Chapter 972: Arrangements before departure

At noon, Yun Zheng and his friends had a meal with Hou Shikai in the brothel.

During this period, Yun Zheng talked to Hou Shikai about food.

Hou Shikai was originally a grain merchant, and Yun Zheng wanted him to help him get more grain.

However, Hou Shikai was really powerless to do anything about the food issue.

He had brought all the food he could get to Shuobei.

Even if he was asked to get more food, he really couldn't get it.

After learning about Hou Shikai's situation, Yun Zheng did not make things difficult for him and let him focus on running the Shuobei business.

Before leaving, Yun Zheng talked to Hou Shikai about the sugar again.

He had previously promised to give the sugar monopoly to Hou Shikai.

He hasn't forgotten this!

However, because all the sugar produced is supplied to the army, there is no sugar to sell to him for the time being.

But after this year, there will be more and more sugar available for him to sell, and he can just contact Zhang Xu later.

Now that Zhang Xu has returned and Emperor Wen has also returned to the imperial city, Zhang Xu can appear openly. Yun Zheng still handed over business matters to Zhang Xu again.

Zhang Xu himself also likes doing business.

After leaving the brothel, they wandered around Shuofang for a while.

There are a lot more people in Shuofang now than when he first arrived in Shuofang two years ago.

Although the weather is cold, you can still see the smell of fireworks on the streets.

Yun Zheng remembered that when he first arrived in Shuofang, there were almost no people on the streets when the weather was cold. When the cold winter came, many people stayed at home.

At that time, many people thought that since they couldn't do anything anyway, they could just stay at home and eat one less meal, thus saving more food.

Nowadays, Shuofang has more supplies and the people have money in their hands, so many people are still willing to spend some money to buy things.

However, the prices in Shuofang are indeed high.

The items with the highest premiums are still grain, cotton cloth and fur.

Because Shuobei does not produce rice, the refined rice here is sold for four taels of silver per load.

Although the soaring price of refined rice is partly due to transportation costs and the fact that production has not fully recovered after the floods in the south, four taels of silver per load is indeed too exaggerated.

You know, when he first came to Shuobei, the price of refined rice in the interior was about one tael of silver per dan, while the price of refined rice in Shuobei was about one tael and five cents of silver per dan.

The people of Shuobei seem to be richer, but their lives are not much better than two years ago.

Yun Zheng also truly felt the horror of inflation.

Fortunately, although the prices of other grains have also increased, the price is not as exaggerated as that of refined rice.

The basic food and clothing needs of the people in Shuobei can still be guaranteed.

On the way back, Yun Zheng was full of emotion.

If the people are to be truly prosperous, Shuobei and Northwestern Protectorate must develop. At the very least, they must be able to be completely self-sufficient in the most basic survival supplies.

After returning to the palace, Yun Zheng asked Ye Zi to send a letter to Tuo Huan, asking about the court's tax increase on high-consumption places, and then called Miaoyin and Zhang Xu and his wife to the backyard.

"I should be heading to the Yanhuishan camp in the next few days. I'll leave all matters concerning the workshop and business to you! You can just ask Lao Pang about the sugar."

Yun Zheng instructed Zhang Xu.

Zhang Xu grinned and patted his chest, "I know all about these things! Your Highness, you can go without worry!"

Listening to Zhang Xu's words, Yun Zheng didn't think there was anything wrong, but Miaoyin and Mingyue looked upset.

"Can you speak?"

Mingyue lightly kicked Zhang Xu, "What do you mean by go with peace of mind? You just say unlucky things!"

"that is!"

Miaoyin also gave Xiong Zhangxu a look and pretended to be fierce, "If he gets hurt, I will definitely blame you for this when I come back!"

"Ah...this..."

Zhang Xu was stunned for a moment, and when he reacted, he immediately changed his words bitterly: "I didn't curse Your Highness, I meant that Your Highness can go and seek revenge on those barbarians without worry!"

"Okay, okay!"

Yun Zheng waved his hand nonchalantly, and said with a smile: "If this worked, I would have been cursed to death by the third brother long ago!"

Speaking of the third brother, Yun Zheng felt secretly emotional in his heart.

The third brother sent someone to deliver the ransom to Fuzhou.

Eighty-eight thousand taels may sound like a lot, but it's still a little too little for the third brother.

It is estimated that the third brother made a lot of money from this wedding.

Coupled with the fact that the court has increased taxes on high-consumption places, the third brother's wallet will definitely be fatter.

After dealing with the northern barbarians, I still have to go to Fuzhou for some time!

Try to borrow some money from the third brother to spend.

As the saying goes, if you become rich and powerful, don’t forget your friends!

Speaking of Yun Li, Miao Yin couldn't help laughing, "Yun Li didn't just curse you, he probably stabbed you every day in the Prince's Mansion! I say, Yun Li should have cursed Yun Zheng in front of you a lot, right?"

"Ahem...this..."

Zhang Xu smiled embarrassedly, "Actually, I scolded you a lot..."

Mingyue glanced at Zhang Xu and revealed, "When he scolds His Highness, he scolds even more fiercely than Yun Li!"

"You can't say that."

Zhang Xu grinned and said, "I cursed him verbally, but not in my heart. Yun Li was being reserved and couldn't curse him too harshly as a prince, but he must have cursed him in his heart."

Hearing Zhang Xu's words, Miaoyin and Mingyue rolled their eyes at him at the same time.

"Okay, let's not talk about the third brother anymore! Go ahead and scold him! I'm not the one who's angry anyway."

Yun Zheng smiled and instructed Miaoyin, "Hurry up and hand over the affairs of the caravan to Mingyue. From now on, let Mingyue keep an eye on the affairs of the caravan."

"what?"

Mingyue obviously didn't expect Yun Zheng to make such an arrangement, "I... can't do that?"

"Why would this work?" Yun Zheng shook his head and smiled. "There's nothing serious going on with the caravan. We just need to keep an eye on it! If the big fish doesn't take the bait, the caravan will just be an ordinary caravan."

Yun Zheng never worried much about the caravan.

He set up this caravan just for fishing.

"Correct!"

Miaoyin smiled and said, "The caravan's business is simple, not as difficult as you think."

After hearing Miaoyin say this, Mingyue nodded in agreement.

Yun Zheng then instructed Zhang Xu, "You can contact the caravan more often, but only ask them to help transport the goods. Don't discuss anything else! Just assume that you don't know anything about the caravan!"

Zhang Xu thought about it for a moment and immediately understood Yun Zheng's intention. "Your Highness wants that big fish to see the value of the caravan, thinking that the caravan can get close to Your Highness, and then bribe the caravan to assassinate Your Highness?"

"Correct!"

Yun Zheng nodded and said, "Ever since the Cui Wenjing incident, the big fish that was hiding deep has not made any move! We need to put out more bait!"

Although the big fish did not move, Yun Zheng did not forget about the big fish.

He didn't go looking for the fish on purpose, but that didn't stop him from using some tricks to fish.

It’s best to fish naturally.

Even if they fail to catch any fish, they won't lose anything.

"it is good!"

Zhang Xu nodded heavily.

Yun Zheng then instructed: "Also, you can start making wine with wild potatoes, but it's just an experiment. Don't use too many wild potatoes to make wine. We don't have much food, so we can't..."

Before Yun Zheng could finish his words, Shen Kuan suddenly ran in hurriedly.

"Your Highness, there is an urgent message from Madam Jiayao!"