My clone is on the other side of the starry sky

The fierce battle in Zhangzhou has reached a stalemate. On the Jinzhou side, Cui Zheng has been very happy recently.

Cui Zheng looked down on traders, a group of profit-seeking people who only thought about money. This was the biggest difference between him and Cui Yan. Cui Yan was very interested in business. Although he agreed to suppress business, he would also User.

The failure of Yanyun's plan seemed to prove that Cui Yan was wrong. Cui Yan's business war not only failed to help him obtain the land of Yanyun, but instead allowed the merchants to destroy Huangzhou, and the Cui family suffered heavy losses as a result.

After the Battle of Huangzhou, many foreign merchants seemed to have learned the tricks and continued to drive up prices in Jinzhou, buying low and selling high. For a period of time, Cui Zheng directly banned all commercial activities in Jinzhou, but the public sentiment did not change. Instead of getting better, it got worse.

Although agriculture is the mainstay of agricultural society, as it has developed to this day, commerce has begun to prosper during the Daqian period. Taking Jinzhou as an example, many people farm during busy periods and do small business during slack periods, such as endless grain. They use it to make some snacks and sell them, and some small traders directly break away from farming and specialize in these businesses.

Cui Zheng's sweeping decree has certainly cut off the opportunity for wealthy businessmen to drive up prices, but it has also cut off the livelihood of many small people.

In fact, Cui Zheng doesn't care much about Lu Chao's arrival. He already has masters from Qingxuan Dao Sect here. If Lu Xuan really comes to fight, he won't be afraid. Besides, the Guiyi Sect's army is concentrated in Zhangzhou and there is no way to find Cui Zheng. True trouble.

Cui Zheng even had several plans to leave Jinzhou to regain Huangzhou. Unfortunately, the terrain of Jinzhou made it difficult to get in, and it was equally difficult to get out. Lu Xuan had heavily guarded the important roads in Huangzhou and Wuzhou, so it was difficult for the Jinzhou army to kill him. go out.

When Huangzhou, Wuzhou and Liuzhou were attacked by the Guiyi Sect, many people moved to Jinzhou to avoid the war. The population surge in Jinzhou also brought many problems. The first was the lack of land. After Cui Zheng took charge of Jinzhou, , has been attacking the powerful gentry class, obtaining land from them and then distributing it to the people through policies, which has won a lot of people's livelihood for Cui Zheng.

Jinzhou has been developing at this pace. In terms of suppressing the nobles and powerful people, Cui Zheng did not dare to be as rough as the Guiyi Sect. Instead, he boiled the frog in warm water, which not only gave the people hope, but also did not destroy the nobles. If the powerful group gets angry and fights you, he has always been able to control this situation well.

But the influx of a large number of people disrupted Cui Zheng's usual rhythm. A large number of people needed to be resettled, but Jinzhou's policies could not absorb these people at once. Unless he slaughtered all the powerful gentry in Jinzhou, he would not be able to produce so much. land to accommodate these people.

As a last resort, Cui Zheng had no choice but to revoke the previous decree banning business. But in this case, it was still the same problem. Cui Zheng basically hired people with the same ideas as his own. Regarding business, there was no one who was proficient in this. Several tests The government decree made no splash, and the arrival of Lu Chao helped Cui Zheng solve this big trouble.

Lu Chao suggested that Cui Zheng initiate a land reclamation order to allow new people to reclaim wasteland. The government would provide farm tools for reclamation and basic food and accommodation. After the fields were reclaimed, the fields would be owned by the people, but in the next three years, half of the grain produced would need to be handed over. , after three years of payment, the land will be completely owned by the people, but within ten years, the tax will be 10% higher than normal land, and after ten years, normal taxes will be paid.

This was also the first strategy decided by Lu Xuan and Li Xingzhi, to trade fish for fish.

Now three years have passed. Not only have the refugees been properly resettled, Cui Zheng has received much more taxes than in previous years. Cui Zheng is naturally happy and values ​​Lu Chao a lot.

Lu Chao came to Cui Zheng's state capital to report as usual. When he saw Cui Zheng's brows furrowed, he asked curiously: "Why are you frowning, sir?"

"Mr. Lu came just in time." Cui Zheng's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Chao. He quickly stood up and welcomed Lu Chao to his side. He smiled and said, "I have something to discuss with you sir."

"What's the matter?" Lu Chao asked curiously as he sat down as instructed.

"Nowadays, Jinzhou is stable, but those traders are the best at doing business, buying low and selling high. You know the silk of Sang County. It is precious outside, but there is no shortage in Jinzhou. In Sang County, one tael of silver can buy a pound. Silk, but those profiteers brought it to Jinyu County in the north. One tael of silk would be sold for one tael of silver. How can the common people afford it?" Cui Zheng frowned.

Silk is not a scarce commodity. Silk is something that some families can afford, but the silk in Sang County is different from other places. I don’t know why. It has a tough texture. After being made into silk, it is not only tough, but also smooth. When worn on the body, it is not only It is light and comfortable, warm in winter and cool in summer. Therefore, this Sang County silk is famous all over the world. Before the war, one tael of gold in Tiandu may not be exchanged for one tael of this kind of silk. To be honest, the price is really not expensive. , after all, the output of Sangjun silk is certain, and the effect is good, so it is naturally expensive.

"Sang County silk is rare after all. No matter how much it costs, ordinary people can't afford it. It doesn't matter if it's more expensive, adults can just collect more taxes from them." Lu Chao said with a smile.

"But the trading of other goods is also unreasonable, and these profiteers will hoard them whenever they get the chance, creating shortages and forcing people to buy them at high prices. Not to mention silk, this applies to silk cloth, coarse porcelain, rice wine, peppers, etc. If things go on like this , how can there not be public resentment? The most hateful ones are those that are shoddy." Cui Zheng frowned and said: "But as you said, it is not good to directly attack the merchants, and the people will have few ways to survive, but regardless of this matter, no."

After hearing this, Lu Chao thought for a moment and said: "I have a plan. If it works, it will not only be able to crack down on these illegal traders, but also create another source of fiscal revenue for you, and make the people be grateful to you."

"Oh?" Cui Zheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked at Lu Chao and said, "What's the plan?"

"The people's livelihood matters are nothing more than food, clothing, housing and transportation. People cannot do without these four things. The government can regulate commerce and set up a special chamber of commerce to be directly managed by the government. Take butter cakes as an example. This is a specialty of Jinzhou. It is crispy, easy to store, can be eaten for a month after drying, and is delicious. Generally, a butter cake on the market costs about 20 yuan, and ordinary people only eat one occasionally. But in terms of cost, cooking them together can save raw materials, which is roughly calculated. , no more than three cents."

"If the government uniformly purchases raw materials, makes them uniformly, and then sells them for five cents, there is no need to worry about how much others sell, just buy if you want. Over time, if those merchants want to survive, they will naturally have to sell for five cents like us. arts."

"The same goes for other things. The purpose of setting up a government-run chamber of commerce is to stabilize prices and prevent them from hoarding."

Cui Zheng nodded and said: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to handle this matter. None of my counselors are good at this."

He looked at Lu Chao: "I wonder if Mr. Lu can do it for me?"

"This..." Lu Chao said hesitantly: "After all, I am not a minister of your lord. If I handle this matter, I will inevitably attract criticism."

"It doesn't matter. The Xie family and I are considered family friends. Now that the Guiyi Sect is powerful, the Cui and Xie families must share the same hatred. Moreover, this matter cannot be considered a formal establishment. I will send one person to be the leader of this chamber of commerce, and Mr. Lu will handle the matter. , but I feel a little wronged by Mr. Lu." Cui Zheng waved his hand.

"It's nothing. It's just the manpower and initial money that I need help from adults to gather." Lu Chao said with a smile.

"This is not difficult." Cui Zheng smiled.

"Then get ready right now." Lu Chao stood up and said with a smile.

"Please, Mr. Lu." Cui Zheng stood up and personally sent Lu Chao to the door.

When Lu Chao returned to the residence Cui Zheng had arranged for him, he saw a man coming to greet him: "Brother Chao, have you gained anything today?"

The person who came was none other than Liu Sandao, the backbone of Lu Xuan's command.

"Well, the second plan can begin." Lu Chao nodded and said: "Brother Dao, get our people ready. This layout requires people, and money must be prepared. The initial investment will be huge. Cui Zheng is not here." It may be too much, so I have to find a way to send the money to him in a reasonable way."

Lu Xuan's second plan is to seize the magpie's nest. It is also the longest and most expensive core plan in this plan. Its function is to completely abolish Jinzhou's commerce. In order to perfect this plan, Lu Xuan used the refugees to secretly seize the Shenfeng Hall. A large number of disciples were sent to Jinzhou, and Liu Sandao, the master of Shenfeng Hall, was also sent.

What Liu Sandao didn't expect was that the executor of this plan turned out to be Lu Chao, whom he hadn't seen for many years. The young scholar who was obedient and unable to do anything under Lu Xuan's wings was now a completely different person. Same, and how did he become the messenger of the Xie family?

However, Lu Chao's methods were not bad. He easily obtained Cui Zheng's order and successfully implemented the first plan.

Lu Xuan's four strategies, the first three seemed to help Cui Zheng stabilize his people's hearts. Liu Sandao was not sure whether Lu Xuan's four strategies were really useful, but the person responsible for executing them was Lu Chao, who no longer seemed like the nerd he used to be. Feeling very reliable, he followed Lu Xuan's order and fully cooperated with Lu Chao to execute it.

The second game started under Lu Chao's layout. The manpower was basically Cui Zheng's people. In the second month, a chamber of commerce was established. Starting with food, they purchased food from the people in a unified way. They invited specialty chefs from various places at high prices to make various kinds of food in a unified way. Grow food that is easier to preserve and sell it everywhere.

Basically, the items sold by the chamber of commerce are more than twice as cheap as those on the market. Even if other vendors want to follow suit, after calculation, aside from the cost, there is basically no profit to be made, and they may even have to lose money. Many related shops Soon they could no longer operate and they closed down one after another.

Starting from the second year, the territory of the Chamber of Commerce began to fall on clothes. A large number of cheap clothes flowed out from the Chamber of Commerce. The people naturally benefited and applauded. Cui Zhengda won the hearts of the people and his luck increased sharply. Correspondingly, the silk cloth industry A piece of mourning.

The Chamber of Commerce's small-profit plan is still expanding, and all walks of life have been greatly impacted, and people are in mourning...