All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 287 My neighbor hoards food, so I hoard guns. My neighbor is my granary!
"People from the Caozhou Huang family are here."

"Okay, bring him here."

Soon, a sturdy man walked in and bowed, "Huang Cun of Caozhou, meeting Chief Chen."

"Sit down." Chen Ran gestured to Hu Deng beside him, "Sit down and talk."

After a brief greeting, Huang Cun said bluntly, "I came here on orders to buy salt from Chief Chen."

Since Wang Xianzhi was dealt with and the governor of Puzhou was appointed, the troubles in both the black and white worlds have been temporarily resolved.

Chen Ran began to sell filtered salt on a large scale. Not only did he sell it throughout Puzhou, he also encouraged his subordinates to sell it to surrounding areas.

There is no doubt that this has affected the business of surrounding neighbors.

After all, the people are not stupid. They can buy better salt than official salt for a few cents more. Who would buy rock salt that is equivalent to chronic poisoning?
Huang Chao's business in Caozhou was also severely affected.

In an era when the land was vast and the population was sparse, there were plenty of routes and methods to deliver things, and they could not be stopped.

In this situation, Huang Chao decided to cooperate.

"You can buy salt." Chen Ran nodded. "If you buy in large quantities, you can get a discount."

This thing has very low cost, and it is almost a free business.

For him, of course, the more he sells, the better, especially to wealthy customers like Huang.

Seeing Chen Ran agree so readily, Huang Cun, who had thought that the negotiations would be difficult, was overjoyed. "Thank you, Chief Chen."

“Don’t know about the price.”

The Tang Dynasty court had designated salt sales points in every city.

The imperial court levied taxes directly, collecting one dou of salt for every stone of salt, plus one thousand coins.

The Tang Dynasty levied a tax of one tenth of the in-kind tax on one dan, while the monetary tax was more than one hundred coins per dan.

The taxes alone were so high, and taking into account the mining costs, transportation costs, and the costs of handling affairs in various places, the price sold to the people was as high as more than three hundred coins per bushel.

The people of the Tang Dynasty were also forced into a desperate situation, so they simply ate salt during the busy farming season and did not eat salt during the slack season. This is the reason why people commonly call it "bland food".

In order to make more money, the officials who were in charge of the implementation would tamper with the quality of the salt. For example, they would add sand, saltpeter, and wood ash into the salt, increasing the weight of one dou of salt to nearly two dou.

The price is high, the quality is poor, and the sales are monopolized by administrative power.

The people had to buy salt at a high price. If they didn't, they had to get salt themselves, and if they were caught, they would be beheaded.

In contrast, private salt dealers in various places usually sell their salt at half the official price.

Chen Ran thought for a moment and immediately asked, "What is the price of the official salt field in Caozhou?"

"Two hundred and seventy coins for a dou of salt."

"How about this." Chen Ran said sincerely, "If you start with 10,000 shi, then I'll give you 130 wen per dou of salt."

"One, ten thousand shi?" Huang Cun was a little dumbfounded for a moment. "This is too much."

"Bigger quantity, better discount." Chen Ran shook his head slightly. "You don't buy much, why should I give you a discount? If you don't buy, there are many people willing to pay a high price for good salt."

The imperial court kept a tight control on the salt industry, after all, it accounted for more than half of the annual revenue.

Things like salt ponds, salt wells, and sea salt fields are all under tight control.

Anyone who dared to take salt privately would be put to death, no matter how much salt they produced.

Even the common people who cut down trees and burned ashes to make salty food were killed by the imperial court.

Private salt dealers have to pay a high price to get salt.

Puzhou is a little different because it has rock salt mines that are easy to mine and has always been a place that supplies salt to the surrounding areas.

Huang Cun was still a little hesitant. After all, ten thousand shi would be more than ten thousand coins.

In the Tang Dynasty, this was definitely a huge sum of money in the true sense.

"I can't make the decision on this matter."

"Then go back and find someone who can make the decision and give you confirmation." Chen Ran looked at him seriously, "If you don't want to, then there's no need to come again."

A few days later, Huang Cun came again on a fast horse to look for Chen Ran.

"The head of the family said he wants 20,000 stones!"

"Very good." Chen Ran put his hands together and smiled, "Then I'll sell it to you at 125 cents per bushel."

One shi equals ten dou, which is equivalent to one thousand two hundred and fifty coins.

Twenty thousand shi, that's twenty-five million coins.

In the Tang Dynasty, one string is equivalent to one thousand coins, which is twenty-five thousand strings.

You should know that even for the Shen Ce Army, the annual salary was only 36 dan of grain, plus 21 pieces of silk as three gifts.

At the current price, a dou of millet costs 150 coins, and a dan costs 1,500 coins.

In other words, the Shence Army received fifty-four strings of cash and twenty-one pieces of silk a year, totaling about sixty-five strings of cash.

Of course, this does not include additional rewards and the cost of providing military supplies.

However, the treatment of the Shence Army is the highest. Ordinary border troops do not have such high treatment, which is only about one-third of that of the Shence Army.

In other words, more than 20 strings of cash could support a soldier for a year.

Chen Ran's income can support an entire army for a year.

Of course, the prerequisite is that food and wages cannot be withheld.

The warriors at the end of the Tang Dynasty were not the soldiers of the Song and Ming Dynasties. If their food and wages were withheld, they would rebel and kill their entire family in a matter of minutes.

It is also because of this that the warriors of this era can truly run rampant across the world without any scruples.

"Pay the money and deliver the goods."

"Supply 5,000 shi per month, until it runs out."

"Don't bring food, just money and silk."

Chen Ran is already expanding production, but in order to prevent technology leaks, the production scale is still a little insufficient. The hard currency of this era is actually grain, and the price of one stone of corn is as high as 1,500 coins.

However, Chen Ran did not ask for food, but for money.

He needed to purchase military supplies and support the blacksmiths to run their smithy.

Whether it is military supplies or blacksmiths, money is needed to dig.

Huang Chao's meaning was very simple. Chen Ran had a supply of low-priced, high-quality salt, so he might as well become a middleman and sell it to more distant places to make a profit from the difference.

Both sides have their own demands, so doing business will naturally be a win-win for everyone.

After receiving a large sum of money, Chen Ran immediately started to go shopping.

Puzhou originally belonged to the jurisdiction of Ziqing Town.

The full name of Ziqing Town is Pinglu Ziqing Town, and its origin is Pinglu Town during the Anshi Rebellion a hundred years ago.

When An Lushan rebelled, the soldiers of Pinglu Town, who were originally under his command, killed the governor and rebelled, and accepted the leadership of Yan Zhenqing, who was across the sea.

Afterwards, he crossed the sea and went south to Shandong to fight against the rebels.

Because of his contribution in putting down the Anshi Rebellion, Hou Xiyi, a general of Pinglu Town, was appointed as the Jiedushi of Pinglu, Zibo and Qinghai.

At its peak, it controlled twelve states.

Later, it was a typical warlord routine, rebelling against the court and then being killed.

Because this military town was too large, the imperial court split it into three towns.

The five states of Zibo, Qing, Qi, Deng and Lai were combined into Ziboqing Town, also known as Pinglu Army.

The three states of Yun, Cao and Pu were combined into one town, known as the Taiping Army.

The four states of Yan, Hai, Yi and Mi were combined into one town, and the Yanhai Surveillance Commissioner was appointed.

Apart from the Guanzhong area, this is the place that the imperial court can directly control and has the strongest control over.

Military towns in various places treat the places as their own territories and manage them with great effort.

But the places directly controlled by the imperial court were all filled with temporary officials who would leave after working for a few years. Who would really manage the place? They just wanted to make a quick buck and leave.

The natural result is that people's livelihood has declined and military preparations have become extremely relaxed.

This was also the reason why Chen Ran was able to easily capture the Puzhou government and kill the governor.

There were only a few hundred garrison troops in the provincial capital, because the others had been laid off. The freed-up military pay naturally fell into the hands of the upper and lower levels.

Chen Ran contacted the new governor of the provincial capital. His predecessor had been killed, and his entire family was in trouble.

Because the governor who was killed by Chen Ran was from the Qinghe Cui family.

He originally came to the local area to gain experience and gild his resume, but he never expected to die at the hands of a private salt dealer.

The imperial court was furious, and the first person to suffer was the defending general.

He deserved it. He had been corrupt for so many years and finally ruined his entire family. He died in peace.

As for the court arresting people everywhere, Chen Ran said that it was Wang Xianzhi who rebelled, and it had nothing to do with me, Chen Ran~~~
The new garrison commander would sell anything for money. They all belonged to the imperial court anyway, so he could just say they were used during the suppression of Wang Xianzhi.

Chen Ran bought more than a hundred war horses, thousands of weapons, hundreds of sets of armor, and even more than a hundred sets of horse armor produced in Hedong.

Those who are armed with armor are called an army.

No, they are called refugees.

In addition to these military supplies, Chen Ran also purchased food and other supplies from officials.

The new governor of Puzhou has not yet taken office. I heard that there was a lot of noise in the court and they couldn't decide on a candidate for a while.

Officials at all levels who were left unattended were making money like crazy.

As long as the money is paid, we will give you whatever you want.

This is the true portrayal of the world at the end of a dynasty.

Chen Ran made a lot of money selling filtered salt, but he spent it like water without any regret.

He knows very well what is most important in troubled times.

With men, horses, food and fodder in hand, swords, spears, halberds and armor on body, he can have whatever he wants.

If you only have money and goods in your hands, then you are keeping them for others.

Chen Ran, who had experienced too many turbulent times, had long seen through it.

With military funds and food, Chen Ran began to recruit soldiers and train them strictly. These were the capital to pacify the troubled times.

Because what he has to face is almost the most powerful army in the past thousand years, which spends all day honing their killing skills and possesses the incredibly strong courage of the Song and Ming soldiers. The strongest army numbering tens or even millions!
At the same time, thousands of miles away in Guanzhong, a fierce palace dispute was breaking out in the well-known Chang'an City within thousands of miles.

The two parties in the dispute were Zheng Ting, the Minister of War, who came from the Zheng family of Xingyang, and Cui Anqian, the Right Prime Minister, who came from the Cui family of Qinghe.

What they were fighting for was the post of Governor of Puzhou.

As we all know, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, although the territory of the Tang Dynasty was still vast, it could no longer control the local vassal states who only obeyed orders and not decrees.

There are fewer and fewer places that can be directly ruled by the Tang Dynasty court.

Upper states like Puzhou are even rarer, and larger states are even rarer.

Being sent as a provincial governor in a remote area will bring opportunities for gain.

Secondly, he had the qualifications to be a prime minister when he returned to the court.

After all, in the Tang Dynasty, there is a rule that "if you don't serve in a prefecture or county, you can't be promoted to a provincial government."

One recommended his son, the other recommended his nephew, and the competition was fierce.

However, everyone in the court knew that the one who could really make the decision was not the two people arguing, nor even the emperor sitting in a daze on the dragon throne.

But those eunuchs in the Northern Yamen!

(End of this chapter)