Mi Zhu was stopped by Zhang Yan's question, he is indeed a businessman, although he is very good at business, but the money obtained from business is not something that can be obtained at once, it is the wealth accumulated little by little through the continuous efforts of businessmen.

At present, the problem facing Zhang Yan is that the treasury is empty, he cannot make ends meet, and his thirst for money is even more imminent.

Mi Zhu thought for a long time, and then slowly replied: "King Yan, all along, the imperial court has adopted the strategy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, in today's strict hierarchy, the status of merchants is very low, even if they have the wealth of the rich country, they may not be able to exchange for a symbol of status, and even in the eyes of others, they are not even as good as a farmer or craftsman." If the Yan King could improve their status and status, those merchants could even contribute their money willingly. ”

After listening to Mi Zhu's words, Zhang Yan pondered for a moment and asked, "What does my brother mean, let me sell my official beard?" ”

Mi Zhu nodded and said, "I'm afraid this is one of the fastest ways to get money at present, I just made a suggestion, just for King Yan's reference, as for what to do, these are all decided by His Royal Highness King Yan." ”

In feudal society, there was a strict hierarchy, and the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants was established from a very early age, and this hierarchy has been followed for a long time, which has a deep impact on future history. Because most people think that businessmen are treacherous, the so-called no businessman is the best explanation for this hierarchy.

Selling official beards, although it sounds a little unglamorous. But it is indeed a solution to the current money dilemma. But. Not as a last resort. Zhang Yan would not do this, so as not to provoke the dissatisfaction of the ministers.

"In addition to this method, are there any other ways to get money quickly?" Zhang Yan asked again.

Mi Zhu said: "Yes, it is also a way to do it once and for all." ”

"What's the solution?" After Zhang Yan listened, he was stunned and hurriedly asked.

Mi Zhu said: "Mine gold!" ”

"That's right!" Zhang Yan slapped his thigh suddenly, and said happily, "Why didn't I think of this method?" Find a gold mine. The mined ore is smelted, and then you can get a steady stream of gold, which is indeed once and for all! ”

"His Royal Highness King Yan, don't be happy so early, if you want to mine gold, you must first discover the gold mine, in addition, you must recruit miners and dig mines, although this is a one-and-done solution, but it takes too long to consume. For the needs of Yanwang at this stage, it is not very suitable. But King Yan could consider including gold mining in his political affairs. Send people to discover gold mines all over the country, and then organize people to dig mines, and Zuihou will also set up a smelter to be responsible for refining gold from ore, just like His Royal Highness King Yan mined iron ore. Mi Zhu said.

After hearing this, Zhang Yan nodded again and again, feeling that this trip to Tancheng was quite rewarding and worthwhile.

Then, Mi Zhu suggested to Zhang Yan to open a trade route to Jiangdong, and Chen Deng's economic sanctions against Jiangdong were actually not approved by Mi Zhu, because when he sanctioned others, he also sanctioned himself, and the goods from Jiang, Huai, Ru and other places could not be transported to Jiangdong, and the interests of merchants were also damaged to a certain extent.

If we can reopen the trade routes and transport goods from the north to Koto, we will be able to make more and more money.

However, in Mi Zhu's suggestion, the opening of the trade route to Jiangdong must be operated independently by the government, which is the so-called official business.

Because Jiangdong is a huge market, after two years of economic sanctions, there is a great demand for external goods, if there is a steady stream of goods imported into Jiangdong at this time, then it is equivalent to opening a financial road, but also can impact Jiangdong's local business.

Zhang Yan's shili range can be described as a vast land, anything can be sold as a commodity, as long as it is something that Jiangdong does not have, it can be transported to Jiangdong to be sold as a commodity.

Although Mi Zhu's suggestion was very good, Zhang Yan was still a little hesitant. Because it is Chen Deng who advocates economic sanctions, and now that Chen Deng has just died, Zhang Yan has broken the strategy he formulated, and to a certain extent, I am afraid it seems a little too unrighteous.

After Chen Deng's death, the news reached Pengcheng, and Chen Deng's father, Chen Qi, couldn't accept the bad news, and couldn't afford to get sick, and he is still lying on the hospital bed. Although Fan A's conditioning can barely maintain his life, heart disease still needs heart medicine, Chen Qi was hit by Chen Deng's death, and if he wants to cure Chen Qi, he can only let Chen Deng live. This kind of grief of a white-haired person sending a black-haired person is incomprehensible to ordinary people, and if Chen Deng's original strategy is broken at this time, once it reaches Chen Qi's ears, it may worsen Chen Qi's condition.

In addition, Chen Deng's younger brother Chen Yingzheng led the army to garrison Tuntian in Shaopo, and the Chen family is also quite influential in Xuzhou, and more than half of the current Jiangdong were once Chen Deng's henchmen, in case the trade road to Jiangdong is opened, I am afraid that it will cause an uproar.

But opening a financial route is also an imminent matter, Zhang Yan thought about it, so he decided to let Mi Zhu to form a caravan, and he had full authority to manage this caravan, so he set off from Xuzhou, took a sea ship, took the sea route, and traded with Jiangnan in the form of smuggling.

This area of trade, under Zhang Yan's instructions, expanded a lot, including Jiangdong, but not limited to Jiangdong, and the more remote Jiaozhou, which were the main areas where this caravan traded.

To this end, Zhang Yan also specially asked Mi Zhu to form a military liliang that could protect the caravan from being attacked by pirates.

Zhang Yan and Mi Zhu together to have a long talk, this meeting, so that Zhang Yan gained a lot, in the long talk of two hours, Zhang Yan basically determined the future mercantile policy, but to pay attention to business, we must clear all difficulties and obstacles, this is also the focus of Zhang Yan's future work, he hopes that the region he ruled, not only agriculture is developed, but also commerce is equally developed.

And Mi Zhu told Zhang Yan a story about governing the country, so that Zhang Yan could follow the concept of governing the country and enrich the people first. Rich country again. Zuihou strong soldiers.

Mi Zhu even made people take out a hand-copied "Pipe". I gave this book to Zhang Yan, hoping that Zhang Yan would read the contents of the book carefully.

Zhang Yan took the book and found that there was a bookmark in the book, took it down and looked at it, but saw that the bookmark read, "All the way to govern the country must first enrich the people, the people are rich, the country is rich, and the country is rich." If the army is strong, it will be defeated, and if it is defeated, it will be wide", the handwriting of this text Zhang Yan looks very familiar, and it seems to be written by Mi Zhu himself.

"King Yan, in my life, the person I admire the most is Guan Zhong, I am a businessman, Guan Zhong also went through business in his early years, but Zuihou gave up business and entered politics, so I followed Guan Zhong's example. Abandon business and enter politics. However, I do not have the wisdom to manage the middle. Unable to help King Yan, I hope Zhang Yan can find some ways to govern the country from the book "Guanzi". What Mi Zhu said was very sincere and sincere.

Zhang Yan held "Pipe" tightly in his hand and said to Mi Zhu: "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely read this book well." ”

That night, Zhang Yan stayed in Mi Zhu's mansion, Zhang Yan lit a candle, and began to read the book "Guanzi" all night, and found that Mi Zhu also made notes next to the book, putting forward his own opinions, making the book look more easy to understand.

I have to say that Zhang Yan did get a lot of help from this book, and he seemed to be able to get a glimpse of Guan Zhong's thoughts from this book, which had many merits, which could help Zhang Yan's understanding of the way to govern the country.

Early the next morning, Zhang Yan finished reading the whole book "Guanzi", but some of the places were not quite understood, so he took it to ask Mi Zhu, Mi Zhu was also willing to explain the meaning of the book for Zhang Yan, after Mi Zhu's explanation, Zhang Yan understood all the essence of the book of Guanzi.

After that, Zhang Yan said goodbye to Mi Zhu and wanted to return to Pengcheng, Mi Zhu did not stop him, and before Zhang Yan left, he suddenly made a major decision to contribute unconditionally to seventy percent of his existing family property.

After Zhang Yan heard Mi Zhu's decision, he was surprised and shirked many times, because Mi Zhu was worthy of him, and if Mi Zhu didn't support him, he would definitely not be where he is today.

However, Mi Zhu insisted on giving it to him, after all, this was his brother-in-law, and he should help him.

Zhang Yan was extremely moved, but insisted on not to, and rode back to Pengcheng on a white dragon horse alone.

Soon after Zhang Yan left, Mi Zhu had invitations distributed to various wealthy merchants in Xuzhou one by one, and a banquet was held in his house three days later.

……

Zhang Yan returned to Pengcheng on the same day, and after some thought, he finally decided to solve the immediate difficulties by selling his official beard, even if the ministers of the court would oppose it.

To this end, Zhang Yan specially formulated a set of detailed prices for selling official beards, and marked the prices clearly according to the level of the officials sold.

However, Zhang Yan only sells titles, but not official titles, and the titles are only below the marquis, with earls, viscounts, and barons, each title is divided into five grades, and the price of the target is also high and low. The highest was the first-class count, who sold directly and openly for 50,000 gold, while the cheapest was the fifth-class baron, who sold for only 1,000 gold. And all the titles sold only have titles, not fiefs, but are issued by the imperial court to prove the legal status of these titles.

Zhang Yan took the drafted holy decree to the people below to copy it, and these people were all surprised when they saw such a holy decree that openly sold the official beard. However, fortunately, these people still copied it, and Zhang Yan personally covered these holy decrees with the jade seals of the country, and then handed them over to Jinyiwei to officially announce the world, and he was also mentally prepared to meet the infamy of the whole world!

……

Under the manipulation of Zhang Yan, the saint who publicly sold the title was taken by Jinyiwei to various states and counties within the Shili range, and one day a few days later, almost overnight, the states and counties within the Shili range of Zhang Yan were in an uproar.

Selling the official mantle, this kind of thing Emperor Han Ling has done, although Zhang Yan is not the first to do this, but all along, Zhang Yan's reputation is very good, as soon as the holy decree of the public sale of the title came out, Zhang Yan immediately attracted a burst of abuse.

The officials were also confused, why would the world-renowned regent Yan Wang do such a thing?

For a time, the whole country was in an uproar, and the news spread rapidly, and the speed of its spread was far beyond Zhang Yan's imagination, and in just three days, the news spread all over the north and south of the river, and even the remote Liangzhou also knew the news.

In the past, when Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty sold his official beard, it was only carried out on a small scale, but this time Zhang Yan sold it openly in the name of the holy decree, and the price of the sale was too high to accept.

First-class earl, sold for 50,000 gold! Moreover, there are a limited number of seats for each title, and in the case of a first-class earl, there are only ten places, on a first-come, first-served basis. Twenty places for the second count, thirty places for the third class, forty places for the fourth class, and fifty places for the fifth class.

For example, a viscount of the first class has a hundred places, a fifth class has five hundred, a baron of the first class has a thousand places, and a baron of the fifth class has five thousand.

A total of 16,650 titles were sold, and the number of titles sold and the price were beyond imagination.

Such a high price directly made some people who were ready to move back back. Everyone thinks that Zhang Yan is crazy about money, and even ridicules and ridicules Zhang Yan, and they all feel that whoever buys is a fool.

Ten days after the issuance of the holy decree, Zhang Yan was greeted by a fierce wave of invective, but apart from the invective, Zhang Yan's expected result did not come, and no one came to buy the title.

Even Zhang Yan himself was wondering, could it be that the price he sold was too high? Or, if you get Zuihou to steal chickens by yourself, you can't eat a handful of rice, and you don't get money, but you suffer the infamy of the world.

When Zhang Yan was puzzled, a heavy news came that there was a wealthy merchant in Tancheng who decided to buy ten first-class earls at one time, and the wealth of 500,000 gold was being transported to Pengcheng on the way, and Xuzhou Mu Mizhu personally led the army to protect it along the way.

As soon as the news spread, the whole country was in an uproar again, one person bought the titles of ten earls, who is this person, he is so rich, it is 500,000 gold, enough for many people to eat for a lifetime. Such a bold feat is really rare in the world.

As soon as this news spread, those rich merchants who originally thought it was expensive couldn't sit still, and there were only ten places for the first-class earl, and now they couldn't buy it if they wanted to, because they had all been bought up.

With the first person who dared to eat crabs, the rich merchants behind began to scramble to buy the title, for fear that they would be bought out.

As a result, things began to turn around, and the official yamen, which was originally unattended, was now squeezed through the threshold by wealthy businessmen, and they all came to buy knighthoods.

For a time, there was an endless stream of people buying knighthoods, and the government yamen could only register according to the principle of first come, first served, and then report to Zhang Yan, who made the decision.

Three days later, the feedback from all over the country came to the people, and the most people bought the second-class earl, but the second-class earl only had twenty places, and it became a difficult problem for whom.

However, since there are so many people who can afford to buy the title, it means that they are not short of money, Zhang Yan simply changed his strategy and increased the sales quota of the second-class earl, as long as he is interested in buying the second-class earl, he can buy it, but he must bring the gold to Pengcheng.

For this reason, Zhang Yan also specially sent troops to escort these people who came to buy the title throughout the process.

A few days later, a steady stream of gold, under the protection of the army, continued to move towards Pengcheng, while Zhang Yan and others were busy counting the gold earned...... (To be continued......)