Liu Chengzong felt comfortable.
The reason that made him comfortable was not Kangning Mansion, but Cheng Yun.
Border smuggling has always been one of the most profitable transactions in the world. In the past six months, the Juerwan market is backed by the Hehuang Valley and faces Qinghai and Mongolia. The market size has expanded like a snowball, involving nearly 400,000 domestic and foreign suppliers and buyers. .
This was probably the largest smuggling market in the world at this time.
Liu Chengyun, this young man who is not powerful in appearance, not strong in character, and even a bit resigned to death, is the mastermind behind this market, just like a black marketeer.
On the surface, the Cowan market looks like a government market, but in fact, despite its large scale, Cowan market is still a private market. There is no tax and the goods are handled by the carrier. Some of them come from Lion Army craftsmen, and more goods are from From Xining or even Lanzhou.
In fact, the biggest mission of escorting the cavalry transporting more than a hundred horses was not to protect him, but to transport Juerwan's accounts to Liu Chengzong for review.
In this account, the goods purchased and sold by Cowan to both the East and the West in the past six months are recorded in detail.
This account has become Liu Chengzong's favorite pillow reading recently, not just because of the money. Although the account represents huge profits, different people will see different things and will always have different gains.
Through the accounts, Liu Chengzong saw the lives of Qinghai Mengfan and the secrets that controlled them.
The development of things in the world is generally different from a person's original intention. Liu Chengzong originally thought that Juerwan would be built into the largest arms and luxury market in the northwest, with weapons, armor and exquisite rare objects, to seek huge profits for the Lion Army.
In fact, the profits from weapons and rare items are indeed huge. According to the shipping accounts, the trade volume was only 7,640 taels of silver, which resulted in a profit of more than 5,500 taels.
However, these two items only account for about 3% of the total trade volume.
As of the time when the carrier carried the accounts southward, their total trade volume in the five months was 258,000 taels.
Moreover, the trade volume is increasing month by month and has not yet reached the peak.
They purchased locally produced items, including pickled vegetables, from around Xining at a price of one yuan per catty, and sold them at two yuan per catty in the market, totaling more than 20,000 kilograms.
Of course, there are also those who lose money, such as fresh vegetables. More than 10,000 kilograms of fresh vegetables were transported, but only 500 kilograms were sold. It’s not that others didn’t buy them, but the supply exceeded demand. The remaining nearly 10,000 kilograms of fresh vegetables were all stationed in Juerwan and The Haibei Lions were eaten.
There is also a large market for cattle, sheep and horse dung, which is mainly produced by the Lion Army itself, with nearly 600,000 jins, less than 3,000 taels.
Firewood is much more valuable than excrement. Five hundred thousand catties is worth more than five thousand taels.
Juerwan also specializes in mushrooms, but even the shipping company didn't know about it. A steward from Sufan in Lanzhou named him to purchase mushrooms. The Seven Divisions of Riyue Mountain dug up more than 3,000 kilograms and sold them for 500 taels.
Cheng Yun grinned when he said this: The bastard's money is easy to make.
The local area also produces 250 taels of alluvial gold, worth two thousand taels of silver; 20,000 jins of borax, worth 4,000 taels of silver; more than a thousand jins of saltpetre, all kept for personal use; more than 2,000 pigs are sold around, along with fresh food The food was the same. General Yang Yao, who was left behind in the training camp, was going to make bacon as a reward for the soldiers, and he was compensated 3,500 taels.
However, the money lost by military supplies does not matter to the carrier at all, because Juerwan has top products: noodles, varnish, leather boots, wooden boxes, bags, leather ropes, and blankets.
The chieftains and common people from Xining to Lanzhou became outsourced manufacturers for the transportation, and made him 150,000 kilograms of dried noodles, 30,000 kilograms of clear oil, 12,000 pairs of leather shoes, 13,000 pairs of leather boots, and 2,000 kilograms of varnish. A leather rope, six thousand pairs of large and small wooden boxes, more than a thousand pairs of cow hair bags, more than a thousand pieces of wool, and more than ten thousand blankets.
These things were worth more than 30,000 taels of silver, and they were all sold with nothing left.
There is almost no cost, it is all profit. You only need to pay a little for the cattle and sheep sold to Xining. There is no other disadvantage except that it is difficult to sustain.
Chengyun did not dare to sell cattle and sheep eastward, so the Lion Army became the largest professional breeding household in Haibei. Now it has more than 1,700 cattle and more than 60,000 sheep on its hands.
This is because the Mongolian tribes in Qinghai are reluctant to sell cattle and sheep, and people basically use wool and various skins to trade bulk goods.
The shipping price of wool was twenty pounds worth one tael of silver, and nearly one million pounds were collected.
There are tens of thousands of sheep, horse, cow, fox, wolf, leopard, lynx and other skins in various formats. Some of them are kept in their hands, and some are sold to merchants coming from Hanzhong.
The merchants in Hanzhong were lured over by Chieftain Li to sell iron, and they sold more than 10,000 kilograms of iron.
On the day Liu Chengzong finished reading the accounts, he called Chengyun, and the two brothers chatted all night.
He can see Qinghai's future trade potential from the accounts, and he can also see the biggest instability factor in this own market - the mainland.
The huge profits in the market come from the Lion Army's isolation of east-west traffic on the one hand, and from the Ming Dynasty's trade embargo on the other. Brother Liu Chengzu's occupation of Xining City made the embargo unilaterally ineffective against the Lion Army.
He did not shape the Cowan market, but the special political environment created this market.
Even without him, in the turbulent environment of the late Ming Dynasty.
In a few years, as the internal rebellion in the imperial court becomes more serious, a free market similar to Juerwan will eventually be formed in the northwest. This market will firmly bind the Han, Mongolian, and Fan tribes in Qinghai and benefit the next dynasty. .
Even with him, such huge profits cannot last long.
In the dim light of the oil lamp, Liu Chengzong pointed to the inflow and outflow directions marked in the accounts, and said to Chengyun: "A large amount of leather goods flowed into Hanzhong, Lanzhou, and self-produced goods also flowed to Yuedan and Qilianshan. In the future, they will also be sold to Kangningfu, Hami, Turpan, Uzang."
A huge commercial radiation network is forming.
"This is our best opportunity, but it is fleeting." Liu Chengzong spread his hands and said: "Our own manufacturing capabilities are still too weak."
Cheng Yun said: "After all, we have a small number of people, but the sales in Lanzhou and Hanzhong are opening up, and we can also purchase goods from there. Merchants will naturally deliver the goods. No matter what they send, we can eat and sell everything. "
Speaking of this, Chengyun raised his face with great pride and said: "Brother, next year, we can sell five to six million goods on both sides, with a profit of at least three hundred thousand taels. You have the final say on what the profit will become."
He opened his hands and said: "If you want it to turn into silver, it will turn into silver. If you want it to turn into armor, it will turn into armor. You can even turn it into guns and artillery!"
"It is useless to ask for so much silver. The standardized market itself is more important than silver. I am prepared to pay the army."
Liu Chengzong said: "With military pay, soldiers will also become part of the market, buying fresh vegetables, fruits, vegetables and meat utensils. Silver will continue to circulate in the market, putting forward higher requirements for handicrafts, attracting more craftsmen, and leaving more money than a pile of silver." Having babies is much more important."
"Lanzhou and Hanzhong are both big and wealthy cities. In this era..."
Liu Chengzong shook his head: "No one can guarantee that any big city will be stable for a long time. Everything can be destroyed by raising an army at once. Talent is more important than anything else. Write a letter to your father-in-law and try to recruit craftsmen from the east. By the way, Wang Ziyong is here. What?"
"It's for the king's own use, no."
Cheng Yun shook his head and showed a complicated smile: "Brother, you really hit the point. Wang Ziyong stayed in Lanzhou for half a month and went to Liangzhou Guard."
"Liangzhou Guard, didn't I ask him to go to Juerwan?" Liu Chengzong pondered the location of Liangzhou Guard, which is northeast of Juerwan: "What is he doing there?"
Chengyun said: "Didn't you ask him to pull people? He pulled more than 600 poor people from Lanzhou. Anyway, he just imitated them. A group of people gathered in the village at night and sang something like the birth of Maitreya. They were sued and followed. The officers and soldiers fought a battle."
"Never fought."
Cheng Yun spread his hands and said, "So Wang Ziyong ran to Liangzhou."
Liu Chengzong didn't quite understand the logical relationship here. He frowned and said, "I haven't beaten him before he came to Juerwan. You still didn't say why he came to Liangzhou."
"Go to Liangzhou to recruit troops. He thinks that the reason why he has never fought against the government army is because the peasants can't fight. No one believes in what he says. Only hungry people want to get together and make a fuss. Don't Gansu have ready-made border troops? Can fight."
Liu Chengzong said nothing and raised his thumb.
This is not to praise Wang Ziyu, but mainly because he is very speechless.
The development of things once again took an unimagined path.
He approached the king for his own use, not to recruit troops, but to recruit more Han people to Juerwan to farm, herd and so on, so as to expand his base.
He has no shortage of retired soldiers, and even if he lacks, he will not go to Gansu to recruit troops. In his heart, Gansu's frontier troops cannot be moved until they control Lanzhou.
Firstly, he cannot afford to support the tens of thousands of border troops there, and secondly, the cost of controlling the Hexi Corridor is too high for him at present.
The Hexi Corridor was a negative asset for the Ming Dynasty. The officers and soldiers stationed there had to provide grain and grass supplies from Lanzhou and the Hehuang Valley every year. However, considering the military significance, this expenditure became extremely worthwhile.
Therefore, in Liu Chengzong's eyes, Gansu is in the best condition at this time.
He does not need to raise soldiers, he continues to bleed the Ming Dynasty, and he can also protect the north of Xining Mansion. From time to time, hungry and anxious border troops escape, and he will naturally accept them comfortably.
But we cannot recruit hungry troops from there on a large scale, otherwise the border defense strength will be reduced.
The best situation for a piece of land is naturally under his direct rule. If not, the best situation is under the rule of Ming Dynasty.
After all, Daming has been dead for many years. He is just a lying corpse that twitches from time to time. They are the reborn bones on this huge corpse. They only need to think about how to grow healthy flesh and blood until they are strong enough to naturally Will be born stronger than before.
Of course, even if it falls into the hands of others, he can take it back, but the war will cause huge damage to the population that he cannot make up for in a short time.
At least for now, Gansu Town is under the stewardship of the Ming Dynasty and has done a very good job in resisting foreign enemies. No one can try to steal an inch of land under the noses of those hungry frontier soldiers.
But it was different when Wang Ziyong recruited troops.
Liu Chengzong was so anxious that he scratched his head and pressed his hand on the kang table to Chengyun: "We cannot take over Gansu."
Chengyun also has a very deep understanding of this. The two prefectures of Xikang alone have used up all the talent reserves of the Lion Army. At this time, the Lion Army is experiencing an unprecedented state of chaos and cannot take into account the local area and the war.
Of course they can still fight, there is no change in combat effectiveness, but they are very unstable internally.
Once a war breaks out with any big force, and there is a slight defeat in the north or elsewhere, the newly captured Kangning Mansion will fall apart in the blink of an eye.
Even Xining may be lost. There is no military pay, no conscription system, no local laws, and there are even no county-level offices in 90% of the ruled area, but there are hundreds of thousands of people who are nominally ruled.
If you lose a battle, it means nothing. If you win a battle, it will just change your tactics.
"What can we do?" Cheng Yun said helplessly: "You are not in Xining, and the second uncle and eldest brother cannot give military orders to Wang Ziyong. If Wang Ziyong doesn't listen, it will have a great impact on them."
Chengyun said: "Brother, you don't know that you are fighting in the south and your family is walking on thin ice."
Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes and said, "What do you mean?"
"It's not that there's anything wrong with it, but Brother Cao should really be allowed to stay in Club Bay. At least he can control anyone and has a thorough consideration of the overall situation."
Chengyun spread his hands and said: "Either leave Luo Rucai and Zhang Tianlin at home, and they should listen to what the elder brother says."
"General Yang Shen was the first to defect to you, as well as Generals Wei and Han. They are all loyal to you, but they are not that close to the second uncle and eldest brother. What will happen if the battle is really defeated?"
After hearing this, Liu Chengzong relaxed and said with a smile: "I thought something was wrong. Then wouldn't you still be there?"
"It's a good thing you didn't mention it." Chengyun said, scratching his head: "I feel the most uncomfortable being in the middle. I have to provide things for everyone, and I can't afford to offend anyone."
Cheng Yun's embarrassment made Liu Chengzong laugh, and then nodded and said: "Okay, I understand, I will think more about this aspect in the future."
In fact, it's not that he didn't consider it, he just didn't care much.
The great cause of this group of people depends on him alone. If he is not dead after the defeat, he will be the same when he goes back, and there will be no changes.
If he dies, this group of people will have nothing to talk about. The Qinghai Provincial Envoy may or may not be his father. If so, maybe in the small place of Ju'er Bay, the sea-ring area may not be able to be saved.
The eldest brother may be the commander-in-chief guarding the western border, or he may lead a few leaders to launch an attack to the northwest.
Cao Yao might give birth to a baby as he said, or he might go to a place where no one cares about him and become king to realize his social ideals.
In short, there is no longer anything that can bring these people together.
The one most likely to inherit Liu Chengzong's legacy may be Chengyun, but they only have this chance.
If they miss this opportunity and jump on the stage in the northwest for twenty years, this group of people will eventually be annihilated in the war.
Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "This time I still didn't think carefully enough. If you ask me to choose again, we should go south except for the eldest brother."
"But it will be fine in the future. We have a government, a garrison, and military pay. When Mr. Yang finishes experiencing life and comes up with our laws, the place will be stable."
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