Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 228: Not So Clean Huge Money

This was the first time for Lu Mengzheng to meet Xiao Chuo. Of course, he had admired Xiao Chuo's name for a long time and it was like thunder in his ears.

The daughter of Xiao Siwen, the third sister of the Empress of Liao, the head of the Liao Commercial Bank, and the mother of the eldest son of His Highness the King of Qin.

With so many names put together, even if she is just a female, it still does not prevent her from becoming one of the top few powerful people in the world. Moreover, this woman once brazenly killed the people of the Song Dynasty on the streets of Kaifeng, and then killed her neatly. He was referring to apologizing, as if he were telling a story about Lu Ping, which really made people feel a little frightened.

Although he was the magistrate, when facing this Khitan woman, he felt that he was a head shorter and his aura became weaker. It seemed that he was the minister.

He lowered his head and glanced at the woman's appearance.

'It is said that this Xiao Shi has a beauty that will overwhelm the country and the city. It seems that this rumor is exaggerated. This appearance... is an ordinary middle-aged man's appearance. His Highness the King of Qin... maybe... does have a bit of a fetish. '

Of course, Xiao Chuo didn't know that this guy was thinking about such a rude thing, but he found it a bit funny, and calmly motioned for him to sit down and said: "You are welcome, Prefect, you are the master and I am the guest. You are so reserved, but on the contrary... It makes me feel a little uncomfortable."

Only then did Lu Mengzheng realize that there was something wrong with his posture. After all, he was a young man who had just started his official career. His way of dealing with others was far from being sophisticated, and was even a bit green. So he quickly arranged for Xiao Chuo to take the seat, and arranged for his servants to make tea. , and then, sitting across from him, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed again.

"It's good for the prefect to treat me as a man. When I come to you, we talk about business matters, state affairs."

"Yes, yes, sir, you are laughing. This... I don't know, sir, you are here to come, but what's the matter?"

"Of course I have something to do. I heard that Chanzhou was hit by a flood, and my heart was very excited. The Song and Liao countries are brothers separated by a strip of water. The Liao Kingdom is also very concerned about this."

Lu Mengzheng: “…………”

Although I knew it was just hypocritical diplomatic rhetoric, I still couldn't help but feel ridiculous after hearing it.

"Therefore, on behalf of the Liao Kingdom, I have been ordered by the Emperor of Liao to donate [-] yuan to the prefect and the people affected by the disaster as a token of my gratitude."

"Ah... Shi... Wan Guan? Evil... good, good, good, especially good."

But I thought in my heart, there is nothing novel about a mere hundred thousand guan.

But then I thought about it, after all, the Liao Kingdom was not a pure citizen economy, and the scale of its commercial banks was far less than that of the Song Dynasty. What has been developed so far has been developed with loans from the Song Dynasty. Maybe... a hundred thousand yuan is really Is it already a huge sum of money?

After all, when the Song Dynasty was just founded, the annual fiscal and tax revenue was only about 1000 million yuan.

"Thank you so much. We, the people of Chanzhou, will always be grateful to the Shulu Department for its kindness. The friendship between Song and Liao will last forever."

Seeing that he deliberately mentioned Shulu Department, Xiao Chuo felt slightly unhappy on his face, but he could only accept it helplessly and did not refute, but in his heart he couldn't help scolding Zhao Guangmei for being so heartless.

During this period of time, whether it was official or private, the Song Dynasty was intentionally distinguishing the Shulu tribe from the Diela tribe, and even deliberately distinguished them from the entire Liao Kingdom.

Anyway, when mentioning the friendship between Song and Liao, it is necessary to emphasize that it is the friendship between Song and Shulu. When mentioning national hatred, it is often the case that the dogs and thieves of the Liao Kingdom are sworn in. Even now, we talk about the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the Liao Kingdom. During the southern invasion, the overall thinking had changed. The bad things were all done by the Khitans, and those who treated the Han people well and put them in good use in the Yanyun area all became the Shulu Department.

Although this is indeed true in fact, and the Han people of the Liao Kingdom are indeed the foundation of their Shulu Department, otherwise she would not have almost married Handerang, but...it seems awkward no matter how you look at it, especially now that the Song Dynasty Among the people in the market, when mentioning the Shulu Department, they often intentionally or unintentionally emphasize their identity as Uighurs. This is actually to completely distinguish them from the Khitan people.

To be honest, although it is a fact that Shulvbu is a Uighur, in fact, they have almost forgotten it. If no one reminds her, she will not know that she is a Uighur. Isn't this just making trouble?
There is even a popular drama called Yanyuntai in Kaifeng. It is said to have come from the Liao Kingdom. The content is about Yelu Abaoji plundering 30 Han people and returning to the Liao Dynasty, humiliating them in every possible way, and then narrating As the queen, Lu Ping continued to advise and re-employ Han people, and finally appointed Han people to establish the political system of the Liao Kingdom.

The content can be said to be half-truth and half-false. After all, Yelu Abaoji and Shuluping are married. How can one tell clearly which policy belongs to Shuluping and which belongs to Yelu Abaoji?How do you guys, the opera singers, know about the couple's secret whispers in the boudoir?
The founding emperor has become the villain, but the queen has become the heroine and a true hero?Moreover, the play became more and more outrageous in the later stages, focusing on the subsequent conflicts between Shuluping and the clan and the two military encounters, completely placing Shuluping in the position of the heroine, while all the Liao clans were bad people. In the end, when Luping was forced by the hostages of Yelv House to give up the fight for his son and hand over military power, it was quite tragic. Many Han audiences even shed tears when watching the play.

Even she couldn't help but feel that this drama was too outrageous. I heard that there were many noble ladies in the Song Dynasty, and they admired Shu Luping very much. She didn't know how to evaluate this. Things are fine.

But it seems impossible to say that the singing of this opera is wrong, because the Han people in Liao Dynasty do have a better relationship with their Shulu Department. Otherwise, it is half true and half false, but they know clearly that this is The Song Dynasty had ulterior motives, but it could not be denied.

Because such a propaganda caliber is indeed more beneficial to their Shulu Department. The friendly relationship with Song Dynasty can bring a lot of business benefits. It will be much easier for the nobles of the Shulu Department to do business. Even loans seem to have been liberalized a lot. The trade between countries has indeed become more and more prosperous day by day, and most of the huge trade profits have gone into the pockets of the Shulu Department. As a result, the power of the Shulu Department in the Liao Kingdom has also expanded, and the lives of the people under their rule have It is true that the better things get, the nobles in the tribe are living more and more extravagantly.

I heard that this play is also very popular in the Yanyun area. Although I don’t know whether this play was written by the Song people or the Liao people, there is no doubt that my father, or the entire Shulu Department, has recognized this statement. Came down.

I can only comfort myself: 'After all, our Xiao family is also a descendant clan, and the new emperor is also our brother-in-law, so... no matter how much we sow discord, there is no way that this clan and the descendant clan will ever end up fighting each other, right? '

With a sigh, Xiao Chuo suppressed some of his emotions and said calmly: "Chanzhou Prefecture has built so many Chi Roads, at least it will be a lot easier to communicate between counties and states, but it's just So many roads have been built. How do you think this Chanzhou Prefecture will operate, how will it develop, and how will it be able to achieve a certain scale of urban employment? If it were like an ordinary prefecture, how would the roads built by millions of people be built? Isn’t it all in vain?”

Lu Mengzheng said calmly: "I have indeed been worried about this matter for a long time. However, there is no water conservancy here to generate electricity, and it is a little far from Kaifeng. If you want to develop, it is really... a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice. "

"What the prefect said is wrong. Chanzhou is adjacent to the counties in Hebei. It is a key place. Now that the road has been built, it is naturally the intersection of water and land, which is conducive to the collection and distribution of goods. Goods from Yanyun and Liao Kingdoms have been shipped since then. After arriving in Zhuozhou, the first big city we passed was Chanzhou City. How can we say that it is a waste of food? As long as the prefect is willing to welcome and accept the merchants from both countries, why worry about Chanzhou not being able to prosper?"

Lu Mengzheng nodded and said: "That's true. Therefore, it is natural to build more restaurants, teahouses, dance pavilions and singing platforms, tiles, inns and posthouses in the city, but... these can also make the city prosperous. , but after all, it cannot absorb many jobs. In contrast, the cross-strait areas are rich in cereals, beans, and millet, and especially iron smelting is relatively developed. If..."

Hearing this, Xiao Chuo understood what he meant and smiled and said: "If the prefect is willing to start a grain and iron trade with me in Daliao, it is natural. But I am not here for this matter today. To be honest, there is no shortage of grain in Daliao. The prefect might as well just use it to make wine. Nowadays, most of the Song wines are rice wine and fruit wine, especially the wines that have become popular in the past two years. We in Liao also drink it, but it is bitter cold in the north of Saibei. In fact, grain wine is more popular in Liao."

"Yes, thank you for your advice, sir." "As for iron smelting, in fact, we in Liao are not short of iron, it is enough, but... there is one thing that I feel that the people of Liao are not short of, but the people of Song seem to be short of it. , if the prefect is willing, he might as well make a transit here."

"Oh? I wonder...what is it?"

"A woman, or more accurately...a slave girl."

"Female... slave girl?"

Lu Mengzheng was stunned and didn't react for a long time.

He thought that he was already very bold to go to the Liao Kingdom to do some grain trade or grain wine business (aren't they the same thing), but he didn't expect that the Liao Kingdom's envoy was more courageous than him.

"I, the Song Dynasty... do not recognize slaves."

Xiao Chuo smiled and said: "Prefect, you are joking. In any country, beautiful women are scarce resources. Even under the feet of the Emperor of Kaifeng, aren't those restaurants and houses all women who sell themselves? They are just deceiving themselves and others. , it’s just some messy cover. His Highness King Qin has always been the most sensitive about this matter, but as far as I know, just three days ago, he married the ninth concubine, eight of whom were from restaurants. What's the difference between these prostitutes and female slaves? Men, hehe, all the good-looking ones are the same. If he is really so noble, let him let all nine of them go."

"........."

When Lu Mengzheng heard this, he could only drift away and pretend that he didn't listen. After all, his status was special. It was a family matter to scold His Highness as much as he wanted. As an outsider, he had better not listen.

"The meaning of His Highness King Qin has always been clear. He supports and acquiesces in clandestine prostitution. On the surface, he only supports escorts, singers, dancers, and female sumo wrestlers and actors. If you really want to say that, When it comes to the word prostitute, there are only official prostitutes, but how many official prostitutes are there in total? Since Fu Yanqing retired, how long has it been since Fu Yanqing retired? Oh, we got some Tubo girls some time ago, but what are the Tubo girls? Is it fun? It smells all over me. If I were a man, I wouldn’t be in the mood to play.”

Lu Mengzheng: “…………”

This topic...isn't it a bit exciting?

Is it appropriate for us to talk about this?

These girls are really a bit naughty.

"Hey~, that enemy doesn't want women from the Song Dynasty to do this. Of course I understand that, but there is always a demand for this kind of thing. If the court can't guide it, then the people will probably do whatever they want. Now in the Song Dynasty, this Maybe there are only clandestine prostitutes in Kaifeng, but there are no public prostitutes, but the world is so big, don’t other state capitals also have it? Blocking is worse than sparing. Even a woman like me understands this simple truth."

"This... the envoy's intention is to use Khitan people?"

Xiao Chuo rolled his eyes at him: "How is that possible? Women from Wugu, Dilie, and Zhugu could be sold as slaves by our Liao merchants, as well as women from Goryeo, Jurchen, Shazhou Uighurs, and even Khotan. Orchid can also be specially made and transported by our Liao trading company for distribution in Chanzhou. My friend, it is impossible for Kaifeng to do this. But we can pick some good ones in Chanzhou and send them to Kaifeng. Think about it, he It should be promised, Kaifeng is indeed in short supply of women, the people obviously have money, and they have electricity at night, so why not play with girls?"

"Ah this...this...you should tell His Highness directly, this is such a big matter, this, this matter is too big."

Xiao Chuo chuckled and said: "Do you think His Highness King Qin doesn't know that I came out to see you or what I want to say to you? In fact, he knows very well that he will not let Song But if the Khitan people opened some brothels in your Song Dynasty and provided some prostitutes from various ethnic groups, he would have tacitly approved it. But for such a decree, you want to hear a word of permission from him. But it is absolutely impossible, I just don’t know if you have the guts to do it, Taishou. If you agree, I have many merchants and nobles in the Law Department willing to invest 1000 million yuan here."

"One...1000 million yuan, you...where did you get so much money?"

"That damn guy gave us a loan."

“Isn’t that money for road construction?”

"Well... we, Daliao, have our own national conditions here, but don't worry, the road construction will definitely not be delayed. Besides, the money from selling female slaves is used to build roads. Isn't it the same thing? Prefect, think about it. , this matter will be of great benefit to the Song Dynasty without any harm."

As he said this, Xiao Chuo sighed in his heart.

This is actually what her father Xiao Siwen meant. The Song Dynasty is too strong now. Although trade is in full swing, the deficit is actually becoming more and more obvious. Although the Liao Kingdom sells many things now, other products except horses are really Some can't hold on.

But those things from the Song Dynasty are so delicious that I can’t help but buy them.

In fact, once this strategy came out, it was okay to say that the Liao Kingdom was not afraid of the Jurchens and Goliaths if they had a temper. However, the Wei tribes such as Wugu, Dilie, and Zubu were afraid that they would not fight the Liao Kingdom until death. The Shiwei tribe is really capable of fighting against the Liao army. Once these Shiwei people unite, they will not be weak.

Of course, all you have to do is work with the Lai Department.

"How about it? Lord Prefect, do you have the guts to accept this huge sum of money from Daliao?"

Lu Mengzheng's face was very serious, and he was also considering the pros and cons of this matter. In the end, he had to admit that apart from his bad reputation and dirty money, this matter was indeed beneficial to the Song Dynasty. .

Liao and Shi Wei had to start fighting again.

"Okay, I will accept the money. I wish the friendship between Song and Liao will last forever and be peaceful forever."

"Yes, peace forever, long live peace."

(End of this chapter)