Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 175 Mobei Business Road
Spring went and summer came, and three months passed in a flash.

Taiji Palace in May is when the sun is at its brightest, but not too hot.

Outside Chengxiang Palace, Liu Chong'er was standing by the Jinshui River, painting a palace across the river.

Her painting skills have improved a lot recently, especially her sketching skills, and she can already draw better than Li Zhi.

At this moment, a palace maid came trotting over from a distance and called out to her, "Madam, Prince Chen is here."

Liu agreed, ordered the palace maid to pack up her things, and walked back to Chengxiang Palace at a leisurely pace.

Li Zhongzheng was standing beside the table, watching her paintings. He had grown taller recently and was now taller than Liu's shoulders.

Liu walked over and said with a smile, "How come you have time to come to the palace to see mother today?"

Li Zhong smiled and said, "Mother, I got a good thing and came here specially to present it to you." Then he took out a colorful gem from his sleeve and handed it to Liu.

Liu took it, played with it for a moment, then set it aside and said, "Didn't I tell you? Playthings can ruin your ambition."

Li Zhong laughed and said, "If I don't play with it myself and give it to my mother, it won't be considered a waste of time, right?"

Liu was choked and said angrily, "I don't want it. This thing must have been bought from a Hu merchant in the Western Regions. I wonder how much it cost? You know I hate to waste!"

Li Zhong laughed and said, "Mother, you guessed wrong. This thing is not a Western Region gem, but a Mobei colorful stone. It is not as expensive as Western Region gems."

Liu asked curiously, "A gem from Mobei?"

Li Zhong said, "Mother, don't you know? Recently, there have been many caravans traveling back and forth from Chang'an to Mobei."

Liu asked, "Aren't they all going to the Western Regions? Why did they suddenly go to Mobei?"

Yuzhu, the head maid, said, "Madam, didn't I tell you a few days ago? The sage has allowed merchants to open coal mines in Mobei."

Liu slapped her forehead and said, "Ah, I think I did hear you mention it. But, it wasn't coal, so why were there gems?"

Li Zhong smiled and said, "I've asked you about this before. Merchants don't make much money just trading coal, so they also buy and sell other goods along the way..."

He told Liu what he had heard from his teacher.

At first, these merchants did respond positively to the emperor's policies.

However, the coal mines were not very profitable, and a large number of long-term workers had to be hired to go to Mobei to mine, plus the transportation costs, so the result was not profitable.

Businessmen can always smell business opportunities, and driven by profit, they quickly start doing other business.

For example, there are many horses, furs, gems, and copper mines on the grassland.

There are so many of them, and as long as we transport them to Chang'an City and sell them, we can make a lot of money.

Although the Tiele people on the Mobei steppe did not charge money, they had a great demand for very cheap salt, rice, wheat, millet, and cloth.

Both parties have their own needs, and thus the business path was formed.

In fact, there were some bold merchants from Hedong and Guannei who traveled back and forth across the grassland to trade furs, but the risks were too great and they could easily lose their lives.

Now that the Tang Dynasty court is personally promoting the coal trade route, the army of the Yanran Protectorate is providing escort, and safety is guaranteed.

This business has both interest and low risk, which is much better than the trade route to the Western Regions, so it is naturally sought after by many businessmen.

In just a few months, the trade from Chang'an to Shanyutai gradually flourished, and many tea stalls and inns appeared along the way.

When Liu heard this, she was surprised and asked, "If this is so good, why haven't merchants come here before?"

Li Zhong said, "Perhaps the risk is too great. Mr. Su told me that a caravan was intercepted by bandits on the grasslands a month ago, and everyone on board died."

Liu was surprised and asked, "Is this true?"

Li Zhong said, "Don't be afraid, mother. Those people weren't actually horse thieves, but a small Tiele tribe pretending to be them. General Xue found them out and executed all those involved. The chieftain was sent to Chang'an, and my father has ordered his execution."

Liu was stunned and asked, "Why do they pretend to be horse thieves?"

Li Zhong frowned and said, "I heard from you, sir, that they must be under the orders of the nine Tiele tribes, otherwise they wouldn't be so bold."

The more Liu listened, the more confused she became. She asked, "Didn't the nine major Tiele clans submit to our Tang Dynasty?"

Li Zhongdao said, "I don't know the specific reason. Mr. Su only said that those large tribes want to control foreign trade in their own hands, otherwise it will be detrimental to their rule."

Liu nodded and said, "Is the situation stable now?"

Li Zhong smiled and said, "Mr. Su said that General Xue handled the situation cleanly and decisively, and has frightened the Tiele people. They dare not cause trouble again."

Liu took the gem in her hand again and asked, "Is this gem produced in Mobei?"

Li Zhong said, "Yes, this stone is much more beautiful than many gemstones from the Western Regions, so I wanted to show it to Mother."

Liu thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the original reason you opened up the trade route was for coal, right?"

Li Zhongdao said, "Yes, Mr. Su said that the Qinling Mountains, which served as a barrier to Chang'an City, had been severely deforested. Father used coal instead of charcoal in order to restore the trees in the Qinling Mountains."

Liu asked, "Will these merchants' buying and selling of these gems and the like affect your Majesty's purpose?"

Li Zhong smiled and said, "Probably not. There are more and more coal shops in Chang'an City recently, and the price is getting lower and lower. My son has stored a lot of coal in his mansion."

Yuzhu suddenly said, "I heard that there is miasma in coal. You need to be careful when burning it, otherwise you may get poisoned."

Li Zhong said, "I've also heard that someone in Chang'an was poisoned by burning coal. The Ministry of Revenue issued a notice stating that when burning coal, doors and windows must be left a crack open and not shut completely." Liu said hurriedly, "Zhong'er, let's just burn charcoal from now on. That sounds unreliable."

Li Zhong said, "Son, I understand."

He suddenly thought of something and laughed, saying, "Mother, I have something interesting to tell you."

Liu gently waved her round fan and said with a smile, "What makes you laugh like that?"

Li Zhong said, "Didn't a lot of merchants go to Mobei to dig for coal? Guess what? After they dug it up, the Tiele people actually used furs, cattle and sheep to trade for coal with the merchants!"

After hearing this, the palace maids all burst into laughter.

Liu was surprised and asked, "Do they need coal too? Isn't it all grassland there? Are they worried about having nothing to burn?"

Li Zhongdao said, "My son was also puzzled at first, but then he heard from Mr. Su that they had a hard time getting through the winter, and they usually burned animal manure and were reluctant to burn the long grass."

Liu asked, "Why is that?"

Yuzhu clapped her hands and laughed, "I understand. They are afraid that the grass will burn and the livestock will have nothing to eat."

Li Zhong said, "Sister Yuzhu is really smart, but Mr. Su said there's another reason. It's because they can't burn grass there."

Liu sighed, "The people there have coal mines, but they don't even know how to dig them. Instead, they want to buy ours. It seems the barbarians are really not very smart."

Li Zhong laughed and said, "Mr. Su said it's not that they are not smart, but that it's not cost-effective for them to dig it up."

Liu asked, "How do you say that?"

Li Zhongdao said, "They don't need too much charcoal to keep warm. If they dig too much, they won't have anywhere to dispose of it, and it will affect their grazing. They'll be able to keep warm, but they'll starve to death."

Liu thought about it and said, "That makes sense."

The mother and son chatted for a while, and then Li Zhong said goodbye and left.

When he left Zhuque Gate, he happened to meet a man coming hurriedly from the side street. It was the Minister of Revenue Du Zhenglun.

When Du Zhenglun saw him, he came over and saluted, and Li Zhong also returned a half-salute.

Li Zhong knew that he was in charge of the coal mining, so he asked him, "Minister Du, has the coal mining been going smoothly recently?"

Du Zhenglun was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting the young prince to suddenly ask this question. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Your Highness, everything went well."

Li Zhong nodded, got on the carriage, and returned to the palace.

After watching him leave, Du Zhenglun walked towards the Ministry of Revenue with a sullen face.

Not long after, he arrived at the office of Lu Chengqing, the Minister of Revenue. Without exchanging pleasantries, he got straight to the point and said, "Minister Lu, there's a problem with the business."

Lu Chengqing was slightly startled and asked, "What's the problem?"

Du Zhenglun said in a deep voice, "I just received news that some caravans transported coal to the Guannei Road and then secretly sold most of it, only bringing a small amount to Chang'an."

Lu Chengqing frowned and asked, "Why do they do this?"

Du Zhenglun snorted coldly, "Of course it's to save on shipping costs. Besides, the price of coal in the interior is higher, so they can make more money!"

Lu Chengqing pondered in silence.

If an ordinary person did this, he would have known about it long ago. However, Du Zhenglun had to tell him about it, which shows that the other party is very powerful in the court and kept the matter hidden.

Du Zhenglun said, "Brother Lu, this matter needs to be dealt with immediately, otherwise, when the merchants see that the court is turning a blind eye, more merchants will follow suit."

Lu Chengqing said in a deep voice: "Do you know who did it?"

Du Zhenglun said: "Who else could it be? Of course it's those Jiangnan noble families!"

Lu Chengqing was silent for a while, then said, "In your opinion, how should we deal with this?"

Du Zhenglun said: "Report to His Majesty immediately!"

Lu Chengqing shook his head and said, "No, before reporting this matter to His Majesty, it's best to go and greet Xiao Siye first."

Du Zhenglun frowned and said, "Why tell him?"

Lu Chengqing said, "You don't know that Xiao Siye has been actively cooperating with us. There were many horse bandits in the north of Guannei Road. Xiao Siye mobilized the surrounding Zhechoufu to eliminate them all in order to protect the trade route."

Du Zhenglun nodded and said, "He seems to be quite sensible. Let's go greet him and see what he says."

The two of them immediately went to the Ministry of War and told Xiao Siye about this matter.

When Xiao Siye learned about this, he was shocked and somewhat relieved.

If General Xin Mao had not reminded him to draw a clear line between himself and the Jiangnan nobles, he would have certainly been implicated in this matter.

"Minister Lu, Minister Du, you just need to handle this matter according to the rules. You can also report it to the emperor without worrying about me." He said in a deep voice.

Lu Chengqing smiled and said, "Since Minister Xiao has said so, then we will handle the matter impartially."

The two immediately went to Ganlu Palace and reported the matter to Li Zhi.

(End of this chapter)