Huang Yi calculated that the population was less than 30,000, and the gold and silver treasures in his hands were used to buy enough grain base to support it for a year.
This is without any harvest or seizure.
Nowadays, not only are there outputs in the fields, but there are also protection fees paid by merchants, and military pay from the court. The days are definitely getting better and better as time goes by!
The vast majority of businessmen know that harmony makes money, and the use of force to suppress others is often not used as a last resort or when the benefits are huge.
It costs 3% of the value of the contraband to buy Sanbaili Ping An, which is not a high price.
9 In addition, the Li family firm, which was gaining momentum the most, took the lead in paying protection fees, and the merchants in Zhangjiakou had no choice but to submit.
The truth is obvious. The price of the Li family's grain will double when it leaves customs and goes to Liaodong. The cost will become higher and higher, and the transportation volume will double.
Do you see the Li family eating alone?
As for whether the Li family business really pays the three percent in food or silver, who knows? Is it possible that any merchant would dare to go out of customs to check the accounts in the base area?
If other merchants adopt the method of centralized customs clearance and jointly hire a large number of swordsmen and gunmen to guard the grain transport team, it will not only waste too much time, but also cost far more than 3% of the value of the goods.
Besides, how many people are needed to protect the grain transport team to defeat the "horse-thief alliance" trying to rob the road?
No one is a fool, and they all know who controls the so-called "horse thieves".
To guard against hundreds of sturdy cavalry raiding the caravan, one or two thousand swordsmen and gunmen would have to be organized. It was not certain whether these paid guards would disperse in the face of battle.
This is human nature. Guards just earn hard money. Is it worth dying for this little money? Is it possible to fight hard?
Moreover, in the vast prairie, when the vast majority of horse thieves looted caravans, as long as the horsemen, coachmen, clerks, etc. did not resist, their lives would be spared.
Is it possible to bribe Zhangjiakou's civilian and military generals and simply dispatch the Ming army to escort them?
Who doesn’t know the combat effectiveness of the Ming army? How big is the appetite of civil servants and military generals? Is it worth it?
Therefore, the eight major imperial merchants finally made the decision to admit it. Anyway, the 3.3% increase in costs will be passed on to the big dog Jiannu.
Huang Yi only set a tap number of one out of thirty, just to make the eight imperial merchants feel comfortable and to avoid premature conflicts with them.
Shanxi merchants headed by Fan Yongdou are very good at making money. Huang Yi, who has formulated a strategy of letting go of water and raising fish, not only does not suppress them, but also provides convenience and strives to let them earn more.
When the strength of the base area increases to the point where it can lead tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to surround Zhangjiakou City.
He would choose the best time to arrest all the eight imperial merchants, and he would also arrest the whole family, not even a single slave slipping through the net.
Next, do you still need to worry about military pay?
The eight imperial merchants were tortured one by one, then their shopkeepers, clerks, stewards, and their nephews and brothers.
Grasping the basic principle of asking for money rather than life, we not only confiscated their cash and physical goods, but also forced them to sell their fields and properties to redeem their lives.
If you really succeed in emptying out the eight imperial merchants, how much money will you get? Will it exceed 30 million taels?
Of course, it will take three to five years to liquidate the eight imperial merchants, and we must work hard now.
After the New Year, a spy organization must be established to purposely infiltrate the homes and shops of the eight imperial merchants.
It doesn’t matter that it’s difficult for outsiders to enter the inner circle.
Huang Yi only needs to master the basic data of the eight imperial merchants. What he needs to master most is the trends of those in charge and the number of people.
As long as the person who should be caught does not slip through the net when the action begins, the benefits that should be obtained will not escape.
There is no stability without farming, there is no wealth without work, and there is no life without business. This is a true insight.
Wool felt, wool, sweaters, military uniforms, leather shoes and other handmade products can only increase women's income.
If the base area wants to take a prosperous road, it must produce and sell industrial products.
The combination of indigenous coking and air temperature technology makes steel completely melted and no longer semi-crystalline. The cost of steelmaking has been reduced and the quality has been improved.
The steel in the base area will have strong competitiveness.
The flagship product is of course the iron pot, which is needed by every family in the grassland. Wouldn’t it be nice to exchange one pot for a cow or a horse?
Briquette stoves and briquette molds are both down-to-earth products. They will be sold to Xuanfu, Datong, Zhangjiakou and other cities. They will not make as much money as selling pots to the prairie, but they can still maintain a 30% gross profit.
As more people in the city use coal stoves, coal sales will naturally increase, and many jobs will be created in the base area.
The agricultural tool workshops in the base area not only make plowshares, shovels, sickles, picks and other basic tools for domestic use and export.
We are still manufacturing simple agricultural machinery such as foot-operated threshers, triangular columbine seeders, push sickles, wheat titans, wheat traps, wheat cages and other simple agricultural machinery.
These agricultural machinery are not Huang Yi's golden fingers, they are agricultural tools recorded in "Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book". Using these guys can improve efficiency.
The reason why farmers in the Ming Dynasty did not use these time-saving and labor-saving agricultural machinery was because ironware was expensive and easy to rust, and wooden and bambooware were often damaged, so they were reluctant to spend money on them.
Besides, farmers’ time is worthless, and it cost nothing to regain their strength after sleeping!
Huang Yi, who came from a later generation, was completely different. He not only advocated the use of agricultural machinery, but also encouraged farmers to brainstorm and strive to make agricultural machinery more convenient and practical.
Young adults who are able to skillfully use the combination of Maisha, Maichuo and Mailong can not only harvest five acres of wheat in one day, but also have no pain in their backs.
But a young farmer wielding a sickle and harvesting two acres of wheat fields in one day would break his back from exhaustion after working for three to five days.
The extensive use of machinery and livestock during the autumn harvest saved manpower and shortened the harvesting time. The time saved opened up at least 3,000 acres of farmland.
Huang Yi's estimate was correct. Xuan Dajun had made great achievements, but Geng Zhanghua failed to return immediately. He went to Beijing to accept the reward and was summoned by Chongzhen again.
Geng Ruqi only received the award from Yin Yizi for being a member of the Hundred Households of Jinyiwei, and was not promoted again. However, Geng Zhanghua was promoted to another level through the false award and was actually awarded the rank of General of the Supervisory Biao Battalion.
There is basically no affiliation between the generals of the Ming Dynasty during non-war times. The chief military officer only directly manages his own main barracks.
The commander of Governor Xuanda's model battalion used to be the guerrilla general Geng Zhanghua, but now he is the staff general Geng Zhanghua. The number of troops has been increased by several hundred, but the rest remains the same.
Geng Ruqi was happy to praise Huang Yi, and he didn't mind Huang Yi's weird temper. In his heart, Huang Yi was one of his own, a son-in-law who could ride a dragon.
Therefore, Huang Yi, who did not stay in the capital to wait for rewards based on his merits, was not treated badly.
His false position was promoted to the rank of third-grade guard commander, and his actual assignment was not only to General Qian under Governor Xuanda's Model Battalion, but also to the garrison of Dongshan Fort, which was about to be completed.
Huang Yi finally has the rank of third-level official, and can be called a general in a dignified manner.
