As one of the largest overseas trade ports at the time, Yangzhou would have thousands of various ships coming every year. These ships brought all kinds of people, but they all came here for one purpose-wealth. Therefore, Yangzhou people don't care about trading with strangers, as long as these people are willing to pay. I have heard adults say this since I was a puppy - the copper coins of the dung collector do not smell bad, and the money of the flower seller does not smell good either.
This open-minded attitude of Yangzhou people has undoubtedly affected the city. Unlike Zicheng, which is located above Shugang, the trading area located on the plains below Shugang is relatively simple, rough, dirty, and noisy. Although this place is divided into several squares like Chang'an and Luoyang, there are not so many square walls, and there is no strict curfew at night. Sailors and merchants from all over crowded the docks and streets, entertaining others and looking for prey.
Traveling all over Yangzhou, dogs like this place the most. He liked the noise, the strange smells, and watching the boats arriving and departing on the late tide. She also liked the sailors: the boisterous Hebei people with loud voices and thick beards; the skinny Jiangxi people who were calculating and trying to undercut their rivals' prices; the Minyue people with tattoos on their bodies and mumbling curses in incomprehensible words; The southern barbarians overseas have skin as black and smooth as teak wood, with big nostrils and thick lips. They are like the Kunlun slaves mentioned in the wine shop. Their long and narrow ships have towering masts and sails made of leaves. They come across the ocean.
Of course, not all ships and sailors can come to Yangzhou City. According to the rules, only overseas merchants allowed by the officials who escorted the Tibetan shipping envoys can come to Yangzhou City to do business. At the same time, they have to pay a lot of taxes. and present gifts to relevant officials. Either in order to avoid taxes and official extortion, or because their business is not so visible, many merchants simply conduct transactions on a desolate sandbank or island near Yangzhou, although the government often sends patrol boats to clear them out and clear them out. Accusing them of being pirates and thief merchants, and claiming that the people who traded with these merchants or served them were bandits, they were subject to severe punishments of whipping, exile, or even death, but the participants were still repeatedly banned. The reason is simple - the rewards are so generous. According to the saying of the Tang Dynasty at that time - "One night's profit can be worth a year's farming. Therefore, the head of Guizhou is not afraid of severe punishment. A wife will give her husband, and a mother will give her son. They all compete for it." In other words, they regard the country’s laws as if they are nothing!”
The ship was still more than ten steps away from the shore. A strong young man jumped into the water. He stepped on the sand under the water and gently held the bow of the ship to prevent it from being hit by the reef in the water. There are already more than a dozen boats of different sizes parked on the beach. People stand next to their boats, forming groups and whispering.
The dog carefully threw the rope to the adults on the shore, and only got off the boat when the tie was strong. This was not the first time he had participated in such a mysterious gathering. He knew that it looked peaceful here, but that was just an appearance. No one knew what would happen in the next second. He carefully held the short knife at his waist and looked around vigilantly.
The leader went ashore, walked to a stone pillar, and talked in a low voice with a man in gray. Every time the leader said a few words, the man in gray shook his head, as if rejecting something, and finally the man nodded. , took off a money bag from his waist and gave it to the leader. The leader came back. His eyes swept over everyone, and finally stopped on the dog: "Dog, there is a business here, and the risk is very high. You and the cat are still young, so don't go. We will take care of you and the cat later. Throw the cat to the shore, you two can go back on your own!" At this point, he handed the money bag to the dog: "Take this back and give it to your family!"
The dog did not reach out to take it: "Uncle, wouldn't it be more dangerous for Mao'er and I to take so much money back? Why not change it to someone else! Although Mao'er and I are still young, there are advantages to being small. Sometimes adults Things that are inconvenient for us kids can do easily!"
"That's true!" The leader laughed, and he patted the dog on the shoulder: "You have made progress, and you don't eat for free on weekdays. Okay, you and Mao'er will stay, Ah San, you and Qian Qi will be alone. Take the money back and go and don’t make any mistakes!”
The two young men responded, and everyone got on the boat. They first sent their companions to the shore, and then drove the boat toward the southeast.
The air at sea is moist and warm, and surprisingly calm. The Yuhuang floats in the light green water on the shore. Her slender hull is like a dolphin floating on the water. It is smooth, beautiful and fast, and it seems that it will be ready in the next second. Gliding on the water.
"When will those people you mentioned arrive?" Cao Sengnu picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for the person opposite: "The longer my ship stays here, the more dangerous it will be!"
Sitting opposite Monk Cao was a man wearing a gorgeous Shu brocade robe. He had a high nose, deep eyes, and a thick beard. His eyes showed a light green color in the sunlight. He took a sip of wine and said with a smile: "Good wine. The taste is sweet and refreshing, but there is a strong aftertaste, as if there is fire burning on my tongue. I have never drunk this kind of wine, monk slave, what is this wine made from? Is it available on the ship this time?"
"Yes, it's brewed from sugar cane! It's called fire wine!" Cao Sennu replied impatiently. He was very unhappy when the other party avoided his questions, but he also knew that the most important thing in the negotiation was to keep calm. Who Whoever is angered first will suffer.
"Fire wine, the name is good, but I have also drunk sugar cane wine, doesn't it taste like this?" Hu Shang asked.
"The same sorghum, using different techniques, water sources, and even different seasons, will produce different wines!" Cao Sennu said with a smile: "This is indeed made from sugar cane, but it is different from ordinary sugar cane wine. The beauty of it is naturally not enough for outsiders to understand!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The Hu Shang laughed: "But monk slave and I haven't seen each other for several years, but you have changed into a different person. This ship, this wine, and all kinds of precious goods on the ship, you are so different." It fell from the sky. I heard the news from Chang'an, but they didn't say anything good about you! What's the matter, why don't you tell your old friend the whole story?"
Cao Sengnu snorted coldly. It turned out that Hu Shang's surname was An and Taishun. He was also a Sogdian businessman and they were old acquaintances. He came from Ryukyu this time and tried to open up the southern route from Japan to Ryukyu to Yangzhou. Naturally, he did not dare to go directly to the city to hand over a document and request a deal, so he found his old acquaintance.
"Brother An, you can also inquire from a third party about old events in Chang'an. If my uncle and I had not contributed, not to mention their lives, even the Zoroastrian Temple in Chang'an would have been destroyed. No matter how much gold and silver there were in the temple's treasury, it would have been destroyed." Who are you leaving it for? They are now able to speak ill of me and my uncle in front of everyone, thanks to my uncle and me! As for this ship, wine and the precious goods on the ship, you are used to doing business, how can you still have business? If you don't succeed, why do you go to find out the other party's details? If you know everything, how can I still do this business?"
"Hahaha!" An Taishun laughed after hearing Cao Sengnu's rebuttal: "Brother Cao is right, but I also listened to their side of the story! Isn't there a saying in the Tang Dynasty that a crowd of words can make a fortune, but a lot of damage can be accumulated Pingu. With so many people saying bad things about you, I can’t help but have some doubts!"
"As your business grows, there will be more right and wrong. Naturally, people will say bad things about you. Don't you understand this, Brother An? If I were to ask around like Brother An, I'm afraid I would also hear a lot of bad things, right?"
An Taishun laughed twice. Rich businessmen like them, whose business has reached this level, have been stained with the blood and tears of many people, and their reputation is naturally not much better. He just mentioned the old events in Chang'an just to take the opportunity to criticize Cao Sengnu made two moves to get a head start in the subsequent bargaining, but he didn't want the other party to refuse to give in and retorted. However, he has been able to reach this day, and his face has already reached the level of a golden bell and an iron shirt: "Brother Cao said that you are in big business, and you have a belly as big as the sea. Those words you just said are those of a villain." Don’t take it to heart. But it’s okay if you don’t tell me the origin of the goods. You have to tell the truth so that I don’t get a black eye, right?”
"Tell me everything?" Cao Sengnu glanced at An Taishun and knew that he couldn't escape this time. Otherwise, with the other person's cunning and foxy temperament, An Taishun would never take that step if he didn't reveal something. .
"Forget it, I'll reveal one or two, and you can guess the rest!" Cao Sennu smiled: "Brother An must have heard about the destruction of the Zoroastrian Temple in Chang'an a few years ago, right?"
"Of course I've heard of it!" The greasy smile on An Taishun's face disappeared: "I heard that your uncle also put in a lot of effort to save the Zoroastrian Temple. Your Majesty, your uncle is a good man, I Everyone is blessed by him!"
"Haha!" Cao Sengnu laughed twice: "My uncle and I are both disciples of Ming Zun. The Zoroastrian Temple was damaged, so we should do our best. It's just that I am just a businessman. Although I have some money in my pocket, How can we say anything about this kind of thing? If we hadn't happened to meet a big shot, otherwise I'm afraid the Chang'an Zoroastrian Temple would have been in ruins!"
"Big shot?" An Taishun was so alert that he immediately heard the implication of Cao Sengnu's words: "Brother Cao said that this ship's cargo is related to that big shot?"
"I didn't say that! Brother An is overthinking!"
Hearing Cao Sengnu's denial, An Taishun became a little more confident and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, I'm overthinking it. This business is all on An. Brother Cao, just wait with peace of mind. The goods will be shipped out." No mistake!"
"You always said there was nothing wrong, but after waiting for so long, you still haven't seen the corresponding ship! If the ship stops here for one day, it will be more risky. What if there is a strong wind or something like a government patrol?"
"Brother Cao, don't worry! I know where the patrol boat goes every day. It will be no problem for your boat to stay here for at least half a month. As for the strong wind!" An Taishun suddenly stood up and pointed to the northwest: " Look, it’s not coming!”
"Hey yo, hey yo!"
Following the rhythmic sound of the trumpet, the oarsmen rowed a few times, and the bow of the boat gently hit the stone pile. The dog quickly jumped onto the rock on the shore and tied the rope tightly to the stone pillar. , to ensure the stability of the vessel.
"Such a small boat!" Cao Sennu sighed in disappointment: "How many boats will it take to carry my cargo? Can't you hire a few bigger boats?"
"There are a lot of ships in Yangzhou, but the bigger ones all belong to gangs, and they are full of spies of the Tibetan shipping envoys!" An Taishun said: "If you let them transport goods, the Tibetan shipping envoys will know about you by tomorrow morning at most. There is nothing you can do about it, if the escort captures your cargo, the person who leads it can get a reward of 20% of the value of the cargo!"
"A reward of 20% of the value of the goods?" Cao Sengnu was startled: "The envoy from Yangzhou paid so much to the Tibetan shipping envoy?"
"If they are caught, they will eat even more!" An Taishun sneered: "Think about it, how much is a whole ship's worth of sea goods? Eighty percent of it is eaten in one go, and it can be pocketed. No one knows. Compared to this, what is the salary from the imperial court?"
Cao Sengnu nodded. His own boat contained a thousand precious goods such as fine isinglass, sinew silk, various animal skins, fine pine nuts, rosin, whale blubber, sugarcane wine, sugar, copper ingots, etc. More than three hundred stones, roughly worth nearly a million dollars. If you can swallow it, it will be enough to return to your hometown and become a rich man immediately. In the face of this level of temptation, any business reputation is bullshit.
"Then why do you trust these people? They won't go to the government to report anything?" Cao Sengnu asked.
"Don't worry, they are all floating people who have their own system on weekdays. Even if you have a conflict with them, they will only seek revenge on you privately and will never go to the government to sue you!" An Taishun said with a smile. .
"Water people?" Cao Sengnu showed a puzzled look, and An Tai explained by the way. It turned out that the water people he was talking about were the special people who drifted on the water at that time. Some said they were descendants of the ancient Yue people, while others said They are the remnants of Sun Enlu Xun's rebel army in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Some people say they are the remnants of the Jiangnan local tyrants who were defeated by Yang Su after Ping and Chen of the Sui Dynasty. These special groups use boats as houses and live along the water. They are not under the jurisdiction of the government and the people are registered as households. They are independent and are discriminated against by other land residents. Even if they are harmed, they will never go to the government to complain. An Taishun hired such a group of people to transport goods.
"Don't worry, although this group of people is looked down upon by outsiders, as long as they can gain their trust, they will act more safely. Moreover, they know the local waterways very well. Even the government patrol boats cannot control them. As long as you use them, your goods will be delivered safely!”
"Wouldn't these people take the opportunity to devour my goods?" Cao Sennu asked suspiciously.
"Brother Cao, don't worry. These people are looked down upon everywhere. Even if he steals your goods and sells them, he will be caught as a thief immediately. Even if the person who bought the goods doesn't take him, he will Keep the price as low as possible, and it would be good if they can get half a tenth of the price in the end. Why would they be evil and ruin the business for such a small amount of money?"
(End of chapter)
