Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 947
Empire Southwest.

Lintao County and Heyuan County are separated by the high Xiqing Mountain, from which Taohe River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, originates.

The indigenous Qiang people in Taoyuan called the river the spring flowing from the Dragon King's palace, while the Han people called the river Fusangqu.A Tao River is also the boundary between the Longxi Loess Plateau and the Gannan Plateau.

The place where Taoyuan flows is high in the west and low in the east, and there are small basins sandwiched between the continuous high mountains.The mountains along the banks of the Tao River are steep, and there are some houses and people on the small river beach.

Here winter is long without summer, spring and autumn are short, high cold and damp.

On the bank of the river, a simple wooden stockade stands beside the river. The stockade is made of logs driven into the ground and stands about two people high. The stockade is not too big, and it is square.

Its layout is similar to the post stations that can be seen everywhere on the roads of the Central Plains, with a stable area, a trading area, and a rest area.

Although the cork is small, it has a circumference of about [-] meters. A moat was dug outside the wall of the village, and some pickets were planted inside.There is only one gate in the stockade, and a suspension bridge is set up in front of the gate, and four arrow towers are even built to guard the two sides of the suspension bridge.

On the gate, there is also a small gatehouse.

A flag stands tall on the gate tower, with a big Qin character painted on it.

This bright red flag looks extraordinarily dazzling among the green mountains and white waters.

The sun was setting and the wind was bitter.

In this wild frontier, the red flag is even more ostentatious.

This is not a post station in Daqin, nor is it a fortress of the frontier army. In fact, this is just a trading post established by merchants, and it can't even be called a border market.

The nearest yamen of the Great Qin Dynasty is Taoyuan County, but it is still more than 100 miles to the east.Although there is still Heyuan County in the west, the high Xiqing Mountain actually prevents the two counties from communicating with each other.

It was overcast.

Wang Cheng was wearing a sheepskin robe, a dog fur hat on his head, and buckskin boots on his feet. His whole body was wrapped in fur, and his hands were covered in sleeves.

He just came in from the gate, and greeted the guards very familiarly. After entering the stockade, he went directly to a familiar business.

"Old Wang, are you back so soon?"

The clerk of Dashengchang Company greeted with a smile.

"I'm done, I'll come back quickly, don't dare to delay." Old Wang said with a smile, "Xiao Liu, is business going well recently?"

Xiao Liu said, "Didn't you see that, there are not many people in the daytime, you didn't know it when you came back, and there will be a war, so now everyone is a little worried, business is not easy, many merchants have returned , some even went directly back to Lintan and Lintao City, waiting to avoid the limelight."

Lao Wang went back to the Central Plains some time ago, but he returned home to marry his son. Marriage for his son is a big deal, so he had to go back and happily took his daughter-in-law over. After the banquet, he Gritting his teeth again, he bought dozens of acres of land for his newly married son and daughter-in-law, and asked the family to build a yard for them and give them a place to live.

Although I am happy, but after such a toss, the foundation of the family is almost the same. The eldest is married, but there are still three sons in the family.

So Lao Wang didn't care about enjoying the blessings at home, so he rushed here again immediately.

Lao Wang has been here for more than 20 years. At first, he came here with a caravan to collect furs. Later, he gradually decided to do it alone, running orders to collect furs for himself.

In order to make money, he has to go to more remote places and collect directly from those Qiang people. This way, the profit is greater, but it is also more dangerous and laborious.

Fortunately, Lao Wang has run the Dan Gang for ten years. Although he has encountered countless dangerous things, he has saved himself from danger. What's more, the Dan Gang has saved him a fortune in the past ten years.

He is even used to this kind of life now.

Especially now that the Central Plains is stable and the Great Qin court is in all directions, it is much safer for these Central Plains merchants to walk in the border areas.

Last year, several big merchants joined forces and traveled more than a hundred miles to build this trading point here. This is very convenient for a single-gang merchant like Lao Wang.

"Xiao Liu, call your shopkeeper over here, I'll take a loan."

Xiao Liu persuaded, "Uncle Wang, why don't you just rest for a while before going into the mountains."

"It's okay, Uncle Wang, I've been here for many years, and I'm very familiar with the Qiang people here. Even if there is a real war, nothing will happen."

"You are familiar with the local Qiang people, but you are afraid that the Tuyuhun people from the other side of the mountain will come. It is said that some Tubo people will also come this time."

Lao Wang still thinks that it is impossible for them to come here. After all, there is Heyuan County on the other side of the mountain. Even if there is no military castle in Heyuan County, it is impossible for any Tuyuhun Tubo people to come here directly. It should be going to Hexi.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Xiao Liu, he had no choice but to go to the back and call shopkeeper Liu over. Shopkeeper Liu is Xiao Liu's uncle, and he is also from the Central Plains.

"Old Wang, I heard from Saburo that you plan to go to the mountains to receive the goods?"

"Well, you can't be idle."

As usual, Lao Liu tried a few words of persuasion. They were all friends who had known each other for many years.

"Then follow the old rules?" Lao Liu asked.

Lao Wang responded with a smile.

Lao Wang has been running a business here for many years. He usually runs a single gang. Every time he borrows a sum of money from the company, and then buys various needed goods, such as tea, salt, wine, and some cloth and silk. Even some pan knives or something.

These things are the things that the Qiang people in the mountains are most interested in, and they can be sold at an excellent price.

However, such things as salt, tea, wine and ironware are strictly controlled by the imperial court, and the monopoly tax is very high. The merchants do not dare to smuggle these goods in the slightest, so the price is very high.

Pharaoh Wang’s bill-runners have less cost, so they always take out loans first, then buy, and then sell.When you come back, you will repay the principal and pay the interest.

The interest rate is not high, but it is not low, the annual interest rate is three-thirds.

The interest on the borrowed money is 30.00% for one year, but it will not be less if you pay it back in advance. If you delay, you will have to compound interest and increase the interest rate.

Of course, for Lao Wang, the profits of such commodities as salt, tea and wine are very high, and the profits of ironware are even higher.So as long as there are no accidents, you can earn a lot of money every time you run, but running alone is very hard and takes a long time.

According to the old rules, Lao Wang borrowed a sum of money from Dachang, signed and pressed his fingerprints, and then Lao Liu over there gave him the loan.After taking the money, Lao Wang first purchased a batch of goods from Lao Liu. Dachang is a fur buyer, but there will also be a lot of merchants from the Central Plains here to sell.

After purchasing a few things he needed, Lao Liu went to visit several other stores. They were all familiar shopkeepers and guys, and they got things done while chatting and laughing.

Chen Shengchang, Yucheng Hou, Jinlongsheng, Cai Xiangmao and other firms are all partners of this trading point, and they are also well-known big firms in Longyou area. They jointly funded the establishment of this trading point, here The purpose of setting up a shop is to be able to receive first-hand fur merchants, reduce the purchase price to a minimum, and seize the trading area.

These companies have a win-win relationship with the running order gang like Lao Wang. They have a lot of capital, so they mainly do spot purchases. Many Qiang people directly send their furs to trade. Of course, there are some Qiang tribes in more remote areas, which are inconvenient to travel with So some peddlers like Lao Wang ran over to buy and trade, and then sent them back to sell to shops. In this way, Lao Wang and the others could make some money, but the big money was still made by the shops.

(End of this chapter)