When Merton took a car full of exotic treasures from the western regions to send Princess Changle back to the palace, he was caught by pound who had already been waiting there before he could leave.
"Moho! Your majesty, please!" said pound, looking at Merton with a smile.
Merton felt helpless when he heard the speech. Li Shimin didn''t look good every time he saw Merton. Now he is still a little afraid to see Li Shimin.
When Merton came to the Tai Chi hall, Dai Zhou and Li Shimin had already been waiting here. Seeing Merton coming in, he suddenly turned cold and said, "I heard that the ink sacrifice wine is waving earth like gold in the west market, so cool!"
You know, Merton, the black sheep of the family, spent not his money, but the silk of the imperial court. No wonder Li Shimin''s face was black.
Merton laughed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a mistake for Weichen. Weichen''s money is not a hundred flowers, but has obtained a lot of information for my Datang."
Since Merton boldly spent this batch of silk, naturally he had already figured out his countermeasures and didn''t panic.
Li Shimin snorted coldly, "then I''ll listen to how your clever words confuse black and white."
"Tell your majesty, compared with the envoys of Honglu temple, the information inadvertently revealed by these Hu merchants is the most true. During this trip to the west market, Wei Chen got good news and bad news after careful exploration." Merton sold a pass.
Unfortunately, Li Shimin and Dai Zhou didn''t take over at all. They watched Merton play and direct.
Merton quickly said in embarrassment: "the good news is that as soon as Weichen threw out the silk of the weaving Bureau in the western market, it was immediately sought after by the majority of Hu merchants, indicating that the silk of the weaving bureau still has a good market."
Dai Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and finally couldn''t help asking, "what''s the bad news?"
Merton regretted: "unfortunately, these Hu merchants have limited financial resources and transportation capacity, and can''t digest this batch of silk at all. Therefore, the method of selling this batch of silk to the western countries and Hu merchants in the western regions simply doesn''t work."
Silk is a luxury in the Tang Dynasty, not to mention in the western regions and even Persian food countries, it can not be owned by rich and noble princes. Although the price is high, few people can afford it.
Li Shimin and Dai Zhou suddenly darkened, which was far from what they expected.
"How much cotton will be planted this year?" Li Shimin asked with a frown.
"It has reached 3000 mu! At present, 400000 kg of seeded cotton has been harvested," Morton bowed his head. At present, Mojia village is mainly responsible for planting cotton. Of course, Merton knows the situation of cotton best. Under the careful care of Mojia village regardless of cost, the yield of cotton per mu has directly exceeded the 100 kg mark, which can be described as a bumper harvest.
"In other words, there will be more cotton planting next year!" Li Shimin asked.
Merton nodded and said, "it can be expanded at least twenty times."
Li Shimin took a breath. If he kept this pace, cotton would surely blossom everywhere in the Tang Dynasty in a few years, leaving little time for silk.
"Why don''t we lower the price to attract Hu merchants to buy more silk." Dai Zhou also said anxiously.
Merton shook his head and said, "no, Hu merchants had limited transportation capacity. Even if it was cheaper, they couldn''t transport much. On the contrary, it damaged the due interests of Datang."
Li Shimin nodded. The benefits of silk are too huge. How can Datang let go easily.
"Since Hu merchants can travel thousands of miles to Datang, can Datang also set up caravans to go to the western countries." Li Shimin said that if Datang sends a large number of caravans to sell silk, so many silk will not be worried.
"Your Majesty, this is certainly feasible, but it''s just a drop in the bucket. Moreover, there are many sand thieves on the silk road. Most of our businessmen in the Tang Dynasty are law-abiding people, so I''m afraid it''s difficult to move forward. If..."
Merton didn''t go on. It was obvious that if the Tang caravan wanted to take the Silk Road, it must get the support of the imperial court and even arm these caravans. The status of businessmen in the Tang Dynasty is low. If these businessmen are suddenly armed, even Li Shimin can''t make a decision for the time being.
Li Shimin suddenly became angry and stared at Merton with bad eyes. "So, you''ve lost a cart of silk. Now there''s nothing you can do!"
Merton sighed in his heart and immediately knew that if he didn''t take out some dry goods, he couldn''t pass today.
"I wonder if your majesty knows the customs!" Murton bowed.
Li Shimin suddenly lost his head, and Dai Zhou suddenly said, "what Mo Jijiu said is Lord Pei Ju, the former Minister of the Ministry of the people. Lord Pei once set up a supervisory customs office in Zhangye in the previous dynasty, and Hu merchants from the western regions came one after another, making Zhangye an important town in the northwest."
Li Shimin suddenly said, "you mean reopening Zhangye Jianzhi Guanshi!"
Merton nodded: "it''s not just Zhangye, but Weichen believes that any border with other countries can set up supervision and customs, and exchange needed goods with other countries."
"All of them are set up to monitor the customs! Do you think you can sell the silk?" Li Shimin looked at Merton with a look of examination.
Merton shook his head and said, "these Jianzhi Guanshi naturally can''t digest so much silk from the imperial court, but this is only the first step."
"The first step?" Li Shimin and Dai Zhou look forward to Merton.
Merton nodded and said, "the second step is that in these supervised customs markets, only one kind of money can be used for settlement, that is silk!"
Li Shimin and Dai Zhou looked at each other and didn''t understand what Merton meant, because silk could have been used as money in the Tang Dynasty!
Merton explained: "Weichen found in the west market that there were three kinds of currencies on the Silk Road, one was Persian silver coins, the other was Kaiyuan Tongbao of Datang, and the third was silk. Now I just need to eliminate the other two currencies, and the sales of silk will increase sharply. Of course, for the sake of Datang''s reputation, this batch of silk is the best silk of the best weaving Bureau."
The biggest advantage of silk as a currency is that it will not depreciate, and it is recognized as a hard currency on the Silk Road, which is Merton''s strength.
"Wonderful!" Dai Zhou was immediately impressed. He just wanted Merton to sell the silk, but Merton found a way to use the silk as both goods and money.
"What''s the difference?" Li Shimin was confused and didn''t understand.
Merton showed a trace of confidence: "Your Majesty, if we ordinary people want to buy things, do we have to prepare a lot of money in advance, so as long as Hu merchants want to trade with Datang, we must start with silk. In this way, a large amount of silk will be stored in Hu merchants'' hands to buy Datang goods. In this way, your majesty still worries about the origin of the silk from the weaving bureau?"
Li Shimin''s eyes suddenly flashed, and he suddenly understood the truth. This is like the treasure house of rural rich people. It must be full of copper money, and Merton just changed the copper money into silk.
Merton continued: "Not only that, in the future, Tang merchants will also pay for goods purchased from other countries with silk. Moreover, the currencies of the western countries are not connected at all, and the quality of gold and silver is different. However, the silk of the weaving bureau can maintain its value and facilitate transportation. If the transactions of various countries on the Silk Road are settled with silk, I''m afraid the silk in your Majesty''s hands Will not be enough! "
This is the way Merton thinks about it and Datang wants to obtain the greatest benefits on the Silk Road, that is, to establish a Datang silk system.