The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 35 White Fish Dragon Suit
When Liu Xie heard Dong Zhuo's praise, his face turned red again: "Hehe, I'm not that great, I was just saying it casually."

"But I do think that wars are fought for money."

“Only when you have accumulated enough wealth can you make sharp swords, train fearless soldiers, and win battles.”

"Right now, the Shangshutai is restoring order in Guanzhong and accumulating money and food. This is actually also strengthening military affairs and making the Han Dynasty invincible!"

If Liu Xie's previous words only refreshed Dong Zhuo's ears, then his words now touched Dong Zhuo a little.

"correct!"

Liu Xie then remembered that he did not come to Dong Zhuo to do any homework.

"Master, let me show you something."

After giving Dong Zhuo a few small coins, Liu Xie exaggerated his guess:

"Master! They look down on you!"

"You issued a decree and they disobeyed you right after. They are trying to rebel!"

Liu Xie just wanted to watch the fun and add fuel to the fire without any scruples.

After hearing this, Dong Zhuo's originally calm mood suddenly became noisy!

"Rebellion! Rebellion!"

“They are all rebelling!”

"My money! How dare they steal my money!"

Although the government regarded grain as an equivalent to small coins and five-zhu coins, the price of grain was not constant and fluctuated to a greater or lesser extent every day.

Wherever there is fluctuation, there will inevitably be losses.

This loss must be compensated with the court's money, rather than cutting the flesh of the people again.

But where does the imperial court get the money now? How many of the princes outside the Great Wall are willing to pay taxes to the central government?
Therefore, this deficit was actually the money that Dong Zhuo had previously extorted from Luoyang. No wonder Dong Zhuo was so angry!
"who is it?"

Dong Zhuo clenched his fist as big as a casserole, and felt like ordering his soldiers to rush out and arrest the person.

“It is still unknown.”

In fact, Liu Xie and Jia Xu both knew who it was, and even Dong Zhuo must have had a rough idea in his mind.

But now there is no evidence, so even Dong Zhuo cannot just go and catch the enemy in one fell swoop.

"But Shangshu Ling Jia Xu just came to see me and gave me an idea."

In front of Dong Zhuo, Liu Xie sold out Jia Xu without hesitation, who wanted to protect himself.

"I'm afraid it's hard to find the workshop that mints small coins right now. But the only place to get five-zhu coins is in the market."

Liu Xie extended an invitation to Dong Zhuo: "Grand Master has been in the palace for a while. Do you want to go to Chang'an with me today?"

Dong Zhuo snorted coldly: "Okay! I will go with Your Majesty!"

"I want to see who is so bold as to dare to steal from the imperial court!"

The two of them agreed to leave the palace together, so it was impossible for them to go with someone else or bring guards with them.

Liu Xie and Dong Zhuo both wore no crowns, nor their official robes or jade pendants. They wore only single clothes, looking like commoners.

Military officers such as Lu Bu and Zhang Liao also took off their armor, wrapped themselves in cloth, disguised themselves as guards, and stood guard around the two men. As a result, even though Liu Xie and Dong Zhuo were walking on the street, ordinary people could hardly get within five steps of them.

This time, everyone went to the market in Chang'an.

Chang'an is divided into two cities, East and West, but in fact they are both located in the northwest corner of Chang'an City, not really on the east and west sides of Chang'an.

During the early Han Dynasty, this was also the first stop for Western Hu merchants entering Chang'an.

The nine heavens closed the palace, and all the nations wore clothes and worshiped Mian Liu.

From Loulan, Qiuci, Jingjue, Shache, and even the farther Dayuezhi and Wusun, their envoys and merchants once gathered here to see the power of the Han Dynasty and the prosperity of Chang'an.

Unfortunately, although Ban Chao took up arms in the Later Han Dynasty and re-established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, the Qiang and Xianbei peoples repeatedly disturbed the Hexi Corridor, causing Chang'an to lose its prosperity.

Liu Xie walked on the street and saw that the shops on the east and west sides were somewhat dilapidated and dilapidated, which made him feel a little sad.

"I wonder when the Han Dynasty will be able to regain its former glory!"

Just as Liu Xie was secretly sighing with emotion, people in the market also noticed the extraordinary nature of Liu Xie and his group.

Not to mention that Liu Xie was handsome and not like an ordinary man. Even Dong Zhuo's figure was not something that could be easily obtained by eating.

All the shopkeepers knew at once that a distinguished guest had arrived, and they couldn't help but shout out to him.

"A bucket of fine wine costs only ten cents!"

"Fish sashimi! Fish sashimi! Fresh fish sashimi!"

"We just slaughtered some dog meat today! Come in and have a taste!"

In the "Discussion of Salt and Iron: Scattered Insufficiency", it is recorded that "In ancient times, there was no porridge or cooking, and no food was sold in the market. Later, there were only butchers and vendors who sold wine, dried meat, fish and salt. Now, cooked food is everywhere, and meat and vegetables are sold in the market."

Although Chang'an today is not as good as Chang'an in the pre-Han period, and even worse than Luoyang in the east, it is, after all, a secondary capital with a population of 100,000, and the market can barely be called lively.

In addition to these wine shops, the most common shops in the East and West Markets are those that sell pottery.

The Han people have long since learned the technique of adding lead, iron, and copper to pottery glazes, so the pottery in the shops is all shiny and gorgeous.

Not to mention, there were lacquerware made of raw lacquer. The black and red colors were simple and elegant. Even Liu Xie was fascinated by them and bought a few pieces casually.

But this is not the real purpose of this trip.

After all, the places we have to go to are still the grain store and cloth shop.

Liu Xie glanced casually at the street a few times and finally saw a grain shop at the corner of the market town.

"Wei's grain store?"

Although there are many different names on shop signs, it is rare to see one with the surname directly on it.

Seeing that Liu Xie and his party were very impressive, the waiter at the door hurried over to Liu Xie and saluted politely: "Hello everyone! What do you need?"

His attitude was respectful and his smile was pleasant.

But the next moment, Liu Xie took out a few small coins from his pocket and put them in his hand -

"This money came from your store?"

The servant's face suddenly turned from sunny to cloudy, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "Sir, I don't know what you are talking about."

"Since the government has banned the circulation of small coins, even if we receive small coins now, we will hand them over to the government to exchange for five-zhu coins. It is impossible for them to flow back into the market!"

"Besides, the government officials are guarding the gates of the shops every day, and all passing vehicles will be strictly checked. How can we spend the small amount of money?"

The servant explained it very well.
But Liu Xie said he didn't believe it at all!

"Don't be nervous. I just asked you if the money came from your store, but I didn't ask you how the money was transported out of the market."

"Since your grain store is so clean, you probably won't mind if I go in and check it out, right?"

As soon as Liu Xie finished speaking, two burly men, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao, suddenly appeared behind him.

The store boy watched helplessly as the two dark figures kept approaching him, and could only mutter weakly and helplessly: "Don't, don't come over, don't! I'm calling the police!!!"

(End of this chapter)