Physician of the Song Dynasty: Zhang Kai and Li Qingzhao have a private life-long contract

After Yelu Hongji taught him step by step, Yelu Yanxi's imperial skills became more and more mature. After the grandfather and grandson decided on a strategy to control Xixia, Yelu Yanxi stood up and left.

As soon as he returned to Taisun's mansion, Yelv Zhangnu hurriedly came to report.

"Your Highness, Grandson Qi, news came from various Jurchen tribes. Each tribe complained that the price of ginseng was too low and they were unwilling to sell ginseng."

“Complaining that ginseng prices are too low?”

Yelu Yanxi frowned.

Nowadays, it is well known that ginseng is expensive. There are rumors that the royal family of the Song Dynasty has purchased ginseng for thousands of years. In addition, doctors of the Song Dynasty used ginseng in large quantities for medicine. The price of ginseng has been rising again and again. Especially the ginseng of the previous year is even more valuable. It's expensive, especially thousand-year-old ginseng, which is hard to come by, and even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it.

Although the Jurchens live among the white mountains and black waters, they are not isolated from the world. The sudden increase in the value of ginseng has naturally reached the ears of the Jurchens. However, ginseng in the Song Dynasty is very valuable, but the price of ginseng in the Jurchen land is as cheap as grass. Sitting on a treasure mountain but still living a miserable life, the Jurchens are naturally dissatisfied.

"In my opinion, the price of ginseng is too high. It's better to increase the purchase price of ginseng from various Jurchen tribes to appease the Jurchens. Anyway, it won't be much more money." Yelv Zhangnu suggested.

The price gap between Liao merchants and Song Dynasty ginseng was so great that ginseng smuggling was frequently banned, and the ginseng harvested by Liao merchants was extremely poor.

Yelu Yanxi waved his hand and said: "We must not increase the purchase price of ginseng. Once we give in, the Jurchen tribes will definitely make further progress. If we increase the price by 30% today, we can double the price in the future. Can't we all be satisfied?"

Nowadays, ginseng accounts for a large proportion of the Song Dynasty's millions of orders. Once the profits are given to the Jurchen tribes, it will harm their interests.

"What do you think of Etai Sun?" Yelv Zhangnu asked.

Ginseng accounted for a large proportion of Song Dynasty's million-dollar orders. If they could not deliver on time, they would lose a lot of money.

"Instruct all the Jurchen tribes to strictly crack down on ginseng smuggling. Anyone who buys and sells ginseng privately will be severely punished! When no one buys the ginseng from the Jurchen tribes, the Jurchen tribes will naturally beg to sell it to us." Yelu Yanxi said coldly.

Moreover, Yelu Yanxi studied the emperor's scheming, and the price of ginseng was too expensive. Once the Jurchen tribes were allowed to control the interests of ginseng, they would probably rise rapidly, which would pose a threat to the rule of the Liao Kingdom. This was why Yelu Yanxi had been suppressing the Jurchen tribes. s reason.

Therefore, it is impossible to raise the price, and the benefits of ginseng cannot be distributed to the Jurchen tribes in any case.

"I understand!"

Yelu Zhangnu said with a ferocious expression.

As Yelu Yanxi's order was issued, the situation in Huining Prefecture and other large-scale sales centers was tense. Merchants in various Jurchen tribes were subject to the most stringent searches. Once ginseng smugglers were discovered, they were immediately severely punished.

Suddenly, the number of merchants who went to Jurchen tribes to smuggle ginseng was greatly reduced. There was only one seller of Jurchen ginseng, and that was the Liao merchant supported by Taisun Yelu Yanxi.

"What? This ginseng plant is at least three hundred years old, but it's only worth seventy silver dollars!" Wanyan Agu said angrily in the Huining Prefecture Farm.

This is a three-hundred-year-old ginseng. He and a group of Jurchen warriors took great risks to pick it, but the price given by the Liao merchants was only worth seventy silver dollars. One silver dollar was only worth a hundred wen, and seventy silver dollars. One silver dollar is equivalent to seven strings of money. The price is even lower than before.

The shopkeeper of Liao Shang opened his eyes and lied: "Wanyan warrior doesn't know something. The previous war between Song and Liao resulted in a large backlog of ginseng, which caused the price to drop sharply. However, for the sake of warrior Wanyan, the maximum price is seventy-five yuan." silver."

"That's nonsense. Nowadays, who doesn't know that the Song Dynasty placed an order of millions of dollars and purchased a large amount of ginseng, so how could there be a backlog of ginseng!" behind Wanyan Aguda, a strong young man yelled angrily. He was Wanyan Aguda's fourth brother. My younger brother Wu is begging for money.

The shopkeeper of Liao Shang was unmoved and said: "This is the price in Huining Prefecture."

"make a deal!"

Wanyan Aguda nodded helplessly, then handed over the three-hundred-year-old ginseng in his hand and took the seventy-five-yuan silver coin.

After walking out of the Liao merchant's shop, his fourth brother Wu Qimai couldn't help but said angrily: "Second brother, the Liao merchant has lowered the price so much, why do you still sell to him?"

They took great risks to search for this 300-year-old ginseng. Nowadays, more and more hunters are looking for ginseng. Ginseng from previous years is also becoming more and more difficult to find. It is often necessary to go to unknown and dangerous places to have a chance to obtain it.

Wanyan Aguda said helplessly: "Of course I know that the Liao merchants are lowering the price, but the Han merchants who cooperated with us have disappeared. We have no choice but to sell to the Liao merchants."

The Jurchen tribes make a living by hunting. Although the hunting tribes are brave, they are more difficult to grow than the farming and nomadic tribes because their food sources are not stable.

If the source of food is unstable, it will not be able to feed a large population. If you want to obtain daily necessities, you must trade with the outside world. Especially in winter, when food is in short supply, you must trade with Liao merchants to buy food for the winter. The tribe survives the crisis.

This is the biggest weakness of the Jurchen tribes. They must rely on the Liao Dynasty.

Wu Qimai was indignant. After walking around in Huiningzhou's market, he suddenly looked around and said mysteriously: "Second brother, does he know about the battle between Song and Liao? Why did the Liao country retreat without a fight?"

"I heard that the Song Dynasty's thousand fleets threatened Nanjing of the Liao Dynasty?" Wanyan Agu asked with a heartbeat. The Song Dynasty was the largest trading country of ginseng, so the Jurchen tribes naturally paid special attention to the news about the Song Dynasty.

Wu Qimai nodded and said: "Yes, a thousand sea ships threaten Nanjing. I heard that these ships can go to Nanyang for trade thousands of miles away, and naturally they can also come to the North Sea."

According to later investigations, Beihai is another name for Lake Baikal. In fact, the sea area east of Heilongjiang is also called Beihai.

"You mean, there are merchants from Song Dynasty who came to Beihai to trade ginseng?" Wanyan Aguda exclaimed.

Wu Qimai shook his head and said: "It's not Song merchants, there are even Korean merchants and Fusang merchants. Nowadays, Changbai Mountain ginseng is well known to the world. It is a hard currency traded with the Song Dynasty. It is naturally very popular, and it is said that the maritime merchants The purchase price is much higher than that of Liao merchants.”

Wu Qimai told him all the news he had learned.

Wanyan Aguda suddenly said excitedly: "Okay! If the Liao Dynasty can block our Jurchen land route, it will definitely not be able to block our Jurchen sea route. With the Beihai sea route, the rise of our Jurchen can only be expected."

The Jurchen tribes are sitting on the ginseng treasure mountain, but they are impoverished. The Jurchens are naturally very dissatisfied. Wanyan Aguda naturally wants to change the Jurchen status quo, and sea trade will be a good opportunity for the Jurchens to rise.

At that moment, Wanyan Aguda left Huining Prefecture and took Wu Qimai to Yongming Bay in the North Sea. Yongming Bay is the only ice-free port in the North Sea. In later generations, it also has a well-known name, Vladivostok.

When Wanyan Aguda arrived at Yongming Bay, he saw a large number of ships parked on the bay.

In Yongming City, businessmen from Goryeo, Fusang, and Song Dynasty gathered. The biggest purpose of their coming here was ginseng.

Although the price of ginseng here is not as high as in the Song Dynasty, it is still within a reasonable range, and there are all kinds of goods. As long as you have ginseng, you can exchange for any goods you want.