When Merton took a cart full of treasures from the Western Regions to send Princess Changle back to the palace, before he could leave, he was caught by Pang De, who was already waiting there.

"Mohou! Your Majesty, please! Pound looked at Morton with a smirk.

Morton was helpless when he heard this, Li Shimin didn't have a good face every time he saw Merton, and he was still a little stunned when he saw Li Shimin now.

When Modon came to the Taiji Palace, he saw that Dai Zhou and Li Shimin were already waiting here, and when he saw Modon coming in, he immediately said with a cold face: "I heard that the ink sacrifice wine is like gold in the West Market, so it is not chic!" ”

You must know that Merton, a loser, 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 wrong to blame Weichen, Weichen's money is not a hundred flowers, but a lot of information for my Datang." ”

Since Merton boldly spent this batch of silk, he naturally thought of a countermeasure a long time ago, and he didn't panic in his heart.

Li Shimin snorted coldly and said, "Then I will also listen to how your sharp teeth reverse black and white." ”

"Your Majesty, compared to those envoys of Honglu Temple, the information that these Hu merchants inadvertently revealed is the most real, this trip to the West Market, after careful investigation, Weichen got two news, one good and one bad." Merton sells a pass.

It's a pity that Li Shimin and Dai Xuan didn't pick up at all, and watched Merton act and direct himself.

Merton hurriedly embarrassed and said: "The good news is that as soon as Weichen threw the silk of the Weaving Bureau on the market in the West Market, it was immediately sought after by the majority of Hu businessmen, indicating that the silk of the Weaving Bureau is still very marketable." ”

Dai Xuan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and finally couldn't help but ask: "What about the bad news?" ”

Merton regretted: "It's a pity that these Hu merchants have limited financial resources and transportation capacity, and they can't digest this batch of silk at all, so the method of selling this batch of silk to the countries of the Western Regions and the Hu merchants of the Western Regions will not work at all." ”

Silk is a luxury in the Tang Dynasty, not to mention in the Western Regions and even in Persian food and other countries, it is not a rich prince's house can not have, although the price is high, but there are very few people who can afford it.

Li Shimin and Dai Xuan's faces suddenly darkened, which was far from the result they expected.

"How much cotton will be planted this year?" Li Shimin frowned and asked.

"It's already three thousand acres! At present, 400,000 catties of seeded cotton have been harvested," Merton bowed his head. Now the main person responsible for planting cotton is Mojia Village, of course, Moton knows the situation of cotton best, under the careful care of Mojia Village regardless of the cost, the yield of cotton per mu directly broke through the 100 catties mark, which can be described as a bumper harvest.

"In other words, there will be more cotton planting next year!" Li Shimin asked in a condensed voice.

Merton nodded and said, "It can be expanded at least twenty times." ”

Li Shimin gasped, if this rate continues, within a few years, cotton will definitely bloom everywhere in Datang, and there is really not much time left for silk.

"Either we lower the price and attract Hu merchants to buy more silk." Dai Xuan was also worried.

Merton shook his head and said: "No, Hu Shang originally had limited transportation capacity, even if it was cheaper, it couldn't be transported much, but it damaged the due interests of Datang." ”

Li Shimin nodded, the interests of silk are too huge, how can Datang let it go easily.

"Since Hu Shang can come to Datang from thousands of miles away, can Datang also form a caravan to go to the countries of the Western Regions?" Li Shimin said that if the Tang Dynasty sent a large number of caravans to sell silk, then so much silk would definitely not be worried.

"Back to Your Majesty, this move is certainly feasible, but it is only a drop in the bucket, and on the Silk Road, there are many sand thieves, and most of my Tang merchants are law-abiding people, so I am afraid it will be difficult. If ......"

Merton did not continue, the meaning was obvious, if the caravans of the Tang Dynasty wanted to take the Silk Road, they must be supported by the imperial court and even arm these caravans. The status of the merchants of the Tang Dynasty is low, and if these merchants are suddenly armed, even Li Shimin will not be able to make a decision for the time being.

Li Shimin was suddenly annoyed and angry, stared at Morton with unkind eyes and said: "In this way, you have lost a cart of silk, and now there is no way at all!" ”

Merton sighed in his heart, and suddenly knew that if he didn't come up with some dry goods, he wouldn't be able to pass this level today.

"I don't know if Your Majesty knows about the Guanshi!" Merton bowed.

Li Shimin was suddenly at a loss, and Dai Zhou suddenly said: "What the ink sacrifice wine said is none other than the former Ministry of Civil Affairs Shangshu Pei Jupei, who once set up a prison in the land of 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 to reopen Zhangye Prison Zhiguan City!" ”

Merton nodded and said: "It's not just Zhangye, Weichen thinks that wherever there is a border with other countries, there can be a prison and a customs market, and there is no communication with other countries." ”

"All of them are set up to supervise the city! Do you think you can sell the silk in this way? Li Shimin looked at Morton with scrutinizing eyes.

Merton shook his head and said, "Naturally, these Inspectors Guan City can't digest so much silk from the imperial court, but this is only the first step. ”

"First step?" Li Shimin and Dai Xuan looked at Merton expectantly.

Merton nodded and said, "The second step is that in these prison cities, there can only be one kind of money to settle with, and that is silk!" ”

Li Shimin and Dai Xuan looked at each other, not understanding the meaning of Merton's move, because silk in Datang could have been used as money!

Merton explained: "Wechen found in the West Market that on the Silk Road, there are three currencies, one is the Persian silver coin, the other is my Tang Dynasty's Kaiyuan Tongbao, and the third is silk. ”

The biggest advantage of silk as a currency is that it will not depreciate, and it is a recognized hard currency on the Silk Road, which is where Merton's confidence lies.

"Wonderful!" Dai Xuan was suddenly enlightened, he only wanted to ask Merton to sell this batch of silk, and Merton actually took a different way, and actually used silk as both goods and currency.

"Does it make a difference?" Li Shimin was suddenly confused and puzzled.

Morton showed a hint of confidence: "Back to Your Majesty, if we ordinary people want to buy things, do we have to prepare a lot of money in our hands in advance, so as long as Hu Shang wants to trade with Datang, he must start silk, so that a large amount of silk will be hoarded in the hands of Hu Shang to prepare for the purchase of Datang's goods, so that Your Majesty is still worried that the silk of the Weaving Bureau has no source?" ”

Li Shimin's eyes suddenly flashed, and he instantly understood the truth, this is just like the treasure house of the rich man in the countryside, it must be full of copper coins, and Morton is just exchanging the copper coins for silk at this moment.

Merton continued: "Not only that, in the future, the merchants of the Tang Dynasty will purchase goods from other countries in the future, and they will also pay for them in silk, and the currencies of the countries in the Western Regions are not at all connected, and the fineness of gold and silver is also the same, but the silk of the Weaving Bureau can maintain its value and be easy to transport, if the transactions of various countries on the Silk Road are settled in silk, then according to this calculation, these silks in Your Majesty's hands may not be enough!" ”

This is the way that Merton wants to think about it, and the way Datang wants to obtain the greatest benefits on the Silk Road, that is, to establish a Datang silk system.