"This really doesn't exist."

The ship owner shook his head and smiled bitterly: "In the past two years, the Yamen from various places have sent people to investigate, but nothing has been achieved. If this case is not solved, those merchants who have been running on the Yellow River all year round would rather wait a little longer and gather more people to take the big ship together.

I’m willing to take a ride 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 got nothing. The water bandits also said that they were not responsible for it, and hoped that they were just passing by. Otherwise, if this continues, life will be really bad.

There is no way to survive.”

At this time, He Liu raised his head and looked at Taoist Master Zhenxuan aside, his eyes full of inquiry.

Seeing He Liu's eyes, Taoist Master Zhenxuan carefully observed the captain and whispered: "He is not a bad person."

Hearing this, He Liu nodded slightly. He still trusted Zhenxuan, and Zhenxuan's physiognomy skills were ranked among the best in the entire Ming Dynasty.

At the bow of the boat, Su Hao looked at the turbid Yellow River water. From time to time he picked up a water bag and took a sip of tiger bone wine. The internal energy in his body continued to flow. After more than 20 days of practice, with the help of tiger bone wine and tiger bone paste,

The internal strength in his body has begun to take shape, and it has about two years of internal strength of an ordinary warrior.

Under the nourishment of this internal force, he can clearly feel that the internal organs in his body are gradually getting stronger, and his vitality is gradually recovering. It is estimated that he will be able to return to the state before he practiced the secret technique of paper control in three or four months, and

As the internal strength continues to grow, this time can be shortened further.

………

Zhangjiakou Fort, Fanjia.

At this time, in the lobby of the Fan family, Fan Yongdou was sitting at the head of the table. On the chairs on both sides, there were seven middle-aged men in luxurious clothes and extraordinary bearings with serious expressions.

If there are any locals from Zhangjiakou Fort, they will definitely recognize them. These eight people in the lobby are obviously the heads of the eight major families with the largest smuggling business in Zhangjiakou Fort: Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, and Zhai Tang

, Huang Yunfa.

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

Wang Dengku held the tea cup and said calmly, although they all hang out here in Zhangjiakou Fort, there is not much competition among their big families. There are countless tribes on the grassland, and some of them have business to do. There is no competition among them at all.

of necessity.

"I invite you brothers to come here this time, mainly because I have a business I want to share with you."

Hearing this, Fan Yongdou smiled and cupped his hands.

"What deal?"

Zhai Tang frowned and said, there is no competition between them, but they are doing their own business, and basically have no contact. Although they all have backers, smuggling is not an aboveboard matter. Once they are cheated, they will also

No reason.

"The Jurchens want 400,000 shi of food and 5,000 pieces of armor. My Fan family cannot afford such a large deal, so Fan would like to ask all of you brothers to take part in this deal."

Fan Yongdou said calmly.

"Why so many?"

Tian Shenglan frowned on the side. The Jurchens had indeed bought food, soldiers, armor and other necessary items for daily life from them before, but basically they only bought tens of thousands of stones of food or hundreds of soldiers and armor each time. This time, they suddenly wanted such a large quantity.

It's not that easy to put together.

You must know that the average person only eats six shi of rice a year. The Jurchen army has a lot of training and consumes a lot of food, but it only costs 10 shi. Regardless of other things, 400,000 shi of food is enough to support an elite force of 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers for a year.

, five thousand soldiers and armors. Ordinary soldiers are not qualified to be equipped with soldiers and armors. Those who can be equipped with soldiers and armors are the best of the elite.

In the Ming Dynasty, in a guard post, only officers were qualified to wear armor, that is, they had to be at least a seventh-grade flag officer, or a private soldier from each hundred or thousand households. Other big-headed soldiers were not qualified.

The absolute elite with all the troops 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 severely defeated. Most of the area west of the Liao River was occupied by the Jurchens. Those Jurchens probably want to expand their army."

"Then what price do they offer this time?"

Tian Shenglan said again: "With such a large quantity this time, the risk is too great."

"One stone of grain is five taels of silver, and one piece of armor is one hundred and twenty taels, for a total of two million six hundred thousand taels."

Fan Yongdou said calmly.

"Do those Jurchens have so much money?"

Wang Dengku frowned, this money was not something he just had. Liaodong was a bitter cold land, and the people were not very wealthy. It was not an easy task to collect more than two million taels of silver.

"Those Jurchens said they would pay back with ginseng, Ganoderma lucidum and other rare medicinal materials that are more than a century old."

Fan Yongdou said solemnly: "We will transport it in batches, and we will collect money once we transport the goods. 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. If we mobilize these 400,000 shi of grain at one time, I am afraid it will attract the attention of the court."

After a moment of silence, Wang Dengku shook his head. They usually have grain stores in various places and collect grain all the time. Each time tens of thousands of stones of grain are shipped out of Zhangjiakou Fort in batches many times, it doesn't attract much attention.

But four hundred thousand shi of grain is not a small amount, and it will attract attention no matter how careful you are.

"I've thought about it."

Fan Yongdou said in a deep voice: "Those nobles over there in the capital have a lot of food. I'll buy it from them this time. I'll buy it from them at five times the price."

"Then wouldn't our business this time have been in vain?"

Hearing this, Tian Shenglan's face suddenly changed. The current price of grain is five taels of silver for one stone of old grain and six to seven taels of new grain for one stone. If it is five times the price, buying new grain will cost almost three taels of silver. Plus the cost of traveling, it is completely in vain.

Busy work.

"Brother Tian, ​​you can't just look at the present when doing business. Those people have been rooted in the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years. The relationship between the capital and the various health offices is intricate. If we can get in touch with them, then we will have a good life in the future.

It’s behind me.”

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 established some connections in the capital, most of them are civil servants from poor backgrounds. It is easier for them to establish connections because they are from poor backgrounds, but these people are not good backers.

Just like Zhang Heming, Minister of the Ministry of War, the Fan family had only established a relationship with his son a few years ago and relied on Zhang Heming. As a result, Zhang Heming quit immediately, and the hard work of several years was wasted.

And those nobles were hereditary. Although the Ming Dynasty valued culture over military affairs, the power of those nobles was indeed far less than that of the early Ming Dynasty, but it was more than enough to protect a few merchant families.

The most important thing is that the relationship between those nobles and various health stations is intricate. Many of the children in the family are from hundreds or thousands of households in various health stations. With the relationship of these people, they are like a slave in this border land.

The traffic is now unobstructed, much better than the hundreds of thousands of households in the guardhouses they bribed now.


Chapter completed!