Chapter 37 Salt merchants suffer, salt merchants are tired, and salt merchants suffer
Yang Feng, who had eaten and drank enough, was then greeted by He Yong and others, and boarded a boat across the river to the north bank.
The latter was not notified of his interception...
In fact, he didn't even know about the time traveler coming to Ming Dynasty.
It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang's original announcement to the world was just a casual statement, that is, he posted a few notices in Nanjing, and there was no publicity outside Nanjing. However, he probably did not expect to block the news, so people in Jiangpu before
They knew about Yang Feng, so the news was still spreading. Maybe some people who went to Xuyi at this time knew about it, but in a village like this, which was nearly a hundred miles away from Xuyi, no one knew about it at all.
Since he didn't even know this, he certainly didn't know that he was running away.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang should have told Xie Gui a long time ago. If he ran away, just pretend that nothing happened. Even if he did not tell him in advance, Xie Gui would report it later and get similar instructions.
In short, He Yong, as the highest official in this area, knows nothing about any of this. Now that he has an iron certificate and an imperial edict, what he says will be whatever he says.
He wanted to prepare the ferry quickly, so He Yong prepared it for him as quickly as possible. If he wanted to cross the Huaihe River, he sent him across the Huaihe River.
As for Xuyi County...
He Yong is a member of the sixth rank of the Hundred Households, and the magistrate of Xuyi County is a member of the seventh rank.
No matter what the county magistrate meant, the two of them were not in the same system at all.
After arriving at the north bank, Yang Feng grabbed a handful of banknotes and rewarded them to the fisherman who gave them to him. Then he turned east and arrived at the bank of Hongze Lake at dark.
He just wanted the route to be erratic and unable to follow the normal thinking, so he went east instead of north, and then turned north at Haizhou and entered Shandong.
It's still early for the little princess and the others to reach Jinzhou.
They had to go to Peiping first. To go from Nanjing to Liaodong by land, they had to go to Peiping.
At this time, the area around Tianjin was still a wetland flooded by the ocean tide, and there were only some shipping docks and granaries along the Haihe River. There was no city in Tianjin yet, and it was still Zhigu.
We went to Peiping, and then to Yongping. The journey to Yongping alone was already 4,100 miles, and then to Jinzhou it was really 5,000 miles. Forty miles every day without stopping for more than four months.
So it is no accident that he arrived before the end of the year, and then just in time to give the army rewards during the New Year. What Zhu Yuanzhang asked for was the rewards for the army in the first month. These winter clothes themselves were a bonus. They should not have been given just to drive him out of the capital. Old Zhu
He is not so bold yet, probably because he wants the Liaodong Army to cause trouble. He does not rule out letting them carry out a large-scale sweep. After all, Yang Feng has already told him that his Ming Dynasty was destroyed by the Jurchens. With Lao Zhu's style, it is wrong not to hurry up and carry out the sweep.
Very unreasonable.
If you want to carry out a raid, of course you must first boost morale, distribute winter clothes and money, and then you can start killing people and setting fires like wolves and tigers.
But Yang Feng's normal journey to Liaodong only took two months.
So he has enough time.
The next day, Taoyuan County.
"What are you looking at? Have you never seen a rich person?"
Yang Feng stood on the road into the city holding a wad of banknotes, looking proudly at a pair of greedy eyes next to him.
That look instantly turned into passion.
"this……"
The latter looked at his attire and was obviously a little confused. After all, wearing a short brown hat and leather boots on his feet was indeed a bit unique.
"Is this brother going to the city?"
He said carefully.
This is a middle-aged man wearing a washed-out black coarse blouse and a bun on his head, driving a donkey. There are a series of donkeys behind him, and there are another six others dressed in the same style. Although he speaks in Mandarin, he still speaks in Mandarin.
The accent is obviously Shanxi-flavored.
"Yes, but I didn't lead the way."
“Xie Tai’s accent sounds like he’s from outside. As long as he’s within a hundred miles, there’s no need for guidance.”
"I don't know if it's a hundred miles away. I came from Hongze Lake and walked all morning, but I really don't know how far it is."
"How can you walk a hundred miles in one morning? Of course it must be within a hundred miles. That's good. Brother, follow us and say we came from Baiyang River. But don't say anything. I'll tell you."
"Well, you are such a good person."
Yang Feng said.
"It's convenient for others, but it's just that I can't wear these boots. If you don't mind, brother, I have a new pair of straw sandals here."
The man said with a smile.
Then he took out a pair of straw sandals.
Yang Feng did not hesitate and put them on quickly. The important thing was to go into the city. Although the camouflage pants underneath were still exposed, it had no impact. After all, the Ming Dynasty did not stipulate that farmers could not wear camouflage.
Then they walked towards the city gate together.
When he arrived at the city gate, the man smiled and greeted the gatekeeper...
"Old Wang, you are back from selling salt. Your business is booming!"
The gatekeeper said with a smile.
"It's just a living, I just hope that I don't have to wait another half month to pay for salt this time, and we can have wine together later."
Lao Wang said.
Then he took out the road guide, and the gatekeeper didn't even look at it. He just signaled him to enter the city. Lao Wang said a few polite words and went straight into the city. Yang Feng was caught in the donkey. There were many people entering the city at this time, and it was noisy.
No one cared about him, so they entered Taoyuan County together.
"Are you a salt merchant?"
Yang Feng asked.
"Exactly, brother Wang Yi, from Jiexiu, Shanxi."
"My name is Yang Feng, and you from Shanxi come here to sell salt?"
"The Hedong salt field only produces that amount every year, and my brother sells his salt to Henan, so naturally it goes to the Huaibei salt field."
"Then how do you sell salt?"
"Brothers are in a partnership business with their tribesmen. They cultivated wasteland in the Datong area, and the grain they harvested was used as military rations for the nearby frontier fortress, in exchange for salt and lead, and then sent to Huai'an. The brother settled in Huai'an, took the salt and lead to the salt farm for distribution.
The salt is then transported to Henan with the salesman for sale, and the money earned will be divided among the family at the end of the year."
"Is it so troublesome to sell salt?"
"Who says it's not, but the rules of the court are like this. If you don't bring food to the frontier, there will be no salt. If you don't have salt, you can't get salt. You can do everything with money. If you have to be so verbose, then Datong area
All the good fields were occupied by military households, and only some were left to cultivate wasteland. The grain they grew was given to the border troops, but they didn’t have enough to eat. They had to buy grain from their hometowns and send it over for subsidies. If it wasn’t for salt, who would be there?
There was farming there, and in the end the whole family had no leisure for a year and had to cut back on food and clothing in order to maintain this business.
If this is not enough, the salt will have to be priced according to other people's prices when it is shipped to Henan."
"You can't just sell it for as much as you want?"
"Then the Yande County Government brought together the chiefs of various departments and finally negotiated a price. However, it was actually the county magistrate who made the final decision. He would sell it for as much as he said. Then the chiefs would give us the money and we would give the salt to us.
"Li Chief, it's okay if you meet someone who is easy to talk to. But if you meet those county magistrates who are trying to gain a good reputation for loving the people like their own children, there is nothing you can do about it even if you give a loss-making price!"
"Then you won't ship it to other places to sell it?"
Yang Feng said.
Wang Yi silently took out a piece of paper...
"How much salt is this, where is it going to be withdrawn, and where is it going to be sold? It's all fixed. If you sell it to other places, it will be a felony if you are caught by the checkpoint. What's more, you can't sell it if you go there. After all, it's
There is also a Shiobei shop nearby.”
He pointed to the words on it and said.
He wasn't lying, that's exactly what it said.
"It's not easy to run a business. Salt merchants are miserable and tired. Salt merchants really suffer!"
Yang Feng couldn't help but sigh.
After Wang Yi heard this, he couldn't help but wipe his tears...
"Brother, I haven't been home in five years."
He swallowed even more and said.
If you are still working after not going home for five years, you must have made a lot of money. If you didn't make money, you would have stopped working long ago.
When they stop suffering and become a happy life with hundreds of sheep, it will be time for the Ming army in Jiubian to suffer. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang's system is indeed extremely unfriendly to businessmen, but it is really friendly to the Ming army in Jiubian.
A salt industry basically solves the military needs of the northwest. You must know that it is inland land transportation. There are no waterways at all. It is all transported by carts and donkeys and carriages. If you don’t rely on the salt industry, you have to collect corvees from various places and let the people
Transport there.
Moreover, this also forced these salt merchants to open their trading villages to the frontier fortress.
In fact, it is equivalent to immigration.
Population, farmland, trade lines, and military garrisons, from Xuanda, northern Shaanxi to Gansu, which had been grassland for hundreds of years, were all restored to farming thanks to this system, and were once again firmly controlled by the Han people.
"Be patient, good times are yet to come!"
Yang Feng patted him on the shoulder and said.
Then they walked to an inn.
"Old Wang, what are you doing?"
The shopkeeper came out with a smile and said.
"I couldn't help but feel homesick for a while, which made Brother Li laugh."
Wang Yi said.
Then they walked into the inn together. The waiters took the donkey and fed it in the back. The shopkeeper took out a big book and looked at Lao Wang and his waiters, and then wrote the names of these people on it. It seemed that they were all old people.
He was an acquaintance, and soon he finished writing and looked at Yang Feng with doubtful eyes.
"Old Wang, this brother is new to me, so you need to take a look at the road guide."
he said.
"Brother Yang is my new guy, why bother?"
Wang Yi said.
"Old Wang, we are old friends. Don't make things difficult for me. You also know the rules of this store. The court's laws are very strict. If anything is found out by the government, I will risk my life and fortune. I am a serious person here.
Business."
The shopkeeper said with a faint smile.
Wang Yi winked at him, and the shopkeeper followed him to the side with a suspicious look on his face. Yang Feng looked at them with a confused expression. Wang Yi smiled at him, and then whispered something to the shopkeeper, and the two of them were doing it quietly.
Conspiracy, they soon finished talking and came back together with smiles. The shopkeeper looked at Yang Feng and put the store calendar in his hand on the counter...
"Since Lao Wang is the guarantor, there is nothing more to say. Brother Yang, please forgive me. It is actually the rule of the imperial court. When staying in a hotel, you must provide a road guide. You must also remember it clearly on the store calendar. Everyone must remember what they bring.
, In the future, the government will inspect them, and if something goes wrong, they can notify their families to come, but if they are found to be taking in those who have no way out, they will be banned from being sent to the frontier fortress."
he said.
Yang Feng smiled slightly...
Therefore, there must be benefits that outweigh the fear of these penalties before taking risks.