Chapter 215 Regular customers visit

Zhang Xianzhong's raid on Daye County shocked Li Ping into a cold sweat.

This guy rushed to steal Daye County before the main force had crossed the Yangtze River and only light troops had just landed in Wuchang County. His intentions were completely obvious.

And the name "Li Rujing" also made Li Ping miss him.

But after searching through his memory for a long time, Li Ping still unfortunately had no impression.

Li Ping first learned the name Li Rujing when he was interrogating prisoners in Qizhou.

This is the second of Zhang Xianzhong's four surviving adopted sons. He is also the biggest contributor to the surprise attack on Xiangyang, and the vanguard of Zhang Xianzhong's series of military operations.

It is said that Li Rujing's reputation has already surpassed that of his boss Sun Kewang, and he is very popular with Zhang Xianzhong.

At the same time, this also made him the focus of attention of middle-level and above-level officers in Li Ping's department.

But there was no trace of such a fierce general in Li Ping's historical memory.

Among Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates, Li Ping had no memory of anyone else except the god-like figure Li Dingguo, who became famous twice in the history of the anti-Qing Dynasty (killing Kong Youde and Nikan).

But the strange thing is that Li Ping checked all the interrogation records and personally interrogated some prisoners who had been thieves for a long time, but he could not find the man who was later regarded by the Yunnan people as the backbone of Central Yunnan and was regarded by Cai E and other famous late Qing revolutionaries.

The great god Li Dingguo who is regarded as a role model.

Li Dingguo, this is a divine man who cannot be bypassed by anyone who reads the history of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He is also a being who needs to be looked up to.

He forced Kong Youde to self-immolate in Guilin, killed Nikan in battle, almost single-handedly snatched back the southeastern half of the city from the Qing government, expanded the territory for thousands of miles, supported a small corner of Nanming, and even made the Qing government want to abandon the southwestern provinces for a time.

After reading the book and swallowing it wholeheartedly, it is impossible not to remember the name of the great god who created such a passionate creation.

But unfortunately, Li Dingguo and Li Ping still only vaguely remembered some of their glorious achievements, and apart from knowing that he had been Zhang Xianzhong's subordinate, they knew almost nothing about his early life.

However, this also made Li Ping pay close attention to all Zhang Xianzhong's generals named Li.

Dingguo! Dingguo!

Such a name with a clear meaning is probably not his real name, but is most likely changed later.

However, Zhang Xianzhong's men have basically found no generals named Li worth mentioning.

There is only this Li Rujing.

A man of God cannot be born out of thin air, let alone a mediocre person who suddenly becomes enlightened and becomes powerful. He must have traces to follow.

If this Li Rujing is really the later Li Dingguo, it would be very scary. If the defense lines of Daye and Yuanhu are to play their due role, the pressure will be unprecedented.

Li Ping is extremely worried!

But no matter how worried he is, he can only endure it for now.

Zhou Wen, Ma Lan and Yuanye were already the most resourceful and flexible combination that he could think of, and the least rigid and unconventional combination he could think of. Then Shi Lei, who was sent to suppress them, was also a ruthless character who could only provide assists but would never hold him back.

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All Li Ping could do was to ask officials and gentry at all levels in Xingguo Prefecture to mobilize local young men to join the army.

Fully mobilizing the people of a territory can only be accomplished by a ruling power sitting on the ground, and it must be willing to work hard.

Li Ping urgently needed to expand his army and get stronger power.

But just in the midst of the chaos, a merchant fleet consisting of five large ships with deep drafts arrived from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

And the people in this merchant fleet are all merchants.

This is the first time that merchant ships have sailed upstream in this section of the Yangtze River since Zuo Liangyu withdrew from Wuchang and carried out a large-scale raid along the river. It is also the first time that anyone dares to do business on the river.

This cannot but be surprising.

Moreover, this merchant fleet also took the initiative to dock at the dock in Fuchi Town.

Through inquiries, they found out that this merchant fleet actually came from Nanjing. They still did not know the news about the occupation of Wuchang County. They had planned to enter Qizhou again and then go directly to Hankou (Li Zicheng's troops withdrew soon after arriving at Hankou

, and build a defensive line in Hanchuan).

The cargo on board is mainly coarse salt, grain, silk products, needles, thread, and other manufactured goods that are urgently needed in daily life.

Fuchi was the first stop of their plan, and they were willing to do business with Li Ping.

Li Ping was even more surprised when he heard the report.

The courage of these businessmen refreshed his knowledge, and then these people seemed to know him?

However, he didn't think too much about it.

When businessmen came, he was overjoyed, especially when these businessmen brought a large amount of goods that he obviously needed.

So he immediately ordered someone to go to Wujiaba to notify Song Baolai, and asked Song Baolai to come and pick it out in person and try to see if he could place an order.

If these businessmen are really from Nanjing, Nanjing has too many things he wants.

But to his surprise, Song Baolai soon came to visit Li Ping with a smile on his face and brought a businessman with gifts.

It turned out that this businessman knew Song Baolai and was their regular customer.

The merchant's surname was Xu. When he was in Xiangyang, he was the biggest merchant who bought Li Ping's fine salt. Two of the five merchant ships that came here were his.

The gifts brought to their door were also a large bag of tobacco, several peppers planted in pots, and a large and exquisite gear-type clock. They were very much to their liking, and they were also what Song Baolai expressed his wish for when he was in Xiangyang.

This businessman actually remembered it all the time.

Not only that, it is said that there are a small amount of corn, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes and sunflowers on his boat, and Song Baolai has verified them one by one with his own eyes.

This businessman was so awesome, and the businessman made it clear that he really wanted to meet Li Ping, the hero in his heart, so Song Baolai specially brought him to introduce him.

Li Ping was also overjoyed to hear Song Baolai's introduction with uncontrollable excitement. No matter how anxious he was, he had to give him this kind of face.

When we met for the first time, Li Ping's face may have become even darker due to running around outside these days, his loud voice unconsciously when he frequently issued various orders, and his habitual serious expression these days.

The businessman surnamed Xu, who is accustomed to strong winds and waves, is a little cautious.

Li Ping only glanced at the exquisite gear clock that he had high hopes for and then casually put it aside. This made the businessman named Xu even more cautious.

It wasn't until Li Ping marveled at the peppers that had just begun to mature and turn red for a long time that he remembered to ask someone to serve tea, and then he and Song Baolai smoked cigarettes that had been discontinued for a long time with a satisfied look on their faces. The businessman surnamed Xu finally

Relax and smile.

The chat box between the two parties was completely opened at this time.

Only then did Li Ping know that his illustrious martial arts in capturing Qizhou and the excellent military discipline of his troops had spread throughout the Nanjing officialdom, and he was praised by everyone.

The full name of the businessman named Xu is Xu Keran. His boss runs several small and medium-sized businesses in Nanjing, and he has some official relations with Nanjing officials.

Because of this, and by chance, his boss formed a deep friendship with Xu Wenqi, who served as Doctor Fang in the Nanjing Ministry of War.

Xu Wenqi had just been appointed an official at that time and was serving as an errand under Fan Jingwen, the Minister of War in Nanjing. It was at a time when officials were indifferent and could only deal with small and medium-sized businessmen.

After that, they kept in close contact.

As Xu Wenqi rose through the ranks, the relationship naturally became closer.

Xu Keran's next stop was Qizhou. The business was small, but more to see if he could help Xu Wenqi.

Of course, he and his boss were very grateful to Li Ping for saving Xu Wenqi.

As for them still daring to take risks to do business at this time, it is helpless.

After all, the high-ranking officials and royal relatives are not directly behind his boss. It is hard to imagine that the business could reach the scale of a first-class one. In Nanjing and the surrounding areas, he can only drink some soup from other people, and he can barely do it.

It is very difficult to maintain the second level.

If he didn't take the risk, he wouldn't be able to hold on to the second class. That's why he took the risk in the first place and went to Xiangyang, and now he's planning to go to Wuchang.

Big families are often unwilling to engage in such risky business because it is unnecessary and generally unnecessary. This is what makes small and medium-sized businessmen like them successful.

The situation of the three boats was similar to that of his family. This time, his family gathered the most people and sent out the most boats.

Of course, it was Zuo Liangyu's rebel army that was completely pacified by Li Banghua and has now been completely quelled, and Qizhou that was captured by Li Ping that ultimately prompted them to dare to move east along the Yangtze River.

And Xu Wenqi is still alive.

"But Wuchang County was captured by Zhang Xianzhong. I'm afraid you won't be able to go to Hankou. Zhang Xianzhong is not as polite as Li Zicheng to merchants." Li Ping took a cigarette and said quietly after listening.

"Yes! The goods we bring can only be sold at the best price when they go to Hankou, and only then can they all be eaten. We brought too much salt." The wealthy Xu Keran also became worried.

There is little salt produced in the interior, and the war has cut off trade routes. The farther inland you go, the more indispensable and easiest to sell and the goods that generate huge profits. Salt is almost the best and least risky choice for merchants.

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Although food is also in short supply, its profit-making properties cannot be compared with salt, and it can be extremely risky in areas where hunger is widespread.

But the biggest problem in Qizhou and Xingguo Prefecture is that their digestion capacity and people willing to pay big prices are very limited.

"How is the sale of fine salt in Nanjing?" Li Ping asked seemingly casually after taking a puff of cigarette.

Xu Keran was stunned for a moment, then his eyes immediately flashed with joy and he said: "Of course, it's good, and it's very in demand. Now that the bandit rebellion is so large, Jianyi is causing rebellion in the north, and the source of fine salt has been sharply reduced. I'm not afraid of the general's blame, so I'm going here

Hankou, we also want to see if we can get a batch of fine salt."

This is a candid yet somewhat cryptic answer.

It is almost an open secret that the peasant army has a large amount of high-quality fine salt and has been exporting it secretly.

Of course, this so-called large amount is only relatively speaking, and it is actually very rare. The salt used in daily life in the areas ruled by the peasant army is still coarse salt, and it is mainly imported from the outside world.

And Li Ping, a young general who had no connection with well salt and rock salt merchants, happened to have a large amount of the best quality fine salt in his hands. This cannot help but make people suspicious.

Especially if Li Ping asks now, it means he still has the goods on hand.

But this does not affect Xu Keran's belief that Li Ping is a staunch anti-thief faction. Fighting back to fight and using private channels to exchange some supplies with each other is a very common thing for both officials and thieves at this time. After all, everyone has to live.

Moreover, Li Ping has always been far away from Li Zicheng's troops, and the channels have taken many twists and turns. The possibility of doing business directly with Li Zicheng's troops is not high.

"That's good. You don't need to go to Hankou. I can satisfy you with fine salt here. I can't say how much you want, but it should be enough. But you have to wait a little longer." Li Ping said in a good mood.

"Ah!" Song Baolai said in surprise.

Li Ping's words had already left his mouth, and he couldn't stop them even if he wanted to. How could anyone do this kind of business? Isn't this self-destructive?

"Enough? Just wait for a little longer?" The flesh on Xu Keran's body trembled.
Chapter completed!