After the sales of perfume went on the right track, the income of the Prince's Mansion suddenly soared. Merchants who came to buy not only included merchants from Chang 'an, but also merchants from other countries, including Persia, Arabia, India, Zhenla, and other countries. The front door of the Prince's Mansion was really crowded and not even water could pass through.
Seeing such a grand occasion, Tong Nian's intestines turned green with regret. He hadn't eaten for a few days, but Li Yin still left him a way to make money. The perfume sold by Prince Liang's residence was ten strings per bottle, so Tong Nian could still earn a difference.
"Your Highness, according to your instructions, the sales figures for the past few days have been calculated for you. The local merchants bought a total of 64,000 strings of copper coins, while the foreign merchants bought 61,200 strings.”Su Mo 'er held an account book and read it.
"Not bad!" Li Yin was a little surprised. He had not expected the purchasing power of those foreigners to be so high. When he saw that the entrance of the palace was filled with blond foreigners, Li Yin had asked Su Mo 'er to separate the data of the perfume sales so that he could see how the pockets of these foreign businessmen were. The result was beyond his expectations. They were almost evenly matched.
According to historical research, the total economic output of the Tang Dynasty at that time accounted for 60% of the world's total. However, this referred to the middle and late stages of the Tang Dynasty. During Zhenguan, the land of the Tang Dynasty had just gone through continuous wars. Many people were still living on the edge of food and clothing. There were a lot of things to do, so the total economic output was not that high.
"We can do business with foreigners!" Li Yin understood the data and thought to himself that it would be a waste if they did not earn money.
Putting the matter of the perfume aside, the workshop in the small mountain was already completed. The equipment that Li Yin had purchased had also arrived. They were just waiting for the craftsmen to arrive and they could start working.
As for the matter of the craftsmen, Li Yin was in a difficult position. He just randomly found some people because he was worried that he could not keep the secret. However, where could he find someone who would not let the secret slip? Helplessly, Li Yin could only call the three families to ask for advice. After all, they also had a part to play. He could not monopolize this matter.
"Isn't that simple? Just buy some personal slaves!”Xiao Rui said without thinking.
"Personal slave!"
"Xiao Rui is right. If it really doesn't work, we can buy some official slaves from the Ministry of Works!”Lu Boyan echoed.
"It's fine to buy private slaves, but forget about official slaves. What if there are spies planted by other families? Wouldn't all our secrets be stolen?”Cheng Huailiang's words made sense.
The Tang Dynasty still retained the slavery system left behind by the Xia and Shang Dynasties. These slaves could be divided into official slaves and private slaves. Among them, official slaves were mostly criminals who had been confiscated and were supervised by the Ministry of Justice of Shangshu Province. Private slaves were mainly from poor farmers who sold themselves and commoners who had been plundered and sold. Whether it was official slaves or private slaves, their status was very low. They were the private property of the buyer and were no different from livestock. In the project of competing for wealth among the nobles, showing off the number of private slaves was also one of them.
He was born in a society that advocated humanism, but he had to follow the customs here. Moreover, the treatment of these private slaves in the hands of Li Yin would definitely be better than in the hands of other nobles. After thinking this through, Li Yin did not say anything and agreed to buy private slaves.
Where there was business, there would be a market. Slave trading was also a legitimate industry in the Tang Dynasty and was protected by the Law of the Tang Dynasty. There was a formal slave market in Xi City. After discussion, the four of them went to Xi City to select craftsmen for the workshop.
The carriage had to pass through the famous Vermilion Bird Avenue in Chang 'an from the East City to the West City. This avenue was the central axis of Chang' an City, separating the East and West Cities. The width of the Vermilion Bird Avenue was 150 meters, and on both sides of the street were thick parasol trees and weeping willows. It was also Li Yin's first time passing through the Vermilion Bird Avenue. On the way, he opened the curtains and admired the scenery recorded in the history books. He was amazed.
Compared to the East City, the West City was just as prosperous. The streets were filled with people and vendors. In the southeast corner of the West City, the carriage stopped.
In front of them was an open-air square about thirty-five meters in length and width. The square was full of unkempt slaves kneeling on the ground. Some butlers were picking and choosing from these slaves from time to time.
Seeing the four young masters alighting from the luxurious carriage, a slave trader walked over with a fawning smile." Masters, what do you need? We have all kinds of slaves here, including coolies, maids, and new virgins!”Speaking of virgins, slaves selling lewd things. Suo Di laughed.
"Oh? Let me see what you have!" Lu Boyan's eyes lit up.
"Lords, look over here!" The slave trader pointed at a row of four girls who were about twelve or thirteen years old." These four are newcomers. They are all good-looking!”
Compared to the other slaves, these four girls were dressed luxuriously and their faces were clean. It was obvious that they had been carefully dressed by the slave traders.
"He's too young!" Lu Boyan still had some conscience.
The slave owner smiled awkwardly." Sir, you don't understand. Girls of this age are all bestsellers now. It's more considerate to raise them for a few years!”
"Get down to business!" Li Yin interrupted at the right time. Lu Boyan said seriously,"We want to buy some servants!"
"Over there, choose for yourself!" The slave trader immediately lost interest. The price of servants was low, and the profit was low. Naturally, he did not care.
Following the direction the slave trader was pointing at, Li Yin glanced at the men and women kneeling on the ground. These people were all sallow and emaciated. They looked like they had been nourished. Their eyes were lifeless as they looked at the ground. Perhaps they had lost hope in life since they sold themselves.
Naturally, they chose the strong ones to work. The four of them separated and picked from the slave market. According to Li Yin's instructions, these slaves were divided equally between men and women. The three of them were puzzled, and Li Yin did not explain. He had his own ideas.
In order to meet the needs of the three workshops, they bought 500 slaves in one go. Each slave was about one tael of silver. Li Yin paid the money and sighed that a man was really inferior to a horse. In the Tang Dynasty, even an inferior horse could be sold for four strings of copper coins.
With so many slaves returning, in order to prevent any changes, Cheng Huailiang called his servants from home to escort these slaves back. Li Yin was about to return when he suddenly saw two familiar figures.
They were two women. One of them was wearing a green dress, while the other was wearing a red jacket. They were walking together as they sized up the twelve or thirteen-year-old girls in the slave market. They were Su Mo 'er and Yun' er.
"Why are you guys here?" Li Yin walked up and asked.
Seeing Li Yin, the two of them bowed. Yun 'er said casually,"I'm accompanying Sister Yun 'Er to look for her sister.”
"You still have a sister!" Li was surprised.
Su Mo 'er's eyes were slightly red as she said," I won't hide it from Your Highness. Mo' er has a younger sister who is less than ten years old and is missing. I think she might have been kidnapped and sold to human traffickers. Therefore, I come here every day with a glimmer of hope!"”
"I see. You don't have to be sad. Go back and recall your sister's appearance. I'll send someone to check here every day. You don't have to come here every day. After all, there are all kinds of people here. It's too dangerous!”
Yun 'Er glanced at him and said,"Your Highness is really biased. Aren't you worried that Yun' Er will be in danger?"”
Su Mo 'er's face turned red and she said softly,"Thank you, Your Highness!"
Li Yin was just showing his concern for his subordinates, but it made Yun 'er make both of them feel extremely awkward. They could not help but glare at Yun' er.
Just as she was about to scold him, Lu Boyan's exaggerated voice suddenly sounded." Miss Luo, why are you here?”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。