At the end of the first month, on the vast sea, three cargo ships were moving slowly from west to east.

The Zhao family caravan was detained in Yuguan, and the news naturally spread quickly.

There are many Liaodong merchants purchasing goods within the pass. After Yuguan was controlled by Long Ruijun, many merchants were confused about the situation and did not dare to leave the pass easily.

Fortunately, the Zhao family's caravan managed to take the lead.

The Zhao family is the most powerful merchant in Shibafang in the north and has a huge demand for goods. In desperation, Zhao Taiyan was the first to leave the customs, but he was involved in a case of hiding ordnance. Hundreds of carts of goods were seized by the guards.

The Liaodong merchants who had been paying attention to the movements in Yuguan all felt chills running down their backs after receiving the news.

No one is a fool.

Merchants from Youzhou came out of the customs in an endless stream, but they detained the Zhao family. Everyone knew what was going on.

All the merchants in Liaodong knew that if they continued to leave the customs by land, they would be walking in the tiger's mouth.

The Zhao family's goods were seized. Once they were embezzled by Long Ruijun, the Zhao family would immediately collapse.

The value of hundreds of trucks of goods is naturally an extremely huge figure. Even the Zhao family cannot afford such a huge loss.

Other merchants couldn't bear it.

The merchants of the merchants in Shibafang in the north are all anxious. These merchants have trade agreements with various grassland tribes, and many of the goods have been paid with deposits. If the goods are not delivered on time, their reputation will naturally be greatly damaged, and it is easy to

This led to conflicts with the grassland tribes.

At that time, it would be fine to pay a large amount of liquidated damages. Those grassland people are extremely reckless and attach great importance to their reputation. Once the goods cannot be delivered, a large number of grassland merchants will cause trouble in Fucheng, and the consequences will be disastrous.

Although the real master behind the eighteen squares in the north is the Liaodong Army, once there is a conflict with the grassland tribes due to breach of contract, the Liaodong Army will inevitably throw out the dishonest merchants as scapegoats in order to ensure the stability of Fucheng's trade, so as to ease the conflict with the grassland tribes.

Conflict among businessmen.

After all, there are many merchants, and the owners of Shibafang in the north are never the same.

Obviously we cannot take risks by land, so the only way is to take the sea route.

Sea routes require merchant ships, and the cost of hiring merchant ships is by no means a small sum.

If you want to go to the sea, you must need a large merchant ship, and the ship must be equipped with the most experienced sailors. There are not many of these, and the competition is fierce. When the tide rises, the price is usually very high. On this cold day

, the price will be better, more than double the cost of traveling by land.

If they are not in a hurry, ordinary merchants will not increase the cost of transporting goods by water.

However, forced by the situation, a group of merchants in Liaodong had no choice but to spend a lot of money to hire three merchant ships to carry a large amount of goods from Hangzhou Bay to Changsheng Port in Liaodong.

Among this group of merchants, the Qian family and the Wanqi family have the most goods and bear the majority of the expenses.

It was almost February, and the weather at sea was still cold. The cargo managers of the two companies were all wearing thick cotton coats and fox fur hats, looking at the sea to the east, wishing they could reach Changsheng Port immediately.

Starting from Hangzhou Port, even if we keep working day and night, it will take half a month to arrive at Changsheng Port. Every extra day will cost a lot more.

"The general watched helplessly as Qin blocked Yuguan without making any move." Seeing that there was no one around him, shopkeeper Wanqi stood on the bow of the ship and said with a bitter smile: "If we continue to take the sea route in the future, our expenses will increase greatly.

There’s not much profit left.”

Shopkeeper Qian also had a sad look on his face and sighed: "What can the general do? The man named Qin deliberately found trouble and took it.

Evidence, how can the general come forward? The Liaodong Army is a garrison in the Northeast and is responsible for countering rebellion and defending the Northeast. How can it blatantly interfere with trade matters? The man named Qin is cunning and insidious. If the Liaodong Army directly comes forward, I am afraid he will be caught.

To find out, please submit a copy of the General to the imperial court."

"Aren't they messing with some Black Mountain trading market?" Shopkeeper Wan Qi sneered.

"This is the point of his cunning." Shopkeeper Qian said: "Everyone knows that Long Ruijun is behind the Black Mountain Trading Center, but in name it is run by people from the Arms Department. I heard that the Arms Department was set up by a saint to provide Long Ruijun with supplies.

Logistics, responsible for money, food and equipment, that’s a lot of power.”

A gust of cold sea breeze blew in the face. Shopkeeper Wanqi couldn't help but wrap up his clothes and said with a wry smile: "The days to come will be more and more difficult. Long Ruijun is guarding Yuguan, and the goods at the Black Mountain Trade Center are flowing smoothly, but we have to

The cost of transporting goods by sea has increased. From then on, Fucheng and Montenegro started a price war, and we couldn't take any advantage. Those barbarians on the grassland are crude and ignorant. Whoever gets the advantage will go to whom. How can we beat the gang in Montenegro?

?”

"This is the fatal part." Shopkeeper Qian sneered: "Qin Xiao has saved the lives of many merchants from Jiangnan aristocratic families, and these people have good relations with him. I asked in Hangzhou that many merchants from Jiangnan are already preparing to go to Montenegro.

Trade, the caravans going out of the customs, except for the merchants in Fucheng, all other caravans enter and leave Yuguan smoothly." He glanced at shopkeeper Wanqi, sighed, and said: "Our goods are all from the hands of Jiangnan merchants.

Purchase, because of the general’s protection of Northeastern merchants over the years, Jiangnan merchants have been unable to directly enter Northeastern trade. Now, it’s good. Once the Black Mountain Trading Center is opened, these people can trade by themselves. How can we defeat them? "

Shopkeeper Wan Qi shook his head and said softly: "I have also discussed this matter with the Ma Dong family in Yangzhou. The Ma Dong family said that the Ximen family in Hangzhou is solely responsible for the Heishan Trading Center, and Ximen Hao has privately told many Jiangnan merchants that going to the Heishan Trading Center

To conduct trade, they only need to pay part of the commercial tax, and Long Ruijun will not let them pay additional money. The Ma family also said that the tax paid will not be too high, and because of this, many Jiangnan merchants are rushing to go there."

He raised his hand and stroked his beard and said: "Look at us, we have to pay a large sum of money every year just for the goods and labels, plus heavy taxes, 60-70% of the profits earned were taken away by the Liaodong Army, and now Qin Xiao comes again

Once this happens, the more prosperous our business will be in the future, the greater the losses will be."

"Still thinking about prosperity?" Shopkeeper Qian laughed out loud: "We are cicadas in winter now, how long can we survive? To be honest, after the delivery of this batch of goods, our boss may have to give up this year's goods."

"Don't you think Mr. Qian is going to do it?"

Shopkeeper Qian sighed: "Let's see what happens next. The goods license expires at the end of February every year, and you have to pay money to renew the license. There are still a few months left. If the situation is really bad, you have to let it go."

"I think it's impossible for the Liaodong Army to just sit idly by and do nothing." Shopkeeper Wan Qi said in a low voice: "If this continues, we will certainly suffer heavy losses, but it will be the Liaodong Army that suffers the most. In the past, there was only one piece of fat in the Northeast, Fucheng.

The Liaodong Army has been exclusively used by the Liaodong Army. Now it jumps out of the Black Mountain Trade Center and Long Rui's army seizes food from the tiger's mouth. Do you think the general and the Liaodong Army are willing to do so?" He sneered and said: "Qin Xiao is young and energetic. Since he led the troops out of the border, he has been with

The Liaodong Army was tit-for-tat at every turn, and the general was calm and did not act rashly, but if this kid really continues to make trouble on Tai Sui's head, he will definitely not end well."

Shopkeeper Qian said: "Don't forget, there is a word 'dragon' in the middle of Long Rui's army. These are soldiers and horses dispatched by the sage himself. To beat a dog, it depends on the owner. The general is not afraid of Qin Xiao, but

I am afraid of the saint." Looking at the sea, he said slowly: "The general will never act rashly unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Isn't it just because the man named Qin is favored by the saint that he is so unscrupulous in the Northeast?" Shopkeeper Wanqi snorted coldly: "There is no need to endure it anymore. The general and the Liaodong Army are patient now. When they can no longer bear it, Qin

Xiao will be in serious trouble."

What is shopkeeper Qian about to say?

Well, suddenly he opened his eyes wide, and his eyes were looking toward the southeast, straight.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that Shopkeeper Qian suddenly lost his voice, Shopkeeper Wanqi was a little strange. He followed his gaze and saw a few black shadows suddenly appearing on the sea in the southeast. He raised his arms to cover his forehead.

I vaguely saw several sea ships coming this way.

Shopkeeper Qian immediately turned around, looked up at the mast, and said loudly: "There is a ship in the southeast!"

There was a designated person on the top of the mast to observe the situation on the sea. The sailor on the lookout had already shouted: "I saw it!" Then he shouted loudly: "There are ships appearing in the southeast, and there are ships appearing in the southeast."

This man had a loud voice, and his shouts spread far and wide.

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps on the boat.

A tall, rough and brave man quickly came to the bow of the ship, surrounded by a group of well-dressed sailors.

"Boss Qiao, it's over there." Seeing the rough and brave man appear, shopkeeper Qian was very polite and raised his hand to point to the southeast.

One of the reasons why hiring merchant ships is expensive is that merchant ships are equipped with bodyguards. These people are sailors, but if they encounter danger, they can immediately become bodyguards to protect the ship.

The Tang Dynasty implemented the Sword Hunting Order, and civilians were not allowed to hide weapons privately.

However, these merchant ships are registered with the government, and the backgrounds of the sailors on board are recorded. When they go out to sea, the owners of the merchant ships will report to the government, and the government will also approve a small number of weapons on board, and the quantity and type will be strictly recorded.

These weapons will naturally not be used unless absolutely necessary, but they can be used for self-defense once encountering pirates at sea.

In the early years, there were many pirates on the sea, and they actually looted many merchant ships. For this reason, the imperial court not only dispatched the Jiangnan Navy to suppress the bandits, but also mobilized the Donghai Navy to go north to suppress the bandits. The suppression lasted for several years, causing the bandits at sea to suffer fatal consequences.

In recent years, pirates at sea have disappeared.

Boss Qiao looked to the southeast, then turned around and made a gesture to the sailor on the mast. The sailor immediately picked up two small flags and made a few gestures.

After a while, the sailor said to the people below: "The other side has replied and asked us to stop. They want to be friends with us and have a good drink!"

Boss Qiao said: "Tell them that we are from Mr. Jiang of Hangzhou Hushentang. We are in a hurry and it is not convenient this time. If they want to drink, we will invite them to drink and let them send someone to collect the money. This friend will still do it."

of."

The sailor flagged again.

After a while, the sailor said: "They said they won't delay us too long. They will treat us this time. If we refuse, we will not give face."

Boss Qiao frowned and his face became serious.

"Boss Qiao, what's going on?" Shopkeepers Qian and Wanqi saw Boss Qiao's solemn expression and became a little nervous. Shopkeeper Qian said in fear: "You won't really meet a pirate, right?"

Before Boss Qiao could speak, the sailor above shouted: "There are ships appearing from the southwest, there are ships appearing from the southwest!"

Boss Qiao didn't waste any time and quickly ran to the starboard side. Shopkeepers Qian and Wanqi also hurriedly followed.

When I reached the starboard side, I raised my eyes and looked to the southwest. Sure enough, I saw a dark shadow appearing over there. There were at least five or six ships. Although those ships were not as big as merchant ships, they were extremely fast. They were very close to the southeast direction.

Those boats were like two wings, fluttering towards this side.
Chapter completed!