Traveling through the emperor, overthrowing the empress dowager at the beginning

Chang'an City, Weiyang Palace.

Ye Chen was wearing a dragon robe and sitting firmly on the dragon throne. His eyes were like cold stars in the deep night sky, scanning the twelve representatives of the noble families present.

You can see the nervousness and confusion of these people.

"I intend to establish commodity trading offices throughout Chang'an City, gathering goods from Guanzhong to Chang'an and Hongnong County. These offices will be run by the government through markets set up in various locations, managing food, clothing, housing, transportation, and the distribution of related goods. Noble families from all regions can bring goods to these offices, and the government will only keep 30% of the profits earned."

"If this is effective, it can be implemented nationwide in the future. Not only the wealthy families, but also ordinary wealthy families will have opportunities."

Ye Chen's tone was calm, but his voice was like a huge bell, echoing in the palace.

Seeing this, the representatives of the powerful families all had different expressions.

Zhang Ru was stunned at first, and a hint of surprise and greed flashed in his eyes.

But soon, he frowned slightly and stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this is a good idea, but it's easier said than done. Your Majesty, it sounds good, but how can these stores be guaranteed to make a profit? What if they lose money?"

Zhang Ru is not stupid. The powerful families in various places in Dayu are now very powerful.

The circulation of goods from various places and the gathering of profits in other places also depend on whether the local wealthy families are willing.

What Zhang Ru asked was also what the representatives of other powerful families wanted to ask.

Hearing this, Ye Chen's mouth corners slightly raised, as if smiling, and a hint of confidence flashed in his eyes.

He waved his hand gently, and Cheng'en understood and immediately ordered people to bring up paper and wheat flour.

He then slowly stood up, the hem of his dragon robe swaying like waves.

"Look, everyone! This is my foundation. Paper is essential for writing, and wheat flour is essential for people's livelihood. With these two, why worry about losing money?"

Ye Chen's voice was not loud, but it had a power that made it impossible to refute.

Hearing this, the twelve people stared at the white paper and fine wheat flour with their eyes wide open.

Zhang Ru widened his eyes. Although he knew about the existence of paper and flour, he never thought that these two things were actually owned by the government.

It is very normal to open up a local market and guarantee profits with just these two things.

The others also had their eyes wide open. They were originally nervous when they came here, but they didn't expect Ye Chen to make such an arrangement for them.

"The wealthy families are all smart people. You should know how big the price difference will be when things from Guanzhong are taken to the north and south."

"Do you want to do this deal? If you do, you can send someone to deliver the goods to Chang'an City from now on."

Ye Chen said so.

The representatives of the wealthy families present were all very excited.

Upon hearing this, a young man from an aristocratic family couldn't help but mutter, "If this is managed properly, it will be very rich."

Ye Chen sat back on the dragon chair and glanced at everyone again: "I will give you time to consider, but don't make me wait too long. The most conspicuous position in the collection office will be given to the wealthy family who arrives first."

His voice echoed in the palace, like the bell of fate, ringing in everyone's heart.

At this moment, a representative of a powerful clan suddenly stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, how should this commodity trading department be specifically structured? And how can it be promoted nationwide?"

Hearing this, Ye Chen smiled.

"My idea is to establish a chain of trading offices, like a chain, each linking and responding to each other. These trading offices will be spread across the country, with unified management and operation."

"Each trading office has its own fixed range of goods, from food, clothing, housing, transportation, to writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Goods are centrally allocated from all regions to ensure sufficient supply and high quality."

Another representative of the noble family couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, how do you manage such a large-scale deployment? And how do you ensure profitability?"

"As for management methods, I will establish a dedicated agency and select capable individuals to lead them. The key to profitability lies in small profits but quick turnover, winning by volume. Trading stations will exchange what they have and what they need, forming a network to attract more people to trade. North-south connectivity will be established, and special certificates can be issued. With this certificate, you can enjoy discounts at any trading station, thereby increasing the loyalty of the people."

"These measures will only be implemented nationwide after they are successfully implemented in Guanzhong."

There was a thoughtful look in the eyes of the representatives of the wealthy families. They seemed to be trying hard to understand the new concept that Ye Chen mentioned.

Then, another representative of the nobles asked, "Your Majesty, the transportation and storage of goods is also a problem. How can we solve it?"

"For transportation, we can establish a dedicated transport corps, which will regularly travel to various trading stations. For storage, we will build suitable warehouses based on the characteristics of the goods. I have already made a detailed plan, so you don't need to worry."

As Ye Chen spoke, the representatives of the wealthy families gradually became excited from their initial shock.

They seemed to see countless gold, silver and treasures waving at them, and the doubts in their eyes were replaced by greed.

Ye Chen saw all this and sneered in his heart.

But these people didn't know that he had just casually drawn a pie in the sky to scare them.

In his mind, an important government office like the Commodity Trading Department must be handed over to someone who is loyal to him, preferably a child from a poor family or a child from a wealthy family that has fallen on hard times. It must never be allowed to be controlled by these wealthy families.

For now, we just need to stabilize them. After all, the threat from the Tatars has not been eliminated, and a temporary balance is needed among all parties.

But as long as the Tatar threat is quelled, he will definitely deal with these powerful families.

For a moment, the expressions of the twelve representatives of the powerful families in the court immediately became complicated.

The atmosphere was so heavy that it seemed as if water could drip out of it.

"You all understand my intentions. This commodity trading department is related to the lifeblood of our dynasty's economy and the well-being of our people."

Ye Chen spoke in a steady and powerful voice, and then waved his hand gently.

Cheng'en immediately understood and screamed, "Your Majesty has ordered us to withdraw!"

Although everyone was full of doubts, they did not dare to disobey and bowed and retreated.