After all, it is no secret that Liu Haojia built a salt farm. There is such a big stall there, you can’t hide it even if you want! So there must be people who are secretly preparing to stumble him! And maybe during this period of time, countless pockets have been prepared for him to dig into!
So under the seemingly calm but undercurrent situation, everyone spent the New Year quietly. This year, in addition to Liu Haojia receiving various rents, Liu Guangting's group of maritime merchants also contributed a large number of overseas treasures to him!
In return, Liu Haojia allowed one-third of his fleet to remove the Ming flag and follow them overseas. So these soldiers also followed Liu Guangting and made a fortune! The soldiers who stayed behind drooled with envy, and they all looked forward to their turn to go to sea to have fun this year!
The days go by very quickly after the New Year, and soon it’s time for the lull after spring sowing! According to Liu Haojia's plan, Jiubian's food reserves happened to be at a dangerous level at this time, and at the same time, small groups of gangsters began to go south to clear grass in the valley! So we can just sell the grain saved last year to Jiubian.
But here's the problem. All the generals on the nine sides unanimously agreed, or had negotiated in advance, and there was no movement at all to purchase food!
On this day, Liu Haojia was meeting with more than a dozen spies from the Jin Yiwei in the central army of Wu'an Army. If these spies hadn't stood up straight in front of Liu Haojia, no one would have thought that all of them were from Jinyiwei! Because everyone is dressed differently, from shopkeepers to homeless people!
At this time, Liu Haojia was heard saying slowly: "So, you haven't found any traces of their connection?"
The first spy dressed as a merchant said: "Sir, my subordinates have indeed found no trace of their connection, but I think these people are on the same side and have been advancing and retreating together for a long time. There is always some tacit understanding."
Liu Haojia nodded and said, "Then what do you think they think?"
The spy said without hesitation: "From my subordinates' perspective, they just want to avoid offending all parties. They dare not expect to win chestnuts from the fire!"
Liu Haojia heard what he said and felt that what he said was reasonable, so he sneered and said: "After taking the head that I gave you, I promised them 20% of the profit, but they are still here to play the trick of watching the tiger fight. It's really I don’t know how to write the word “death”! Okay, you have worked hard, go down and receive the reward!”
The spies bowed out of the tent, and naturally a servant led them to the tent to receive their reward. Liu Haojia sat there and thought for a long time before saying: "Come here, pass a sign to the palace, saying that I want to meet the Long Live Lord!"
After giving the order, he turned to look at the large map spread out on the table, and finally reached out and clicked two points on Datong.
At the same time, at the home of guard Zhang Jingping in Datong, Shanxi, he was sitting with his son Zhang Chaosheng and nephew Zhang Chaoyong drinking tea and chatting!
Ordinarily, it is a very strange thing for military commanders to drink tea and chat! They should eat big pieces of meat and drink from big bowls! It's just that these three people are very familiar with this routine. They don't have the majestic style of military commanders. They look like an old man chatting with his family outside!
At this time, I heard Zhang Chaoyong say: "Uncle, don't we really buy some food in the Liansheng Hao? Now the food in my place has almost bottomed out!"
Zhang Jingping slowly picked up the teacup, took a sip and said, "Don't move yet! How long can your food last?"
Zhang Chaoyong said: "More than a month! If the bank's bottom line is scratched, it won't be a problem to last two months!"
At this time, Zhang Chaosheng whispered: "Third brother, if you hold back a little more, I guess it won't be a big problem if you can keep it going for three months!"
In fact, they were not so short on food in previous years. Because once there is insufficient food, they will naturally buy some from grain merchants. But now that the Liansheng has made it clear that its carriages and horses have appeared in the Jiubian area, there will naturally be conflicts with the grain merchants they used to deal with.
Therefore, those grain merchants have been actively lobbying for them to purchase their own grain as soon as possible. However, Zhang Jingping neither wanted to offend the old grain merchants nor the newly-emerged Wu Ninghou, so he simply stopped purchasing grain and has postponed it until now.
Zhang Chaoyong was a little unhappy after hearing this, but he still said: "Fourth brother, at this time
We can't deduct too much! If the army runs out of food, there will really be chaos! "
Zhang Chaosheng said disdainfully: "What kind of trouble can this cause? They usually share a lot when sharing the benefits, so what if they buy some food for themselves!"
Zhang Chaoyong was very depressed after hearing this! They usually use caravans to go out and plunder a lot of things, and they do give some benefits to the soldiers below, but don't you know how much of it is actually distributed to the soldiers?
Just when he was about to speak, Zhang Jingping waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't argue about this matter for now! The matter about food won't drag on for too long, there will always be a winner! So let's stand up if we can. Bar!"
At this point, he hesitated and then said: "If you are really short of food, you can ask the soldiers to buy some privately. As for the money, I will give you more money first, but let them wear casual clothes and buy it in pieces." Kanshu La
Zhang Chaoyong was extremely angry after hearing this! He is considered a somewhat martial person in Jiubian, and he only wants to fight and gain a title! Unfortunately, his father died early and he could only work with his uncle Zhang Jingping.
Although Zhang Jingping was nice to him, after all, he still had a son to take care of. If he hadn't been skilled in bow and horse and able to fight tough battles, I'm afraid his fourth brother would have taken over the position of Zhangjiakou long ago! So when he heard what Zhang Jingping said, he had no choice but to accept it!
Seeing him nodding, Zhang Jingping twirled his beard with satisfaction and said, "Don't think that my uncle doesn't know the importance of the matter, but I am also very helpless! There are civil servants and dignitaries on one side, and the emperor's confidants on the other. It is difficult for me to do anything when I am caught in the middle! So we can only hope that neither side will be offended! As for the soldiers below, they can only feel aggrieved!"
Zhang Chaosheng also said: "Third brother, you have had little contact with the gentry in Zhangjiakou these years. Don't you know who is standing behind these grain merchants? In addition to the local gentry, there are also many people in the court who are behind them." Behind him! As for those salt merchants, let alone those salt merchants, there is no way our little Zhang family can interfere with it! Now that Wu Ninghou wants to get involved in the grain and salt business, he can only let them deal with it first! Wait! They have decided the winner, we should buy grain, buy salt, buy salt, so that we can avoid offending both!"
