The Sun family’s dinner was not a luxury. The only people who served at night were Yan Liqiang and Sun Bingchen. A pot of old duck soup, a portion of oil-dripping winter bamboo shoots, a stack of peanuts with wine, and a plate of fried bacon with green peppers. A total of three dishes and one soup. A pot of Yuezhou wine found by Sun Bingchen, even Sun Bingchen was welcomed by Yan Liqiang.

Compared with other wealthy and prominent families in the Imperial Capital, such dinners are extremely shabby, but Yan Liqiang didn't mind, because he knew that Sun Bingchen was such a person. It was not that Sun Bingchen was deliberately harsh, but that Sun Bingchen had always had low requirements for life and was relatively simple. He never needed scenes or luxury to show anything. Tonight's meal had two meat dishes and a pot of good wine. For Sun Bingchen, it was a rare "exception" to add dishes...

During dinner, Sun Bingchen seemed very happy. Both of them had a tacit understanding and did not say anything official at the dinner table. Instead, they recalled the interesting stories of Yan Liqiang escorting Sun Bingchen back to the imperial capital from Ganzhou. The atmosphere was harmonious. Until dinner, the two returned to Sun Bingchen's study and drank sober tea. Sun Bingchen slowly turned the topic to official business and asked about the situation in Yan Liqiang's Gulang Grassland. Yan Liqiang also said it truthfully, without any concealment...

"I heard that Liqiang, you are engaged in a wool sale in Qiyun County. You bought wool from Shatuqiu Department at a low price, and sold it at a high price. The profit is more than ten times, and you can earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in a month. Is this a matter?" Sun Bingchen gently fiddled on the teacup with a teacup and asked casually.

"Haha, I didn't expect you, sir, to know about this..."

"How could I not know about such a big thing? No one could have thought that you could make the Seventh Ministry of Shatu bow their heads, and even more so that wool could be sold exclusively? Do you know that after you did this, the cabinet received so many copies handed over from the cabinet in the past few months, all of which were talking about this matter, from the Ministry of War, from the Ministry of Revenue, and from local officials in various places, they were all about you!"

"Oh, I don't know what those memorials say?" Although he had guessed something in his heart, Yan Liqiang asked pretending to be curious.

"You come and pretend to be confused again!" Sun Bingchen glared at Yan Liqiang, but he was not angry. "I don't believe you are such a smart person. You can't guess. The memorial on the Ministry of War said that the money you sold for wool at Baishiguan was too easy to make. The money should be paid to the Ministry of War. As the military supplies and military funds for the Ministry of War to pacify the Gulang Grassland in the future, you cannot use it alone. The important reason why the Ministry of War sent troops to Gulang Grassland this time was that the military supplies and military funds were too high, and the court had to bear it.

Some troublesome, the complaint on the Ministry of Revenue said that this monopoly should be governed by the Ministry of Revenue. The local supervision office cannot set a precedent without any precedent. It wants to send someone to set up a monopoly store to take over the wool monopoly. Those complaints on local officials say that the wool you received from the Shartu Seventh Department is cheap, but only ten copper coins per kilogram. Since these wools are cheaper, you should no longer sell them at high prices, but should resell them at a fair price to the official workshops in various places..."

Yan Liqiang smiled and sneered, "They are all wishful thinking. Over the years, the Seventh Division of Shatu are rampant in the northwest and the Gulang Grassland. The people of the Ministry of War have never cut off the heads of the Seventh Division of Shatu and the Black Capricorn warriors. Now they see that there are benefits, it is like taking over all the benefits of the Gulang Grassland in one mouthful. That's so easy. They have to have the ability to send people to destroy one of the Seventh Divisions of Shatu first. I don't have high requirements. Just let the Ministry of War bring back ten thousand Shatu people's heads from the Gulang Grassland. I will hand them over the monopoly bureau. Why can this wool monopoly be made?

The people of Tuqian tribe pinched their noses and lowered their heads to accept it. That was what I killed with a sword. I destroyed the Tuli tribe with tens of thousands of camps and hung the head of the Tuli tribe leader in Baishi Pass, so that Shatuqian tribe came to the bottom of Baishi Pass. They thought it would be useful to rely on their mouths. The Ministry of Revenue was the same. They had to have the courage to come to Baishi Pass. They thought that sending a few people to set up a checkpoint would allow Shatuqian tribe to pay the money. Then let them come. Those officials who paid the bills in the places said that they were just selling dog meat with the title of sheep. I think it was true that their families wanted to open a wool factory. Do they really think that others were fools..."

Sun Bingchen stared at Yan Liqiang's face, smiled, and took a sip of tea, "It's not easy to make Liqiang angry!"

"Adults have been to the northwest, so they naturally know how difficult the northwest is and how dangerous the environment is. In the past, birds in the northwest did not shit, and no one paid attention to us. Now, when we see wool making money, we rushed over and started to grab the fruits of victory. I invented this wool cloth, and I thought of a monopoly strategy. The Shatu people's heads were also cut down by me and my soldiers. Why do they come to grab them? I don't want to be with them..."

"What if the court wants it, Liqiang, can you share the worries of the court?" Sun Bingchen put down his teacup and looked at Yan Liqiang with a serious look.

"Haha, can the court fall in love with me for such a little bit of profit?"

"If you don't be a good person, you don't know that the firewood and rice are expensive. Your Majesty is not easy now..." Sun Bingchen sighed and said, "In recent years, natural disasters and man-made disasters have been constantly occurring in various places. The court's tax revenue has been declining year by year, and expenditure has increased year by year. Last year, the court's tax silver was only 170 million taels. This money seems to be a lot, but to deal with such a big stall in the Han Empire, it has gradually become less than enough. The imperial treasury has not left much. When His Majesty appointed you as the supervisor of Qi Yun, he didn't expect that Li Qiang, you can make money and make so much money by making a wool monopoly in Baishiguan..."

Yan Liqiang pondered for a moment, and then said generously and resolutely, "If someone else wants to interfere in the wool monopoly strategy, I will never agree. But I have been kind to Your Majesty and Your Majesty, so I should naturally understand the difficulties of Your Majesty and Your Majesty. To be honest, the monthly income of the wool monopoly bureau in Qiyun County is about 300,000 taels per month. If the corresponding costs and expenses are excluded, the net profit of the wool monopoly bureau in a year is about 2 million taels. Since the lord has spoken, Qiyun Supervisor will pay 1.5 million taels of silver to the court every year.

Enrich the national treasury and share the worries of Your Majesty and the Adults. It is logical that even if I hand over all the money from the Monopoly Bureau, it is fine. The situation in the Gulang Grassland is worrying now. I have few soldiers and few generals. If I want to continue this wool monopoly strategy for a long time, I even consider the future management of the Gulang Grassland. It is not possible for Qi Yun Supervisor to have no strength. Therefore, I have to invest some of the remaining money earned by the Monopoly Bureau to prevent accidents. In order to prevent accidents, I also have to invest in the defense and military protection of Qiyun County. Many subordinate officials in the county also need to be encouraged and praised, so please understand..."

It is not a small amount to pay one million taels of silver every year. As far as Yan Liqiang knows, the tax, money and grain that can be paid in Ganzhou in one year may be the same. But at this time, Yan Liqiang had to express it because this was a test for His Majesty the Emperor and Sun Bingchen. The bottom line in Sun Bingchen's heart was at least one million taels per year, and Yan Liqiang added another 500,000 taels to this bottom line.

"Hahaha, Your Majesty and I did not read you wrong. Li Qiang, you are aware of the general and loyal..." Sun Bingchen said with praise, "Now many people are jealous of Qi Yun, and they submit memorials to the cabinet every day. In this way, although Li Qiang seems to have paid a little money, they actually have less trouble, leaving those people with nothing to say. The money just happened to be used to block those people's mouths. For the outside world, you can report Li Qiang a little less every year, so that others have nothing to say..."
Chapter completed!