At noon, everyone who went out gradually returned to the camp. Huang Dagen was the first to return to the camp, and the official documents for purchasing salt went smoothly. The official of the Salt Industry Supervision saw that the official document was from the nearby Chongqing Prefecture, and he happily accepted the money and goods sent by Huang Dagen, so everything went smoothly.
Zhu Tiaozi and Du Daquan also sold their goods relatively smoothly. The price they received from the sales was not much different from that in Chongqing Fucheng. They paid for the goods on the spot with money that could be used in Huojing County.
"Jiaozi" made the settlement. Only Wang Youfu and Dong Hu went to redeem it
There was some trouble when "paying the child". The reason was that the merchant who was paying the price was so expensive that he was unwilling to charge the agreed handling fee of 5%, but wanted to charge 10%. Wang Youfu and others argued with him and became thirsty. My tongue was dry, and I saw the sun rising high in the sky, so I had to pinch my nose and admit defeat.
Although
"Jiaozi" has been around for more than 200 years, but most people in the trading team don't know about it. Dong Hu and other mountain people are accustomed to bartering and do not understand
What is "Jiaozi"? Even Zhu Tiaozi is just a small trader. Jiaozi only knows a little bit about it and has never used this kind of monetary tool used for large-scale transactions.
At that moment, Ouyang Xuan explained to everyone
"Jiaozi" roughly. The origin of Jiaozi has a special background. Copper coins were commonly used in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, due to the developed economy of Shu and the lack of copper, the government cast iron coins instead. However, iron coins were heavy and inconvenient to use. 1,000 large iron coins weighed 25 kilograms and could not be adapted to long-distance goods. trade.
Against this background, the world’s earliest banknotes appeared in Chengdu
"Jiaozi". the beginning
"Jiaozi" was a place where large merchants guaranteed each other's reputation. It was later taken over by the government due to the increase in commercial disputes and lawsuits.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, as bureaucratic rule became increasingly corrupt, officials did not understand finance and issued money indiscriminately, resulting in official
"Jiaozi" depreciated so much that it became useless paper and had to be abolished. official
After "Jiaozi" was abolished, it was still in circulation among large private business houses.
"Jiaozi", this kind of Jiaozi is also called
"Personal friend". What Wang Youfu and others exchanged here was endorsed by the reputation of the merchant.
"Personal friend". After finishing all the matters, Ouyang Xuan saw that everyone still looked tired, so he decided to rest for another half day and purchase some Qiongzhou-specific daily necessities.
While wandering around, Ouyang Xuan found a small amount of cotton and cotton cloth from an unknown place in a store, and ordered Zhu Tiaozi to buy them all.
Since the Western Han Dynasty, although cotton has been introduced to China, the quantity has never been large. Since the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, although large-scale cultivation has begun in some places, linen has always been the main fabric for civilian clothing, while wealthy families mostly used silk.
Ouyang Xuan did not see cotton products in Chongqing Mansion, nor did he see cotton planting on the way to Qiongzhou.
This cotton is a good thing. In addition to making clothes, it is also an important raw material for the development of military industry.
As a chemical engineering graduate, Ouyang Xuan knew that to make powerful smokeless gunpowder, nitrocellulose is the main raw material, and cotton is the most important raw material for making nitrocellulose.
With cotton in hand, he could begin experimenting with smokeless gunpowder. It was still dark on the second day, so the trade team set off early and entered Huojing County when it was still early.
The name of this fire well first appeared when the Qin State ruled Shu. Since the natural gas here is very rich and shallowly buried, local villagers accidentally discovered that the gas coming out of the ground could burn when they were digging wells to find water. The fire was very powerful, so they called it For the fire well.
As we get closer to the county seat, we can often see workshops making salt in the villages along the official road. Most of Yizheng County, Linqiong County, Dayi County, and Anren County under the jurisdiction of Qiongzhou are plain areas, but Huojing County is all hills and mountainous areas. Although it has a smaller population than the plain counties, it has developed salt industry, but it is the most important tax source county in Qiongzhou.
When everyone climbed over the official road and went up the hillside, they saw Huojing County at the foot of the mountain from a distance. At this time, Ouyang Xuan ordered everyone to stop and set up camp in the woods next to the official road.
Although it was almost dusk at that time, we were still able to reach Huojing County before sunset. Ouyang Xuan camped here not to save accommodation fees, but because he decided to follow Zhu Tiaozi's suggestion and buy only a little official salt and more private salt.
Camping far outside the county seat can prevent private transactions from being discovered by the government. This time, under the banner of Chongqing Prefecture Xiang Army, they also wanted to provide salt for the people in the mountains. However, buying private salt was a serious crime expressly stipulated in the laws of the Song Dynasty, and there was still no immunity.
Ouyang Xuan knew the consequences of violating the laws of the Song Dynasty, but he was not afraid of it. Because he knew that in a few months, the Mongolian army would invade on a large scale, and the salt industry in Huojing would also fall into the hands of the Mongols.
Officials from various prefectures and counties in western Sichuan either fled or surrendered, so they couldn't bear to investigate him for buying illegal salt. This is why he personally led a team this time and spent all his financial resources to buy salt.
While it was still dark, Ouyang Xuan convened everyone to discuss the matter of buying salt and returning. Hengyuan Town and Huojing County are both located on the edge of the Longmen Mountains in western Sichuan, forming a triangle with Chongqing Prefecture, which is located in the plains.
There are main roads and small roads on the way back. The main road is the road that the trade team took when they came, that is, first from Huojing to Qiongzhou, and then back to Hengyuan via Chongqing Mansion. The distance is about 220 miles. Although this road is far, it is It's flat and safe, but it's difficult to get around the salt prison pass in Qiongzhou.
The trading team is going to use all the proceeds from selling mountain products, except for a few other daily necessities, to buy salt. The amount of illegal salt purchased is too large to be concealed, and it will inevitably be punished by the inspection officials, and may even be confiscated. risk; the small road does not pass through Qiongzhou City and Chongqing Fucheng, but goes 140 miles north along the Longshan Gate to reach Hengyuan Town directly.
It's just that this road is deserted and difficult to navigate, and bandits appear from time to time along the way. As the saying goes, it is difficult for a strong dragon to fight a local snake. Although the trade team is armed, they do not want to conflict with the government or bandits on the borders of Qiongzhou.
Therefore, everyone had some disputes about whether to take the main road or the small road. While the debate continued, Ouyang Xuan decided to take the small road back to Hengyuan.
His reason was that most of the people in the trade team were mountain people, and walking on rugged mountain roads was as easy as walking on flat ground. Are you afraid that these trails will be difficult to walk?
As for bandit attacks along the way, just be careful and be prepared. As long as the bandits dare to come, it's a good time to practice with them.
