Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 57 Beiyang Route (please follow up)

Wu Mengwen's voice was filled with a hint of chill, and Wang couldn't help but shudder, and said nervously: "Official, do you think our Ming Dynasty will be occupied by Jiannu?"

Wu Mengwen burst into laughter: "Let's just say that you, a woman, are short-sighted. The small land of Liaodong does not have as many people as our Shaoxing Prefecture. How could the slaves take over our Ming Dynasty?"

Wang added: "I heard that the old slaves of Jianzhou were very good at fighting. I held the Liu Dadao sword weighing more than 100 kilograms and played with it in my hands. There were also Du Heizi and Ma Lin who were afraid of the Mongolian Tatars when they heard their names." The old general and Mr. Li Erye from Uncle Ningyuan’s Mansion are also the general’s thugs, and the old slave took care of them all in just a few days.”

Wu Mengwen smiled and said: "This old slave is naturally unambiguous in fighting, but how can he, a barbarian, know how to govern the world? Since he occupied Liaodong, he has allowed the Tatars and Han people to live together, and even the Han officials have become slaves. I heard that the Tatars General Zi can take possession of the wives and daughters of Han officials at will. Whoever is willing to farm the land, and the food grown belongs to the Tatars."

Wang suddenly said: "It's strange that the price of food in Liaodong is so expensive. I just said that I have never heard of a famine in Liaodong before."

Wu Mengwen said: "Yes, the four states of Jinfuhaigai in Liaodong are rich places, enough to feed millions of people. Now I heard that even the Tatar soldiers don't have enough to eat. Last year, the old slave started killing people who had no grain. This year It is said that all Han Chinese will be killed."

Wang's face turned pale with fright, and she chanted Buddha's name repeatedly: "Amitabha, Amitabha... This old slave who was killed by God must be the reincarnation of the evil star, and the people of Liaodong are really in trouble."

Wu Mengwen sighed and said: "Who says it's not the case? You don't know how many fleeing Liao people there are in Denglai and Shandong islands. Many people jump into the sea and drift to Shandong with a log in their arms in the winter. They would rather be at sea. They would rather drown, freeze to death or starve to death than stay in Liaodong."

Wang recited the Buddha's name a few more times and said, "I hope God will take away this evil star soon."

Wu Mengwen nodded and said: "Come on, come on... Although our Ming Dynasty is terrible, this old slave is even worse than a pig or a dog. Just look at it, we can't do business with Jiannu for a few years. With the old slave's behavior Virtue, I will soon return to my old camp in Jianzhou."

Wang murmured: "It's okay...if I don't do business with Jiannu, I feel more at ease."

Wu Mengwen also said: "To be honest, I would not want to do this unscrupulous business even if I were not responsible for the beheading."

Wang heard this and said: "Leave the business to Lao Wu. If something happens, will the officials be implicated?"

Wu Mengwen shook his head and said: "It's hard to say... but as long as we separate our families, and with our family's old in-laws, it should be enough to sacrifice my life."

Mrs. Wang added: "Lao Wu is not like an official. You handed over the business to him today. If we accidentally don't join hands after the separation, are we still going to beg him? I don't want to see the face of Lao Wu's wife. .”

Wu Mengwen said with a smile: "I only said to leave the maritime affairs to him, but I didn't say to give him the canal business. There are also thousands of silk tooth shops in Zhejiang. We have the supply of raw silk in our hands. You still want to see Whose face?"

Mrs. Wang smiled and said: "The officials are still smart. They can blame Lao Wu for maritime crimes and be able to keep him in check."

When Fourth Master Wen and his wife started chatting, Fifth Master Ren and Lin Hai were almost talking.

It was Wu Mengren's first time taking over overseas affairs. He agreed to Lin Hai's conditions such as no deposit and clear payment of money and goods, but he was very aggressive about the price of raw silk.His condition was to purchase more than a hundred dans of raw silk at one time, and each dan was ten taels of silver lower than the market price in Zhejiang.

The price was quite fair. Lin Hai thought about it for a while, but Wu Mengren repeatedly said that the fixed price was not negotiable, so he stopped insisting.He turned to ask: "Does Mr. Renwu have any needed sea goods? When I come to Zhejiang this time, the ship is full of silver. Next time I can bring some sea goods from two oceans to avoid running away empty-handed."

Wu Mengren heard this and said: "The Han family does have some ready-made shops, which mainly deal in medicinal materials, furs, and jewelry. For example, Western sandalwood incense, hematoxylin, pepper, myrrh, ivory, rhinoceros horn, and Eastern Brother Lin can bring some cloves, nutmegs, bird's nests, sea cucumbers, tortoise shells, shark's fins, pearls, corals, etc." Lin Hai asked again: "What about ginseng, mink skin, and Dongzhu?"

Wu Mengren asked curiously: "There are also these in the East and West oceans?"

Lin Hai smiled and said: "That's not true, but there are a few maritime merchants from North Korea who often go to Pinghu in the Japanese country to buy copper ingots and sulfur from my sworn brother. But the silver in their hands is limited, so they have repeatedly asked if they can Using these things to offset the price, my sworn brother had no sales, so he didn’t agree.”

Wu Mengren pondered for a moment and said: "These North Korean goods are sold from Japan to Zhejiang, and the price is probably not cheap."

Lin Hai took the opportunity to say: "Master Ren Wu is right, but Lin's supply of goods in North Korea is ready, and your shop is also ready. It would be a pity not to do this business. Since I have settled in Zhoushan, I will go directly from Zhoushan in the future." Just go to North Korea to purchase goods, so the price can be lower."

Wu Mengren nodded and said: "That's okay. Brother Lin, why don't you try to go to North Korea to buy a batch of goods first? We can discuss the price based on the quality of the goods."

Lin Hai agreed immediately. He expected that most of the Wu family's ginseng and marten were supplied by merchants traveling on the Beiyang route, so he added: "There is a southeast wind now, and I want to go to North Korea as soon as possible. But I am not familiar with the Beiyang route here. The team leader, does Mr. Renwu have any connections to recommend?"

Wu Mengren smiled and said: "It's easy to talk about. Nowadays, Zhejiang maritime merchants basically go to Beiyang. I'll find a few old team leaders for you."

Lin Hai was overjoyed when he heard this. Before setting off from Haojing, he had made careful plans for his recent plans, but there were three things hanging in his mind.The most important one is of course the result of Li Guozhu's trip to the east, which is related to Hirado's market channels and is enough to determine his strategic direction in recent years.

There are also two other matters at the tactical level, one is to donate officials in Zhoushan, and the other is to open up the Northern Route.Although these two things are not enough to affect the general direction choice, they will largely determine when he can achieve his first big strategic goal.

Nowadays, these few stones have basically landed. Except for Li Guozhu's unsatisfactory side, overall it is still relatively ideal.He thought for a while and then said: "It is best to use a sand boat for the Beiyang route. Does Mr. Ren Wu know where I can buy a ready-made sand boat?"

Wu Mengren said: "I can help you keep an eye on the second-hand old sand ships to see if anyone is willing to sell them. If you want to buy a new ship, you have to go to Shenji Shipyard in Chongming."

Lin Hai asked: "The shipyard you mentioned has ready-made new ships for sale?"

Wu Mengren smiled and said: "Nearly 200% of the sand ships on the Beiyang route were built by the Shen family of Chongming. More than [-] sand ships are launched every year, so Shenji Shipyard sells them in stock, and the ships can be sailed away directly after paying the money."

Lin Hai was speechless secretly when he heard this. According to what Fifth Master Ren said, the Shen family launched new boats almost every day, which was no different from dumplings.It should be noted that a sand boat is a serious sea-going ship, not a small sampan. A ship costs 1000 taels of silver. The annual turnover of Shenji Shipyard is more than 20 taels.

He suddenly remembered a famous figure in the history of shipping in the Ming Dynasty, and blurted out: "Is there a person named Shen Tingyang from the Shen family in Chongming?"

Wu Mengren asked curiously: "The reputation of the Shen family has spread overseas? The owner of Shenji Shipyard is called Shen Yong, and his only son is named Tingyang. Mr. Shen was selected as a scholar at the age of 17. Later, his father was in poor health and died. I left the family business to him, but he neglected it, and now I am still an Imperial College student after the end of the year."

~~~Note~~~
In the Ming Dynasty, the dividing line between the east and west oceans was in present-day Brunei. The west ocean refers to Indochina, Malaysia, and western Indonesia, and the east ocean refers to the Philippine Islands and eastern Indonesia.The word Beiyang first appeared in the Song Dynasty, referring to the current Yellow Sea and the north of the Yellow Sea.

(End of this chapter)