Fenghou

Chapter 1074 Caravan
As time passed by the end of the year, another heavy snow covered Jingzhao City, and Jingzhao City became a snow-covered world again.

There are still three days until the New Year, and today is the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Every household puts up door symbols, poles are erected in the yard, Tusu wine is brewed, the altar table is set up, and the tribute is also served on the table.

Today is also the last day to go to court. Tomorrow will be a holiday until the fifth day of the first lunar month. The new year will start on the sixth day of the first lunar month. However, at noon on the first day of the first lunar month, there will be a New Year's feast, and the officials will be invited by Yong Wang Chen Qing , a tradition that has continued for many years.

Early in the morning, Chen Qing, Jiang Yanxian, Zhou Kuan, and Zhang Miao boarded a large carriage to inspect Jingzhao City, which was shrouded in the atmosphere of the New Year.

The snow on the street was swept clean, and children setting off firecrackers were seen everywhere. The children all put on new clothes, and groups of children ran happily on the street.

"Every time I look at a group of children, I always feel very comfortable in my heart, and I always feel that I see hope!"

Zhou Kuan said with emotion: "I'm afraid of seeing deserted streets, or seeing a group of gray-haired old men, and I feel very panicked, feeling that there is no future."

Zhang Miao said with a smile, "That means you are old!"

"Nonsense! I'm only in my early sixties, twenty years younger than Lian Po!"

Everyone laughed, and Chen Qing said with a smile: "As the saying goes, a family with an old man is like a treasure, and the court is the same. If there are experienced veterans in charge, they will not take detours or be radical, and we can always follow our own rules. step by step forward.”

"Then according to His Highness's rhythm, when will we attack Shandong Road?" Jiang Yanxian asked with a smile.

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "I also want to attack Shandong Road earlier, so that we will be facing the sea, but I am more concerned about the situation of the Kingdom of Jin. Don't you find it strange? We captured the Central Plains, but the court of the Kingdom of Jin didn't seem to have any reaction. They didn't send more troops to Hebei Road and Shandong Road, which is abnormal!"

"What do you think is the reason, Your Highness?"

Chen Qing said slowly: "I think the attention of the Jin Kingdom's court is still on the grassland. This is the third year since the Jin Kingdom attacked the Mughal tribe. The Jin Kingdom did not pay attention to us. It should be the most critical moment to attack the grassland. "

"It's best for us to understand the situation on the grasslands. Once the Kingdom of Jin conquers the grasslands, their source of troops will expand a lot, and our pressure will be great."

Chen Qing nodded, "I heard that Jingzhao has a caravan coming from the grassland, but I don't know where they are? I have arranged for the inner guard to look for them. If I can find this caravan, I may get some news."

After a pause, Chen Qing said again: "Speaking of the source of troops, in the battle of the Central Plains, we found that there were many Koreans in the opponent's army. At first we thought they were from Bohai, but later we found out that the military badge was wrong, and they were Koreans. I suspect that the Kingdom of Jin may have obtained a source of troops from Korea."

"What about signing the army?"

Zhou Kuan said: "If the Jurchens recruit Han troops from Yanshan Road, Hebei Road, and Shandong Road, wouldn't the source of troops be wider?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Judging from the many years of dealing with them, only Wanyanchang trusts the Han soldiers. The other Jurchens, including Wanyan Wushu, don't trust the Han people. They don't trust them from the bottom of their hearts. Therefore, the treatment of signing troops is very poor, and if the treatment is poor, the morale of signing troops will not be high, they will spare their lives in battle, and they will easily collapse, which in turn will make Wanyan Wushu even less trust signing troops, forming a vicious circle."

"But Li Cheng's army is very powerful. His Royal Highness praised him very much last time, and praised him for his military training skills."

Chen Qing did not deny it, "Li Cheng is quite special. The army in his hands is really good. It can be said that it is the only army that Wanyan Wushu values. I am thinking of using countermeasures to get rid of Li Cheng, but it may not be easy to succeed."

As everyone said, the carriage came to Dongdawazi, and they wanted to know for themselves the price situation before the Chinese New Year.

.........

There is a Yuanda Inn in Xianyang, which is relatively remote. It is located on the official road in the northeast of the city, which is also because it is located outside the city. The inn has a large area, especially a livestock pen covering an area of ​​[-] mu, which is very popular among merchants from the Western Regions.

However, when it snowed heavily, a large tent was set up in the livestock pen, and the livestock lived in the tent.

After October, the number of guests in the inn decreased a lot, and those who could go left, and rushed back to their respective hometowns before the heavy snowfall, and came back at the turn of spring and summer next year.

There are also three groups of merchants living in the inn, all of whom are Hu people, one group is Uyghur merchants from Gaochang, the other group is from the farther Sogdian merchants, and seven or eight guests are Mughal merchants from the grasslands. That’s right. Well, what Chen Qing is looking for is this group of businessmen. They mainly came late, and only came to Jingzhao in September. The goods in their hands are not easy to sell, mainly because they cannot be sold at a high price.

The goods of Mughal merchants are mainly leather, sheepskin or cowhide, horseskin, etc., which conflict with the goods in the Hexi Corridor. The price is very cheap.

Although the sheepskins in the hands of the Mughal merchants are of high quality, the amount of sheepskins in the market is too large, and no matter how high the quality is, they cannot be sold at a high price. The price of sheepskins is even cheaper than that of Datong Mansion, which makes these Mughal merchants very depressed.

They also considered that the price of sheepskin might rise after the cold weather, so they have been patiently waiting for the cold weather. As a result, they will not be able to go back this winter and can only celebrate the New Year in Jingzhao.

In the afternoon, shopkeeper Ding of the inn hurried back from the outside, followed by more than a dozen internal guard soldiers. The magistrate of Xianyang sent a notice to each inn to look for the Mughal merchants, and anyone who had news must immediately report to the county government.

So shopkeeper Ding went to the county office early in the morning, and waited for almost two hours before he got the inner guard soldiers, and brought the inner guard soldiers back to the inn.

"It's not about arresting them!" Shopkeeper Ding was very worried, these Mughal merchants still owed him a sum of money for accommodation!
The head of the inner guard smiled and said, "I'm not arresting them, I just want to ask them about the situation."

Shopkeeper Ding felt at ease, led everyone up to the second floor, and came to the room of Mengwu's guest and shouted: "Yinbalu!"

Soon, a very burly muggy man came out from the house. He was about forty years old and could speak Chinese. He asked, "What's the matter with the shopkeeper?"

Shopkeeper Ding pointed to the inner guard soldiers behind and said, "They came to you and said they were asking about the situation!"

"Who are they?"

Wei Capital stepped forward and said: "We are internal guards, are you businessmen from the Mongolian tribe in the grassland?"

"we are!"

Nei Wei asked politely, "When did you start and when did you arrive here?"

"We set out in July, and we're here in September."

The inner guard nodded, "Please come with us! We have no malicious intentions. His Royal Highness King Yong wants to know about the situation in the grassland."

The big man was taken aback, "Your Highness King Yong wants to see me?"

"Exactly!"

"Okay! I'll go, I'll take my brother with you."

Their goods couldn't be sold at a high price, and they were counting on His Royal Highness King Yong to help them sell their goods. They brought a few leather samples and followed the inner guard to Jingzhao City.

.........

Chen Qing met two Mughal merchants in the official room, and they knelt down and paid respects, "The villain is Yin Balu, that is my brother Yin Erhan, please see His Royal Highness King Yong!"

"You two, please stand up!"

Chen Qing asked the two to stand up and saw that they were both about two meters tall and extremely strong, like two huge rocks. He was a little surprised. If the Mughals were so strong, once they were conquered by the Jurchens, they would face a formidable enemy. up.

"Are the two good-looking Mughal men like you?"

"No! Just a few of them are like us. Most of them are short but also strong."

Chen Qing nodded and smiled again: "How is the product selling?"

Yin Balu shook his head, "The price is not good, a piece of leather can only be sold for [-] Wen at most, and Datong Mansion can still sell it for a consistent amount!"

"Let me see how your goods are doing?"

Brother Yin Erhan hurriedly presented the two sheepskins to Chen Qing. Chen Qing touched them and said with a smile, "The quality is not bad! They are all old sheepskins over five years old, so why can't they be sold at a high price?"

Yin Balu sighed and said, "But the shopkeepers in the shop are only willing to offer a price of [-] Wen per sheet at most, and the lowest price is only [-] Wen. We really can't accept this price."

Chen Qing knew that the market price of this kind of sheepskin was between [-] Wen and [-] Wen, but if the shop wanted to make money, it would definitely lower the price. When this kind of high-quality sheepskin arrived in Lin'an, each piece would cost [-] Guan. .

"How many pieces of this kind of leather do you bring?"

"Ten thousand!"

"Is the quality the same as this one?"

"They're all the same, they're all five-year-old sheepskins!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Let's do it! I'll let the military buy it, and each sheepskin will cost you, how about it?"

The price is the same as that of Datong Mansion, but now that the weather is not so cold when we go back to Datong Mansion, the price will drop, at most seven or eight hundred cash.

Yin Balu nodded and agreed, "Okay! Just the money, but I want silver, two thousand taels of silver, is that okay?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "What do you want money for? Don't you buy some silk, tea and other goods to go back?"

Yin Baru sighed and said, "Your Highness, we need silver to pay Hei Khan. We bought a large number of weapons from Hei Khan last year."

Chen Qing's face suddenly changed, "Are you a military businessman?"

(End of this chapter)