The two messengers Su Hao mentioned were none other than Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen, two businessmen and officials.
Dong and Yang were businessmen that Su Hao had met when he first came to the capital. They were not acquainted with each other. After Su Hao sorted them out, the two parties shook hands and made peace. Instead of forming any grudge, they became
Business allies. Under the auspices of the eunuch Li Long, Su Hao, Li Long, Dong and Yang jointly opened several large coal mines and iron mines in Beizhili and made a lot of money.
The factory built in the suburbs of Beijing also had shares owned by Dong and Yang. In terms of product sales, Dong and Yang's connections were beyond Su Hao's reach.
According to the information revealed by Li Long to Su Hao, Dong Tianzhang's backer was Zhou Wei'an, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Yang Laizhen's backer was the loyal and brave Marquis Zhuang Migao. They were typical bureaucratic compradors. And according to Li Zhi, behind every important minister in the imperial court, there were
There were some brokers who made money for them in business. Collusion between officials and businessmen was an open secret in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. Ministers could carry out political attacks on each other, but generally they would not destroy other people's business, and sometimes even
They fought fiercely in the court and wanted to fight each other to the death, but in private they still joined forces to do business and make a fortune together.
This time, taking the opportunity to deliver arms to Su Hao, Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen came to Ningxia City to see if there were any business opportunities. Su Hao talked about things like coal mines and greenhouses in his letter.
Let these two people feel that there is an opportunity to take advantage of.
When the two of them first arrived in Ningxia, Su Hao was busy cooperating with Li Rusong to attack the city and had no time to accompany them. When Su Hao was free to take action, he found that these two were enjoying themselves in Ningxia City and had more market than him, the deputy commander-in-chief.
.
"What are you two busy with these days?" Su Hao met Dong and Yang at their temporary residence in Ningxia City and asked them with a smile as soon as they met.
Dong Tianzhang smiled and said: "Mr. Su is busy with national affairs, and Uncle Zhao and I don't dare to disturb him, so we just do some business matters, which are not on the table. However, after being busy these days, I have done a good job for Mr. Su."
The soldiers got tens of thousands of taels of silver. It must be considered a worthwhile trip."
"What kind of business is so profitable?" Su Hao was stunned. His business had a cooperative relationship with Dong and Yang. Dong Tianzhang said that he earned tens of thousands of taels of silver for him, which meant that Dong and Yang also earned a corresponding amount.
Silver, what a big deal this must be.
Yang Laizhen said: "Actually, it's nothing. General Li from Liaodong came to our two brothers and said that he wanted to purchase some artillery, grenades and muskets like Kanyu Camp. General Su also explained this to us in the past. We will
According to the price mentioned by Mr. Su, I added a few percent, but Mr. Li agreed without saying a word."
The factory built by Su Hao on the outskirts of Beijing produces telescopes, vanity mirrors, high manganese steel knives, armor and other items, as well as various firearms. The former can be directly traded on the market, while the latter can only be sold to the military.
Su Hao wanted to equip the survey camp, which required a lot of investment, so he had to sell the factory's products. Before that, Su Hao had entrusted Dong and Yang to help contact military towns in various places to sell Su's factory's firearms at a reasonable price.
Things in this regard have also been agreed upon in advance.
As an ordinary businessman, it is illegal to produce firearms, let alone sell them openly. However, Su's factory has Wanli's shares, and Dong and Yang also have deep backgrounds in the court, so they do this
There is no problem with the arms trade. Dong and Yang have also sold some artillery, muskets and the like before, but the sales volume was very small. This time, it seems that they have caught a fool.
"General Soldier Li witnessed General Soldier Su's great victory over the city of Ningxia. He couldn't put it down with our firearms. Ting and I also approached General Soldier Li's door and said we could provide exactly the same firearms. General Soldier Li immediately expressed that he wanted 40 artillery pieces.
1,000 flintlock muskets, as well as bullets and cannonballs, all in all, which amounts to more than 100,000 taels." Yang Laizhen explained to Su Hao.
"This Mr. Li is really a rich man." Su Hao said with emotion.
This time, Su Hao helped Li Rusong defeat Ningxia City. He agreed not to compete with Li Rusong for credit, but he needed Li Rusong to pay for the loss of firearms. Li Rusong happily gave Su Hao one hundred thousand taels of silver and bought the first victory over Ningxia City from Su Hao.
What Su Hao didn't expect was that after fighting this battle, Li Rusong would spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver on purchasing various firearms. If he wasn't a rich man, how could he have such great courage?
"Although General Su and General Li made this request, Uncle Zhao and I did not agree to him immediately. The main reason was to listen to General Su's wishes," Dong Tianzhang said.
Su Hao said in surprise: "What do you want to hear from me? Are you worried that our factory will not be able to produce so many firearms at the same time?"
"That's not true," Dong Tianzhang said, "I told Mr. Li that the quantity he wanted was too large, so we could only provide it to him in batches. He also agreed, saying that all the goods would be delivered within two years.
"
"Then what are you worried about?" Su Hao asked.
Dong Tianzhang said: "Dong Mou heard that this time General Su used firearms to defeat the enemy and he made a great contribution. These firearms are the treasures of our survey camp. If they are sold to General Li in large quantities, won't he have to fight with General Li in the future?"
Is Mr. Su trying to take credit?"
"This... this doesn't matter." Su Hao was speechless. He never expected that Dong Tianzhang would think of this step for him. He collected his thoughts and said sternly to Dong and Yang:
"Two shopkeepers, we have been cooperating for two years. Don't you understand Su Hao's thoughts? I am not a person who values broomsticks. General Li purchased these firearms for border defense. This is a good thing and we should support it. As for
I’m really not worried about competing for merit. There are many places in this world where you can make contributions, and I just hope that everyone can make contributions.”
In fact, Su Hao had other things to say. As a time traveler, he knew that the biggest foreign enemy of the Ming Dynasty in the future would be the Jianzhou Jurchens in Liaodong. If Li Rusong obtained these advanced firearms, he could put down Nurhachi in one fell swoop.
, it would be great to eliminate a disaster for Ming Dynasty. He couldn't tell these two businessmen such a thing. He was wondering in his heart whether he could find an opportunity to talk to Li Rusong.
"Dong admires Mr. Su's high moral integrity." Dong Tianzhang said, "Actually, we have known for a long time that Mr. Su is a selfless person, so we did not refuse Mr. Li. Since Mr. Su agreed to this matter,
We will go negotiate with Mr. Li right away and sign the agreement earlier."
"Well, just go ahead and handle this matter. As for the specific business matters, you can just discuss them with Xiu'er. You don't have to tell me everything." Su Hao said, "Today Hao invited you two to come over for some other matters.
I want to discuss business with you two."
"What business?" Dong and Yang pricked up their ears. They had always been very enthusiastic about the business introduced by Su Hao.
Su Hao spread out a map and said: "As you know, Su is a surveyor, and he has the ability to know the mines by looking at the gas. After arriving in Ningxia Town, Su Hao took the time to look at the surrounding land and found that this town
There are treasures all around, it’s like a sea of mines.”
"Is this really happening?" Yang Laizhen asked in surprise, "General Su, please tell me where there is a mine."
"First of all, it's this location." Su Hao pointed at the map and said, "This is called Bayan Ula Mountain. The mountains are rich in gold, silver, lead, zinc and other minerals, as well as coal mines and phosphate mines that can be used as fertilizers.
, it can be called a treasure mountain.”
"This..." Dong and Yang were dumb. They were both people who had run mines and had certain ability to read maps. From Su Hao's map, they could clearly see that this treasure mountain that Su Hao mentioned was
, is outside the border wall and is under the control of the Tatars. No matter how valuable such a treasure mountain is, it can only be ignored. Who has the ability to mine it?
"Why, you're not interested?" Su Hao asked knowingly.
Dong Tianzhang said: "Are you kidding me, General Su? This Bayan Ula Mountain is clearly on the territory of the Tatars. What does it have to do with us?"
Su Hao said: "The Tatars are not born to possess this treasure mountain. Aren't all the wealth in the world belong to whoever has the ability? This mountain range is only 200 miles away from our border wall. Why should we?"
Why can't we send troops to occupy it?"
Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen had been dealing with Su Hao for a day or two. As soon as they heard Su Hao's words, they realized his intention. Yang Laizhen asked: "Why, General Su wants to invade the grassland and snatch it from the Tatars?"
This mountain?”
Su Hao said: "What Shopkeeper Yang said is correct and incorrect."
"What do you mean?" Yang Laizhen asked.
Su Hao said: "Su really wants to invade the grassland, but his goal is not just to grab this mountain. Look, there are large coal mines here, iron mines here, alluvial gold here, and here..."
As he spoke, he pointed casually on the map with his hands and reported the mineral resources in various places. Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen felt their mouths were dry and their hearts were beating as they listened to Su Hao's story.
came out. With so many minerals, if they could really hold them in their arms, what a huge fortune it would be. The book said that the state of being rich is to be as rich as the enemy. The two of them never thought that they could achieve it.
.But now, listening to Su Hao's words, they feel that this goal does not seem far away. Of course, the premise of all this is that the Ming Dynasty's army will enter the grassland and gain control of the grassland.
"General Su, please tell me what we need to do." Dong Tianzhang interrupted Su Hao's story and asked directly.
Su Hao said: "To control the grassland, we must use troops on the grassland. There are two difficulties in using troops. One is to use money, and the other is to persuade the ministers in the court to agree to send troops. You two shopkeepers, what do you think of these two difficulties?
solve?"
"I understand." Dong Tianzhang did not answer Su Hao's question because he felt that Su Hao did not need an answer from him. All Su Hao wanted was their actions.
"We will set off back to Beijing today. The matter of dispatching troops will be left in the hands of our brothers. General Su can rest assured and wait for the news in Ningxia City." Yang Laizhen said.
"Then Su will wait for the good news from you two." Su Hao said with a smile. He really wasn't worried at all about the energy of these two officials and businessmen. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome
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