Chapter 41: How to Destroy Western Xia (2)

  Collection, recommendation, click......

  Zhang San Weng's heart was filled with shock and anger, and he shouted: "Ji Zhong, what nonsense are you talking about? Don't blame the immortal master, although we can sell it for over 200 wen, but there is still a relationship between us that needs to be shared... This 150 wen, really can't afford it!"

  Zhang Shu said sternly, "How can we bear it? It's just that our family earns less money. However, if we really can do so, it would be a fortunate event for the country. The Western Xia is poor and barren, with several states relying on Qingyan for financial support. He Liang also wrote in 'Anbian Book': 'The black and white salt pools are like lifeblood to the Xixia bandits and other ethnic groups!' If we can cut off the smuggling of Qingbai salt, the destruction of Western Xia is just around the corner!"

  "Prohibition of salt, prohibition of salt, again and again it's prohibition of salt. For two hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, they've been shouting about prohibiting salt, but have they ever really succeeded in banning this white salt from Western Xia? My family doesn't engage in smuggling private salt, do you think other families will stop selling it just because I don't? I know you're not very satisfied with the private salt business, but you should understand that there's a whole family of people..."

  The two of them suddenly started quarreling, leaving Wen Fei staring in shock. He thought to himself that he had never known before that a pinch of salt could be so important!

  "This time is different!" Zhang Shuye said: "Xixia Qingbai salt can't be banned, it's just that the price is low and the goods are good. But with the snow salt of the immortal master, we can completely replace Xixia Qingbai salt and cut off Xixia's lifeline!"

  "This...” Zhang San hesitated, the Great Song Dynasty had been established for two hundred years. The biggest threat was not Liao State, but Western Xia. In these years, countless kind-hearted scholars and heroes had shed blood and sacrificed their lives to strategize and plot to destroy Western Xia. Being able to destroy Western Xia was truly the greatest dream in every Song person's heart.

  As for annihilating the Liao State... you'd better go back to sleep and talk about it when you wake up. The rulers of the Song Dynasty, even in their dreams, have never dared to dream of annihilating the Liao State! The fear of the Liao State is etched into their bones.

  "Wait a minute..." Wen Fei exclaimed: "Although I can get a lot of salt, but it's impossible to supply the whole country with salt!"

  How many people are there in the Great Song Dynasty? Not one hundred million, at least several tens of millions! So many people need to eat salt, relying on this broken cart, when can it be transported? Wen Fei can already imagine himself dying from exhaustion on the road of transporting salt. Just thinking about it makes one shudder!

  "Immortal Master has misunderstood, the Great Song Dynasty is vast and broad..." Zhang Shuye said.

  Wen Fei grumbled: "What a cheat! It's not even half as big as the Tang Dynasty!"

  Zhang Shuye suddenly felt embarrassed, and when he said that Xi Xia was not Chinese territory during the Tang Dynasty? And what about the land of Yan Yun, even the vast grasslands of Liao Guo, weren't they all under the rule of the Tang Dynasty? But this reason couldn't be explained. Zhang Shuye had no choice but to pretend to be deaf and dumb, pretending he hadn't heard.

  "That... transportation is difficult. Not all places eat Qingbai salt, that is, the roads in Shaanxi are sold with Qingbai salt. Like Hebei, what's being sold is refined salt, other places mostly use sea salt, and not too much of it... ordinary people only consume one catty of salt per year."

  Not many people eat salt in several provinces. Wen Fei gave a fierce glance, but it's not that many for hundreds of people to eat salt. However, it seems like there really isn't much!

  Wen Fei thought to himself, this salt can't be eaten as rice. The salt from the Northern Song Dynasty is sold at such a high price. If he were a person from the Song Dynasty, he wouldn't dare to eat much of it either. In a year, one person would only consume a few kilograms, which adds up to just a few hundred thousand kilograms. A truck can transport 10 tons, or 20,000 kilograms. So, it's just about 100 trucks of salt! If he were to buy another large truck, the kind with containers, it would be just a few dozen trips...

  The evil old society, Wen Fei sighed. An ordinary citizen only ate one catty of salt a year, Wen Fei remembered that his family used to use a bag of salt every month?

  "We'll talk about this later!" Wen Fei said: "I also brought wine..."

  After spending half a day explaining, I finally taught these ancient people how to turn on the faucet. The clear liquor flowed out.

  "Is this good wine as before? If you don't want it, I'll sell it to foreigners!"

  Zhang San's spirit shook: "Want, of course want!" Such good wine can only be sold at a high price in the hands of those rich people in the Great Song Dynasty.

  Wen Fei asked: "What are you going to use to pay? I don't accept copper coins, only gold."

  Now that you mention it, Zhang San Weng was in a dilemma. Although the Zhang family is a wealthy and influential household, it's not easy to come up with several hundred kilograms of gold all at once in Lanzhou.

  In the Song Dynasty, gold and silver were precious, but they were not circulating currency. Just like in modern times, gold and silver are valuable, but they cannot be used as RMB, only after exchanging them for paper money can they be used. That is, these big families would collect some gold and silver as reserves, but in daily life, copper coins were still the main currency.

  "What's wrong with this... copper coin? Not to mention within the Great Song territory, even in Liao and Western Xia countries, they all use our Great Song coins. Even those merchants from Tianfang like to use them, hauling them back and forth by the boatload!" said Zhang Sanweng.

  Even if this Northern Song dynasty coin is an international currency now, it can only be used as an antique in my later generations. If I really want to bring back hundreds of millions of copper coins, not to mention the impact on the market, when should I sell them? So he simply stuck to his guns, only wanting gold and silver, and other things were out of the question.

  Just then, there was a commotion outside. It turned out that those barbarians who were with Yamabe had heard the news about Wen Fei and came looking for him.

  He and Yan Bu were also a large tribe, with several thousand people under their command. At least five hundred cavalrymen could be mobilized, making them a powerful force in the region. This time, they also brought tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, occupying an even larger area than Zhang's family. More than three hundred young men from the tribe came, and at this point, there were dozens of people who broke into Zhang's camp. The servants of the Zhang family had no way to stop them.

  Wen Fei was also a little afraid of the brutality of those barbarians, fearing that he had brought too many goods this time. In case these barbarians turned against him and robbed him, for safety's sake, he thought of coming to do business with the Zhang family. At this point, seeing that the business couldn't be negotiated, he said: "Forget it, consider the salt a gift to you. I'll sell this wine to Yanbu instead!"

  Ten bags of salt wouldn't be worth much money. For Wen Fei, the cost was only a few thousand yuan. Now he's rich and extravagant, so he didn't mind this small loss.

  Zhang San Weng was anxious, this deal is one thing, the key is to pull up a relationship with Wen Fei. Thinking that the immortals in the upper realm only need gold, and are not interested in making money. He thought to himself, wondering if it's not the heavenly gods wanting to practice some kind of golden elixir.