His words immediately opened up the conversation. Another head of the Wang family, Wang Min, said with a gloomy face, "Brother Tian, you know that we can't compare to your family's wealth. We rely more on the border and inflated prices of goods to support our family. Moreover, not only will there be no inflated prices in the future, but we will also have to work harder to earn more for tea..."
"Yes, isn't this going to kill us? Transporting food and fodder to the border is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the cost is extremely high. If we're not careful, we could end up losing money. A little loss wouldn't be a big deal, as long as we can get tea. But who can be so sure about the quality of tea?"
"Tea prices seem to have fluctuated little this year, but if we want to get tea permits, we have to transport grain to the border this year so we can get the best spring tea next year. If prices fluctuate next year, we might go bankrupt overnight."
"Brother Tian, you have to help us this time. You know a lot of dignitaries and have a say in the higher-ups. If you can help us, we will definitely remember this favor, don't you agree?"
"Yes, yes, Brother Tian, please say something."
Everyone was talking at once.
Tian Chang frowned and remained silent.
People only think that tea merchants are colluding with border officials and sucking the blood of the Song Dynasty court, but they don’t know that tea merchants are not having a good time either.
Because the tea market fluctuates greatly, for example, if a natural disaster occurs in a certain place this year and the court sends disaster relief rice, then the price of rice in Bianliang may rise, causing the price of tea to fall.
If the Jianghuai Canal is blocked, the salt and rice ships will capsize or arrive in Bianliang a few days late, which may cause the tea market to collapse and no one will buy.
No matter how good tea is, it cannot be compared with food. Compared with daily necessities, tea can only be ranked below rice, salt and oil, and is far less important than the former.
So the tea merchants seemed to be making a lot of money, but due to the constant natural disasters in recent years, rising rice prices, and difficulty in selling tea, the tea merchants' lives were getting worse and worse, and many of them relied on sucking the blood of the imperial court to maintain their luxurious life.
Now that the imperial court has stopped bloodsucking, income has plummeted. If the market fluctuates again next year, many tea merchants may go bankrupt.
Therefore, these people united together and hoped to oppose the implementation of the new policy.
However, Tian Chang didn't want to get involved in this matter.
Because he was the largest tea merchant in Bianliang and even in the whole country, in order to increase customer stickiness, Tianjia Tea Shop even had a trademark.
There is an icon on the packaging of all tea wholesaled by Tianjia Tea Shop, which is a tender green tea leaf in a square. The shape of the tea leaves resembles a "cross", which together form the "田" of Tianjia Tea Shop.
With such a great reputation, it is impossible for him to go bankrupt unless no one in the whole Song Dynasty drinks tea anymore.
So others need to rely on sucking the blood of the imperial court to make more money, but he doesn't need it. In the past, when Tian Chang transported grain to the border, he always transported the most grain and got the most tea permits. He falsely estimated the extra money he could make. He would make it if he could, and it didn't matter if he couldn't. He didn't care about these little things.
And the most important thing is that Tian Chang is well aware of a truth, that is, the people should not fight against the officials.
He was from Jianghuai. He had recently heard that Guo Chengyou, the prefect of Bozhou, had become arrogant and domineering, coveting a famous Tang Dynasty painting from the Zhang family, a wealthy merchant in Bozhou, and plotting to destroy the Zhang family. Then there was Sun Mian, the prefect of Hangzhou, who had forcibly abducted a woman and fabricated charges against the wealthy merchant Xu Ming, alleging he had raped her.
In his early years, Tian Chang was disciplined by Li Di. Although Tian Chang made friends with many dignitaries over the years and also bought a nominal position in Taifu Temple by donating money, he was nothing compared to the real high-ranking officials.
Therefore, Tian Chang was actually reluctant to stand up for the people in the business and oppose the implementation of the new policy despite the pressure from the government.
But if he refused now, he might be ostracized by all the tea merchants in Bianliang, and even if he was the largest tea merchant, he would not be able to withstand the attack.
So facing everyone's questions, he hesitated for a moment and could only say tactfully: "I don't know the details of this matter yet. Let me go and ask Wang Panshi of the Taifu Temple first."
The Taifu Temple was in charge of the state-run tea business, and under its jurisdiction were the Jiaoyin Warehouse and the Tea Warehouse. It could be said to be the lifeline department for tea merchants and the department they dealt with the most.
The tea merchants all heard that Tian Chang had a very good relationship with the officials of Taifu Temple, and they were very happy and expressed their gratitude.
"I'll trouble you, Brother Tian."
“If Brother Tian comes forward, everything will surely go smoothly.”
"From now on, if Brother Tian commands us, we will do it even if it means going through fire and water."
Everyone complimented him.
In the face of their flattery, Tian Chang just smiled bitterly, picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. The delicious taste of the past was like chewing wax at this moment.
He doesn't know any top officials, so he's probably powerless this time.
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