There are many boats coming and going at Fengling Ferry, many of which are merchants from all over the country, going to the grassland through the ferry.
Before the rise of the Tiger Flag, caravans wanted to go to the grassland to do business. Unless they knew the leader of the grassland, going to the grassland was no different from seeking death.
For various grassland tribes, it was much more cost-effective to grab the goods carried by merchants from the Ming Dynasty than to exchange their own cattle, sheep and leather goods.
A caravan without any background care is likely to be bartering with a certain tribe during the day, and then be robbed by the tribe as soon as it leaves.
They not only rob goods, but also kill people. Even if someone in the caravan is lucky enough to survive, they will eventually become slaves of the Mongols.
In addition to the Mongols themselves transforming into horse bandits to rob passing caravans, those merchants who have established a foothold on the grasslands will also find ways to prevent other merchants from intervening in the business on the grasslands.
The most direct way for these merchants is to use tribal leaders who are familiar with them to plunder the caravans of other merchants who are preparing to intervene in the grassland.
Because of this style of conduct on the grassland, many businessmen in the Ming Dynasty were unable to get involved even though they knew that the business on the grassland was lucrative.
Even if there are some nobles in the capital, if the caravan enters the grassland without acquaintances to guide the way, it will only be robbed by the horse bandits transformed by the Mongols.
However, these have become a thing of the past.
Since the tiger-character flag was used to gain access to trade routes on the grassland, the situation on the grassland began to slowly improve, until finally Tumut fell into the hands of the tiger-character flag. Ming merchants wanted to do business in the Qingcheng area, and gained a lot of security. Great protection.
After several years of word-of-mouth communication among caravans, more and more Ming caravans went to the grasslands to do business.
Tiger Banner also built several roads leading to Qingcheng, and set up forts along the roads to provide rest for caravans and to ensure the safety of caravans.
The Tiger Flag cannot take care of every corner of the grassland. It can only ensure the safety of a few routes from the Ming Dynasty to Qingcheng. This also allows many caravans in the Ming Dynasty to either leave from Datong or Zhangjiakou. Take it out of the border area.
Many caravans that leave the border areas through Datong will go to Fenglingdu.
This also made the already prosperous Fengling Ferry become more lively and prosperous in just a few years.
"My lord, we are all ready to board the ship." An accompanying imperial guard came to the Ming Dynasty official.
Jinyiwei was the emperor's domestic slave. Since Chongzhen deposed himself, he never had the chance to restore his former glory.
The Jinyiwei in the southern capital are mainly from Nanzhen Fusi Yamen, which was originally inferior to Beizhen Fusi Yamen in the north. Now, although it has taken over the former position of Beizhen Fusi Yamen, it is still not taken seriously.
The four ministers of Gu Ming in Nandu were wary of the Jin Yiwei, and since the emperor could not take power, they were naturally unwilling to let the Jin Yiwei rise again.
Jin Yiwei's job now is to serve people.
On this trip to Liaodong, even a fifth-grade doctor in the Ministry of Rites could randomly assign the accompanying Jin Yiwei to do this and that.
"Mr. Fan, let's get on the boat and cross the river!" The Ming official raised his right arm and made an invitation gesture towards Fan Wencheng.
"My lord please."
Fan Wencheng also made a gesture of invitation.
The officials of the Ming Dynasty were no longer humble and walked along the pier to board the ship with their hands behind their backs.
Those who crossed the river first were already waiting at the ferry on the other side of the river.
As soon as Fan Wencheng's boat docked, someone immediately stepped forward and helped him out of the boat.
"Sir, would you like to find an inn nearby to stay today?" Fan Wencheng asked the Ming Dynasty officials who were with him.
The Ming official glanced around.
In addition to the ships docked at the pier, there are also many coolies loading and unloading goods from the ships. A little further away, there are even guards assigned by the Tiger Flag to patrol nearby.
Ming Dynasty arranged an inspection department here at Fenglingdu.
After Tiger Banner acquired Fenglingdu, it did not abolish the inspection department. It only replaced the personnel of the inspection department and added some more personnel to expand the scale of the inspection department.
"It's better to hurry up and hurry up. I always feel uncomfortable staying here." Ming officials were unwilling to stay in the territory of the Tiger Flag. They were always worried that their identity would be discovered by the people in the Tiger Flag, and they would fall into the trap. Tiger flag in people's hands.
Fan Wencheng, who had been accompanying him all the way, was well aware of the worries of the Ming official in front of him, so he followed the situation and said, "Then just listen to your Majesty and continue on your way."
Even if they don't rest here at Fengling Ferry, their team will have to stop and spend the night when they reach the town ahead.
If you really want to rush on the road without distinguishing between black and white, it will make people suspicious.
The team is on the road again.
Zuo Ling, who was dressed as a caravan guard, approached Fan Wencheng.
"Why are you in such a hurry to get on the road!"
Fan Wencheng glanced at the Ming official not far away and said in a low voice: "These people from the Ming Dynasty are timid and want to get to the grassland earlier. We are just guests. There is no need to make trouble in this matter." There is a rift."
"These Nanbarbarians are not as courageous as one of my children in Dajin." Zuo Ling glanced at the Ming officials not far away with disdain.
Fan Wencheng smiled.
In his heart, he also looked down on these Ming officials accompanying him.
After walking for more than ten miles, the caravan came to a town to spend the night.
The conditions in the town are naturally not as good as those at Fenglingdu, but thanks to the east wind coming from Fenglingdu, there are a few more inns.
In addition to the inn, there is also a carriage shop in the town.
This carriage and horse shop was opened by Hu Ziqi many years ago. It was specially used to receive passing caravans and also served as a post station.
After the Tiger Banner occupied Shanxi and other places, it established its own post station system, but the original carriage and horse shops were not abandoned and were still used to receive passing caravans and some pedestrians passing nearby.
Fan Wencheng came from Nandu. In order to make his identity as a businessman more similar, he brought a lot of tea, cloth and other items from Nandu, but there were relatively few ironware.
It's not that he doesn't want to bring more iron tools to the grassland, but the Tiger-Character Banner restricts iron tools and prohibits some fine iron that can be directly used to make weapons from flowing to Liaodong.
In order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Tiger Flag because of the ironware, he brought more tea and cloth, which were in high demand on the grassland, and they were not as eye-catching as the ironware.
There were so many caravan members accompanying them that it was impossible for them all to stay in an inn. Only the accompanying caravan guards and clerks stayed in the big car shop. The Ming Dynasty officials and Fan Wencheng chose the best inn in the town and stayed there.
Neither the Ming Dynasty officials nor Fan Wencheng in the caravan knew about the carriage and horse shop Hu Ziqi's shop in the town.
Perhaps they themselves did not expect that Hu Ziqi would open a business such as a carriage and horse shop in the place under their control.
These carriage and horse shops were opened by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and they usually did business normally. Even the local officials of the Tiger Flag did not know the origin of these carriage and horse shops, and they only treated them as normal carriage and horse shops.
(End of chapter)
