Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 146 White Sunset Kunming (2)

Huang Shen smiled and said: "In the counties of Guandong Prefecture, and even Jinling, a big city like Jinling, many things can't be bought with money, and no matter how rich you are, you don't dare to 'show' your wealth. Relatives of the rich and powerful are watching. They racked their brains, worked hard, and managed to save some family property, which is like being a thief. In Chang'an market, there are as small as gold and pearls, silk and famous tea, as big as good horses and beautiful ladies, and mansions in Guangsha. , as long as you have money, you can buy it, and you can dress casually, and you won't be troubled. I have no choice but to wait for the resettlement in Chang'an."

What he didn't say was that "treacherous" merchants like Qiu Darui colluded with officials and tyrants to recruit landless refugees to become craftsmen and weavers, and to control the guild.The price of rice, grain, silk, and hemp is lowered below, and the craftsmen and weavers are beaten to the bones in the middle, and dissidents are excluded from the market, and high prices are used for profit.He even colluded with the government and did a lot of unreasonable things, and the huge profits he gained were also amazing.Merchants like him who had a little conscience and did not want to join forces had to gradually transfer most of their industries to the Xia Kingdom.Unexpectedly, people like Qiu Darui, after occupying the local market, would open workshops in Chang'an as well.These people use all kinds of means, not only to repel Xia's merchants, but also to all the Kanto merchants who came to Xia's first, and all of them scolded them as "scum, treacherous people".

"That's true." Kang Wendu smacked his lips, and he approached Huang Shenwei, jokingly said, "That's why we came to Chang'an to harm us."

When several businessmen were sighing with emotion, Li Yong also had a very speculative conversation with Zhao Xingde. He eloquently introduced to Zhao Xingde what he had seen and heard in the hinterland of Lvyi Dashi and the south.

"Through the Great Sand Sea, the scorching sun is scorching all year round, and the skins of the local barbarians are all baked black, even the chiefs are not spared. There are ivory, rhino horns, gold, and precious stones everywhere. The goods from the Central Plains need to be shipped In the past, if you exchanged these and shipped them back, you could earn dozens of times in one trip.” Li Yong poured the wine in his bowl into his stomach, as if he was in the desert where the sun was burning, “Although these tribes are close to the sea, they don’t If you know how to dry salt, a piece of salt cake can be exchanged for the same weight of gold."

"It actually happened," Zhao Xingde wondered, and then sighed, "This is really too backward."

"No, no," Li Yong shook his head and said, "The ruler is shorter and the inch is longer. These big cannibals also have places that I can't match in China. The tombs of the ancient holy kings, the temples in the desert, They are all built extremely grandly, and there are all kinds of secret methods, I will talk about them in detail in the future." He paused, and then returned to the matter of opening up business routes, his eyebrows danced brightly and said, " The opportunity must not be missed, the time will never come again, taking advantage of the melee among the princes of Dashi, it is a good time to open up the southbound trade route."

"I do know a fellow named Jin, who is also very interested in the southward business route." Zhao Xingde nodded.

"What about Brother Zhao? Don't you plan to get a share?" Li Yong invited sincerely.There are very few merchants from the Xia Kingdom who go deep into the green clothing and food by land, and most of them feel that there is no end to the stable business, so there is no need to take risks.Zhao Jun not only agreed with his plan, but also seemed to have been there in person.Li Yong thought to himself, today can be regarded as meeting a bosom friend.If it weren't for the officer's high status in the Xia Kingdom, he would almost persuade him to retire and come out to explore this ivory and gold trade route with him.

Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, but before he could answer, Du Chuijiao suddenly interjected: "Mr. Li, can I become a shareholder?" He kept listening with his ears upright, when Li Yong spoke, it would be dozens of times to go back and forth. Yield, the blood is racing with excitement, worrying about not having the opportunity to join the group, and I don't want to let it go at this time.Beside Du Chuijiao, Chen Yongqi and other three or four commanders were all looking at this side, obviously very interested in the southward trade route.

Li Yong's face was a little embarrassed, he was able to invite Zhao De to become a shareholder and open up a business route to the south, but it didn't mean he could accept Du Chuijiao and others. "Old Du, the business on the southbound trade route is profitable, but the risk is even greater. If you are not careful, you will lose all your money." Zhao Xingde hurriedly smoothed things over for Li Yong.

"Zhao Dutou, I, Du Chuijiao, am not someone who can't afford to lose." Du Chuijiao said rather aggrieved, "Besides, I only invested two hundred shares, and I don't take the majority, and I will never interfere with the business of the caravan. " Seeing that Li Yong still didn't let go, he gritted his teeth again, "Even if I lose all my money, I will admit it." The two hundred guan is what he has accumulated in the past two years, and he thought to himself, even if he lost money, just treat these two years as nothing. Well, if it comes to fruition, not to mention dozens of times the income, it will be at least two thousand.He looked at Zhao Xingde with a wry smile on his face, worried that begging alone would not work, and then said to Chen Yongqi, Hu Tangzuo, Bai Minqiu and other elders beside him: "Do you want to buy shares too?"

Hu Tangzuo and others said yes, and even Chen Yongqi looked at Zhao Xingde quite emotionally.There was movement here, which attracted the attention of the businessmen next to him. Tan Shiyong said in a low voice: "They all risk their lives to fight for their future. Naturally, they are not afraid of taking risks." Huang Shen sighed slightly, and said, "The more business you do, The less courageous, the greatest hope of the old man is that the ancestral tea business will continue to prosper, and the name of my Huang family should not be lost." They all said that the southern trade route was the forbidden land of the green-clothed princes. Not allowed to get involved by merchants from the Xia Kingdom, they are always worried about killing people and seizing goods. Li Yong is considered a strange person to hang out there for several years, but whether he will have such good luck next time, only God knows.

While Zhao Xingde was meditating, Li Yong said, "Well, if the envoy of Zhao Jun is willing to take the lead, I can do it here. It's just that the money you collect is considered the shares of the envoy of Zhao Jun. From now on, in the business I only listen to Zhao Jun's envoys. The firm itself has nothing to do with you, you only go to Zhao Jun's envoys." In this era, ordinary commercial firms are not as popular as later generations, and merchants must trust each other. Li Yong will do it no matter what. It is impossible to accept a group of people who don't understand the dangers of the southern trade route.He didn't want to offend Du Chuijiao and others too much, so he pushed the hot taro to Zhao De. If Zhao De was willing to take the risk, everyone would sign a contract in black and white, and let Du Chuijiao and others' money come in for profit. .Anyway, there are countless tribes in the south of the Green Clothes Dashi, and they can eat any amount of goods.These sergeants lost all their money and had no choice but to talk to Zhao De.

Chen Xizhai watched the scene with a slight smile, it was rare for dozens of soldiers to join forces to follow suit and expand business routes.The country of Xia is based on both agriculture and animal husbandry, and the prosperity of industry and commerce enriches the country.In addition to merchants, the royal family and nobles also hold shares in many large commercial firms.The Prime Minister's Office licensed certain large commercial firms to sell bonds to the common people, and the state treasury kept [-]% of the principal repayment guarantee.Officials and sergeants can't buy land and land even if they have spare money. Most of them will buy bonds of big commercial banks to earn interest.

Zhao Xingde pondered for a while, and finally said: "Expanding business routes is extremely risky, you can go back and think about it for a few days, and let me think about it, okay?"

Seeing that his tone was loose, Du Chuijiao said with joy, "I will listen to Zhao Jun's envoy." After a pause, he said to Li Yong, "Let me think about it later, how about you? "

Li Yong nodded, and said in a deep voice: "What Zhao Jun said is that expanding business routes is extremely risky, everyone must think carefully. Here, as long as Zhao Jun is willing to invest in shares. Come, let me offer you a cup first. "Raise your wine glass and respect Zhao De, Du Chuijiao and others.He secretly planned that the situation of the commercial routes in the south of the Great Sand Sea was complicated. No matter how careful he was, he would inevitably clash with bandits and even princes along the way. After these sergeants retired, they might still become the reliance of commercial companies.

After everyone had finished drinking, Li Yong said to Zhao Xingde again: "I will have a small gathering in five days, and I would like to ask the Zhao Jun envoy to honor it." Zhao Xingde nodded in agreement.

After the banquet, Zhao Xingde bid farewell to Chen Xizhai and the merchants of the Xia Kingdom, and returned to the barracks of the imperial guards together with Du Chuijiao and other ten commanders.As soon as he and Jin Changtai talked about this, Jin Changtai immediately took the case and said: "Of course I want to join the group, and I will pay two thousand guan." Seeing that Zhao Xingde did not respond, he said anxiously, "It is a rare thing to expand the southern trade route. A person who is familiar with the road and takes the lead in doing things, it is even more rare that this person is willing to let you join the group." He patted Zhao Xingde on the shoulder and said, "Although it has always been the taboo of big cannibals over there. But think about the benefits, take the risk again The big risk is worth it." After a pause, he continued, "Frankly, if this matter is done, you and I will be able to pat our chests and talk even among the rich businessmen in Lumei." He said what he had said I heard about how the southern trade routes are so profitable and said the same thing. In the end, even Zhao Xingde was a little dizzy and couldn't figure out which ones were from his own memory and which ones were from Li Yong and Jin Changtai. The situation heard.

Just after returning from Jin Changtai's place, Du Chuijiao and Chen Yongqi came to Zhao Xingde again, presented a piece of paper, and said respectfully: "Zhao Tou, the brothers have gathered together, and there are [-] people who can join the gang." Pass." "What?" Zhao Xingde took a closer look, almost all the sergeants in Ming Hongdu were on the list, except for Du Chuijiao who gave [-] guan, Chen Yongqi also paid [-] guan, the other sergeants were at least not less than five Ten consistent.

"The risk of opening up trade routes is very high," Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice. "As long as one of the princes is watching along the way, all people and goods may be lost, and there is no chamber of commerce to share the risk."

"Let's try it anyway," Du Chuijiao said with a smile, "How can you win if you don't gamble." Zhao Xingde couldn't believe it. To be able to say such a thing.He turned his eyes to Chen Yongqi, the captain of the personal army. Chen Yongqi rubbed his hands, feeling embarrassed, his face flushed, and he said: "Brothers also mean the same thing, try your luck, what if God makes us rich?"

"Then what if God makes us lose everything?" Zhao Xingde said coldly.

"Then it's because the brothers don't have this fortune." Chen Yongqi's face darkened a little, and then he raised his head again, and said in a low voice, "If you don't gamble, how do you know, my lord, we don't want to miss this opportunity to get rich." I regret it all my life." His face seemed to glow with excitement, and his eyes were full of expectation, as if he knew that Zhao Xingde would definitely agree to bring them into the gang.