In the private room on the second floor of Yan Lai Building, Luo Zhang was shocked when he heard Zhao Tianhu say that the sales of highland barley wine had reached two million taels.
In his impression, not much highland barley wine was sold, so he didn't pay much attention to it.
But Luo Zhang had forgotten that although one hundred bottles a day was not much, how long had he not received any money? After so many days, the sales volume of highland barley wine is not only ten thousand, but also several thousand bottles. Each ordinary bottle can make a lot of money, not to mention the highland barley wine bottled in Jiulong ice jade glass bottles, which sells even more.
After saving for such a long time, it is normal to have two million.
"Brother, don't you know?" Zhao Tianhu said somewhat suspiciously.
"I know your uncle!" Luo Zhang cursed.
If he knew that there were two million people here, why would he worry about the money to recruit soldiers? He could just ask Liu Rengui to continue to expand the recruitment. Three thousand people are too few, five thousand people, now it must be at least five thousand!
"Go and call Liu Rengui to me. I'll see him if I have something to do!" Luo Zhang ordered to Zhao Tianhu!
In just half an hour, Liu Rengui rushed over from the military camp without stopping.
"Sir, what's the reason why you invited me here?" Liu Rengui asked, wiping the sweat from his face.
"Of course something happened, it's a good thing. The recruitment has stopped now, right?" Luo Zhang asked and poured a glass of water for Liu Rengui.
Liu Rengui drank the water in the glass like a cow, wiped his mouth, and shouted that it tasted good.
Seeing this, Luo Zhang rolled his eyes and said: "This is the Dahongpao of labor and management, and you drink like this? I really shouldn't let people like you drink, you should go drink sea water!"
"Hey, sir, you know I'm just a rough guy, how can I understand this tea!" Liu Rengui said with a smile.
Luo Zhang was not angry but poured a drink for Liu Rengui. He was not a stingy person, he was just talking.
After finishing another cup of tea, Liu Rengui said: "Recruiting has indeed stopped. Didn't the adults say it will be temporarily stopped?"
"Well, but now you can continue to recruit troops. Give me another two thousand to reach five thousand. If you need money, just ask Zhao Tianhu. But I have to ensure the quality of the soldiers. Do you understand the quality?" Luo Zhang asked.
Liu Rengui nodded, then shook his head and said: "It should be no problem to recruit another two thousand. It is not a problem for me to train separately with Master Sun Ren and Du Shuang. It's just adults, what does this quality mean?"
Luo Zhang touched his forehead and said, "Soldiers must be strong, young, and have no problems. All kinds of tests must still be done according to your previous ones. Do you understand?"
"I understand this. We have done that kind of test before. Only those who pass can be selected. Also, as you mentioned, only children are not included in the recruitment, those who are too tall are not included in the recruitment, and those who are slow are not included in the recruitment..." Liu Rengui pointed his fingers and said the rules Luo Zhang had set for him before.
"Well, it seems that you remember it. That's good. I don't need to repeat it. Yes, just do what you said before. Before Liu Renyuan comes back, I hope you will recruit 5,000 people and train them initially. Understand Are you ready?" Luo Zhang warned.
"I understand, sir, I promise I won't disappoint you!" Liu Rengui said, patting his chest.
"Okay, let's have dinner here today before leaving." Luo Zhang patted Liu Rengui on the shoulder and said.
This made Liu Rengui overjoyed. This was Yanlailou. If he had a meal here, he would be bragging when he went back.
Luo Zhang did not accompany Liu Rengui and went home after explaining the explanation. Mei Niang at home had just recovered, so he naturally wanted to spend more time with her.
Three days passed in a flash, and Luo Zhang repeated his daily life of morning court, military department, home, and three o'clock and one line of work.
It was boring and boring, and he felt like he was going crazy, but he had to continue living like this.
Finally on the fourth day, while Luo Zhang was still reviewing the memorial at the Ministry of War, he received good news. Liu Renyuan was back, driving three offshore ships.
Memorial? Labor and management will not approve the memorial for going to the mother!
Taking Wu Shaobin with him, Luo Zhang headed towards the dock non-stop.
Before we arrived at the pier, we saw a huge crowd of people at the pier. The pier was almost overcrowded. These people had received the news and came to see what happened to the three offshore ships that were returning home with full loads from the south. They wanted to know how they had gone to the southern capital. What good things did you bring back, how much money did you make, etc.
Some of these people are spies sent by dignitaries, but most of them are merchants. They have been paying attention to the docks and the situation of maritime transportation. Compared with land transportation, the biggest advantage of maritime transportation is that it saves time and money. The only worry is that It's a matter of safety.
You must know that the sea is not much safer than land transportation, and it is even more dangerous. This is what they are worried about. If the ship is robbed by Japanese or Goguryeo warships, then their goods will be completely lost. Those People who rob will not return anything to them. Unlike land transportation, as long as you give some money, the robbers who rob the road will let them go. After all, the goods they robbed are of no use to the bandits who robbed the road. This is also One of the reasons why merchants have not chosen shipping.
But today is different. I heard that the ship that went to sea to the south came back and had a battle with the Japanese warships. They defeated the many with less and annihilated the Japanese army. This news made everyone The pot exploded.
The navy of the Tang Dynasty had never defeated the Japanese and Goguryeo at sea. They had always been plundered. It was not that they did not want to defeat them, but that their ships were not good enough and they were no match for them.
The ship built by the Dockyard Department had high hopes, but it capsized before it even set sail. Not only did it fail to kill any enemy, but many people were killed by its own ship. It became a joke to the entire Tang Dynasty for a while, and also It became the tragedy of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, everyone seems not to care about Liu Renyuan's overseas trip, but in fact they are extremely concerned about it.
No, so many people came just after the boat came back!
Luo Zhang stopped his horse and stopped on a hillside. He looked at the three offshore ships that were slowly sailing into the dock, and the high-spirited Liu Renyuan and his men were standing on the ships. Luo Zhang felt very relieved.
Finally, the Royal Navy of labor and capital finally succeeded!
After spending so much money and time, it finally paid off, how could Luo Zhang not be excited!
You know, the significance of Liu Renyuan's return is very important. As mentioned just now, Liu Renyuan defeated the Japanese and completely defeated the enemy. What does this mean? It shows that the Tang Navy is no longer afraid of warships from any other country, and sea transportation is not that risky, at least it is more guaranteed and safer than land transportation.
Moreover, sea transportation takes shorter time, transports more goods, and the freight is cheaper. With so many benefits, many people are naturally tempted.
When the boat entered the pier, the crowd was excited. They all wanted to get closer to the pier to see the situation, but they were stopped outside by Liu Rengui, who had been prepared for it. No one could get in at all!
"Let's go, Liu Renyuan is coming down, let's go and congratulate him!" Luo Zhang smiled at Wu Shaobin beside him.
Wu Shaobin also smiled, but he knew that his brother-in-law was calculating where Liu Renyuan and the others were every day with his fingers. He had been worried these days. Now that he finally got off the boat and came back, he finally felt relieved.
Luo Zhang naturally let him go all the way when he arrived at the dock. When he came to the warship, Liu Renyuan just got off the ship.
Seeing Luo Zhang, Liu Renyuan hurriedly knelt down on one knee and said: "Liu Renyuan, a humble official, lived up to the trust of the Lord and came back from the south. On the way, he fought five Japanese warships, defeated them and captured them. The ships were sold to Yuhang County, and all the proceeds were in On board!”
"Okay, okay, as long as it's okay, as long as it's okay, I'll ask the cook from Yan Lailou to come over today. I'm going to have a big banquet here to welcome the returning soldiers!" Luo Zhang said with a hearty laugh.
Under the leadership of Liu Renyuan, Luo Zhang personally boarded the ship and entered the cabin. There were boxes piled up in the cabin. When Liu Renyuan opened them, boxes of gold and silver appeared in front of Luo Zhang.
"Sir, this gold was all sold by us, totaling ten thousand gold, and the silver was all on the Japanese ship. It was difficult for us to exchange it, so we just brought it back. The total amount is 1.5 million taels, and the other bottom warehouses There are also various goods brought back from the south this time. They may not be bought for much money in the south, but they are valuable in Chang'an. The master who came with the ship said that if all these goods are sold, they can make at least a hundred dollars. In addition, there were five Japanese ships sold for a total of 100,000 taels, and these 100,000 taels were used by us for supplies along the way, so in the end the remaining money totaled 2.5 million taels, and the goods One million taels!" Liu Renyuan proudly introduced his income from this line of work. Luo Zhang was stunned after hearing this. He did not expect that the harvest this time was so big. The biggest harvest was the battle with the Japanese. Not only did he gain Gold and silver, and a lot of goods were also harvested. This shows that robbery comes quickly.
