At noon that day, King Chengling hosted a banquet for Zhao Hongrun and the other three princes in the temporary palace of Daliang.

After three rounds of drinking, the five of them started a discussion on the opening of Sanchuan.

The first thing to discuss is the "tariff" of Chenggao Pass.

At the beginning, Anling merchant Jia Wen Shaobo thought that the tax of the 100 yuan in and out of Chenggao Pass must have been collected by Cheng Gaojun in the name of Suwang Hongrun, but in fact, this was really an order issued by Zhao Hongrun.

After all, in recent years, due to financial embarrassment, the household department has been successively cutting military spending, resulting in a very bad relationship between the sixth battalion of the garrison and the household department.

But to be honest, Zhao Hongrun can also understand the embarrassment of the household department, after all, within the Wei State, the aristocratic power that harms the public and private interests is too huge, and these people occupy a large profit on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are in arrears of taxes paid to the household department of the imperial court, so that the household department has to be careful with calculations.

Therefore, Zhao Hongrun added tariffs at Chenggao Pass, which can be regarded as a military subsidy for the Chenggao army.

According to the plan of the Ministry of Industry, they will prepare to reclaim farmland in Sanchuan in some places with fertile water sources that are conducive to reclamation, and produce enough grain to be comparable to that of Yingshui County, so that Sanchuan will become one of the granaries of Wei and prepare in advance for the "Wei-Han War" that will inevitably come in the future.

In this regard, Zhao Hongrun is very supportive.

After all, grain, that is hard currency, don't look at the usual rice prices in Wei are not high, however, a station of three rivers has made the price of rice in many counties in Wei rise by 30%, it is conceivable that the consumption of military food during the war.

How did Bitatu of the Kajiao tribe lose?

In addition to the tactical aspect, isn't the main reason the shortage of food?

If there is enough food, it can't be said that Bitatu will definitely be able to defeat Zhao Hongrun, but at least it won't be defeated so quickly and so miserably, you must know that the war between Zhao Hongrun and Xiong Tuo, the Jun of Xuancheng, was fought for half a year, and what about the war with Jiaojiao? It's over in two months. "Note: The half-year mentioned here refers to the signing of the Zhengyang Peace Treaty of the Chu-Wei Armistice, not to Zhao Hongrun's return to Daliang, which is nine months."

This is enough to illustrate the importance of "extensive grain storage".

After all, the real enemy of Wei in the future is not a nomadic people like Sanchuan, but a Central Plains country like Wei, such as Chu and Han, which is a Central Plains country that has been fighting a war for one to two years.

If Wei does not accumulate enough grain, then, once the Han-Wei War starts, the military food will be consumed hugely, which will obviously affect the price of rice in Wei, causing it to rise sharply, causing public resentment and even riots.

And if the Ministry of Industry can make Sanchuan the granary of Wei, then Wei will have the capital to fight a protracted war with Korea.

Some people may say that if the Ministry of Industry transforms Sanchuan into a natural granary, and the grain production of Wei has increased several times, will this affect the domestic rice price?

In fact, this is not a problem at all, the surplus grain can be sold to Xiong Tuo, the king of Xuancheng, or it can be sold to Sanchuan, after all, the Chu State has hungry people, and for Sanchuan, one more grain can allow them to feed one more slave.

Don't look at the calm on the Wei side, in fact, on the north side of Sanchuan, the Yi tribe and the Wubian tribe have already started a war with the "Qin"; In the southern part of Sanchuan, the two major tribes of Qiang and Ling, are also in full swing with the Ba country, and the food consumption is extremely huge.

Therefore, the grain of Wei was not at all unmarketable.

But then again, if the Ministry of Industry wants to build Sanchuan into the natural granary of Wei, then the stability of Sanchuan has become a top priority.

Although at present, the adopted son of Bitatu, the patriarch of the original Qiangjiao tribe, is leading the 50,000 archers in northern Sichuan and is responsible for the border defense of northern Sanchuan, but due to various considerations, it cannot ensure that everything is foolproof.

And once something happens to Sanchuan, among the "six garrison battalions" of the Wei State, the Chenggao army, which is closest to Sanchuan, is bound to be the first army to rush to the battlefield.

Therefore, whether Zhao Hongrun was out of consideration for enhancing the financial strength of the Chenggao army or in order to win over this army, he decided to give the Chenggao army the first cup.

Don't look at the tariff of "100 big coins" is not much, in fact, once Zhao Hongrun opened Sanchuan to the domestic aristocratic forces, the income of the Chenggao army on this money alone was enough to maintain the operation of the entire army, and there was even a surplus for them to purchase some war weapons from the Smelting Bureau to consolidate the border defense.

Not to mention, Zhao Hongrun's tariffs to the aristocratic forces are far more than the "one hundred big coins".

"Ichisei?!"

No, Zhao Wenshen, King of Chengling, Zhao Wenzhuo, King of Jiyang, Zhao Wenhuo, King of Zhongyang, and Zhao Wenkai, King of Yuanyang, couldn't help frowning when they heard the conditions proposed by Zhao Hongrun.

You must know that the "one percent" mentioned by Zhao Hongrun does not refer to one percent of the profit obtained by a certain caravan to and from Sanchuan, but to one percent of the value of the goods loaded on the caravan's carriage when the caravan leaves Chenggao Pass, that is, one percent of the principal of this transaction.

"That's too harsh!"

Zhao Wenzhuo, the king of Jiyang, immediately shook his head and refused, looked at Zhao Hongrun and frowned and said: "If it weren't for His Royal Highness King Su's personal promise that he would definitely be able to negotiate a result today, I really doubt that His Royal Highness King Su still has the intention of delaying......

"Is this a high cost?"

Zhao Hongrun took a sip of the wine in the cup and said lightly: "My Dawei's tea is sold to Sanchuan, which is a triple return!" ”

Zhao Wenzhuo, the king of Jiyang, shook his head when he heard the words and said, "His Royal Highness King Su doesn't have to wait for me. …… Perhaps at the moment, selling teacups to Sanchuan is indeed a triple return, but once Sanchuan is opened, so many aristocrats in the country will pour into Sanchuan together, and at that time, will it still be a triple return? The reason why the price of tea in Sanchuan remains high at the moment is that the cargo capacity of those civilians is not much. This point, King Su wouldn't have thought of it, right? ”

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Zhao Wenzhuo, the king of Jiyang, with a little surprise.

In fact, what the latter said, Zhao Hongrun naturally understood, but he still tended to squeeze these nobles and make them pay huge taxes.

This money can be used to improve the Chenggao army, and it can also be used to make the household department rich, and only when the household department becomes rich, can Wei have the capital to add a project of infrastructure in Zhao Hongrun's plan.

For example, digging rivers, building border blocks, improving official roads, etc., all of which cost money, and the money spent is probably in units of "10,000 taels".

And after Zhao Wenzhuo, the king of Jiyang, finished speaking, Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, also echoed: "In fact, the tariff of the one cost proposed by His Royal Highness King Su is not high, but His Royal Highness King Su should not forget that we still have to pay a huge amount of taxes to the household department every year...... If the latter can be relieved, I am willing to accept the request of His Royal Highness King Su. Otherwise, no one will agree to this condition. ”

Zhao Hongrun touched his chin and asked, "What does the clan uncle mean?" ”

"Doesn't His Royal Highness King Su feel biased? Why did those civilians only pay tariffs for "100 big coins", while we had to pay 10% of the principal? Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, said solemnly: "'One hundred and one', this is the bottom line. ”

"'One hundred' doesn't work." Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said, "A few months later, the tariff of those ordinary businessmen, this king is planning to rise to 'one hundred and one'. After that, he turned his head to look at Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, and said: "'One hundred and five', this is the last concession of this king." ”

One hundred and five, that is, half of the principal, Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, would not agree.

Come to think of it, why do those commoner merchants only need to pay "a hundred big money" no matter how many goods they load, while they, the nobles, need to pay a high tax of half the cost?

However, when he heard that Zhao Hongrun intended to raise the tariff on civilians to "one hundred and one gold", the unfairness in his heart was slightly alleviated.

After half a ring, Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, nodded and said under the surprised gaze of the other three princes and kings: "Yes." …… But His Royal Highness, I hope that His Highness will open the port to us. ”

The other three princes and kings were originally stunned and ready to object, but after hearing this, they immediately shut their mouths and agreed to the suggestion of Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling.

『雒港......』

Zhao Hongrun glanced deeply at King Chengling.

The port of Luo, that is, the river port in the east of the city, is currently only open to the household department of the imperial court.

Don't look at the beam from the Sanchuan seems to have a distance, in fact, if you take the waterway, the use of the big river (Yellow River), the water, a trip back and forth only half of the time, even better, although the Yingshui water system is generally shallow, but the victory in all directions, for some of the nobles who are far away, such as Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, the waterway is simply three times faster than the land.

"Good!"

After thinking for a while, Zhao Hongrun nodded.

On the same day, Zhao Hongrun reached some agreements with the four princes and kings of Chengling, Zhao Wenshen, King of Jiyang, Zhao Wenhuo, King of Zhongyang, and Zhao Wenkai, King of Yuanyang.

Sanchuan was finally opened to the aristocratic forces in the Wei State, but it was from July 1 of this year.

In this regard, although Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, and others were a little reluctant, they were not incomprehensible.

After all, Zhao Hongrun had already told them frankly that he did not intend to let the commoner businessmen replace the status of the aristocratic businessmen, but to let the two sides restrain each other and achieve a situation of mutual checks and balances.

It is necessary to make some nobles fully realize that Great Wei is not indispensable to you, and even there are people who can replace your position at any time.

However, for the situation of mutual checks and balances that Zhao Hongrun wants to achieve, it seems that Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, and others are just smiling.

He had no doubt that once Sanchuan was officially opened to the aristocratic forces in Wei on the first day of July, those commoners and merchants would inevitably be squeezed by these nobles in an instant.

There is no need to resort to any despicable means, and the crushing of the wealth gap alone is enough to crush the common merchants who are like worms in front of the aristocratic forces.

"I hope that the civilians whom His Royal Highness King Su has tried his best to support will survive after July......"

After reaching a preliminary agreement, Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, said to Zhao Hongrun with a smile.

Full of confidence, he probably didn't expect that among the common businessmen they looked down on, there were really some of them who survived tenaciously, and struggled to grow gradually under the pressure of their wealth in the future.

And when Zhao Hongrun was discussing the matter of Sanchuan with these four princes, there was a rumor in the royal capital Daliang, a rumor that was quite unfavorable to Zhao Hongrun. (To be continued.) )