Meeting Yao Yuanguang Again

The new emperor's energy was indeed extraordinary.

After a brief visit to the mausoleum of Emperor Gaozu, the new emperor set off for Liang.

The wagons carried food, and many cavalrymen were also equipped with supplies, which allowed the caravan to travel continuously for more than eight days without stopping in major cities.

This almost covered the entire time Zhang Xuezhou spent in this world.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't like wasting time on travel; in the real world, he would rather travel to the Thousand Islands Alliance lying down than sit and sway in a carriage like this.

This inevitably reminded him of his journey to the Northern Border with Dong Zhongshu several years ago.

They had traveled for several months at that time.

Currently, they are traveling via official roads, and some local governments have even mobilized a large number of laborers to repair roads in advance to ensure unimpeded passage.

Yangxin County!

When the caravan finally stopped to rest for the first time, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but get out of the carriage and take a look at the not-so-large city.

"Brother Dongfang!"

"Brother Hongyang!"

The new emperor brought only his trusted confidants, most of whom were young men.

It took Zhang Xuezhou several days to finally meet with Sang Hongyang, with whom he had previously had dealings.

After the carriage stopped, Sang Hongyang also went to the city gate to watch the excitement.

For Sang Hongyang, figuring out the location as soon as possible was very important.

Like Zhang Xuezhou, Sang Hongyang also spent eight days in the carriage, eating, drinking and sleeping there, until now he finally had time to get out and walk around.

He observed his many colleagues and found that he didn't know many of them, and even fewer were close friends. Most of them looked at him with a mixture of unfamiliarity and curiosity, and some were even looking at his colleagues.

Many people felt a slight distance between them and maintained a certain level of wariness.

Under these circumstances, Sang Hongyang could only turn to old friends and rarely got to know any new people.

He wandered around for a while, and only saw Zhang Xuezhou near the city gate.

Zhang Xuezhou stared at the words on the city wall for a while before Sang Hongyang approached.

"Yangxin County is in Bohai Commandery," Sang Hongyang said. "If you go a little further north, you'll reach the Northern Border, and to the southwest lies Liang!"

"Brother Hongyang, you certainly have great insight!"

Looking at the completely unfamiliar city, Zhang Xuezhou felt as if he hadn't found his way.

It wasn't until Sang Hongyang said a few words that he began to have a vague sense of direction.

"Actually, this is my first time here too," Sang Hongyang said. "Our eldest princess's fiefdom is in Yangxin County, so I know a little about it!"

"I see!"

Zhang Xuezhou immediately understood why the convoy had stopped at this location.

The eldest princess that Sang Hongyang mentioned was the new emperor's older sister and also Emperor Jing's daughter.

The other party's status was like that of a smaller version of Princess Dou, except that the Empress Dowager was too powerful and the Empress Dowager was not prominent, which also made this Princess Yangxin's reputation not well known.

The new emperor has now come to his sister's house and is therefore entitled to stay there temporarily.

Everyone was arranged to camp outside the city. If they had money, they could go to the city to stay in a hotel or go shopping, as long as they reported clearly or returned to the camp on time. The rules for the caravan in Yangxin County were not strict, and there were almost no restrictions.

Zhang Xuezhou, accompanied by Rong Tianding and Sang Hongyang, led the group into the city.

Compared to the bustling Chang'an City, Yangxin County is indeed much quieter, but it is still much better than Hibiscus City.

This is the princess's fiefdom, so it's naturally not too desolate. The streets are well-stocked with food and daily necessities.

"It's cold here, so we can still produce and sell coarse cloth locally. But finer fabrics have to be brought in from other places, and the price is 60% higher than in Chang'an and 50% higher than in Luoyang. If we could bring some fabrics here to sell, that would be excellent!"

The group bought some snacks along the way and observed the customs and traditions of Yangxin City. Sang Hongyang, on the other hand, was unusually sensitive to prices and would casually point out business opportunities.

"Cousin, should we bring in a few cartloads of cloth to sell?" Rong Tianding whispered. "That's much more profitable than selling seeds!"

"Brother Hongyang's price comparison is certainly accurate, but if we want to do this cloth business, we need to transport the cloth thousands of miles. The carriages and horses are a cost, the manpower is a cost, and the food, drink, guards, and city tolls along the way are all expenses," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Once we get to Yangxin County, if we sell the cloth at a high price, no one will want it; if we sell it at a low price, we won't make any money. Given the number of people coming and going in this city, we probably won't be able to sell it all in a short time. If we get ripped off by the cloth merchants in the city, we might end up losing money."

"There are many intricacies involved; this business doesn't seem easy to do," Rong Tianding said with a sudden realization.

"Only those who specialize in this business can make money; rashly purchasing large quantities of cloth will inevitably lead to losses," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"I thought this was like buying millet at the West Market!"

"This can't be done quickly; even transporting goods from Luoyang to Chang'an City would be difficult to make a profit!"

Zhang Xuezhou chuckled.

Even with well-developed transportation in reality, it's difficult to transport goods to various places for sale, let alone in situations where transportation is inconvenient.

They had previously transported salt and other goods from Shu County to the Northern Border for sale, but they lost most of the salt along the way, and by the time they reached the Northern Border, they had lost both their money and their people.

Sang Hongyang's business opportunity based on price comparison is only suitable for a certain group of people as a reference; it's almost impossible to make a quick fortune from it.

"Brother Dongfang, you have great insight," Sang Hongyang agreed. "Price is only one important factor in business, but whether a business can succeed based on it requires the cooperation of many factors. If you can't achieve the ultimate speed of buying and selling, most people who focus on price differences won't make money..."

Sang Hongyang strongly agreed with what Zhang Xuezhou said.

Sang Hongyang was undoubtedly extremely interested in anything related to mathematics and business, and he would discuss it almost endlessly.

Having such a business-minded young partner, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to cooperate. After all, it didn't matter what they talked about, and it wouldn't kill him to say a few more words.

"Cousin, look at that guy, isn't he taking us to Mount Tai?"

Only when Rong Tianding nudged Zhang Xuezhou's arm did Zhang Xuezhou shift his attention.

"Li... it was him?"

There weren't many people who could cross paths with Zhang Xuezhou and his group on Mount Tai. Zhang Xuezhou initially thought Rong Tianding was referring to Li Shaojun, but when he looked in the direction Rong Tianding was pointing in a low voice, he immediately saw his nominal uncle, Yao Yuanguang.

"He's already obtained the longevity elixir, what's he doing running out now?"

Rong Tianding pointed to a restaurant, where Yao Yuanguang was leisurely eating and drinking.

Zhang Xuezhou never expected to see Yao Yuanguang in such a place.

Mount Tai is located within the Bohai Commandery region, so it's not surprising that Yao Yuanguang was in this vicinity.

However, if Yao Yuanguang wanted to find a good place to eat and drink, the other party did not need to come to Yangxin City.

Zhang Xuezhou felt a slight sense of unease. He felt that Yao Yuanguang seemed to have been lying in wait beforehand, as if he was specifically waiting here to do something.