Human greed is endless.
Those who don’t have it want to get it, and those who have it want more. This is the so-called “desire is hard to fill”.
A huge sum of 600,000 yuan is enough to make people's eyes red. No one can remain calm under such a huge sum of money, and it is almost effortless to get this money...
Zhu Qu found the county magistrate Xiao Ming, Wang Yu'an, and Changsun Man, and after some discussion, they decided to sell the stolen wood to the Japanese. Although he was afraid of being discovered by Fang Jun, it would not end well, but considering that Lu Xiaoyu could not reveal the information to Fang Jun, let alone sell it to the Japanese, after the business was completed, the wood would be shipped along the river and the sea. Even if Fang Jun was clairvoyant, he would be able to It's impossible to find this wood!
However, the county magistrate Xiao Ming rejected Zhu Qu's proposal to "do another vote"...
"Now that Fang Jun has the power of victory, and the morale of the entire navy is high, it is better not to cause trouble at this time. Once we are entangled by the navy, it will be difficult for us to escape. If we remain in a stalemate until Fang Jun arrives, it will only increase trouble."
Xiao Ming was not carried away by desire.
You already have such a large amount of wood in your hands, why increase the risk and "take another shot"? The wood in my hand had been embezzled and stolen three or four times. It was not worth it to risk losing everything just for an extra quarter of profit.
Wang Yu'an was timid. He was originally unwilling to sell the wood in his hands, but he was afraid that Fang Jun would follow the clues and find him. How could he do it again?
The eldest grandson has been in Chang'an for a long time. Although he was sent to Jiangnan by his father eldest grandson Hengan to take charge of the family iron factory this time, it happened that he would get involved with these people to steal the navy's wood. In the end, he deviated from the main task this time, and before leaving At that time, the fourth uncle's eldest son, Sun Wuji, warned him not to conflict with Fang Jun...
This made Chang Sunman very scrupulous, so he naturally agreed with Xiao Ming's words.
Although Zhu Qu was full of enthusiasm and wanted to vote again, he had to give up when he saw that no one agreed with him.
Zhu Qu remembered another thing: "The Japanese boats were small and could not transport much wood at a time, so the Japanese had to hire a large number of sea-going ships, and the price was very generous."
Xiao Ming frowned: "In other words, if there is no sea-going ship, he will not buy this batch of wood?"
"That's of course. Without shipping, how could he let the wood float along the sea to the Japanese country?"
Xiao Ming nodded: "Then make another big deal and double the price of the sea-going ship!"
Zhu Qu smiled happily: "It's just what I want! This time our family can make a lot of money. Just a sea ship going to the Japanese country for such a circle will be no less than the profit of a year in previous years. What's more, there are dozens of ships at sea. , it’s no problem if one or two ships are sunk or lost, and a few more ships of lumber can be earned..."
Changsun Man frowned slightly. What kind of merchant is he? The price of wood has doubled, the price of the boat has doubled, and he has to cut him again halfway... However, Changsun's family has no maritime trade business, let alone sea-going ships, so this income can only be Looking at it, I can't get in.
Wang Yu'an was a little worried: "With so many ships going out to sea, if Fang Jun finds out later, won't he cause trouble for us?"
Zhu Qu said disdainfully: "Are you afraid now? Are you afraid of a bird! Do you think Fang Jun doesn't know that these wood were taken away by us? He knows it's useless, he has to have evidence! Without evidence, how can this Jiangnan be? How can he be allowed to do this? Not to mention that we Jiangnan nobles are not vegetarians, do you really think that the eldest grandson's family is filming? Is that right, eldest grandson?"
This fat man is indeed cunning. At this time, he still wants to tie the Changsun family to a rope...
Changsun Man felt disgusted and snorted, but did not answer.
Do you think our eldest son’s family are all capricious villains like you?
The heart of a villain measures the belly of a gentleman!
Haiyu City is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Xiao family is the leader of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. Xiao Ming is also vaguely respected among these people.
Xiao Ming immediately made a decision and said: "This matter has been decided. Brother Zhu quickly contacted Lu Xiaoyu and completed the matter before Fang Jun arrived. All the wood was sold out. After Fang Jun came here, he must not be able to find any clues. We will go to Huating Town, and the matter will be settled. Our money will be in our pockets, and we can all feel at ease."
The matter was decided, Zhu Qu immediately went to find Lu Xiaoyu according to the location he left, and after some conspiracies, it was agreed that the transaction would be carried out at midnight tomorrow. Zhu Qu kept an eye on it and wanted to see if the Japanese had cash to settle the matter in advance.
Lu Xiaoyu was quite displeased and sneered: "Brother Zhu really doesn't trust Mr. Lu. Even if our Lu family is in dire straits, we still can't do that thing where the goods are put on the ship but there is no money!"
Zhu Qu was quite thick-skinned and didn't take it seriously. He said to himself: "Brother Lu, you are serious. After all, this matter is not just Brother Yu's. Besides, I can trust you, Brother Lu, but I can't trust those Japanese people. If something happens, If something goes wrong, it’s really hard to explain.”
Lu Xiaoyu snorted and called Ji Shiju with a displeased look on his face. The three of them rode to the riverside. On a Japanese ship guarded by many Japanese warriors, Zhu Qu saw silver cakes covering the cabin.
Ji Shiju said slightly apologetically: "Our country is short of copper and we really can't get so many copper coins. I wonder if I can use silver cakes instead?"
At this time, silver was not a currency in circulation, but the people recognized its value.
In fact, it is impossible for all transactions worth tens of thousands of dollars to be done with copper coins. The Tang Dynasty did not have so many copper coins for private circulation. In some remote places, barter is still the original trading method to this day.
Most people settle in gold and silver.
It's just that the price of gold is high, and silver is relatively cheap. The value recognized by the public is one to ten silver and copper, but in large transactions, the value will always be lower according to the market value.
Zhu Qu's eyes were dazzled by the shining silver. If he hadn't seen the warriors on the ship looking fierce and strong, he would have even wanted to arrange for someone from his family to rob him of the ship of silver...
Seeing the money, Zhu Qu felt relieved, said goodbye to Lu Xiaoyu and Ji Shiju, and hurried back to organize manpower and ships to resell the wood as soon as possible.
To get this huge sum of money, a little risk is totally worth it.
But as Xiao Ming said, only when the money is in the pocket can everyone feel at ease.
They originally wanted to finish the matter before Fang Jun arrived in Haiyu City, but they didn't expect Fang Jun to arrive so quickly...
*****
With everything in Nanshan Mine safe, Fang Jun led his soldiers to sail down the river to Haiyu City.
The Five-Tooth Battleship slowly sailed away from the pier. Fang Jun looked at the mighty river and the green mountains in the distance. He thought of the day he first came here and was immediately surrounded by Shanyue people. He felt as if he was in another world.
The wind on the river was strong, and Fang Jun was standing on the bow of the boat. The boat was sailing on the river, with the wind and the current flowing smoothly, and the green mountains on both sides of the river were flying in front of him one after another.
Liu Rengui came to behind Fang Jun with a relaxed face and asked: "Why rush to Haiyu City in such a hurry? If we delay for half a day, the group of people are loading the lumber to the sea, and we will all get the stolen goods on the river. Wouldn't it be even worse? good?"
Fang Jun shook his head: "There is a garrison in Haiyu City. A Zhechong Mansion, plus the government officials and county soldiers in the Yamen of the state government, I am afraid that they are all related to those nobles. When the time comes, General Su will lead his army to intercept and arrest To catch the thieves, someone will definitely come forward to stop them. If General Su can't suppress them, will the two armies go on a killing spree? The men under my command are not afraid of death, but I can't let them die in such a meaningless place. When the time comes, I’m here in person, so I don’t believe they still dare to be stubborn!”
Liu Rengui was convinced.
In fact, Fang Jun didn't have to rush to Haiyu City in such a hurry. He could just wait for Su Dingfang to capture the bandits and the officials who colluded with internal and external forces, and then calmly go there and settle the situation. But as Fang Jun said, although neither the soldiers of Zhe Chong Mansion nor the county soldiers in the state capital were far from being opponents of the navy, casualties would inevitably occur in the conflict.
Fang Jun was actually willing to rush on the road and use his own power to fight against his opponents in order to prevent those lowly soldiers from dying in such a scene!
If he cherishes his soldiers so much, how can his subordinates not sacrifice their lives for such a commander?
At the Fushan Village Pier outside Haiyu City, the local government had already received news of Fang Jun's arrival. They cleared away the scattered boats on the river early, cleared the river, and erected colorful flags and gongs and drums on the shore. The sound was loud and noisy, and it was very lively.
In the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, Jinling County was abolished and Changshu was promoted to Changzhou.
In the seventh year of Emperor Wude's reign in the Tang Dynasty, the county seat was moved to Haiyu City and Wu County was renamed Suzhou.
Haiyu City is the most prosperous place in Suzhou...
