hsntnovel Chapter 2321: There is also the court
Chapter 2321: There is also the court
Since ancient times, food has been a major concern for the people's livelihood in all countries.
The purpose of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is to enable the people to plant more crops, produce more food, and have enough to eat.
If the people are well fed, they will not rebel.
Therefore, not only the Central Plains dynasty, but also countries in other places paid great attention to the food issue.
However, Li Shen's idea of abandoning grain cultivation and comprehensively developing cash crops was questioned by King Yehu of Kucha.
Merchants are profit-driven and will sell anything for a price.
The more scarce something is, the higher the price will be. Ye Hu is worried about what will happen if they all grow fruits and other crops.
Will merchants raise the price of grain, or even make it the same price as fruit?
By then they will be very passive. People can not eat fruit, but they cannot not eat.
This kind of behavior is likely to be seized by businessmen, and even if you don't want to, you will have to compromise in the end.
Although Yehu had just become king, he was still Bushi's younger brother and came from an aristocratic family, so he knew a lot of things.
Ye Hu's question surprised Li Shen a little. He thought Ye Hu would not consider this issue.
After all, this strategy is so covert, and the initial benefits are very huge, and many countries have fallen into the trap in later generations.
But in ancient times, this kind of thing almost never happened because food was always in short supply.
However, Li Shen had already prepared an excuse. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip, his smile still lingering:
"Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. Merchants are known to pursue profit, so there is no need for Kucha to purchase grain from them.
Even when buying food from merchants, they dare not raise the price."
"Oh? I wonder why? Since His Royal Highness Prince Ji said that merchants are driven by profit, then why don't they dare to raise the price?
I heard that although the Tang Dynasty’s management of merchants was strict, it never interfered with their normal business activities.
Everything is done in accordance with the laws of the Tang Dynasty.
Could it be that His Royal Highness Prince Ji meant that the Tang court should forcibly intervene in the behavior of merchants, preventing them from selling grain at high prices?"
Ye Hu was a little surprised. This was not something that those Tang people who always talked about etiquette would do.
Although merchants were lowly in the Tang Dynasty, all the merchants who were able to transport grain had deep and powerful backgrounds.
These people would not allow the court to interfere with the court by force.
"Haha." Li Shen smiled slightly, "Your Majesty, isn't there still the imperial court? Don't you know?
Today, the greatest businessman in our Tang Dynasty is the imperial court.
Our Great Tang now has an abundance of grain, which is piled up like mountains in the charity granaries.
Every few years, the imperial court would dispose of a batch of old grain, the amount of which was so astonishing that it was unimaginable.
The Kingdom of Kucha respects the Tang Dynasty as its lord. Why would His Majesty the Khan sell grain to you at a high price?
As the Khan of Heaven, with a mission from Heaven, how could he care about these worldly things?
Do you think the Khan loves money?"
Li Shen finally asked back contemptuously, with a look of disdain on his face, but he asked himself and answered himself in his heart, giving a positive answer.
His father loves money, he loves money very much, he is simply greedy.
You can squeeze out urine from a toad.
However, Ye Hu believed what Li Shen said and felt that what Li Shen said made sense.
Private merchants may set prices at random, but if the Tang Dynasty court supplies them with food, the price should not be high.
After all, their scholars all consider themselves gentlemen and are very particular about etiquette.
“Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness Prince Ji. I have benefited a lot from listening to your words today.
If the people of Kucha can truly become prosperous in the future, we, the people of Kucha, will never forget King Ji’s kindness.”
Ye Hu raised his glass.
"Hahaha, what are you talking about, Your Majesty? This is what the Tang Dynasty should do.
You obey His Majesty as the Heavenly Khan, so we in the Tang Dynasty should make your life better.
As long as you follow the footsteps of the Tang Dynasty and remain loyal to it, the future will be even more prosperous."
Li Shen also raised his glass, and after the two of them clinked their glasses, they drank it all in one gulp.
Things have been discussed almost completely, and Li Shen's goal has been achieved.
Next, Li Shen began to explain the specific operation methods to Ye Hu.
The population of Kucha is sparse, and the existing oasis is large enough for the people to cultivate.
Planting fruit trees can also effectively prevent desertification, killing two birds with one stone.
Kucha has its own technology for drying fruits. Their dried apricots are used as tribute. Li Shen doesn't need to be told about these things.
Li Shen mainly talked about sales channels. Whether going to the Western Regions or coming to the East, they were all their sales targets.
Moreover, Li Shen also promised that if the sales were not good, Prince Ji's Mansion would be responsible for purchasing half of the production.
As long as Kucha can sell half of it every year, it will be fine.
This made Ye Hu very happy.
Li Shen also proposed to establish a fruit research institute in Anxi to improve the varieties of fruits grown and make them sweeter and more delicious.
Although Ye Hu didn't know what the Fruit Research Institute was, he knew that King Ji attached great importance to this matter, and that was enough.
During the meal, the two had a great conversation, and Yehu even asked for some experience on how to be a king.
However, Li Shen claimed that he was just an idle prince and did not know how to be a king.
He would not pass on any experience to Yehu, as Li Shen still wanted to annex Kucha.
The banquet between the two lasted for more than an hour, and Ye Hu praised Li Shen's cooking skills.
Until Ye Hu left the yamen drunk, and Li Shen was also a little tipsy.
At this moment, Guo Xiaoke and others had already entered the city, and the remaining more than a thousand people replaced the soldiers defending the city.
Every failure makes one wiser, and Guo Xiaoke is now much more cautious about the situation.
"Did you really see that thunder bomb?"
Guo Xiaoke's condition has stabilized, but he is still a little weak due to excessive bleeding.
Just now, Guo Daizhao went to bring Guo Xiaoke into the city, and then told Guo Xiaoke about the attack on the city by the guard camp of Prince Ji's Mansion.
The focus is on describing the scene where the guards’ battalion blew up the city gate.
Guo Xiaoke was also very surprised. He was shocked when he first heard that the city had been taken. He never thought that the guards of Prince Ji's Mansion could take the city in such a short time.
But now, not only has it been done, but it has also been done much faster. And there is also that thunder bomb that my son mentioned.
With Guo Xiaoke's knowledge, his first thought was that it was fake and his son had been cheated.
Guo Daizhao is still young and has not seen the world, but Guo Xiaoke is old and has seen everything. He does not believe in ghosts and gods, so how could he believe in thunder bombs?
"Aye, this is true, I saw it with my own eyes.
At that time, the chief secretary of Prince Ji's mansion took three people there. Not long after, there was a loud bang, the earth shook, and flames shot up into the sky.
The city gate disappeared without a trace.
Prince Ji said that his cultivation was not enough, so he asked Xue Rengui and others to go over and paste talismans to attract thunder from the sky.
(I'm trying my best to update now, but the specific time is hard to say.)