Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 1284
It is true that Hedong is a prosperous businessman, but its military strategic significance is the most important.

Therefore, although Xingtai is happy to see the prosperity of Hedong on the surface, everyone at the top and bottom must remember where the most fundamental value of Hedong is. Benefits, give way to merchants, so that they take the lead and reap the consequences.

Therefore, the commercial affairs in Hedong also have a very obvious military color, which can be shown from the overall layout.Puban Daying Camp is the absolute center of the Hedong area, and other civil and commercial affairs are all laid out around it.

Basically, to measure the financial strength of the merchants of all parties, it can be estimated from the distance between their respective warehouses and the Puban camp.The ones that are closer to the Puban camp, even if there is no direct waterway connection, the land price is several times higher than that of the nearby ones.

And being able to have a place near Puban Daying is not just a matter of financial resources.Because the garrisons in Puban and Tongguan sometimes need to purchase supplies directly from merchants to reduce unnecessary consumption caused by raising turnover from the side.And the merchants who can accept these purchases are naturally not ordinary.

Among the merchants surrounding Puban Daying, one of the most important ones is the horse merchant.

No matter in any period, horses are a very important strategic resource, especially with the rapid expansion of the scale of Xingtai Wangshi, and the need to fight Hebei in the future, Xingtai also vigorously supports the business transactions of horses manner.

Many controlled goods with strict quotas can only be exchanged by horses, which is also to encourage merchants from all over the world to actively join in and purchase enough good horses for Master Wang.

Xie County, which is located after Puban, goes all the way to Fenyin. Since a large number of people moved to the area along the river, Xingtai was also able to control a large area of ​​rural land. Apart from part of it being used for reclamation, the other is to build a large number of large-scale villages. Big horse farm.

As long as the horse merchants can reach a certain transaction volume every year, they can directly rent these horse farms for free to house livestock, and even the required feed can be purchased at a very low price.

The business of horses is different from ordinary dead goods, the risks and restrictions are much higher, and they often need to travel extremely long distances. Regardless of the consumption and damage on the way, even if they are transported to the destination, the horses are often in extremely poor condition. It takes a period of intensive breeding to return to fat and smooth, which is considerable.

Therefore, in addition to having sufficient financial resources to take risks, all merchants engaged in horse trading have very high requirements for experience.The source of horses, the delivery route, the solutions to various difficulties along the way, and the timing of sales all need to be very precise.

After all, although Xingtai purchases boldly, it is absolutely impossible to provide these merchants regardless of the cost. What's more, the horses purchased are mainly for military use. Those who die will not be able to atone for their crimes.And the horse merchants are well aware of the pros and cons, and dare not fool around in this regard.

Early July is a peak season for horse trading. During this period, the weather is pleasant and the roads are smooth. Horse dealers will also prepare a batch of good horses to raise them in advance, hoping to sell them at a good price.

At this time, in addition to the people from Wangshijialu Shepherd's Association who come here to buy horses, there are also some folk Shiliu who have got the quota to buy horses here.

Nowadays, martial arts are popular in all parties, especially in the east of the river, where the households are well-off, even ordinary people hope to have young and strong children, practice bow and horse skills, and follow the master of the king to be awarded a title.

Although Xingtai has certain restrictions in this regard, it is not too strict. Private trading and horse breeding are not allowed, and as long as it does not exceed a certain scale, it will not interfere.

For horse traders, this is naturally good news.After all, although the purchase of Xingtai is a large amount, the required standards are also very high, especially for elite combat troops such as the Fenwu Army. Once there is a demand for external purchases, the standards will be extremely strict, starting from the age and breed of horses. , body shape, whether there is any disease in the past, and even the coat color and hoof shape are stipulated.

Horse merchants dare not fool Xingtai, but it is impossible for them to prepare goods completely according to the standards provided by Xingtai. Once that happens, the cost and risk will be too high. Once a batch of goods is completely folded on the way, no one can Can't stand it.Therefore, they must also be matched with a considerable number of poor horses to reduce the risk.

Ordinary rough horses, although Xingtai also purchases them, but the quantity is not much. After all, Xingtai itself also has horse management, and there are quite large-scale horse farms in Hanoi, Huainan and other places. Keep a part, enough for all kinds of transportation needs.Therefore, the greatest external demand is still the excellent horse breeds from all sides.

Horses are different from dead goods. If the sales are not good for a while after they arrive, they can be hoarded and wait for a good market. Even if it is an ordinary poor horse, once it is kept for too long, not only will the teeth of the horses grow longer and become cheaper, but the daily feeding will also be the same. Not a small expense.

Therefore, the purchase from the folk is the main way to digest these inferior horses.Especially these folk buyers, who don't know much about horses themselves, are more likely to be fooled. The more clever their rhetoric skills, the more happy they are, and the profit may be dozens or even hundreds of times.

Some horse merchants with relatively small strengths are unable to catch up with Xingtai’s purchases, and simply supply this type of demand. Although they will not be able to enjoy various government discounts from Xingtai, they can still make a lot of money.

Kang Xunnian was in his 40s. He was a barbarian from the Western Regions. His ancestors moved to Guanzhong in the later Han Dynasty, and then his family lived in Lantian. It has been several generations. He described his appearance, including his manners and speech, as similar to that of Jin people. Except for the slightly blue eyes and the faint curl of the beard and hair, there are not many traces of the barbarian on the body.

Probably because the blood of Hu people in the Western Regions who are keen on business is still flowing in his bones. Although Kang Xun's family is in Guanzhong, he had contact with Xingtai very early.As early as the Huainan Dudufu period before Xingtai was established, Kang Xun detoured Wuguan to avoid the Taobao tribe of Jie State who was still entrenched in Heluo at that time, and went to Huainan for business.

In the previous years of trade, although the risks of exchanges were extremely high, the profits were also very high.Afterwards, Master Wang regained Heluo and established Xingtai, which opened up business channels and increased competitors.Kang Xun was not happy with such frequent courtesy, so he simply dealt with the property and became the first batch of horse dealers who mainly deal in horses.

Due to the convenience of his blood of the Hu people, and the many stories of the Western Regions passed down by his ancestors, his vision and knowledge are wider than others. After several years of operation, he has built a direct business route to Hexi.Looking at the many horse merchants in Hedong, he is also the top one among them, and he has established a good personal friendship with many town generals by virtue of the convenience of providing horses to Wang Shi steadily.

When the racecourse opened this year, Kang Xun had nearly [-] horses entering the market. Even if the price of ordinary poor horses was estimated at tens of thousands of dollars, this was a fortune worth hundreds of millions.Not to mention that there are real Hexi Liangju specially for the Xingtai Fourth Army, and the price of each horse is hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A mere merchant has the ability to raise thousands of horses, which shows Kang Xun's astonishing means and strength.Although nearly one-third of the more than 2000 war horses are stock from previous years, and more than half are unused horses that are not suitable for military use, such an astonishing amount of horses is not available to everyone in Hedong Horse City.

As a matter of fact, Kang Xun did have his own means. Before Master Wang went to Long, he led a group of tribes to recover several Qiang and Hu tribes in the remote mountains and forests of Nan'an in Long, and let these tribes specialize for him. Catching, taming and raising horses has a very stable supply.

But Kang Xun was not in a good mood. As the Long Road became more accessible, especially when Yu Manzhi, the governor of Longyou, stepped up his efforts to clean up the Diqiang tribe in the wilderness and mountains, it was only a matter of time before his horse breeding base in Longshang was exposed.Without such a stable source of goods, his biggest advantage will no longer exist.

Although he was in a depressed mood, Kang Xun had no intention of doing anything in Longshang, not to mention that he had been in touch with Xingtai for a long time and had a deep understanding of Xingtai's strength. The number of good horses in each department of the division is enough for him to feel the majesty of Wang Shijun.

It is the trend of the times that Longshang gradually returns to governance. Kang Xun, a mere merchant, does not dare to obstruct the trend because of his own self-interest.Moreover, he has a lot of connections among Master Wang, and he has also learned some inside information about Master Wang's strategy that others do not understand. According to his adventurous character, the horse market trading that has gradually stabilized has gradually become less enthusiastic.

So during this period of time, Kang Xun has been hesitating whether to end the current horse market trade, and even directly dedicate the channels he has mastered to Xingtai, so as to claim a little credit.Afterwards, what he targeted was the emerging tea business. Production areas such as Hanmian and even Jiangdong were too remote. Kang Xun planned to take advantage of Wang Shijun's prestige to cross the Qinling Mountains and go to Hanzhong to operate.

However, the reason why he hesitated was mainly because he was no longer young. Although his mind was still hot, his energy was not as good as before.The most important thing is that he is not sure whether he can get the stable support of Master Wang. If he can get the support, he will dare to lay the foundation.

"Old Kang, what good horses are there this year?"

When Kang Xun was meditating on the railings in the racecourse, a rough voice sounded behind him. He turned his head and saw a short and stocky Xianbei Hu man in his high-ranking official robes who was about 50 years old and was walking towards him. Walking around, he waved to him while walking, with several huge gemstone rings tightly wrapped around his fat fingers, shining brightly in the sun.

Seeing this person coming, Kang Xun's face was full of smiles, and he went up to meet him in two steps: "He Weng actually came here in person, why didn't you pass the message earlier, so I can meet him personally from afar! "

"You Hunu are always slippery and traitorous. If I told you in advance, you would have to hide the good horse first."

That Hu man called He Weng was even thicker than Kang Xun, it was always weird to laugh at him as a Hu slave at this moment.

But Kang Xun didn't dare to get angry, instead he went forward to salute deeply with a smile on his face, because this person's identity was unusual, his name was He Miao, he was the captain of the horse supervisor specially set up in Hedong, and With Juelu in his body, he was in charge of the horse administration in Hedong, so Kang Xun naturally didn't dare to be rude to him.

He personally stepped forward to support He Miao, and He Miao took the opportunity to grab his elbow, and turned his head slightly to gesture backward.Immediately, Kang Xun looked behind He Miao, and saw four or five burly young men in luxurious clothes coming to this trip behind He Miao, and he immediately understood that He Miao had brought him a few more to kill. Fat Sheep understood immediately, and put on an even more attentive smile on his face: "I don't know how to address the gentlemen?"

(End of this chapter)