Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 783
During the military meeting before dark, the generals Yang Jin and Ma Yong were cautious, and the merchants who were invited for dinner were even more respectful.

If Wang Tong didn't mention the field, they wouldn't dare to speak up. The news Gu Zibin brought back to them in the afternoon scared the gang to death. Handsome, here is a good word, everyone will give you enough benefits, maybe you can get a lot of land.

But he didn't expect that Wang Tong actually wanted to present these fields to today's emperor. Wouldn't everyone's behavior of taking advantage become a fight for land with the emperor?

Merchants who are qualified to come to Guihua City have some wealth and status, and those who can have a banquet with Wang Tong are rich and wealthy businessmen. These people are conceited and shrewd, but they dare not play tricks in front of Wang Tong, a young imperial envoy. What a mystery, because not counting official positions and merits, even compared to family property and business, Sanjiang Commercial Bank is a giant.

Regardless of whether it was run by Wang Tong himself, the existence of such a behemoth is enough to make everyone look up in fear.

But when they came to this tent, the wine was the Liu family's sorghum roast brought from the Xuan Mansion, the dishes were roasted lamb, and Wang Tong was smiling again, so everyone finally relaxed a little.

After everyone relaxed, they talked a lot more. They were invited to a banquet because they were talking about buying land.

The merchants were very careful, and many people asked pragmatically how to arrange the production of the fields. According to Wang Tong, the land in Guihua City may become public land, that is to say, the production will be reserved for the farmers' own use. Besides, the rest is all handed over to the imperial court. Is there any waterway here, and it is far away from the capital, so the transportation of grain and grass is not very realistic. It is estimated that it will be sold on the spot and converted into silver taels.

Thinking about how many fertile fields there are, the acquisition and sales of production must be a huge number. If this business can be done well, there will also be a large amount of money and profits flowing into it. Everyone is interested in this.

But all the businessmen who came here did not expect that after Wang Tong promised to give everyone a discount on the field production, he took the initiative to bring up the matter of the field.

"There are also vast fields that can be obtained without money", these words made the merchants present stop breathing, "No money" and "vast fields" are not the golden mountains and silver seas that can be obtained at will, listen According to Mr. Wang, this field is probably not inferior to those around Guihua City.

After Wang Tong finished speaking, he gave up and took a sip of the wine in the glass. There are still quite a few treasures in the palace of Guihua City. The wine from the Western Regions is very suitable for Wang Tong's taste, but it's not how Wang Tong understands it. Wine tasting is nothing more than sweeter.

The merchants who had always been fearful and humble could not sit still. One merchant looked around, swallowed, stood up and cupped his fists and said:
"Grassmen take the liberty, may I ask the commander-in-chief, what about this vast field? The Tartars have reclaimed tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land in Guihua City, but the rest are just grasslands. There are still places like this."

Wang Tong sat in the main seat, facing south and facing north, he gestured to the west, and said with a smile:

"There are many such lands. Isn't the land of Hetao where good fields are located?"

When the Yellow River flows through the boundary between Shaanxi and the grassland, it forms a few characters. The place where the river bends and wraps is called the Hetao. This is not necessarily the place with the most abundant aquatic plants on the grassland, but it is the place with relatively good aquatic plants and the largest The place, from the Qin Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, has been in rotation between the Han people and the nomadic peoples.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Shaanxi Chief Envoy used to govern here, but it was later occupied by the Tatars, and now it is under the control of the Alta Ministry.

The land of Hetao mentioned by Wang Tong is here. In this era without chemical fertilizers and various mechanical means, water source is an important criterion for the quality of a field. In the Hetao area, because of the topographical relationship between several plateaus and mountains, the river level is gentle. Irrigation and the lives of the surrounding residents have great benefits. There is a saying, "the Yellow River has all kinds of harm, but only one benefit", which refers to the great role of the Yellow River in Hetao.

Since the Han Dynasty, Hetao has been hailed as a paradise outside the Great Wall, and its agriculture is quite developed, but this is in the hands of the Han people. If it is controlled by nomads, then it will be pastures and pastures.

The merchants in Shanxi traveled far and wide, and they knew the terrain very well. When Wang Tong said this, the merchants also understood that what Wang Tong was talking about was the Hetao land. Someone murmured during the dinner:
"Hetao is a land occupied by Tartars, how can we tolerate people like us passing by?"

"The Alda army in Guihua City has been defeated so much, what strength can it have on the Hetao side?"

Wang Tong asked back with a smile, everyone was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that it was indeed the case. After our tribe dominated the grassland, they did not put much power in the Hetao land. After the First Battle of Huacheng, the remnants of the Anda Department could not muster much strength at all. There were only a small group of horse thieves and a small group of herdsmen cavalry. With carts, firearms and enough guards, it shouldn't be a big problem.

Hearing Wang Tong's answer, the atmosphere became more relaxed, and some people said rather worriedly:

"There is no water conservancy in the land of Hetao, what about the fields?"

There is no need for Wang Tong to say this, someone has already answered him:
"There is no water conservancy, you can fix it yourself. There are so many good things in the world. The good land with complete water conservancy is all in Guihua City. Naturally, we have to maintain the fields there by ourselves."

There was a hint of resentment in the words, but Wang Tong replied with a smile:

"Water conservancy ditches are actually not as difficult as you think. I heard from people who have been to the Hetao land that there are remnants of ancient water conservancy ditches over there that are suitable for farming. Based on these, it is much easier to repair."

The so-called water conservancy ditches are nothing more than digging ditches to dig pools. Earthworks are troublesome, and site selection is also troublesome. But with these predecessors' work, the work can be much easier and simpler.

Everyone nodded slightly, wondering whether it would be appropriate to go there, and whether there would be any profit to be made, but everyone thought about all aspects, and someone stood up and clasped his fists and said:
"Commander, the land suitable for farming in the Hetao is all plains and grasslands. There is no shelter in these places. The Tartar cavalry roared in. The farmers who cultivated there would definitely be killed by them. If this continues, farming will not be possible. , is really a problem!"

The questions were all expected. If this person didn't ask, Wang Tong would still find an opportunity to talk about it. He said with a smile:

"The purpose of selling carts and firearms to everyone is to allow you to travel and do business on the grasslands. Since you have pointed out this way to everyone, there is naturally a way to keep you alive. You don't have to think too much about it. Sanjiang Trading Company, Jinhe Commercial Bank and Tonghai Commercial Bank will take the lead in Hetao, and see if they can follow suit."

Since Wang Tong has considered all aspects so well, the merchants are also convinced, and more importantly, the imperial envoy asked several firms that are closely related to him to go. Is this to set an example for everyone, or is it that Bian Zhen's interests are unlimited, and these firms must be one step ahead.

Before the Battle of Guihua City, in the eyes of merchants in Shanxi, what Sanjiang Commercial Bank and other firms did was nothing more than official businessmanship. It doesn’t matter if they make money or lose money. I understand everything, think about how much loot there will be after taking this city, and how much Sanjiang Commercial Bank and other firms will have to deal with, earning the same benefits as the sky.

Think about the Sanjiang Commercial Bank's business in Tianjinwei, Zhili, Xuanfu and Jizhen. There are gold mountains and silver seas making money everywhere. When did they lose money?

When these cases are combined, everyone has an opinion in their minds, Sanjiang Commercial Company must not do business that loses money, since they are interested in Hetao land, it must be profitable there.

The meal ended happily. Although the Liu family's sorghum roast is a famous wine, the merchants are controlling to drink less, because there are too many things that have been said tonight that need to be digested and discussed with others. .

***************
On February [-]th, it was still snowing heavily in Guihua City, but the imperial envoy who passed the decree also rushed to Guihua City.

Although Wang Tong and the others don't know the court's attitude yet, seeing that the imperial envoy who came to pass the decree was Meng Duo, who presided over the Department of Public Security on Zou Yi's behalf, everyone was relieved. Sending such a familiar face to pass the decree also represented a part of the emperor. kind of attitude.

For Wang Tong's great victory in suppressing bandits, the meaning of the decree is both consolation and praise. It said, "Thousands of things, I still order the governor Wang Tong to naturalize, the land of Datong, and still control the command of Datong soldiers and horses and Jizhen to suppress bandits. Soldiers and horses, act cheaply, wait for the overall situation to stabilize and everything to be straightened out, then rewards and rewards"

Although the word "still" is used, the content of the decree is quite interesting. The land of naturalization is not the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but at this time it is justifiably within the scope of Wang Tong's jurisdiction. The soldiers and horses of Datong, but now all the soldiers and horses of Datong are at his disposal.

In a sense, from Guihua City to Datong Town, it is vaguely regulated by a larger border town, and all affairs are under the control of Wang Tong, and it is clearly stated in the decree that Wang Tong must make this place When it stabilized, the attitude of the court did not say that there was any problem with the procedures of Wang Tong's army, but meant to eat here.

But this is also normal, now Guihua City is a delicacy that has been bitten in the mouth, who would like to spit it out again.

"The princes in the court did not criticize Wang for acting arrogantly and corrupting the state system. Wang is really unexpected!"

Wang Tong dared to say this, but Meng Duo didn't dare to answer, he just smiled and said:

"My lord Wang is joking, but it took a lot of trouble to send out this decree. Your lord's attack on Guihua City has indeed caused an uproar in the capital!"

(End of this chapter)