face of everyone's inquiries, he hesitated for a moment, and could only say euphemistically: "I don't know the specific situation of this matter yet, let me go to the King of Taifu Temple to judge the matter and ask about it first." ”

Taifu Temple is in charge of the government-run tea, and it has a traffic library and a tea warehouse, which can be said to be the lifeblood department of tea merchants, and it is also the department that deals with it the most.

The tea merchants all heard that Tian Chang had a very good relationship with the officials of Taifu Temple, and they were overjoyed for a while and thanked them.

"There is Brother Lao Tian."

"If Brother Tian comes forward, it will definitely be smooth sailing."

"In the future, Brother Tian will be driven, even if we go to the soup and fire, we will not give up."

The crowd complimented.

In the face of their praise, Tian Chang just smiled bitterly, picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and put it in his mouth, and the delicacy of the past was like chewing wax at this moment.

How do he know any top high-ranking officials, I'm afraid there is nothing he can do this time.