Spring and Autumn I Am King

In the spring of March, the position of the sun is in the stomach, and at dawn, Altair gradually moved to the middle of the southern sky, and the monsoon from the south began to blow. network

"The south wind is swept away, it can relieve the warmth of my people! In the time of the south wind, it can save the wealth of my people!"

After the sun shines, the songs that have been circulating in the area of ​​Anyi since Yu and Shun's time spread all over Yanchi again. Jiechi is surrounded by reeds and wetlands, where waterfowl and migratory birds gather. After entering the season of spring in March, there is a southeasterly wind blowing in southern Jinan, and the wind speed is the highest in the four seasons, which accelerates the evaporation of salt water in Xiechi and condenses into salt. The shape of the salt flower is crystal clear and transparent, with thousands of shapes. Finally, it hardened into piles of salt, one after another, looking like a snow-capped mountain from afar.

The people who work hard in this snow-white world are the salt workers who belong to the Wei family of Jinqing. They work all the year round and their skin is tanned like black worker ants on the snow.

They were in groups of ten or five on the salt field under the scorching sun. The stronger one used a copper ax and pick to carve out a crack in the huge and hard salt mountain, and then the others held a wooden stick in each hand and inserted it into the crack. In the middle, the joint force prys a salt plate off the whole. They were then knocked into pieces, ground into powdered salt, and poured into the sacks of kudzu, which were woven very finely by their wives and daughters.

After that, salt officials will come to the carriages to load salt bags, and transport them to Anyi, Xintian, Pingyang, and even Handan, Chaoge, Wen and other places east of Taihang. Or cross the river from Mengjin and deliver it to Zhou as one of the few tributes in Jin.

Of course, this so-called "tribute" also has to be paid. Wei's famous business is not at a loss. Yanchi does not need to be cut and boiled like sea salt. 60,000 minutes, and there are 40,000 to 50,000 hours when the difference is poor, which can barely meet the needs of Jin.

The environment below is cruel, the sun above is fierce, and the lifespan of salt workers is usually not long, but the Wei family does not allow people who are engaged in this 100-fold profit to move. It can only be done generation after generation. But in the past year, Wei's eldest son gave them a chance. He began to select hard-working and able-bodied men from the salt workers to join the army. Training "Wei Wu pawns".

Salt workers can endure hardships and cooperate well, and they are extremely suitable to be soldiers. However, Wei Ju, who had just seen Zhao Yang's victory from Xintian, began to suspect that he had returned to help his father with the affairs of Anyi. Will I have a chance in my life to use them to compete with Zhao Wuxi?

Zhao Wuzun had already proved himself, but his Wei Wuzun only had a small victory.

"After all, I just deliberately followed suit and attached it to my tail." He was a little discouraged for a while, until Linghu Bo, his cousin who was in charge of hiring and farming, came to report that it was Zhao's messenger who came to Anyi.

...

Wei Ju did not appear in person, but asked Linghu Bo to meet Zhao's messenger and called him to discuss.

"What is Zhao's intention?"

Linghu Bo's eyes gleamed: "Sir, the Zhao family wants to buy salt from the Wei family, and the amount is not small. It takes four thousand hours a year!"

"So much?" Wei Ju was a little surprised for a while, this is equivalent to one-fifteenth of the annual output of Yanchi.

Jinyang has a lot of brine, which can be used as soil salt. The annual output is nearly 10,000 hours. Although the quality and taste are not good, the Zhao family usually relied on these soil salts for their own use in previous years. Only Xintianxiagong and Wenji Pool salt is required.

What happened this year? How could Zhao's demand for salt suddenly increase so much.

"It must be because Xilu lacked salt, Zhao Zitai asked Zhongjun for help. Zhao's self-produced salt industry was barely enough, so he made his idea to understand the pool!" Linghu Bo usually has more contact with foreign countries and trade affairs. Knowing the salt ban policy of Qi State that started in February, he immediately predicted that the flow of these salts must be in the area of ​​Lu State.

"What does my Father mean?"

"Now that the Zhao clan is strong, it will be difficult to evade the army, so the reason is that the matter of cargo farming is handed over to the prince. The generation has been sent here."

Hearing that his father handed over this important trade to himself, Wei Ju was moved but also ashamed. Now that the two powers of Zhao are opposed to each other, and the war in the east of Taihang has not been extinguished, it is the time when he is seeking to grow for his clan.

at this time. Lu Xingjin, a martial artist who is good at archery, said: "Since the head of the family allows the prince to make his own choice, it would be better to reject Zhao's request, let Zhao Wuxie lack salt, and make his subordinate Zhao Wuzun so weak that he can't even shoot arrows, why? !"

"Impossible." Linghu Bo quickly waved his hand to stop Lu Xing's words.

"Ah Xing is confused. Now that the Zhao clan has the prestige of a great victory, and its power is strong, how can he categorically refuse, making the Zhao clan resent me?"

Lu Xing turned his head away angrily, while Linghu Bo suggested with bright eyes, "Why don't the Zhao clan attack Qi Wei and bring back a lot of prisoners and money, this is a good way to make his generation bleed. Opportunity. Chi salt is sold at a low price for only 300 empty firsts for one minute. Now Zhao's urgent request, it is better to sell it for 2,000 empty firsts for one minute, and for 4,000 bells of salt, you can receive millions of empty firsts. It's gone!" (The currency of Jin is a small pointed-footed empty head cloth, and its weight and purchasing power are about half of those of a large-scale Qi knife)

Wei Ju got up and paced the room. After thinking for a while, he denied this opportunity to easily earn a lot of money.

"No, that won't work either."

He taught Linghu Bo a lesson: "Since you know that the Zhao clan is strong, why would you raise the price of salt to make things difficult for them? We are a noble family, not a businessman, and our pursuit is not all profit. The place where salt is produced in the world is not only in Qi. And Anyi, I can't find it here. With Zhao Wuxi's temperament, he will naturally find a way elsewhere. At that time, the resentment will still form. This is an opportunity to send hot coal in the snow, so I will pay five It is sold for a hundred dollars a minute, but it can only be sold for three thousand bells.”

He Wei Ju is not stupid, so he will not be the Duke Mu of Qin who did not get the reward for the battle of Luo Fanzhou.

"Except for the tens of thousands of bells stored by the Wei family, the salt in the salt pond is only enough to supply the six ministers of the Jin State, as well as a few places in the Zhou family. This will increase and decrease. If you increase the amount sold to the Zhao family, the rest will naturally be used. Less. Shizi, are you using the hoarded salt, or…”

Wei Ju felt his short beard and thought for a moment, and then came up with an idea: "Two thousand bells are spent, and then the thousand bells of salt sold to the Fan family is reduced..."

Father's thoughts, Wei Ju had already figured out before he came back, Wei's future will focus on stabilizing the relationship between Zhi and Wei, and at the same time showing goodwill to Zhao, but it is not easy for Wei Ju to come forward, so he will leave it to his son Wei Ju. processed.

The Fan family is an enemy of the Wei family, because it is not unusual for old enemies not to sell salt to them.

This attitude is also a hint to the Zhi family: there have been four generations of hatred between the Wei family and the Fan family, and the contradiction between the two is irreconcilable. You can only choose one family as an ally!

The powerful can force the weak to stand in line, but the Wei family, who is the last of the six, can also use the salt pool in his hand to force the strong to make a choice!

After Wei Ju made up his mind, the commodity trade with the Zhao family was quickly negotiated. In the next year, the Wei family will supply 300 bell salts per month, sailing directly from the east of the main pillar to Jijin, which has been replaced with the Zhao family's black bird flag, and then transported to Taoqiu, along the Jishui to Yuncheng. .

Mid-March is a good time to sail. As is customary, Wei Ju ordered the boatman in charge of the boats to turn the boats upside down to check for loopholes, and he offered gill fish to the ancestral temple to pray for full wheat grains and smooth sailing. Then, let Linghu Bo travel east by boat, **** the first batch of salt boats to Xilu, and by the way, spy on how Zhao Wuxi's career is doing.

Linghu Bo took over the task confidently, but he didn't realize it until after boarding the ship and leaving the shore. Not suitable for long voyages...

...

A day later, Linghu Bo, who had vomited a lot yesterday, weakly pulled on the railing and looked at the speeding land.

He was riding a large wooden boat. In order to increase the load, people put two boats together, and the top was covered with wooden boards. Bags of salt were pressed against the bilge and stuffed with moisture-proof straw, and they would be exchanged for money and silk in Xilu. And Zhao's friendship.

But Linghu Bo also found that there were still many boats sailing eastward in the big river, and they were full of loads, and his face suddenly turned green again.

Because they are also ships that carry salt. And many of them also belong to the Wei family!

Anyi Salt Pond has a relatively wide area and is composed of several salt ponds of different sizes. It actually consists of three parts: the largest is the East Pond, with a radius of about 120 miles; the second is the West Pond, also known as the Female Salt Pool and the Small Salt Pond. It is a saltwater beach more than ten miles away. Because the water contains a large amount of Glauber's salt, its salt is bitter, and it is not often mined.

These two large ponds are directly controlled by the Wei family, but there are also "six small ponds", which are actually salt-producing puddles, walking around Anyi, with a maximum of no more than 500 mu. Liu Xiaochi produces 3,000 to 4,000 bells of salt every year, which is distributed by the Wei family to the Xiaozong and the doctors for their own use.

Of course, the doctors often sold salt to Qin and Dali in private, but Wei didn't take it seriously and just let it go.

However, this year, these doctors colluded with those greedy merchants in Zheng State, and transported hundreds of bells of salt to the east along the river at one time. Only when they met in the river did Linghu Bo know that they were also going to Xilu!

Linghu Bo was stunned: "Could it be that Zhao Wuxi asked all the salt-producing officials in the world for help?"

It's a bit of a medical emergency.

He asked someone to intercept one of them and only to find out that when Zhao sent an envoy back to Jin State, he also spread such news on Tu Dao along the way: Whether it is Jin State Chengci or Xilu Zhenci, from now on, there will be no Then accept the purchase of gold, silk and other items. Salt, only edible salt can be exchanged for porcelain. If you are interested, please organize a caravan to Xintian, Taoqiu and Xilu for goods. No matter whether it is boats, boats, or vehicles, no tariffs will be charged!

Linghu Bo, who knew the truth, was stunned for a long time, but he had to admit that this method of buying salt was really a fantastic idea.

If it is the right way to get in touch with the Wei family through Zhao Yang, then it is a strange way to lure doctors and merchants from various countries to transport salt to Xilu on their own.

He was sure that this was definitely the idea of ​​Duanmuci, a well-known merchant from the Central Plains of Wei!

In the time of Duke Huan of Qi, Guanzi also practiced salt policy, stipulating that foreign merchants must buy salt with gold, and the rest of the money, silk, and shellfish were not accepted. In order to buy the salt of Qi, countries without salt pour out their gold.

In the end, all the gold in the cages of all countries will be exhausted, and all gold will be brought together, and the price of gold in all countries will rise because of this. The price of gold is expensive and everything is cheap. As a result, Guanzi threw out gold again to buy all kinds of necessary materials at low prices, and Qi also gained a lot of benefits. This kind of transaction enabled Duke Huan of Qi to accumulate huge wealth at an alarming rate in a relatively short period of time, and the state of Qi was able to dominate.

Now Duanmu's strategy is to replace the salt of the year with porcelain, and the gold of the year with salt...

In fact, it is not surprising for Zigong, who has been selling goods all the year round, to have this kind of insight. In many places where there is a shortage of salt, salt is almost the currency of the transaction. Salt can be used to exchange for corn, farm tools, cattle and horses and other scarce materials. Even Linghu Bo knew that the salt merchants from Yanchi in Anyi and the seashore of Qi State earned the trade balance from the constant salt production and accumulated wealth quickly.

Nowadays, all countries regard porcelain as a treasure, and scholars and officials compete to buy and compare, and exchange salt for porcelain. If the salt merchants will go to Xilu and return to the sea, how could Zhao Wuxi be short of salt! ?

Therefore, even if the Wei family transported salt to Xilu, they would not be able to get in the favor of sending charcoal in the snow. At most, it was the icing on the cake.

Linghu Bo wanted to take this opportunity to make Zhao 's debt of human kindness suddenly cool down. Another wave came, and the boat shook again and again. His stomach was churning, and he lay on the railing and vomited in the wind... …

As he vomited, he also thought: "Duanmu Cizhen is a genius in the trade. I really don't know how Zhao Wuxi found this person in the market. It would be great if it could be used by the prince!"

...

At this point, Wei Ju, who was far away from Yanchi in Anyi, also knew about it. While sending people to restrain those doctors, he was also impressed by Zigong's talent.

He remembered a story that had been circulating locally for a long time.

Ji is a thousand miles of horses. It was buried in the stables in Anyi and was unknown. When he was old, he pulled a carriage loaded with salt and climbed the Taihang Mountains from Yanchi. Its hoofs were stiff, its knees were broken, its tail was soaked in urine, its skin was festering, its drool dripped onto the ground, and it was dripping with sweat. He was whipped and climbed to the middle of Yangchangzhang. Ji couldn't get up again, lying on the ground gasping for breath.

Duke Mu's Bole happened to pass by. He saw Ji from a distance and was shocked.

"This is a Maxima!"

Bole jumped out of the car, hugged Ji and cried bitterly, and took off his sackcloth clothes to put it on. Ji then lowered his head and sighed, then raised his head and neighed loudly. The voice went straight to the sky, as loud as a golden stone. It was really a thousand miles of horses!

Why is this? Because it knows that Bole is its confidant!

The horse chimes for the confidant! Women are the ones who please themselves! Scholar die for the confidant!

"Zi Tai knew the Maxima, gave Duanmu to the market, and Zhang Meng talked about it in the Pan Palace, so Yingcai used it and created a career that I couldn't achieve. I have the ambition of Bole, but I don't know where my Maxima is? "

The next day, Wei Ju wrote a letter to his father Wei Ha, requesting to follow Zhao Yang's example and build a "Recruitment Hall" in Anyi to attract scholars and rangers from all over the world as diners!

He also did not avoid people's words, yes, this is the naked imitation of Zhao's father and son.

Wei Ju entered the third seat of the "Four Gentlemen of the Warring States Period", and this began!

(The name of the third volume has been decided, so let's call it "Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period" o(n_n)o~, and strive to start before the New Year)

...

ps: I have something to do today. The big chapter is one and two. There will be two changes tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. In addition, there were some mistakes before. I will set it here comprehensively.

The output of salt in the state of Qi: "The first month is the beginning of the month, and in the first month, the salt is 36,000 minutes", 36,000 minutes in three months, and about 150,000 hours a year

In "Pipe Neptune", it is said that every month, an adult man has five liters of salt~www.wuxiaspot.com~ three liters for women and two liters for children (in fact, it is definitely not enough, let's take 40 liters a year as an average standard)

100 liters = 1 kettle, 10 kettles = 1 minute

A country with a population of one million needs at least 40,000 minutes

Xilu has a population of nearly 200,000 and requires 8,000 minutes

The Central Plains, with a population of more than 10 million, eats 400,000 bells every year. Qi salt accounts for nearly half of the world, and the rest is the sum of Anyi salt, well salt, local soil salt, and Wu, Ju, and Yanhai salt. In other words, in the Central Plains alone , at least there is a gap of nearly 100,000 bells of salt, this stuff is in short supply

The other millions of copper coins are not unimaginable, just think of the two million five baht in the tomb of Haihunhou...

ps: Thanks to the book friend Jinna Luo is a man, Wei Canglan, Yan Luoqiu, the reward from the God and Illusory Realm!

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