"I told him that he must come back before noon, but now it's only a quarter of an hour before noon and he still hasn't come back. That's all, I'll give him a lecture when he comes back. Now go and count the 'goods' in your hand, don't smash them.
In hand." Zheng Pai said as he and Xiao Zhuo walked into the courtyard.
This is a three-entry courtyard with the same style as that of the Central Plains. The courtyard walls are made of bricks, which shows that the owner of this family must have a high status in Annan. However, because this family is close to the city wall, when the Ming army invaded Yi'an City
It was later looted, the whole family was killed, and the house was taken over by He Rong and owned by the government. Because of the convenient transportation here, the Zheng faction rented it from the Ming army and used it as a place to store goods.
Zheng Pai did not stop at all when passing through the first and second courtyards, and walked straight to the third courtyard. Soon, he walked to the third courtyard and pointed at a locked
The house said: "Open the door, I want to see if the 'goods' are intact."
"Big shopkeeper, be careful of getting hit," the gatekeeper warned.
Zheng Pai waved his hand, and the doorman understood what he meant. He took out the key and stepped forward to open the door. Zheng Pai's muscles were tense. When he walked to the door and looked inside, he saw dozens of people with dull expressions and pale faces.
young woman.
Yes, from just now, one of the goods he and Xiao Zhuo were referring to was people, including adult men, adult women and children.
In order to reduce the population of Annan, Yunxi hinted to the generals before the war that they should actively capture the surrendered soldiers and the local people alive. Some of the surrendered soldiers would be reorganized into Zhu Zanyi's army, and the rest of the surrendered soldiers would be with ordinary people. Fortunately, they would be captured by the Ming Dynasty.
Those who migrated to other places and continued to be common people, those who were unlucky would be sold as slaves. The generals naturally understood Yunxi's orders.
Zheng Pai and Xiao Zhuo stood at the door and looked at it, then walked in to check around and said to the doorkeeper: "They will be shipped out tomorrow. We will watch them day and night. No one will commit suicide."
I bought these from the Ming army one by one, and I can sell them for more than five taels if I resell them, but I have to be careful."
"Don't worry, Mr. Boss, if someone commits suicide without me watching, you can sell me to make up for the shortfall." The doorman said with a smile.
Zheng Pai also laughed: "This is what you said. If one of you dies, I will sell you to India to be adopted as an adopted son by a family of Aqiu who has no sons."
"Big shopkeeper, this is too poisonous. Even if you sell me to Siam as a slave, it is better than going to India to be an Aqiu De. Being a slave in Siam still has a chance to turn over, but being an A Qiu De in India is better."
But generations will never be able to turn around." The gatekeeper said in an exaggerated tone.
"Then you have to watch carefully to make sure no one commits suicide." Xiao Zhuo said with a smile: "Besides, Aqiu De may not have a chance to turn over. Isn't there a way to survive by becoming a pirate?"
After examining the women, they went to the backyard to examine the men. Compared with women, the treatment of these men was much worse. Compared with women, the price of men who had no skills and could only work as coolies was the lowest among all slaves, so naturally they
I don't care too much about these people, as long as they don't die.
After that, the Zheng faction inspected the real goods purchased from Annan. They were all things like ivory and horns, occasionally mixed with some precious wood and spices. Xiao Zhuo planned to transport the wood and spices to Shanghai for sale.
The Zheng faction transported ivory and horns to be sold in the Malay Peninsula and other places.
After inspecting all the goods, Zheng Pai returned to the first courtyard and took a look at the engraving. He was about to say something to Xiao Zhuo when he heard a voice from the door: "Lao Fu is back."
Immediately, a bald man walked in from the door, caught a glimpse of the two of them, and hurriedly walked over and said, "Brother Zheng, Brother Xiao."
Although the Zheng faction had many Han people under his command, it was still difficult for them to accept their habit of treating each other as brothers. Moreover, Fu Shun only came back at this hour. His boss scolded him: "I told you to come back before noon. How come it's two o'clock at noon?"
Come back soon!"
"Brother Zheng, it's not that I'm disobedient, it's just that the generals of the Ming army are too tough. The few people I bought from them the day before yesterday were still ten taels of silver each, but today they have gone up to fifteen taels. It took me and them a long time to finalize the decision.
I paid fifty taels of silver for four. It's too late now." Fu Shun exclaimed.
Zheng Pai looked behind him and stared at the four women who were only casually wrapped in a piece of clothing. Although these women were listless and disheveled, they could still be seen to be quite beautiful.
Zheng Pai looked at them for a few times and then looked away, and said to Du Shun: "That's all, this time I assume you didn't do anything on your own, so I won't scold you. Send these four to the backyard as soon as possible and tidy them up first."
"Yes, Brother Zheng." Fu Shun agreed and led his brothers to the backyard.
Zheng Pai turned back to Xiao Zhuo and said, "Xiao Zhuo, how many of these four do you want?"
"I want them all." Xiao Zhuo said: "The Ming Dynasty has strict laws and strictly prohibits forcing girls into prostitution. Especially after His Majesty severely beat them once in the second year of Jianye, women with good figure and appearance and no worries started working in the brothel business in Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places in the capital.
It's enough to sell for hundreds of taels each, which is dozens of times the profit."
"This is not possible." Zheng Pai said: "There is a prince in Goa who has told me several times that he wants an oriental beauty. He is willing to pay a price equivalent to fifty taels of gold from the Han people. Moreover, if he pleases me, he can let me live there.
It is more convenient to do business, so I will give you three at most."
"Three will do." Xiao Zhuo agreed: "Three are enough to sell for more than one thousand taels, and you can make a lot of money."
"It's a pity that there aren't many beauties like this. I'm afraid the Ming army doesn't have many of them except those who were taken as concubines by the generals."
"Just be content. I bought two the day before yesterday and four today. There are six in total. If you divide four of them, how much will you earn?" Zheng Paidao said.
"How can one be satisfied when doing business?" Xiao Zhuo said with a smile.
The two of them joked for a while and were about to go to have lunch. But at this moment, the sound of "pat-ta-ta-ta" footsteps was heard from outside the courtyard.
Xiao Zhuo climbed up the ladder and took a few glances. He waited until the footsteps stopped and then got down from the ladder. With surprise on his face, he said to Zheng Pai: "It's the imperial army. I just clicked, there are 50,000 people."
"Not long after we occupied Yi'an City, there were still many troops stationed outside the city. They should not be assigned to station outside the city to respond to the city. Then why is the general going to lead troops to go on an expedition? Today is the first day of the first lunar month, so we don't want to allow more troops.
How many days of rest will you have before setting out on the expedition?"
After hearing Xiao Zhuo's words, Zheng Pai was stunned for a moment, and then said: "This General He is quite capable. Today is the first day of the first lunar month and the first day of the new year. The army has just captured Yi'an City. Everyone thought he would lead the troops.
If we repair it for a few more days, our defenses will surely be looser, and we can take things by surprise." He and I came up with the same idea.
Xiao Zhuo was also stunned and said with a smile: "What you said makes sense. From what I see, you should actually be commanding wars instead of being a businessman."
Zheng Pai did not listen to him, but fell into deep thought. Xiao Zhuo was confused and patted his arm. Zheng Pai came to his senses, but said nothing and went to have dinner with him.
On the early morning of the next day, the second day of the first lunar month, Zheng Pai and Xiao Zhuo counted all the "goods" in their hands, and took the men to the dock they rented in the port. They carefully inspected the goods again and put them on the ship. The sailors will
Horns, ivory and the like were put into special cabins, and male and female slaves were put on the ship.
Zheng Pai told Shun: "This time you are the captain to deliver the goods. You must be careful not to make any mistakes."
"On the ship, remember to take good care of the ivory and other goods without any damage; when passing by the mainland and islands, remember to buy vegetables and fruits. Somehow, if you don't eat vegetables on the ship all year round, you will easily get beriberi..."
"You should also pay attention when you arrive at the place. Remember to brush the skin of the slaves before letting the buyer inspect them. Then put gunpowder into the wine made from sugar cane and give each of them a sip, so that their dirty and dull skin will change.
The skin becomes shiny and firm, and looks much more energetic than before; everyone will become lively and jumping, even the dying people are like living monkeys..."
Fu Shun listened to his instructions silently, and waited until he finished speaking before saying: "Brother Zheng, I have done this kind of business before, and I also have the first mate and the second mate to remind me, so there will be no omissions."
"Hey, I know that, but it's just that I don't go with you for such a big deal. I always feel uneasy. Okay, it's getting late. You can get on the boat and go." Zheng Pai said.
Fu Shun agreed and took his brothers on board the ship.
When the ship started to move, Zheng Pai looked at the ship that was gradually moving away. He stared at it for a long time and didn't look back until the ship was no longer visible.
"Why, you're worried that Fu Shun will run away with the boat, so you're watching so closely?" Xiao Zhuo joked.
Zheng Pai smiled and did not answer.
Xiao Zhuo asked again: "I have never understood why you suddenly decided not to take the boat yourself and stay in Yi'an City?"
"Of course it's because Annan still has places where he can make a lot of money," Zheng Pai said.
"But all the valuable goods in Yi'an City have been bought, and what's left are just a few slaves. Although you can make a lot of money by selling ordinary slaves, it can't be regarded as making a lot of money." Xiao Zhuo said.
"I'm not talking about Nie'an, I'm talking about Qinghua and Xidu. In two days, Qinghua and Xidu will definitely be places where you can make a lot of money."
"Why?" Xiao Zhuo was puzzled.
Zheng Pai did not explain immediately, but said to his men: "If there is another Ming army heading north tomorrow, we will set off with our chariots and horses. Everyone should bring their own men."
Then he said to Xiao Zhuo: "Xiao Zhuo, don't take the boat to Shanghai by yourself. Let someone you trust lead the team. Let's go to Qinghua together to make a lot of money."
