No shortage of walls

"Mr. Bao. This is the meaning of"Long Live My Emperor" and has nothing to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry. Long Quan smiled and said:"Master Bao should know that Mr. Long is one of the four lieutenants around King Jing. Long live the Emperor!" As he spoke, he cupped his hands and said,"Prince Yi Jing!" If we talk about old feelings in the court, I am afraid that only Cui Zhengluli of the Liu Kingdom dares to compete with Long. In the end, I will win the benefits for your country in front of His Majesty in front of His Majesty. Of course, kickbacks will also be given. Indispensable, it was just to repay Mr. Long that he hurriedly negotiated with your country. I should have heard about your country's details. Song Guo's official salt has been sold to neighboring countries. Of course, your country also knows that Chen Guo's salt wells are hot and don't rain. Even the workers' firewood is saved. Once the sun shines, the whole piece can be transported to the Song Dynasty. Half a month ago, the Ministry of Rites sent people to negotiate the price. If your country thinks it is cheaper, it doesn't matter."

A lot of what he said is true, and the kickback is true, but he has already written to Song Xing about the kickback. The kickback will be returned to the national treasury. There is no crime. Selling salt to neighboring countries is of course true. Who wouldn't want such good salt? ? This turned out to be Liu Gongquan’s plan. As a staff advisor to King Jing, the king of spies, and unparalleled in resourcefulness, it was his plan to sell it for five copper coins per pound lower than coarse salt from the beginning.

Although it is still very expensive, salt has always been Expensive; and a family can eat a pound of salt for a month or two without any problem. It’s more expensive, delicious, no waste, and cheaper than smuggling coarse salt, but the ministers of the Song Dynasty all know that 60% is profit.

Holy skills.

The so-called smuggling in the Song Dynasty was all official smuggling. Of course, the so-called smuggling was often caught, but it was just to replace the people from one side to the other. The general said to cut it off, and forget it.

At this time, the reunification had not been long, It is when people are at their most stable and dangerous, and most of the court officials have lost their jobs. The new ones are all Qingming people, and the investigation is still going on below the fourth rank. The government's investigation is extremely strict, so who dares to smuggle?

What's more ? At the place where King Jing's second lieutenant Long Quan lived.

Tired of living?

Bao Yingxiong said:"Your country's salt wells are enough, so why are you in a hurry to buy salt?"

Long Quan said:"Tell the truth. In the old days, the southern border of the Song Dynasty was really lacking in salt. Fortunately, although block salt from the Chen Kingdom was unpalatable, it was still available. Now my country is orthodox in the Song Dynasty. There are many salt wells in the northern border. In comparison, the only cost is transportation. The point is, the food must be enough for the people of the country. If there are half more people, just build more salt wells. There is no need to worry."

"Since it is enough, where can I buy sea salt from Daqi?"

Long Quan's tone was calm and confident. He mentally suppressed the opponent first and lost his momentum. He said:"Your Majesty, you are really forgetful. I just said, long live my emperor's magical skill of making salt. Even a lump of salt can be made so delicious. , of course it’s to make money; besides, you can’t be the master, just go back and ask for orders. By the way, the emperor of your country was slow to respond. The Northern Jade Dragon that was promised last time has been sent to the general. Lu Li left, and General Lu exchanged the horse with the Hu for seven hundred and twenty horses. If your country doesn't want the rest, maybe the barbarians will like it."

After Long Quan finished speaking, he said:"I have taken my leave, Sir. I would like to ask Mr. Bao to go back and ask for orders. Next time, we should go to Mr. Long's place to talk. Mr. Long has just learned a skill, and it is still the creation of Long Live My Emperor. It's called Tofu Nao and it's very delicious. I will treat the adults and companions to eat until they are full."

Chen Guo doesn't have that backbone anymore. In fact, he has no choice. The lump salt is really not delicious, and the well salt really flows out. Liu Chengwen, the Minister of Rites, just said it casually and signed the contract. His only strong character The money was clear and there was no debt.

It was also 30% less. Then there was a problem. Fine salt was lower than coarse salt from the beginning, but the price would never be reduced. Then, just a few days after the contract was signed, several smugglers were caught. The whole family was beheaded! The newspaper also came out to confirm it, but no one knew the name of the person who was beheaded.

A ghost was beheaded.

When Qi State heard that others had signed it, and also heard that the Ministry of Rites of Song State sent many people, Except for the fact that the Liao Kingdom was at war, everyone was talking about it. The only option was to sign the contract. Anyway, the smuggled fine salt was cheap, and the price was even five thousand tons.

Large quantities were discounted.

I signed the contract for the coarse salt, and another 20,000 tons of grains. , a thousand fat pigs, kelp, etc., those things did not lower the price. The reason why Song Xing dared to lower the price has been deduced several times. Every time, he believed that the other party would sell it. The main reason was that in Chen Guo!

Song Xing Xing already understood clearly; the Southern Song Dynasty used to buy salt from the Chen State. To be honest, they could not buy several thousand kilograms of salt blocks a year. It was a small business. Now the transaction between the Song State and its neighbors has become a fact; Xixia grains, cattle and horses , Donghu cattle and horses have come in; it has been known to all the neighbors.

One of the reasons for the stiffness is that the business is huge.

Secondly, the position of Chen State, in terms of geopolitics and strategic balance, Chen State is indeed a buffer zone; it is indeed a No one dares to take action in a critical place, but when it comes to selling salt, it is a dead end. First, there is the

Southern Song Dynasty, where people have salt wells. If they don’t have enough, they will buy it, because there are too few. In the north, the Northern Song Dynasty has no land connection, so it cannot be sold, and the salt wells in the north are not available. It is enough to eat. Although it is connected to the state of Qi, it is difficult for the birds of Song and Qi to cross the natural barrier of the mountain. It is still a natural barrier. It cannot be passed; in the past, sea salt was also produced! It is connected to the state of Wu in the east, and the state of Wu is also by the sea. The country is rich in coarse salt, and Wu is a rich country. No one eats salt blocks at all, but Wu buys the most. After passing through Wu to Qi, he sells it to the Hu people. The Hu people are poor and buy more salt blocks. On the contrary, those from the south follow The country does not have salt wells, so it often buys them. But the country of Sui is only larger than its own country of Chen, which is not as big as an egg. How much can it buy?

In summary, the country of Chen went around begging grandpa and grandma to ask others to buy salt. If it were not Wu Yue There are often strong winds blowing across the city and salt fields by the sea, and the barbarians do not have salt wells. The salt wells of Chen State are just decorations. No matter how much you produce, it is only a matter of selling them.

Salt cannot be eaten as food.

Now the people of Song State are talking about it. Hundreds of thousands of catties. To sell or not to sell? And he promised to buy it every year, and at least five hundred thousand catties will be needed next year. Do you want to sell? No, people will have enough to eat; and more salt wells are being dug in the northern border of the Song Dynasty, said Chen Guo If you sell, you won't dig a salt well, and the price will be reduced by 30%, which sounds uncomfortable. But if you don't sell, you will get nothing; Moreover, the Song Dynasty did business with the Hu people, and when the Hu people got rich from selling sheep, horses and cattle, they all bought Qi's coarse salt. The lump salt is dead.

Therefore, Liu Chengwen followed the emperor's words and Chen Guo sold it.

Then, he used Chen Guo's lump salt to suppress Qi's coarse salt, and everyone also lowered the price.

But Song Xing's main food was Qi's grain , kelp, peanuts, fat pigs. The surrounding areas are mainly based on soap raw materials and grains, but Xia State has high yields of rice and peanuts and refuses to sell them. Coarse salt is incidentally, and the salt blocks related to Chen State are to be There are as many as there are, but if many countries don't buy salt at the same time, it won't be easy to create a false trend and it will be difficult to lower the price. Moreover, when the transaction is large, it is easy to control and weigh.

Buying and selling with neighbors must have mutual checks and balances, so that prices can be easily reduced and purchases can be used as checks and balances. Buy first and sell later.