Going out together?
The expressions of the seven Shanxi merchants present here couldn't help but change. We are all businessmen, and we can make money. Killing someone needs to be discussed, but if it means harming their own life, there is no need to think about it, and they must refuse.
You, Chang Qianli, are the culprit. You strategized, checked the command history of the Security Bureau, and asked for clearance three times.
When the benefits were divided, you had the lion's share. How much share did the seven of us share? Now that something went wrong, you actually brought the entire Shanxi merchants to bear the blame?
Sure enough, he had bad intentions and shouldn't have participated in it in the first place.
"It's very dangerous to go north now. The imperial court doesn't know how fierce the fighting between the Tatar and Oara tribes is. We still know that once we go far away and go deep into the desert, we may not be able to come back. You Chang Qianli led the team under the order of the imperial court. We Participating is just to help you. If you want us to leave the country in person, hehe, I'm sorry that we can't accompany you!"
The rich man Hou Xiyu directly showed his attitude.
"That's right!"
Qu Bao, who started his business in tea, patted the table and agreed with Hou Xiyu's view, saying: "It is too dangerous to leave the customs in person. It is difficult for us to accompany you. If Brother Chang invites you, haha, then I will be the shopkeeper as agreed." It will be taken back, and it is better for Shanxi merchants to decline than to become extinct."
Chang Qianli looked at the businessman in front of him, not feeling angry at all, but asked calmly: "Do you think so too?"
Cao Youshan, Qiao Gong and others nodded slightly.
In the past, we started from scratch, conquered the world with our bare hands, traveled all over the world, and worked hard to have the wealth and wealth we have today. It is the time to enjoy life, and you want us to die?
Sorry, I won't accompany you.
Chang Qianli sat down and tapped his fingers on the table.
"Since Brother Chang is fine, I will resign."
Hou Xiyu stood up, and when others saw this, they also stood up and left.
Chang Qianli nodded slightly and said slowly: "Have you heard that there is a fleet of merchants from the capital that went to Nanyang? What is there in Nanyang, how profitable it is, haha... Huizhou merchants, Suzhou and Hangzhou merchants, they are making a fortune, And what about us? But we still care about our personal safety here in Shanxi and don’t care at all about the honor of Shanxi merchants?!"
"You should all have heard of the name of Huizhou merchant Shen Yiyuan. He is on the ship to Nanyang. He wants to become the first businessman in the Ming Dynasty and is willing to take risks. Do you lie in the arms of women all day long and don't even have the courage to leave seclusion? Are they all gone?!”
Hearing Chang Qianli's stern voice, everyone couldn't help but stop.
"Merchant ships entering Nanyang? Impossible. The imperial court has an explicit order not to allow ships to enter the sea!"
Cao Youshan retorted sharply.
Chang Qianli took out a small piece of paper, put it on the table, and said coldly: "Do you, the spies who stayed in the capital, only rely on horses to convey news? Have all your pigeons been eaten?" "
Cao Youshan hurriedly walked over, picked up the note and read it, only two lines of words:
The sea ban may be lifted, and sixty merchant ships from Wei, Su, Hangzhou, and Beijing will enter the Southeast Asia.
"This, this is impossible!"
Cao Youshan still couldn't believe it.
Chang Qianli poured a glass of wine by himself and said: "Possibly or not, Brother Cao is from a well-connected family, so why bother asking? We are Shanxi merchants. If the sea ban is lifted, there will be little benefit for us, because our The roots are here, so there is only one way out for Shanxi merchants: go north to Tatar and Oara to fight against merchants with merchants!"
"At this time, if you all retreat, when Shen Yiyuan and others come back, Huizhou merchants will be famous all over the world, and their influence will be so great that it can completely overtake me, Shanxi merchants. Can you accept this result?"
Hou Xiyu's face looked a little ugly. In this era, the name of a businessman is wealth. If the Hou family opens a business, a pawn shop or a bank, when others see the mark of the Hou family of Shanxi merchants, they will recognize it and feel relieved.
But if the reputation of Shanxi merchants is suppressed by Hui merchants, and Hui merchants open pawn shops or banks, then
Who will other businessmen choose?
In the long run, the decline of Shanxi merchants will be a foregone conclusion!
Cao Youshan fell silent, and Qiao Gong and others also sat down.
Now it is no longer simply a question of whether to leave the customs, but a matter of life, death and future of the entire Shanxi merchants. This is the confidence that Chang Qianli dares to issue the invitation.
A flash of light flashed in Chang Qianli's eyes, and he said: "Brothers working together can cut through gold. I know that there are many dangers in leaving the country and going north, but doesn't Shen Yiyuan know that there are many dangers in going to Nanyang?"
"We have to fight, they go south, we go north! Use profit against profit, trade against trade! Who wins and who loses between the north and the south is left to you to decide! Everyone, the future of Shanxi merchants will be here! If you dare not do it for , don’t regret it in the future!”
Qiao Gong glanced at Cao Youshan, and then said to Chang Qianli: "The matter has reached this point, but we have to make plans again. I still have some courage to leave the seclusion, but Brother Chang, I don't want to draw water from a bamboo basket. It’s all in vain, it’s safe, please explain clearly how to ensure a safe return.”
Chang Qianli said confidently: "It's simple to say, big fish can eat small fish, sharks can eat big fish, if we are sharks ourselves, haha, who can eat us? Although Tatar and Wala are in chaos, But they also know one thing, it doesn’t matter if they occasionally rob scattered merchants, but for big merchants and large caravans, they will never kill and loot them all.”
"As long as you are willing, we eight Shanxi merchants can unite to form a very large caravan and hire some guards. There will be no problem in terms of safety. If I only rely on Chang Qianli and my family, how can others give me face?"
Cao Youshan pondered, and the method mentioned by Chang Qianli was feasible. Mongolian tribes such as Tatar and Oara were sometimes violent and unreasonable, but on the whole they were friendly to merchants.
As long as they increase the size of the caravan and bring enough goods, they will never kill anyone.
Because they also know that once no one from these large caravans returns, no one will dare to enter the territory of Tatar and Oara in the future, and the only way left is to rob the goods they need.
But now that their own internal fighting has not ended, how can they still have the courage to rob the Ming Dynasty?
"I'll leave seclusion and lead the team myself!"
Cao Youshan decided.
Seeing this, Hou Xiyu drank a glass of wine, sighed, and nodded slightly: "We always need to do something for Shanxi merchants, so let's go. The desert is windy and sandy, and the grassland is endless. It is always nostalgic."
Qiao Gong and others also expressed their opinions.
Hugging together is not only warm, but also safe and beneficial.
This is the first time that the eight major Shanxi merchants have joined forces, and it is also the prototype of the Ming Dynasty business consortium. They themselves would not have thought that joining forces again and again in the future would change not only the Shanxi merchants, but also the political structure of the Ming Dynasty.
In the Datong Dusi Yamen, Wuding Marquis Guo Ying looked at Chang Qianli who was reporting the situation with some anger in his eyes.
"A large caravan is the only feasible way. If not, the common people would rather die in Datong than die in the desert. Please ask the capital to agree."
Chang Qianli begged on his knees.
Guo Ying didn't expect Chang Qianli to make such a big fuss. Originally, he just wanted him to lead a caravan into the North to explore the situation. Fortunately, he now wants to lead a large caravan of eight caravans northward!
A caravan needs at least two hundred people. If he marches north with one or two thousand people, isn't he afraid of being hacked to death by the Tatars and Walas as if they were the Ming army?
A caravan of this size must have a lot of cargo. If it strengthened the power of the Tatars and Oaras, wouldn't it be a defeat for the Ming Dynasty?
Guo Ying is a soldier and has to consider it from a military perspective.
"Please step back and let Bendusi think about it for a moment."
Guo Ying did not agree or refuse.
Shortly after Chang Qianli retreated, Gu Yun, a member of Qianhu of the Security Bureau, was summoned to the Dusi Yamen. General Guo Ying
He made it clear about the caravan and said, "This matter is important and we need to ask the emperor for instructions."
Gu Yun thought for a while and said: "Master Dusi, it is difficult to ask for instructions on this matter. Even if you use flying pigeons to send messages, there is no guarantee of success. The distance is too far, and the matter involves confidentiality. Once the information is leaked, it is likely to fail. No one can afford the consequences then.”
The success rate of flying pigeons to deliver messages within a few hundred miles is relatively high, but Datong is more than two thousand miles away from the capital, and the success rate is too low at this distance.
Don't think that the one-way transfer of pigeons from point to point is safe. It is also very likely to "die in the line of duty." There is no way, no matter in later generations or in the Ming Dynasty, people who beat pigeons and eat pigeons have always existed...
"Then hurry up for eight hundred miles!"
Guo Ying did not dare to make a decision without authorization, gritted his teeth and said.
Gu Yun sighed and said: "Sir, in the past, it was easy to rush the eight hundred miles. Now that the Huanghuai River has been hit by the disaster, the roads are difficult to travel, and the inns are also deserted. It takes too long to go back and forth by horse to the capital. Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. After September, once there is a snowstorm, merchants may not be willing to go deep. If it is delayed until next year, the court's errands will not be completed."
"My ministers suggest that the merchants should first be allowed to lead the team out of the customs and go to the Onen and Kherulun rivers to find the main Tatar force before October. Only in this way can the merchants better complete their mission."
Guo Ying frowned, looked at Gu Yun, and said with a sullen face: "If he is allowed to leave the customs, because of the large amount of goods, he is too endowed with the enemy. Once it is introduced into the court, do you know the consequences?"
Gu Yun nodded solemnly and said: "I know, so after this, the Security Bureau will report to the Emperor as quickly as possible."
Guo Ying also knew that there was no time to delay. The customs were released in September, the Tatars could be inspected in October, and the Mongolian tribes had a truce in November and December. It was a good time to inquire about the news and hear the situation, and then postpone it until the beginning of next spring. It's another situation.
"In that case, let's all be famous."
Guo Ying resisted this risk.
Just as Gu Yung was about to leave, Xiao Qi from the Security Bureau delivered a document. When he opened it and looked at it, he was startled.
Guo Ying took the document in Gu Yun's hand and took a look at it. Her face was a little stunned, and she couldn't help but ask: "Wool? Why does the emperor want merchants to purchase wool in large quantities?"
Gu Yun shook his head, he didn't know.
Wool was not valuable in the Ming Dynasty, and there were no merchants selling wool...
Guo Ying was confused. After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure it out. He could only sigh and said: "Well, since it is the emperor's arrangement, it has its own reasons. Go meet the eight Shanxi merchants and tell them that the big caravan It is possible to leave the customs, but the prerequisite is to bring a large amount of wool. Remember, it is wool. If they dare to bring back a large number of sheep, they will not be able to enter the customs."
Gu Yun knew that it was inappropriate for Du Si to come forward in this matter, so he left with doubts.
Guo Ying looked at the document repeatedly and couldn't figure out why the emperor would ask for wool. What could this wool be used for?
The emperor also said that he bought thirty pounds of wool and one pound of salt. Did he know that three pounds of salt can be exchanged for two cows and five sheep in the North?
Disrupting the market is not worth the price...
It seems that Datong will make a lot of money this year.
Guo Ying was confused, and so were the eight major Shanxi merchants, but the emperor's order was clear and unquestionable. In this case, let's take more salt on the road.
A large number of camels and horses gathered in Datong carrying goods. These goods were different from Shen Yiyuan's cargo list. They included more salt, tea, iron pots, silk, etc.
Fine ceramics?
People don't need that stuff. People who travel on the prairie all day and move from time to time, it's inconvenient to carry ceramics. Only the leader level likes such flashy things. No one wants to bring too much.
Just as these merchants were preparing to ship their goods out of customs, the first Mid-Autumn Festival of the Jianwen year arrived.
