Duke of Zhenguan

The brothers Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi chatted about salt, one sentence at a time.

Lin Chuan was somewhat absent-minded. He had impulsively agreed to Yan Liu Niangzi's request, but now that he had calmed down, he realized he didn't know how to bring it up.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Yan Xiangshi noticed that Lin Chuan was lost in thought, so he smiled and asked:

"Xiao Chuan, you seem distracted. Is something troubling you?"

Lin Chuan ultimately didn't dare to speak, and explained with a smile:

"No, I was just rushing back from Liangzhou and I'm a bit tired. I haven't recovered yet!"

"Then let's talk another day. Go back and rest early!" Yan Shigu said.

As they left the Yan family home, Er Ya would glance at her brother every now and then, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Say whatever you want to say..." Lin Chuan said irritably.

"Brother, Sixth Sister isn't angry at all. She just told me not to worry and that she would handle it."

What exactly did you say in the pavilion?

Aren't you going to marry the eldest daughter of Master Cheng?

"I heard that Lord Cheng kills without blinking an eye on the battlefield. If you break off the engagement, will Lord Cheng beat you to death?" A series of words came out of Er Ya's mouth, even with a strange rhythm.

Lin Chuan turned and glared at his sister:

"You'd better not say anything!"

Er Ya shut her mouth sheepishly and obediently followed behind Lin Chuan.

When Lin Chuan got home, he saw Li waiting for him in the front yard. He asked:

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

"Mother, is something the matter?"

Li nodded and said:

"It's still about salt. We're out of salt at home, and there's the noodle shop too..."

"Salt will be available tomorrow! And it won't be expensive, so don't worry!" Lin Chuan explained.

Li nodded. Lin Chuan had given her detailed instructions before he left, telling her to keep it a secret.

The next morning, Chang'an awoke from his deep sleep as usual.

After the sun was high in the sky, the gates of the East and West Markets were opened, and the shop assistants removed the door panels and arranged the goods.

As more and more people entered and exited the gate, both buying and selling, they headed toward their destinations.

As usual, Pei Shijiu, the manager of Pei Ji Trading Company, arrived at the West Market early in the morning.

He first went to his own shop, instructed the shop assistant to double the price of salt in the shop, and made it clear that he would only sell fifty catties. Then he took his folding fan and left the shop to stroll around the market.

Having run his business in the West Market for over ten years, he was very familiar with every shop there, and would stop to exchange pleasantries with familiar shopkeepers.

He was mainly paying attention to salt shops. He had personally participated in the last grain price crisis, so he naturally wanted to learn from the experience this time.

Although he helped his master's family earn a lot of money last time, the matter was ultimately not accomplished, and he was unwilling to give up!

The salt shortage has lasted for nearly a month, and the price of salt is rising day by day. As a result, the warehouses of salt merchants are full of salt, but without the permission of the owners, the salt can only be piled up in the warehouses.

Pei Shijiu walked around for half a day and, finding no newly opened shops, felt much relieved.

The news of Lin Chuan returning with the Right Guard soldiers kept many people awake at night; they couldn't rest easy until they saw it with their own eyes.

Just then, Pei Shijiu arrived at Lin's Noodle Shop. He stood in front of the shop for a moment, preparing to go in and have a taste.

The person behind this noodle shop is no secret to those who care. The fact that the noodles cost fifty coins a bowl has been criticized by many. Pei Shijiu naturally knows about this noodle shop, but he has never been inside to try it.

It wasn't that the price was too high, but he had been ripped off by Lin Chuan last time, and he didn't want to have a bad experience while eating noodles.

Now, they are going to win!

This time, the families discussed it carefully. Unlike grain, salt can be transported from places like Hedong and Shandong if there is no grain in Guanzhong. Even if these large families communicated, it would be difficult to help the small and medium-sized families.

Moreover, even if there is no grain in Hedong and Shandong, there is still grain in Jiangnan and Shuzhong.

Salt is different. Unlike grain, which can be grown anywhere, most of the salt in the Tang Dynasty is sea salt, and the only places to mine it are along the Shandong coast. They control the entire route from salt mining to transportation.

Even if the imperial court wanted to send people to produce salt, it wouldn't be fast enough; distant water couldn't quench immediate thirst.

Even the most skilled cook cannot cook without rice; without salt, even the most resourceful and intelligent people like Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling are useless.

He had just taken half a step when Pei Shijiu's gaze was suddenly drawn to the commotion outside a shop not far away.

A shop that he once hated with a passion is changing its signboard.

It used to be a fur shop, but a few months ago it was suddenly converted into a grain shop. Instead of raising prices, it lowered the prices of grain.

Seeing the shop sign being taken down, Pei Shijiu's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Pei Shijiu stopped and strode towards the shop.

After walking a few steps, I saw several shop assistants put the old signboard aside and, under the shopkeeper's direction, hang up a new signboard that read "Huang's Salt Shop".

Pei Shijiu stood there blankly, feeling as if he had been hit hard on the head with a heavy hammer, and was dizzy.

A moment later, the shop assistants hung up the signboard, and the shopkeeper carried a wooden signboard to the door.

On the pale yellow wooden board was a line of words, not neatly written but clear enough:

The best salt, five coins a pound!

Looking at the signboard, Pei Shijiu came to her senses, because the whole thing was just too absurd.

Walking briskly over, Pei Shijiu pointed to the signboard and asked the waiter who came out to greet him in an inexplicable tone:

"Is it really top-quality refined salt? And it really only costs five copper coins a pound?"

"Rest assured, sir. Since we've put our sign here, we naturally sell the finest salt, only five coins a pound!" the waiter said politely.

"Can I buy as many as I want?"

"You can buy as much as you want, sir!" The waiter nodded.

"I want 50,000 jin, is that alright?" Pei Shijiu asked with a sneer.

"Sure, but for such a large order, we need to pay half upfront before the salt can be delivered. Are you sure you want 50,000 catties, sir?" the waiter asked politely.

Pei Shijiu didn't answer, but stared at the shop assistant, trying to read something from his face. He naturally didn't want 50,000 jin, as he still had tens of thousands of jin of salt piled up in his own warehouse.

"Would you like to take a look at the salt, sir?" The waiter remained very polite, reaching out to welcome Pei Shijiu inside.

Pei Shijiu nodded and followed the shop assistant into the shop.

With just one glance, Pei Shijiu's heart sank to the bottom.

The spacious shop had no counter; instead, there were two neatly stacked piles of burlap sacks against the wall. Next to the burlap sacks were two open bags, revealing snowflake-like white crystals inside.

This must be salt!

Although he had never seen such clean salt before, Pei Shijiu's intuition told him that it must be salt.

With trembling hands, he dipped his finger in the salt and put it in his mouth. The intense, cloying saltiness exploded on his tongue, and the clean saltiness felt so unfamiliar to Pei Shijiu.

"Something's happened!"

Under the smiling gaze of the shop assistant, Pei Shijiu turned and strode out of the salt shop.