Chapter two hundred and eighty sixth whereabouts leaked
Although Old Man Sun's transaction with the Tang Dynasty this time came with some twists and turns. He encountered some "little troubles" on the road as he himself said, and the goods were inspected by the Ming army more than once, but these troubles were all caused by him.
Resolve them one by one.
How to resolve it? Li Xuan guessed that it was nothing more than collusion between government and businessmen, or simply that Old Man Sun used silver bullets to clear the way, and directly took out the silver to knock out the Ming soldiers who were patrolling and checking.
Although the high-ranking officials attached great importance to the material blockade of the Tang Dynasty by the Ming army, both Su Jiakang and now Song Zhiwen spent great efforts to block the materials of the Tang Dynasty to prevent strategic materials from flowing into the Tang Dynasty.
The dynasty was used by these bandits and rebels.
But there were still small and medium-sized businessmen who cooperated with the Tang Dynasty before. Even if the Tang Dynasty was still huddled in Huangzhu Mountain, the temptation of money was enough for these businessmen to use various means to overcome the obstacles encountered on the road and succeed.
Open up trading channels with the Tang Dynasty.
Although Old Man Sun, who is now more powerful, is facing a blockade order issued by Song Zhiwen himself, the lower-level Ming soldiers will also execute this order, but this is without conflict of interest.
If Old Man Sun directly used silver bullets to clear the way, those Ming soldiers at the bottom who were specifically responsible for patrolling would most likely turn a blind eye, or even directly escort Old Man Sun's caravan.
And the price Old Man Sun paid would never be too high. To bribe a Ming army soldier, maybe a few taels of silver would be enough. Even to bribe the small flags leading the troops, the general flag and other small officials, the cost would be at most
It's only a few dozen taels of silver.
As for those hundreds or even thousands of households in high positions, it is naturally impossible to buy them easily at these prices, but these middle- and high-level generals will not personally lead their soldiers on inspections.
As long as those Ming army soldiers who are specifically responsible for the inspection turn a blind eye, for example, do not check the carriages carrying goods, then Old Man Sun's caravan can easily get through.
Li Xuan didn't care how Old Man Sun explained the many troubles he encountered along the way. He only cared about whether Old Man Sun could transport the goods to Zhengtai County through the blockade of the Transparent Army.
As long as the goods can be transported to Zhengtai County, Li Xuan doesn't mind giving Old Man Sun a high price!
After all, people also have to take huge risks. If they don't do well, their family will be confiscated and their family will be exterminated. If there are no high profits, why would Old Man Sun take such huge risks?
After the two parties agree on the price, Li Xuan naturally does not need to worry about the specific handover of the subsequent goods!
Xie Wahuan, who is responsible for the handover of the goods this time, will personally go to the specific location to hand over the goods, and will also bring with him nearly 3,000 taels of silver for the goods.
In order to protect this huge sum of 3,000 taels of silver, and also to escort and transport the goods back to Xikou Village smoothly, Li Xuan personally issued an order and dispatched a team of baggage soldiers from the baggage battalion to perform the transportation task, and also dispatched a second team of baggage soldiers.
A mixed battalion served as escort.
At this time, the First Mixed Battalion, a small-scale mixed force with only more than 200 people but the ability to fight independently, became more convenient to use.
When he needs to send small-scale troops out to perform tasks, he does not need to directly draw troops from the main battalions and teams to form temporary troops as in the past. Instead, he can dispatch a complete organization and long-term training anytime and anywhere.
With the same familiar mixed forces.
However, this first mixed battalion is only responsible for the follow-up escort mission and will not be directly involved in the handover of goods, because Old Man Sun is afraid!
Old Man Sun proposed that he would transport the goods across the river first, and then both sides would send twenty unarmed personnel to hand over the goods in batches. The armed forces of both sides were mainly the first mixed battalion of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty and the armed forces from Sun Latou's caravan.
The escort team must wait ten miles behind.
The twenty people performing the handover task are not allowed to carry swords, well, including the firecrackers that Old Man Sun emphasized, and the twenty people on both sides must be bare-handed.
Considering that there is no way for the Tang Dynasty to move all the goods with only twenty people, the handover of goods will be divided into five batches. After each batch of goods is handed over, both parties will pay on the spot.
The goods are cleared in both directions, as the saying goes, the money is paid in one hand and the goods are delivered in the other hand, without default on each other.
Once the handover is over, everyone goes away.
At the same time, in order to prepare for accidents, both sides can dispatch a number of surveillance personnel to the other party's armed escort. Once an accident occurs, these surveillance personnel will immediately use various means such as smoke or carrier pigeons to notify the handover personnel at the front. Once this happens,
, it is inevitable that a fight will break out between the two sides.
Don't think that Old Man Sun is a serious businessman because he looks like a good old man who is harmless to humans and animals. Since he dares to do business with the Tang Dynasty, he naturally has his confidence.
According to several people from the Tang Dynasty who followed Old Man Sun along the way, although Old Man Sun was not well-known in Fucheng, he was doing private business and selling private goods in a shady manner.
Salt is Old Man Sun's main business, and most of his other businesses are shady. Basically, it can be said that he does whatever breaks the law and makes money.
He evades taxes and sells private iron and steel. Private salt is his base. In addition, like Fengjiazhuang in the past, he has business dealings with a large number of bandit dens. He purchases various materials stolen by bandits at low prices and then sells them at high prices.
Sell the bandits the weapons, food, salt and other materials they need.
The business he did with the Tang Dynasty was a typical example.
And he has hundreds of people under his command, this time to transport these goods and ensure the safety of these goods.
Well, on the one hand, it is to prevent attacks by Ming army patrols, and more importantly, it is to prevent the Tang Dynasty from playing tricks on others. It is also to prevent any accidents on the road, such as being discovered by Ming army patrols and the silver bullet offensive does not work.
When the time comes, these people are the source of confidence and support.
They organized a caravan of more than a hundred people, and this caravan of only more than a hundred people was all staffed by the Sun family, and they all carried swords and spears, and even some weapons that had been banned by the public for generations.
Crossbow.
This kind of caravan that travels north and south to do smuggling and prohibited business, you can say that he is a merchant. The people in the caravan are all carrying swords, bows and crossbows. Their combat effectiveness is not weak, and they are not much inferior to the ordinary Ming army guards.
But you have to say that they are not businessmen, they really do business to make money.
Armed businessman, this is probably the most suitable word to describe a person like Old Man Sun.
However, Old Man Sun's worries were obviously unnecessary, because Li Xuan had never thought of playing gangster, and Li Xuan was not afraid of Old Man Sun playing gangster. The soldiers of the First Mixed Battalion were recruited from the First Infantry Battalion.
Gunners, as well as sword and shield soldiers, archers and other main forces were drawn from, and their combat effectiveness is not weak.
In the event of an accident, he guaranteed that Old Man Sun would not be able to cross the Lanjiang River alone.
Old Man Sun himself just wanted to make money. When the new army of the Tang Dynasty did not move, he naturally completed the transaction calmly.
In this transaction, both sides were relatively cautious. Old Man Sun was afraid that the New Army of the Tang Dynasty would play tricks on others, while the New Army of the Tang Dynasty was afraid that Old Man Sun would take the money and run away, leaving them with a bunch of fakes.
Therefore, the handover was relatively slow, and the five batches of transactions lasted for an entire afternoon. Near evening, the transactions between the two parties were finally completed.
After Old Man Sun had someone escort the last batch of goods away, he turned to Xie Wahuan and said: "The next batch of goods will arrive in half a month, and the transaction method will be the same as now. In addition, the next batch of goods will arrive in half a month.
The preparation of this batch of goods is still too hasty. The large amount of ironware you need will be prepared in large quantities after Sun returns. When the third batch of goods is delivered to Zhengtai County, you will be able to see at least 10,000 kilograms of iron.
Even more iron is piled together!"
After hearing this, Xie Wahuan smiled and nodded: "Then I'm looking forward to the good news from Mr. Sun!"
Now that the transaction has been completed, both parties will naturally go home!
However, at this time, the New Army of the Tang Dynasty was cautious and sent scouts to secretly follow Old Man Sun's caravan, trying to find where they crossed the river.
But Old Man Sun is really cunning. After the transaction was completed, most of their manpower was reduced to parts. The large caravan of more than a hundred people instantly turned into dozens of teams with a few people and no more than ten people.
Team.
Since it was night when Old Man Sun and the others retreated, and the night was dark and windy, several scouts of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty had no choice but to follow only one group of people. This group of people included Old Man Sun. In the second half of the night, this group of people
More than ten people rested in a small village.
But at dawn the next day, the scouts waited for several hours but did not see Old Man Sun and the others reappearing. When they finally ventured into the village to inquire, these villagers told the scouts of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty that there was indeed someone there in the middle of the night.
When they entered the village, the people gave them money and said they wanted to stay overnight.
However, those people didn't stay long after giving the money and left after half an hour!
At this time, the scouts of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty discovered that their target had already escaped in the middle of the night, and they were still waiting for them outside the village.
Not to mention these little tricks of the new army of the Tang Dynasty, after the Tang Dynasty obtained these supplies from Old Man Sun, they did not stop for a day. That night, they rushed all night to transport them to Xikou Village.
These supplies were extremely important to the Tang Dynasty, and there was no room for any mistakes. If Su Jiakang in the county knew the news, he might send troops to attack.
Although there is the First Mixed Battalion, the safety of these supplies is guaranteed. No matter what happens, the First Mixed Battalion can hold on and become the main source of the New Army of the Tang Dynasty.
However, it is better to do less than to do more. If possible, it is better to try not to attract the attention of the Ming army.
For this reason, they not only traveled all night, but also traveled to remote and uninhabited places!
But even so, the news that the Tang Dynasty received a large amount of supplies still reached Su Jiakang's ears!
After learning the news, Su Jiakang pondered deeply!