Zhao Xu rested for a while in the pavilion, and Feng Jing reported outside the curtain: "Everyone, Xing Shu, a member of the Zhongshu House, handed in a letter under the inner east gate and begged to see him."

Zhao Xu came back to his senses and nodded: "Pass it!"

His mood finally brightened.

These bad things within the Song Dynasty made him feel bad, but as long as he thought that the Liao Kingdom was worse than the Song Dynasty, he became happy again.

Especially, watching the Liao people move towards the point of no return step by step under his design.

His mood was extremely happy.

A quarter of an hour later, Xing Shu was brought to Funing Hall.

"I respectfully wish your Majesty a long blessing!" Xing Shu bowed respectfully across the curtain.

Zhao Xu replied: "I am blessed."

Then he couldn't wait to ask: "Xing Sheren, how did the Liao envoy reply?"

"Your Majesty, the envoy of Liao said that he only dares to buy three to five million catties for the first time, and he needs to write to the Lord of Liao for approval." Xing Shu answered honestly.

Zhao Xu pursed his lips: "Three to five hundred thousand catties? It's a little less, but it's better than nothing."

"At the very least, the old tea and second-grade tea accumulated in Chengdu Fulu and other states have a place to go."

Old tea and second-grade tea have the lowest value but the largest quantity in the tea production chain of the Song Dynasty.

There is a backlog of several million kilograms every year.

The final fate of these accumulated tea leaves is that they become moldy, rotten and then burned.

The farmers were on the verge of crying, the government was also worried, and the tea merchants hated it.

Because, in order to ensure that farmers can continue to grow tea, and at the same time to reap benefits, the government often forces tea merchants to purchase tea, and even bundles and sells it.

Xing Shu lowered his head, stood in the hall, and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, I am stupid and don't know your Majesty's deep intentions. I would like to ask for your Majesty's advice."

He will become a Hanlin bachelor next year.

Hanlin bachelor, one of the four top candidates, a candidate for future governance.

Naturally, he had to do everything possible to get close to the emperor and stay close to the emperor.

And this is a good opportunity.

Zhao Xu looked at Xing Shu through the curtain and said with a smile, "What do you want to know?"

"I don't understand why Your Majesty sets the price of old tea and second-grade tea at such a low price?"

At the current price of tea, old tea costs 20 cents per cake, and second-grade tea costs 15 to 25 cents per cake.

The Song Dynasty government made nothing in this process!

In addition to the purchase money given to the tenants, the remaining profit is probably enough to pay for the freight.

Zhao Xu smiled. He admired Xing Shu's desire for knowledge, so he patiently asked, "Have you heard about the market?"

"Market?" Xing Shu seemed to understand.

Zhao Xu looked at him and said: "I am cultivating the market!"

"You would like to see how many people there are in Beilu?"

"How many straight women are there in the area of ​​​​Zubu, Bohai, and within the scope of its radiation and influence?"

"Especially the Bohai and Jurchen people, they didn't have the habit of drinking tea in the past."

Xing Shu didn't understand: "Your Majesty, what good will this do to our court?"

This is the limitation of the era of punishment and forgiveness.

Contemporary officials actually only care about profits.

This is also related to the environment they rely on.

Political performance requires them to make money in order to be promoted. Anything that cannot make money is regarded as useless.

Zhao Xu smiled: "There are so many benefits!"

"If the old tea and second-grade tea of ​​the farmers can be sold, they will make more profits, and they will be more motivated to grow tea. In this way, more people will grow tea."

"Secondly, the civilian men hired to transport tea can also have jobs and support their families."

"If all the old and second-grade tea accumulated every year can be sold, this would be millions of kilograms of tea, which would require 20,000 to 30,000 young men to transport."

"Behind every person is a family."

"This will allow 20,000 to 30,000 households to have jobs and have enough food and clothing."

Zhao Xu was in a good mood today, so he was very interested and patiently explained to Xing Shu: "In addition, when the Khitans, Xi people, Bohai people, female straight people and Zubu people under the rule of Beilu were all used to drinking

After tea, they definitely want to drink better tea."

"In this way, Da Song's good tea will have a market in the future!"

The technology used in making tea in the Song Dynasty is very suitable for drinking on the grassland.

Until modern times, ethnic minorities on the grasslands still use tea bricks and tea cakes.

"Besides, since they drink tea, how can they not use tea sets?"

"In this way, porcelain from the Song Dynasty will also be marketable in the future."

"If I sell more porcelain, the porcelain kiln owner can hire more kiln workers if he makes money..."

Xing Shu listened and licked his tongue.

This was a possibility he had never thought of.

His mind was buzzing, and he felt like a new door was being opened.

The things the official described made him somewhat short of breath.

He thought about it carefully and found that what the official said was very reasonable.

But the problem is...

Xingshu bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty is a wise man who can see thousands of miles away. I surrender to you!"

"It's just that I'm scared..." He raised his head and asked, "Where did Beilu get all this money?"

In the current Song and Liao Dynasties, the exchange of Sui coins for jiaozi is only three million coins a year.

And the northern captives liked the luxurious things of the Song Dynasty.

A jianzhan costs thousands of guan without batting an eye.

A good Shu brocade horse costs hundreds of dollars, and people buy hundreds of horses directly without any counter-offering.

A bottle of fine wine packaged in a Ding kiln white porcelain bottle costs ten guan, and people would spend thousands of bottles at a time.

The other three bowls are not worth mentioning. For wine in jars such as Yuye Liquor, thousands of jars are purchased.

I don't treat money as money at all.

If they keep up their extravagance like this, Xingshu feels that the three-million-string Jiaozi will be completed in the first half of this year.

What will Beilu do once he runs out of money?

This makes Xing Shu a little unimaginable.

Zhao Xu smiled: "This is why I want to sell a large amount of old tea and second-grade tea to Beilu."

"This is not just true for tea, but for many things in the future."

How much money can you make from luxury goods?

If the annual Jiaozi trade of three million guan fell into the hands of the Song Dynasty, how much actual profit would it be in the end?

Excluding kickbacks, can I earn 500,000 yuan?

How much of these 500,000 yuan fell into Zhao Xu's hands?

Besides, Zhao Xu has worked so hard to do so many things, is it just to sell some luxury goods so that the people of Liao country can continue to live in drunkenness and dream, and become decadent and decadent?

Maybe that's what I thought at first.

However, now that Zhao Xu saw the greed of the Liao nobles, he changed his mind.

Zhao Xu grinned as he spoke.

"Think about it, sir, after our court sells a large amount of old tea and second-grade tea to the Beilu, what will the Beilu do?"

“Are they not going to make money?”

Xingshu shook his head.

The nobles and scholar-bureaucrats of the Liao Kingdom were only more greedy and extravagant than those of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, they will definitely make money and sell the tea at a higher price.

Doubling or tripling it is their conscience.

Especially for the Bohai and Nvzhi tribes, two tribes under the control of the Liao Kingdom.
To be continued...