Paper Maker: This is the end of the Ming Dynasty in Liaozhai

Chapter 70
"It really doesn't."

The owner of the ship shook his head and smiled bitterly: "In the past two years, government officials from all over the country have sent people to investigate, but nothing has been found. This case is not solved. Those merchants who have been running on the Yellow River all the year round would rather wait a little longer now, and gather more people to sit on the big boat together. Willing to sit on our small fishing boats."

"I heard that the gangs on the ferry teamed up to find the water bandits on the Yellow River last month, but they didn't get any results. Those water bandits also said that they didn't do it. I hope the other party is just passing by. Otherwise, if this continues, it's a really bad day. There's no way."

At this time, He Liu raised his head and looked at Taoist Master Zhenxuan beside him, his eyes were full of questions.

Seeing He Liu's wink, Taoist Master Zhenxuan carefully observed the captain, and said in a low voice, "It's not a wicked person."

Hearing this, He Liu nodded lightly. He still trusted Zhenxuan, and Zhenxuan's facial recognition skills were also ranked first in the entire Ming Dynasty.

At the bow of the boat, Su Hao looked at the turbid water of the Yellow River. From time to time, he picked up a water bag and took a sip of tiger bone wine. The internal force in his body continued to circulate. After more than 20 days of training, with the help of tiger bone wine and tiger bone ointment, he The internal force in the body has begun to take shape, about two years of internal force of an ordinary warrior.

Under the nourishment of this internal force, he can already clearly feel that the internal organs in his body are gradually becoming stronger, and his vitality is gradually recovering. It is estimated that he will be able to return to the state before he did not practice the paper control secret technique in three to four months. As the internal strength continues to grow, this time can be shortened further.

.........

Zhangjiakou Fort, Fan Family.

In the Fan family hall at this moment, Fan Yongdou was sitting in the main seat, and on the chairs on both sides, seven middle-aged men with luxurious clothes and extraordinary manners had serious expressions.

If there are local people from Zhangjiakoubao, they will definitely be able to recognize them. The eight people in the lobby are the patriarchs of the eight biggest smuggling families in Zhangjiakoubao: Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang , Huang Yunfa.

"Brother Fan, you specially invited us here, what's the matter?"

Holding a teacup, Wang Dengku said calmly, although they all hang out in Zhangjiakou Fort, there is not much competition among their big families. There are countless tribes on the grassland, some of which are for business, and there is no competition between them at all. necessary.

"Brothers are invited to come here this time, mainly because there is a business I want to share with you brothers."

Hearing this, Fan Yongdou smiled and cupped his hands.

"What business?"

Zhai Tang frowned and said, "There is no competition among them, but they each do their own business and basically have no contact with each other. Although they have backers behind them, smuggling is not an aboveboard thing. Once they are blackmailed, they will also Nowhere to reason.

"The Jurchens want 40 shi of grain and [-] armor. My Fan family can't afford such a big deal, so Fan wants to invite all brothers to take this deal together."

Fan Yongdou said calmly.

"Why so many?"

Tian Shenglan on the side frowned. It was true that the Jurchens bought food, armor and other necessities for life with them before, but basically every time they only bought tens of thousands of grains or hundreds of soldiers. It is by no means so easy to come together.

You must know that ordinary people only eat six shi of rice a year. The Jurchen army has a lot of training and consumes a lot, but it is only ten shi. Regardless of other things, 40 shi of grain is enough to feed an elite soldier of 5 to [-] people for a year. Well, five thousand armors, ordinary soldiers are not qualified to be equipped with armors, and those who can be equipped with armors are the elite of the elite.

In Daming, in a guard post, only officers are qualified to wear armor, that is, at least they have to be small banner officers of the seventh rank, or personal soldiers of hundreds or thousands of households. Other big soldiers are not eligible. An absolute elite with 5000 soldiers and armor is enough to affect the situation on the battlefield.

Fan Yongdou said: "Last year in the battle of Guangning, the imperial court was defeated. Most of the area west of the Liaohe River was occupied by the Jurchens. Those Jurchens probably want to expand their army."

"Then what price did they offer this time?"

Tian Shenglan said again: "This time with such a large number, the risk is too great."

"A stone of grain is five taels of silver, and a piece of armor is 120 taels, totaling 260 million taels."

Fan Yongdou said calmly.

"Do those Jurchens have so much silver?"

Wang Dengku frowned. This money does not mean that it is available. Liaodong is a place of bitter cold, and the people are not very rich. It is not easy to collect more than 200 million taels of silver.

"Those Jurchens have said that they will pay back with rare medicinal materials such as ginseng and ganoderma that are more than a hundred years old."

Fan Yongdou said in a deep voice: "We will ship them in batches, and we will collect money once for each shipment, so we are not afraid of those Jurchens playing tricks."

"Brother Fan, although there is a lot of money this time, the risk is too great. The 40 shi of grain mobilized at one time may attract the attention of the imperial court."

After a moment of silence, Wang Dengku shook his head. Normally, they have grain stores all over the place, and they collect grain all the time. Every time tens of thousands of shi grains leave Zhangjiakou Fort in batches, it is not very noticeable. But 40 shi of grain is not a small amount, no matter how careful you are, it will attract attention.

"I thought about it."

Fan Yongdou said in a deep voice: "Those nobles in the capital have plenty of food, this time I will buy it from them, and I will buy it at five times the price."

"Then our business is in vain."

Hearing this, Tian Shenglan's face changed suddenly. At the current price of grain, a stone of old grain is five renminbi, and a stone of new grain is six to seven renminbi. If it is five times that, if you buy new grain, it will cost about three taels of silver, plus the cost of traveling, it is completely useless. busy.

"Brother Tian, ​​you can't just look at the front when doing business. Those people have been rooted in Daming for more than 200 years, and the relationship between the capital and the various guards is intricate. If we can build on their relationship, then our next good life is in the future. gone."

Fan Yongdou shook his head and said: "Otherwise, if we have any big business in the future, we will still have to be timid."

Although they have also made some connections in the capital, most of them are civil servants from poor backgrounds. They are from poor backgrounds and it is easier to make connections, but these people are not good backers.

Just like Zhang Heming, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, their Fan family only got in touch with his son a few years ago and leaned on Zhang Heming. As a result, Zhang Heming quit as soon as he said he would quit, and his hard work for several years was directly in vain.

And those nobles were hereditary. Although the Ming Dynasty emphasized civility over military affairs, the power of those nobles was indeed far inferior to that of the early Ming Dynasty, but it was more than enough to protect a few merchant families in their area.

The most important thing is that the relationship between those nobles and the guards of various places is intricate. Many children in the family are from hundreds or thousands of households in the guards of various places. It's unimpeded, which is much better than the hundreds of households in the guards they bought now.

　() Three requirements for quality, seeking collection, recommendation, and pursuit
　　In addition, thank you for the four rewards from the crazy and poisonous Gu clam

　　
　
(End of this chapter)