Chapter two hundred and eighty fifth good businessman in the new era
Looking at Old Man Sun's confident look, Li Xuan found it a little funny. Old Man Sun was really careful, and he was actually afraid that he would give him something wrong and take things without giving him money.
But it's not surprising that Old Man Sun would be so defensive. After all, the Tang Dynasty he was dealing with was a bandit, and even now he has a strong bandit aura.
Among a group of civil and military officials in the Tang Dynasty, half of them were bandit leaders. Fang Dongquan, Huang Xueren, and Cai Erhu used to be famous bandit leaders in Baili Mountain. Even Qian Mengjiu, a civil servant, was also a bandit.
Origin.
There were so many bandit leaders in the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty had done so many "grain harvesting" things in the past, which really made it impossible for Old Man Sun to feel any sense of security.
Therefore, it is understandable for Li Xuan that Old Man Sun is defensive.
But what Li Xuan couldn't understand was that Old Man Sun said that the goods only took three days to be transported. This meant that the goods had most likely been transported to Zhengtai County. However, now the entire Zhengtai County was under the control of the Tang Dynasty.
It's under control.
If you really want to be a gangster, these goods are hard to hide. If you send people to look for them, you can always find some clues. After all, transporting so much goods will definitely require a lot of manpower and carriages.
A large caravan appeared in Zhengtai County, and it was impossible not to leave traces.
Use some thought and you won't have to worry about finding it.
Perhaps he saw Li Xuan's playful expression, but Old Man Sun smiled slightly, and then added: "Those goods are now on the east bank of Lanjiang River. If you can come up with one silver today, then the villain will send them immediately."
People go back and let them start transporting goods across the river!"
Damn, after hearing this, Li Xuan had to admire this old man Sun. He was not only thoughtful, but also bold!
Today's Lanjiang River is a military confrontation zone between the Ming Army and the New Army of the Tang Dynasty. Several ferries suitable for large-scale crossings of the river are already under strict supervision by the Ming Army and the New Army of the Tang Dynasty.
The new army of the Tang Dynasty was afraid of the Ming army sneaking across the river from other places, and the Ming army was also afraid of the new army of the Tang Dynasty crossing the river to attack Fucheng.
But when Old Man Sun said this, he became even more curious. Where did Old Man Sun cross the river from? It must not be the ferry crossings that the public is familiar with, because in this case, the manpower of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty to monitor these crossings is
It's impossible not to know.
So did he cross the river from somewhere else?
This news immediately made Li Xuan realize the military strategic value of Old Man Sun's words.
If you want to cross the river eastward in the future, and the Lanjiang ferry is heavily guarded by the Ming army, and several other large ferry crossings are also monitored by the Ming army, if you can have a ferry that the Ming army doesn't know about, you can
Used to cross the river, send a partial division to cross the river secretly to attack the Ming army's rear, or even sneak attack the Ming army from behind, and cooperate with the main force to cross the river, then crossing the river can be expected!
Although the new army of the Tang Dynasty, or Li Xuan, has no intention of crossing the river to attack Fucheng, this does not mean that he will always stay in Zhengtai County. After he expands and trains his army and has three to four thousand troops, he
They will definitely not be satisfied with this remote place in Zhengtai County. Both Li Xuan himself and the Tang Dynasty will need a broader space for development.
It was not only Li Xuan who thought of this, but several other generals also thought of it. Zeng Ziwen immediately said: "Lanjiang? Now the main ferry crossings of Lanjiang are under the surveillance of our army. Where did you cross the river from?
?”
However, at this time, Old Man Sun smiled and said nothing!
Seeing this, Li Xuan had no intention of continuing to ask. Even if Old Man Sun didn't say anything, if he spent some time and sent more people to look for it, wouldn't he still be able to find it?
And again, old man Sun brought so much goods, it is absolutely impossible to keep it completely confidential along the way. If you think of more ways, you can always find some clues.
Li Xuan immediately said: "Such a great kindness, since Old Man Sun has shipped the materials needed by our army, let's complete the transaction as soon as possible without further delay!"
After saying this, he turned his head and looked at Xie Wahuan: "Xie Shangshu, you and Sun Yuanwai must make sure there is no mistake in the handover!"
Xie Wahuan immediately came out and said: "I obey the order!"
Immediately, Xie Wahuan calculated the value and quantity of the goods with Old Man Sun on the spot.
This time Old Man Sun brought a lot of goods, but while the goods were sufficient, the prices were also ridiculously high. Whether it was iron, copper, sulfur, saltpeter, etc., the prices were double or even several times the normal market price.
times.
The most expensive one is sulfur. Most of this stuff is not produced in China and most of it needs to be imported from Japan. After crossing the sea and mountains to Zhengtai County in the southwest inland, the price was so high that Li Xuan was heartbroken.
Shockingly, it was more than three times the market price.
The rest of the saltpeter is not cheap either, it is twice as much as the market price.
In comparison, iron, as the strategic material that the imperial court attaches most importance to and is most strictly monitored, is not that high, only twice the market price.
Perhaps because the transaction went smoothly, Old Man Sun didn't know whether he accidentally let it slip or revealed it on purpose, saying that all his iron was purchased from private mines, and the reason why the quantity this time was not large was because
This is the first transaction, and the transportation channels are not very common. This transaction is just a trial transaction. If the Tang Dynasty needs more iron, as long as it can pay for it, it will be tens of thousands of kilograms, not to mention more.
It's all casual things.
Li Xuan was shocked when he heard this!
Who are these people? He is a dignified emperor, but he is still worried about a few thousand kilograms of iron. This smuggler talks about tens of thousands of kilograms of iron, and it is private iron.
Does the court know that you are so awesome?
If the Ming court officials knew how awesome you were, they would probably give you a gift that would confiscate your family and exterminate your clan!
However, it is a good thing that this person has many channels. At least in a short period of time, the Tang Dynasty will have a stable channel to obtain enough strategic materials.
When Xie Wahuan, the Minister of Rites, and Old Man Sun calculated the value of the goods, Li Xuan discovered that for this batch of goods, Old Man Sun actually charged him more than three thousand taels of silver.
When they heard this number, whether it was Fang Dongquan, Chen Tufu, Liu Bagou, Zeng Ziwen, or Xie Waqian who personally calculated the price of the goods, they were all speechless for a long time!
Damn it, your surname is Sun, you are so dark!
Something worth a few hundred taels was sold for more than 3,000 taels!
The cost for him to acquire these goods is at most a few hundred taels of silver. Even if transportation costs and other extraordinary expenses are included, well, including bribes and the like, the cost will never exceed eight hundred taels.
If these things are sold normally in the market, they are estimated to be worth about a thousand taels of silver. In other words, if these things are sold normally, the profit margin is estimated to be only about 20 to 30%, which is not low.
, but it’s definitely not too high.
However, this old man Sun took more than three thousand taels of silver from the Tang Dynasty.
After this calculation, his profit is at least four times more!
He is indeed a profit-seeking capitalist. If he has a 100% profit, he dares to trample on the law. If he has a 300% profit, he dares to put the rope hanging on the beam around his neck. Now he has
With more than 400% moisture, no wonder he dared to risk his family and exterminate his family to make a deal with him.
After Butcher Chen and the others saw the price, they all looked at Old Man Sun and wanted to eat him. Although they were prepared to be hacked, they did not expect it to be so dark. They were so black that they couldn't even see their fingers.
Butcher Chen was waiting for him with a pair of huge eyes. His eyes clearly said: You are so brave. You dare to trick our Tang Dynasty. Believe it or not, I will chop you down with one knife!
However, these are just the thoughts of the people below. However, Li Xuan did not show the slightest anger, and Li Xuan even looked at Old Man Sun with more and more kindness in his eyes.
If it weren't for his inconvenient status, Li Xuan would have wanted to step forward and shake hands with Old Man Su: Mr. Sun is indeed a good businessman in the new era!
This good businessman, if his price was lower, Li Xuan would honestly be a little worried about whether he would come again next time. However, this time he set the price so low, Li Xuan knew that this person was definitely trying to make money.
He is an open traitor and is not even afraid of confiscating his home and exterminating his family. He probably has nothing else in his eyes except money.
Compared with making money, the risk of traveling to and from Zhengtai County is nothing!
And such merchants are what the Tang Dynasty needs most at present. Li Xuan is not afraid that your prices will be low, but he is afraid that you will not dare to come. As long as you dare to bring goods through the Ming army's blockade to Zhengtai County, he will still give you double the price.
!
Anyway, the gold and silver currently hoarded by the Tang Dynasty are of no use except for gross value. If they are not used to purchase supplies, they can only be left to grow moldy.
Li Xuan felt that he had made a profit by exchanging these gold and silver, which could only be seen but not eaten, for strategic materials that could be used for war, no matter what the ratio was.
The Tang Dynasty needed food, salt, cloth, iron, copper, sulfur, saltpeter, lead and other strategic materials, in large quantities and urgently.
With businessmen like Old Man Sun who were desperate for money and life, the Tang Dynasty was able to obtain so many supplies from the outside world in a short period of time.
So Li Xuan suppressed the angry looks of others, and then said with a smile: "Executive member Sun, it's a pleasure to cooperate. If possible, the next time your caravan comes over, be sure to bring 10,000 kilograms of iron. The price will still be higher than before."
Count twice!"
When Old Man Sun heard this, the smile on his face became even brighter, and he quickly cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty's instructions, I will do my best. If nothing happens, the next batch of goods will be delivered in half a month!"