Chapter 658: Eye-opener

Chapter 658: Eye-opener

  Chapter 658 Eye-opening

  An Lushan received Qin Lang's instructions and provided the most enthusiastic service and hospitality to the Japanese diplomatic mission, perfectly fulfilling the friendship of the landlord.

  The feasting and debauchery at Pingkangfang in Chang'an made the children of Japan's top aristocrats like Su Wo Cangmalu lose their way. And the goods of all nations and the big ocean horses in Huaiyuanfang also gave these dwarves an indescribable thrill of conquest.

   "As expected of the Huanghuang Emperor's Capital, it is truly a great country."

  The beauties of Chang'an, the delicacies of Chang'an, the exquisite and splendid buildings in Chang'an, the exquisite merchants from all over the world, and even the incomparably gorgeous fireworks all make them intoxicated.

  The assortment of goods of various colors made Japanese envoys want everything.

All kinds of exquisite silk fabrics, exquisite white porcelain and celadon, jade and gold-decorated bronze statues, as well as intoxicating wine, pleasant sugar, attractive tea, as well as paper, pens, books, and ink that Japanese envoys can't put it down. .

  Because An Lushan agreed to borrow money from them, and agreed to send a ship with them to return to the country of Wa when they returned.

  This allowed Suga Cangma and others to finally go shopping happily.

  Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, for many days in a row, the Japanese embassy made a big purchase in Chang'an City, and the scenery was infinite. They can't wait to move all the goods in Chang'an back to the Wa country. There are too many good things that the Wa country doesn't have.

   Those silks, they didn't know until they arrived in Chang'an that there were so many types of silk fabrics in the Tang Dynasty, including 14 categories such as silk, satin, brocade, silk, and velvet.

  In addition, there are fifty-five sub-categories such as crepe de chine and fine silk.

  Just listening to these countless names makes these Japanese people feel extremely tall. Buy, buy everything.

   "Raw silk, can these raw silk sell more?"

There are many kinds of silk products, each with its own characteristics, but the price is also high. Although Fatty An promised to buy first and then make a knot, Su Wo Cangma still feels a little pained when looking at the quotations one by one. Just convert it into gold and silver Given the price, I couldn't help but take a deep breath, how many slaves would it take to exchange for any piece of silk.

  One year's income from a manor can't buy much of this kind of silk.

  In comparison, the price of those raw silk is not bad.

In fact, the country of Japan has also raised silkworms for a long time. It is said that as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, the country’s silk industry began to flow from China, but until Queen Himiko sent envoys to pay tribute to Cao Wei, their silk industry was extremely backward, with low output and rough quality Until now, not much has changed.

The Japanese royal family and the upper-class nobles mainly used silk from the Central Plains. Most of these silks were transported by sea to Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla by merchants from the Central Plains, and then trafficked there. , some even as much as ten times.

  Especially the material is not so good, so complete.

  Even raw silk was sold for six taels of silver per catty in the country of Wa, and the price was quite high.

  In the Tang Dynasty, a piece of silk costs 200 yuan, and a piece of silk costs 12 taels. This is already a silk product, and raw silk that has not been woven is even cheaper. In Japan, however, raw silk can be sold for six taels of silver per catty, which means there is a price difference of dozens of times.

  Even if there are profits among businessmen, the profits are too great.

  Su Wo is worthy of being an aristocrat who was in charge of finance in the country of Japan. He immediately discovered a huge business opportunity. He wanted to sell cheaper raw silk from the Tang Dynasty, and asked An Lushan to transport it to the country of Japan on a Tang boat for him, and then he resold it. He even plans to buy some slaves who can weave silk from Chang'an, and then build a weaving workshop by himself to weave all kinds of exquisite silk.

  An Lushan chuckled.

   "There is a law in the Tang Dynasty that prohibits the direct export of raw silk, and only allows the export of silk fabrics."

Su Wo was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect such a regulation, but An Lushan really didn't lie to him, in fact, this law was proposed by Qin Lang when he proposed to set up a city ship department when he was a transshipment envoy. It is to strengthen the added value of raw silk. Raw silk is an important silk raw material. If it is exported in large quantities, it will be a great loss to the Tang silk industry. Controlling the export of raw silk can not only ensure sufficient raw materials for the domestic silk industry, but also stabilize the price of silk export trade.

  After the implementation of this suggestion, it has indeed played a very good role.

Now the silk trade in the Tang Dynasty is very hot. The Maritime Silk Road, the Land Silk Road, even the Grassland Silk Road, and the Southwest Silk Road have been opened up one by one. Looms have benefited a lot from this.

   Not to mention, the imperial court's annual exclusive tax on silk alone is quite astonishing.

  In this case, smuggling raw silk is the same felony as selling smuggled salt and tea. If you smuggle more than two catties of raw silk, you will be convicted.

  Raw silk is freely circulated and sold in the Tang Dynasty, but at the border at the port, it is strictly checked.

   "Whatever silk the ambassador likes, just buy it." An Lushan laughed.

  Su Wo Cangma Lu sighed that he had just lost a way of making money, and after hearing the advice, he had no choice but to continue shopping for all kinds of silk. An Lushan asked a few of his staff to take charge of the records.

"Do you want to buy some cotton? This is the most popular item in the Tang Dynasty. It is deeply loved by the royal family and nobles. It originated from the Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions. It is very rare. It is woven from white folded flowers into fine cotton and worn on the body." It is very close-fitting and comfortable, breathable and sweat-absorbing in summer, but warm and cold-proof in winter. In addition, there are cotton-padded jackets and quilts, which are also extremely comfortable.”

   "Cotton?"

  Suga Cangma Lu was surprised, "Is it a new kind of silk?"

"Well, this item is not in the fourteenth and fifty-five categories of silk, but it is more sought after than any other kind of silk now." An Lushan specially led the Japanese envoy to Dongshi Qin My cotton farm to see the goods.

  All kinds of cotton cotton products, stylish design, and a trial area.

  The winter in Wa country is very cold. After trying on the padded jacket and the quilt, Su Cangma and others were shocked by the soft and warm fabric.

  Although the price is very high, much more expensive than many silks, but when I heard that the emperor and nobles of the Tang Dynasty are using this, a group of Japanese envoys immediately launched a big raid again.

  An Lushan smiled and asked his subordinates to record all the things they selected.

  Sihai Trading Co., Ltd. will place orders and advance payment for the Japanese people, and at the same time be responsible for shipping them to the Japanese country. It seems that An Lushan is just helping with hard work, and does not make the middle price difference. But in fact, An Lushan settled with the currency of the Tang Dynasty, but the agreement with the Japanese was settled with gold ingots, silver ingots and copper ingots, not Japanese coins, but direct gold, silver and copper.

Regardless of the fineness and content, the important thing is that the Four Seas Trading Company can calculate the Japanese aristocrats' preference for different Tang products based on the goods bought by these Japanese envoys, and then purchase a large amount of goods based on this favorite list and ship them to the ship. Wa country sales.

   This sales price, naturally, can no longer be the price of purchasing agents.

  Sugar, tea, porcelain, and paper and ink books, especially a large number of Buddhist scriptures and statues, incense, candles, etc., were deeply loved by these Japanese envoys.

  In addition to these, the Japanese envoys also visited many pharmacies in Chang'an and bought various medicines.

   Purchases without payment really make people forget about moderation.

  There are still many things that the Japanese want to buy, such as iron pots, armor, swords, guns, bows and arrows, and horses. The Wa country lacked horses. Long ago, they didn't even have horses. During the Han Dynasty, the Wa country came to the Central Plains to pay homage. After seeing the tall, mighty, fast and gentle fetish of the horse, they became fascinated.

Since then, I have tried every means to introduce many horses from the Central Plains and the Korean Peninsula, and slowly cultivated my own horses, but the horses of the Japanese country have inevitably become mouse horses by this time. Like the Japanese, the island is blocked and imported It is difficult to improve the horses, leading to inbreeding, so they gradually become worse and worse, and the shorter they are raised.

  The Japanese rode horses, and were even ridiculed by outsiders for riding mice.

   Only the royal family and nobles can ride the tall mounts purchased from outside.

The Japanese envoys visited Chang’an and found that Chang’an is full of high-end horses, especially the variety of horse breeds. There are good horses from all over the world. Su Wo Cangma wants to buy horses, and wants to buy some kinds of horses, and especially wants to buy some for training. war horse.

  After taking them to watch a few polo matches in Anlu Mountain, Su Wo Cangma even bought a batch of good horses from Chang'an, built a polo team when he returned home, and brought the polo matches to Japan.

   And Datang's ship, especially a sea-going ship that can withstand wind and waves, he wants to buy more. If there is a large ship like the Tang Dynasty, then it will not be a problem to conquer Silla across the sea and recover the Renna area in the future.

   "Want to buy horses, ships, and armaments?"

  An Lushan said that he would ask his superiors for instructions.

   And Qin Lang gave him a very simple answer, horses can be sold, boats can also be sold, swords and armor can be sold, but the price is not cheap.

  He asked the Ministry of War to draw up a quotation list, which listed some ordnance that can be sold. Almost all weapons and armor can be sold, but the price is astonishing.

   An ordinary soldier's horizontal knife, the Ministry of War placed an order with Wei Weisi, who is in charge of the national arsenal, and it is a piece of silk. In fact, it was only two hundred dollars, and Weiwei Temple did not produce military horizontal knives themselves, they also placed orders with the Military Weapons Supervision. There are many production workshops below.

  A horizontal knife is actually only a hundred dollars.

The iron horizontal knives used by high-ranking military officers cost less than a thousand dollars a piece, which is already a high-end product. As for the horizontal knives made by the imperial court, both the material and the scabbard are specially made. Cast by top knife makers, and even inlaid with gold and silver, in fact, it is no longer a military object, but a work of art.

  Military Weapons Supervision Hengdao Bureau has a horizontal knife produced for a hundred dollars, and the Ministry of War quoted a price of 5,000 Wen each, which is simply stealing money. With such an export price, it is enough to buy a knife made by Shangfangfang, but the iron knife is too expensive.

   And armor is more expensive.

They are selling at the price of works of art, not armaments. Even if the Japanese buy them, they can only be said to be bought by the nobles for collection. However, what the Tang Dynasty sold were standard equipment, which is the most common armament. .

Items such as Modao, Mingguangjia, and black-lacquered horses are also sold, but for a Modao, the Japanese probably have to sell a manor to buy it. A set of Mingguangjia, which is the version of a team-level officer, All of them must be worth at least a Japanese manor, a black lacquered horse, and the starting price starts at 500,000 yuan.

   At such a price, Japanese people can buy them at will, and they can't buy much, and they can only be treasured items when they buy them back.

  (end of this chapter)