"Success my second brother into the court?" Zhen Mi covered her clothes, surprised and happy, and her face was white and red with a slightly sweaty face.

"Don't you?" Sun Ce bent his arms behind his head, looked at Zhen Mi, and said half-truely: "I know, your Zhen family is rich now, and they don't look down on this salary, and they are still restricted. They are stared at by the censor every day, so they are uncomfortable."

"Master...Where do you say that? Isn't this happy? It's not that I don't want to think about it, it's that I don't dare to think about it." Zhen Mi said coquettishly, moved over, hugged Sun Ce's arm, and looked a little timid. "Master, is someone saying what's up with my Zhen family?"

"Can you tell me what your Zhen family?" Sun Ce pulled out his arm, took Zhen Mi into his arms, and kissed her on the forehead.

Zhen Mi leaned on Sun Ce’s chest, bit her fingers, tilted her head, rolled her eyes and giggled. “No matter what they said, as long as the king believes in the Zhen family, it doesn’t matter.”

"Tell me, what exactly do you say?"

"Hehe, do you really want to hear it?"

"I really want to hear it. You know, I don't have much time to contact outsiders now and I'm in the military camp every day."

"Okay, then I'll talk about it. I guess, some people must have said that my Zhen family and Zhongshan merchants have lowered the purchase price of tea, and the tea farmers are not profitable, right? But they will never say why we have to lower the price, nor why the tea farmers are not profitable."

"It seems there is a story here?"

"King, do you remember the fact that in order to encourage mountain people to grow tea, they specially set the tea price higher?"

Sun Ce nodded, he had this impression. When he first decided to grow tea in the mountainous area of ​​Kuaiji, he invested a lot of capital in order to encourage tea farmers to start the mountains and learn tea planting and tea making techniques. One of them was to set a purchase price that ensures that the tea farmers are profitable.

"At that time, several of our companies raised money to ensure the purchase price. Even if the tea quality was worse, they would be charged. It was to support the king's new policy of enriching the people and turn those barren mountains into tea mountains. In recent years, tea production has increased sharply and the quality of tea has improved. Some people say that the price should also be raised, but more and more tea transported outside the border, and it is difficult to sell at a high price. Not to mention the price increase, even at the initial price, we will not make money. If we also raise the price, the tea will not be sold, and even the market that we have worked hard to open will be snatched away by tea merchants in Shu. Da Wang, who would like to do such a business?"

Sun Ce felt that Zhen Mi was right. He realized that Yu Fan was probably the same as the last time when Sheyan was involved, and the selfishness of local protection was caused by local protection. Now the tea business is getting bigger and bigger, and ordinary tea growing in the mountains of Jiangnan, Shu is no exception. It is no longer a situation of supply in short supply. Competition between various places will inevitably occur. From the perspective of market theory, it is normal for the increase in supply and the decline in the purchase price.

What's more, the original tea purchase price was a temporary measure, not a normal market price.

"Master, do you know that the tea in Kuaiji is OK?"

"Tea shop?"

"In the past, when there were fewer tea mountains, they would go directly to tea mountains to finish the game. Now that there are many tea mountains, it is too difficult to run one family, so they entrust the client to collect it. Most of these people are locals. They united, and while asking us to raise the purchase price, they pressed the price of tea farmers to make profits. We refused to raise the price, and they said we made huge profits. If the tea mountains were unwilling to sell, they went to Danyang, Yuzhang to collect tea, and even sell tea from Shu. We wanted to go directly to tea mountains to collect tea, but they were not allowed to set up checkpoints everywhere, collect our passerby taxes, and even sent people to rob them halfway."

"Is there such a thing?" Sun Ce's heart skipped a beat, his face a little unfair.

"Yes or not, the king will tell you if you ask. The people engaged in tea dealing are not only Zhongshan merchants, but also Qingxu, Yan and Yu. If you have the chance, you might as well ask Sister Yuan and Sister Mi. Zhongshan merchants all say that they are bullying the no one in our Zhongshan court."

Zhen Mi said, wrinkling her nose.

Sun Ce didn't say anything. He didn't make up his mind to deal with the Zhen family's affairs.

Yu Fan proposed the quota system, which was clearly aimed at Zhongshan merchants, especially the Zhen family. This is considered from the overall interests, of course, nothing wrong, but from another perspective, it is a kind of dishonesty. When he first grew tea in Kuaiji and later went to the grassland to open up the market, the Zhen family made great efforts. Without the support of the Zhen family, the tea industry would not have opened up so quickly. It is normal for the Zhen family to want to eat more and take up more.

For him, he had to curb the Zhen family's behavior, otherwise capital would be out of control. Anything out of control will lead to disasters, and the same is true for capital, so he supported Yu Fan's approach and implemented the quota system.

However, in addition to causing conflicts between the Zhen family, it will also affect the confidence of other businesses. The best way is of course to make a move for the Zhen family, just like the Mi family. If Zhen Yan enters the court, it may not necessarily have to give him much real power, and satisfying his vanity is also one aspect. It is also a natural mentality to want to be noble when a person is rich. If the Zhen family can make concessions, it is naturally the best. In fact, it may not be enough to be an official. With the situation where he strengthened his supervision, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money by being an official, or use his power to seek personal gain. Moreover, with the conditions of the Zhen family, wealth is also limited in their attractiveness to them.

But after hearing Zhen Mi’s complaint, he realized that this matter was far more complicated than he had estimated and had to check it carefully.

Quanling, Xiangcaojin.

A small building boat was ready to go, and the sailors and servants were busy doing the final preparations, with smiles on their faces and joy in their eyebrows.

"Be careful, don't be careless, there is no time to delay the road." A middle-aged man greeted loudly, and two servants in short clothes passed by him, and his feet slipped and almost fell. The middle-aged man quickly reached out to support him and shouted dissatisfiedly: "Be careful, this is the vanilla wine for nobles in the court. If you give it to him, you can't make up for it."

On the shore, Zhong Yao bowed and said, "General, Kong Ming, please come back. I will see you thousands of miles away, and there will be a farewell. Besides, it won't take long to meet in Jianye again."

Sun Yi and Zhuge Liang looked at each other and laughed, bowed to salute. "Then I wish Zhong Xiang a smooth journey and a safe arrival in Jianye as soon as possible."

Zhong Yao smiled and bowed, turned around and stepped onto the springboard. A servant reached out to help him, but Zhong Yao ignored him, carried the hem of his clothes, stepped onto the boat, stood on the side of the side, waved to Sun Yi and Zhuge Liang to greet him. The middle-aged man came up and asked Zhong Yao for instructions, ordering the cables and sails. The sailors were in order. After a while, the boat left the shore and sailed into the center of the Xiang River, sailed far away, and gradually disappeared between the water and the sky.

Sun Yi turned around and smacked his lips. "Kongming, our time is a bit tight."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "The general is not yet weak in his prime and is already a general in the country, so why should he be anxious?"

Sun Yi turned to look at Zhuge Liang. He was a little disappointed. Why didn't Zhuge Liang understand his intentions? Brother Wang was about to ascend the throne, and it was inevitable that he would be enfeoffed with ministers. He had just turned to Lingling and had not yet made any military achievements. How could he stand in the court then? Younger, younger sister was younger, but because of the battle at the Tianjing Pass, he became the Left Protector. If I didn't work hard, the Right Protector would be snatched away by others.

Sun Yi thought about it and swallowed the words to his mouth. He didn't get along with Zhuge Liang for long, and he was a little confused about Zhuge Liang's thoughts. Logically speaking, Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun have joined hands, and now that Lu Xun has made great contributions, why is he not in a hurry at all?

The two got on the horse and walked with their bridles. Zhuge Liang saw Sun Yi's unhappiness and asked again: "General, the king is about to ascend the throne. Which one do you think is better between maintaining the status quo and being frustrated?"

Sun Yi replied depressedly: "Of course it is better to maintain the status quo. But..."

"It would be better if we could win it in battle. But is the general confident of regaining the Lingqu now?"

Sun Yi sighed and closed his mouth. He understood what Zhuge Liang meant. Liu Yao was entrenched in the Yangshuo Mountain area and was in trouble and could suffer setbacks if he accidentally tried. It was understandable that Zhuge Liang did not want to take risks at this time. Zhong Yao also agreed with this point of view, so he had no plan to attack.

"A step back, even if the general takes back Lingqu, if Liu Yao cannot be captured alive, the position of Right Protector will probably not fall into the hands of the general."

Sun Yi was puzzled. "Why?"

"Because you are a man, not a woman. Since ancient times, men have been superior to women. The king has changed customs and advocated equality between men and women. Naturally, he must understand to the world that men can do things, and women can do it, so he can only overcorrectly. The third general's surprise attack on Tianjing Pass is the best evidence, so the king will worship her as the left guardian to reward women in the world for self-reliance and self-improvement. The general is a man, so there is no need to prove anything, and there will naturally be no reward for exception."

Sun Yi felt it was reasonable, but he was unwilling to give up, so he scratched his head. "Then what should I do to be on par with my younger sister?"

"It proves that you can take responsibility for one party."

"How can we be responsible for one party?"

"Don't underestimate the enemy, do not advance rashly, do not be moved by small profits, do not be afraid of big harm, do not fight, you will be gone, and you will win if you fight." Zhuge Liang paused and said, "The king ordered the general to come to Jingnan, with the purpose of repelling Liu Yao. Jiaozhou is high and the forest is dense. Liu Yao retreated and returned. After all, it is not a fundamental solution. The general's task is to maintain the stability of the four counties in Jiangnan, so that Liu Yao cannot go deep into the hinterland and affect production. The Zhou governor had no worries and was at ease to attack Yizhou without any gains and losses in one city and one place."

Sun Yi thought for a long time and nodded. "Kong Ming, I understand. The king is worried that I am restless, so he arranged for you to be my military advisor."

"The general doesn't mind my cowardice, I'm grateful. I remember when I was by the king, the king often said that patience is more important than opportunity. If you miss the opportunity, you may come back again. Once you lose your patience and take advantage of it, it will be too late to regret it. When the two sides are in a stalemate, whoever has more patience will be able to laugh to the end. It is not important for the general to have a Lingqu, but whether it can invade the hinterland of Jiangnan is related to the safety of Yizhou. Therefore, it should be Liu Yao, not the general who is anxious."

"That's right, if Cao Cao resigns, Liu Yao will not be alone." Sun Yi's eyes lit up and he turned to look at Zhuge Liang. "Kong Ming, do you think Liu Yao knew that Zhong Xiang had left, would he think you and I were young and had an opportunity to take advantage of?"

"The general may as well wait for him to fall into the trap."

Sun Yi laughed and his eyes rolled. "Autumn is here, I want to go hunting. What do you think?"

Zhuge Liang smiled. "If Liu Yao doesn't come, he will get a small gain. If Liu Yao comes, he will get a big gain. He is very good."
Chapter completed!