Chapter 37 One Book of Profit

Zhu Ya, Shen Xuan, the chief farmer, and Wei Jing of Zhu Ya County stood side by side on the dock. Behind them stood more than a dozen guards in brand-new armor. Behind the guards, there were three or five groups of people gathered together, chattered and kept talking about scholars. Some of them smiled with their hands and had an elegant attitude, and some rolled up their sleeves and pointed at them. Feet, saliva, are trying to express something to others.

Wei Boyang, who was neatly dressed, and Ge Xuan, who was bearded, stood together and said something softly. There was a gratifying smile in the corners of Wei Boyang's eyes, but Ge Xuan was inexplicably excited. From time to time, he took out the wine gourd around his waist and poured a sip of wine, and then sprayed the gas of wine in his mouth, which made Wei Boyang frowned. Not far away, Liu Xi, with a solemn face, stood with Zhao Shuang in a trance, but he didn't say a word. Liu Xi was serious, but Zhao Shuang seemed to be thinking about something, and he didn't see all this in front of him.

This is the elite of Zhu Ya and the scholars of the Taoist Academy. They rarely gathered at the dock today to welcome His Royal Highness the King of Yue who came to inspect. After the king of Yue conquered Yizhou, he took more than 10,000 troops to inspect the South China Sea, but did not return to the capital Qian Tang for the Spring Festival. Instead, he summoned all the officials of Qian Tang to Zhu Ya. He informed Shen Xuan that this year's New Year would be spent in Zhuya.

Shen Xuan is very smart. He knows the appreciation behind this will and is very excited, but he also knows that it is a great achievement to do it well, which will pave the way for his further promotion. If he can't do it well, then his official career will end here. Shen Xuan did not move the crowd, and all the arrangements were carried out in a hidden state. It was not until Sun Shao's sailor was about to arrive at Zhuya that he informed the scholars of the Taoist College and led them to the dock to meet them. The people in Zhuya County were still in the dark. They didn't know that the king of Yue was about to come. Although the fisherman saw that there were a lot of people on the dock, they only knew that there were important people coming, but they didn't expect that this important person would be the king of Yue.

"Coming, coming." Wei Jing, who couldn't help being excited, pointed to a flying boat in the distance and shouted in a low voice.

"Yes, it should be here." Shen Xuan smiled, raised his hand to block the sunshine in the early morning, and looked at the place where the sea and the sky were communicating. The sea was vast and golden, and he couldn't see it at all.

The boat landed, and a strong man rushed all the way to Shen Xuan and bowed: "Your Excellency, the king's fleet is ten miles away."

"Thank you for your hard work. Go down and have a rest." Shen Xuan waved his hand, turned to Wei Boyang and Liu Xi and said, "Wei Jijiu, Liu Jijiu, the king is coming soon. Please stop arguing and be serious."

Wei Boyang and Liu Xi nodded with a smile, turned around and ordered a few times. The scholars like ducks immediately calmed down and looked east at the same time. After a while, Wei Boyang shouted first, "Sure enough, it's coming." Then, Ge Xuan also snorted. Everyone was surprised that they couldn't see anything. Just as they were about to say, someone shouted, "I'm coming. I see the sail."

The scholars who were about to slander Wei Boyang and Ge Xuan pretended to be ghosts didn't have time to say much. They stared at it carefully. Sure enough, a sail shadow appeared in the sky. Soon, a building ship showed a huge figure. Then, countless warships appeared on the sea and rushed to the dock.

"Coming, coming..." Everyone cheered.

"Quiet!" Ge Xuan shouted like thunder and rolled over everyone's heads. The excited scholars suddenly felt a buzzing in their ears, and their weak bodies almost couldn't stand still. They couldn't help but be shocked and became silent for a moment.

"Ge Xianweng's skills have made great progress." Shen Xuan took out his ears and praised with a wry smile.

"Hahaha..." Ge Xuan was very proud and said hypocritically, "It's okay. It's all because of greed, otherwise it's faster."

Wei Jing curled his lips and said nothing.

"This old warlock is showing off his ability again." A weak-looking scholar behind Liu Xi snorted disdainfully.

"You're wrong." A man with a dark face and a pair of big hands next to him smiled and said, "This is not his real ability. I'm afraid that once his real ability is displayed, the book of your Confucian college is not enough for him to burn."

"And!" The scholar disdained: "The sage scriptures are all in the hearts of my students. Is it his thunder that burns out? Is he more powerful than Qin Shihuang's fire?

"That's really possible." The man didn't think so. He smiled and said, "At least the First Emperor of Qin left you a whole body. If Ge Xianweng does it, I'm afraid you will become a son of the road."

The scholar was furious. Zilu was cut into meat sauce and died. The metaphor of this man in the art college was too vicious. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to fight with him. But he looked at the man's thick arms, and then at the sneered men behind him. He was a little short of breath. He loosened his sleeves, shrank his neck, and muttered. He said, "A gentleman doesn't do anything. He doesn't bother to argue with you people."

The men giggled and were about to sarcasm a few more words. Wei Boyang turned his head and glanced like a real look. They immediately stood up honestly and stood there respectfully, trying to pretend to be gentle and thrifty. Today, in order to welcome the king of Yue, they all put on formal formal dresses, but they were used to wearing shorts, and it was really uncomfortable to suddenly wear this long shirt.

The fleet is getting closer and closer. The first one to dock was the boat of General Zuo Cui Qian. As soon as the ship docked, the 2,000 elites of General He Da got off the ship first. They lined up along the long slate road. The murderous atmosphere suddenly enveloped the whole wharf, and everyone became serious. Several fishermen in the distance were shocked when they saw this situation. They surrounded and pointed in the distance, but they were not afraid. Soon someone found the king ship of the king of Yue, and the news that the king of Yue came to Zhuya immediately spread.

The king ship approached the dock, and the long and wide springboard was put down. Sun Shao stepped on the springboard under the protection of Shi Fu, Ao Lei and others. Looking at the road paved with flat bluestone slabs under his feet, Shen Xuan smiled and said, "Mozhi, you are so big."

Shen Xuan smiled and said, "My king, this was used to gather people to process it in his spare time. In three years, Lord Wei has put the main streets in the city on stone slabs, so that he can withstand the trampling of cattle and horses every day. Otherwise, Lord Wei will have a headache for road construction every year."

Sun Shao turned his head and looked at Wei Jing. Wei Jing hurried forward and explained, "Your Majesty, Zhu Ya is located in Shangli County. There are countless carriages and horses between the docks every day. I used to use dirt roads, but Zhu Ya is rainy. Once it rains, it will be muddy and difficult to walk. When it clears, the road becomes pits again, and it is extremely difficult to walk. It is the minister and the chief. The farmers discussed that they would use the leisure time to hire people to polish the stone slabs and pave the main streets with slates. Now it is unimpededed whether it is sunny or rainy, and it also saves a lot of road construction costs.

"Well done." Sun Shao turned his head to Yu Fan, the prime minister behind him, and Lu Ji, the imperial historian, and said, "What do you two think?"

Yu turned his heart and said, you have agreed, what else can I say? Lu Ji smiled faintly: "Of course it's good, but the big farmer's order, I can speak first. Since you say that it is the work of the people, it is naturally not free. I want to check whether the salary you pay meets the standards of our Yue. If you find that there is a deduction of salary or abuse of the people, it will be violated. Contrary to my king's purpose of being kind to the people. Don't blame me for impeaching both of you at that time.

Shen Xuan smiled and said, "Of course, there is no need to say this. Dr. Royal History, please investigate. As long as such a thing happens, Lord Wei and I don't want you to impeach and plead guilty to the court."

"Da Sinong has a lot of confidence." Yu turned his eyes with a smile.

"I dare not, I just have a clear conscience." Shen Xuan answered with a smile. Sun Shao brought Yu Fan and Lu Ji to Zhu Ya for the New Year. Naturally, he wanted Yu Fan, the prime minister, to see his achievements in Zhu Ya. In disguise, he said that Sun Shao was not satisfied with Yu Fan's work. Yu Fan was not a fool. Of course, he knew this truth, so it was reasonable to provoke Zhu Ya. The more so, the more Shen Xuancai wants to make him pickless, the more he seems to be able to do it.

Sun Shao smiled and said no words. He invited Yu Fan and others to Zhu Ya, just to let them compete with each other. Now he is on the verr as soon as they meet. Although the speed is too fast, the atmosphere is not bad. Everyone still plays cards according to the cards, so it is easy to do. He waved his hand and said, "Well, you don't want to stand here. You have been on the boat for more than ten days. You have just landed. Why don't you take a rest first, and then let the big Sinong lead us to look around? Dr. Yushi can take the time to check it. Don't be blinded by them."

Lu Ji smiled and bowed and said, "Your Majesty is right. I came here with a skeptical eye this time. I have to pick up eggs and find trouble for him."

Everyone laughed.

He returned to Zhuya County and lived in the palace prepared by Shen Xuan for Sun Shao. The main building of the palace is not big, just a large mansion, but the surrounding environment is very good. There are mountains and seas, and there are mangroves on the beach, like a bloody Great Wall. Many tall fruit trees are planted on the hillside. Although it is winter now, many trees still bear fruit, so that those who have never been to Zhuya. Yuejun people are an eye-opener. Some of them have learned about some of Zhu Ya's products from Xinshan Haijing and Shiming, but they are still very excited to see it with their own eyes.

In the next few days, under the leadership of Shen Xuan, Sun Shao led hundreds of officials to visit Zhuya's Taoist colleges, workshops, breeding factories, fishing bays and markets. Everywhere, Shen Xuan explained to them in detail the purpose of the establishment, the scale of personnel, and the annual input and output. Lu Ji, the doctor of the imperial history, listened and did not forget his responsibility. He took the accountants led by Lu Shan to check the relevant accounts of Zhu Ya and sent the imperial historian to make an unannounced visit. He really wanted to pick bones in the egg.

While Yu Fan and Lu Ji were taking scriptures and picking thorns, Sun Shao was very idle. On this day, he walked in the mangrove forest after the tide reced. Ding Feng took the far away guard of the destruction camp. Shi Fu and Deng Ai followed him ten steps away with more than a dozen tigers. Only Shen Xuan followed Sun Shao closely. He was barefooted like Sun Shao. The trousers were rolled up high, and they did not wear official clothes. If they were seen, no one would have thought that these two young people were the king of Yue, and the other was the big farmer of Yue.

"Mozhi, you did a good job here, better than I expected." Sun Shao first said, "I was worried that Zhu Ya's production population was too small, but there were too many people eating, and the food supply would be a big problem. Now I am relieved that Zhu Ya can completely become the development model of our country. Mo Zhi, you solved a big problem for me.

Shen Xuan smiled, lowered his head, looked at the mud squeezed out of his feet, and said after a while, "Your Majesty, I didn't expect to solve this problem at the beginning. I was also very suspicious of the king's decision at that time."

"Oh? Is that so?" Sun Shao didn't think so and said with a smile, "Tell me, I saw that you promised at that time. I always thought you were confident, but I didn't expect you to have any doubts."

"The king must know that my Shen family got rich by running a manor, right?" Shen Xuan tilted his head and looked at Sun Shao with a smile on the corners of his mouth.

Sun Shao nodded. Of course, he knew how the Shen family got rich. Not only the Shen family, but also most of the families in Jiangdong. Although they also do business, most of their wealth is still dominated by the self-sufficient economy of the manor. Business is not their main business, and it is also the main content of selling their surplus assets, and there are not many people who specialize in selling. The Shen family was killed by Sun Quan because of Shen You. Shen Xuan refused to be an official. Not only did he not have an official salary to take, but more importantly, he did not have no privileges to do business. It was inevitable that he would be blackmailed. Therefore, the proportion of commercial income in his family was less, and he always mainly operated the manor, which was also the reason why he had to seek to rely on Sun Shao later. .

"I have always had this idea, or the vast majority of people have this concept. Without population and land, how can we ensure stability and how to develop instability? Zhu Ya has land, but there is little arable land. There are people in Zhu Ya, but there are few farmers. Under normal circumstances, if you govern a place like Zhu Ya, you should first teach them to cultivate, cultivate wasteland suitable for cultivation, men and women weave, and first seek food and clothing. If you have more than three years of farming, then even if the county magistrate is qualified, it is likely to Get the best evaluation in the performance appraisal. After the third examination, promotion is not a problem. Shen Xuan said slowly, "However, if you want to build Zhu Ya into a permanent population of nearly 50,000 in three or five years, and among them, the unproductive businessmen account for more than 60% of the county, not to mention the food supply, I don't think no one can do it."

"But you did it." Sun Shao looked at Shen Xuan with a smile.

"I was forced by the king." Shen Xuan shook his head: "In the first two years, I was most worried about food. I worry about food every day. In autumn, the first thing I have to do is to send people to the south to purchase food and prepare for the coming year. Once something is out of tune, Zhu Ya will fall into panic."

"Food is the first of the people. If you don't eat, no matter how well you treat him, he will rebel." Sun Shao didn't smile. He sighed. At first, he expected that Zhu Ya's development would have certain difficulties, but he didn't expect that Shen Xuan was under so much pressure at that time, and Shen Xuan had never told him that Shen Xuan had never written to him about these difficulties.

"However, I will be relieved soon." Shen Xuan smiled relaxedly: "In the autumn of the next year, I found that my grain ship had just arrived in the south, and they had prepared the food I needed. What made me more happy was that there were merchants waiting there, and they warmly invited our fleet to them, saying that their food was cheaper. . That time, I suddenly bought grain for two years. Before the fleet returned to Zhuya, the merchants in Hepu came to me and complained that I was willing to buy grain in Hepu. Instead, I had to go all the way to the south and Jiuzhen. From the third year, I didn't need to buy it, as long as I sent the quantity I bought to the counties, and then he We brought the food by ourselves.

"Really? No wonder you are so confident. I always ask for food, and you can transport tens of thousands of stones to Yizhou.

"The reason is very simple. The price we buy is five to ten times their local grain price. They just buy grain from other places and change hands, and they also have considerable profits." Shen Xuan smiled and said, "Even if they are priced at each other now, I only give them three or four times the price, and some people are still rushing to it. My Zhuya's granary has enough grain to be used for ten years. The king wants grain, but I can't ask for it. Otherwise, the old grain in the warehouse can't be solved. After three years of grain storage, the taste is much worse.

"Five times to ten times, the price is really not low. Do you have enough tax here?"

" Enough! Not only enough, but also more than enough. Shen Xuan laughed and said, "The Yuebu of Yue County, the silk of Linzi and Xiangben, and the iron of Xiapi all have to pass through my Zhuya. The price of these goods is a hundred times that of a thousand times that of grain. Among other things, Linzi's silk can be sold for two or three hundred thousand yuan with one stone. For this item alone, the annual tax is enough for me to buy food.

"So expensive?" Sun Shao was a little shocked: "I heard from Sun Guan that they have made a lot of money by selling 10,000 yuan."

"Yes, without such a high profit, will those Qingzhou businessmen be so enthusiastic?"

"No wonder that old guy is so happy every time he sees me. It turns out that the profit is so high." Sun Shao clapped his hands and said with some regret, "If I had known how to make money, I would have asked him for more benefits."

"This is nothing. According to Daqin merchants, if these silks are transported to Daqin, they are as valuable as gold. If you transport a ship of silk back, it is equivalent to transporting a ship of gold."

Sun Shao was stunned. A stone of raw silk is sold for 8,000 yuan in Qingzhou. According to the price of materials, the cost of weaving a stone silk is about 20,000 yuan. Now with a new loom, the cost has been reduced to about 15,000 yuan, and the selling price is about 30,000 yuan. That is to say, before this stone silk comes out of Qingzhou, the profit is high. It reached 100%, and when it was shipped to Zhuya and sold to Daqin merchants, the price increased tenfold. This is already a huge profit. Even if the freight and related taxes are removed, the profit in it is also very considerable. The merchants of Daqin transported back to Daqin at a price of two or three hundred thousand yuan per stone, but they could sell it at the same price as gold, that is to say, one stone could be worth about three to four million yuan, which was ten times more. From Qingzhou to Daqin, the price of a stone silk has changed from 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to 4 million yuan, a hundred times. No wonder some people are willing to travel all the way to do this business without risk.

"Since we make so much money, why don't we ship it directly to Daqin?" Sun Shao turned his eyes and immediately had a new idea.

"I also thought about it." Shen Xuan smiled and said, "However, those Qingzhou merchants were afraid to go when they heard the Daqin merchants."

"Why?"

"First, the road is far away, and it will take about a year to come and go." Shen Xuan broke his fingers and said, "Secondly, the sea is dangerous. According to the Daqin merchants, if they encounter wind and waves on the sea, they are likely to destroy the ship and die, and everyone who goes bankrupt is not on the road. Third, there are many pirates, and the pirates along the way are like blood-sucking locusts, as many as cow's hair. Most of the profits are earned for them.

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao laughed: "Pirates? Which pirate can be better than me? I'd like to see if they rob me or I rob them. As for the ship, I have also seen the ships of those Qin people. It's really not worth mentioning. If our ship goes to sea, the ability to resist wind and waves is much stronger than them. At this time, alas, before the machine is made, although we are faster than them, it is also limited.

"If you can reduce the risk and not be afraid of pirates, even if it takes a little longer, someone is still willing to go." Shen Xuan said, "However, if the king wants to go to sea, it is reasonable to lay a good foundation first. This is not a simple business problem. Those pirates are not just pirates. Most of them have officials behind them. Fighting with pirates is to fight with those kingdoms. Don't underestimate them.

Sun Shao smiled and said, "I understand the truth of the official thief's family. I am the most obvious example. This meal should be eaten in one bite, and everything should be done one by one. Wait for me to clean up the South China Sea before going to Daqin. However, you have to start to deal with things about Daqin. In three or five years at most, I will send someone to Daqin to have a look.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I have begun to collect news about this." Shen Xuan said with a proud smile, "Your Majesty, I have found some good iron in Tianzhu, which has been handed over to the technical college for research. It is said that the weapon is better than the iron of Xia Pi."

Sun Shao blinked doubtfully. His impression of India was limited to A San and the bald monk. Is Tianzhu still good?

"Ge Sizhen personally took people to Tianzhu for this matter. Finally, he brought a few Tianzhu blacksmiths back. After two months of trial production, he finally mastered this method. Recently, he is trying out the first batch of weapons."

"No wonder he didn't come to see me. It turned out that he was busy with this matter." Sun Shao smiled. He has been in Zhuya for several days. Basically, he has seen everyone he wants to see. Only Ge Heng has never appeared. He only said that he will come in two days, but he didn't say anything busy. Shen Xuan didn't say anything, but he really didn't know.

"He's a little crazy to do things." Shen Xuan smiled and said, "Just like the blacksmith surnamed Pu in Hanzhong."

"Hey hey, doing technology, most of them are a little crazy." Sun Shaoxin smiled with the same feeling and said, "I wanted to go to see him, so I'd better not go, so as not to disturb him."

Shen Xuan was silent for a moment. Sun Shao actually took the initiative to see Ge Heng, which made him a little sour, but then threw this idea out. Ge Heng is Sun Shao's consoner. He has followed Sun Shao since he was still embarrassed. Sun Shao can have today's achievements. Ge Heng is the first meritorious minister. Without the warships he transformed, how could Sun Shao suddenly rise up. Isn't it what he wants for Sun Shao to be so good to the meritorious officials?

"Your Majesty, it's not just the South China Sea, right?" Shen Xuan smiled and said, "I heard that the king of Wu has made a lot of actions recently."

(to be continued)