The old friend left the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and the fireworks descended from Yangzhou in March. This is a poem written by Li Bai when he said goodbye to Meng Haoran. It can be seen that Jiangnan was already a prosperous land at that time.
The three brothers of Zhu Chongba embarked on the road to the south of the Yangtze River together. This time he would not go to Suzhou. This time he went to Yangzhou. Yangzhou at this time was very powerful. First it was the governor's office of Yangzhou, and later It was changed to Yangzhou Road General Manager's Office.
Yangzhou Road General Manager's Office, Linggao Youfu, Zhenzhou, Chuzhou, Tongzhou, Taizhou and Chongming are all very prosperous.
This place will be occupied by Zhu Yuanzhang twenty years later. The reason why Zhu Chongba came here is because the water transportation here is developed. It is possible to transport grain by horse-drawn carriage for short distances, but for long-distance transportation of grain, water must be used.
There is no doubt that the cost of transportation by water is the lowest.
After brother Zhu Chongba and San arrived in Yangzhou, he went straight to the trading market.
Although this is Zhu Chongba's first time here, he is very familiar with the geographical location here. Of course, these are the results of Zhu Jianhua's interest in historical geography.
Zhu Chongba's second and third brothers were already dazzled by what they saw, especially his third brother, who was even more dizzy and dazzled.
Soon, the three brothers arrived at the trading market. In order to facilitate transportation, the trading market was located near the dock.
I saw that this market is really prosperous! There are crowds of people and lots of goods. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal can connect directly to most of the cities.
Zhu Chongba wanted to go to Dadu this time. He wanted to see with his own eyes what Dadu of the Yuan Dynasty was like. It turned out that what he saw in history books was too brief.
In fact, the descriptions of the prosperity of Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty that later generations know are all from the travel notes written by a foreigner named Marco Polo.
At this time, Zhu Chongba's second and third brothers were one on the left and the other on the right, protecting Zhu Chongba in the center.
At this time, Zhu Chongba's attention was all on the goods on the trading market. After seeing these goods, Zhu Chongba could be said to be eye-opening.
It turned out that he only thought about trafficking in grain and salt, and never thought about anything else. Now it seems that there are really too many goods for business.
It seems that it is very beneficial to come out and take a look from time to time. Zhu Chongba looked at each kind of goods very carefully. Although many goods can be traded, the largest quantity of goods transported is grain.
When you arrive in a new place, the most important thing is to watch and listen, to see what others do and do, and to listen to what others say.
Zhu Chongba took his two brothers to a large restaurant next to the trading market. The reason why he chose this place was because it was big enough.
Generally speaking, big businessmen will not go to small restaurants. Everyone cares about face, let alone businessmen.
When they came out this time, Zhu Chongba and his brothers were all wearing very brand-new clothes. The three of them looked like young children from a wealthy family.
They found a seat by the window and sat down. The view here was very wide, and the table next to them was already full of people.
Zhu Chongba asked his second brother and third brother to order. He was listening carefully to the people next to him. People who came here to eat were either rich or noble. Ordinary people would not come here.
Not to mention, hard work really pays off, and the people at the table next to it are talking.
"Brother Li, how much money did you make from the grain you transported to Dadu last time?"
"Not much, just two thousand taels of silver."
"Why do you make so much? Didn't you not make so much in previous years?"
"This year is different. It would definitely be better if we could transport goods there again this year, but I have something to do at home and can't leave. I really look up to the sky and sigh!"
"Wouldn't it be the same if we transport food there next year?"
"It's different, the market conditions are changing. This year, Jiangnan has a good harvest, food prices are cheap, and the Grand Canal is also very smooth at this time. Who knows what will happen next year?" At this point, Zhu Chong said what the two people said again. Eight is never heard again.
This is enough. The news made Zhu Chongba quite excited. It seems that he was very right to come here at this time.
In order to ensure that the news was correct, after finishing his meal, Zhu Chongba went to the market to check out the food market. It was really cheaper at each store.
This year the weather is good in Jiangnan, so the grain output is very high. Every household does not have such a large warehouse to store grain. After paying the land rent and saving enough grain and seeds, there is still a lot of grain leftover, so there is an urgent need to trade.
However, Dadu is very short of food this year. Originally, there was not much grain production near Dadu. Since last year, drinking among the officials and people in Dadu has become popular, and a lot of grain has been brewed.
After the grain is turned into wine, the price has doubled several times, so the price of grain has skyrocketed recently. However, many people still have concerns about long-distance transportation of food, so the food going north this year is about the same as in previous years.
After inquiring in many ways, Zhu Chongba decided to make a big deal. Although he only had about 5,000 taels of silver notes on him now, he had to find a way to transport 50,000 taels of grain to Dadu.
This is not an easy task, but in extraordinary times, anything is possible.
Zhu Chongba talked with many merchants in the trading market. He was waiting for news, news that would make these traders no longer calm.
Opportunities are for those who are prepared, and this is the case for Zhu Chongba. Zhu Chongba's business is completely borrowed from chickens to lay eggs. The money is borrowed from Shen Wansan, and the food belongs to these merchants.
But Zhu Chongba has an advantage that people like them don't have, that is determination and decisiveness. Once Zhu Chongba wants to do something, he will concentrate all his efforts on doing it.
Not to be missed. The military campaigns after Zhu Chongba also followed this idea.
At this time, Zhu Chongba's thoughts were all about trafficking in grain. Whenever Zhu Chongba thought of a way, he would tell his second brother and third brother and let them handle it.
He was too young and could only hide behind the scenes. In this way, the efficiency was not very high, but there was no other way. Zhu Chongba could only do this.
Zhu Chongba never did such a thing in history, so the current Zhu Chongba is the same. He is just making suggestions, and it is his two brothers who are negotiating with the businessmen.
Later, an agreement was finally reached. One dealer agreed to Zhu Chongba's conditions, which was to first let Zhu Chongba pay a deposit of 5,000 taels.
The family transported the goods to Dadu and paid the remaining silver before the grain landed.
Zhu Chongba is really very powerful this time. If his transaction is completed, he can earn at least 50,000 taels of silver.
Zhu Chongba and his two brothers took a boat to Dadu together.
